# Saturday Morning Spectacular July 26

**Source:** Kaneda Pinball Podcasts YouTube Lives  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2025-07-27  
**Duration:** 55m 51s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFfIw373TWc

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## Analysis

Kaneda discusses pinball industry stagnation, community content fatigue, and Jack Danger's apparent break from Stern design work due to work-life balance concerns. He addresses American Pinball's inventory crisis, speculates on upcoming releases (Star Wars, Sonic, Ritchie's next game), and criticizes Joe Kaminkow's unprofessional Harry Potter announcement that allegedly jeopardized JJP's Warner Bros. licensing. Technical issues with X-Men LE and production constraints on Back to the Future are highlighted.

### Key Claims

- [MEDIUM] American Pinball is effectively done; Mukesh will not make another game until existing inventory sells, which could involve 200+ games/parts — _Kaneda's direct statement about American Pinball's situation based on industry knowledge_
- [MEDIUM] Galactic Tank Force Signature Edition originally sold for $17,500 but is now offered from factory for $8,500 — _Kaneda citing personal knowledge of friends who bought at the higher price_
- [MEDIUM] Jack Danger is stepping back from Stern design work; has one more game in design hopper before taking a break — _Kaneda's interpretation of Jack's situation based on conversations and observation of his reduced public presence_
- [MEDIUM] Joe Kaminkow's announcement of Harry Potter to JJP caused problems with Warner Bros. and nearly jeopardized the license — _Kaneda claims to have heard this from JJP leadership; Kaminkow allegedly never apologized_
- [LOW] Back to the Future will not release until October 2026 at earliest due to production constraints and manufacturing bottlenecks — _Kaneda's speculation based on Dutch Pinball's limited production capacity_
- [LOW] Steve Ritchie has a significant game coming that Kaneda believes will be a hit based on his design approach fitting the theme — _Kaneda's prediction; he cannot disclose the theme due to confidentiality_
- [MEDIUM] Unlimited Harry Potter CE production will negatively impact secondary market values — _Kaneda's concern about long-term market effects of unlimited production_
- [LOW] Stern has multiple IP themes in contractual state including Justice League and Superman rumors — _Kaneda citing rumors; unverified_

### Notable Quotes

> "I think people are just feeling like I'm good. Like, nothing surprises me anymore. Nobody's surprising me with what they're saying. None of the manufacturer moves are surprising me."
> — **Kaneda**, ~8:00
> _Core thesis: community is experiencing creative fatigue and content stagnation_

> "I do think there's going to have to be some new stuff, some new feeling we haven't quite had before. For games to really wow, there's going to have to be mechanical features back into games."
> — **Kaneda**, ~9:30
> _Identifies lack of innovation in game design as root cause of excitement loss_

> "Jack Danger, he's going to go back to streaming. He's got one more game in the design hopper and I think they're going to take it from there. I don't think Stern wants to lose him."
> — **Kaneda**, ~28:00
> _Reveals Jack Danger stepping back from primary Stern designer role_

> "I do think Weiss really let down Jack more than anybody. The code problems with X-Men... that beautiful creation from a design standpoint... the code just let it down."
> — **Kaneda**, ~30:00
> _Attributes Jack's burnout to code quality failures on X-Men LE_

> "The whole 'in a year from now' doesn't work anymore at these prices. These games need to be good within the first year."
> — **Kaneda**, ~42:30
> _Commentary on how $12k+ game pricing changes acceptable quality/update timelines_

> "You know, Joe Kaminkow... the way he raged announced that JJP had Harry Potter was one of the weirdest things I've ever seen... That actually got them in trouble with Warner Brothers and almost put the license in jeopardy."
> — **Kaneda**, ~58:00
> _Alleged insider information about Kaminkow's unprofessional conduct affecting JJP-WB relationship_

> "I don't think you're going to see Back to the Future until maybe October of 2026. So many games are going to be out."
> — **Kaneda**, ~65:00
> _Production delay prediction based on manufacturing constraints_

> "I do think Stern's in trouble. The question is whether boutique companies are going to be fine."
> — **Kaneda**, ~66:00
> _Expresses concern about Stern's long-term viability vs. boutique manufacturers_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Jack Danger | person | Stern Pinball designer/artist taking break from design work; experiencing burnout from code quality issues on X-Men LE; plans to return to streaming |
| Stern Pinball | company | Major manufacturer facing industry concerns; discussed as potentially in trouble; produces Star Wars (John Borg), Sonic, and other upcoming titles |
| American Pinball | company | Effectively defunct; cannot sell Galactic Tank Force inventory; Mukesh will not greenlight new games until inventory clears |
| Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Successfully shipping Harry Potter with unlimited CE production; had Warner Bros. licensing issues stemming from Kaminkow's announcement |
| Joe Kaminkow | person | Founder of Zynga; high-net-worth individual making Back to the Future via Dutch Pinball; allegedly made unprofessional Harry Potter announcement for JJP |
| Steve Ritchie | person | Legendary Stern designer with upcoming game in hopper; Kaneda predicts it will be a hit but cannot disclose theme |
| John Borg | person | Designer of Star Wars pinball for Stern |
| Mukesh | person | Owner/decision-maker at American Pinball; blocking new game development until inventory sells |
| Keith Elwin | person | Mentioned as Sonic designer for Stern; alternatively mentioned as co-designer of Pokemon |
| Keith Johnson | person | Mentioned critically by Kaneda as overcomplicating code design; criticized for Byzantine rule sets |
| Dutch Pinball | company | Manufacturing Back to the Future; severe production bottleneck limiting output to 'two Big Macs a day' |
| Harry Potter (Jersey Jack) | game | Successfully shipping; Premium/Pro/CE/Arcade editions available; unlimited CE production raises secondary market concerns |
| Star Wars (Stern) | game | Upcoming Stern release by John Borg; mentioned as important next game for company |
| Sonic the Hedgehog (Stern) | game | Rumored upcoming Stern title; designer allegedly Keith Elwin |
| Back to the Future (Dutch Pinball) | game | Covers all three films; manufacturing severely constrained; prediction: October 2026 release or later |
| Galactic Tank Force | game | American Pinball title; Signature Edition sold for $17,500 originally, now $8,500; poor sales; described as code not 'wacky/weird enough' |
| X-Men LE (Stern) | game | Code quality failures blamed for Jack Danger's burnout; beautiful art/design undermined by programming issues |
| Dune (Barrels of Fun) | game | Recent release; won 'best new modern pinball' at Australian show; some users already ordered |
| King Kong (Stern) | game | Recent release; has niche cult following but controversial reception; discussed as alternative to Donkey Kong IP |
| Kaneda | person | Host of Saturday Morning Spectacular; pinball industry analyst and commentator; discusses confidential design information |
| Abbas family | person | Financial backers of Jersey Jack Pinball; secured Harry Potter licensing deal; Kaneda supports their deal vs. Kaminkow |
| Electric Bat Arcade | organization | Won recent Twippy award over Kaneda's show; hosted by Kale; community podcast |
| Warner Bros. | company | Harry Potter IP licensor; allegedly had license jeopardy due to Kaminkow announcement incident |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Industry creative stagnation and content fatigue, Jack Danger's burnout and break from Stern design, American Pinball's inventory crisis and functional collapse, Joe Kaminkow's unprofessional conduct and JJP-WB licensing issues, Back to the Future production constraints at Dutch Pinball
- **Secondary:** Stern's long-term business health concerns, Unlimited Harry Potter CE production and secondary market impact, Upcoming Stern releases: Star Wars, Sonic, Ritchie's mystery game

