# Episode 1200: "American's AI Slop & The Calm Before The King!"

**Source:** Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2026-03-20  
**Duration:** 19m 45s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-1200-ai-153512069

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## Analysis

Kaneda discusses American Pinball's new Houdini Franchi edition (100 units, $7,995), criticizing their use of AI-generated marketing flyers while praising the game's depth and Franchi's artwork. He addresses Spooky's Yukon Yeti, lamenting its art direction and predicting Steve Ritchie's upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog at Jersey Jack will dominate the year. He also comments on Pokemon secondary market pricing, production execution across manufacturers, and mod community pricing practices.

### Key Claims

- [MEDIUM] Steve Ritchie's Sonic the Hedgehog will be the greatest shooting pinball machine of all time and dominate 2026 — _Kaneda, opening statement; prediction based on Ritchie's track record and design philosophy_
- [HIGH] American Pinball's Houdini Franchi edition will sell 100 units and ship within 30 days — _Kaneda, direct statement about production plan and inventory_
- [MEDIUM] Yukon Yeti's art, music, and callouts are universally disliked and the artist should be replaced — _Kaneda's opinion based on community feedback; characterizes as 'nobody likes' these elements_
- [MEDIUM] Pokemon LE secondary market is unsustainable; premiums will see significant price drops once code completes — _Kaneda prediction; cites Stern's previous LE devaluation as historical precedent_
- [MEDIUM] Barrels of Fun (Winchester) has shipped fewer than 100 units in six months since reveal — _Kaneda comparative statement to highlight American Pinball's execution advantage_
- [HIGH] American Pinball used Gemini AI to generate marketing flyer for Houdini with visible defects — _Kaneda direct description; confirms Ronald from American Pinball ran image through AI, mentions hands and logo errors_
- [HIGH] Christopher Franchi created new cabinet art and topper for Houdini rerelease in two weeks — _Kaneda, specific attribution and timeline given_
- [MEDIUM] Stern's four years of money-losing LEs nearly destroyed their own collectability — _Kaneda opinion on Stern's market strategy and its consequences_

### Notable Quotes

> "This is all just the calm before the king. Steve Ritchie is gonna usher in Sonic the Hedgehog and it is going to be the new greatest shooting pinball machine of all time."
> — **Kaneda**, Opening
> _Sets up the episode's primary thesis about Sonic dominance; reveals Kaneda's confidence in Ritchie and hints at Jersey Jack's upcoming release_

> "They just need to slow down. Walk before you run. You don't even need a flyer on a game that's already sold out."
> — **Kaneda**, American Pinball segment
> _Core critique of American Pinball's marketing approach; suggests over-extension and unnecessary flyer spending_

> "It is very embarrassing and it's a stain on this company. You've got Christopher Franchi doing the art package. If you want to make any flyer, pay Mr. Franchi a few more hundred bucks and have him do it."
> — **Kaneda**, AI flyer discussion
> _Explicit condemnation of AI use while acknowledging Franchi's value; practical business criticism_

> "Nobody and I mean this nobody likes the art and nobody likes the music and nobody likes the callouts."
> — **Kaneda**, Yukon Yeti segment
> _Sweeping criticism of Spooky's artistic direction; characterizes community consensus_

> "Why would you even buy a Stern premium? What is the point? Pokemon LE is going to hold value."
> — **Kaneda**, Pokemon secondary market discussion
> _Compares Pokemon LE favorability to Stern premiums; predicts divergent market trajectories_

> "It's not about just getting sales. It's about creating something that has longevity, longevity in the marketplace, because trust."
> — **Kaneda**, Yukon Yeti strategy discussion
> _Articulates philosophy differentiating short-term sales from long-term brand equity_

> "The reason why Stern has got into this like weird place now is for four years they made LEs that lost so much money. They almost destroyed their own collectability."
> — **Kaneda**, Stern criticism
> _Historical critique of Stern's FOMO/LE strategy and its market consequences_

