# Episode 1048: "Kaneda The Cougher Returns"

**Source:** Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2025-02-03  
**Duration:** 24m 15s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-1048-121409760

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## Analysis

Kaneda discusses recent pinball industry developments including Avatar CE deliveries and UV lighting marketing concerns, X-Men's continued struggles, Dungeons & Dragons quality concerns with broken dragon mechanisms, Spooky Pinball's Evil Dead success and need for mainstream themes, Back to the Future licensing limbo, Alice in Wonderland's slow rollout, and broader concerns about pricing, oversaturation, and a 'No Buy 2025' movement gaining traction in the community.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Avatar CE units experiencing UV ink failure—tattoos on Na'vi characters don't glow under UV light as shown in marketing materials despite additional UV lighting used during product photography — _Kaneda observed actual owner photos showing dark characters compared to bright marketing materials; describes this as 'bait and switch' marketing deception_
- [HIGH] Dungeons & Dragons Limited Edition units already showing mechanical failures in the wild with broken dragon mechanisms immediately after delivery — _Kaneda directly states: 'I was just looking at one of these units out in the wild and the dragon was broken right away. That's not a good sign for people waiting for the game.'_
- [HIGH] X-Men code foundation is fundamentally flawed and unlikely to recover despite community hope for a turnaround; recommends customers exit the game — _Kaneda attributes failure to coder Wison lacking proven track record, combined with Stern allocating resources to King Kong and Dungeons & Dragons instead_
- [MEDIUM] Back to the Future development has stalled under Dutch Pinball/Barry Eldredge; Kaneda speculates on whether Stern or Jersey Jack will eventually manufacture the game — _Kaneda states 'I don't know what the latest is on whether or not Barry has inked a deal' but believes it won't release in 2025 and questions why Eldredge won't partner with Stern_
- [MEDIUM] Alice in Wonderland from Dutch Pinball has received no code updates since October/November timeframe (5+ months) and may be facing sustainability concerns if gameplay lacks substance — _Kaneda questions: 'Have you seen a code update on Alice? Have you seen anything new on the game? You haven't. And that's a little bit concerning to me.'_
- [HIGH] Spooky Pinball Evil Dead is receiving exceptionally high quality reception and represents a quality upgrade from previous Spooky releases — _Kaneda reports: 'People have walked up to this game and they're starting to say it doesn't feel like a Spooky Pinball game anymore. It feels like they've really dialed up the Premium nature of the game.'_
- [MEDIUM] Stern Pinball appears to be rushing games to market with quality testing at new factory being substandard — _Kaneda states: 'We all know that Stern seems to be rushing the games to market a little bit. We know the quality testing at the new factory isn't the greatest.'_
- [HIGH] Pulp Fiction by Chicago Gaming Company experiencing minimal FOMO and trading at cost in secondary market, indicating weak demand — _Kaneda observes: 'I'm seeing a lot of them trade hands for at cost. That's also good...The FOMO is dead on this game.'_

### Notable Quotes

> "I have a freaking hernia. My insides are pushing through my abdominal wall and now I'm going to have to go get surgery for that."
> — **Kaneda**, Opening segment
> _Personal health update explaining podcast absence; sets conversational tone_

> "So they bait and switched everybody. But you know what? As I read the thread, I don't think these owners care. I think they're just going to justify their games and they're going to have their fun."
> — **Kaneda**, Avatar CE discussion
> _Critical observation about consumer rationalization despite marketing deception_

> "I would just get out while you can. If there is some miracle one day and they do make this game amazing, guess what? You'll be able to march right back in and get the game for less money."
> — **Kaneda**, X-Men discussion
> _Direct advice to X-Men owners; reflects pessimism about game's code future and secondary market trajectory_

