# Episode 957: "The Most Important Word in Pinball is _____"

**Source:** Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2024-05-20  
**Duration:** 22m 11s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-957-most-104600398

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## Analysis

The host argues that 'demand' is the most critical word defining pinball's future, criticizing manufacturers for making zero market research decisions on pricing, production volumes, and themes. He contends that companies like Stern, Jersey Jack, and American Pinball are making blind guesses on everything from LE production numbers to game themes, relying on outdated FOMO strategies that are now failing as evidenced by massive secondary market depreciation. The host advocates for transparency about upcoming titles, data-driven decision-making, and production strategies based on actual consumer demand rather than assumptions.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Pinball companies do zero market research on themes, pricing, and production volumes — _Host states directly: 'Do any pinball companies do any market research whatsoever?' and repeats 'There is zero market research going on anywhere.'_
- [MEDIUM] John Wick has more supply than Star Wars LEs from Stern — _Host observes: 'It's crazy to me that we live in a pinball world now where John Wick has more supply than Star Wars.'_
- [HIGH] Galactic Tank Force LE depreciated from ~$11,000 new in box to $7,500 within a year due to lack of demand — _Host states: 'I'm looking at this Galactic Tank Force LE that was like almost $11,000 new in box just a year ago. And now it's selling for $7,500. You know why? Because there's no demand.'_
- [HIGH] FOMO-based marketing and one-week launch windows are no longer effective — _Host states: 'It's not working. It didn't work with Elton John. It hasn't worked with the last few Stern machines. It's just not working.'_
- [HIGH] Stern Pinball's Keith Elwin 60th anniversary James Bond LE at $20,000 MSRP was the highest-priced game Stern ever launched — _Host declares: 'That was the most expensive game Stern has ever launched, people. In the history of Stern Pinball that is the most expensive MSRP they ever put on their website for a pinball machine.'_
- [MEDIUM] Batman SLE and Ghostbusters LE held or gained value, showing Stern 'got the demand right' on those titles — _Host: 'A Batman SLE was $15,000. I just sold mine for $28,000. They got the demand right on that game. They got the demand right on Ghostbusters LE, on Tron LE.'_
- [MEDIUM] Stern considered remaking high-value vaulted games but stopped due to community backlash — _Host: 'George Gomez and Seth Davis wanted to remake everything that was selling for over sticker... just like they did with Jurassic Park, just like they did with Elvira until we said F off Stern.'_
- [HIGH] Canadian Pinball Podcast has over 710 club members; host claims viewers of 'wait and see' messaging vastly outnumber 'buy buy buy' advocates — _Host announces: 'We are well over 700 club members. We now have 710' and claims critics of FOMO have 710 subscribers vs. ~400 combined for opposing voices._

### Notable Quotes

> "As long as there's demand, we will make the game."
> — **George Gomez (cited by host)**, early in episode
> _Establishes the core theme; Gomez's statement about demand is the philosophical foundation for the entire episode._

> "There is not demand for either the themes we're getting. And then is there demand at these prices?"
> — **Host**, main argument section
> _Crystallizes the dual problem: theme selection and pricing misalignment with actual consumer demand._

> "It's crazy to me that we live in a pinball world now where John Wick has more supply than Star Wars."
> — **Host**, production volume analysis
> _Demonstrates how production decisions are disconnected from perceived market demand; Star Wars presumably has higher IP cachet._

> "They are 100% guessing on all of this."
> — **Host**, pricing and volume section
> _Directly accuses manufacturers of having no data-driven strategy; summarizes the core criticism._

> "If you bought one, you just lost $4,000."
> — **Host (re: John Wick LE)**, depreciation section
> _Illustrates the real financial pain caused by overproduction and FOMO marketing strategies._

> "It needs to be something that you love. It needs to be a theme that you wanna put in your home, that you wanna wake up and when you walk by it, it puts a smile on your face."
> — **Host**, thematic demand section
> _Articulates the emotional/nostalgic basis for pinball purchasing decisions, beyond mechanical 'fun' argument._

> "Every pinball machine is fun. That is not what we're talking about. It's a toy. It's supposed to be fun."
> — **Host**, theme discussion
> _Dismisses 'it's fun' as a justification for high prices; shifts focus to theme resonance and emotional connection._