> "Distros will be taking two grand off the price of the game to move the units."
> — **Kaneda**, Premium pricing prediction
> _Specific forecast about distributor pricing pressure on Pokemon premiums_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Kaneda | person | Podcast host of Kaneda's Pinball Podcast; primary speaker; pinball industry commentator |
| Steve Ritchie | person | Legendary pinball designer; upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog designer at Jersey Jack Pinball; Kaneda predicts his game will dominate 2026 |
| Brian Vincent | person | Leadership at American Pinball; sent Kaneda Pokemon cards; Kaneda credits with good intentions |
| Ronald Lindeman | person | Leadership at American Pinball; used AI (Gemini) to generate Houdini marketing flyer; Kaneda critiques marketing inexperience |
| Melvin | person | Leadership at American Pinball; coordinated with Christopher Franchi to create new art/topper in two weeks |
| Christopher Franchi | person | Artist; created cabinet artwork and topper for Houdini Franchi edition; Kaneda praises his work and suggests he should handle all marketing materials |
| Greg Bone | person | Animator/illustrator for Family Guy; Kaneda mentions his extreme reaction to AI flyers; Kaneda disagrees with his stance |
| Chris Turner | person | Spooky Pinball designer; interviewed live; Kaneda criticizes for being too nice and not replacing artist on Yukon Yeti |
| Joe Balser | person | Original designer of Houdini; did not create whitewood prototype according to Kaneda |
| American Pinball | company | Pinball manufacturer; recently acquired with new leadership; releasing Houdini Franchi edition (100 units, $7,995) and planning Circus Voltaire; criticized for AI marketing flyers but praised for execution speed |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Pinball manufacturer; created Yukon Yeti; Kaneda predicts American Pinball will compete at their level by year's end |
| Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Pinball manufacturer; Steve Ritchie designing Sonic the Hedgehog for them |
| Stern Pinball | company | Major manufacturer; criticized for four years of money-losing LEs that damaged collectability; Pokemon LE in secondary market |
| Houdini | game | American Pinball machine; original J-Pop design; reissued with Christopher Franchi artwork in limited 100-unit edition at $7,995; Kaneda reviews as good value with substantial game depth |
| Yukon Yeti | game | Spooky Pinball machine; $12,000 price point; Kaneda criticizes art, music, and callouts as universally disliked; recommends artist replacement |
| Sonic the Hedgehog | game | Upcoming pinball machine by Steve Ritchie at Jersey Jack; Kaneda's primary prediction for game of the year; will feature loop-de-loops, fast gameplay, colorful/adorable aesthetic, premium cabinet art |
| Pokemon | game | Stern pinball machine; LE units selling for $20,000-$27,000+ in secondary market; Kaneda owns one arriving soon; criticizes premium buyers for overpaying ahead of code completion |
| Walking Dead Remastered | game | Stern remaster; mentioned as part of pre-Sonic releases; context suggests recent or imminent release |
| Circus Voltaire | game | Upcoming American Pinball game; planned after Houdini; Kaneda interested to see market response |
| Winchester Mystery House | game | Barrels of Fun game; Kaneda cites as production execution benchmark—fewer than 100 units shipped in six months versus American Pinball's 30-day Houdini delivery |
| Guns N' Roses | game | Pinball machine in Kaneda's collection; notes he no longer plays regularly; will be swapped out for incoming Pokemon LE |
| Beetlejuice | game | Pinball machine; Kaneda mentions mod community overpricing ($450 girl sign mod) and notes game doesn't need mods |
| Straight Down the Middle | media | Pinball YouTube show/podcast; mentioned among shows Kaneda would watch with whiskey |

### Topics

- **Primary:** American Pinball's operational competence and marketing execution, Houdini reissue with Christopher Franchi artwork, AI-generated marketing materials in pinball industry, Spooky Yukon Yeti's artistic direction and market reception, Pokemon secondary market pricing and LE speculation, Steve Ritchie's Sonic the Hedgehog as 2026 market leader
- **Secondary:** Stern's historical LE devaluation strategy and current market position, Pinball mod community pricing practices