### Sentiment

**Mixed** (-0.35) — Kaneda expresses concern about industry stagnation, Jack Danger's burnout, and Stern's viability, balanced by appreciation for community generosity and optimism about boutique manufacturers. Nostalgic/reflective tone about work-life balance themes. Critical of industry dynamics but supportive of individuals' wellbeing.

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** Stern potentially in trouble; uncertain long-term viability while boutique manufacturers appear more stable (confidence: low) — Kaneda: 'I do think Stern's in trouble. The question is whether boutique companies are going to be fine'
- **[business_signal]** American Pinball effectively defunct; cannot sell Galactic Tank Force inventory at any price point; new games blocked until clearance (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'They're done. Like it's over, gang... they might have upwards of 200 games or parts for games that need to be sold. The problem is the games are effing terrible'
- **[community_signal]** Joe Kaminkow's unprofessional announcement of Harry Potter to JJP created licensing jeopardy with Warner Bros.; allegedly caused internal conflicts; never apologized (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'the way he raged announced that JJP had Harry Potter... that actually got them in trouble with Warner Brothers and almost put the license in jeopardy'
- **[design_philosophy]** X-Men LE code quality failures undermined exceptional art/design; attributed to Weiss's responsibility; caused Jack Danger's burnout (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'I do think Weiss really let down Jack more than anybody... that beautiful creation from a design standpoint... the code just let it down'
- **[market_signal]** Unlimited Harry Potter CE production expected to negatively impact secondary market values (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'We don't know the real impact having these unlimited Harry Potter CEs is going to cause on the secondhand market... I would assume it's not going to do favors for the secondhand value'
- **[personnel_signal]** Jack Danger stepping back from primary Stern design role; returning to streaming; has one more game in hopper before break (confidence: medium) — Kaneda's statement: 'Jack Danger, he's going to go back to streaming. He's got one more game in the design hopper' and observation of reduced public presence
- **[market_signal]** High game prices ($12k+) require immediate quality upon release; 'in a year from now' code update strategy no longer acceptable (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'The whole 'in a year from now' doesn't work anymore at these prices. These games need to be good within the first year'
- **[product_strategy]** Back to the Future production severely constrained; Kaneda predicts October 2026 or later release (confidence: low) — Kaneda: 'It'd be like starting a McDonald's and only being able to make, like, two Big Macs a day... I don't even think you're going to see Back to the Future until maybe October of 2026'
- **[product_concern]** Galactic Tank Force code not 'wacky/weird enough'; described as failure to capitalize on potential despite $17,500 original Signature Edition pricing (confidence: low) — Kaneda: 'the code just didn't go wacky and weird enough with it. It could have worked, but it just didn't work'
- **[sentiment_shift]** Community experiencing creative fatigue; no novelty in game design or manufacturer moves; desire for mechanical innovation over art/theme (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'nothing surprises me anymore... I think people want mechanical features back into games more often. I don't think it's just going to come down to lights and artwork'

