# Episode 1239: "How to Avoid Back To The Future SLE Butt Hurt"

**Source:** Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2026-07-20  
**Duration:** 30m 13s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.patreon.com/kanedapinball/posts/episode-1239-how-164349314

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## Analysis

Kaneda analyzes the current pinball market's significant slowdown, with major manufacturers struggling to generate excitement for new releases. He predicts Spooky Pinball's Goonies will be 2026's Game of the Year while critiquing Stern's weak pipeline (Transformers, Fallout, new AC/DC), Jersey Jack's disappointing Sonic launch, and Multimorphic's difficult P3 market positioning. He teases a mysterious new Barrels of Fun music-themed game to be revealed Thursday and offers philosophical advice to consumers frustrated about Back to the Future SLE allocation scarcity.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Sonic the Hedgehog is shipping slower than previous Jersey Jack releases and lacks the FOMO that drove Harry Potter sales — _Kaneda, host, direct market observation_
- [HIGH] Winchester Mystery House has appreciated from ~$12,000 to consistently $20,000 on the secondhand market in one year — _Kaneda, host, secondary market data_
- [HIGH] Barrels of Fun is planning to reveal a new music-themed pinball game on Thursday at 8 PM Eastern Time — _Kaneda, host, claims insider source breaking story_
- [HIGH] Dutch Pinball will manufacture 88 Back to the Future SLE units in America and 88 in Europe (172 total) with ~$20,000 estimated price — _Kaneda, host, reporting on allocation plans_
- [MEDIUM] Dutch Pinball has only manufactured approximately 300 Alice units in one and a half years — _Kaneda, host, production rate estimate_
- [HIGH] Stern Pinball's Pokemon game is disappointing players and damaging brand loyalty due to lack of communication and slow code updates — _Kaneda, host, opinion based on community sentiment_
- [MEDIUM] G1 Transformers is a commercial flop with fatal design flaws that prevent purchase intent — _Kaneda, host, market assessment with opinion disclaimer_
- [MEDIUM] Spooky Pinball's Goonies will be the Game of the Year with $1,299 price point, wide body format, and upper playfield — _Kaneda, host, prediction/opinion about unreleased game_
- [HIGH] Multimorphic P3 modular game will feature switchable themes: Dungeon Crawler Carl and Ender's Game on same layout — _Kaneda, host, claims he broke news on Saturday about modular dual-theme reveal_
- [MEDIUM] Barrels of Fun's David Van Ness is experiencing cash flow pressure, evidenced by pre-money solicitation for Dune topper and concern about revealing next game before completing Winchester units — _Kaneda, host, inference from business practices and George Gomez comment about game profitability_

### Notable Quotes

> "It is going to be another John Wick. When all is said and done, it will be an extremely fun game that most people will not buy because it has fatal flaws in a lot of people's opinions."
> — **Kaneda**, mid-show
> _Summarizes Stern's G1 Transformers commercial failure despite strong code/gameplay_

> "Stern Pinball is in big, big trouble, people. I mean it. They've made so many mistakes."
> — **Kaneda**, mid-show
> _Strong editorial stance on Stern's strategic direction and market position_

> "Until you make my appetizer right, I'm not going to order an entree at this restaurant. It is about customer service. It is about how you make your consumers feel."
> — **Kaneda**, discussing Pokemon
> _Frames Pokemon's poor post-launch support as customer service failure damaging loyalty_

> "I think this game is going to be the closest modern pin ever to being the extension of the Williams magic from the 90s... This is going to feel like Adam's Family on crack."
> — **Kaneda**, discussing Goonies
> _Highest praise for upcoming Spooky release, positioning as industry best-in-class_

> "There is no way around it. There's not going to be like 88 names pulled out of a hat... This game is going to be allocated because of loyal customers from these dealers."
> — **Kaneda**, Back to the Future SLE discussion
> _Explains dealer-based SLE allocation system, addressing community anger about fairness_

> "The guy having the most fun in pinball bought a used pro version of like Iron Maiden or Spider-Man and just bangs on it every day."
> — **Kaneda**, late show, philosophical section
> _Philosophical argument against FOMO-driven rare game collecting; value of play over ownership_