> "It is now the biggest gamble in all the pinball, if you run in on these $13,000 Limited Edition and there might be a quality issue or the game might not be that great, you're the guinea pig. Like you're the high price guinea pig now."
> — **Kaneda**, Dungeons & Dragons LE discussion
> _Commentary on Stern's production strategy of making LE first and quality risk exposure for premium buyers_

> "I think Spooky Pinball is one mainstream theme away from really knocking it out of the park...We just want a theme that speaks to us, that has a little bit more nostalgia."
> — **Kaneda**, Spooky Pinball section
> _Market analysis suggesting Spooky's quality is present but theme selection limits mainstream appeal_

> "What happens when you get like 8,000 orders, 5,000 orders, and you're making 10 to 15 games a week? That's the best they can do. Stern can make 800 games a week. So why would you, if you're Barry, why would you want to like spend five years of your life when you could just let Stern make the game, get a royalty on everyone sold, make a few million dollars and just chill."
> — **Kaneda**, Back to the Future discussion
> _Economic analysis of manufacturing capacity constraints and business model viability for independent producers_

> "I can't take any Kickstarter seriously...a freaking Stern topper is $2,000 and these guys want to sell a fully featured pinball machine for $1,200...They need your money. They need my money."
> — **Kaneda**, Wonderland Amusement Kickstarter discussion
> _Skepticism about budget homebrew pricing models and funding sustainability_

> "One pinball machine that's not even rare, that's not even special, is $13,000 to $15,000. Hello, jump the shark pinball hobby."
> — **Kaneda**, Closing segment
> _Meta-commentary on hobby market saturation, pricing unsustainability, and generational affordability crisis_

> "There's a new social media movement called No Buy 2025...I think that's going to be a challenge for everybody in the pinball space because you're going to want to buy Harry Potter. You're going to want to buy The King Kong."
> — **Kaneda**, No Buy 2025 discussion
> _Emerging consumer trend suggesting market resistance to oversaturation and high pricing_

> "If you really want something, you'll easily be able to get it for three to $4,000 less money if you just wait a year."
> — **Kaneda**, Secondary market pricing discussion
> _Market advice on price depreciation trajectory; suggests rational buyers should avoid premium editions at launch_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Kaneda | person | Podcast host; recovering from severe cough-induced hernia; provides market analysis and criticism of industry practices |
| Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Boutique manufacturer; mentioned as potential Back to the Future manufacturing partner |
| Stern Pinball | company | Largest pinball manufacturer; criticized for rushing games to market, quality testing issues at new factory, resource allocation away from X-Men |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Boutique manufacturer; producing Evil Dead with elevated quality; seeking mainstream theme to break through |
| Chicago Gaming Company | company | Remaking Medieval Madness, Twilight Zone, and Halo; producing Pulp Fiction with weak secondary market demand |
| Dutch Pinball | company | Producing Alice in Wonderland; responsible for Back to the Future licensing limbo; Kaneda criticizes slow code updates |
| Melvin Louwers | person | Designer of Alice in Wonderland for Dutch Pinball; Kaneda directly advises him to add experimental code features |
| Barry Eldredge | person | Associated with Back to the Future pinball development; Kaneda speculates on manufacturing partnership delays and questions business strategy |
| Heighway Pinball | company | Producing unreleased game rumored to be Dune; Kaneda criticizes theme selection strategy and questions David Van Wyk's market research |
| David Van Wyk | person | Associated with Heighway Pinball; criticized by Kaneda for prioritizing maker preferences over community demand |
| American Pinball | company | Referenced as cautionary tale of questionable theme selection and lack of market research |
| Keith Elwin | person | Pinball designer; Kaneda mentions Elwin and Stern Pinball's interest in Back to the Future manufacturing |
| George Gomez | person | Stern executive; Kaneda criticizes his role in hiring Gen Z market research company that rejected Back to the Future |
| Seth Davis | person | Associated with Stern Pinball decision-making; cited alongside Gomez for Back to the Future rejection |
| Padretti Gaming | company | Planning to remake Tales of the Arabian Nights in 2025 |
| Wison | person | Code programmer for Stern X-Men; Kaneda criticizes as lacking proven track record and magical coding ability |
| James Cameron's Avatar (Limited Edition) | game | Jersey Jack Pinball machine; CE units experiencing UV ink failure in tattoos on Na'vi characters despite marketing claims |
| Dungeons & Dragons | game | Stern Pinball title; early units showing broken dragon mechanisms; receiving code updates every Sunday |
| The Uncanny X-Men | game | Stern Pinball machine with 6+ months development time; fundamental code issues; Kaneda recommends abandoning |
| Evil Dead | game | Spooky Pinball machine; receiving positive quality reception and elevated manufacturing standards |
| Alice in Wonderland | game | Dutch Pinball machine; 500 units produced; no code updates for 5+ months; slow trickling release strategy expected |
| Back to the Future | game | Long-delayed pinball project under Dutch Pinball/Barry Eldredge; uncertain manufacturing future; expected no release in 2025 |
| Pulp Fiction | game | Chicago Gaming Company title; trading at cost in secondary market with dead FOMO |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Marketing deception and consumer expectations, Manufacturing quality control and production delays, Game code quality and developer capability, Pinball pricing unsustainability and market saturation
- **Secondary:** Secondary market depreciation and FOMO dynamics, Boutique vs. mass manufacturer competition strategy, IP licensing constraints and manufacturing partnerships
- **Mentioned:** Consumer sentiment shifts toward purchasing restraint

