# Kaneda Reacting to Pokemon LIVE for the First Time! **Source:** Kaneda Pinball Podcasts YouTube Lives **Type:** video **Published:** 2026-02-14 **Duration:** 36m 7s **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90DhLsBtzEo --- ## Analysis Kaneda livestreams his first reaction to the official Stern Pokemon Pinball reveal trailer, expressing strong enthusiasm for the game's visual design, theme appeal, and mechanical execution. He discusses Pokemon LE scarcity (750 units), predicts strong secondary market demand, contrasts it with recent Stern failures, and positions it as a catalyst for renewed hobby confidence alongside other upcoming premium titles. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] Pokemon LE production limited to 750 units; Master Ball exclusive to LE tier — _Kaneda discusses 750 LE units, states Master Ball is exclusive to LE, not available in Premium/Pro_ - [HIGH] Pokemon signed by two designers: Jack Danger and George Gomez — _Kaneda notes this is first Stern game with two designer signatures on apron_ - [HIGH] George Gomez confirmed no additional Pokemon printings planned; focus on Insider Connected integration — _Kaneda states he spoke to George Gomez and Jack Danger; they committed to no further runs, will focus on Tio as coder and Insider Connected development_ - [MEDIUM] Metallica Remastered LE sold for $18,000 secondary market — _Kaneda claims Metallica Remastered went for $18k, uses it as benchmark for Pokemon LE pricing_ - [MEDIUM] Harry Potter was catalyst for industry recognition of failures, not the cause of change itself — _Kaneda argues catalyst was 3-4 years of tanking games (Toy Story 4, Godfather, Avatar); Harry Potter recognition of those failures, not origin point_ - [LOW] Pokemon LE will command $20,000+ secondary market; only ~5 of 750 will be scalped in coming weeks — _Kaneda prediction/speculation on secondary market value and scalp behavior_ - [MEDIUM] Beetlejuice LE saw approximately 10 scalps out of 1,000 units produced — _Kaneda references historical scalpings to estimate Pokemon patterns_ - [HIGH] Christopher Franchi designed Pokemon art; different art direction from Zombie Yeti reduces visual fatigue — _Kaneda discusses Franchi's work on Pokemon, contrasts with Zombie Yeti's consistent style on recent games_ ### Notable Quotes > "That is honestly the most adorable pinball machine I've ever seen in my entire life." > — **Kaneda**, ~4:30 > _Initial emotional reaction to Pokemon reveal; establishes 'adorable' as core appeal positioning_ > "If Pokemon LE is going to lose value... Try to go get one. Can't get one anywhere. Can't catch them anywhere." > — **Kaneda**, ~16:00 > _Emphasizes Pokemon LE scarcity and secondary market strength vs. recent Star Wars/Walking Dead failures_ > "If this game was on a Jersey Jack platform, it would look twice as expensive. The lighting would be twice as good." > — **Kaneda**, ~24:30 > _Candid acknowledgment that Pokemon is Stern hardware, not JJP; tempers expectations while praising design_ > "The catalyst for change is all of these Sterns tanking in value are the reason why there's only 750 Pokemon LEs." > — **Kaneda**, ~28:00 > _Market thesis: Stern consciously constraining LE production post-failure cycle to restore FOMO and resale value_ > "You cannot make the LE games look exactly the same as the Premium and the Pro... He's done it too many times." > — **Kaneda**, ~32:00 > _Specific critique of Zombie Yeti/art department design strategy; signals quality concern on prior releases_ > "If Metallica was $18,000 and Pokemon has a tenth of the demand... I think well over 16 [thousand]." > — **Kaneda**, ~50:00 > _Extrapolation of secondary market pricing for Pokemon LE based on comparative IP strength_ > "I've spoken to George Gomez. I've spoken to Jack Danger. There are no more additions of Pokemon coming." > — **Kaneda**, ~58:00 > _Confirmation of production run finality; establishes Kaneda's insider access and George/Jack direct communication_ > "This is the most adorable pinball machine of all time... The world needs stuff like this right now." > — **Kaneda**, ~60:00 > _Contextualizes Pokemon appeal in broader cultural moment; positions cute/family-friendly as market need_ > "Without scalping, then there's no chance for anybody to try to get one who didn't hear about it yet. It's healthy." > — **Kaneda**, ~44:00 > _Defends secondary market economics; argues FOMO/scalpings are industry driver, not flaw_ > "I think they nailed Pokemon... It's a good thing [it's] not Zombie Yeti on art. Again, it's just nice to have something that just looks different." > — **Kaneda**, ~65:00 > _Praises Pokemon execution while signaling art fatigue on recent Stern releases; validates Franchi's unique contribution_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Pokemon (Stern Pinball) | game | Newly revealed Stern Pinball machine featuring Pokemon IP; designed by Jack Danger and George Gomez with Christopher Franchi artwork; LE limited to 750 units; Master Ball exclusive to LE | | Kaneda | person | Host of Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (1187+ episodes); independent pinball media personality with access to manufacturers/dealers; streaming live reaction to Pokemon reveal | | George Gomez | person | Lead designer on Pokemon Pinball; confirmed