# Episode 944: "Pokemon? And Why GN'R Value Will Never Return"

**Source:** Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2024-05-01  
**Duration:** 28m 44s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-944-and-103439321

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## Analysis

Kaneda analyzes the resurfaced Pokémon pinball rumor following a cheeky Stern social media post, arguing the franchise appeals to a demographic younger than typical pinball buyers and questioning whether valuable IP translates to collector appeal. He then pivots to a detailed secondary market analysis ('Kaneda's Collector's Corner'), examining pricing trends across multiple Stern limited editions and specialty machines, concluding that overproduction and poor initial reception (particularly Guns N' Roses) permanently damage resale value regardless of later improvements.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Pokémon is one of the biggest franchises in the world but targets a demographic one stage earlier than typical pinball machine buyers (who are predominantly 40-60 year old men). — _Kaneda, discussing demographic appeal and pinball buying patterns in relation to the Pokémon rumor._
- [HIGH] Stern has two more machines coming before Pokémon might arrive: John Wick (imminent) and John Borg's Metallica on Spike 3 (taking up eight months), making earliest Pokémon release December 2024 at earliest. — _Kaneda, establishing Stern's production timeline and bottleneck._
- [HIGH] Guns N' Roses will never recover in value due to overproduction and negative first-hand player experiences that cannot be reversed by code updates or hardware fixes. — _Kaneda's analysis of GNR CE pricing and market psychology; illustrated by a GNR CE selling for $10,000 (cheapest ever seen)._
- [MEDIUM] Rick and Morty (Spooky) would have sold 1,000+ additional units if the company had followed through on promises to add future seasons into the game, but only sold ~150 units because the original development team left Spooky. — _Kaneda speculating on lost sales due to unfulfilled content promises and team departure._
- [HIGH] Dayfix at American Pinball is attempting to place Barbecue Challenge games in barbecue restaurants and Galactic Tank Force games in ice cream parlors—a fundamentally flawed location strategy. — _Kaneda reporting on a direct email from Dayfix to dealers asking them to identify venue placements based on game theme instead of game type and venue suitability._
- [HIGH] The $2,000 Foo Fighters topper is overpriced for the topper itself but justified as an 'ornament' on a Stern machine representing the company's production quality and value delivery. — _Kaneda's analysis of premium topper pricing strategy and consumer behavior._
- [HIGH] Batman 66 LE (240 units, 80 SLEs) represents a rare case where Stern did not overproduce and is holding collector value, unlike Elvira (four different LE versions) or Jurassic Park. — _Kaneda contrasting Batman's limited production to Stern's pattern of variant editions that dilute collector value._
- [MEDIUM] Elton John (Jersey Jack) is experiencing increased production volume, with more CEs entering the secondary market, but will not experience value collapse like Toy Story 4 or The Godfather because it remains the best shooting Jersey Jack game. — _Kaneda noting distributor stock (Automated) and recent sales velocity while defending long-term value._
- [MEDIUM] Direct-to-consumer buyers should receive machines before distributors because they generate higher profit margins for manufacturers and should be prioritized accordingly. — _Kaneda critiquing pinball sales systems and arguing for consumer fairness in allocation._
- [MEDIUM] Godzilla LE pricing will settle around $12,000 by end of year (down from $16,000), as players migrate to Jaws and the novelty fades after a long product lifecycle. — _Kaneda predicting depreciation based on observed market saturation and title fatigue._

### Notable Quotes

> "When are we gonna wake up and realize that there's a difference between valuable IP and IP that speaks to the pinball buying demographic?"
> — **Kaneda**, ~0:00-1:00
> _Core thesis on Pokémon: franchise size does not guarantee pinball market fit, especially with demographic mismatch._

> "It doesn't work like this. If Deadpool eats like chimichangas or whatever they're called, you're not going to put Deadpool pinball machines in chimichanga restaurants."
> — **Kaneda**, ~4:30
> _Criticism of American Pinball's fundamentally flawed location placement strategy tied to game theme rather than venue type._

> "Stern Pinball is like an easy target because they do so much so well. Now they are ripping us off and they know that, but they can justify stuff like a $2,000 topper."
> — **Kaneda**, ~5:45
> _Acknowledges Stern's quality dominance while explaining premium pricing as brand ornament value._

> "Guns N' Roses is never going to go back up in value. It doesn't matter if you put the capacitor kit in. It doesn't matter what you do to the code. They made too many."
> — **Kaneda**, ~8:30
> _Definitive market call: overproduction permanently destroys collector value regardless of improvements._