> "The Matrix has 47% of the votes. Harry Potter has 34% and Pokemon only 19."
> — **Host (citing personal poll results)**, theme polling results
> _Provides data from his audience showing theme excitement inversely correlates with IP size; evidence that market research is possible and revealing._

> "If you think waiting and seeing and being patient and using your mind is a toxic thing, then you, sir, are the problem."
> — **Host**, closing argument
> _Reframes 'wait and see' as rational market behavior, not community toxicity; positions critical thinking as virtuous._

> "The only people that should be rooting for Stern to charge as much as they can and make as many games as they can are the investors at Stern. It shouldn't be us."
> — **Host**, closing section
> _Calls out fans who advocate for high pricing and overproduction as acting against their own interests._

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| George Gomez | person | Stern Pinball designer/executive; cited for the statement 'as long as there's demand, we will make the game'; host references his current 'panic attack tour' and past strategy to remake vaulted high-value games. |
| Stern Pinball | company | Major manufacturer criticized for zero market research, highest-priced MSRP ever (Keith Elwin 60th anniversary James Bond at ~$20k), mass-produced commodity approach, FOMO-dependent marketing, and overproduction of John Wick LEs relative to Star Wars. |
| Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Accused of overproduction; produced 1000 Elton John units at $15,000 MSRP without apparent market research; host questions whether market research informed this decision. |
| American Pinball | company | Questioned for releasing Galactic Tank Force without confirmed demand; machine depreciated from ~$11k to $7.5k in one year, illustrating poor demand assessment. |
| Barrels of Fun | company | Criticized for producing 1100 Labyrinth units in their first release; host argues 500 units would have been smarter to create scarcity, brand value, and sustained collector interest. |
| Pedretti Gaming | company | Host questions how company decided on 750 units for Fun House remaster priced at $10,000 (double the original $5,000 price point); criticizes lack of market research behind this decision. |
| Dutch Pinball | company | Confirmed to be making Back to the Future (not a secret); also making Big Lebowski. Host uses as example of transparency not hurting sales. Questions how company landed on 500 Alice in Wonderland units at $14,000. |
| Barry Laws | person | Dutch Pinball designer/owner; cited as working on Back to the Future with Bob Gale and Joe K.; host speculates about potential future releases (Bloodsport, Die Hard) and pricing strategy for ultra-limited collectible editions. |
| Canadian Pinball Podcast | organization | Host's own podcast; has grown to 710+ club members (Patreon). Host uses as example of 'wait and see' rational messaging gaining larger audience than 'buy buy buy' advocates. |
| Jack Danger | person | Content creator cited as doing free marketing work for pinball companies for years; host references his role in building hype without compensation from manufacturers. |
| Seth Davis | person | Stern Pinball executive; cited alongside George Gomez as pushing strategy to remake high-value vaulted games until community pushback stopped the practice. |
| Back to the Future | game | Upcoming Dutch Pinball release; host uses as example of game with extremely high confirmed demand ('demands through the roof'); speculates on limited edition pricing and production strategy; known to be in development with Bob Gale and Joe K. |
| John Wick | game | Recent Stern Pinball release; host criticizes overproduction of LEs relative to Star Wars; claims high depreciation and lack of demand; depreciation to ~$4,000 below LE MSRP; centerpiece of Stern's current 'apology tour' with media invitations. |
| Galactic Tank Force | game | American Pinball title; LE version depreciated from ~$11,000 new-in-box to $7,500 within one year, illustrating demand miscalculation. |
| Labyrinth | game | Barrels of Fun's first release; produced in 1100 units. Host criticizes volume decision and argues 500 units would have been better for brand positioning and collector value. |
| Elton John | game | Jersey Jack Pinball title; 1000 units at $15,000 MSRP; host cites as example of failed FOMO strategy and overproduction. |
| Batman SLE | game | Stern Pinball collectible edition; $15,000 MSRP; host states he sold his copy for $28,000, indicating Stern correctly assessed demand and the title appreciated. |
| Ghostbusters LE | game | Stern Pinball limited edition; cited as example of game where Stern 'got the demand right'; retained or gained value on secondary market. |
| Tron LE | game | Stern Pinball limited edition; cited as example of successful demand assessment; strong secondary market performance. |
| Star Wars | game | Stern Pinball title; host uses as benchmark for high-demand IP, noting that John Wick received higher production allocation despite lower perceived theme demand. |
| Keith Elwin 60th Anniversary James Bond | game | Stern Pinball premium collectible; $20,000 MSRP (highest in Stern's history); host cites as example of pricing failure and overconfidence in FOMO strategy; poor sales performance referenced. |
| Godfather | game | Stern Pinball title (assumed); host uses as example of game that cannot command $15,000 LE pricing despite significant IP value; illustrates theme-demand mismatch. |
| Toy Story 4 | game | Stern Pinball title (assumed); host cites as example of premium IP that will not sustain $15,000 LE pricing in current market. |
| Jack Bar | venue | Arcade/bar venue; host plans to visit to play John Wick during paternity leave to 'actually play this John Wick'. |
| Cassian | person | Host's newborn son; on paternity leave; mentioned as reason for increased podcast content during the next 8 weeks. |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Market Research and Demand Assessment, Pricing Strategy and MSRP Decisions, Production Volume and Limited Edition Scarcity, FOMO Marketing and One-Week Launch Windows, Secondary Market Depreciation and Collector Value, Theme Licensing and IP Selection
- **Secondary:** Manufacturer Transparency and Advance Announcements, Community Sentiment and 'Wait and See' Philosophy

