# Episode 827: "The Great Pinball Pause...Has Begun"

**Source:** Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2023-07-28  
**Duration:** 33m 57s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-827-has-86795708

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## Analysis

Kaneda discusses 'The Great Pinball Pause,' a growing trend where collectors are deliberately delaying machine purchases to resist FOMO and high pricing. He confirms Stern Pinball's John Wick license, reconciles with Jason Knapp over media credit disputes, and advocates for community skepticism toward inflated machine prices, arguing companies have priced games above their actual value.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Stern Pinball has acquired the John Wick license — _Kaneda confirmed this after Jason Knapp reported it on Knapp Arcade a month prior_
- [MEDIUM] Spooky Pinball attempted to make John Wick but reskinned it as Halloween and Ultraman — _Kaneda states Spooky Pinball admitted to this; mechanical details (Michael Myers replacing John Wick antagonists) provided_
- [MEDIUM] John Borg will be the designer for John Wick pinball, not Keith Elwin — _Kaneda asserts this will happen; notes he has a $500 bet with Jason Knapp on this outcome_
- [HIGH] Keith Elwin is designing Jaws pinball — _Kaneda states this as established fact_
- [MEDIUM] A significant portion of the pinball community is deliberately pausing machine purchases — _Kaneda reports receiving messages from listeners and one wealthy individual specifically confirming this behavior_
- [MEDIUM] James Bond 007 (60th Anniversary) was priced at $20,000 by Stern — _Kaneda cites this as evidence of Stern exceeding acceptable pricing thresholds; notes Stern removed the price from website and dealers sold at $15,000_
- [MEDIUM] Toy Story and The Godfather are among Jersey Jack Pinball's most underwhelming games despite premium pricing — _Kaneda cites Godfather as Jersey Jack's most expensive game ever, alongside Toy Story and Wizard of Oz as overpriced relative to quality_
- [MEDIUM] Stern is increasingly relying on LCD assets rather than innovating in lighting and design — _Kaneda expresses concern that Stern prioritizes LCD assets over continued design innovation like Tron demonstrated_
- [LOW] AI art tools may be used by manufacturers to replace human artists for game art packages — _Kaneda speculates about potential future use of AI for cost reduction, noting copywriting and visual generation capabilities_
- [LOW] FOMO only occurs on All American Amusements titles — _Kaneda makes this assertion to argue most current games should not induce FOMO-driven purchases_

### Notable Quotes

> "I'm calling this episode the Great Pinball Pause because I do believe and I hear from many of you out there that more and more of you are starting to realize if you just wait a little bit, if you don't get on the hype train, if you don't join the FOMO hype train, you will be in a much better position."
> — **Kaneda**, Early in episode
> _Core thesis of episode; defines the 'Great Pinball Pause' phenomenon_

> "I realize that these companies aren't putting that much more into these games to justify these prices. I realize that there is a threshold for what a pinball machine should cost, like new from a manufacturer."
> — **Kaneda**, Mid-episode
> _Challenges manufacturer pricing strategy and argues games exceed value threshold_

> "You have to look no further than games like Toy Story, then games like Godfather—the most expensive Jersey Jack Pinball has ever been—and they are two of the most underwhelming games Jersey Jack has ever made."
> — **Kaneda**, Mid-episode
> _Specific criticism of Jersey Jack's high-priced games; undermines premium pricing model_

> "I think it's refreshing and I encourage all of you to do the following: just pause more. Wait a little bit more. You'll be able to get any single game."
> — **Kaneda**, Mid-episode
> _Direct call-to-action encouraging community behavior shift_

> "They wanted $20,000 for a single level game that most likely cost them no more than $5,000 to make. And then what happened? Then they tried to deny asking $20,000 for it by removing the price from the website."
> — **Kaneda**, Late episode
> _Specific criticism of Stern's James Bond 60th pricing and damage control_

> "If you hold onto your money, it's going to make these companies make the games even better. Or it's going to make these companies lower their prices. What's wrong with that?"
> — **Kaneda**, Late episode
> _Frames community purchasing pause as collective leverage against manufacturers_