> "If Jersey Jack had done that and continued to make this better the first year the game was out, we wouldn't have so many more people hating on the game and you're never going to win those people back over again."
> — **Kaneda**, ~8:15
> _Explains the critical 'first year' window for establishing game reputation; poor early experience cannot be recovered._

> "You gotta really shop around people. One guy wants to sell a Batman LE for $20,000. Another person lists it for $15,500. That's a huge discrepancy in price."
> — **Kaneda**, ~16:30
> _Demonstrates volatility in secondary market pricing and importance of informed buying._

> "Whoever bought this, congratulations, good on you. But it just goes to show you this person bought two Stern LEs and lost $8,000."
> — **Kaneda**, ~14:45
> _Documents specific case of buyer loss (Foo Fighters LE + Venom LE for $18k vs. $26k MSRP)._

> "I know for a fact that owners of this game used to turn down offers of $50,000. Yes, I am saying that right. $50,000... and it is no other than the Matrix by Pinivating."
> — **Kaneda**, ~15:15
> _Stark illustration of homebrew/boutique machine value collapse (Matrix: $50k → $19-20k)._

> "There's a difference between listing a game to actually sell it and then just listing it to see what you might get one day down the road."
> — **Kaneda**, ~16:35
> _Critiques unrealistic seller expectations and the gap between asking price and market reality._

> "If you sleep with somebody and they're bad in bed, are you going to let them back into your bed because they're like, I'm better now. Give me another shot. It doesn't work like that."
> — **Kaneda**, ~8:50
> _Analogy for why poor game reception cannot be recovered through later improvements; permanent damage to reputation._

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Pokémon | game | Rumored Stern Pinball title following cheeky social media response; alleged next Jack Danger design; major franchise IP but demographic mismatch with typical pinball buyers. |
| Kaneda | person | Host of Kaneda's Pinball Podcast; analyst conducting secondary market pricing review ('Collector's Corner'); due date for second child May 4th. |
| Jack Danger | person | Legendary pinball designer; alleged designer of rumored Pokémon; referenced in context of upcoming Stern releases. |
| George Gomez | person | Referenced as potential co-designer or architect on Stern games; context of Spike 3 platform designs. |
| John Borg | person | Designer of upcoming Metallica game on Spike 3 for Stern Pinball (all-new design). |
| Stern Pinball | company | Market leader in pinball manufacturing; consistent quality and designer talent; premium pricing ($13,000 LE + $2,000 toppers); upcoming releases include John Wick and Metallica; Pokémon teased via social media. |
| Dayfix | person | Executive/representative at American Pinball; criticized for flawed location placement strategy (theme-based restaurant targeting) and product positioning decisions. |
| American Pinball | company | Boutique pinball manufacturer; known for ambitious titles (Barbecue Challenge, Galactic Tank Force); criticized for marketing and venue placement strategy. |
| Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Manufacturer of Elton John and Guns N' Roses; Elton John cited as best shooting JJP game; GNR experienced overproduction and lasting negative reputation. |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Manufacturer of Rick and Morty; original development team departed; unfulfilled content update promises damaged sales potential. |
| Dutch Pinball | company | Mentioned in context of Big Lebowski availability; historically special, now readily available due to continued production. |
| Multimorphic | company | Referenced regarding P3 setup listings on secondary market; Jerry (CEO) mentioned; criticized for unrealistic pricing of multi-playfield systems. |
| Guns N' Roses | game | Jersey Jack title; overproduced, suffering from poor initial player reception (mushy flippers, layout criticism); GNR CE spotted at $10,000 (all-time low); permanently damaged collector value due to negative reputation irreversible by code updates. |
| Elton John | game | Jersey Jack title; best shooting JJP game; experiencing increased CE production volume; distributors (Automated/Mike) stocking inventory; song selection limited (12-16 tracks, many non-high-energy), potential future code updates possible but unlikely. |
| Rick and Morty | game | Spooky Pinball title; creator later cancelled for sexual misconduct; game designed to support future season content additions but promises never fulfilled; only ~150 units sold; best Spooky theme ever made despite low sales. |
| John Wick | game | Upcoming Stern Pinball title; imminent release; bottleneck in production pipeline before potential Pokémon. |
| Metallica | game | Upcoming all-new Stern Pinball design by John Borg on Spike 3; takes eight months of production; will create secondary market dynamics with older D&D Metallica LEs. |
| Batman 66 | game | Stern LE with limited production (240 units, 80 SLEs); holding collector value; rare case of non-overproduced Stern LE; new MSRP ~$10,500; secondary market prices $17,000-$20,500; topper desirable. |
| Foo Fighters | game | Stern LE ($13,000 MSRP); $2,000 topper; experiencing collector value decline (LE resale ~$18,000 paired with Venom); code updates added songs; represents investment loss example. |
| Venom | game | Stern LE ($13,000 MSRP); paired with Foo Fighters in sale example; both together sold for $18,000 (combined loss of $8,000 vs. MSRP). |
| Godzilla | game | Elwin title; experiencing value collapse from $16,000 (COVID peak) to predicted $12,000 by year-end; audience migrating to Jaws; extended market lifecycle causing fatigue. |
| Pinivating | company | Dutch company; produced Matrix (reskinned Johnny Mnemonic homebrew game); only 8 units made; secondary market value collapsed from $50,000 peak to $19-20,000. |
| Knapp Arcade | company | Pinball news/media outlet; reported Pokémon teaser on front page after Stern's cheeky social media response. |
| Automated | company | Pinball distributor; Mike operates; holding inventory (Elton John CEs, Big Lebowski); pricing at markup above MSRP ($1,000-1,500 premium). |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Pokémon rumor resurfaces, Demographic targeting and IP fit in pinball, Secondary market pricing analysis and collector value depreciation, Overproduction and its permanent impact on game reputation (Guns N' Roses case study)
- **Secondary:** Stern Pinball dominance, quality, and premium pricing strategy, American Pinball's flawed location placement strategy, Code updates and unfulfilled promises (Rick and Morty, Foo Fighters), Stern production pipeline and manufacturing bottlenecks