### Sentiment

**Negative** (-0.68) — Kaneda expresses frustration with industry practices (marketing deception, rushing games, pricing), pessimism about game quality (X-Men, D&D dragon failures), concern about sustainability (Alice code updates, Back to the Future delays), and resignation about hobby affordability. Tempered by some optimism about Spooky Pinball and Evil Dead quality, but overall tone is critical and cautionary about market direction.

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** Alice in Wonderland from Dutch Pinball showing concerning lack of development communication with zero code updates for 5+ months since Pinball Expo; sustainability of value proposition in question (confidence: medium) — Kaneda asks directly: 'Have you seen a code update on Alice? Have you seen anything new on the game? You haven't. And that's a little bit concerning to me'
- **[business_signal]** Manufacturing capacity constraints significantly limit independent producer viability; even optimistic 10-15 games/week output vastly underperforms Stern's 800/week capability (confidence: high) — Kaneda questions Barry Eldredge's Back to the Future strategy: 'What then? What happens when you get like 8,000 orders...and you're making 10 to 15 games a week?'
- **[design_philosophy]** X-Men game fundamentally unsalvageable due to core code architecture issues; community hope for code updates unrealistic given developer track record and Stern resource allocation priorities (confidence: high) — Kaneda explicitly recommends players 'get out while you can' and attributes failure to coder Wison's lack of proven capabilities combined with Stern prioritizing King Kong and D&D
- **[licensing_signal]** Back to the Future licensing negotiations (DeLorean, Huey Lewis, actor likenesses) creating extended development delays and manufacturing partnership uncertainty (confidence: medium) — Kaneda mentions George Gomez/Seth Davis hiring Gen Z research firm that rejected Back to the Future, suggesting licensing complexity contributed to strategic delays
- **[market_signal]** Pulp Fiction secondary market showing zero FOMO with games trading at cost; indicates weak collector demand despite Chicago Gaming Company's production efforts (confidence: high) — Kaneda observes Pulp Fiction trading at cost in secondary market; explicitly states 'The FOMO is dead on this game'
- **[market_signal]** Pinball hobby experiencing fundamental affordability crisis with standard non-rare machines priced at $13K-$15K; represents unsustainable market ceiling for mass consumers and potential hobby market contraction (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'One pinball machine that's not even rare, that's not even special, is $13,000 to $15,000. Hello, jump the shark pinball hobby' and personal decision to avoid purchases due to apartment sale
- **[product_strategy]** Back to the Future pinball remains in licensing limbo with uncertain manufacturing partner and no anticipated release in 2025; Kaneda speculates Dutch Pinball may not be final manufacturer (confidence: medium) — Kaneda states 'we're definitely not going to see Back to the Future anytime in 2025' and questions whether Barry Eldredge has inked deal with Stern or Jersey Jack
- **[product_concern]** Dungeons & Dragons Limited Edition units experiencing immediate mechanical failure of dragon mechanism in early deliveries (confidence: high) — Kaneda directly observed D&D unit in wild with broken dragon 'right away' after delivery
- **[product_concern]** Avatar CE units failing UV ink implementation as marketed; tattoos on Na'vi characters not glowing under UV despite marketing materials showing bright illumination achieved through additional studio lighting during photography (confidence: high) — Kaneda compares owner photos to marketing materials showing dramatic difference in UV tattoo visibility; describes as 'bait and switch'
- **[sentiment_shift]** Emerging 'No Buy 2025' social media movement indicating consumer fatigue with pinball market saturation and pricing; represents generational shift toward purchasing restraint (confidence: medium) — Kaneda cites TikTok trend and acknowledges personal participation due to apartment sale and inability to justify $13K-$15K expenditures
- **[business_signal]** Spooky Pinball positioned as one mainstream theme away from breakthrough market success; Evil Dead quality uptick indicates manufacturing capability ready for larger-market appeal (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'I think Spooky Pinball is one mainstream theme away from really knocking it out of the park...when that day happens, you're going to see a day one sellout'
- **[technology_signal]** Stern Pinball quality testing at new factory inadequate; company rushing games to market ahead of thorough QA, creating early-failure risk for Limited Edition buyers (confidence: medium) — Kaneda states: 'We all know that Stern seems to be rushing the games to market a little bit. We know the quality testing at the new factory isn't the greatest'