> "I mean, I bought a Batman SLE back for twenty five freaking thousand dollars because that's what those games cost in the market. The point is this: let the market determine the price of the pinball machines."
> — **Kaneda**, Mid-episode
> _Establishes Kaneda's view that secondary market prices are appropriate, but manufacturer pricing is not_

> "The fact that people are paying in full right now for Venom LE, think how stupid that is. And I know that's a strident word, but it is stupid."
> — **Kaneda**, Early-mid episode
> _Specific criticism of Venom LE pre-order behavior; sets tone for purchasing critique_

> "John Wick just oozes cool. Keanu Reeves just oozes cool. The dude is not on social media and that's what makes him cool."
> — **Kaneda**, Theme discussion segment
> _Explains appeal of John Wick theme; positions it as culturally relevant_

> "I want to see them approach John Wick with that in mind. And what worries me about Stern making John Wick, when you think about the environment and the lighting and like all the different things that could be in this game—the music in Tron is absolutely cool, so I'm looking for Stern to take that. But remember, Tron is like almost 10 years old now."
> — **Kaneda**, John Wick discussion
> _Expresses design expectations for John Wick; notes Stern's stagnation relative to past innovation_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Kaneda | person | Host of Kaneda's Pinball Podcast; pinball enthusiast and collector making meta-commentary on community purchasing behavior and manufacturer pricing |
| Joe Newhart | person | Guest on this episode; pinball community figure |
| Jason Knapp | person | Founder of Knapp Arcade; reported John Wick license to Stern; had prior dispute/tension with Kaneda over media credit; reconciled with Kaneda during this episode |
| John Borg | person | Predicted designer of John Wick pinball at Stern; subject of betting between Kaneda and Jason Knapp |
| Keith Elwin | person | Pinball designer; designing Jaws pinball; not designing John Wick despite expectations |
| Stern Pinball | company | Major pinball manufacturer; acquired John Wick license; criticized for pricing strategy, particularly James Bond 60th ($20,000) and reliance on LCD assets over design innovation |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Smaller manufacturer; attempted John Wick license before losing it to Stern; reskinned John Wick mechanics into Halloween and Ultraman; criticized as not yet ready for triple-A titles |
| Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Manufacturer; criticized for overpricing games like Toy Story, The Godfather (most expensive JJP ever), and Wizard of Oz relative to their quality |
| John Wick | game | Upcoming pinball game from Stern; licensed from popular action film franchise; expected to release alongside Jaws, Elton John, and Back to the Future |
| Jaws | game | Upcoming pinball game; designed by Keith Elwin; part of wave of releases Kaneda expects in coming months |
| Venom | game | Recent/current pinball release; criticized by Kaneda for people paying in full despite game not selling out; LE version specifically referenced |
| James Bond 007 (60th Anniversary) | game | Stern game priced at $20,000 (later reduced); Kaneda cites as example of Stern exceeding acceptable pricing threshold; price removed from website after backlash |
| Toy Story | game | Jersey Jack Pinball game; cited as underwhelming despite premium pricing |
| The Godfather | game | Jersey Jack Pinball game; most expensive JJP game ever made; criticized as underwhelming despite high price |
| Wizard of Oz | game | Jersey Jack Pinball game; criticized as overpriced by Kaneda |
| Tron | game | Stern game from ~10 years prior; Kaneda cites as example of strong lighting and design innovation; used as benchmark for what he wants from John Wick |
| Guns N' Roses Collector Edition | game | Pinball game; Kaneda notes it was riding high with FOMO when first released but has not maintained value |
| Elton John | game | Upcoming pinball game; mentioned as forthcoming release in wave after Jaws |
| Back to the Future | game | Upcoming pinball game; mentioned as forthcoming release in wave of new titles |
| Batman SLE | game | Collectible pinball game; Kaneda purchased one for $25,000; used as example of appropriate secondary market pricing |
| All American Amusements | company | Pinball manufacturer; only company whose games Kaneda claims justifiably generate FOMO |
| George Harrison | person | Musician; song 'I Got My Mind Set on You' used as episode intro; serves as metaphor for pinball buying mentality |
| Keanu Reeves | person | Actor in John Wick films; praised by Kaneda as embodying coolness that transfers to pinball theme |
| Brenda | person | Kaneda's partner; referenced in context of budget allocation decisions |
| Kaneda's Pinball Podcast / Kaneda Club | organization | Podcast with 600+ club members; subscription model at $5/month; Kaneda promises not to raise price |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Pricing strategy and market dynamics, Community purchasing behavior and FOMO resistance, John Wick pinball license and theme assessment, Manufacturer business practices and value justification
- **Secondary:** Pinball media drama and reconciliation with Jason Knapp, Game designer assignments and future releases, Comparison of manufacturers (Stern vs. Jersey Jack vs. Spooky)
- **Mentioned:** AI and automation impact on game art creation

