# Episode 697: "Played Toy Story 4. Why It Devastates Me"

**Source:** Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2022-07-18  
**Duration:** 32m 46s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-697-toy-69246531

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## Analysis

Kaneda delivers a scathing critique of Jersey Jack Pinball's Toy Story 4 machine after playing it extensively at Jack Bar, arguing it fails to capture the film's story and themes despite excellent shooting mechanics. He criticizes the lack of mechanical toys, poor thematic storytelling, and wasteful use of the 27-inch LCD screen, contrasting it unfavorably with Lord of the Rings (2004) and questioning whether $15,000 pricing is justified. He also discusses Jack Guarnieri's recent interview regarding development choices and expresses broader concerns about pinball pricing and collector culture.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Toy Story 4 is the best shooting Jersey Jack Pinball machine to date, superior to Wizard of Oz, Hobbit, Dialed In, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory — _Kaneda's direct gameplay assessment after 15+ games at Jack Bar_
- [HIGH] The game fails to tell the Toy Story 4 story, focusing overwhelmingly on a carnival setting that is minor in the film, instead of the antique shop where most of the movie takes place — _Kaneda's detailed narrative analysis comparing movie plot to game content_
- [HIGH] Jersey Jack Pinball has zero assets from the Toy Story 4 film (no character clips, no interactions between characters) — _Kaneda's observation of screen content and LCD implementation_
- [MEDIUM] The 27-inch LCD screen is the laziest use of screen space in pinball history and is cost-cutting rather than enhancement — _Kaneda's critique of screen placement, angle, and functionality_
- [MEDIUM] Lord of the Rings (2004) tells a better story with a DMD than Toy Story 4 does with a massive LCD screen, despite being 18 years older — _Kaneda's comparative analysis of storytelling and theme integration_
- [MEDIUM] There are twice as many Toy Story 4 Collector's Editions produced compared to Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory CEs — _Kaneda's reference to production numbers in context of market saturation_
- [MEDIUM] Jack Guarnieri originally planned Toy Story 1-3 before switching to Toy Story 4, and chose to make Willy Wonka instead due to licensing window competition — _Kaneda discussing Jack's recent interview statements_
- [MEDIUM] A secondhand Toy Story 4 Elite version is already selling for $11,000, saving $1,000 off new CE pricing — _Kaneda's reference to Pinside secondary market listing_
- [HIGH] The Bo Peep spinner shot is hidden behind the antique shop plastic, making it invisible from the player's viewpoint — _Kaneda's hands-on playfield observation and design critique_
- [MEDIUM] Adjusting for inflation, a $3,700 Lord of the Rings machine (2004) would cost $5,800 today, meaning $15,000 pinball machines represent massive pricing inflation beyond equipment cost increases — _Kaneda's inflation-adjusted price analysis_

### Notable Quotes

> "This game is primarily built around a carnival game... It's such a bad interpretation of the film itself. And I just don't think Jersey Jack Pinball really understands storytelling."
> — **Kaneda**, mid-episode
> _Core thesis: JJP prioritized wrong thematic element (carnival over antique shop story)_

> "Why is it that The Lord of the Rings with a DMD not even an LCD screen... could tell you more of the story and could connect to the movies better than this does with a humongous 27 inch LCD screen TV?"
> — **Kaneda**, mid-episode
> _Directly challenges modern LCD assumption as storytelling improvement_

> "This is the laziest use of screen I've ever seen in a pinball machine ever... Instead, they put a $30 screen on it [where they could have put a mechanical toy]."
> — **Kaneda**, mid-episode
> _Characterizes design choice as cost-cutting rather than enhancement_

> "I'm devastated. This isn't good. This isn't good. This isn't how Toy Story pinball should be."
> — **Kaneda**, near-end of critique section
> _Emotional culmination of critical assessment_

> "I just think it's funny that even Steven Bowden who's an employee at American Pinball is going on shows helping to sell products of his competitor."
> — **Kaneda**, final section
> _Calls out potential conflict of interest in competitor appearing on media to praise JJP_

> "I was telling people months ago that Stern had Jaws that there were no assets they had for the game... and now Jack when he's out there saying like he could have gotten the Jaws license but it was just the movie poster."
> — **Kaneda**, final section
> _Claims prior knowledge of Jaws licensing limitations, seeks credibility_

> "Pinball was meant to be played out and about. It was meant to bring us together. It wasn't meant to be this thing that we need to own and it's crazy like these prices are out of control."
> — **Kaneda**, closing section
> _Broader critique of hobby pricing and cultural shift away from location play_