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## Transcript

 Oh, let's go fly a kite up to the highest height. Let's go fly a kite and send it soaring. Welcome everybody back to Canadian Spinball Podcast. I'm recovering but I'm here to tell everybody, I don't know for how long I've been coughing so hard. I'm almost like hesitant to tell everybody this. I've been coughing so hard that it has basically weakened my abdominal wall, which has then caused me, get ready for it, to have a hernia. I have a freaking hernia. My insides are pushing through my abdominal wall and now I'm going to have to go get surgery for that. Yeah. Did you know this? Like a chronic cough can actually lead to a hernia. I feel like an old man and I need to be an old man to afford the prices of these pinball machines. Let's talk about what's going on in the pinball world. It was a little bit of an off week, but we're back in the saddle. We're going to talk about everything going on in pinball and we need to be. We're only at 705 subscribers, everybody. My goal of getting to 800 is moving in the wrong direction, but I'm not surprised. There hasn't been much news. There hasn't been much to really get everybody going. We're going to get there. Trust me, I think this month, it's February, I think we might see Harry Potter at the end of this month. We're going to see Alice's go out the door soon. We're going to see if this Dungeons and Dragons dragon holds up under normal gameplay. I was just looking at one of these units out in the wild and the dragon was broken right away. That's not a good sign for people waiting for the game. We've got all these Pulp Fictions going out. We've got a lot happening in pinball. So let's just go around the horn on this episode of Canada's Pinball Podcast and talk about everything going on. So let's start with Avatar. The CE owners are finally starting to get their games and my gosh, they are gorgeous games. There's no denying the fact that when you look at one of these avatar pinball machines you look at the armor you look at the colors you look at the topper you just look at the machine right just stand back look at the machine and it is one of the most spectacular looking pinball machines i think i've ever seen now look everything else around the game you know how i feel the one thing i just want to say is this if you ordered an avatar CE. I really hope you have fun and you enjoy your game. Because if you don't have fun and you don't enjoy your game, you're going to lose a lot of money on the machine. You just know this, people. And I just want to say, irregardless of if you love the machine or if it's fun or not, I still think the story of this game, and I mean this, is going to come down to the fact that the marketing around it lied to everybody about what was going to be in the game. Don't you think it was so disingenuous to bring in extra UV lighting to hook everybody on what this game was going to look like if you put it in your game room? Remember, they never told you that they brought in a lot of additional UV lighting when they took your order, your non-refundable order, and now it's crystal clear, everybody. The UV ink in this game doesn't work well at all. And I mean that, at all. Like, when you look at the avatar figures, all of their tattoos in the marketing materials around the game, they're all lit up super bright when the UV hits. And then you look at actual owners in a pitch black game room showing you their avatar, and all those characters are dark as can be. There's no lighting up of their tattoos in UV glory. So they bait and switched everybody. But you know what? As I read the thread, I don't think these owners care. I think they're just going to justify their games and they're going to have their fun. And that's cool. You know, look, I've been following not just like our hobby. I've been going on to a lot more reels talking about the car industry, talking about the watch industry. Let me tell you something. You think we lose a lot of money When we lose $3,000 to $5,000 on the top of the line pinball machine, the creme de la creme game, right? That's what we've been losing. Go look at the Ferrari buyers. I know it's not the same thing, but the average Ferrari buyer that bought into the FOMO, that's been buying every Ferrari so they can get access to the super special ones, all those Ferrari owners are now losing $300,000 to $400,000 on the cars they bought. I mean, spending $600,000 on a car that becomes worth like $300,000. So look, maybe it's not so bad over in our little pinball corner. All right. So after Avatar, though, all eyes are going to be on Harry Potter. It's not even worth speculating whether or not it's the next game. It's the next game and we might just see it in a few weeks. All right, let's go over to Stern Pinball. So I still for some reason can't understand one thing happening in the Stern Pinball thread. Why does everybody still think that the Uncanny X-Men game is going to have some 180 moment? And I'm just here to tell each and every one of you, I think it's time to just give up on this game. You've now had over six months of waiting for this game to develop. The problem is, is the entire foundation of the code is the problem. This isn't like Lyman Sheets and he's doing Batman and it's taken a really long time and he just needs more time. This is Wison This guy never really coded anything that given you that magical feeling and you think he going to do it now especially when Stern has allocated most of the resources over there to King Kong to games like Dungeons and Dragons They're not going to keep swinging at X-Men because it's like the perfect storm of what can go wrong. it's got mechanical issues that haven't fully been solved and it's got software issues that are just one of the biggest sort of head scratchers in recent years in pinball and then what happens is is you lose the enthusiasm from the community and how do you think they're going to get it back gang they're not going to get it back and every time i go into the thread and every time i read my chat it's still filled with like x-men people really hoping and praying that this game is going to have some sort of convalescence that it's going to turn around. And I'm just here to say to every one of you, I would just get out while you can. Just get out while you can. If there is some miracle one day and they do make this game amazing, guess what? You'll be able to march right back in and get the game for less money. But I would get out now. Now, I think what makes this so painful is the game is so beautiful, right? It's so beautiful. X-Men LE is one of the most stunning Stern machines of all time. And that's why you want it, right? You want the game itself to match the beauty of the game that you're looking at, but it's just not. The masterpiece is not there. And so as we watch these Dungeons and Dragons LEs make their way out into the world, that's another exciting thing. It feels like the game was just revealed. Stern is going to make all 740 LEs at the beginning. And I just hope the quality holds up for these D&D games. I can't wait to play one because they do make the LEs first. It's interesting now. It's actually a longer wait now for most of us to get on a game and just see if we like it. It takes longer now, now that the LEs are made first, but I still agree that the LEs should be made first. It is now the biggest gamble in all the pinball, if you run in on these $13,000 LEs and there might be a quality issue or the game might not be that great, you're the guinea pig. Like you're the high price guinea pig now. But I think overall, the consensus on D&D is it's a really good effort from Stern Pinball. I don't think the LE package is really that awesome. I don't really care for it. I think there's been a lot nicer games that have come out recently, but it still feels like it's going to be a game that holds enough people over as we wait for King Kong. And also, gang, we got to be careful. I fell victim to this. There's going to be a lot, and I mean this, a lot of really good AI-generated fake news in the world of pinball. Someone sent me a Ghostbusters trailer, right? It's coming back, and it looked really good, and then you realize it's fake. but man this AI can do really amazing stuff it can actually recreate new cabinet artwork it can recreate those stern launch videos it can do everything that we've seen in the world of pinball marketing exactly the way we're used to seeing it maybe a little bit of that is because the pinball marketing is so bad so it's easy for AI to recreate it but there's going to be a lot of this we're seeing it all over social media fake movie trailers fake this fake that and the same thing is going to happen to pinball. So for us pinball content creators, we're going to have to be a lot more patient in sort of sharing this stuff because most of it is