### Sentiment

**Negative** (-0.82) — Host is critical and frustrated with pinball manufacturers' decision-making processes, FOMO marketing, overproduction, and lack of market research. However, criticism is framed as constructive and rooted in love for the hobby. Sentiment is not hostile toward the community itself but rather toward industry practices. Some positive notes when discussing well-executed titles (Batman SLE, Ghostbusters LE, Tron LE) and potential (Back to the Future).

### Signals

- **[market_signal]** Galactic Tank Force LE dropped from ~$11,000 new-in-box to $7,500 in ~1 year; John Wick LE buyers facing $4,000 losses; widespread secondary market failure indicating overproduction relative to demand. (confidence: high) — Host states: 'Galactic Tank Force LE that was like almost $11,000 new in box just a year ago. And now it's selling for $7,500. You know why? Because there's no demand.' Also: 'If you bought one [John Wick LE], you just lost $4,000.'
- **[business_signal]** Stern Pinball in 'apology tour' mode, inviting media to John Wick play sessions; signals acknowledgment of sales/perception problems and pivot to damage control. (confidence: medium) — Host: 'As I watch them right now on this apology tour and now they're going to invite all the pinball media to shill John Wick.'
- **[sentiment_shift]** Host claims 'wait and see' advocates now have 710+ subscribers vs. ~400 combined for 'buy buy buy' messaging; signals major community sentiment shift away from FOMO and impulse buying. (confidence: medium) — Host: 'The people screaming buy, buy, buy, all of them added up don't even come to like 400 subscribers. And it's because what we're saying here is the way we should be thinking about this hobby.'
- **[product_concern]** Host questions if manufacturers conducted any market research; John Wick LE overproduced relative to Star Wars; Galactic Tank Force failed to find audience at launch pricing. (confidence: high) — Host: 'Do any pinball companies do any market research whatsoever?' and 'It's crazy to me that we live in a pinball world now where John Wick has more supply than Star Wars.'
- **[product_strategy]** Host criticizes specific production decisions: Pedretti Gaming's 750 Fun House units, Dutch Pinball's 500 Alice in Wonderland units, Barrels of Fun's 1100 Labyrinth units. Argues these numbers appear arbitrary and not research-backed. (confidence: high) — Host: 'How did Andrea Pedretti say, we're going to make 750 of these? How does Dutch Pinball X figure out that 500 people are gonna wanna buy Alice in Wonderland for $14,000?'
- **[market_signal]** Keith Elwin 60th Anniversary James Bond at $20,000 MSRP (Stern's highest ever) under-performed; signals consumer resistance to ultra-premium pricing without strong IP/theme match. (confidence: high) — Host: '[Keith Elwin 60th anniversary James Bond] was the most expensive game Stern has ever launched... and look how it turned out.'
- **[industry_signal]** Host attributes poor decisions to manufacturer arrogance stemming from years of everything selling; manufacturers not adapting to changed market conditions; relying on outdated playbooks. (confidence: medium) — Host: 'There's like this arrogance now by these companies that if they make anything, we will buy it regardless of the price, regardless of the theme. It's crazy to me.'
- **[content_signal]** Canadian Pinball Podcast has grown to 710+ club members; framing of 'wait and see' messaging as resonating with larger audience than FOMO advocates. (confidence: high) — Host: 'We are well over 700 club members. We now have 710 who believe in Canadian Pinball Podcast.'
- **[design_philosophy]** Host argues that high-price pinball machines must offer emotional/nostalgic connection and theme resonance, not just mechanical 'fun'; this is central to demand assessment. (confidence: high) — Host: 'It needs to be something that you love. It needs to be a theme that you wanna put in your home... If it doesn't, it's not going to work.'
- **[community_signal]** Host conducted informal community poll on theme excitement: Matrix 47%, Harry Potter 34%, Pokemon 19%. Notes that non-dominant IP (Matrix) generated highest excitement; illustrates value of market research. (confidence: medium) — Host: 'I just put up a theme and I said, which one of these three themes excites you the most?... The Matrix has 47% of the votes. Harry Potter has 34% and Pokemon only 19.'
- **[manufacturer_signal]** Host criticizes lack of transparency; argues manufacturers keep titles secret and use one-week FOMO launches as only marketing tool; advocates for longer advance announcement windows. (confidence: high) — Host: 'Why are they operating with tons of secrecy?... Why does it have to be a big mystery?... It's like you're trying to jam in all of it into like a one week period and it doesn't work.'