### Sentiment

**Neutral** (0)

### Signals

- **[rumor_hype]** Pokémon rumor resurfaces following Stern's cheeky 'stay tuned' social media response to Pokémon question; long-running speculation confirmed as 'next Jack Danger design'; community hype moderate but host skeptical of demographic fit. (confidence: high) — Stern responded with 'stay tuned' on social media; listed as front-page news on Knapp Arcade; Kaneda emphasizes this is rumor with grain of salt; two more Stern releases before potential Pokémon arrival.
- **[product_concern]** Guns N' Roses represents permanent market damage due to overproduction and poor initial player experience; value collapse from historical highs to $10,000 (all-time low for CE) with no recovery path regardless of code improvements or hardware fixes. (confidence: high) — GNR CE spotted at $10,000; Kaneda states 'never going to go back up in value'; comparison to 'bad in bed' analogy—reputational damage irreversible; thousands of negative players cannot be won back.
- **[market_signal]** Multiple Stern LEs experiencing significant depreciation: Foo Fighters + Venom paired for $18,000 vs. $26,000 MSRP (8K loss); Godzilla projected to fall to $12,000 by year-end; Matrix homebrew fell from $50,000 peak to $19-20,000; collector market showing widespread softening. (confidence: high) — Specific pricing examples documented in Collector's Corner segment; Kaneda noting Godzilla LEs 'settling around $12,000'; Matrix value collapse evidence cited; multiple loss-making sales cited.
- **[business_signal]** Direct-to-consumer buyers experiencing disadvantage in fulfillment order; distributors (e.g., Automated) receiving allotments ahead of direct purchasers; Barrels of Fun direct customers lacking delivery visibility while dealers receiving stock. (confidence: high) — Kaneda observed Barrels of Fun thread; direct buyers should get priority due to higher manufacturer margin; criticism of 1970s-era sales system no one wants to disrupt.
- **[product_strategy]** Stern's strategy of creating multiple LE variants (Elvira: Ellie, Signature, 40th Anniversary, Blood Kiss = 4 versions) dilutes collector exclusivity and resale value; contrast to Batman 66's scarcity (240 total, 80 SLE) which maintains value. (confidence: high) — Elvira owners screwed by four different LE editions; Jurassic Park LE owners similarly affected; Batman 66 holding value due to limited production (240 units); Kaneda notes Batman 'didn't overproduce' unlike pattern with other titles.
- **[personnel_signal]** Rick and Morty (Spooky) original development team departed company; consequence is no code updates for promised future season content despite game design supporting it; unfulfilled promises likely cost 1,000+ additional unit sales. (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'the team that made Rick and Morty is no longer at Spooky Pinball'; speculates 1,000+ units would have sold with fulfilled content updates; original team leaving caused company to 'move past it.'
- **[product_launch]** Elton John (Jersey Jack) production ramping; distributors like Automated holding inventory in boxes ready to ship; secondary market seeing increased CE availability; Lebowski readily available at distributor (Automated) with MSRP+$1,000 markup. (confidence: high) — Kaneda observes 'real influx' of Elton John CEs on secondary market; Automated stocking Elton John; Lebowski available at Automated for $14,500 (MSRP $13,500); Elton John Platinum took 3 weeks to sell.
- **[product_concern]** American Pinball (Dayfix) using fundamentally flawed venue placement strategy: requesting dealers to place Barbecue Challenge in barbecue restaurants and Galactic Tank Force in ice cream parlors based on game theme rather than game type compatibility with venue. (confidence: high) — Dayfix sent email to dealers asking for barbecue restaurant placements; attempted ice cream parlor placements for Galactic Tank Force; Kaneda criticizes as 'inane and ridiculous' with specific comparison to Deadpool/chimichangas.
- **[design_philosophy]** Poor initial game reception (mechanics, playability, layout) in first year creates irreversible negative reputation; Guns N' Roses and Elton John examples show first-year quality and player experience permanently shapes long-term value and demand trajectory. (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'It's so important that you polish a game over the first year it's out'; GNR experienced early mushy flipper and layout criticism; 'if you sleep with somebody and they're bad in bed, you're not going to let them back.'
- **[collector_signal]** Secondary market showing sellers with misaligned expectations; gap between listing prices and actual sales; delusional pricing ('crack pipe' prices) for Banzai Run ($16,900), Addams Family Gold ($30,000), and Godzilla ($17,000); realistic buyers navigating significant discrepancies. (confidence: high) — Multiple examples of unrealistic asking prices vs. realistic sales; Batman LE $20,000 asking vs. $15,500 actual sale; Kaneda urging sellers to 'get off the delusional crack pipe'; Godzilla LE $17,000 firm with no buyers.