going to be fake. All right. So we got D&D out there in the world. We're going to get these code updates like every Sunday. Here's something I've been reading about in the D&D space. So a lot of D&D fanatics, a lot of you guys are so used to having a booklet and a manual that is like a map of the Dungeons and Dragons world and the universe. But here's the problem. Because Stern Pinball is going to manipulate those dungeons every week, you're not going to be able to have like a manual where you can sort of play along with the game the way you're used to with D&D because it's always going to be changing. What I think Stern should give people is sort of like a manual or a templatized dungeon book that just has like a hundred different pages of the dungeon and the different places things could be. And they should give you a chance to sort of mark down in the manual what this week's dungeon layout is, because I think that would be fun for D&D fanatics. Ultimately, I think this game is going to go down as a really solid effort from Stern Pinball. And I just hope the quality is there. Because as I mentioned, there was an Ellie on location and the dragon was broken right away. That's not a good sign. We all know that Stern seems to be rushing games to market a little bit. We know the quality testing at the new factory isn't the greatest. For pinball, you kind of got to get it right. Because if the quality is not there and only one mechanism goes down, the entire game goes down. So it's not one of these things where you can live with a few headaches. You really want to make sure the game is playing right. So after D&D, we're going to wait for King Kong. And I don't think King Kong is going to be earlier than May of this year. So I think we've got a little bit of a wait. Let's go over to Spooky Pinball. Evil Dead's are going out the door. These games look phenomenal. Every time I see these games, I want one more and more. The quality of these games, I'm hearing good things about it. People have walked up to this game and they're starting to say it doesn't feel like a spooky game anymore. It feels like they've really dialed up the premium nature of the game. That's really, really good. And I think we're going to see a lot more people, even if you don't love Evil Dead, you might want to think about putting this game in your collection I think spooky pinball is one mainstream theme away from really knocking it out of the park They really are like they gonna put it all together They got everything they need right now. Now they just need a theme that more of us really, really want. And I know they're going to get there. And I'm super excited because when that day happens, you're going to see a day one sellout and you're going to see a game that never leaves people's game rooms. I mean it. We just want a theme that speaks to us, that has a little bit more nostalgia. And it's like a movie or a film property that you want to watch over and over again. Is it going to be Beetlejuice? Is it going to be the Goonies? I don't think it's going to be the Goonies. I think it's going to be Beetlejuice. And then that's going to be it, right? There's not going to be much news from spooky pinball for the rest of the year. They make a game, they make it all year, and that's it. Now, all eyes on Barrels of Fun. They've got a new game coming out any month now. The rumor is it is Dune. The overall consensus from a lot of people is you don't want Dune. And if it is Dune, and it's the new Dune movie franchise, I think David David Van Es is going to have to sort of hit pause a little bit. Because even though he's making money and even though he's built a solid machine, I think there's a little bit of an issue with I'm going to make games that I want to make, not necessarily games that the community wants. And, you know, we've seen this before, right? I don't want to see Barrels of Fun turn into the next American pinball. When you think about it, it's like questionable themes, things they wanted to make, no real market research. You could even argue the same thing about Spooky Pinball, right? Making stuff that's their wheelhouse, you know, and then the moment they actually make something a little bit more mainstream, Rick and Morty, look at the frenzy to get one. then you get stuff like Rob Zombie, Alice Cooper. That's not really, if you want to move units, that's not really where you should end up with your theme selection. I just