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## Transcript

 You're the only one who really knew me at all. So take a look at me now. Sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up. Welcome everybody to Canada's Pinball Podcast, the only pinball podcast that won't lose you any money. This is going up in value, people. I want to thank all of our new club members. We are well over 700 club members. We now have 710 who believe in Canadian Pinball Podcast. Welcome Daniel, Stacey, Brian, Scott, Matthew, Joe, Mike, Ken, another Stacey, Mr. Victor is in the house, Ian, Corey. Guys, thank you so much. We have blown by my target of getting to 700 this month. And here's what I want to talk about on this episode of Canadian Pinball Podcast. I want to talk about one word. And I think this word is everything. And this is going to be the word that really, like, I feel like Elmo, like the word of the day. This is going to be the word that is really going to define where pinball goes in 2024 and well into the future. And they say that Canada doesn't have new topics to talk about. You know what the word is? Demand. I want to talk about demand because I've been thinking about something for a while, ever since George Gomez said this line. And he said, as long as there's demand, we will make the game, right? He talks about that a lot. He talked about demand when he talked about why a Foo Fighter topper is $2,000. He said they priced it there because of the demand. And look, I just want to say this. If you get it right and you supply what the demand is asking for, you will be a very successful company. And as I look at pinball in 2024, here's the big issue I'm seeing. There is not demand for either the themes we're getting. And then is there demand at these prices? And I think the big issue is this. Do any pinball companies do any market research whatsoever? Like, did Stern do market research to figure out that if they price these games between seven and $13,000, there will be demand for 1000 LEs at 13,000. Did Jersey Jack pinball do any market research to figure out if there's demand for 1000 Elton Johns at $15,000? Did American pinball do any market research to figure out if there's even any demand for galactic tank force, Right. And so then you have all these pinball companies. I mean, there's so many of them and you add them all up. Right. Is there demand for eleven hundred labyrinth machines? All these decisions are being made that greatly impact this hobby we love. And I think the answer is there's none. There is zero market research going on anywhere. And I think that's a very dangerous thing. And in my profession, I work in marketing. So much of what we do before we make a single move is we do market research. We do analytics. We look at the data. We look at the numbers. We go to consumers. We find out what they want, what they're willing to pay. All of this matters so much. And I think the reason why there's none of it in pinball is for the longest time, everything was selling, right? There's like this arrogance now by these companies that if they make anything, we will buy it regardless of the price, regardless of the theme. It's crazy to me that we live in a pinball world now where John Wick has more supply than Star Wars. I mean, think about that just for a minute. Stern really thinks it could sell more John Wick LEs than Star Wars. Does Pedretti Gaming really think there's 750 people that want a fun house for $10,000, right? A game that you could buy for $5,000. All of a sudden, they're going to bring it back, charge twice as much money, and then make 750 of them. How did they land on that number? How did Andrea Pedretti say, we're going to make 750 of these? How does Dutch Pinball X figure out that 500 people are gonna wanna buy Alice in Wonderland for $14,000. All of this is a guessing game. They are 100% guessing on all of this. And that's the problem I see in pinball. These companies are all making crazy guesses and assumptions about what we want. And before they know what we really want, they're supplying it left and right, right? It's all over the place. They're supplying tons of games. They're supplying tons of themes. And all of it is like, well, maybe this will work. And what I love about the pinball market right now, like I'm looking at this Galactic Tank Force LE that was like almost $11,000 new in box just a year ago. And now it's selling for $7,500. You know why? Because there's no demand. And as I've always said, a bad game has like no demand. Like there's almost no price in which you really want it. Because to a lot of us out there, we've got to make room for a pinball machine, right? you already got like almost all the pins you can have in your house And so for something to go out of your game room and something to go in it has to be a game that you demand that you really really want And I was wondering like why do pinball companies keep operating like this? Like, why are they operating with tons of secrecy? They don't do any market research. They start on a two-year development of a game and they don't really know how many people want it, how to price it properly. All of it is just a big