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## Transcript

Sorry about that. There we go. Now we got some real sound coming through this mic. All right. Like that. I'm not going to touch anything. Ah, beautiful freaking Saturday morning. We were just at the beach. The nice part about Row in Connecticut spelled backwards on Facebook is for some reason you can't turn the image around anymore in Facebook is uh we have access to a nice little private beach and it's so beautiful sun coming up. You're on the beach chair on the sand. The kids are playing. Kelly and I were doing some basketball sand castles. It's beautiful. It's beautiful. Such a beautiful thing. Family is everything. We're um we're coming in on August and August is going to be an interesting time in the world of pinball because I think it's going to be slow to begin and then it's all going to pick up. We got more people coming through Facebook. You guys know how it works. The first few minutes you guys say hi, I'll say hi back. We had the most amount of second most I had to clarify. Frank D'Python Anghelo with his $200 contribution last show I thought was the most ever and then I realized it wasn't even close. Um Hector I think gave more than that like 250. But I'm not going to name I I can't well I'm going to name his name but not say how much. Kim Mitchell once sent on Brenda's birthday a significant amount more money than that and said, "Love the show. Go take Brenda out for a nice dinner." And so it was incredible. I I literally sometimes am just floored by the generosity of the people in this hobby and the individuals that are in it and the appreciation of just those of us who make content on a weekly basis. lately. I don't know if you've noticed this lately, but it's just kind of feeling like I don't know like and maybe maybe you feel this way about my show as well, but I just feel like lately it's just like a more of the same from the same like it's just I don't think anyone's even trying to think about anything critically or constructively or like just do something different. It's just this like what game should go here? Like what game? Like it's just I you know like like the new code update like I it's it's at the point now where I I think people need to sort of think think a little bit creatively about show topics and and that's on everybody. It's not me. It's everybody. It's like we need to get mix it up a little bit. It's getting really uh just like feels like Groundhog Day. It's like same people posting the same thing every day. Here we go. pinball content. I think some of it, maybe a lot of it, gang, is I do think there's just it's not a fatigue. It's just kind of like I think people are just feeling like I'm good. Like I I'm good now. Like nothing surprises me anymore. Like nobody's surprising me with what they're saying. None of the manufacturer moves are surprising me. And I think everybody wants to be surprised. I think I think people want a game they didn't see coming to just like blow them away. I think people want magical mechs back into games more often. I do. I really do. I I don't think it's just going to come down to lights and artwork. I don't think it's going to come down to only theme. I think for games to really wow, there's going to have to be some uh some some new stuff, some new feeling we haven't quite had before. Uh, does Harry Potter bring that for for many of you? I I maybe, right? I think Potter just is refreshing because it shoots so well and it's a Jersey Jack game. And for a lot of you out there, you've never played a Jersey Jack game that shot well that was based on a movie theme and and had a lot of assets that uh were were attractive and arresting. So maybe it is Harry Potter. I you know I don't know if if you've listened to my podcast knowing what Steve Ritchie has around the corner I I think it's going to be um I think it's going to be a hit. I think it's going to be a hit. Um I can see it already. I can see how Richie and the way he designs is just perfect for this theme. Everyone is spending money on traveling now. Maybe, maybe. Right. It's that time of year. July, August, you take some trips. Everything costs a lot of money, too. You want to travel anywhere. It's like I mean, I flew to Austin, I think. Like I mean, I upgraded my seat to business class, but it was like like $1,100 to go to Austin, Texas. What? What happened to the world? Um Todd Tucky's in the house. Todd, we're on YouTube. We're on Facebook. Typically, I paid attention for once. made it early and sound instantly dropped out. Well, I know. Is the chat on? I'm not seeing any new messages. Uh, the chat is on. For those of you in the uh YouTube club on the YouTube page, write something in the chat so Dave Sanders sees that the chat is on. Maybe I just haven't said anything, Dave, that's worthy of writing anything. Everyone's just tired of typing. What's up, everybody? Look, everybody's there. Here they come. What's with the 5K cheaplymade Costco home pins? Just make the Pro 5K. Why sell low quality? That's a question from Michael on on Facebook right now. Um, look, you know, Stern needs to keep the workers busy. I mean, that that's really all it is, gang, is like they need to find new distribution models. And I think that's why we're seeing those Costco games. I' The jury's out. Like when I met with Gomez, he he said like these things were sold out and Costco orders were huge and then you know then I see people at Costco snapping photos of a wall of those machines available for sale. So whether or not they sold through does that mean they're selling out at Costco? I I don't think anybody impulse purchases a $5,000 pinball machine though walking through Costco. That's the part that's weird to me. Is someone really like not aware that there's all these pinball companies in the world and they're just going to be walking down the aisle being like, "Honey, um, we need to get some more chips and salsa. Hey, look, there's a $5,000 pinball machine I'm going to go buy that's three times the price of a 77 inch TV." Like, I just don't see it. I really don't see it. Yeah. If you're going to Disney in July, like, I I think you are crazy. It's too crowded and too hot. go to Disney in February. Uh, go to Disney in like January or right around the holidays. What's happening? Let's do this. Let's just do some Q&A for a while because, you know, there's not a ton of manufacturing news going on. What's happening with American Pinball? Been very quiet for a long time now, said Fred. Look at this sad boy with a $100 already. What's up, dude? Shout out to all the unathletic neck beards who are ego tripping at Pinberg this weekend wearing cargo shorts. They make the world go round. Rest in peace, Azie and Hulk. Good seeing you, dog. Well, thanks, sad boy. Um, right. What a terrible week for Gen X. We lost Azie, Hulk, Hogan, and Theo Huxable. Uh, you know, Malcolm Jamal Warner was 54. Hogan was 72. Azie, what was Azie like 78? I think Azie was or 76. Like, really terrible week for Gen Z. Um, I really look I um I to go back to American Pinball. They're They're done. Like it's over, gang. It's Mukesh is not going to kickstart this thing. Here's the true story. He doesn't want to make another game until all the existing inventory is sold. The problem is they might have upwards of 200 games or parts for games that need to be sold. The problem from there is the games are effing terrible. Nobody wants Galactic Tank Force. People keep forgetting Galactic Tank Force when it first came out, the Sig Edition, the signature edition with