> "We just want to have the controlling amount of your company. Keep doing what you're doing. You know, we want you to be like the boutique extension of our pinball operation."
> — **[name withheld pending review]**, discussing Stern/Spooky relationship
> _Counterfactual acquisition scenario; argues consolidation could have strengthened Stern while preserving Spooky's culture_

> "When you have to sell at volume, it's just getting harder and harder to convince people to buy any of these new in box at volume games because everyone's like just going to watch these games tanking value."
> — **Kaneda**, market analysis
> _Core thesis: high-volume releases underperform due to secondary market depreciation concerns_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Kaneda | person | Host of Kaneda's Pinball Podcast; industry commentator with insider sources; claims to have broken Multimorphic dual-theme story on Saturday |
| Multimorphic | company | Pinball platform manufacturer launching modular dual-theme P3 game featuring Dungeon Crawler Carl and Ender's Game; historically marketed as offering 38+ games on platform |
| Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Premium pinball manufacturer; released Sonic the Hedgehog recently with reportedly disappointing sales velocity compared to Harry Potter; preparing Van Halen as next release |
| Stern Pinball | company | Industry leader in crisis; G1 Transformers flopping, Fallout positioning uncertain, new AC/DC and James Bond upcoming; criticized for volume focus over quality and weak IP selection |
| Barrels of Fun | company | Boutique manufacturer; Winchester Mystery House appreciating dramatically on secondary market ($12K→$20K); planning music-themed game reveal Thursday; facing cash flow pressure from Winchester profitability issues |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Boutique manufacturer positioned as ascendant; Goonies predicted as 2026 Game of the Year; Gremlins and South Park in pipeline; represents passion-driven design alternative to volume manufacturers |
| Dutch Pinball | company | Developing Back to the Future with massive demand but severe production constraints (~300 units/1.5 years); managing SLE allocation scheme with dealer discretion; Big Lebowski Jesus Edition pending Universal approval |
| [name withheld pending review] | person | Founder/leader of Barrels of Fun; facing cash flow pressure from Winchester profitability; designed Barrels Reserve program to hedge production commitment risk |
| Sonic the Hedgehog (game) | game | Jersey Jack Pinball release; underperforming compared to Harry Potter; divisive layout with upper playfield; strong topper but insufficient CE differentiation from standard editions |
| Harry Potter (game) | game | Jersey Jack Pinball's flagship success; reference point for franchise execution and FOMO generation; exceptional CE art package critical to sales velocity |
| Back to the Future (game) | game | Dutch Pinball project with all three film assets, 27-inch screen, Christopher Franchi artwork; extreme demand vs. severe production bottleneck; 172 total SLEs planned (~$20K); October 2026 announcement anticipated |
| Goonies (game) | game | Spooky Pinball widebody October/November 2026 release; $1,299 price; predicted as Game of the Year; large pirate ship toy; upper playfield design |
| G1 Transformers (game) | game | Stern Pinball release; considered commercial dead-on-arrival despite good code quality; fatal design flaw(s) unspecified but acknowledged as obvious to community |
| Fallout (game) | game | Stern Pinball Keith Elwin design (July 2026); positioned as major release but risky due to theme fatigue after Fallout TV Season 2; Avengers comparison as cautionary tale |
| Pokemon (game) | game | Stern Pinball release; disappointing players with minimal post-launch communication/updates; cited as customer service failure damaging brand loyalty |
| Dungeon Crawler Carl (game) | game | Multimorphic P3 modular theme based on audiobook; switchable layout with Ender's Game |
| Winchester Mystery House (game) | game | Barrels of Fun release; secondary market appreciation $12K→$20K in one year; profitability concerns despite strong market demand; limited production (525 units) straining company margins |
| Eric Miller | person | Jersey Jack Pinball designer; Harry Potter and Sonic designer; passionate about Harry Potter CE art package; contrasted with Steve Ritchie's lower investment in Sonic CE |
| Keith Elwin | person | Stern Pinball designer; designed Godzilla and upcoming Fallout; noted as superior designer choice that Stern did not select for Star Wars |
| George Gomez | person | Industry veteran designer; commented to Kaneda that Winchester profitability model would put him out of business; reference point for manufacturing cost awareness |
| Christopher Franchi | person | Pinball artist; commissioned for Back to the Future and Goonies artwork; Kaneda notes his involvement signals quality theming |
| Steve Ritchie | person | Stern Pinball designer; Sonic designer; criticized for lacking passion equivalent to Eric Minor's Harry Potter involvement; licensing constraints blamed for Sonic CE design decisions |
| Joe Kaminkow | person | Back to the Future pinball designer/producer; mentioned as part of development team with Bob Gale |
| Bob Gale | person | Back to the Future film executive producer; involved in pinball game development |