no additional production runs; discussed code/Insider Connected integration with Kaneda | | Jack Danger | person | Co-designer of Pokemon Pinball (first Stern game with two designer signatures); discussed production finality with Kaneda | | Christopher Franchi | person | Artist/designer on Pokemon; praised for unique visual style vs. Zombie Yeti's consistent approach on other Stern releases | | Zombie Yeti | person | Stern Pinball art director; criticized by Kaneda for LE/Premium visual similarity on recent games (King Kong, Foo Fighters, D&D, John Wick) | | Tio | person | Coder for Pokemon Pinball; focused on Insider Connected integration; Kaneda predicts immersive replay value | | Stern Pinball | company | Manufacturer of Pokemon Pinball; pursuing LE scarcity strategy post-failure cycle (Star Wars, Walking Dead, Avatar, Godfather); learning from market corrections | | Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Competitor mentioned as contrast; each game visually distinctive; mentioned as present in chat during stream | | Brenda | person | Appears to be Kaneda's partner/spouse; joins livestream; expresses enthusiasm for Pokemon as family-friendly content for young children | | Harry Potter (Jelly Jack Pinball) | game | Referenced as catalyst for industry confidence recovery; JJP release; praised as quality benchmark | | Beetlejuice (Stern Pinball) | game | Recent Stern release; strong LE demand; ~10 scalps out of 1,000 units; Kaneda urged buyers 6-8 months before release | | Sonic the Hedgehog (Stern Pinball) | game | Upcoming Stern title; positioned as family-friendly alongside Pokemon; discussed in context of 2026 release pipeline | | Transformers G1 (Stern Pinball) | game | Upcoming Stern release; expected to follow Pokemon's success trajectory; part of strong 2026 lineup | | Metallica Remastered (Stern Pinball) | game | Secondary market benchmark; LE sold for $18,000; used to extrapolate Pokemon pricing | | Star Wars (Stern Pinball) | game | Recent Stern release; market value tanking; used as negative example of LE depreciation vs. Pokemon positioning | | The Walking Dead (Stern Pinball) | game | Recent Stern release; value decline; referenced as market failure warranting LE scarcity strategy shift | | Insider Connected | product | Stern app integration; Pokemon using advanced coding to provide immersive replay value; focus of continued development post-release | | Keith Elwin | person | Game designer; Fallout pinball in development; Kaneda references his design style vs. Pokemon's broader appeal | | Godfather (Stern Pinball) | game | Referenced as catalyst failure (3-4 years prior); contributed to need for industry change | | Avatar (Stern Pinball) | game | Referenced as catalyst failure; value depreciation contributed to shift in manufacturing/LE strategy | | Toy Story 4 (Stern Pinball) | game | Referenced as catalyst failure; early sign of market correction needed | | Winchester Mystery House (Jersey Jack Pinball) | game | JJP recent release; part of boutique success wave; mentioned in context of Stern's competitive positioning | | Dune (Barrels of Fun) | game | Upcoming release; Kaneda asks 'Where's Dune at?'; part of 2026 strong-games pipeline | | Goonies (Unspecified Manufacturer) | game | Part of 2026 anticipated releases; mentioned alongside Pokemon, Sonic, Back to the Future, Transformers | ### Topics - **Primary:** Pokemon Pinball design & appeal, LE scarcity strategy and secondary market pricing, Stern's recovery from recent game failures (Star Wars, Walking Dead, Avatar, Godfather) - **Secondary:** Insider Connected coding integration and replay value, Christopher Franchi vs. Zombie Yeti art direction philosophy, FOMO, scalping, and secondary market health in pinball ecosystem, 2026 release pipeline (Sonic, Transformers, Back to the Future, Goonies, Dune) - **Mentioned:** Family-friendly/kid-accessible game design vs. hardcore/competitive layouts ### Sentiment **Positive** (0.82) — Kaneda expresses genuine enthusiasm for Pokemon design execution, visual appeal, and market positioning; defends against critics; advocates strong purchase recommendation. Tempered by acknowledgment that game is still Stern platform (not JJP quality), and recognition it may not appeal to competitive/Elwin-style players. Sentiment driven by IP strength, theme fit, and confidence in scarcity strategy restoration. ### Signals - **[community_signal]** Kaneda leveraging insider access (conversations with George Gomez, Jack Danger) to establish authority on Pokemon production finality; differentiating from broader community speculation (confidence: high) — Kaneda states 'I've spoken to George Gomez. I've spoken to Jack Danger. There are no more additions of Pokemon coming' and emphasizes his 1187 episodes, relationships with manufacturers/dealers warrant list access others lack - **[sentiment_shift]** Pokemon appeal crosses demographic divide: attracts children/new players (Kid-friendly, cute theme) AND collectors (IP strength, scarcity, expected resale value) (confidence: high) — Kaneda discusses children's enthusiasm for Pokemon, contrasts with adult FOMO behavior, frames as 'world needs this' culturally while separately arguing scarcity economics support flippers - **[competitive_signal]** Pokemon positioned as mass-market/casual