### Sentiment

**Neutral** (0)

### Signals

- **[product_strategy]** Kaneda critiques industry-wide FOMO strategy (100-unit LEs, 500-unit runs, etc.) and predicts Sonic will break the pattern by producing plentiful CEs instead of artificially limited LE stock (confidence: high) — They're going to make as many CEs as you want. Everyone else can fight it out in the FOMO space of only 100, only 500, 999, 80 show games
- **[sentiment_shift]** Kaneda signals cautious optimism about American Pinball's turnaround despite AI flyer misstep; predicts they will compete with Spooky/Barrels of Fun within a year (confidence: high) — I think a year from now, American Pinball is going to be right in the mix with the Spookies and the Barleys of the world
- **[product_concern]** American Pinball released AI-generated marketing flyer with visible defects (distorted hands, mangled logos) for Houdini despite hiring premium artist; signals marketing inexperience and lack of quality control (confidence: high) — It always messes up the hands, as it did in the flyer...It is very embarrassing and it's a stain on this company
- **[design_philosophy]** Kaneda articulates philosophy that premium-priced games ($10k-$12k) require universally appealing art/music/callouts; criticizes Yukon Yeti for failing this standard despite $12k price point (confidence: high) — you can't release games like this if you want to charge $10,000 to $12,000...those are three things that you should easily be able to get right in the pinball world in 2026
- **[collector_signal]** Pokemon LE units trading at $20,000-$27,000+ in secondary market; Kaneda predicts unsustainable valuations and incoming premium depreciation once code matures, contrasting with LE value retention (confidence: high) — 750 Pokemons selling for 27,000, then 3,000 over...the premium, it's not going to hold anywhere near 9,500, 9,700 bucks
- **[manufacturing_signal]** American Pinball committing to 100-unit Houdini shipment within 30 days; contrasted positively against Barrels of Fun's slower Winchester production (fewer than 100 units in six months) (confidence: high) — they're making a hundred Houdini's and they're all going to ship to customers within 30 days...I don't even think a hundred have been made [at Winchester]
- **[market_signal]** Kaneda predicts Stern premiums will see aggressive distributor discounts (-$2k) as Sonic and other flagship games launch, reducing appeal of early premium purchases for games in active code development (confidence: medium) — Distros will be taking two grand off the price of the game to move the units
- **[personnel_signal]** Kaneda characterizes Chris Turner (Spooky) as too nice/accommodating with underperforming team members; suggests he needs assertive right-hand person to make talent replacement decisions (confidence: medium) — Chris, me, Kaneda. He needs somebody to be his right hand man who can tell people, we're good with you, man...He's too nice and he's allowing people that have been around
- **[design_innovation]** Kaneda highlights specific mechanical innovations in Houdini: milk can shot that fires ball entire playfield length, rotating trap door mechanism, two magnets, multiple modes—differentiates from simpler games like Yukon Yeti (confidence: high) — Name me another game that has a mechanism in it that does something that cool. It's got the trap door thing that rotates around. It's got a lot of stuff in this game
- **[venue_signal]** Kaneda notes Guns N' Roses in his collection is barely played despite strong initial interest; predicts incoming Pokemon LE will see heavy use due to superior shooting mechanics, signaling collector engagement patterns (confidence: medium) — Having Guns N' Roses all of these years and the last year, I haven't turned it on much...I cannot wait to play a game that actually shoots well
- **[community_signal]** Pinball mod community cited for exploitative pricing ($450 for small girl sign mod); Kaneda criticizes as discouraging for buyers and notes it exceeds 90 months of his podcast subscription (confidence: medium) — $450 is 90 months of Kaneda's Pinball Podcast...How are you going to build buyers if you are going to crap on them with such overpriced stuff?