### Signals

- **[market_signal]** Sonic the Hedgehog shipping notably slower than Harry Potter; absence of FOMO around release suggests theme/execution issues reducing purchase intent (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'I don't feel like these games are shipping as fast as previous Jersey Jack releases' and 'There really is absolutely zero FOMO around this game'
- **[collector_signal]** Winchester Mystery House appreciating from ~$12K MSRP to consistent $20K secondary market pricing in one year—exceptional value retention creating FOMO for future Barrels releases (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'went from what, like 12 grand all the way up to consistently selling now for $20,000. That's crazy. This game is basically sitting pretty with a freaking $8,000 game for everyone'
- **[business_signal]** Barrels of Fun showing signs of cash flow strain: pre-money solicitation for Dune topper, concern about timing next game announcement amid remaining Winchester production, hedged production commitments via Reserve program (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'Why did they need pre money on that dune topper like six months ago? It a cash flow issue' and discussion of staggered game announcements despite Winchester backlog
- **[market_signal]** Dutch Pinball's severe production capacity constraint (~300 units/1.5 years) creating extreme supply/demand mismatch for Back to the Future—first time in Kaneda's experience seeing blockbuster theme unable to scale (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'I've never seen a company have a theme this big and not be able to make at least a thousand games a year' and 'these guys are struggling to get to even 500 games a year'
- **[sentiment_shift]** Stern Pinball customer defection due to Pokemon post-launch abandonment; Kaneda frames as principle-driven refusal to purchase future Stern products (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'Until you make my appetizer right, I'm not going to order an entree at this restaurant' and 'there are like five other companies that will happily take my money'
- **[product_concern]** Stern's Fallout title faces cultural momentum decline post-Season 2 TV release; theme declining in popularity rather than growing, reducing purchase urgency (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'season two of Fallout was a Fallout. Like everyone's enthusiasm for this theme dissipated during season two' and 'it's dying in culture. It's not growing in popularity'
- **[competitive_signal]** Spooky, Barrels of Fun, and other boutique manufacturers outperforming Stern in community enthusiasm and design innovation; limited production model (500-700 units) generating stronger FOMO than volume strategy (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'if you need to sell 500 to 1,000 units, that's what's got everybody excited. It's when you have to sell at volume, it's just getting harder and harder' and extensive praise for Spooky Pinball
- **[machine_intel]** Multimorphic P3 dual-theme modular game (Dungeon Crawler Carl / Ender's Game) reveal scheduled for week of Jan 28-29 or later this week; Kaneda claims to have broken story Saturday (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'They are going to reveal what we now know is a modular game that can play two different themes... which is the news I broke on Saturday'
- **[machine_intel]** Barrels of Fun new music-themed game rumored for Thursday 8 PM ET reveal; Kaneda positioning this as major news from 'very, very good source' (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'I am going to tell you this Thursday at 8 o'clock Eastern Time what the new theme is from Barrels of Fun... It is a music pin' and 'from a very, very good source of mine'
- **[product_strategy]** Back to the Future SLE allocation via dealer discretion (88 US + 88 EU = 172 units); dealer loyalty determines access, not lottery or price alone; generates significant community frustration (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'SLEs are going to be allocated... It's going to be up to the dealer discretion how they pick the 88 lucky souls' and 'There's going to be a lot of newbie rich guys that are extremely butthurt'
- **[market_signal]** Multimorphic, Sonic, Transformers all underselling expectations despite solid gameplay; volume-dependent business model breaking down as secondary market depreciation fears dominate purchasing psychology (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'Do you really think people are going to open up their wallets and buy a P3 multimorphic game right now? I don't think so. It's a really, really difficult market'
- **[industry_signal]** Smaller manufacturers (Multimorphic, CGC/Chris Turner) facing unsustainable business models; Kaneda suggests consolidation necessary for survival and production velocity (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'some of these smaller companies like Turner and Multimorphic should at least unite... They need to consolidate their costs and just get games out faster'