don't know anymore now, right? Barrels of Fun was like the biggest mystery for an entire year. Then they dropped Labyrinth onto the world. I don't hear people talk about Labyrinth that much. I mean, it's a solid game. I like the innovations in the game. The screen underneath the glass is really cool. Lots of opportunity there. I just want to see these guys, again, make a theme that excites us. Now, talking about making a theme that excites us, I feel like all conversation around Back to the Future has stopped. Have you noticed this? It's like Dutch Pinball X is going to make Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, but parallel to that, development of Back to the Future, I think, is going to be a huge thing happening in the world of pinball. Now, I don't know what the latest is on whether or not Barry has inked a deal with like a Stern pinball or a Jersey Jack pinball, but the latest I heard is that he's going to make the game. Fine. All right. It's almost like I'm at the point now where like, fine, Barry, if you're going to make it, go make it. But geez, it has to be special, right? It has to elevate. It has to feel the same way and land the same way that Lebowski landed 12 years ago. The problem now is it's been 12 years. There was no Keith Elwin making games back then. Stern wasn't firing on all cylinders like they are now. The problem now, too, is like pinball is so damn expensive. Our expectations are through the roof. People remember when Lebowski first came out, it was $8,500. Now it's like $13,500. It's $5,000 more money for the same exact freaking game. Now, Back to the Future is a theme where money almost doesn't matter. People are just willing to throw anything at this theme. But I'm curious to see how this whole thing develops. Knowing that Keith Elwin and Stern Pinball wanted to make it or help them make the game, I'm really nervous because if they go make it themselves, what then, right? What then? What happens when you get like 8,000 orders, 5,000 orders, and you're making 10 to 15 games a week? Think about that for a minute. That's the best they can do. Stern can make 800 games a week. So why would you, if you're Barry, why would you want to like spend five years of your life when you could just let Stern make the game, get a royalty on everyone sold, make a few million dollars and just chill. I don't understand why he won't do that. It's like he wants to prove something. And if I were him, the only thing I would prove is what a multi-million dollar mistake it was that George Gomez and Seth Davis hired a Gen Z market research company to tell them that nobody wanted Back to the Future. All right, so we're definitely not going to see Back to the Future anytime in 2025. And these Alice's, hopefully we see the first Alice off the line this month in February. They are now cutting it close on whether or not they can get all the Alice's built in 2025 before people are offered a refund. Now, I still think they're going to get it done. It's seeming like Alice might hold value better than people thought. I think what might help it is how they are going to slowly trickle out. So there's never going to be like 500 Alice's available in the world until maybe this time next year. I think that's going to help them significantly. But I'll say this, I'm going to be honest. If this game isn't fun and it's just beautiful, but there's no substance and it gets boring quickly this game not going to hold value People are going to want to get rid of it because a lot of really fun stuff is coming A lot of really fun stuff with huge themes and great toys and much better integration and a lot of replay value is coming. And so I just don't think there's room in people's lineups for just eye candy anymore. You've got to give people a lot more. Like, for example, there's a lot more happening in Evil Dead than Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I even think Evil Dead looks even better. And look, and Alice was always supposed to be this sort of like work of art. And I tell this to Melvin every day. I still think they're making too many. I think 500 was too many. And I think since Expo, people, like it was like October, November, December, January, February. That was five months ago. Have you seen a code update on Alice? Have you seen anything new on the game? You haven't. And that's a little bit concerning to me. I wish they would have shown more stuff and why you should get excited