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## Transcript

 Before we start this show, I want you to do me a favor. Close your eyes. Imagine the pinball buying demographic. 40 to 60 year old men. Imagine them turning this game on, hearing this song. Do you think they're going to be like super excited? Just picture them right now. Iceman down there in Texas. Neil McCrae putting his hands up in the air over there in the UK. Cengiz in Denmark after leaving the gym. This is the song he's humming. Everyone's saying if they make this game, it's going to suck. Sell like hotcakes ladies and gentlemen. When are we gonna wake up and realize that there's a difference between valuable IP and IP that speaks to the pinball buying demographic? Picture them getting down to this song. Oh yeah. Hit me. I wanna be the very best. The very best. No one ever was. Nobody. To catch them is my real test. The Train Them Is My Car, I Will Travel Across The Land, Searching Far and Wide, Keep Up In Minds To Understand The Power Inside, I Got Got You All, I Know It's My Destiny, You're My Best Friend, In The World You Must Defend, Welcome to Kaneda's Pinball Podcast. The baby has not arrived yet, so I have time to do a pinball show for each and every one of you. Pokemon, the rumor is back. It is front page news on Jason Knapp's page because Stern Pinball asked people yesterday, like, any questions out there? And someone said, are you going to make Pokemon? And Stern responded, stay tuned with like four D's or three D's. And look, people, we all know that Pokemon has been a long-running rumored game. It's supposed to be maybe the next game that Jack Danger makes. We all know that Pokemon is one of the biggest franchises in the world, if not one of the biggest, or I think it is the biggest franchise in the world. And does that mean that each and every one of you is all of a sudden going to become a Pokemon fan because of that? The way each and every one of you who never watched Rick and Morty had to become a Rick I'm not going to debate whether or not Pokemon is a huge property. I'm not going to debate whether or not it would make a good theme for pinball, but I maybe might debate that last point. Is it a great theme for pinball in the pinball world? It will absolutely crush on location. If they make this game, I think it'll crush on location because when you go out to barcades And you go to Location Play, there are a lot of people that grew up with Pokemon. The problem is that most of those people are not in the market for a $7,000 to $13,000 pinball machine. So will you want one? And you just have to ask yourself this. In a world in which we're buying stuff like ACDC, Guns N' Roses, stuff like Spider-Man, Star Wars, Batman, does Pokemon cross over into your world? I think it's targeting a demographic that's one stage earlier than most of who buys current day pinball machines. But here's the thing. This is just a rumor and also take it with a grain of salt because Stern pinball doesn't ever really confirm a game they're gonna make with a cheeky Facebook post like this. And we also know there are two more Stern machines that are going to come out before we might even see Pokemon. The earliest would be December of 2024. We have John Wick coming out any day now. Then we're going to have John Borg's Metallica, all new designs Metallica on Spike 3. That's going to take up a good eight months right there. So if you want to get excited by Pokemon maybe coming out at the end of the year, that's on you. But I think we've got a lot more happening in the here and the now than to get excited about Pokemon. And truth be told people, how many of you are like Pokemon is a dream theme and the game is gonna come out right when Back to the Future comes out. So that's gonna be a battle. The Battle 1980s nostalgia versus like what like mid 90s nostalgia in Pokemon It's gonna be a battle obviously Pokemon is a much bigger IP But I think back to the future has more of you excited than Pokemon All right, so we're waiting on John wick Kaneda's waiting on his baby David Fix sent out an email to all of his dealers asking them Hey guys Do you know any barbecue restaurants that you could set us up with? And we would love to house one of these barbecue challenge games in one of those barbecue restaurants. Do you know this fool? And I'm just going to call him a fool because he doesn't know what he's doing. He was also trying to get ice cream parlors to put Galactic Tank Force games into their establishments. This is how bad it's gotten. This is how like inane and ridiculous David Fix and the team over at American Pinball is. They have no idea what they're doing. It doesn't work like this. If Deadpool eats like chimichangas or whatever they're called, you're not going to put Deadpool pinball machines in chimichanga restaurants. You know, a taco truck's not going to set up a Deadpool outside it because they feature it inside the game. It's really, really