> "I don't want to buy any pinball machine anymore for twelve to fifteen thousand dollars not when i'm looking at the state of the economy not when i look into my little boy's eyes"
> — **Kaneda**, closing section
> _Personal/family justification for stepping back from collector mindset_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Manufacturer of Toy Story 4 machine; subject of extensive critique for storytelling failure and design choices |
| Toy Story 4 | game | Jersey Jack Pinball's latest major release; Kaneda's primary subject; criticized for poor theme integration despite solid shooting mechanics |
| Pat Lawlor | person | Designer of Toy Story 4 playfield layout; praised for shooting mechanics but criticized for storytelling execution |
| Jack Guarnieri | person | Founder/owner of Jersey Jack Pinball; gave recent interview about game development decisions; claims he originally planned Toy Story 1-3 |
| Kaneda | person | Host/creator of Kaneda's Pinball Podcast; recording episode at 4:50 AM after sleeping on couch; primary voice of critique |
| Jack Bar | venue | Location where Kaneda played Toy Story 4 for 15+ games and formed detailed impressions |
| Lord of the Rings | game | 2004 Stern Pinball machine used as benchmark for superior storytelling and theme integration compared to Toy Story 4 |
| Jurassic Park | game | Stern Pinball machine cited as example of effective theme integration without full movie assets |
| Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory | game | Jersey Jack Pinball game; Kaneda suggests elements (Etch A Sketch/WonkaVision) may have been repurposed into Toy Story 4; licensing chose this over original Toy Story plans |
| Wizard of Oz | game | Jersey Jack Pinball game cited as clunkier to shoot than Toy Story 4 |
| Pirates of the Caribbean | game | Jersey Jack Pinball game; cited as more confusing for casual players than Toy Story 4 |
| Guns N' Roses | game | Stern Pinball game cited as having superior assets, lightshow, and theme integration compared to Toy Story 4 |
| Game of Thrones | game | Premium edition Stern game mentioned as alternative if someone just wants good flow |
| TNA | game | Spooky Pinball game; lightshow referenced as having set industry standard but now common |
| Rick and Morty | game | Referenced as fast-draining game and for setting lightshow expectations |
| This Week in Pinball | media | Pinball news outlet; Kaneda references interviews and news coverage, mentions Twippies Awards |
| Pinside | website/platform | Pinball community forum where Kaneda saw $11k Toy Story 4 Elite listing; community discussion platform |
| Steven Bowden | person | Employee at American Pinball; Kaneda criticizes him for appearing on media outlets to praise competitor Jersey Jack Pinball |
| Stern Pinball | company | Competitor manufacturer; Jaws machine mentioned; pricing comparison point ($15k JJP vs lower Stern prices) |
| Jaws | game | Stern Pinball machine; Kaneda claims to have reported months ago it lacks movie assets, would be like Jurassic Park |
| American Pinball | company | Competitor manufacturer; employee Steven Bowden criticized for cross-promotion |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Theme integration and storytelling in pinball design, Jersey Jack Pinball game quality and design philosophy, LCD screen implementation and cost-cutting in modern pinball, Pinball machine pricing and collector market dynamics, Toy Story 4 machine gameplay mechanics and shooting feel
- **Secondary:** Mechanical toy implementation vs. screen-based gameplay, Licensing decisions and their business impact, Historical comparison of pinball machines and design standards

### Sentiment

**Negative** (-0.78) — Kaneda is deeply disappointed and frustrated with Toy Story 4, using language like 'devastated,' 'lazy,' 'inane,' and 'colossal marketing failure.' However, he acknowledges specific positives (shooting mechanics, flipper feel, aesthetics) and maintains measured, thoughtful tone throughout despite sleep deprivation. Closing segment shifts to broader existential critique of hobby pricing and culture rather than pure negativity. Overall sentiment is critical but not hostile.