appeal game, distinct from hardcore/competitive player preferences (Elwin-style four-flippers, unique layouts); Kaneda acknowledges trade-off but argues IP/theme value dominates (confidence: medium) — Kaneda discusses 'Keith Elwin players' who will see Pokemon layout as 'too easy' and 'not for me'; counters 'You can't deny the fact that this game is going to get more people excited than any Keith Elwin game' - **[design_philosophy]** Pokemon LE designed with intentional feature tier differentiation: Master Ball exclusive to LE; Pro/Premium/LE split across mechanical/cosmetic/audio features (confidence: high) — Kaneda states 'Master Ball exclusive to LE. Ain't going to be able to buy it. You're not going to be able to turn your Premium into an LE' and criticizes prior games for not differentiating sufficiently - **[licensing_signal]** First Stern game featuring two designer signatures (Jack Danger + George Gomez); signals co-design collaboration approach, possibly due to Pokemon IP complexity/coordination requirements (confidence: medium) — Kaneda notes 'first Stern game with two designers signing the apron' but does not explain reasoning; suggests thematic/mechanical complexity warranted dual design - **[market_signal]** Secondary market pricing: Kaneda predicts Pokemon LE will exceed $20,000; benchmarks against Metallica Remastered ($18,000) and Beetlejuice (~10 scalps at premium) (confidence: medium) — Kaneda speculates 'I think well over 16 [thousand]' for Pokemon based on Metallica comparison; notes only 5 of 750 likely to be scalped - **[personnel_signal]** Christopher Franchi credited as Pokemon artist; represents continued use of specialized IP-licensed artist vs. house style (confidence: high) — Kaneda references Franchi by name multiple times; discusses his approach to source art adaptation as success factor on Pokemon - **[product_concern]** Christopher Franchi's unique art direction on Pokemon breaks visual fatigue cycle of Zombie Yeti's consistent style across multiple recent Stern releases (King Kong, Foo Fighters, D&D, John Wick, Venom) (confidence: high) — Kaneda criticizes Zombie Yeti for making LE/Premium look identical across multiple titles; praises Franchi for fresh aesthetic distinct from other Sterns; notes 'every one of Jersey Jack's games looks different' as positive contrast - **[product_strategy]** Pokemon code development post-release focused on Insider Connected integration with Tio as primary coder; Kaneda expects 'level of immersiveness and replay value we haven't seen before' (confidence: high) — Kaneda states 'I think they're going to really go with Tio as the coder like he's all in on Insider Connected. I think you're going to see a level of immersiveness and replay value in this game that we haven't seen before' - **[business_signal]** Stern deliberately limiting Pokemon LE to 750 units to restore FOMO and maintain secondary market value, learning from 3-4 year failure cycle (Star Wars, Walking Dead, Avatar, Godfather) (confidence: high) — Kaneda states 'they obviously made a very concerted effort to minimize the amount of LEs so that they remain special forever' and 'George Gomez confirmed no additional Pokemon printings planned' --- ## Transcript Is it live? I like every [clears throat] platform right now. See, can [clears throat] you guys hear me? I don't know. See if we can hear him here. Uh, I don't know. Let's see. Are we live? Are we live here? Yo, can you guys hear me? Is it choppy audio? Because I think I have the audio. Um, I have like everything open at once. I have Patreon. Can you guys hear me on Patreon as well? I'm not sure if I can do I've got literally three streaming things happening at once. I've got Patreon. I've got Facebook and I've got uh YouTube. So, here's the deal. I Is the Is the Is the video out yet? I don't even know. I thought it was going to be out at noon, so I'm assum I haven't seen it because I've been in meetings. I want to do my reaction of Pokemon live. It is. Okay, great. So, let me pull it up. Hold on a second. Let me pull it up. Is it on? Let's close all these windows so you can't see all the magic I'm working on. Uh, and I'm going to I'm I' haven't opened up my text. I don't want to hear from anybody. Let's do this. Um, let's do this. This this. It's very short. Okay. All right. Well, you know, better short than never, I guess, is what the saying is now. Uh, the feature's not until three. All right, so let's do our first short one minute trailer. All right, where is it? YouTube. YouTube. Let's see. I don't know if I can watch a YouTube video and let's see. Stern Pokemon. Here we go. 22 minutes ago. One minute. All right, here we go. Oh, man. I'm already hooked on the theme song in two minutes. So, you know what? You know what I I realized is they licensed the they licensed the show, not the um not Nintendo, not like Okay, so I don't whatever. You're like, Chris, just watch the damn thing, Canada. Okay, hold on. Let's see. Share screen. Move this down here. All right, let's get this full screen. All right, let me YEAH. POKEMON, BABY. Give it to me. Who will be the champion of the arena battle? That is honestly That is honestly the most adorable pinball machine I've ever seen in my entire life. I'm literally I don't know what's happening here. This entire screen that Yes. POKEMON. BRENDA, can I come see? Yeah, come here. Come get on camera. That is like honestly one of the most fun. It's gonna It's gonna come through my headphones. But hold on. I just want to see it for She wants to see it for killing. Hold on to history. Brenda's in the camera. Uh where is this? Where where's my Bren? Get in. Get in here. Right there. No, I'm live streaming. Is this it? No, that's Star Wars. Oh, that's not That's Was it the first pinball machine I saw? How's it going? Look at Look at Look at this hottie. Look at this hottie. Stern pinball Pokemon. Who's getting one? We're [snorts] Your boy's getting one. It's so cute. Yeah. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. I got to guess. I mean, of course it was going to be cute. Yeah, but it's like really cute. Cuter than you. All right. Ready? That's really our trainer's journey begins. [screaming] Oh my god. Oh wow. Who will be the champion of the arena battle? I know. And he's going to be able to he's going to be able to play it. AH, I HAVEN'T FELT this push on the game in a while. I mean, it's just like fun, fun, colorful, fun. I think they nailed it. I lit like literally this thing is going to like just pull people in. It's just going to have this like I love the way Meowith flies over like it's just so cool. I I'm And it the the Ellie looks so good. Oh man. Oh man. Oh man. Oh man. Oh man. Oh man. Oh man. Now William, we're going to win JUST THE MYSTERY HOUSE, BABY. Where's Dun at? Where? Where's my players? Are you guys chat? Is the chat working? I think the chat stopped here. Hold on. Somebody chat something. Hey, let me chat something. Um I it will do good. Okay, but no thanks on the home. You guys are like, no thanks on the home collection. I'm lagging. Am I laggy? I'm sorry. I think I'm on It's cuz I'm on Patreon, too. Um, this is like uh this is amazing. This is amazing. I'm literally like very happy. I'm very happy. The pro. See, pros are a hose. The pro Pikachu doesn't move in the pro, man. I'm sorry, man. It's all ABOUT YOU. YOU GOT to get Pika Pikachu to move, baby. Moving. Moving. HERE WE GO. HERE WE GO, BABY. George Gomez, Jack Danger. I'm on three streaming platforms. I think they Is it lagging here, guys? Go over to YouTube on Patreon. Just go over to YouTube. We're on YouTube live right now. I can't I I I'm streaming three things at once. Let's Let's just take this over to YouTube. Okay, everybody here. Go. Well, it's good now because I'm over here, but go to YouTube. All right, let's go to YouTube. All right, let's go to Let's go back to YouTube. Let's get everybody in here. Let's get everybody in one place. Why does Jenis keep calling me? Jen is stop calling me. I can't talk right now. I'm I'm doing live, baby. Live. I'm doing live. Um Pokemon looks Wow. Lorden doesn't look lame. Brenda just said she loved it. She said THE THE KIDS ARE GOING TO LOVE IT. The kids are going to love it. It looks awesome. It looks awesome. It looks just like a lot of fun. The kids, guess who's still a kid? This guy. I don't understand. I can't write a check for this thing fast enough. I mean, literally, my children are going to learn to play pinball on this game. Name me another game. Name me another game that really kids would love to learn to play pinball on. I think they nailed it. I think they nailed it. I mean, the the theme song, Evil Dead. I think the theme song, the colors, the the there's movement on the mechs, there's movement from the characters. Remember, Grou just stands there. He just stands there. You have to like you had to like buy an extra thing to get him to move. I I legit I legit am psyched. I'm psyched for this game. I think they nailed it. I think the guys that are complaining really just don't understand, man. It's like, yeah, I love the dudes that are like, "Oh, the pro the pro." Nah, man. Nah, man. Look at that. The master ball, baby. CANADA'S GONNA BE PULLING BACK THAT MASTER BALL. Brendan's going to be pulling back that Master Ball. You know what I'm saying? I'm saying kid-friendly show. Canada, good for bringing kids into the hobby. No Pokemon in my house, THOUGH. NO FUN IN MY HOUSE. NO FUN IN MY CARGO SHORTWEARING HOUSE, MAN. IT'S FOR THE KIDS. WE'RE CRACKING BACK SOME BEERS AND TURNING ON SOME FOX NEWS TONIGHT, BABY. WE AIN'T PLAYING POKEMON. WHAT'S WRONG WITH Y'ALL? YOU GUYS WERE ALL ONCE KIDS. YOU WANT SOME MORE DADROCK GARBAGE? WE WANT THIS BABY. Pokemon next to Sonic the Hedgehog seems to be like boom boom boom. Beetlejuice. Think about Beetlejuice. Pokemon Sonic. Talked to Barry today. Back to the future's well on its way. You know it's not well on its way. Stern pinball making. Back to the future not happening. Sorry. Get a little real journalism where you call around and get the news. Oh man. Yeah. Let's talk about it now. Let's talk about how Pokemon's going to be 20K. 20K, baby. 20K. If you think PokemonL is going to lose value and be like another Star Wars or Walking Dead or Yep. Yep. Okay, cool. Keep thinking that. Keep thinking that. Try to go get one. Can't get one anywhere. Can't catch them anywhere. I tried to tell you guys, dirty flippers. Those dirty flippers. Let me tell you something. It's not the dirty flippers. It's the lazy speculators like y'all who just slept on it. There's a lot of guys who bought all