sad watching this company make every bonehead it move. But also I'm kind of happy because think how boring it would be if we didn't have people like David Fix in pinball. If we didn't have people like Damian Harden in pinball, it would be really boring if all we had were like three companies that execute really well and that's it. And we had to wait in between each game. Think about how boring it would be to follow pinball content and all the companies that are out there because I think what makes this hobby fun is you don't have a really great whipping All new bunch of them come out like making ABBA, terrible decision, like making an $11,000 fun house, terrible decision, like telling people you're going to have your game in eight weeks and it takes eight months, terrible decisions. And I don't make any of these companies make these decisions and we all know this. At the end of the day, Stern Pinball makes the best decisions. Stern Pinball has been consistently bringing out the best pinball machines over the last 20 years They consistently put the best code into pinball machines They consistently have the best designers in pinball And that's why Stern pinball is like an easy target because they do do so much so well. Now they are ripping us off and they know that, but they can justify stuff like a $2,000 topper. We're not just paying for that Foo Fighter topper. I mean, I think everyone needs to realize this. When we see a $2,000 Foo Fighter topper, they know that we know that that topper is not worth $2,000. What you're paying for is an ornament on top of a game made by the company that's making the best pinball in the world. That's what that is. It is simply an ornament on top of a game. It's the cherry on top of the two and a half years it took them to make that game. And they're cashing in knowing that they gave you enough value for people to consider putting that ornament on top of their game. And the last I heard, those toppers are selling just fine regardless of how much Kaneda thinks it's a ripoff. And there's a lot that is a ripoff in pinball. But even as I was thinking about this week, how it wasn't even hard to get someone to offer, you know, over $25,000 for a Batman SLE. Why is that, right? There will never be an American pinball game in the history of American pinball where anyone would ever want to buy for $25,000. There will never be a Spooky game in the history of Spooky where anyone would ever offer $25,000. There will never be a game in the history of CGC where anyone will ever offer that much money. But there's something about Stern, right? They make so many consistent games on big themes and they've made so many of you happy That a lot of you out there have become collectors of primarily Stern machines, right? And if you're a Stern collector, the machines you're going to want to collect within that set of games, it's not just going to be the games that are the best. You're also going to want the ones that are like hard to get that are collection pieces. And there's not many of them, really. There's not many because they screwed over everybody who thought they had a collector's edition of like Elvira by making so many variations. They screwed over the Jurassic Park LE people, but they didn't screw over the Batman collectors yet. There's only 240 LEs and 80 SLEs, so those are holding value nicely. In a little bit, I'm going to go down a list of all the games that are for sale for $14,000 or more, and we're going to see what is trying to be traded at collector's prices right now in the pinball world. Okay, so we're waiting on John Wick. We've got Elton John games are going out the door. Here's what's happening right now. I'm seeing a real influx of more and more Elton John collector's editions. I really think the line is cranking these things out now over at Jersey Jack Pinball. That Elton John Platinum that was for sale for $11,200, it finally sold. It took about three weeks to sell that game. But I think we're going to see a lot more Elton Johns in the marketplace. Now what does that mean? Does that mean we're going to see this game go down in value like Toy Story 4 or The Godfather? No I don't. I don't. It's still the best shooting Jersey Jack game of all time, but it's still Elton John. And there's only like what, like 12 or 16 songs in the game? I think it might be 16 songs. The thing about the songs in the game is that most of them are not high energy. And there's about four or five of them that are just throwaway songs. Like you're never really going to want to play them if you want to have an exciting, So, I think over time, people might get tired of the song selection in Elton John and they might want more tracks in it. Will they add more tracks to Elton John? I doubt it. We did see the Foo Fighters added more songs into that game as new code updates approach. So, that is something that might be on the table. The one game that I'm shocked they haven't added any, any