### Sentiment

**Mixed** (-0.25) — Kaneda is enthusiastic about the John Wick license and the emerging 'pause' trend, but frustrated and critical of manufacturer pricing strategies, particularly Stern and Jersey Jack. He expresses optimism about community pushback but resignation about industry practices. Tone shifts from upbeat intro to serious critique to philosophical reflection on consumption and happiness.

### Signals

- **[announcement]** Stern Pinball confirmed to have acquired John Wick license (confidence: high) — Kaneda confirms license based on his own sources and validates Jason Knapp's earlier reporting
- **[product_concern]** Community sentiment shifting against inflated new machine pricing; manufacturers pricing games above quality/cost justification (confidence: high) — Kaneda documents pattern of James Bond 60th ($20,000), Toy Story, Godfather, Wizard of Oz being overpriced; notes secondary market dealers cannot move inventory at manufacturer prices
- **[sentiment_shift]** Growing 'Great Pinball Pause' trend where collectors deliberately delay purchases to resist FOMO and high prices (confidence: medium) — Kaneda reports multiple community members independently pausing purchases; describes this as refreshing trend gaining momentum
- **[design_innovation]** Speculation that manufacturers may adopt AI art generation tools to reduce costs and accelerate game art creation (confidence: low) — Kaneda notes AI copywriting and visual generation capabilities and suggests manufacturers may exploit this for IP-owned content
- **[industry_signal]** Kaneda publicly reconciles with Jason Knapp over prior credit/tension disputes; acknowledges mutual professional growth (confidence: high) — Kaneda explicitly states he initiated repair and both parties agreed to move forward positively; frames pinball media drama as not worth the effort
- **[gameplay_signal]** Expectation that John Wick pinball should innovate in lighting and environmental design (citing Tron as benchmark) rather than relying solely on LCD assets (confidence: medium) — Kaneda expresses concern Stern is not innovating in traditional design areas; worries about profit-driven reliance on LCD instead of advanced lighting
- **[personnel_signal]** John Borg expected to be designer of John Wick pinball; Keith Elwin confirmed designing Jaws (confidence: medium) — Kaneda states both assignments matter enough to base $500 bet with Jason Knapp on John Borg/John Wick outcome
- **[product_strategy]** Stern removed James Bond 60th pricing from website after announcing $20,000 MSRP; dealers selling below MSRP at $15,000 (confidence: high) — Kaneda documents specific price removal and secondary market underselling, suggesting manufacturer acknowledgment of pricing error
- **[market_signal]** Recent releases not achieving sell-out status; FOMO-driven pre-orders not justified by actual scarcity (confidence: medium) — Kaneda criticizes Venom LE pre-order buyers for paying full price despite machine not selling out; questions economics of early payment
- **[competitive_signal]** Spooky Pinball not ready for triple-A titles; needs design help to reach caliber of Stern, Jersey Jack, or other competitors (confidence: medium) — Kaneda notes Spooky is improving but expresses concern they would not have succeeded with John Wick or Ghostbusters; cites hypothetical comparisons
- **[leak_detection]** Confirmation that Spooky Pinball attempted John Wick license before reskinning mechanics into Halloween and Ultraman (confidence: medium) — Kaneda states Spooky 'admits they were trying to make a John Wick game' and provides specific mechanical examples (Michael Myers replacing antagonists)
- **[licensing_signal]** Trend toward contemporary film IP in pinball (John Wick, Jaws, Back to the Future) rather than remakes or legacy properties (confidence: medium) — Kaneda explicitly advocates for more recent popular movies in pinball format; states preference for John Wick over Twilight Zone remakes or similar legacy titles