guess. And all of it is making a huge assumption that we want it. Now, what would I do if I were at a pinball company? Well, I would stop with all this like secrecy, right? Why? Why? Think about it like this. We all know Dutch pinball is making back to the future. It's not a secret. And we know that Barry is working with Bob Gale and Joe K. And we expect great things. We all know that, right? Is that hurting sales of Big Lebowski? No, because there are two separate themes that both have a lot of demand. and they're going to be separate games and they're going to be fully featured and they're going to be designed from the ground up by a team that loads their games with amazing stuff because they built a reputation on their first game, even though it took 10 years, of a company that's really, really creative when it thinks about how it can mechanically make a world under glass. Not a world on the screen, which is Stern's new approach. Like, look at John Wick. That's not a world under glass. It is a world on the screen and people don't want it. But we know that Barry is making Back to the Future. So what? If Barry said, hey, look, I've got Back to the Future. I've got Bloodsport and I've got Die Hard. We're going to make those three pins in the next three years. What would happen? You know, and think about it like this. Imagine if Bloodsport's like that outlier, right? It's a cult movie. Some people like it. Some people don't. He could actually do market research. Do you guys want Bloodsport? Do you want it? And then he could hear the feedback. And that might save him from making a mistake if there's not enough demand. It also would help Barry know how strong the demand is. It would help him know maybe how many to make. It might help him where to price the game. We can't live in this pinball world anymore, people, where every single game, every single Stern and Jersey Jack machine, all of them are all priced exactly the same. And they're going to make the same volume regardless of demand. That is stupid. That is so idiotic. And I know they used to get away with it when the prices were much cheaper and we saw the value in everything. And now we're seeing everything lose so much value. They need to start doing it differently. They can't rely on FOMO. It's not working, right? What do you do now with a thousand John Wick LEs where there's no demand? If you bought one, you just lost $4,000. and why did they make more John Wick LEs than Star Wars? It's stupid and they're gonna get punished and they're gonna learn a harsh lesson in marketing because all these pinball companies, and you know this, they've been very lazy in the marketing department. They haven't had to do much marketing. In fact, it's people like me and Jack Danger all those years, all these content creators are doing the job for them, but now they have to actually turn on educated marketing moves and I don't think they know how to do it Because to really do it right, you're going to have to give up your only marketing strategy, which is this stupid FOMO approach where you try to force these people to buy these expensive products on week one with not enough information. And you think you're just going to sell out of everything just because you unveil a game. It doesn't work. It didn't work with Elton John. It hasn't worked with the last few Stern machines. It's just not working. And yet they're still going to do it. And look, every once in a while. I mean this every once in a while, you're going to have a banger. You're going to have a Harry Potter or a back to the future. And yes, when you have something so popular, the demand is through the roof where you don't need to really do much. You don't need to do much. In fact, you're always going to have more demand than you can possibly supply. And then it gets tricky, right? How many Ellie's do I make of Harry Potter? Am I only going to make a thousand, right? There's so much demand. And the answer is probably yes. You got to still create some sort of FOMO and scarcity for those limited versions of the game that are for collectors. But then you could start to play around a little bit. A Harry Potter collector's edition would absolutely sell easily for $15,000. An Elton John will not. A Godfather will not. A Toy Story 4 will not. It's just the way it goes. And so, you know, Barry's sitting on Back to the Future right now, demands through the roof. And imagine if he makes only 88 special limited edition versions of the game, like a really, really high end collectible version of the game. What do you think he could price that at? And look, they secured the theme. They should be able to have some fun with it because there are people in this hobby who live in $8 million homes and there are enough millionaires, multi, multi millionaires in pinball to absorb 88 back to the future games that are $20,000. What there is not in pinball are 500 idiots willing to spend $20,000 on a BS Keith Elwin 60th anniversary James Bond. There's not. And look, Stern tested the waters there. That was the most expensive game Stern has ever launched, people. In the history of Stern Pinball that is the most expensive MSRP they ever put on their