new songs or new Easter egg tracks to unlock is Guns N' Roses,ив الزامли I'm John Popadiuk, and this is a production of Willy Wonka, and the show's creator. I think that guy was canceled for like sexual misconduct, but when they did have a good There was this sort of promise to the community that we were going to add future seasons of Rick and Morty into the game itself. And the way the game was coded was perfect for that because it was all about going on different adventures and filling out the adventure card. And so the way the rule set worked, it would have been really, really easy to add future episodes into the game and they never did it. The Valley Company, Subsidiary of Walter Kidde & Co., Inc., Mirco Playfields, Tim Tim Kitzrow, Scott Danesi. What would you do if you had a pinball machine that sold 150 Rick and Mortys and that was it? And if they had not said that they would have sold another at least 1000 units of Rick and Morty, especially during COVID when people couldn't get anything, they would have been taking order after order of this game. It's still a much better theme for pinball than Halloween, then Looney Tunes, then Texas Chainsaw Massacre, then Rob Zombie. I mean, it's still to this day the best spooky theme they've had. I would say the second best is Scooby Doo, but Rick and Morty is probably still the best theme they ever had. The other reason why I don't think we get updates is all the team that made Rick and Morty is no longer at Spooky Pinball. So I think they just want to move past it and think about future titles. All right, so we've got Elton John owners continue to tell us it's the greatest game of all time. Will that keep prices steady? I am seeing right now distributors like Mike at Automated. He has Elton John's CEs in a box ready to ship. So if you want one don put up these wanted ads on Pinside You ever notice this weird thing where like there be like 18 games for sale of a specific title and then some dude lists like a wanted ad and it like bro they there for sale all over the place Why are you saying you want it? They're readily available. So like, just go open up one of these 15 for sale ads and go get yourself a game. All right. So we're waiting on John Wick. Elton John is out. Where is this fun house? I think something's happening with this fun house launch. I don't know what's taking so long, but it's not good. Another thing is like this ABBA game. I've been looking at this thing and it's out. It's been revealed. I don't even know if it's on the line. And all I know is when I go on Pinside and I like to jump into the new game threads, right? I don't wanna go into like old game threads and read about what's happening with like Deadpool, ball hangups and stuff like that. That's not exciting to me. I know that's not exciting to you. When I go into the ABBA thread, I'm hit with nothing but like distributors trying to take money on this game. And there is no game yet. Like it's not on the line. I don't understand why anybody would like order this game right now. It's just, where is it? You got to reveal your game and get it to customers. I went into the barrels of fun thread the other day and I'm starting to see a little like the scent a little bit in there. For people that ordered that game early on from barrels of fun, they don't really have a line of sight into when they're going to get their game. And I think distributors have been getting their allotments ahead of people that order directly. Now, look, if you ask me, people that order direct should get their games first. I'll tell you why. Because they're putting more money in your pocket. You're not giving money to a distributor or a dealer. They don't get their margin. So if you sell an $11,000 labyrinth and you're a dealer, you got to probably keep like $1,500 or $2,000 of that for yourself. But if you're Barrels of Fun and you sell that game directly, you're keeping $2,000 more money for your company. So shouldn't the person who buys direct get their game earlier? I don't understand pinball sales at all. I think it's a system that was set in place in the 1970s and nobody seems to want to rock the boat. All right, so let's do a little bit of Kaneda's Collector's Corner. It's been a while since I did this. So we're going to go on Pinside Marketplace. We're going to see if people have given up the delusion and we're going to see what games are for sale for $14,000 or more, right? Because the problem now is if I put up like $12,000, I'm going to get every single delusional Venom LE owner and James Bond owner and Foo Fighter LE owner trying to cash out on their games that are now all worth below $10,000. And speaking of below $10,000, I have to report this. I saw a Guns N' Roses CE for sale for $10,000. That's the cheapest I've ever seen a GNR CE for sale. And for those of you out there, as much as I love Guns N' Roses as a band, this game is never going to go back up in value. It doesn't matter if you