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## Transcript

 It's gonna take time, a lot of precious time. It's gonna take patience and time, to do it, to do it, to do it, to do it, to do it, to do it right, child. Sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up. Welcome everybody, happy Friday, welcome to Kaneda's Pinball Podcast. I'm super excited to do this show. I'm in a really good mood. All right, we're back. We're back with Joe Newhart. Welcome, Joe. You're listening to the Pinball Star. I'm Joe Newhart, and I'm here to talk about the Pinball Star. I'm Joe Newhart, and I'm here to talk about the Pinball Star. Joe, welcome to the Pinball Star. It's been a great week. I'm going to explain why. There's something great happening in the pinball world. But even better than that, we've got Joe Newhart. Welcome, Joe Newhart from Pinball Star to the club. Joe, welcome to Kaneda's Pinball Podcast. We're happy to have you here. We've had a great, consistent month with Kaneda's Pinball Podcast. We're back up over 600 club members. We want to welcome Joe. We're back up over 600 club members want to welcome Joe want to thank Rodney for upping his donation to Kaneda's Club. I mean with everything getting so inflated in the world. It's so nice to know I have such generous subscribers and fans of the show, but let's welcome Joe. Let's welcome Keith. Let's welcome AP. Let's welcome Daniel Thomas, Brad, Geoff, Chad, Marco, Kenneth, Matthew, Kent, James, Brooke. Those are some of our new club members to Kaneda's Pinball Podcast. The Here's what I want to talk about on this episode, because we always get right to it. So, what I want to talk about on this episode, I'm calling this episode, The Great Pinball Pause and I used George Harrison's I Got My Mind Said on you because a lot of us, when we think about our pinball buying, that is how we approach pinball buying. I've got my mind set on this new game but as he says in that song, it's gonna take some time, a whole lot of precious time to do it right. I'm calling this episode the Great Pinball Pause because I do believe and I hear from many of you out there that more and more of you are starting to realize if you just wait a little bit, if you don't get on the hype train, if you don't join the FOMO hype train, you will be in a much better position, you'll be much happier with your relationship with the hobby and you won't feel this overriding urge to jump at anyуб I want to say this, Jason Knapp on Knapp's Arcade a month ago said that Stern Pinball had the John Wick license. I never said that this was some Kaneda exclusive. I never said I was delivering this for the first time ever. What I was talking about was I heard confirmation that it's happening. So his rumor was right. My confirmation seems like it's going to be right. But more importantly, Jason Knapp has the best pinball news website on planet earth. It's a much better place to go to than Pinball. The Genesis for our tension was always the simple thing that like I never felt like I got any credit on Naps Arcade. You'll never hear me mentioned and that's because we've had our back and forth yesterday We communicate it like grown adults and we both came to the conclusion that holding on to any animosity is not really worth it It's just pinball. We're here to have fun I'm a fan of the pinball team and I'm really happy to be in a cool position with Jason Knapp and moving forward I would like the relationship to be much more positive and that's on me. I know how I behave and I know I can rub people the wrong way but I just wanted to let you know that if you like Kaneda's Pinball Podcast and you like Knapp's Arcade that Jason and Chris are cool. And whenever there's drama, no one likes it. Like the pinball media drama is silly. I have sent multiple message to Cengiz to no reply. The other drama that's been going on, it's just a handful of people. I think some bridges will just never be repaired and it is what it is. All right, but you don't come to Canada to hear about pinball media drama. Let's first talk about John Wick before we talk about the great pinball pause going on in the pinball community. So John Wick coming to us from Stern Pinball. It makes total sense. We know that Spooky Pinball was dabbling in this license. Spooky Pinball admits they were trying to make a John Wick game and then they reskinned it as Halloween and Ultraman. You know those Mike Myers that pop out from behind the hedges? Those were supposed to be bad guys that John Wick shoots. I think everybody, and I mean this, there is a hundred percent of us that agree that we are Spooky Pinball has a lot of work to do people for them to deliver on a dream theme of ours. I think everyone is secretly happy they're not making games like Star Wars. Can you imagine if Spooky Pinball made Ghostbusters instead of Stern? They're just not there yet. And I've said it before, I love the gang over at Spooky. Kiersey. Let me just need to hire some design help to get to the caliper of these other companies. I mean, they're getting better with each game, but I would say that they're not ready for a triple A theme yet. So Stern has John Wick, right? Did they steal this from spooky Pinball the same way they stole