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## Transcript

Welcome everybody to Canada's Pinball Podcast, the only pinball podcaster that knows how to transform. Espanol, Espanol, World Cup victory. It was well earned. I don't think Argentina had a single shot on goal. What the heck were the Muppets doing at the World Cup final? The world is crazy. We live in a world where we think just more makes things better. But I think everybody's yearning to go back to more simplicity. Now, let's go around the pinball horn today on this Monday morning show and talk about what's about to happen in our hobby. We're going to get multi-morphic. I think it's like next week or maybe it's the end of this week. I think it's like the 28th or the 29th. They are going to reveal what we now know is a modular game that can play two different themes. It's not two themes at the same time. You're going to be able to play Dungeon Crawler Carl or you could also play Ender's Game, which is the news I broke on Saturday. I don't think it's going to be Ender's Game the movie, which was terrible. I think Harrison Ford was in it. It wasn't any good. The Ender's Game books are amazing. Now, this does make for an interesting thing. You're going to take an audio book of Dungeon Crawler Carl and turn it into a pinball machine. So I think they're probably going to take the audio books of Ender's Game and do something similar. We've seen this before, right? One layout with different mechs and two themes working on the same layout. It was like Ultraman and Halloween was like that. I don't think people really love that per se, but this has always been Jerry's proposition that we're going to give you the most bang for the buck, the most games available. When he markets Multimorphic, it's something like we've got 38 games on the platform. And you're like, man, I can only count like five, but there's all these other games like rocks and some homebrew stuff. And I don't know. But here's the reality in the pinball marketplace right now, where Sonic the Hedgehog is not even selling very well, where G1 Transformers is a flop. Do you really think people are going to open up their wallets and buy a P3 multimorphic game right now? I don't think so. It's a really, really difficult market right now. And the hardest thing to do is going to be to convince people that now is the time to go in on this platform. So I think we're going to see the game. I think it's going to have really cool mechanisms in the game. I think all the engineers over at Multimorphic should go work at American Pinball and give Spooky and Barrels of Fun a run for the money. To me, that's where the fun is going to be. These boutique companies are really where it's at. Like if you need to sell 500 to 1, 000 units, that's what's got everybody excited. It's when you have to sell at volume, it's just getting harder and harder to convince people to buy any of these new in box at volume games because everyone's like just going to watch these games tanking value. So let's go over to Jersey Jack next. So Sonic the Hedgehog, it's now been out for a couple of weeks. I don't feel like these games are shipping as fast as previous Jersey Jack releases. I don't think people are unboxing these at the same speed of Harry Potter or Guns N' Roses. But, you know, I think this game is another game where there's a lot of division in terms of like whether or not it's great. And I don't think universally people are like, OMG, I have to buy this game right now. And again, it's it's not a full indictment of the game, but it really didn't release with enough software in it and moments of wow. It just didn't have a release where the moments of wow are in the game right away. I think the layout is the wow right now, but that layout with the big upper play field is going to be a bit divisive. And I think some people are going to love it. Some people are going to find it frustrating. Some people will find it fun. Some people won't. And that why I think a lot of people are like well I don need to buy it right now I can wait I can play it at a show I can play it on location I can play it at a friend house before I pull the trigger There really is absolutely zero FOMO around this game and I think this might make Jersey Jack rethink a little bit the unlimited nature of the CE offering It is not going to work this way. They are not going to see a sales frenzy like they did with Harry Potter. If they don't have themes at the same level as Harry Potter, Harry Potter also is a much more easy game to jump on and be blown away by versus Sonic. And I think a lot has to do with the layout. A lot has to do with where the software is and what the assets are in the game. All right. So Jersey Jack right now, I think Sonic's going to be a slow burn, which is ironic considering it's all about going fast. But this thing is not flying off the shelves. And that's going to make people wonder, will we see Van Halen sooner than later if Sonic sales are not incredible? Will we see Jersey