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## Transcript

 It doesn't take a crystal ball to see, a cowboy always finds a way to leave, drinking Jack all by myself, cause choosing Texas I can tell. It is a beautiful Friday here in Rowatun, Connecticut. The sun is shining. Some of you are down at Texas Pinball Festival and there is some news happening. And in this pinball world baby, we got AI flyers happening, we're gonna talk about that. We've got Yukon Yeti, we're gonna talk about that. But I think all of this, I mean all of this, I'm just gonna say this right now at the beginning of the show, this is all just the calm before the king. All of this. Yeti, Houdini coming back, Pokemon, all of this, like a new whatever remastered of something, Walking Dead, all of it, it is the calm before the king. Steve Ritchie is gonna usher in Sonic the Hedgehog and it is going to be the new greatest shooting pinball machine of all time. It is going to be adorable and colorful like Pokemon, but it's going to have stuff in it loop-de-loops. It's going to have like the fastest gameplay with the most satisfying kinetic feel. It's going to have the coolest cabinet artwork I've seen in a long time. It's going to be crazy good. And this is all just the calm before the king. And the King is gonna return and he's gonna bring Sonic and there's gonna be no hoopla about how to get one. They're gonna make as many CEs as you want. Everyone else can fight it out in the FOMO space of only 100, only 500, 999, 80 show games, all the shenanigans to get people to buy your product. 750 Pokemons selling for 27,000, then 3,000 over. Now who knows what the game is worth. We're going to talk a little bit about Pokemon pricing, but man, I'm just going to say it. I think Steve Ritchie's Sonic is going to dominate this year. But before we get there, there's going to be a lot of people complaining about stupid stuff. Let's talk about the complaints about stupid stuff. Okay. So American Pinball, a company which is all new with a new team and new people, and they've got Brian, they've got Ronald, they've got Melvin, they've got people, I think they have We have like those dudes who made the toppers, was Electric Playground. They got a lot of new people. And this company just needs to do one thing. And I keep saying it and I had a great conversation with Brian and Brian, by the way, thank you so much for the Pokemon cards. This box was waiting for me outside our front door. This morning, I'm going to send you the video Pokemon cards for the children. You know how to get to Kaneda. It's make my children happy. Brian's a great guy and his intentions are great and it just comes down to one simple thing. They just need to slow down. Walk before you run. You don't even need a flyer on a game that's already sold out. Like it's sold through. They're going to easily sell a hundred of these things. It's just a hundred. They're going to sell these games. Okay. And like the fact that Melvin got Christopher Franchi to do this in like two weeks, creating All new cabinet art package, new topper, and get it to market, get it to the show, get these 100 games sold. It's gonna sell, man. This game's got, I think people forget, it's not the greatest shooting game because it's tight, but there's a lot in it. There's a lot in this game. There's like two magnets, there's that crazy like shot on the milk can on the left side that fires the freaking ball the entire length of the playfield. Name me another game that has a mechanism in it that does something that cool. It's got the trap door thing that rotates around. It's got a lot of stuff in this game. It's got modes that are fun. Look, Houdini was always a game that was just like frustrating because of all of the hoopla around it. You have the J-pop game and then they made this game. Joe Balcer never had a whitewood. Joe Balcer didn't do himself any favors by not having a whitewood. Some of the shots are way too tight and frustrating. But in the end, for $7,995, not a bad buy. Not a bad buy. I don't think you're going to lose your shirt on it. I don think you going to make a lot of money on it but I think it like a good game at a good price in the current landscape of pinball Okay It like look this game got way more in it than Yukon Yeti And there only going to be 100 of this edition with Franchion artwork And I don't know, man, there's a lot more in Udini than there is in a twelve thousand dollar Yukon Yeti. OK, now look, they put out a flyer and they ran it through AI like Gemini. And it was I think Ronald did this. And Ronald, man, I know, I know, I know. You don't know AI. Like you've got the franchise image, you put it in, and because you're not a marketing guy per se, and you're definitely not a designer, you don't know what is wrong with it. And if you work with AI like most people do now, you know that if you put in a source image, it's going to mess it up a little bit. And it always messes up the hands, as it did in the flyer. It messes up like the logos, as it did in the flyer. It messes up some of the fine details on the ornamentation on the ends of that flyer, as it did in their flyer. And then they redid it again and it still had mistakes that were AI slop. Now here's the thing. I don't care. These guys clearly don't know what they're doing when it comes to marketing just yet. But I'm also not gonna like take this approach and my friend Greg, you know, he's the animator, the illustrator for