Stern Les for the last four years. Now they Now they pump the brakes. THEY PUMP THE BRAKES ON POKEMON, BRENDA. THEY PUMP THE BRAKES on Pokemon. Now they're Canadian. I listen I told everybody this. I don't think the game's mechanically or design is gonna blow you away, which I don't know. I don't think it is. It looks different and fun, but it's Pokemon. Duh, duh. And And then everyone's LIKE, "YEAH, BUT WHAT ABOUT STAR WARS?" OKAY, there's been like five Star Wars games and they all kind of suck. There's never been another Pokemon game ever and this looks better than any Star Wars game. So, how about them apples? I DON'T LIKE IT. YOU'RE Win Schilling FOR STERN AND YOU'RE JUST HYPING IT. YOU'RE PUMPING AND DUMPING. I'M TELLING YOU RIGHT NOW, THIS GAME IS GOING UPSTAIRS. It is replacing Guns and Roses. I uh if if I don't replace Guns and Roses with Pokemon, you should all cancel my show. I think I would would you be as excited? Get in here. Get in here. I have to go take a call. Would you be as excited if your right now is about 5 years old and literally just at the beginning of his his what will be a long Pokemon phase. What are you trying to say? I'm only excited because Killian likes Pokemon now. Not only because Killian's excited. I think you're extra excited because you're Of course I'm extra excited. It's called context, Bren. It's called life. Just said that. I said make sure people have that context. Have you provided that context? Yeah. Yeah. If you want to come, you want to come join the show, you can provide all the context you want. You can join it. I'm live. Anyway, Brenda is saying, "The only reason I'm really excited is because I got young kids who are excited about this." No, No, no. I'm excited about this because a few things. I want a pinball machine that's colorful, that's fun, that like has a lot of replay value. I also want something, you know me, I love Japanese culture. [snorts] Pokemon, the biggest thing to ever come out of Japan. It is the biggest thing to come out of any country anywhere IPwise. And it's just like 750. You know me, I like a little scarcity. I like a little a thousand of many things. Too many. No show games, baby. No show games. So, here we go. 750 of the biggest IP in the world with Meow with Balloon falling over. Baby, Pikachu's just just DOING HIS THING. JUST DOING HIS THING. LIKE THAT'S LIKE SETH DAVIS is like I love it. is doing the zaza. You know, Seth and George ARE DOING THE ZAZA WITH PIKACHU AND ALL THE KUDIN GUYS. OH, IT'S NOT GOING IN MY HOUSE. WE'RE GOING TO GO DRINK OUR BANQUET BEERS AND COMPLAIN ABOUT INFLATION TONIGHT. WE AIN'T PLAYING POKEMON. WHAT'S wrong with this guy, man? Looks like he went to the gym today. Looks like he did a bunch of situps and chest and back. YEAH, BABY. LET'S DO THIS. LET'S JUST take my money now. Stern meow with me. Meowth. Meowth. Pikachu. These guys are Christopher Franchi. Franchie's in the house. Here's the deal, man. I don't care, man. I don't care about Pokemon number 78, 79. Like, I'm supposed to memorize these numbers now. You know, it's like just weird, right? It's like a hobbies reached a point now. It's reached a point. They bring out this thing and it's going to be the first Stern game with two designers signing the apron. Jack Danger and George Gomez right there. Valuing that. The The Master Ball is exclusive to the LE. Ain't going to ain't going to be able to buy it. You're not going to be able to turn your premium into an LE. Some of you guys out there that I was gonna get the premium all that red I don't know looks like ketchup hines game this is good this is good I know what's coming down the road in this hobby this is good as I keep saying 2026 going to be the best year of pinball Juice Goonies Back to the Future Sonic Pokemon hard stop there we can stop there no let's keep going G1 let's keep going let's keep going. You add up even just the great games we know are coming out this year, you're at about like in their best trim, you're at about $75,000 at least if you buy everyone. And so we're back now excited again. It's been a crappy four years of pinball. There's been a couple nice things here and there, but for the most part, it's been a crappy crappy run in pinball. It all started to change. Harry Potter, Winchester, we've got games like Beetlejuice, right? We started to see, wait, wait a minute, the boutiques are hitting higher than Stern. So Stern is like, this is still a Stern. Don't get me wrong. Don't get me wrong. If this game was on a Jersey Jack platform, it would look twice as expensive. The lighting would be twice as good. Everything would be, you know, a notch above. But here we go. Here we go. Pikachu. Money in the bank. Gold, baby. Transformers G1. All right. Now, look, look, I get it. I get it. A game that some of you guys who are used to Elwin and four flippers and unique layouts, you're going to look at this like, "This is too easy. This is not for me." And cool, doesn't have to be for you. But you can't deny the fact that this game is going to get more people excited than any Keith Owen game he's ever made. This is going to get more people excited about pinball than any stern machine ever made. It just is. It's just the power of the franchise. Now, now Keith just said, "I'm way too old for Pokemon." And I I honestly