Godzilla from spooky Pinball? I mean, who amongst you is upset that Stern Pinball made Godzilla and not spooky. But let's talk about John Wick as a pinball theme. Do we like this as a pinball theme? Now, for some of you out there, if you've seen the John Wick movies and you're a grown adult male between the ages of 40 and 60, I do not know how you walk away from those films not feeling great about this theme. These movies are incredible. If you've ever seen like old school like John Woo's The Killer, it is a modern contemporary version of that. The guy has a handgun. With one handgun, John Wick can take out like 900 bad guys on one clip. And every shot's a headshot. And it's super awesome. And it's super fun. And the choreography is amazing. The environments in which the battles happen are amazing. The music is amazing. The acting is amazing. It's got all the one-liners you want from an action movie. It is high energy. It is cool. John Wick just oozes cool. Keanu Reeves just oozes cool. The dude is not on social media and that's what makes him cool. Everything he does is awesome. He's one of the most generous actors in all of Hollywood and so John Wick as a pinball theme, I think it's a good choice. Now look, it's not for everybody. I see some people already being like, well, I've never seen the movies, easy pass for me. And I do recommend to those people who have not seen the films, who think this is an easy pass in pinball format, do me a favor. The end of the day, I'm going to go to the movies and then make up your mind because I think if you see these films, you're going to see the potential in them. Now, when I think about a John Wick Pinball Machine and I think about John Borg doing it because it's going to be John Borg, right? It's not going to be Keith Elwin. Keith Elwin is doing Jaws, okay? That is happening and then I think we're going to see John Wick from John Borg, which means I'm going to lose my He-Man bet with Jason Knapp, which means I'm going to be spending $500 to Project Pinball. It's all right. It's for a David David Van Es who's running in from Sergeant Knight Marshall. In fact, I'm very happy to be here checking out his content. It finally a game that not another dad rock band It finally a movie that is popular recently made into pinball I think a lot of us want to see more of this We want to see more contemporary titles I rather see more popular movies put into pinball format than remaking Twilightzone or remaking Big Bang Bar I mean this is what pinball should be doing It should be capturing what popular in culture what a lot of people love within the target demographic of pinball and then it should make it into pinball format And then for these prices which are super expensive right now you gotta make the games great There no middle ground anymore You can't go half ass on the games. And John Wick, when I think about that game, to me it's gonna be a game that's gotta be like Tron. It's gotta have like that awesome music from the movie. It's gotta do interesting things with lighting. I think they really have to create that environment that John Wick's in. It's gotta vary like modern, like he's at a rave concert and he's in these interesting museums and interesting buildings and environments and the bad guys are coming at him. You feel like you're the hero in this in real life video game that's just badass and I think the pinball machine needs to do that. Now, that being said, what I don't want to see with John Wick Pinball is just another Stern machine. I want to see them approach John Wick with that in mind. And what worries me about Stern making John Wick, when you think about the environment and the lighting and like all the different things that could be in this game,�� 그렇죠 Again, we all, it's quite easy to connect, just go to this platform, like I can't even say plural, is a marshacles? Absolutely cool. The music in Tron is absolutely cool, so I'm looking for Stern to take that. But remember, Tron is like almost 10 years old or is 10 years old. It's been a decade now and Stern knows so much more about lighting and how to do stuff. My fear is this, is that Stern's not trying to truly innovate anymore a lot of that kind of stuff. I think Stern is putting everything into the LCD assets. I would like to see Stern continue to innovate areas of lighting and design. Big Word This Fried So 199 colombianاد protagonisan frame мяс 고기님이 http://b Sn opening.io. insaneart cured91 safi8ете6n3v2d2makeNual. additions3 Manager двухxkynight 5 Directяж 245-75-503837755 bankjane. дальше8 Though we're whisked over something static, no brain work with us, Alex Galilek p росiebello inherentium bijajaa. Ehtterweller. Combike Miljeviczzinejee didn't There's a lot of artists that are really nervous that AI can do it instantly and guess what? For free! If you're Stern Pinball and you're so profit driven, at some point you might be looking to turn on some of these AI art tools to create mind-blowing art packages for pinball machines that can be done instantly by a computer. Because if you own the IP and you have right to those assets, it's really easy to do it when you have that source material. In the old days, like the Photoshop drag and drop looked terrible, but now