Family Guy. He's like, I would never deal with this company again in the future. Come on, like, come on. Like, we don't need to live in this world of extreme hyperbolic fatalities. Like that is the most inane response to this flyer. Look, this flyer is stupid. They never should have made it. You've got Christopher Franchi doing the art package. If you want to make any flyer, pay Mr. Franchi a few more hundred bucks and have him do it. It is embarrassing and I mean this. It is very embarrassing and it's a stain on this company. Don't get me wrong. It is very embarrassing to release a game where the focus is the art and then you use AI slop to make a flyer that is a sales and marketing item to sell your new artistic interpretation of Houdini. That is Bush League amateur hour. It's why I keep telling these guys, you need people that get marketing. Everybody thinks they do, but they don't. And the details matter. And that is why this is a really, really silly mistake. But again, in two days, even a day, nobody's going to care. The game is going to sell out. Nobody's going to care about this. It's a flyer. I mean, freaking Harry Potter had it on the playfield. So I think it's just something for pin side babies to complain about and something for people to draw a hard line on. But AI is here to stay. I use it every day. Why not? Right. Why not? I understand the environmental impact. I feel like we're running out of water if we use this thing. I still don't understand. We can't cool these computers down with something else. But anyway, it is what it is. Put these computers in Antarctica or something. But man, okay, so we got the game. I think it looks much better. It's definitely better than what it used to be. And I'm glad. I wish it had the whole treatment, but again, they didn't have time. And this does make sense. Now look, after this is going to be Circus Voltaire. So I think American Pinball, for most of this year, This is a great show. I'm going to be a company that is just getting its feet wet. It's learning how to do what it needs to do. And I think we should all be a little bit patient. And I know their intentions are in the right place. And I think they're going to get to a very, very good place down the road. I think Circus Voltaire is going to be interesting to see how the market responds to that. But I wouldn't like write this company off. I think a year from now, American Pinball is going to be right in the mix with the spookies and the barrels of the world. And they can actually, I think, out manufacture those companies. And look, they're making a hundred Houdini's and they're all going to ship to customers within 30 days. Did, uh, I don't know. I mean, the game's been made already, but like are a hundred Winchesters going out to people in 30 days? We are like six months since Winchester was revealed and I don't even think a hundred have been made. So, you know what I'm saying? It's like you gotta execute and I think they're gonna be able to execute. Okay, so Yukon Yeti, let's talk about it because we had a great show. We interviewed Chris Turner live. It was a lot of fun. He's the nicest guy in the world. It's hard to kind of like get mad at anything he does because he's so disarming and so calming. But look the writing on the wall with his company and the writing is this change the art It that simple Nobody And I mean this nobody likes the art and nobody likes the music and nobody likes the call outs And those are three things that you should easily be able to get right in the pinball world in 2026. So Chris, if you're listening to this, we need to stop. We need to stop with this artist. You're too nice. This is the thing. What Chris Turner needs is this Chris, me, Kaneda. He needs somebody to be his right hand man who can tell people, we're good with you, man. Thank you for your services. Thank you for the three games you did with us, but we're going to move in a different direction. He needs that. I think he's too nice and he's allowing people that have been around the deep root and the other stuff like just hang around too long. And look, in a world in which we've got Franchi and we've got Zombie Yeti and we've got all these other great artists and pinball, you can't release games like this if you want to charge $10,000 to $12,000. And yes, they may sell, man, but look, it's not about just getting sales. It's about creating something that has longevity, longevity in the marketplace, because trust 001 Also, they are not going to lose a single penny ever and more people want their next game than they will even make. That's how you do it. The reason why Stern has got into this like weird place now is for four years they made LEs that lost so much money. They almost destroyed their own collectability. And Stern's in a really weird place now because I'm like, why would you even buy a Stern premium? What is the point? Like, Pokemon LE is going to hold value. The game's not done. It's not going to be coded for like a year. So why would you buy a $9,500 premium? You could say, well, because I want to play the game now. But why? Why they're going to make those premiums forever. And by the time the code is where it needs to be, you'll easily be able to pick up a premium that's been sitting on a distro shelf. Trust me, you won't even have to buy it used from a customer. Distros will be taking two grand off the price of the game to move the units. Okay, because like in six months when Transformer comes