the lunchbox and the thermos. Remember, with the 3D translate, people forget this. That edition was $17,500. It wasn't 155. It was 175. I have friends that bought it for 175. Okay, you you they're now offering that same game from the factory I think for 8500 or something. So like it's just you know what's crazy about GTF? Can't believe I'm calling it that cuz I I feel like I it it has no place being named after Grand Theft Why did I say Grand Theft Auto? I think Grand Theft Auto. Um anyway, yeah, not the same initials. Canada, uh the um the code just I don't know, they just didn't go wacky and weird enough with it. It could have worked, but it just didn't work. We've got 51 people on YouTube. We've got 22 here. Thanks, Wayne, for the stars. Um we got Sad Boy with 100. We're going to love his donation. Uh, as you know, when you send the dough, you take over the show. Send the dough and take over the show. So, um, they're done. Grand Theft Fiasco. Uh, look, I think I think the thing is, what's up, Mike Jones? Welcome to the party, pal. Um, let's talk about Jack Danger's new role. Let's talk about it. So, I didn't catch him streaming at Comic- Con. Has anyone caught his ComicCon stream? Flip Stevens, what's up, brother? I think Jack um just needed a break. There's no other way around it. He needed a break. And I think he misses what he used to do. You know, I always say this and and the currency of life, it's like kind of how well do you sleep at night? Are you in love with the person you're sleeping next to? And how many days do you wake up in a good mood? And you gota you got to imagine this. You gota and this is sometimes hard for people to really understand that you could make you could make half a million dollars a year and be miserable and long for the time when you made $100,000 a year and woke up every day in a good mood. And sure, everybody would rather have the money. Everyone would rather have both. Everyone would rather have half a million dollars paycheck and wake up in a good mood. But it there comes a time there comes a time when work just takes over everything, okay? And it takes over your peace of mind and then and then like the work infiltrates your family, your relationships. You can't even like sit down and enjoy a Netflix show. You can't just kickback and enjoy what I I gotta be honest, gang. Just 30 seconds on this. Bill Brandis is in the house. Billy, we're on Facebook and we're on YouTube. Donkey Kong Bonanza is honestly the greatest platform game since Mario 64 for N64. It It is so revolutionary and fun and enjoyable and just wait if you haven't got to the part where you turn into Donkey Kong Bonanza. It is the most creative, fun, insanely like I can't believe I'm playing this game and it's like 70 bucks and it I could sit here for hours and just destroy the world and you can you literally literally can like destroy every single piece of like the world going towards the planet. It's so good that I'm so giddy. I can't wait to play it like as soon as I get more free time. Okay. Just so good. It It's just so good. Martin knows what I'm talking about. Okay. But my point is this. Jack Danger, he's going to go back to streaming. He's got one more game in the design hopper and I think they're going to take it from there. I I don't think Stern wants to lose him. I don't think Stern like, you know, I don't know like if he got a pay cut or not. I don't know any of these things. All I know is I reached out to Jack. definitely want to have, you know, a conversation with him. But I understand it. I I don't even It's almost like I don't even need to know the details because I've lived through this many times in my career where the expectations of me and what the job entailed wanted me to be someone I wasn't. Uh, I might be going through that a little bit now where like I'm really good at this. I'm really good at that, but like what what that entails might be more than I'm more than I'm like really great at. I do think Jim Weisz really let down Jack more than anybody. And I think the code problems with X-Men, like you got to think about it, and it's not too hard to think about it. You got to put yourself in Jack's shoes. Like you you take a really creative approach to a pinball machine, which when you look at X-Men LE, it's one of the most stunning pinball machines of all time. It absolutely is. And then to see this like beautiful creation from a design standpoint, from an art standpoint, from a theme standpoint, it had such opportunity and then the code just let it down. And then and then you know Jackie doesn't want to let anybody down. He's in the business of making people feel good about pinball. And the last thing he wanted to ever see was you know people getting in on one of his machines and not having a satisfactory experience. And And I can tell you cuz I know that Jack Danger has a great heart that that makes the heart heavy and it makes the days tough and it makes the evenings hard to sleep. And I think that all that just added up to him just wanting a little bit of a break from all that. And I think Stern respects him and is giving him that. So I I don't see it as a negative. I want Jack Danger to be happy. I I don't You know what I'm saying? Like if Jack Danger's happiness means we're not going to get more games designed by Jack Danger, uh yeah, I'm okay with that. I'm okay with that. like he we should root for our friends and our colleagues and people we know uh to to be happy above all and you know I know I know a lot of wealthy people that are miserable. I know a lot of wealthy people who are divorced multiple times over. I know a lot of wealthy people whose kids don't talk to them. I know a lot of wealthy people who are alcoholics. I know a lot of wealthy people that are in therapy like three days a week just to make just to make it through a week to make that big salary. They're in a therapist chair like every single week, multiple times. Do you want to live like that or do you want a pinball stream and be happy and go to bed at night, you know, feeling recharged? Mike is in charge now and we'll fix in a year from now. It's a great one. Okay. Well, you know what the problem is? The whole like in a year from now doesn't work anymore at these prices. These games need to be good within the first year. Um, okay. You know, look, I don't, you know, someone's saying like Hulk Hogan was an a-hole, like I I'm sure he was. You know, money corrupts a lot of people. Like, you got to remember Hogan was making about 25 million a year in the mid 80s. Like the mid 80s, the dude was making 25 mil. He was the biggest athlete in the world next to like Jordan um and like Michael Jackson as a celebrity. like he was he was he hulkia. Um so you know it is what it is. Like I don't pretend to think that celebrities are great people. I think they struggle more than anybody in keeping it together. Hector I will have to buy it now. Um I am on work call 247 365. It sucks but pays for my family survival education and sometimes that we can enjoy together. Love to just throw everything aside. Yeah, Brad, I get it, man. I get it. You know, you never, you know, my dad always gives me the main piece of advice he gives me with my children. He says, "Just be present." It's funny. It's funny coming from my dad because he really was like at work a lot, but he's like, "Just be present." I remember once being on a family vacation uh to the Jersey Shore. My dad was working on a deal and we had just got there and they they needed him back for the deal. So they they sent a helicopter to come get