put the capacitor kit in. It doesn't matter what you do to the code. It doesn't matter. They made too many. They made too many and too many people have played it and have had a bad experience playing it. You're not going to be able to go back to all of those people. There's going to be thousands of people who have played GNR, didn't like the mushy flippers, didn't like the layout, And didn't like the stupid multiballs that keep coming at you that make it feel like you're flailing and chopping wood every time you start a mode. And so how are you going to go back and change all of those people's minds? You know, it's just too late. It's too late. And this is why it's so important that you polish a game over the first year that it's out. If Jersey Jack had done that and continued to make this better the first year the game was out, We wouldn't have so many more people hating on the game and you're never going to win those people back over again. It's just the way it goes. If you sleep with somebody and they're bad in bed, are you going to let them back into your bed because they're like, I'm better now. Give me another shot. It doesn't work like that. All right. So what do we got for sale in the Pinside Marketplace in Kaneda's collector's corner? We got a $16,900 Banzai Run fully restored. No thank you. That's a crack pipe price for a Banzai run. An Addams Family Gold. $30,000 for an Addams Family Gold. No freaking way. He says it's a one of a kind mint condition. Many tasteful mods. I don't care. You know what's a better tasteful mod than an Addams Family Gold? $30,000. I'd rather have $30,000 in cash burning a hole in my pocket. We got a Metallica Masters of Puppets LE for $14,750. I would stay so clear away from any Metallica purchases until you see what the new game is from Stern Pinball because if it's amazing and it has Zombietti on artwork and the code is anywhere near as good as the Lyman code and it's filled with mechanisms, some of which I think all of these older D&D Metallicas are going to lose value. So stay as far away as you can from a Metallica right now. All right, a Batman 66. There's only 240 of these. A Batman 66, number 69, Bat Gadget Edition is $20,500. Wow. That's a lot. Remember this game new was I think like 10.5. This is crazy! But look, there's only 240 in the world and as I said, Batman is going to be one of those rare Stern LEs that they didn't overproduce and it has a topper everybody wants and it's a beautiful game even if it is clunky. So I think that Batman 66 is a little overpriced. I think an LE, you're more in the ballpark of like $17,000 to $18,000. Elvirus House of Horrors, 40th anniversary edition in a box. These people got screwed because the Blood Kiss edition is nicer and now these owners are all trying to get something out of this. Because remember, when this game was sold to people in a box, it was 15 grand. And then distros at the very beginning were getting $25,000 for this game. This person's got one, new in a box, only 199 have been made and he wants 18,500 for it. I don't know if you're going to get it. I don't know. I think Elvira, the problem is now that there's like three or four special editions of the game, remember, there's an Ellie, there's a signature edition, and there's a 40th anniversary edition and there a Blood Kiss edition So there are four different Ellie versions of this game This is the most different variations of a game I think Stern has ever done since like maybe Metallica had a few versions and Spider-Man, but none of those had four versions that were labeled and numbered as LE versions of the game. We've got a Godzilla limited edition with a topper for $16,000. Gang, those days are over. The days of Godzilla getting $16,000, it's over. The other reason why I think it's over, the game's been out a long time. I think everyone's had their fun with Godzilla. I think people are starting to realize that Jaws is really good game and I think a lot of the Elwin fan base is going to move from Godzilla over to Jaws. I see Godzilla LEs actually settling around $12,000 by the end of the year. So I would not go anywhere near one for 16. The other reason is this, is 16 was the price of a Godzilla LE at the height of COVID. Those days are over. Here's not a bad buy. A HEP restored ADAMS FAMILY for $16,500. Now look, ADAMS FAMILY, one of the greatest pinball machines of all time. It's the most heavily made game of all time with $22,000, but you're not going to find a lot of HEP restored one. HEP restorations, before there was all these remakes, like he was the de facto and what he does is a work of art. And so I think a HEP restored ADAMS FAMILY for $16,500 is actually not a bad buy. I think it's the kind of game where if you put it into your lineup, it's absolutely going to hold its own next to a $13,000 Stern LE. Because remember, a $13,000 Stern LE with a $2,000 topper is priced right near a HEP restored Adams family. So not a bad buy. A big