Jack maybe make another version of Harry Potter? I don't think so. The CE is just so nice. I think a lot of people are looking at the Sonic CE and just saying it's not enough. The Harry Potter CE was so unique. It was so different. And Eric's passion for it and the story around the people that did that art package, it really pulled everybody in. And it's sort of funny when you think about it because Harry Potter CE has the worst topper maybe Jersey Jack's ever done. And Sonic has maybe the best topper in the history of pinball. But it's not enough because when you look at what's on the rest of the Sonic CE, it's too similar to what's on the Sonic Arcade and limited edition games. And so that's why I think people are like, all right, you know, I'm good. I'm good. I just don't see enough. And we know that Steve Ritchie doesn't have like the same level of passion for Sonic that Eric had for Harry Potter. And I think the mistake they made with Sonic CE, they should have made the CE look like a throwback to the 16-bit era of Sonic the Hedgehog, had that whole Sega Genesis vibe and look going. That would have been incredible. That would have differentiated the CE to the level that it needed to be to command the money. And I bet they couldn't do that. I bet Sega tied their hands and made them do the new art package or the Sonic Generations look. So it is what it is. Okay, so Jersey Jack, I will say this, Sonic the Hedgehog did not land in the world as like Steve Ritchie's greatest, and I don't think it's going to be game of the year, and I think people are quickly moving on to see what's next. So let's go to Stern Pinball. Transformers is dead on arrival. I know the game is fun. I know the code is cool, but people are not going to pull the trigger on this game. It is going to be another John Wick. When all is said and done, it will be an extremely fun game that most people will not buy because it has fatal flaws in a lot of people's opinions. The fatal flaw is so obvious, I'm not even going to say it again. And so now we're at July 20th and people are like, what's next from Stern? We know it's going to be the king, the new king, Keith Elwin's fallout. And a lot is riding on this game. I heard it is Stern's largest bomb ever in this game. Will that be enough? I don't think it's a theme that everybody wants. I don't think it's a take my money now theme. I'm a little worried that Fallout might end up being the next Avengers. Avengers is loaded, man. When you walk up to an Avengers, you're like, wow, right? And then there's just something about the theme and how it's integrated. It doesn't win you over. Now, now they got Walter on the call outs. They've got clips from the show. But I'm worried because season two of Fallout was a Fallout. Like everyone's enthusiasm for this theme dissipated during season two. And even though there's going to be a season three, it's another example where this thing is dying in culture. It's not growing in popularity. And after that, we're going to get a sort of new version of ACDC where John Borg is tweaking Steve Ritchie's design, another James Bond, And then Brian Eddy's Dracula maybe at the end of the year. Are you excited? I know you're not. Stern Pinball is in big trouble, people. They do not have the theme and the wow. They need to remake Ghostbusters. They need a new Batman. Like do a new Batman 89 Do Ghostbusters The fact that they passed on Back to the Future Stern Pinball needs a hit man They need like a diehard They need a matrix They need a new version of Lord of the Rings They need something that is just going to have universal love and get everybody excited. And when I list out what is coming from Stern, it is one big yawn fest when you think about it. And all of our money is safe. Why would anybody buy any of these Sterns new in box? None of them feel like, OMG, I need to have this game. All right. So Stern is in big, big trouble, people. I mean it. They've made so many mistakes. And as I said on my show on Saturday, I think this company has focused far too much on volume and cost cutting. And Seth's vision for where to take Stern pinball has been all wrong. It was so simple. We just need every game to be as good or better than Godzilla. Just that's the brief. If we're going to make Star Wars, I need Star Wars to be better than Godzilla. And if you have Star Wars as a theme, the fact that you did not hand it to Keith Elwin is on you, Stern. What an idiotic move. And then you've got Pokemon and you basically I don't know what's going on with this game, but it's not blowing people away. There's nothing in it. You've got thousands of consumers now that are disappointed in your brand. And so, yeah, why would anybody who bought a Pokemon even think about buying a new Stern machine? On principle alone, I will never buy another Stern until they fix my Pokemon. Until you make my appetizer right, I'm not going to order an entree at this restaurant. It is about customer service. It is about how you make your consumers feel. And