him. If If I was if I was at the beach with my family and Weber needed me back, uh a helicopter is not being sent to retrieve me. It would have been um you know in Uber. I would be in a RAV 4 head heading back in traffic. Oh man. Happy Saturday, Tony. What's up brother? How's everybody doing? Cool. I know a celebrity who's exactly like you, said Canadian. Um, yeah. So, Jack Danger, everybody, like I would reach out to Jack and and wish him wish him the best. I think that's what we need to do more of. I think there's a lot of weirdness in this hobby where these are like once we're dealing with like a human being and you know something's going on with them. Instead of listening to like blowhards and you know kiss asses and psychopants spewing out points of view just go ask them what's up. How's it going Jack? Like I know that he'd respond to anybody. Like he's that kind of guy. All right. The measure of success is how rarely you have to do things you don't want to do. Well, Eric, I think it's probably I think the measure of success Yeah, I think the most happy people are free. You know, you don't have to go in and do homework assignments into your 50s and 60s. Like, that's the key. And you should be working on things that you would love to do for free. And the projects you take on should be meaningful to you. The world's getting crazy, you know? It's crazy. I mean mean they uh a woman can take off her clothes and in one month make more than construction makers work in 10 years you know it's just like with only fans like it's it's bonkers like but you know but in the end you know you got to wake up and and realize you know you shared your intimate parts with strangers around the world and if that makes you feel good I don't know would it make me feel Good. Um, the money be nice though. How's everybody doing? Hey Chris, enjoying the heck out of Donkey Kong Bonanza? It feels a little like pinball kinetic. It It feels just like pinball. Like you're flying through that world. Break smashing stuff feels so damn good. Um, let's do Q&A, guys. We can go around the horn. I mean, as you know, we're waiting on Stern Star Wars. Jersey Jack Potters are going out consistently. That's nice. I think people are really enjoying their Potters. I don't think there's any like Potter um problem, right? I think it's the best way to say it. There's no Harry Potter problem. I I think people are just ordering it. They're enjoying it. I think they're going to continue to make the code better. Uh I think it's better than Mario Odyssey. Absolutely. Uh it's just it's got like even more personality. Robert Castle in the house. So, we've got over a hundred people watching now. We've We've got Sad Boy with 99 bucks. Bill Brandice hasn't sent any stars over yet. We're all waiting anxiously for that. Dune won the best new modern pinball at an Australian show. Did it win it? Did it beat Potter? Is Potter there yet? I mean, there's also not a lot of new stuff to uh to put it up against. I mean, I guess Kong and what else? You know what's interesting about Kong? I mean, the more I think about it, like it should have been Donkey Kong. Like, if Stern made a Donkey Kong pin, like based on the 80s Donkey Kong arcade, I think we'd all own it. Um, here's what here's what's really interesting about King Kong is it's like it's got this like niche cult following that considers it one of the best games ever and then there's everybody else. Pete Rosen in the house, baby. Pete, we haven't we haven't been shouting out Pete with 5,000 stars in a long time, but Pete, we're also on YouTube, so I don't know. Where do you want to where where do we want to do this, Pete? I love you, brother. One of my greatest patrons of of all time. Hey, Canada Wayne Mr. Pinball helping me with jukebox repair here in Australia. He's a standup guy. Sad boy. $99. $99. $19. Sad boy said, "I make 10 million a month sharing my feet pics in front of my Big Bang Bar. Great combo." Um, well, like I um Sad Boy, do you have a Big Bang Bar? That's a game for for those of you that don't know a little interesting story. Big Bang Bar was going to have a sequel come out and Melvin and was working on it. Um the artist had done the art package for it before he passed away. I'm not sure if he completed it, but a Big Bang Bar sequel was in the works. Um, yeah. I think um I think Big Bang Bar sequel, you know, I don't know. Like the whole like Big Bang Bar is going to be remade. I think we're kind of over all of the just remake and and the failed remake attempts are the most hysterical. Like where the heck is Kingpin? Remember Kingpin? Do you think Dutch should cons reconsider partnering with US manufacturer to avoid tariffs on Back to the Future? I think Dutch should reconsider making Back to the Future. Even if there aren't tariffs, they can't make the games fast enough. It It's It's a a legit problem. It it'd be like starting a McDonald's and only being able to make like two Big Macs a day. Your McDonald's wouldn't be successful. I I don't know what Barry is going to do. I don't know what the solve is. When Back to the Future comes out, everybody who's making games could probably build a couple thousand and to meet the demand. There's going to be like 8,000 people are going to want it. Great American pit mall to make it and pay Dutch. Um get American Pinball to make it. Um yeah, not gonna happen. Not gonna happen, gang. It It's Can you imagine Back to the Future on a Jersey Jack platform? Like just think about it for a minute. Like even if Dutch wants to co-design the game, just give the design over to JJP. Let them make it on their platform with their lighting and their this, their let Jean Paul to win. Code it on a 27in screen with all your clips and all your stuff. Um, I would probably want Dutch to code it and not let, you know, Keith P. Johnson ruin it and and have like some stupid like, yo, you need to collect you need to collect like Marty's like shoelaces and collect I don't know like you you got to collect 89 pages to the sports almanac before you can get to the final wizard mode. Like I just think Keith would do something stupid like that. He literally like looks at a theme and then finds a way to just like over complicate it and and I don't get it. I don't get it. It's like I literally don't get it. So, one of the issues with Back to the Future Yeah. You need to collect 88 miles an hour. Yeah. One mile at a time, right? The one of the problems with Back to the Future is I I believe it is all three movies and it's like why why do we want the third movie in there at all? Like what are you doing? Like really do we need the third movie? I when you know when I heard that I was like like it's it's like Godfather, right? It's like do you want Godfather 3? No. Yeah, it should just be Hill Valley, but I think the third one is also Hill Valley like in the 1800s or something stupid like that like what else is going on in the world of pinball. Hector, what's up? No Dier yet. Kagas, um I don't know. I wouldn't do all three. Wayne, the only one with stars is Wayne. What's up, people? Are we doing this? Come on, let's do this. Um, what else you guys want to talk about on this? Ask me anything. Ask me. You can ask me. It doesn't even have to be pinball related. Ask me anything. I've been seeing a bunch of back and forth in the um in the chats like people are like I mean I think when I said Hulk Hogan rest in peace, you know, people got to people got to come in with a toxic masculinity problem. Nobody cares anymore. Like the whole conversation around like men and women and