think everybody is never too old for Pokemon. You're never too old for K-pop Demon Hunters. You're never too old. Are you too old for for Frozen? Are you too old for a good time? You know, never. never. All right. So, would you dare say that Harry Potter was the catalyst of the change? Um, no. I mean, I just think I think what happened was this. I think the catalyst for the change, if you want to if you want me to be honest, is three to four years of every company releasing games that were tanking in value for everybody. You know, that that's see when if you if you ask me the catalyst Harry Potter is the recognition of all of those failures, but the catalyst, the thing that made these companies change for the better was they were making crap. That was losing value. that wasn't good enough and it was overpriced. You know what I'm saying? So, the catalyst for Harry Potter to come into existence, the catalyst for that is Toy Story 4, Godfather, and Avatar, right? So, that's what the catalyst is. So then, oh, we need to do something better. Oh, we need, look, they've been trying to make Harry Potter for 10 years. They finally did. But the catalyst for change is all of these sterns tanking in value are the reason why there's only 750 Pokemonle's. They They obviously made a very concerted effort to minimize the amount of less so that they remain special forever. And if you have a PokemonL, you now have something thatever okay? You don't feel that way about King Kong Ellie. You don't feel that way about D and D Ellie. You don't feel that way about John Wick Ellie. You don't feel that way about Venom Ellie. You don't feel that way even about James Bond Ellie. You don't even feel that way about Foo Fighters Ellie. Go back and look at Foo Fighters Ellie. It looks exactly the same as Foo Fighters Premium. And I keep saying this, this is a wakeup call for Zombie Yeti. You cannot make the LE games look exactly the same as the Premium and the Pro. He's done it too many times. He's art directed those games to look too similar too many times in a row. He knows better than anybody. Look at his Ghostbusters Ellie looks s it's radically different. And And then how do you go from that to every King Kong looks exactly the same? So the excuse isn't like oh I'm so busy so we don't have No, that's not an excuse because you know what is not too busy? You're asking me for $13,000 and I'm not going to spend $13,000 on Pokemon LE if Pokemon Pro looks exactly the same. If the accessories for Pokemon Pro will make your game look exactly like my LE, you can buy a translite from a guy in Europe and make your King Kong Pro look exactly the same as King Kong LE. Can't do it here. Okay, Joseph, welcome to Pinball, brother. You know, there's a lot of people joining Canadas Pinball Podcast, this channel, how we talk about pinball and you're coming in at a really good time. What you're going to see is content that is very balanced and we talk about this hobby and we call it like it is. And you know what'll happen is when I get excited about a game like this and people are like, well, now he's flip-flop, he's Win Schilling, he my advice to everybody is wait and see. But the other part of my wait and see advice has always been the same. It has always been wait and see. But every once in a while, if the theme is big enough, you should not wait. You need to get on a list now. I said that about Pokemon. I said it about Harry. Uh I I said it about Harry Potter before the CES were unlimited, and I especially said it about Beetlejuice. I was telling people to get on a list for Beetlejuice for six to eight months before the game came out. Some people listened, some people did not. But this one was interesting because I think what happened with Beetlejuice, even though I was like, I don't know if the game's gonna be great or not, and even that is still up in the air, I still think people were just so burned by so many of the Sternle's that they thought this game would go the same direction as Star Wars, as The Walking Dead, as you know, a James Bond, as you know, all the other games that have come out recently. And that is why that is why the um you know a lot of people slept on the Ellies and now they they're going to be impossible to get. Did Yeah, I'm Yeah, I'm on a list. I'm always on a list. See, the thing is I operate a little bit differently than the rest of you. Okay? And I and I I say this without even I say this unapologetically. We're not the same. Okay? We're We're not the same. And And I don't mean that like in a negative way. It's just we're just not the same. I do 1187 podcasts about pinball for over a decade. I have relationships with both manufacturers and dealers and dros. I don't have to play by the same rules as everybody else, but I don't get a discount and I don't get a kickback and I don't get anything other than access. And the way it normally works, I'm going to be completely transparent on every game. If I want one, I could I could get one and then, you know, if I don't like it, no, I'm not going to take it. I'm not going to take it. And that's how it works. Is that unfair? No. Not keeping anything for anyone's game. You know, everyone, you know, the thing that always is like always burns people's bridges is like, "Oh, he got more than one. He's going to