out and you know the king, right? We're going to get Sonic. I think this game, you know, the premium, it's not going to hold anywhere near 9,500, 9,700 bucks, whatever it is. Okay. But look, I'm looking forward to my Pokemon. The LEs are clearly going into boxes. It's going to be any day now. I'm going to get a call from Automated saying, Chris, we're ready. Kaneda, we're ready to drop off Killian's game. We're going to pick up Guns N' Roses and they're going to set up Pokemon and I cannot wait to play a game that actually shoots well. Having Guns N' Roses all of these years and the last year, I haven't turned it on much. After playing it a lot when I first unboxed it, it's not a game that I want to go back and forth to. It's a good game for a big lineup when you want to just have like a few whiskeys and The Wally Williams Show, Knapp Arcade, Straight Down the Middle, Bally Williams, Straight Down the Middle, , There are so many billionaires and hundred millionaires in the world and they don't care. They open up bottles of wine that are that expensive and then just drink it so it is a very very wealthy world. I don't have that kind of money. I don't understand the point of it but I understand that there is a clientele for everything. And sometimes we forget that, right? There are people that will buy a Pokemon card for $17 million. There are people that will buy bottles of wine that cost more than your car, than your house even. There are people that think watches are worth this much money, right? Rolex makes a couple million watches a year. There's no limit on how many gold Daytonas they're going to make. They just arbitrarily hold back production to keep the secondhand value high But man you know what going to happen to all this stuff one day I mean Rolexes are worth their weight in gold because they are gold a gold Rolex But ultimately what going to happen is this We all going to die The younger generations are not going to care. And all of this stuff just ends up in estate sales. And that's why it's important just to buy what you love. Enjoy it. Like if you're going to buy watches, wear them out. I mean, I never understood people that don't drive their cars, don't wear their watches, I'm your host, David David Van Es, and I'll see you next time on Pinball Shows. Don't get it. How can you feel good? I mean, that's just my own personal thing is like, I feel bad when I roll out of bed after like, oh, you know, I haven't gotten to the gym in three days. I've been drinking old fashions all week and I ordered McDonald's at 1am. Feeling like crap to keep doing that over and over and over again. And all I want and the reason I want you guys to take care of yourselves is I want you to be around. I want you to see all the great pinball machines that are going to come down the pipeline this This year and many years into the future, what else is going on in pinball? I want to end this show by saying this. The mod community is getting really stupid. And I saw this like mod, CR, CKades, or Kades, CRKades, $450 for a tiny little girl sign that goes next to the Dante's Inferno in Beetlejuice. $450. How are you going to build buyers if you are going to crap on them with such overpriced stuff? I don't get it. Like there's a margin and then you're just being an a-hole. $450 is 90 months of Kaneda's Pinball Podcast and I've said it, I will not raise my prices. As gas prices go through the roof, as pinflation is all around us, Kaneda's Pinball Podcast is still just $5 a month. Alright, I just filed my 1099. I'm paying taxes on half of this! I'm not even getting like what you guys think, but look, it's a little bit, it's a nice side hustle, and then these dudes are rocking in with this stuff and charging that. And look, I'll just say this, if there is one game that does not need any mods, it is Beetlejuice. Now look, I saw the Tombstone mod. This is funny, this dude's got a mod where the Beetlegeist, the Beetlejuice, right, it says like Beetlegeist on it. It like lights up and and someone's like that doesn't look right this is not Elvira that doesn't look anything like the Tim Burton tombstone and then the dude post a picture it's exactly the tombstone from the movie exactly so it just goes to show that some of you out there are just saying stuff and you know nothing about the IP about what is happening and I encourage everybody I encourage Ronald over at AP I encourage the alcoholics Alright. You're listening to the Jimmy DeG Lao Show. I'm Jimmy DeG. and wouldn't it be a great day for everyone who lives and works in construction, right across this man écoute me it is not an animal we live and work with we are all caught in our own различities upside one of you prepare to experience designers put your body down sign an uh... and Commercializedalla with with with fim with with Talking about pinball. So, so life is great and we're all very blessed to be here every single week having fun with this little subculture that is just bonkers to everybody else. Have a happy Friday. I will have my Saturday morning spectacular this Saturday. I missed it because I was having too much fun in Ireland. Had an amazing time. I love you guys. Thank you for the support. Kaneda out. "'Willy Winka' is a True Story 516 . bring theufficient Soul fy pecittin interviewing at Christ Whatever Way."

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v4)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: bc692e3d-4aea-49ae-b510-78c9fa5093d9*