Lebowski with the lit apron for $14,500 in stock at Automated. So Mike's got Lebowski's in boxes, in stock. I think this game new is $13,500. So Mike's trying to make $1,000 on top of the MSRP to cut the line. But it just goes to show you that Lebowski's another game where they're just going to keep making them. It doesn't have that like, oh, you know, collector quality anymore. And that's OK. But it used to, right? It used to when Dutch Pinball didn't have many in the world, having a Lebowski was special. Now it's readily available. Here's an Elvira 40th anniversary with the topper included for 17.8. Again, beautiful game. I actually prefer the 40th over the Blood Kiss edition. I do. I think it looks nicer. But again, I think they just screwed over everybody. Here's a Pirates of the Caribbean. This is my friend Derek's Pirates. It's sold already. And I know he got close to $30,000 for that game. This next one is just the problem with multi-morphic. And if I was Jerry, I would call this guy up and be like, can you take this down? Because this is the problem with it. My entire P3 setup with five playfields. $21,000. See this is the problem. Nobody's ever gonna buy a multi-morphic with five playfields, one of which is not the Princess Bride, and spend $21,000. No thank you. It's just never gonna happen. Here's another Godzilla LE. What's with these Godzilla LE owners? 17,000 firm. Get out of Dodge 17,000 Firm. Never get in it. This was an interesting one. A Foo Fighters LE and a Venom LE first sale at Pinfest for 18,000 Firm. Think about that for a minute. A Foo Fighters LE was 13,000. A Venom LE was 13,000. That's $26,000. So this guy was selling both of them for 18 grand. That's an $8,000 loss and he's got a sale pending. Whoever bought this, congratulations, good on you. But it just goes to show you this person bought two Stern LEs and lost $8,000. $8,000. Here's what's funny. There's another Addams Family Gold Edition for $16,000. This one's interesting to me. I haven't seen this game come up for sale. I know for a fact that owners of this game used to turn down offers of $50,000. Yes, I am saying that right. $50,000 for this game was turned down at the height of COVID and it is no other than the matrix by pinivating. Those guys in the Netherlands who made that matrix game, it was a reskinned Johnny Mnemonic. There is one for sale and it is listed for 19,000 or best offer. And it looks like it's coming from somewhere like I think in the Netherlands, but it just goes to show you, you know, now the rumors of the matrix coming out, how far some of these like unique homebrew games have fallen. And the matrix was one where I think they only made like eight of them. And so at the very height, it was like the only way you could play matrix pinball was through this. It still is the only way you can play matrix pinball. And it is a really cool game, but man, 50 grand at the height, now down to 20. I know there was a Batman Super LE for sale over at Orange County Pinball. It has sold. I know it sold for around $30,000. So Kaneda now is the only one that is still like up for sale. I do have a sale pending. The money has not changed hands, but I also found out that it did sell for just a little bit more than my offer. So I'm not sure, you know? I'm not sure. But you know, I probably will let it go. And then we've got a Hep Restored Whitewater for $15,000. I think that's too much for a whitewater. See look, there's another Batman LE that sold for $15,500. See that's the thing. You got to really shop around people. Where's the other one? The other one was for sale for $20,000. So it just goes to show you. One guy wants to sell a Batman LE for $20,000. Another person lists it for $15,500. That's a huge discrepancy in price. And if you want to sell your game, you got to get off of the delusional crack pipe. There's a difference between listing a game to actually sell it and then just listing it to see what you might get one day down the road. Everybody, thank you for joining me on Kaneda's Corner. This is always a lot of fun. I love talking about this stuff with you guys every day. I might get the baby tonight. I might get the baby this weekend. The baby is coming. The due date is May 4th. I can't wait to share photos of this new addition to the family. Everybody, thank you so much for your support. I know it's the beginning of the month. That $5 bill just burns a hole in some of your pockets. If you want to raise your support for Kaneda's Pinball Podcast, it would be much appreciated. Now that I've got two kids, everything is like three times as expensive. We'll talk to you soon. Later. Pokemon theme song, take us away. In a world we must defend, Pokemon, gotta catch em all. Our hearts hold true, our courage will follow through, you teach me and I'll teach you, Pokemon. Gotta catch em all, gotta catch em all, Pokemon.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: ed535235-ce77-49ed-9c4b-e5f1842d6f2f*