discover one." You know, look, I like to speculate. Why can't I um I can do whatever I want. You know, I can do whatever I want. No one's given more people the chance to get an LE that's been sold out more times than me. Okay? You guys are all going to go make Project Pinball $25,000 on this game today and not even think twice about where that money's going. That's on you guys. That's on you guys, not on me. Um, but the reason people like coming to this channel is is anyone else really talking a lot about what do we think Pokemon's going to sell for now? I mean, that's it's fun to think about it. It's fun to think about it. What What do we think Pokemon sold out everywhere? $13,000. Metall I I used this analogy last night. Metallica Remastered, which has a tenth of the a tenth of the demand of Pokemon, probably a hundth less demand. JC JC, you're out of your mind. It's going to go for way well well over 16. Metallica Remastered, in which there's already been a Metallica game in the world that everyone a lot of people have. Metallica Remastereds were going for $18,000 on the table and you were getting them instantly for that. Okay. So, if Metallica was $18,000 and you know that and I could prove that game sold for that. I think Metallica only sold that with No, it didn't have the topper. It didn't come with the topper. Who cares about Ellie cause? I mean, let's just talk about Ka. That doesn't make any sense. Ellies are Ellies and the FOMO around them have have been what has been driving this hobby forever. Jersey Jack Pinball is in the house. Jersey Jack, welcome. Jersey Jack, we are excited for your next game. There is a lot of exciting stuff happening in pinball and it's just um it's good because the more these games are great and the more these games get us excited, the more excited people become, the more people want to be a part of this excitement. You understand that? Like nobody wants to if this h this is why FOMO is good. It's why seeing games scalped for more is good. It's why seeing secondhand value is important because nobody wants to be part of a hobby where you're just getting destroyed on every purchase. If this hobby kept making mediocre overpriced games where you were losing three to $5,000 per game, this hobby would be half the size in five years. If they keep making games that are exciting, that are themes we want, that get people excited, where the Ellie versions have FOMO and additional value added in, and you know, then we're going to keep growing. People forget what made pinball grow the last 10 years. It was all of that. You can't just get rid of it. The only people that care about Ellies are flippers and people who don't play their games. See, cause that is a incorrect stereotype. That is an incorrect stereotype. You know how many people I know have nothing but less and they play their games all the time? They don't even they don't even sell them. So to say that that's the only people is gross, grossly inaccurate. And And here's the thing, too. There are 750 Pokemon less. Of course, a few of them will scalp for over in the next few weeks, but out of 750, maybe five will sell. Okay? And that's why those five will be worth $20,000. Do you understand that? Because you got to remember when 745 people are taking possession because they love it and five we we never see gang, we never see like 50 games being scalped. We never see 30 games being scalped. And this is why Robin's an idiot and a fool for trying to eliminate it. It's like 10. How many Beetlejuice scalps did you see? Maybe 10 at most out of a thousand games, you know? So, this notion that there's like all these scalpers ruining the It's silly. But without scal without any scalping, then there's no chance for anybody to try to get one who didn't hear about it yet. It's healthy. You know why it's healthy? Because the five people that are going to get 20,000 for Pokemon, you know why it's healthy? because then the other 745 people cause know they've got a $20,000 machine. Now, it's not $20,000 if they all go to sell it at once, but it just feels good knowing that your thing is going to be in demand for a very long time. And for the people rooting against that and rooting against all of it, you you would ruin pinball if you tried to remove all that secondhand value. Because then you get into like the Robin scenario where like you think it's wrong that people should be allowed to sell a spot for over what they paid. Is it wrong to sell your stock for more than what you paid? Because I was never planning on keeping the stock. I just knew something was going to happen and I got in. Stern just better keep their word and not apolog Exactly. So I've spoken to George Gomez. I've spoken to Jack Danger. There are no more there are no more additions of Pokemon coming. What they plan to do is just continue to like develop this game with with Pokemon. I think they're going to really go with with Tio as the the coder like he's all in on Insider Connected. I think you're going to see a level of immersiveness and replay value in this game that we haven't seen before. So, I'm excited. I'm excited. I think that this game looks freaking awesome. I can't wait for the featureette. I think when we see more of like the animated series on that screen and the music and the call outs and the