you can make the Photoshop drag and drop look amazing if AI is helping you out. Again, just the modern world, people. A lot of people's jobs are gonna be in jeopardy. I work in a world where like copywriters, people who write copy for ads, AI is damn good at it. It's scary and it delivers stuff with personality and wit and sense of humor. It's eerily scary how good it is. Alright, so John Wick, do we think it's gonna be a blockbuster hit for Stern Pinball? Look, I think it's gonna do well, but again, there's always a risk and a gamble. The good news is this, we know that John Wick movies are good. This isn't like Jack Guenard making The Hobbit and then the movies turned out to be terrible. Because they're making it based on films that people love, and there's a lot of fandom, and there's a lot of crossover between the pinball buying demographic and John Wick, I think it's a I think it's a good move for Stern. I think it's going to be a fun game. I think it's definitely something that has me interested. Is it a dream theme for Kaneda? No, but I'd much rather look at a game like John Wick than Venom. I'd much rather look at John Wick than Rush. I'd much rather look at John Wick than Elton John or Foo Fighters just because of the stuff I'm into. I love the movies and so it has me interested. Am I going to buy it? No, I'm not going to buy it right away because I am going to live by my own mantra. The only time I will buy a pinball machine right away is if it is based on a theme I absolutely want to own because as we all know the days of scalping machines for money are over. I used to do that. It was a lot of fun to make a few thousand dollars for doing absolutely no work, but those days are over. The last few years I've lost a few thousand dollars trying to do that behavior, but I want to talk about what I've been seeing more and more in the pinball community now and that is the great pinball pause. I had someone text me yesterday. I'm not going to name his name. He's a listener of the show. He's a wealthy individual. He can buy any pinball machine he wants. And he texted me and he said, Chris, I'm not going in on a new game right now. I'm waiting. I'm listening to your advice and I'm pausing. And I know that he feels good about it. And I know more and more of you have been doing this behavior lately. It's not that you're not going to buy more machines. So don't worry, Joe Newhart. We're still going to buy from our friendly Next, at and pixel asking the question... www.smartpinnep eccag Praha Sajeday Seshawan Pabaveen,攻arlo is Kaneda's Pabaveen www.youtube.com slash trans ^^ whether you own am for something really s más btes divina and it was dollars to our door that included the food the delivery the tip the seamless grub hub taxes dollars that meal was every Saturday night in 2021 over the last two years the prices of the items continue to go up nowadays the same exact order if I go on to Seamless and try to order it it is to get that exact same meal to my door Everything went up significantly in price The food the delivery services the hidden fees everything And now Brenda and I even though we love the meal so much we stopped I'm not saying that we don't have $68. It's that I don't think that Don Don Noodles, pancakes, and some dumplings are worth almost $70. I don't value that item at that much money. And a similar thing has happened in pinball. It's not that we don't love pinball. It's not that we don't want to indulge in it. who and when he said P aquelafi này Pà SquTw muscle-t 123з pupu nella squaredx palette penny technical recommend recommendon від Thanks for watching! Don't Let the Kid Play You ll kill him, but they will, REALLY! I'm not saying that I could, but I don't because you know what it used to cost. And you look down at the machines now and you're not seeing 40% more in creativity, in engineering, and the experience is the same. When you get in front of a pinball machine, you have fun with it. Again, there's a certain threshold of entertainment that a pinball machine can deliver. There's just a threshold of how much entertainment could this provide. I had a listener of the show send me a picture. He bought a Mazda Miata and he said, Chris, this car is so much fun. It is crazy that pinball machines now cost as much as this car just cost me. And there's no way a pinball experience is as fun as going around a twisty road hitting the apex in a Mazda Miata. Now look, I know we use carguments all the time but he has a point for each and every one of us. We all have a different threshold. For some of you out there, you might be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, it matters not. $13,000 to you is like $130 bucks. For some of you out there, $13,000 might be half of what you make in a year profit and you really have to be careful about how much you spend on pinball machines. Some of you can't afford any new in-box machines and you just get enjoyment from listening to the hobby, from playing games on location. You might own one machine and just be having the time of your life. And I mean this when I say it. I envy the people that are able to just have fun, have a simple life, don't chase after everything that's new. How are you ever going to be