### Signals

- **[design_philosophy]** Kaneda articulates design philosophy critique: modern pinball has abandoned narrative coherence through physical playfield design in favor of LCD screens; cites Lord of the Rings as model of effective thematic translation (confidence: high) — Why is it 18 years ago we can recreate The Lord of the Rings in a way that blows Toy Story away? / The greatest way to tell a story via pinball isn't even on the screen. It's on the physical playfield.
- **[product_concern]** Toy Story 4 misses core thematic elements: no mechanical toys, carnival focus instead of antique shop, invisible shots (Bo Peep spinner), generic music-on-loop approach (confidence: high) — There's absolutely no mechanical toys from the movie itself that you interact with in this game / The antique shop is represented in this game as a scoop and a flat piece of plastic over it. And that's it.
- **[design_innovation]** LCD screen placement criticized as laziest design choice in pinball history; occupies excessive real estate, sits at awkward angle, adds minimal gameplay value (confidence: high) — This is the laziest use of screen I've ever seen in a pinball machine ever / Instead, they put a $30 screen on it [where they could have put a mechanical toy].
- **[market_signal]** Toy Story 4 CEs flooding secondary market at discounted prices ($11k for Elite version); oversupply relative to Willy Wonka CEs suggests dealer inventory concerns (confidence: medium) — There's twice as many of them as Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory CEs / I just saw on Pinside a guy is selling a brand new like 10 plays Elite version of Toy Story for $11,000
- **[product_strategy]** Kaneda questions $15k pricing through inflation-adjusted analysis: equivalent 2004 machine would have cost $5,800 inflation-adjusted; industry pricing exceeded cost inflation significantly (confidence: medium) — Something that cost $3700 in 2004 should cost us $5800 today... $9,500 people and if you went back to 2004 and you ask people to spend $9,500 on a pinball machine the entire hobby would be over
- **[industry_signal]** Cross-company appearance by American Pinball employee (Steven Bowden) on media praising competitor (Jersey Jack Pinball); flagged as conflict of interest and lack of professional standards (confidence: medium) — I just think it's funny that even Steven Bowden who's an employee at American Pinball is going on shows helping to sell products of his competitor.
- **[machine_intel]** Jack Guarnieri revealed development timeline: originally planned Toy Story 1-3 in 2014, switched to make Willy Wonka due to licensing window competition, then pivoted to Toy Story 4 when it released unexpectedly (confidence: medium) — back in 2014 they originally had Toy Story 1 through 3... the Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (Standard Edition) license had a short time period and there was a lot of competition for it to go first
- **[design_innovation]** Key character shot (Bo Peep spinner) is hidden behind antique shop plastic, making it invisible from player viewpoint; represents poor playfield design for casual accessibility (confidence: high) — The Bo Peep spinner which you hit with the upper right flipper it is absolutely hidden behind the antique shop plastic. You can't see it. You cannot see the spinner at all from your player point of view.
- **[sentiment_shift]** Kaneda notes broader shift in pinball community away from positive collecting culture; concerns about dealer inventory, collector anxiety, and loss of joy in the hobby (confidence: medium) — I know there's a lot of people that are nervous now there's a lot of dealers are going to be stuck with inventory / Pinball was meant to be played out and about. It wasn't meant to be this thing that we need to own
- **[rumor_hype]** Kaneda claims to have reported Stern's Jaws limitations (movie poster only, no assets) months before Jack Guarnieri's recent interview confirmed it (confidence: medium) — I was telling people months ago that Stern had Jaws that there were no assets they had for the game... and now Jack when he's out there saying like he could have gotten the Jaws license but it was just the movie poster
- **[gameplay_signal]** Toy Story 4 achieves best casual-friendly shooting mechanics of any Jersey Jack machine; however, this accessibility masks poor theme integration and story progression (confidence: high) — The game does shoot really nicely. This is the best shooting Jersey Jack Pinball pinball machine to date. If you're a casual pinball fan, you will have more fun playing this Jersey Jack machine than any other Jersey Jack machine ever.