website for a pinball machine and look how it turned out look how it turned out and that just goes to show me they don know marketing they don't know what they're doing and as I watch them right now on this apology tour and now they're going to invite all the pinball media to shill John Wick trust me people don't buy it don't buy it there is not demand for this game and of course you're going to go on location and play it and it's fast and it's brutal and it's fun. Every pinball machine is fun. That is not what we're talking about. It's a toy. It's supposed to be fun. I'm so tired of that being the fallback on everything in this hobby. It needs to be more than just fun for this much money. It needs to be something that you love. It needs to be a theme that you wanna put in your home, that you wanna wake up and when you walk by it, it puts a smile on your face, something that has some emotional connection to you, something that has some nostalgic value to you. If it doesn't, it's not going to work. And that's where it gets really interesting in pinball because I just put up a theme and I said, which one of these three themes excites you the most? It was Harry Potter. It was the Matrix. And it was Pokemon. And coming in in third place is Pokemon. Even though Pokemon is easily the biggest IP out of the three, it goes Pokemon, then Harry Potter, then the Matrix. And even amongst those three, you want to hear the results? The least valuable IP is actually the one with the most excitement. And this is why market research matters. The Matrix has 47% of the votes. Harry Potter has 34% and Pokemon only 19. You got to do this research. You got to ask the community. It's so stupid to me that nobody's doing this. And I mean it when I say it. Picking a theme like Labyrinth, fine. If you want to make Labyrinth, fine. But don't make 1100. You're not going to sell them. They're 400 short. They're not going to sell 400 more. You know, how did they land on 1100? And they probably did it because they're looking at the other games selling during COVID. And they're also probably maybe doing it for business reasons. And it's cheaper to make that many games because they can order more parts and volume. But maybe it would have just been smarter, right? If you're barrels of fun to only make 500 of them, just come out of the gate with your first game. Make it more limited. Get excitement building for your brand. Make it so not everyone's going to have one. And then everyone who gets their hands on a labyrinth has something that holds value and will go up in value. And now they love your company. It's all part of marketing. And it just pains me to see that we're in a hobby in which the company that's just pumping out really the cheapest mass-produced product in all of pinball. It's Stern. Everybody, they have the lowest bomb in all of pinball. They have the cheapest manufacturing because of all their efficiencies. And yet look at where they are priced. It saddens me that they've pushed their prices so high and they're not doing market research. They do the same rinse and repeat, but man, like look at the prices. It's absolutely bonkers. And here's what I want to see happen in pinball. I want them to stop with the FOMO launches of every game as being the only way to communicate with us. The only time they can take our money. I would much rather them let us know here are the games coming out next year. Why can't we know that? Why does it have to be a big mystery? Now, maybe Canada would be out of business. I think it would be more fun for us to know what's coming, to dream about it, to build up our expectations. Then these companies could actually do a longer marketing window to get us excited. This is what's stupid. It's like you're trying to jam in all of it into like a one week period and it doesn't work. I mean, think about how excited each and every one of us are for back to the future, right? I've been thinking about back to the future for a really long time. And here's the thing, knowing that back to the future is down the road is absolutely keeping me from buying what's available right now. Now that's why they don't want you to know what's down the road. But there's a solution to that. Just pick bangers. Only make bangers. If you only make bangers in the pinball world, then you're not going to have to worry about people passing up the current game. Because if the current game is Back to the Future and the next game is Die Hard, guess what? You're going to sell out of all of them. If Stern Pinball made Star Wars A New Hope as a separate game and we knew they were going to make A New Hope and they were going to make Empire Strikes Back and they were going to make Return of the Jedi, all three of them separately, do you think they would have to keep that a secret? If they just had three bangers like that, we're going to buy every single one. And I think that's what it is about pinball lately. It's like there's no market research. Everything's a secret. We have to pull the trigger without enough information and we're tired of it. We're just exhausted by it all. And it's not working because when we do pull the trigger now on day one, you're