the days of making people wait six months with no communication, nothing whatsoever about what your plans are for Pokemon makes me feel like you've abandoned me as a customer. And because of that, there are like five other companies that will happily take my money. Speaking of barrels of fun, let's go to barrels of fun next. All right, so Barrels of Fun, I am going to tell you this Thursday at 8 o'clock Eastern Time what the new theme is from Barrels of Fun. Again, I haven't seen it, so we still have to talk about this like it's a rumor, but it's a very, very strong rumor from a very, very good source of mine. And so I think this is what it's going to be. It is a music pin, and I can't wait to tell you what it is. It's going to get a lot of people talking. It's going to spark a real reaction. Now, this next game from Barrels is everything. We all know this. This company cannot afford another slow hit. They need a game that is going to move units, that is going to sell out pretty quickly. And Winchester, again, Winchester is a game that is crushing it on the secondhand market. It is a game that went from what, like 12 grand all the way up to consistently selling now for $20, 000. That's crazy. This game is basically sitting pretty with a freaking $8, 000 game for everyone who took the risk and jumped in on a game. If I had told you a year and a half ago, Barrels of Fun is going to make a Winchester's Mystery House game and it is going to go from being a $12, 000 game to a $20, 000 game in one year. All of us, you would have called me crazy. I would have called me crazy. I did not see this coming. I don't think anybody saw this coming. It is exciting to witness, but it is also putting the pressure on this company because they can't survive like this. See, this is the thing, people. David David Van Es is not sleeping at night because of Winchester. This game is basically losing them money. George Gomez walked up to this game. I was with him at like expo. He's like, if I made that game, I would be out of business. There is no way you can make that game with only 525 units and survive. And a lot of the barrels parts are coming from China. They're not making enough in-house. So their margins are even worse than Spooky and Stern and everybody else. So while you're excited about the product, this company needs to find a way to make more profit. And that why the next game is everything Where the dune topper Remember right Why did they need pre money on that dune topper like six months ago It a cash flow issue Now the reason why I a little bit worried here what I worried about I worried they going to reveal this next game when they still got like two to three hundred Winchesters to make If they reveal this next game and take deposits and there's still 300 Winchesters to make, that is a bad sign. That's a little bit of robbing Peter to pay Paul. We saw Haggis do this. When companies start to do this, it does reek of a little bit of a cash flow issue. Now, that being said, that's not the big thing. The big thing is this theme that you're going to hear on Thursday needs to excite at least 700 people. Now, David is anticipating more than that. Hence, the reason why he opened up the barrels reserve program a few weeks ago. He wants to sell more. Now, he's nervous about saying we're going to make a thousand. Right. Because when he says we're going to make $1, 000, then nobody buys. When he says he's going to make $500, everybody buys. This is his quagmire from a marketing standpoint. So he's basically hedged his own bet. So instead of $1, 000 or $500, I'll meet you in the middle at $700. Just in case this game takes off and more people won at $700, I've now allowed myself to cheat on my own limited edition promise. By being able to make more. See, the thing is this. Nobody knows how many barrels reserve customers there are. And because you don't know that, he can arbitrarily say he's going to make this many more games because he got this many more barrels reserve orders. I don't like it, but I don't really care because I don't think it's going to be hard to get the next game. Unless you're living under a pinball rock, you will be able to get it. It was easy to get Winchester in the first two days. Then it was impossible, but it wasn't impossible on day one or on day two. So coming this Thursday night, will Kaneda spoil the next game from Barrels of Fun, a company that relies on mystery and FOMO to drive sales? Will they beat me to the punch? I'm curious. Will they beat me to the punch and reveal it before I do on Thursday? It's making this week very exciting for everybody in pinball. All right. Talking about exciting back to the future. It is coming. It is coming from Dutch Pinball. It has Joe Kamnikau, Bob Gale, the executive producer of the movies. It has all the assets from all three films. It's got a big DeLorean. It's got Barry and his team over there. It's got a 27 inch screen. It's got Christopher Franchi on artwork. Back to the future. Everybody is realizing