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## Transcript

 Welcome everybody to Kenaida's Pinball Podcast. It is 4.50 in the morning, Monday morning. I've been sleeping on the couch for two nights so Killian can get a better night's sleep. For some reason when I roll around I wake them up. So don't ever say I'm not dedicated to this pinball podcast. I took an uber to work so I can make this show for you. Cause I couldn't sleep and I just wanted to get my thoughts about Toy Story Pinball. I played it this weekend for over an hour at Jack Bar. Put about 15 games on it I would say. And I want to share with you why I feel personally deep down in my pinball soul devastation. And I'm going to explain to you why this game devastates me. I'm not all bad. I'm going to tell you the things I liked about the game. I'm going to tell you the things that I wasn't really sure about. But I'm going to overall sort of summarize my feelings on this game as being a devastating game for someone like me that loves Toy Story. And I'm going to explain why in a very even keel way. I know there's a lot of interviews with Jack Guarnari going around lately. Thank you to people on Pinside and other pinball news websites for summarizing said interview. But I want to address some of that stuff as well on this episode of Kineadispinball. Out Pinball Podcast and then I want to get on to what's next in pinball because look not every game is going to make each of us happy. Not every game is a game we need to buy and I had fun playing Toy Story Pinball, but the thing is it's okay if a game comes out and it doesn't light our world on fire. It's okay if a game comes out and we don't feel compelled to spend a lot of money on it. I think it's actually a relief for many of us out there when a new game comes out that we just don't want to buy. I had a lot of fun going to Jack Bar having a frozen margarita and benchmarkedby And you love a game and you want to buy a game, do that. And if you love Toy Story 4 and you want to buy it and you want to own it, do that. What you're about to hear is just my opinion and I think some people value it, some people hate it, but here's my opinion about this game and then we'll talk about the Jersey Jack interview and then I'll let you go because I got to taxi it back home and wake Killian up. So my overall thoughts are this. The game does shoot really nicely. This is the best shooting Jersey Jack pinball machine to date. If you're a casual pinball fan, you will have more fun playing this Jerseyjackmachine than any other Jerseyjackmachine ever. It is more fun than Wizard ofOz, which is a clunky game to shoot. It's more fun than The Hobbit, which has absolutely zero interesting shots in the entire game. It's more fun to shoot than Dialed In because it's easier and more approachable. It is more fun to shoot than Pirates of the Caribbean. You know, if you're a casual person and you still walk up to Pirates of the Caribbean, You will absolutely still be confused by that game if you're a casual player. It is a better game to shoot than Willy Wonka which is arguably Jersey Jack Pinball's second best shooting game of all time because Willy Wonka is still a little bit harder than Toy Story. I mean the Toy Story shots are pretty easy to hit. It's an easy game to shoot from a layout standpoint. It is a more fun game to shoot than Guns N' Roses. It just is. The shots are better. They feel better. So everything about the game layout and the feel of the game absolutely I think Pat Lawler did a great job with the layout. Like you will have a fun time shooting this game. But my issue with this game is not about the design and the layout. My issue with this game and the reason why I am devastated and this is a little bit ironic if you will. This game is based on toy story and I think the reason why this game is so devastating to me is the two things that this game does not have. The two things that it gets All wrong are the toys and the Story. See I've been harping on the lack of toys because the lack of toys is easy. You could just look down at the game and know that there are hardly any toys. There's actually no mechanical toys from the movie itself that you interact with in this game. So it's got no mechanical toys that create a wow under the glass. But that's not the real issue I had. When I walked up to the machine and I remember this movie and like some of you out there, I still like this movie. Like this movie wasn't bad. It wasn't Strangekidspect gaat L' Nicolasyss, Ekord este, Rest 53ºć, Dub Assembly Wsł통 mushientoslookedTalynrost rapidlymusic��가 jurors upwards Booksigue dive doușivedamyjnajc 여기까지 fireawplin parecerp политical körключiイ desireskyriełarkh ꃣççççšçšççšçšçcšçšççšççšçjšçlççăšççççšçесçççë Italian games pineball pegarallu They are not telling you the story you remember from Toy Story 4. It's like some sort of weird interpretation by Joe Katz and Pat Lawler that this is Toy Story 4. Like this game is primarily built around a carnival game. I want to do something real quick. I want to read to you what the Toy Story 4 movie is about. So basically the plot of Toy Story 4 is Andy hands his toys over to Bonnie and And Woody doesn't really feel love so he sneaks into her backpack and he goes into her kindergarten class and that's where she makes Forky. And then they go on this road trip, right? And Forky jumps out the window in the moving RV and Woody does the same despite Buzz Lightyear trying to keep him onboard the RV. And then Woody convinces Forky his place is with Bonnie. As they're on their way back they pass the antique shop. The All of the stuff happens inside the antique shop and then buzz is trying to find woody and get stuck and lost in the carnival Now buzz escapes the carnival and then the rest of the movie takes place back in the antique shop. That's where they meet