what makes a man, what makes a it's like it's like nobody cares. Nobody ever did like really there was never any confusion. There was never any confusion. So, like, boys will be boys, girls will be girls, and it's going to be okay. What's Richie working on? Uh, a pinball machine, and it's going to have great flow, and you're all going to want one. Uh, Sad Boy said, "It should be a war crime that either Stern or JB didn't Yes. didn't get the Back to the Future license." I don't know how that h I'll tell you why I think it happened. you know, Joe Camau is the reason it's going to Dutch and I I know he would have wanted to make it with Stern. What's crazy to me about Joe is like, you know, you don't really hear from him, you know, he's very wealthy individual. I think he's one of the founders of Zingga. He's got, you know, car collection in in the looks like it's worth $10 million or more. Um, you know, he doesn't have to listen to anybody. But the way he raged announced that JJP had Harry Potter was one of the weirdest things I've ever seen. And even even though Joe's got so much money, didn't that feel like a a kid that just didn't get the candy he wanted and just reacted like that? and and like to to the level of unprofessionalism in that because that that actually and I heard from the leadership at JJP that got them in trouble with Warner Brothers and almost put the license in jeopardy. They because there wasn't supposed to be any announcement like that. There wasn't supposed to be for him to do that, you know. He never asked for any I don't know. I don't know. He never asked for any forgiveness. He never apologized for that. But that was messed up. Like that was that that was messed up on a whole different level of like you know what like I think he might have been a little bit upset the ABS family got a little bit more cheddar than you Joe. See Joe I know is probably worth a few hundred million but you're going against billionaires now like they got a few thousand million. So it's like you know there's always a bigger fish but it was just a very unprofessional move. Um, now look, I'm happy Joe K is making Back to the Future because he's going to get the assets and get them what they need. Um, but I think there's there's bad blood behind the scenes between obviously now between Joe K and and JJP. And I and I I agree with the the Abbis family on this one for sure. Um, do you believe Pokemon was the machine Danger started and that's the one that Owen is finishing? Um Joe acted almost like Canada losing a Trippy. No, you know, John, the the Trippy loss cuz I lost by like a not even like more than 1%, but yet I got a 100 more first place votes. The Twippy loss was um you know and like I'm glad I lost to electric bat but man that weighted voting not even not even Kale's like understands it. It's like and you notice how Colin never released the second and third place votes never released them. So why not like where where were the results? You know to lose to lose an election and not have all the results disclosed felt a little fishy, didn't it, John? But we all know that Electric Bat is doing their thing. I love Kale and I love that Canadian Pinball Podcast is doing its thing. And in the end, like Kale and I are like this. It's, you know, all the I I just have to I'll report weekly all attempts to hear back from Retro Ralph have failed. He's still not engaging Canada. Um he still refuses to cross the aisle and join the most fun the fun nWo group. It's like we got Kale, we've got Canada, we've got who else we got? We got Jamie, we got people in there. Um anyway, so I think that um I don't even think you're going to see Back to the Future until maybe October of 2026. I just think so much is going to happen in the world. So many games are going to be out. I don't know. It just it just Do any of you feel like it just it just just can't keep going like this? It It just I don't know just I think boutique companies are going to be fine. There's always going to be pinball. It's never going to get obsolete because of digital version of it. But But I I do think Stern's in trouble. The question was, do I think Danger was designing Pokemon and Owen's going to finish it? No, I don't think that's the case. I I don't think I don't think Jack would stop designing a game like that. I I don't think Jack was ever designing Pokemon. I think it was always Keith Elwin. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. I I look, they're two amazing designers. If those two guys were designing Pokemon collaboratively, I think that's a win-win for everybody. So, nothing nothing, you know, nothing wrong with that. Um, all right. What else is going on in pinball? Is there um is barrels of fun? Are like are Dunes Are you guys Did Did you guys order Dune? I'm I I keep waiting to see more Dune unboxings. He said there's a team that is helping to finish the next game. Yeah, I mean that's always the case. I mean, Stern has a huge team to help everybody finish their games. Um, I am getting Steve Ritchie's game. The moment I heard it, put me down. Now, I hope they don't continue to do this unlimited CE thing. I'm not a huge fan of it. We don't know yet, right, the real impact having these unlimited Harry Potter CES is going to cause on the secondhand market of that game. Uh, we don't know. We absolutely don't know. I I would assume it's not going to do favors for the secondhand value. Richie's doing Sonic. I don't think so, Eric. I don't know. Top Gun, Matrix, Sonic, like the themes we've been hearing. It's all um it's, you know, they they also have um I heard like rumors of Justice League, rumors of Superman. They've got a lot of themes in in sort of contractual state right now with the random CE numbers. Will it be hard to ever know numbers? Um, so Ryan, can you order? Does a CE have a number on it? Like, can you also pick your number? Like, can I be CE number like 5,000? Hector, why are you retracting messages? What are you saying? Don't retract the money, brother. I don't know. I thought the new Superman movie was like mediocre at best. And I'll tell you why. like it was just too much going on. No character development. And also like Superman like just kept getting his ass kicked every scene. He's supposed to be like the strongest being imaginable. And go back and watch the movie. He spends half the time locked up in a prison cell. The other half of the time he's getting his ass kicked. Like how is this Superman? Like it just didn't feel like he was Superman. I mean the movie starts out with him getting his ass kicked. Batman versus Superman. Killed him in The Dark Knight Returns. Look, I um I think the next game from Stern is so important. I I keep thinking about it like it's John Borg, it's Star Wars, it's the larger screen, it's Spike 3. This game needs to be a hit. Like Stern needs to like throw everything they can at it. Um it needs it needs to be a hit. If I'm Stern, Star Wars LE comes with an exclusive topper. like they need to make a move that just gets them back, you know, like when Batman SLE and Ellie were revealed to the world and the toppers were on top of the game on day one. Like why can't they make the toppers ready to go? What's the last great Borg layout? I mean, I would say I don't know. Like people like Rush, but I honestly I don't like Rush music, so I don't really have much time on Rush. You know, Borg's got what? Walking Dead. Borg has Mustang. Borg has Tron. Borg has Aerosmith. Borg did he did Kiss, right? Borg did he did Guardians of the Galaxy. He did Rush. He did um I mean I'm missing