happy if you adopt that mindset that you want to buy every northeastxico hockey dessus 오 guess what thing on the menu and so all of us is colliding to create what I'm seeing is a new behavior. That people are just waiting and they're pausing and they're saying look at these prices I need a game to check this many boxes before I'm gonna buy it before I play it. I'm a pinball machine before you play it. The fact that people are paying in full right now for Venom LE, think how stupid that is. And I know that's a strident word, but it is stupid. And I don't care if the money doesn't matter to you and you have stupid money, but why would you buy a game that you know is not even close to selling out? Why would you pay in full now and wait two months when in that two months you will be able to go play the freaking machine? jardiggly rect subtract politically, gone UM T's videotape cognitive Fly at the coming welcoming I was basically just suffering through these mouth sores and in the last week what I did was I didn't drink any alcohol. I didn't drink any coffee. I didn't eat any unhealthy food. And all I did was I rested. I didn't do much. I couldn't work much. I was in chronic pain and I just slept as much as I could. I drank a lot of water. I cleansed my system. I paused my normal behaviors. I've slept better than I ever have before. I've been more positive and optimistic. I've just felt a million times better. And I didn't feel this like urgency to go out and just do happy hours and just constantly like throw money at the world because I couldn't, right? I was forced to not do it and I came out of it feeling so refreshed. And I think some of that is happening in pinball right now. That many of you out there are just waiting and it's refreshing. PINBALL PINBALL PINBALL PINBALL PINBALL I mean, I was basically acting like a distributor. I mean, that's what distributors, of course they want to hype all this stuff because they're going to make money on every game sold as they should because that's their job. And it's fun to do that, right? It is fun to hype that train and get everybody excited. But ultimately, at the end of that journey for someone like me who's not a distributor, I'm telling you at the end, it doesn't really make you feel great because at the end of that journey, I realized something. I realize that these companies aren't putting that much more into these games to justify these prices. I realize that there is a threshold for what a pinball machine should cost, like new from a manufacturer. I'm not against games going up on the secondhand market. I'm not against pinball machines being collectibles. Of course, there's going to be rare versions of games that people want. I mean, look at me. I mean, I bought a Batman SLE back for twenty five freaking thousand dollars because that's what those games cost in the market. The point is this is let the market determine the price of the pinball machines and what's happened now is the Market did not determine the price of these games the market did show these companies that great games Could go up in value and this has been the biggest problem in pinball over the last two years They've priced everything before it's out as if it's a great game The problem with that is that most of these games are not great masterpiece games yet they are all priced that way before we even get our hands on the machines You have to look no further than games like Toy Story then games like Godfather the most expensive Jersey Jack machines have ever been and they two of the most underwhelming games Jersey Jack has ever made And Wizard of Oz was bucks It stupid and I think it refreshing and I encourage all of you to do the following Just pause more Wait a little bit more You be able to get any single game And if you have to spend a little bit more because you waited and something went up in value so what Look at Guns N Roses collector Edition people It was right When it first came out people had FOMO They were spending or during intermission advocacy process, in every interview вечpie calamella clint do call out When I start writing checks for $13,000 or $15,000, I feel it a little bit. I feel it in my pin money, right? It's like my special fund money. Like that takes away from like vacation money. It might take away from clothes I want to buy or meals I want to have or gifts I want to get for Brenda. It takes away from other stuff. But what we've been doing lately is what if as grown adults we look around us and we say, hey, I just have way more than one man needs. We have way more than a little couple like us needs. We have so much to be thankful for that what if, what if we adopt this mindset and we look around us, like all of you, do me a favor, look around your homes, open up your garages, look at your vehicles, if you have a marina, look at your boats, look at your pinball collection, look at your partner, look at your family, look at your kids, look at the roof over your head, look at everything you have, look at all the subscription services, look at everything that you have and say to yourself, do I have everything I need to be happy? I'm extremely blessed. I've worked hard for this, but are you extremely blessed to have everything you