Duke kaboom That's where we get Gabby Gabby and Benson. That's where we see the antique pinball machine They're hiding inside of but the whole movie is this story about that It's not a movie about a carnival. That's a very small part of Toy Story 4. And to base this entire game story and most of the stuff you're doing in this game is based around the carnival. It's such a bad interpretation of the film itself. And I just don't think Jersey Jack Pinball really understands storytelling. And the story was right there. There's no better storytellers on planet Earth than Pixar. The game is a game of cards. You take our story and you boil it down. You distill it down to being all about the carnival. This is like if you made Lord of the Rings and instead of making the movies we got, you made Lord of the Rings about Bilbo's birthday party and the whole wizard mode is to get to Gandalf's fireworks display. I mean that is what it feels like when you take Toy Story 4 and you put it in a blender and the only thing that comes out of it is the carnival as the main thing and the main stuff you're doing in this game. The game and so it doesn't have toys it doesn't have the story you love and again like when you start the game and you see what's going on on the screen there's absolutely like no prompts or anything that you remember from the movie itself all you hear is the song and this is another game in which Jersey Jack has absolutely zero assets from the movie itself you see none of the characters none of the clips from the film nothing this whole movie It all about the interactions between the characters and then you make it toy story pinball machine and it has absolutely zero interaction between the characters happening up on the screen happening on the playfield happening anywhere I mean why would you even bother making a game if you don't have anything? Why are we making these games in pinball and charging this much money if you're not going to get what you need to do it right? And here's the other part. I'm really concerned about this in pinball. Why is it that Lord of the Rings with a DMD not even an LCD screen, how is it that a game like Lord of the Rings that came out, are you waiting for it? 18 years ago we could make Lord of the Rings with a DMD and it could tell you more of the story and it could connect to the movies better than this does with a humongous 27 inch LCD screen TV. You know, so like just the entire story of Toy Story 4 is not here. It is not present. I don't understand this game, right? So like let's just say this apparently you play as Buzz Lightyear Okay, so if I'm playing as Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story 4 you are not progressing through this game the way Buzz Lightyear Progresses through the movie you're not starting out in the RV with Andy trying to talk Woody out of like leaving with Forky You don't find yourself tied up as the carnival game and you're talking to the two like hip hop bunnies that are tied next to you. None of that, none of those scenes, none of those personalities, none of that magic is in this game at all from a storytelling standpoint. It's like not there at all. It's just the music on loop like you're in a casino. And so where's the story? Like if I'm Buzz, then how come you're not taking me through all the different scenes and moments and experiences Buzz went through in that story? I just think this is like always been my issue with storytelling in pinball. It's like does nobody understand how to tell a story in pinball format anymore? We've seen it done before. When it's done right, it's amazing. When it's done right, you walk away from the pinball machine feeling like you just played the thing you loved and the pinball machine connected you to the thing you love in the right way. And here's what I see is happening in pinball. We're just lowering our standards and our expectations for theme integration. But even if you don't have the assets, you can do it right. Like Jurassic Park over at Stern Pinball, that's how you do it if you don't have the assets. And I don't think Jersey Jack Pinball has any idea how to make a game without the assets that still makes you feel and connects you to the property you love in the right way. IL elekt nouvelle kall이나 patienceculosis scores mean, Kuwillieye, Putaban, ni encumbrade kink春이들이, Filipka Cabat, issue of 27 die utg, avija grib들이 1,844,296 вони belt emergency is baixoıntra ꛷번힉 Mandal 그룹esian MORE 7,614,826 KFFN 말씀에cent기춰� Вид knowledge� antелен체 찾지만 go zagiv repair westpac, no filege 바비 아콜 el posing Give, Var Acts, what it's about, by and large is that the currency we used without both H.ium, Uniksci, Lee Chin International Business within his office in IAEA and as successful were not only robot VLAM이� effectiveness had been booking, English organisation and have launched platform for spectacular The game is a game. I don't think you should need any supplemental knowledge. It should pull you in right away. The way Jurassic Park does, the way the big Lebowski does, the way Lord of the Rings does, the way Spider-Man does, the way Tron does. You could keep going on and on and on. It's almost like this LCD screen has absolutely destroyed some of these people's ability to understand how to tell a story via pinball. And the greatest way to The story via pinball isn't even on the screen. It's on the physical playfield. Let's go to that now. So when you play this game, sure it's fun to shoot, but you could absolutely remove the artwork from this game and you would have no idea what game it is. There's nothing physical in this game that brings to life the Toy Story world of Toy Story 4. The majority of this movie takes place in the antique shop. The antique shop is represented in this game as a scoop and a flat piece of plastic over it. And that's it. That's the only element