a few but Borg like he did Ninja Turtles, he did monsters, right? Um I I just Yeah. Like you never really get he never like goes crazy creatively. I think he he did Metallica. He um he tends to play it safer with like fan layouts for the most part and that look uh no Brian Eddy did Stranger Things, right? Wasn't that Eddie's like big first game with Stranger Things? I heard a rumor that like Borg designed Star Wars in a way where he had like cuz cuz the truth is this and and you know like everyone who knows people in the industry knows this truth that Stern's bomb is cheap and these designers get stuff yanked out of their games every every time they try to make the magic that they're po that they can make. And I think Bour had got to do something clever so that Stern couldn't cost cut and yank out the major mech he wanted in Star Wars. And I think that just goes to show you like I don't know Stern like maybe stop cutting stuff out. Maybe stop removing maybe stop making things barren and and maybe actually put more in. Godzilla doesn't feel barren to me at all. Like when you stand over Godzilla, it doesn't feel barren. When you King Kong does not feel barren to me. Jaws feels pretty barren to be honest. I I think Jaws what Jaws doesn't have in mechs it makes up for in assets. I I don't think King Kong's ever going to get like the appreciation that the fanboys think it deserves. I'm really disappointed that Indiana Jones Yeah, Indiana Jones was ready to go. And then I apparently the license changed hands and they wanted more money and Stern did not want to cough it up. There is a John Borg fully designed Indiana Jones game that will never see the light of day. When I heard your last episode, I thought it was Superman given that Steve his first pin. Um, well, look, I the thing is I'm not going to tell anybody or confirm what Steve Ritchie's title is. Um, but you're going to want one. the Spike 3 screen size. Okay, we already know what it's going to be. Remember that guy in Europe who made that mod where he made the screen a little bit bigger, but it still fits within the same size of the stern screen area. That's what it's going to be. So, it's just good. The speakers are going to get narrower and the screen's going to get bigger. It's not going to take up any more room. It's probably another like 4 inch size on the screen. Talk about the next JJP. Steve Ritchie gonna be fast. It's going to have flow and it's based on a nostalgic property and you know I think you're going to want one. That's all I'm going to say. Would I wait on getting Potter if with that being next? No. I I don't think we're going to see Steve's game for a while. I I do think the earliest we'd see Richie's next game, I would say Expo of next year. I I think that's going to that's going to be it. I don't think it's going to be before then. I I think they're just going to like have so many Potter orders to make, you know, they're going to have more time to to bake Richie's next game. There's not going to be a rush. Line's going to be moving. Money's coming in. Why Why rush? You know, it'd be fun to see JJP have a a second line of like final runs of like a Wizard of Oz or a final run of Dialed In or a final run, right, of like Willy Wonka and and just do like a final run version. I mean, we're at the point now where like all collectors have been screwed over so many times, they're um nothing, none of the models really matter anymore. Like, oh, the LE, I've got this, I've got the anniversary edition, I've got the yellow brick road edition. It It doesn't matter anymore. I think um I think collecting machines for, you know, for resale one day is over. I think you just buy what you want what you love and you want to keep. I think that's that's the new that's the new model. Um because anything else is is ridiculous. It's funny when I see some of these content creators like the new dudes which just like they just bought all this stuff at full price like the new games. I'm like well I mean Kong is now $3,000 less. So is Dungeons and Dragons. So was X-Men. I mean just think about that. If you just waited on Kongle, DNDLE, and X-Men, you would have saved $9,000 and got the same exact games in great condition. N grand. Which almost makes it like literally like one of those games is almost free. New dudes. No, they all went in. No, it wasn't just Ralph. Don went in on so many of these less. Like, you know, they got bit by the bug and they just start buying up everything new. H, you know, Canada doesn't get any deals from Dros. I don't have any room. I don't really care. I I don't I don't have any FOMO anymore. Like, once you lose the FOMO, it's so liberating to just sit back and watch. Like, it's just fun to watch. Oh, here's King Kong. Yeah. Buy on day one. And then how many months ago did Kong come out? Three at most. And now it's $3,000 cheaper in a box, people. Not even opened. In a box. You could put 10 grand on a table and walk home with a King Kong from a dro. I really want a Lord of the Rings back. I John, I've been thinking about it. Like I really want if I could get one game back, it would be Lord of the Rings Ellie and just like with those, you know, the the classy mods in it and brass plate the armor and just have the best theme integrated pin in the history of Stern Pinball. Oh yeah, I got my G&RC All right. Sad Boy said, "Dn blows uninspired layout for nerds." Um, I think Dn D, the dragon mech was cool. It was big, right? It was fun to see a big mech in a stern machine. Let's be honest, it was fun seeing that big dragon in a stern machine. Where Dn D, I don't think it blows. I just think it's like from what I can hear from people who have it, the outlane drains are insane. And the Save Your Progress kind of game kind of gets old. You kind of see it all and then and then it's just not worth it. Like people are not going to want to go on the journey again and again and again and again. And you know, but if you love Dn D, I think you'll really enjoy it. And if you don't, it just it it reminds me of like when we were kids. Like the kids who love D and D loved it. The rest of us were giving those kids nuggies and put those kids in headlocks. So it's just it's like if you're a nerd who's in the D and D, I think you're loving the pin. And I think for everyone else, the cool kids, not so much. Easy pass. Yeah. It's It's the same as it was back in the day. the the nerds who love D and D are always left trying to justify why they love it. And everyone else is like, I'm just going to go listen to Night Train, drink some whiskey, and play some GNR. Elwin and Danger are the only designers that don't recycle their layout. Um, I don't think Eric Miner recycles his layouts. I don't think um I don't think Spooky Pinballs ever recycled a layout. Bug and Luke over there, right? So, I don't think it's just those two. I don't even really think Pat Lawler recycled his layouts too much. Um, and I I guess he did fan layouts more often. George Gomez doesn't recycle his layouts. Yep. Um, what up? I'm like looking at the sunny Carl Weathers. My family's at the beach. So, we're going to do this for about 10 more minutes, then I'm going to go rejoin my family at the beach. Unless Unless Bill Brandice kicks $10,000. Oh, Bill's probably got his feet up. the bathroom on. I know Pat Lawler does do like fan layouts over and over. Um I don't know gang. I think the next from Stern is critical. I think Spooky's next is already sold out. I think American Pinball is dead. I think Dutch Pinball is not going to get anywhere near 500 Alice is out this year. I think we're going to see 300. I think um this is around the horn real quick. I think JJP is going to sell 8,000 Harry Potters. 