the same thing, though. If you want this game, it's not a question of if it's a question of when, when would you get it? This is the big question mark, because when you think about it, they did not. They did not silence any of the skeptics when it comes to their ability to manufacture games with this Alice run. I think they've only made like 300 Alices in a year and a half. And then you've got the whole Toppergate issue going on. And so the demand for Back to the Future is going to be insane. But their ability to manufacture it is going to be slow. And we've never seen this before in the history of pinball. I don't mean like all of the history. I mean, my history with pinball. I've never seen a company have a theme this big and not be able to make at least a thousand games a year. I mean, these guys are, you know, struggling to get to even 500 games a year. And so when, when would you get one? Now, the other problem is this. If you are not an Alice owner, you have to be online behind those people. There are at least 300 people that have bought in Alice. All of them have access to Back to the Future first. And I don't think any of them are going to give up that offer because even if you just grab one early, your game is going to skyrocket in value because the demand is so strong and the supply is so weak. And then sitting over the game is this whole concept that there will be 88 super limited edition versions of Back to the Future. 88 in America and 88 in Europe. So that is 172 total back to the future SLEs. I don't know how much they're going to be. If I were to guess, I would say about $20, 000. But even so, those games are going to skyrocket. But when? When are they going to make those SLEs? Are they going to make them first? I think they should. Because, you know, the people that spend the most get on the plane first. But there's complications. If you have an Alice, you don't get to the front of the line for the SLE. The SLEs are going to be allocated. Some are going to be sold from Dutch. Some are going to be sold from the dealers. And it's going to be up to the dealer discretion how they pick the 88 lucky souls that are going to be handed something that is going to appreciate in value like no other. And look, I've been in my chats. I know some of you think it's disgusting. I know some of you are angry. I know some of you want this game really badly. But look, this is just going to be an example where life is not fair. There is no way around it. There's not going to be like 88 names pulled out of a hat and then you randomly get to buy one and that's not going to be how it happens. This game is going to be allocated because of loyal customers from these dealers. They're going to get to the front of the line first. This is not fair to some of you. Some of you have a lot of money and you would happily buy it, but you're not going to get an allocated gain. It doesn't matter how rich you are. You can't just walk into Rolex and get the hot new Daytona at MSRP. They won't sell it to you. They're going to sell it to their dealers and their distros and their customers that have bought a lot from them in the past. There's going to be a lot of newbie rich guys that are extremely butthurt about Back to the Future SLE. What I encourage each and every one of you is to do the following. Mentally, just don't care about it that much. Just admit that there is a greater chance you not going to get one and just be happy with the one you get I know that goes against the entire philosophy of having the rare version that makes people envious But I mean this when I say it as someone who had those rare games like Batman SLE even Magic Girl and other stuff like that Look, in the end, in the end, the guy having the most fun in pinball bought a used pro version of like Iron Maiden or Spider-Man and just bangs on it every day. In fact, I bet is just a dude that owns like an Iron Man vault edition, spent like five grand on it and just loves the game. Like that guy is having more fun than the rich dude who's willing to spend $40, 000 to get a Pirates of the Caribbean CE or a Batman SLE or this new Back to the Future SLE. Trust me, none of this stuff, none of this stuff will make the experience of playing it any better. In fact, the opposite happens when you buy these ultra rare items. You don't want to play them. You don't want to abuse them. You don't want to put miles on them or games on them. I see it everywhere. The whole car world sucks now. Everybody buys these limited edition cars and then they don't drive them. They buy these rare watches and then they don't want to wear them because they don't want to get a scratch on the bezel. And then everyone forgets we're all going to die. And, you know, the most amazing meal you can have in your life is just a peanut butter and jelly sandwich when you're hungry. That will satiate you more than a three Michelin star dinner when you're already satiated after like the third course in an 18 course tasting menu. You know what I mean, people? All