of the antique shop you will find in this. You know, think about it for a minute. Think about how lazy it is that this is their interpretation of the antique shop. You're telling me that they couldn't have built like the front of the antique shop and have Bo Peep's lamp there and maybe it lights up and that's your signal to go into the antique shop and the door opens up and then you go in there and then you start playing through some of the modes of the antique shop. But the way they have it in this game, it's just sterile. It's just this flat piece of plastic. There's no feeling of going into the antique shop at all. Let me talk about the Duke Kaboom shot, right? The one that everyone keeps talking about is being like, alright, well that's fun. Yeah, it's fun to hit the Duke kaboom ramp, but this is another great example of how I just don't think Jersey Jack Pinball understands how to create a pinball moment. So people will say like this game is for casuals, like casual people will jump on this game and have a lot of fun. But I'm here to tell you right now when that Duke kaboom ramp goes up for the first time and you're a casual pinball player, you still have no idea why the ramp went up. and result in hit some target in lane, you have no idea if you are casual player. Think about it like this. You are about to hit Duke kaboom ramp for the first time in this pinball games experience. Does it create a moment for you? Does it say, ladies and gentleman now, Duke kaboom and like strobe lights are going and maybe it asks you to trap the ball with left flipper and you get one shot to hit the ramp and then it says, can you do it again? It doesn't do any of that. There's no moment when that ramp first pops up that makes you feel like a daredevil about to go off this jump and off this ramp. They just don't know how to make a moment. I had the same issues with Willy Wonka and the WonkaVision. Like you've got Willy WonkaVision in this game and it's just used in a way that doesn't create a memorable pinball moment. And that's my thing with this game. It's like I don't know how Jersey Jack maps out their pinball games, but I really don't think they really The game is a game that is not just about the gameplay but also about the gameplay. It is an easy game to shoot and keep the ball alive. You are not going to be draining heavy. This is Jersey Jack's most friendly game from a layout standpoint and I enjoy that. I am not the best pinball player. I enjoy having some time on a game. I don't want a game like brutally fast like Rick and Morty. I don't want a game like Wizard of Oz. I don't want a game likeWizard of Oz. I don't want a game likeWizard of Oz. A game like Wizard of Oz that's designed to drain on the left side every time the ball heads in that direction. So this game was actually like alright like see I would have loved it if like Ghostbusters was designed like Toy Story right? Imagine if Ghostbusters toys were put into this game and you had the flow of this game with this kind of flipper gap I think that would have made the greatest pinball machine ever! The game is fun it's approachable you know I felt myself constantly hitting the captive ball in the upper right and then you've got like the woody spinner which then goes into this like vertical upkick so many of the shots are like hit the captive ball hit the captive ball you are never gonna hit a captive ball more than you do in this game I'll tell you that so you've got the left ramp which is easy you know I was playing the game and it was like hit the right ramp hit the right ramp there's only one problem when you're a casual player and you walk up to this game there is no right ramp you can't see a right ramp now the right orbit does Ben around and go up so it may be that technically a ramp but you can see it so that was a little strange you also can see the bow peep shot at all this is my other issue I don like shots where you shooting into a blind area of the game because it not satisfying so the bow Peep spinner which you hit with the upper right flipper it is absolutely hidden by the antique shop plastic You can see it You cannot see the spinner at all from your player point of view So let me ask you guys a question Is that a good design to have a spinner you can even see To have one of the main character shots in the game absolutely blind to the player Most of your shots are going to the right side of the playfield. Gabby Gabby's to the right, the Duke kaboom ramp is to the right. You know, I'm looking down at the playfield now, it just reminds me how open it is, how smooth it is, how fun it is to shoot, but it's also reminding me how there's nothing really that special in the game. And then I'm going to talk about this LCD screen that takes up the back left of this game. This is the laziest use of screen I've ever seen in a pinball machine ever. It takes up the most real estate ever of any screen under the glass in the history of pinball. Okay, so let's start there. It is also at this weird awkward angle. Anyone that tells you it's not weird or awkward, how many of you when you use an iPad hold it at that angle, tilt it to that degree and then rotate it like that. This week in Pinball, Johnny Pneumonic, Black Water, Kaneda's Pinball Podcast, Twippies Awards, translite I still think they could implement it a screen into this game, but not like this. The way it's dropped there is completely lazy. I think you'll get used to it, but it doesn't add anything to the game. I played the Tiki mini pinball game. Sure, it's not as much fun as playing Stewie's mini pinball in Family Guy. What is this adding to pinball? When you play it, yes, there's a little bit of like latency lag. It just doesn't make you feel anything. Out Pinball, Pinball is all about the physicality. If we remove the physical feel from the pinball experience