ziness of it, I I think we're going to I think what we're witnessing right now is the most adorable pinball machine of all time. I mean, that's what it's cute, right? And the word cute and adorable and Pokemon, like that's what it is. And it's very Japanese culture. If you ever been to Japan, they have like they have like mascots, like Pokemon looking characters outside their police departments. And that's why the world loves it. You got to understand, the world needs stuff like this right now. The world's tired of being angry, of being mad, of being stressed out of of all the anger and screaming and negativity in the world. The world wants more of this. People are going to eat this up. People don't want to shoot zombies right now in a Walking Dead dystopian future. I mean, Fallout is that's the theme. The world needs to smile more, needs to laugh more, and needs to feel people need to feel like kids again. And when I look at my young children and the energy they have around this property and around this theme, they're going to feel it with Sonic. They're going to feel it with other titles that are coming out. Transformers will do the same thing as they get a little older. And I think people, you know, that want to be angry about this stuff, they're they're really gonna it's just going to eat you up. It's not going to it's not going to change how many people subscribe to Canadas Pinball Podcast. I'm not being a hypocrite. I've called this thing honestly and candidly the whole way through. I was actually expecting the game to be a lot more pedestrian than it is. I do think I I think it even though it's a fan layout, it doesn't look like any Stern that's out there and I think that's a good thing. I think people are happy it's not Zombi yeti on art. Again, I think that and again it's not a knock against Zombie Yeti. I know he takes this personally, bro. It's just like it's just nice to have something that just looks different. You know, I got Jersey Jack watching and I one of the things I love about Jersey Jack pinball is that every one of their games looks different. It looks unique. If Jersey Jack used the same artist on like all of their games, it doesn't work. You know, it doesn't work. Now, and the Yeah, I always got to caveat this. The reason why Franchie works is he takes all the source art and he makes it look amazing. And it works because it it's so familiar to what you love about the IP, but there's only one Christopher Franchie. Once you go more of like the more highly illustrated Zombie Yeti style, it all blends in together, you know? So you got like again styles make things work. Fatigue will always set in a little bit and this just feels like a different kind of game. Branchy works. So I think this is good, man. I think it's good. Like I think Beetlejuice is epic. I think this game looks really fun. Um it, you know, it's still the stern. You know, don't get me wrong. Like I'm not saying this game like is looks better than like Harry Potter or Beetleju. I don't I don't think this thing looks better than Harry Potter or Beetlejuice at all. Like I don't But I think they nailed Pokemon. You know what I'm saying? I think they nailed Pokemon. Could they have done more and done more creativity in it? For sure. But they nailed Pokemon. Yeah, the Pro is going to sell huge in numbers. Look, it's going to be good. It's going to be a win-win. Look, I always think the premium is the one where it's like, you know what I'm saying, dude? Because the Pro is half the price of the Ellie. You're going to have so much to me. The LE on this game is special and you know it is what it is. Like I I just can't I could never have like the middle child. Like I either want to have the oldest or the first, you know, the firstborn or the youngest. Like I to me to me I I would never buy a premium of anything. It's just me though. That's just the way I roll through life. Like I just couldn't I just would never drop 10k knowing that I could have everything. The problem is all the fools that were buying Stern premiums for 9500, if they had just waited like three months, they literally could have got less for what they spent on the premium. I mean, Stern has really effed up everybody's faith in them. I think this game restores that faith because I don't think the Ellies are going to go down, which means the premiums won't go down as much, which means you're not going to regret buying the premium because you're not going to see sell for $9,000 in three months. This is what Sterns used to be like, and I think we're going to get back there. I think Transformers will have the same effect. And I heard Elwin's fallout is insane. So, it's a good day. So people will be back. I got to jump. Um come back at 3:00 and I think at 3:00 is the uh the full featurette. So let's watch that together and uh yeah, good luck getting an Ellie. Good luck. Good luck. They're not going to burn the Ellie owners this time. I mean, they've learned their lesson. They've learned their lesson. Trust me. I've talked to George about this this week. They know. They know what they did wrong and and they can't openly admit it, but they know. All right. Later. _(Acquisition: youtube_auto_sub, Enrichment: v3)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: c6396617-eee0-4cd0-9882-844480f20908*