losing like three to four thousand dollars because the only game you need to pull the trigger on this is also the bonkers part the only game you need to pull the trigger on on day one is the le why would you run at a premium or pro right away unless you're an operator and you need the game to make money off of it why would you run and buy a john wick premium when the code needs a year to be complete and if you just wait like six months you be able to get for the price of john wick premium a John Wick LE because that what the LE is going to sell for when it slides down to that premium price So the whole thing is designed. All of pinball marketing is designed to sell these LEs and CEs. And that is why, you know, they destroyed it all. Like all these companies collectively have destroyed the FOMO at these prices. And where does it leave us? I think it leaves us in a new territory for all of them, like looking at George Gomez do this panic attack tour is so funny because they're not used to this. He'd never had to do this before. He has to do it now. And I think every single pinball company should hear this podcast and start to understand marketing now matters and understanding what the true demand is matters more now than it ever has before in the history of pinball. And I think most of these companies are getting it wrong and we can see it because the numbers don't lie. When John Youssi a game that is listed for $11,000 and a year later, it's $7,000, you got the demand wrong. All right. A Batman SLE was $15,000. I just sold mine for $28,000. They got the demand right on that game. They got the demand right on Ghostbusters LE, on Tron LE. Now, look, if they make more of them and they vault all of these valuable games, yeah, as George Gomez wants to, best believe Seth Davis and George Gomez wanted to remake everything that was selling for over sticker. They want to. That was their strategy. They were going to keep making anniversary editions just like they did with Jurassic Park, just like they did with Elvira until we said F off Stern. We're not going to take it because you're going to lose all of your loyal customers. The fact that we had to tell them that, it shows me their arrogance. It shows me they're not confident in their future titles. And it shows me they think they can do whatever they want, regardless of any market research, and they got it wrong. So yeah, I want everybody to think about this. I think, you know, I've been thinking a lot about my show and why people listen and how we have over 700 subscribers. I just want to put thoughts into your head that make you think about this hobby differently. I heard someone say recently that wait and see is a toxic message in pinball. And I just want to respond to that. If you think waiting and seeing and being patient and using your mind is a toxic thing, then you, sir, are the problem. And anyone who thinks that way is the problem. And I mean it when I say it. The people screaming bye, bye, bye, they are the problem. And they've been a problem for a really long time. And it just goes to show you that the one guy that's telling you not to do that, to think differently, has 710 subscribers and everybody else who's telling you to buy, buy, buy, all of them added up don't even come to like 400 subscribers. Like it's so funny. And it's because what we're saying here is the way we should be thinking about this hobby. And it doesn't mean we don't love pinball. It doesn't mean we're not going to buy, buy, buy. But it means we want to see these companies operate differently. And why is that a problem? The only people that should be rooting for Stern to charge as much as they can and make as many games as they can are the investors at Stern. It shouldn't be us. Like anyone acting like an investor at Stern who's not is a moron. Everybody, happy Monday. Canada's on paternity leave. You're getting tons of Canada content. I love doing this show for you. We're going to be back this week with more to talk about. I'm going to try to go to Jack Bar and actually play this John Wick. Getting some time off is difficult. Cassian is literally sleeping 10 feet from me right now. And that is why. Brenda's taking a nap. This is how it's going to be for the next like eight weeks. So get ready for a lot of great content. Thank you everybody for the support. And you know, if you want to join the Raise the Roof Club, if you feel like you just feel like you're getting more than $5 worth a month, I would happily love to see more people join the Raise the Roof Club. You know, it's really easy to do. But thank you everybody. I'm never raising the price of this show. It will always be $5 like 20 years from now. You're still going to be paying $5 a month for Canada's Pinball Podcast as they wheel me out in a wheelchair. Be like, I remember when pinball was cheap at $15,000. Kids, everybody have a great day. Goodbye. It's what I've got to face. Take a good look at me now. Cause I'll still be standing here. And you coming back to me is against all odds. It's the chance I've got to take. Take a look at me now

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: c83ec1ce-a126-4954-a96b-2c596435ec42*