right. But when? So here's the thing I'm worried about. I think they're waiting on Universal's approval for this Jesus edition of the Big Lebowski and they're supposed to make 300 of those. So if they're going to make 300 of those and they haven't even announced it yet and it takes them almost a year to make 300 games, what's going to happen when they announce Back to the Future in October? When will the first Back to the Futures be on the line if they have to make all these Jesus additions? Now I don think they going to sell 300 Jesus additions at a pop especially when Lebowski are going for like 10 or 11 on the secondhand market right now So that is what's going to happen coming up in October. And we're going to get also in October, November, Spooky Pinball's Goonies. Now, I think Spooky Pinball's Goonies is going to be the game of the year. I do. I think this game is going to come out. And what I mean by game of the year, I just mean it's going to be the game that gets everybody the most excited. I think it's going to be the game that like really, really, really, when we think about all the games that came out this year, I think Goonies is going to be the one that really just puts a smile on everybody's face. They're going to make $1, 299. It's going to be wide body. It's going to have a huge pirate ship. It's going to shoot better than Beetlejuice. It's going to have Franchi on artwork. It's going to be just I think I mean, this is what I say is I think this game is going to be the closest modern pin ever to being the extension of the Bally Williams magic from the 90s. It's got an upper play field. I think this game is going to feel like as if like Pat Lawler when he was making Twilight Zone. This is going to be up there like that. This is going to feel like Adam's family on crack. I do. I think this company is just like one game away from making that kind of magical game. And I think Beetlejuice almost got there, but the layout was a little too scoop heavy and it doesn't shoot as well as people would like. But it's still a beautiful game. It's still theme integrated in a fun way. But I think Goonies as a theme has even more fun elements than Beetlejuice. And I think it's going to be such a fun moment when we get Back to the Future and Goonies at the same time. And I think what's going to happen is this. I think the Goonies reveal could remove a lot of the hype from Back to the Future. I think it's going to help you guys get over the fact that you're not going to get a Back to the Future anytime soon because Goonies will be on the line by the end of the year. And we're going to start to see Goonies going out to customers, you know, probably January, February. And then it's going to be nonstop Goonies galore. And then we're going to get Gremlins and then we're going to get South Park. Isn it crazy how when I say what Spooky is doing you get so excited Spooky Pinball When I say what Stern is doing there like no excitement There no like giddiness And this is crazy to me that about five years ago 10 years ago even Stern Pinball could have acquired Spooky Pinball for nothing We just want to have the controlling amount of your company. Keep doing what you're doing. You know, we want you to be like the boutique extension of our pinball operation and just keep baking how you're baking. I mean, think about it. And now Stern Pinball would have had access to all those IPs and they would have been crushing it. Now, I also think Stern Pinball, if they acquired Spooky, would have ruined Spooky Pinball. And this is what happens when the big guy acquires the small company that is passion driven, because the moment you get acquired, it's all about profit over passion. So I'm glad that never happened. I'm super excited for what these guys have coming out. I'm not even going to go into CGC. I don't know what's happening over there. I don't care. Yukon Yeti, you guys are going to wait like two years to get your game. Chris Turner's pouring the foundation of his new factory. I just think they need to get games out faster. It's kind of weird to me, right? It's like that you can announce a game and there's only like 500 of them and the final game won't be built for two and a half years almost. That's insane, people. That's not a real thing, is it? How do you stay in business with that kind of business model? Again, you do because of other annuities and private money that you've got, but there's no way this is how a pinball company can survive. I think some of these smaller companies like Turner and Multimorphic should at least unite. Some of these guys need to consolidate their costs and just get games out faster. Everybody, happy Monday! More coming this week. Make sure you mark Thursday night, 8 o'clock, Barrels of Fun's next theme, what the rumor is that Kaneda is hearing. I love this song. Take it away.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v5)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-08-03 | Item ID: dfe70349-f2fe-4211-ae81-ce5d0ac2d367*