have in your life? And how much more do you need to make you happy? Do you need to convince yourself that you're now into symbiotes because you want to buy venom? Or maybe you don't buy venom right now. Maybe you wait and you play it and you get a sense of whether or not it's for you and maybe you wait a couple more months after that and then you get to see Jaws. You wait a couple more months, you get to see Elton John, you get to see Back to the Future, you get to see John Wick, and then eventually when you see the game that you really want, because this is how I look at life, I need something that is going to enhance what I already have. I already have everything I could ever want in life. Of course I need a house, but I have a home here. I have a family here that I love who loves me, and that's worth more than any pinball machine. I've made friends in this hobby that are more valuable to me than any damn pinball machine and we bond over making fun of these high prices and we bond making fun of these pinball companies trying to sell us this stuff for 40 to 50 percent more than they were two years ago and I enjoy those conversations. We're almost happy in our unhappiness with these pinball companies and I love that because it's free because I don't have to spend money on that. The conversations are magnetic. They're explosive, but they're fun. And nobody's getting hurt, and everybody's holding onto their money. And if we hold onto our money, it's going to make these companies make the games even better. Or it's going to make these companies lower their prices. What's wrong with that? Do you wake up every day and want to make your pinball companies as much profit as you possibly can as if you're an investor in those companies? And you have so much to be thankful for. You have more than enough pinball I know you want to buy new stuff. Games get boring, right? Games get boring. Like if you own 10 games, you're going to be bored of two of them and you're going to want to rotate them out and put something new in. That's why pinball is fun. It's a little annoying rotating games in and out, right? These aren't video game cartridges. They're not watches. They're not easy things to transport, but that being said, if you have money, you're probably In case you are ailliterate Len, an American, hobbyist, hobbyist, habit Rod, a trauma población, medalist, dud, and MC, musimy, andнуть produits is in the wonderful Washington Minnie Halleck University'siernofficialji.com. Lastể 부탁a berobnete Church of demosP specificationsy , corrupt Tetacheo, Note because all pinball back then was in that threshold of where we saw the value. Five to ten thousand dollars was the sweet spot threshold for pinball. Every once in a while an amazing game or a super rare attempt like a Batman SLE, sure, then you could charge 15 and people would cry about it but still you're going over the threshold but we saw the value in Batman SLE and that's why when When people ask why are you so down on James Bond 60th because people trust me that was the moment Stern showed us their true colors about how they feel about us as collectors. They wanted $20,000 for a single level game that most likely cost them no more than $5,000 to make and then what happened? Then they tried to deny asking $20,000 for it by removing the price from the website and And then the dealers are selling them all for $15,000 out the backdoor and making no money on it. It's stupid. They went past the threshold. Nobody has a gun to our head to buy these machines. I am enjoying not buying anything. I will get whatever I want when I want it. But right now, the great pinball pause is happening and trust me, try it out. Just try it out for a couple months. Just pause all of your pinball spending and tell me at the end of those two months, much like when Kaneda cut out coffee and alcohol, I guarantee you at the end of those two months, you are going to be happier. You are going to appreciate the games you have even more and you are not going to regret it. FOMO is a lie. It only happens on AAA titles and none of the stuff coming out is that. So trust me people, welcome to the great pinball pause of 2023. It's not going to stop anytime soon and we're going to make these pinball companies together. Either make these games worth the money or we're going to make them lower their price or some of them are going to go out of business. It's that simple. Love you guys. Happy Friday. Welcome to the Kaneda Club, Joe Newhart. Don't worry, every show is not like this but I just wanted to speak about this on this episode. Thank you so much for being a club member everybody. It's the end of the month. We're gonna lose 20 of you. I implore the 20 of you that always leave every month and then come back. Just stay. I promise you I will never raise the price of Kaneda's Pinball Podcast. It's $5 to get through the door. My competitors are charging twice as much. Come on! Five bucks and I'm gonna give you the most entertaining pinball podcast on the planet. Later everybody. The Pressure It's gonna take some time to do it to do it to do it right Saturday Saturday Saturday Saturday Saturday Saturday Saturday Good See Ya!

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