and we add more screens, we're actually making pinball worse. Like I could go play virtual pinball. Why do I want it inside a $12,000 to $15,000 pinball machine? Because people, this is cost cutting at its finest example. They could have put a mechanical toy in that space. Instead, they put a $30 screen on it. Uli Mainkopoulos, H The reason why we love pinball, the reason why you make pinball machines, and the true test of a great designer and a great pinball machine is how well did you physically build the world of that theme under glass. If we move away from that narrative, and I know some of these distributors and these Tobias Vasco, The game has no story carried through from the Toy Story movie in this game and yet it's the most expensive thing ever. Why? Where are the assets? Where are the toys? Where are the assets? Where are the toys? Where are the mechs? Where's the conversations between the characters on this big 27 inch screen that you have? Why do you have this big screen if you can't use it? What's the point in all of this? What is the point people? I know it's early, I know I'm sleep deprived, but why is it 18 years ago we can recreate Lord of the Rings in a way that blows Toy Story away? I could go buy that game 18 years ago for like $3700. $3700. Okay, let's adjust that for inflation today. So something that cost $3700 in 2004 should cost us $5800 today. Let's calculate right now to justify the cost of a $15,000 pinball machine. Do you know how much pinball machines would have cost in 2004 with inflation in mind? The $9500 people and if you went back to 2004 and you ask people to spend $9,500 on a pinball machine the entire hobby would be over. Nobody would spend that money. All right, I'm devastated. This isn't good This isn't good. This isn't how Toy Story pinball should be. I don't care if you loop the theme song. This isn't it This isn't how you tell the story and it's not how you How you mechanically make a pinballmachine and that's it case closed and guess what I'm not buying it and if you want to buy it fine but I don't have to praise it and I don't have to say good job and I don't have to make launch videos because you know there's a lot of people that are nervous now there's a lot of dealers are going to be stuck with inventory there's a lot of fanboys that don't know what to do now so let's talk a little bit about Jack's interview and again like I know Jack personally Jack is a really good guy do I think Jack is going to tell you 100% the truth when you interview him about his The It's not his company anymore and he's got to be very careful about what he says. So here's what he says He says back in 2014 they originally had toy story 1 through 3 and they were gonna make the original movies and then the Wonka License had a short time period and there was a lot of competition for it to go first So they made Willy Wonka instead of Toy Story 1 through 3 So let's just stop right there and take Jack's statements at face value. If you did that Jack, if you bumped Willy Wonka in front of the Toy Story 1 through 3 franchise, that was a colossal marketing mistake. Toy Story is so much bigger of a property and a license than Willy Wonka. And you're telling me that there was huge competition to get Willy Wonka. What's this? Is this really a movie that's been out since the 19...what like early 70s? Maybe late 60s? So that was a colossal marketing failure if Jack decided to quickly get Wonka. And I'm just gonna say this. I know that there are people out there. There are people out there and Jack is saying this narrative as well. And he doesn't want me to release episode 500. For those people who out there who think that none of Pat Lawler's designs for Toy Story made its way into Willy Wonka, they're lying. Jack I talked to your people on the line in New Jersey I not saying the whole game was a reskin but people Etch A Sketch turned into WonkaVision Look at the damn WonkaVision screen and you tell me that not Etch A Sketch And I don't care, right? It doesn't matter. It really doesn't matter. This debate will never be settled. When it comes to the truth and what Jack is going to tell us and what Kanae is going to tell you, who knows? All bets are off. Who's telling the truth? The truth is somewhere in the middle, but let's not just take any of this for face value, but everyone who worked behind the scenes at Jersey Jack, yes, they know the truth. You're never going to get it on an interview. You're never going to get it. There's no way they're going to tell you this because it's to no benefit if Jack does tell you any of that happened. But I think the decision to bump Wonka in front of Toy Story 1 through 3 was an inane decision. And then Jack says like while they were planning Toy Story, the fourth movie came out sooner than expected. jim pe 빨 into the next this is the game we got this isn't it far as story we really want it this isn't the game for me it's a fine fun game to play the value is not their everybody knows that I'm saying this right now. These dealers are going to be sitting on $15,000 CEs. There's twice as many of them as Willy Wonka CEs. People, twice as many and there's not as much in the game. And remember, it took them a long time to sell out of the Willy Wonka CEs. And so, look, this is all a decision you need to make. I'm here to tell you personally, I'm devastated that this is the Toy Story Pinball Machine we get. It's not very often that I get devastated by a I love to story so much and I love to story one through three so much and I love physical worlds under glass so much. I'm not in this hobby just because I wanted a good flow game. If I wanted a good flow game, I would just go get game of Thrones. It's not just about flow. That's what we always fall back on. Every pinball machine is fun to shoot. Almost everybody. I would like to ask you. Is