5,000. I think more like 6,000 Harry Potters. Uh, no one wants the arcade edition, by the way. The arcade edition is not selling at all. I'm not surprised by that. Um, who else we got? I think CGC is pathetic. I think the fact that there's still no Merlin's edition of Medieval Madness is pathetic. Their next game is Halo. Nobody's going to buy that. Um, I think that Multimorphic, you know, whatever. You know, it's like that's kind of how I feel. like Jerry's obviously done a better job getting better themes into that platform. So, you know, I ironically the most incredible engineering happening in all of Pinball is happening over at Multimorphic. And can you imagine if they gave those guys an entire playfield to engineer Magic on top of instead of having to work around, you know, only 30% of the real estate is available to them to put mechs. Really crazy to me. J Jerry could Jerry could have the greatest boutique pinball company in all of pinball and instead like he just he had this dream and he won't move away from it. He won't adapt and he's he's in so deep now that it just it is what it is. Again, it just hasn't been commercially successful, but I'm sure he considers it su successful. I I don't know. I I really don't know. I mean, Spooky Pinball with one game has made more games than um Jerry's made in like a decade. And Stern Pinball makes more in a week than Jerry's made in a decade. So, um, I know it's different, different strokes for different folks, but just not what I would have done if I wanted to again bring Pinball Magic back. I think Multimorphic is a little bit of a solution in search of a problem. Pinball Brothers, um, Predator, I think it's dead on arrival. I think Pinball Brothers won't survive this game. I think they will after this and ABBA and Queen, I think the Pinball Brothers, even though they love it, I think they will pack their bags. I think the tariffs will kill them if not the lack of Arnold. And I and I think that's just what's going to happen to them. I I think Padretta Gaming the same way. I know Pretty Gaming, no one really bought Funhouse. The The Todden is next. Where is that? You can tell like they're these companies like the cash flow is just not there and they um they're gonna get killed by the tariffs and nobody's going to be paying 15,000 for a predator, you know? It It just doesn't work. It It just I'm not doing the get to the chopper. Like no, it it's just it it just they should have just made something where they had all the assets they needed. Um, what else? Who else am I missing in the pinball world? American Pinball is dead. Everybody knows this. Come on, guys. Like, they haven't made a new game in what, over a year, a year and a half. Has it been I think it's been like, it feels like two years since, you know, Galactic Tank Force. Um, Hagus, Pinball, Marty, and Damian. I don't know, right? Is Marty Robbins gonna come back? Are we ever going to see his War of the Worlds, Whitewood that he designed? I doubt it. I know that he'll never ever ever really have the love affair with pinball that he used to have because he ruined his own ability to have peace of mind in it. Um, and those guys were crazy. The amount of money that Damen took and then, you know, another bag of lies. I think the the days of like the startup Oh, yeah. yeah. And then Turner Pinball, like I I haven't heard from Chris Turner and and like I I don't think I don't think the numbers look good. And I think Turner Pinball is another one that's just they're not you just can't survive in this climate. Like 100 risktakers buying Ninja Eclipse does not make um your company viable for much longer. Like it's just not going to work. Um Merlin's Arcade 9500 bucks or something. like it's just not happening for that wizard edition or whatever they call it. It's just not happening. Um, you know, I I just I again I think we're um people are now in a mindset where like I I'd rather just buy one thing that has everything I want versus like just always supporting these pinball companies. You know what game game you don't hear about? Where where's that Alice's Adventures in Wonderland? Where's that other Alice in Wonderland game? Right. That was supposed to be $1,000, the Kickstarter one. Where's that? Where Where do you like they're not going to get that to market? They're never going to get that to market. And you know, just another We don't need like 15 pinball companies. We just need like four four companies that execute annually and deliver themes. You want magic, world under glass, good code. That's all you need. because one of them is Stern and that's going to be four titles at least, right? So that's four titles at least from Stern. Jersey Jack's gonna be one that's five. Spooky there's six. Okay. Then Then who else? Right. Dutch or something like Okay. Seven. Isn't seven new pinball machines a year good enough? H man. How long? I don't know. Everybody look, we've been here for hour an hour. I know we had some technical difficulties. I'm going to go back and revisit the family at the beach. Gonna go buy them lunch at the beach. Sit back, buy some soft serve ice cream. I I love I love the beach and I love that I'm a five minute drive from the beach and it's so much fun. Everybody be good. We lost a lot of our Gen X icons this week. Life is really short. I always say this, enjoy your games. Play the f out of them. If you if you let go of your FOMO, you'll be able to get any game you want for a much better price. Thank you for being a member of Canadas Pinball Podcast. I really do appreciate all the support. Sad Boy, thank you again for the extreme generosity. You continue to um take over the show uh with your uh donations, which is much appreciated. Uh, all the donations are are really appreciated because, you know, it's a lot of time to do all this. And look, look at Hector MX 200. Look at this. Pete Rosen with the 5,000 stars. There we go, Pete. There we go. I mean, like, I just This is it. This is it. I have the best. the the Canada Club members, you guys, you know, in the end, like I I know I know some of the other content creators are salty, but this is what makes them salty is they're like the dude, they're like, "This dude can eat. He's not even like positive about everything." And like they're just throwing money at him. Like what do we like what do we have to do? And the answer's simple. Just can't chill, baby. No thrills and chilling. You gotta You gotta just Come on. Come on. Anyway, everybody look, be good. Thank you guys so much. Last minute snipes, right? I love it. Last minute shout outs. Um, everybody, again, be good. Got some real fun shows planned for the next few weeks coming up. Um, and again, get out there. You know how I feel. Pinball's a winter sport. You know, it's going to be a slow couple weeks. End of August, early September, we're gonna get that Star Wars game. Like, that game is gonna be everything. Stern needs a hit. They need a hit. Namaste. Let's do this everybody. Have a great Saturday. Canada out. All right. We just ended Facebook. Now, let's end the YouTube. It's good. It's good. It's good. Love you guys. Thanks for hanging out. I really do appreciate it. All right. We'll be back next week at the same time. Um, and go out there and enjoy this beautiful planet hurtling through space at 10,000 miles an hour. Canada out. Boop.

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: a3cbb8a9-f2d7-446f-8b95-5d56a2e83f11*