about the game. Now, they don't have to because they sold every one. But still, what is the final version of this game going to be? And my advice to Melvin is just start doing weird stuff with the code. It's a really weird place, Wonderland, and get freaky with it. Then we've got this other Al this game from Wonderland Amusement. Someone sent me an email. Sorry, I don't have my email up right now. Being like, Kaneda, you should take a look at this game. Imagine if they can make this for $1,200, what they could do for $3,000. And I'm sorry, but I just can't take any Kickstarter seriously. I can't. I can't take a Kickstarter in the world of pinball seriously. Because you know what? It's like, how are they going to make this thing for $1,200? How? How are they going to make it for $1,200? And how are they going to get it into a box? And how are they going to develop everything and make it ready for production for $1,200 when a freaking Stern topper? Remember this, a Stern topper is $2,000 and these guys want to sell a fully featured pinball machine for $1,200. It's cheaper than a Stern topper by $800. If they can pull this off, more power to them. But here's the thing is they can't pull it off. They need your money. They need my money. They need Kickstarter money and I just can't get behind it. If they do pull it off and they put this game into the world, I think it's great. I do think it's great. I can't have a pinball podcast about our love of pinball and then be mad that someone's going to give people an entry level pinball experience. I hope they figure it out. The biggest crime is not what these guys are doing. The biggest crime is that idiots are spending $2,000 on toppers when these guys are going to show us that you can make a full pinball machine for less than that. All right. What else is happening real quick in Canada's Pinball Podcast? We've got these Pulp Fictions going out to people. That's great. I'm seeing a lot of them trade hands for at cost. That's also good. It's good. The FOMO is dead on this game. If you want one, you can get one. That's really good news. What's next from CGC? More Medieval Madnesses. They're going to do Twilight Zone and they're going to do Halo. Padretti Gaming is going to remake Tales of the Arabian Nights this year. Have you noticed on Pinside all of a sudden a lot more totems are popping up for sale? Why do you think that is? Because it's going to be remade. Is it going to be as good as the Bally Williams game? No. But it's going to have better lighting. It'll have a better display. And I really hope they don't mess around with the artwork. They're probably going to. But man, it's like more is coming. More, more, more, more, more. You know, there's a new social media movement called No Buy 2025. This is happening all throughout TikTok. A lot of people are coming to the conclusion that their lives would be better if they didn't buy more stuff in 2025. And I think that's going to be a challenge for everybody in the pinball space because you're going to want to buy Harry Potter. You're going to want to buy King Kong. But for the most part, all these other projects, more this, more that, remakes of this, I think it's going to be a really hard space to sell us on. Another pinball machine is what we need. You know, everybody, we don't need more. And you know that. And you've got games that you've never seen the end of. And you want new games. You want more this, more that. I don't know. I think a lot of us, as we get older, are just going to learn to be happy with what we have. Enjoy what we have. Let the newbie suckers lose so much money on new in box games. And if you really want something, you'll easily be able to get it for three to $4,000 less money if you just wait a year. So yeah, Canada is going to subscribe to this no buy 2025, not by choice. I did sell my apartment. My reality now is I just can't take like 13 to $15,000 and even think about buying a pinball machine. There's just so much else I would rather allocate that money to. It's crazy when you say it, right? One pinball machine that's not even rare, that's not even special, is $13,000 to $15,000. Hello, Jump the Shark pinball hobby. Kaneda out. Let's go buy a pint. Let's do the buy a pint. Let's go, fire kind, and send this glory out Through the atmosphere, up where the air is clear Oh, let's go, fire kind

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 5abf6094-c1f3-49f4-9d80-0fbf370c2c95*