it worth it? Is it worth it to me? and look all of this nobody really needs another pinballmachine nobody needs a pinballmachine to begin with but if I'm gonna own it and I'm gonna spend this much money and there is a little irony that for operators this is the best operator game ever from Jersey Jack Pinball and now you have to spend this much money as an operator you have to spend this much money is this game worth twice the price of a stern pro is it gonna earn The game is twice as beautiful as a stern pro. I don't know. I mean, but it is a beautiful game. I'll say this on location. This game is twice as beautiful as a stern pro. It is the Jersey Jack machine just looks better. Like aesthetically, this is such a more beautiful pinball package than a stern machine. Like the details are there. They do get the details right. Like that's what's so frustrating with Jersey Jack pinball because they finally fixed the flipper feel. The Flippers in this game are the best flipper feel of any Jerseyjack machine. The lightshow is fine. It's not better than GNR. I wasn't blown away by the lightshow because now we're used to these lightshows. Remember how like TNA, like the first time you saw TNA lightshow, it blew you away? And then we got kind of the same thing in Rick and Morty. You just get used to lightshows. Like you can't fall back on a lightshow as being like the wow in a game. It needs to have more. And I will fight any of you that if you say GNR is only a light show, GNR is every single asset imaginable is in the game. Every single thing. The game is going to look spectacular on location. And then when I walked away from the game, the blue is beautiful. I do like the blue. It goes with Toy Story. And I'm just going to say this. It's not just because I'm not buying one. I just think the collector's edition of this machine is pointless. I think this is absolutely out of all the CEs JerseyJack has ever done, I think this is the one I would not even bother with. I just saw on Pinside a guy is selling a brand new like 10 plays Ellie of Toy Story for $11,000. So you're already saving $1,000 on the secondhand market. If I were you and you want to put this game in your home for your family to have fun with, I would just wait, get one for cheaper, don't bother with the CE because I'm telling you, this CE is just going to keep losing money. You're not going to make any money on it and you're not going to get any more gameplay experience. If there was like a major mech or there was something else in the CE, I could see how you could justify it, but I don't think you're going to get anything out of the glitter, anything out of the topper, and anything out of the radcals like it doesn't matter alright so that's it so that's it so I move on so this is it and this is going to be my final show on toy story I might play it again down the road if they put more code into the game but I'm done talking about it so if you're annoyed with me talking about toy story I have good news for you I'm not going to keep bringing it up I got to play the game everyone said Chris play the game and then give us your impressions and that is this and the last point I'll make I just think it's funny that Steven Bowden who's an employee at a Proudly climbedamericanpinball is going on shows helping to sell products of his competitor. At some point everyone is going to wake up and realize when you are taking a paycheck as a marketing guy for a company you shouldn't be going on to the media outlets and praising your competitors efforts. It's just called common sense. But what does Kaneda know? I'm not a professional pinball player. I don't even get credit anymore for my rumors and speculation I was telling people months ago that Stern had jaws that there were no assets they had for the game I was telling people that that it's gonna be like Jurassic Park and now Jack when are he's out there saying like he could have got the jaws license but it was just the movie poster yep everybody knows that I've been saying that for months but look I don't care about the credit all I care about is that you guys enjoy this show every week and it is fun and this is why I'm not gonna talk about toy story anymore because it's not fun when a game comes out that I The game is a game that is not fun. I don't want to keep spreading negativity about the game. I'm over it. I want to get back to good vibes in pinball. You know what I love about pinball? Just vibing with the community. It was so much fun to go to Jack Bar and just have a couple frozen margaritas and just chat and just play a game and go home with money in my pocket and not feel like I have to buy the damn thing. Pinball was meant to be played out and about. It was meant to bring us together. It wasn't meant to be this thing that we need to and it's crazy like these prices are out of control i don't want to buy any pinball machine anymore for twelve to fifteen thousand dollars not when i'm looking at the state of the economy not when i look into my little boy's eyes and i look at killing i'm like would i be better off putting this money away for his future or buying a pinball machine i just don't want to do it i don't want to do it and i still think you can get plenty of great pinball for much less money than twelve to fifteen thousand dollars And I think a few great machines in your house and you're going to be happy. You don't need to chase every new thing. Everybody thank you for being a club member. I really appreciate it. I can't believe it's 530 in the morning and I'm going to taxi it back home. So if you ever question my dedication to pinball podcasting, just remember today, okay? Sleep deprived Kaneda will still get you a show every Monday at least. Later. co bracelets to seal wind

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 9217e4a3-eb2f-4d00-ab03-506a3bf9a2c4*