A Pokémon LE is available for $3,000 markup from a private seller

Transformers reveal scheduled for May with June rollout

Stern pricing at $13K-$20K+ is overvalued; local dealers selling Elise at $22K

Jersey Jack overbakes code with too many simultaneous events in games like Potter

Pokémon's 180+ Pokémon collection mechanic is unmatched replay value in Stern catalog

Chris Turner should outsource Yukon Yeti production to American Pinball's 6 lines

Pokémon Pinball has perfect balance between easy-to-understand and difficult-to-master gameplay with the center shot being far up the playfield creating a skill gate

Approximately 80% of the pinball buying community are homeowners rather than operators or commercial buyers

Pokémon Pinball costs $13,000+ but appears to be worth $7,000 in mechanical effort and features

Winchester Mystery House production is somewhere in the 80s or 90s out of a total 525-unit run

Yukon Yeti buyers locking in deposits will see approximately 18 new games released before they must pay the final balance

Transformers pinball features Pat Lee artwork with big-legged, anime-manga style that may not appeal to G1 Transformer fans

Transformers pinball will be released in May

Beetlejuice machines are around unit 200-something in production and expected to ship to winners in July

Non-owners regularly post critical comments in game owner threads on Pinside, a pattern occurring across Pokémon, Beetlejuice, Winchester, and Dune threads

Pokemon LE unit #50 cost over $14,000 all-in including setup and customization

Pokemon is approximately $2,000 more expensive than Guns N' Roses CE

Guns N' Roses has poor shot layout and cumbersome gameplay compared to Pokemon

Stern LE machines should feature radial/premium decals like Batman SLE rather than basic stickers

Pokemon's long-term success depends primarily on code quality and future software updates

George Gomez made the right design decision prioritizing accessibility over mechanical complexity

Pokemon is the first pinball machine to successfully engage Kaneda's family members (spouse and young child) for extended play

Pokemon's playfield has minimal interactive mechanical toys (Meowth, Squiddle Whirlpool, scoop, magnet) with no novel features

Pokemon features exceptional audio-visual presentation among the best on any Stern machine

Some Pokemon owners dismiss the game as inferior to Toy Story 4 in online communities

Dune will become a cult classic game with strong holder retention once production ends

Dune will settle at $16,000-$18,000 secondary market price once all units are made and supply is exhausted

Pirates of the Caribbean escalated from $12,500 CE availability to $40,000 secondary market when Jersey Jack stopped production

Dune was released to market too early before demand was properly established

Spooky Pinball's Evil Dead sat unsold for months before escalating to $18,000 secondary market prices

Barrels of Fun only experienced instant FOMO sellout once with Winchester Mystery House

If Barrels of Fun announces Never Ending Story as next game, it will be a regrettable decision

Community coordination successfully arranged Beetlejuice delivery for military service member Antonio's birthday in June

Kaneda's Pinball Podcasts was the only pinball podcast that maintained skepticism toward Deep Root Pinball and other charlatans.

Kaneda holds the most subscribers of any pinball content creator

Pokémon Pinball LE units are shipping this week (week of TPF in March 2025)

A friend sold their Pokémon LE for $19,000 on eBay after TPF

Pokémon LEs are moving at $3,000-$5,000 over MSRP on Pinside as of TPF

Stern's Insider Connected was not designed to support complex features like a full Pokedex app

Yukon Yeti uses AI-generated ragtime piano music as its soundtrack

Circus Voltaire remakes via American Pinball/Planetary partnership will release July-August 2025

Spooky can manufacture all Beetlejuice units in approximately two weeks

John Wick never recovered from 'gun gate' launch issue and will remain culturally forgotten despite code updates

Franchi completed the Houdini art remaster in two weeks

American Pinball's new leadership made a good PR decision giving free Houdini to both raffle winners

Kaneda speculated on Pokemon by securing a second unit and sold it at profit

Steve Ritchie's Sonic the Hedgehog will be the greatest shooting pinball machine and dominate 2026

American Pinball's Houdini Franchi edition will ship 100 units within 30 days

Christopher Franchi created the Houdini art package and topper in two weeks

American Pinball used Gemini AI to generate the Houdini marketing flyer

Nobody likes the art, music, or callouts on Yukon Yeti

Barrels of Fun has shipped fewer than 100 Winchester units in six months since reveal

Stern spent four years making money-losing LEs that nearly destroyed their collectability

Pokemon LE secondary market prices will not sustain once code completes and Sonic launches

American Pinball's Houdini remaster will be limited to 100 units celebrating 100 years since Houdini's death

Houdini remaster will retail for approximately $7,000-$7,500

Whitewater 2 will sell out its 100-unit run instantly at premium pricing tier

Pokemon pinball is making operators $100 per day versus the typical $100 per week on other games

Stern had a manufacturing defect on early Pokemon builds where the orbit guide hole was drilled in the wrong location

The manufacturing fix for Pokemon is already figured out and Stern is distributing it to affected machines

Pokemon LE secondary market prices are all over the place ranging from $3,000 to $9,000+ over retail

Stern is likely making a Godzilla Gold version on Spike 3 platform

Jersey Jack Ghostbusters remains a persistent recurring rumor in the pinball community

Used pinball machines will not sustain pricing above $10,000 long-term in the secondary market

Great theme/IP is now the critical differentiator for new pinball game success; games without strong themes will struggle

Pokemon LE machines are shipping out next week (from mid-March timeframe)

Stern's communication about the Pokemon manufacturing issue was poor and created unnecessary panic among LE buyers

Kaneda from Kaneda's Pinball Podcast negotiated with George Gomez to fix the Pokémon defect while on vacation in Dublin

Pokémon LE secondary market will settle around $20,000 long-term

Spooky Pinball made 30-50 additional unnumbered Beetlejuice machines for Tim Burton film crew and cast members

Transformers pinball has the greatest Stern mechanical innovation of all time

Barrels of Fun is making Dungeon Crawler Carl (not as their next title)

Only 100 of 300 planned Pinball Brothers Predator units sold, resulting in 200-unit total production

Stern's Pokémon Speak feature in Beetlejuice has reliability issues with voice recognition

Jersey Jack Sonic the Hedgehog will arrive in approximately 2 months

American Pinball lacks consumer brand marketing expertise due to leadership's non-consumer industry background

Beetlejuice will hold market value around $20,000 and be harder to get than Evil Dead.

Pokemon LE secondary market prices are collapsing from $20K to $18K as inventory increases.

Pokemon Pro is stripped of nearly all premium features compared to LE including magnet, moving toys, and ramps.

Stern engineers failed to make the Pokeball actually open to release Pokemon despite this being the core IP mechanic.

American Pinball's new logo has design flaws including improper letter spacing.

American Pinball should not pursue a reboot strategy based on remaking old games.

Only 750 Pokemon LE machines were produced compared to 1,000 John Wicks.

Beetlejuice is the most visually stunning pinball machine ever made.

Dungeon Crawler Carl audiobook series has sold 6 million books but is still relatively niche and unlikely to translate to 500+ pinball machine sales at $11,600.

Barrels of Fun requested customer deposits on a Winchester Mystery House topper after selling all 525 units, indicating cash flow issues.

Boutique pinball manufacturers cannot stay in business producing only 500 units of a single title given R&D, licensing, music, software, and facility costs.

Dune Pinball could only sell 700 units despite being a visually spectacular machine.

Pokemon LE secondary market is currently oversupplied with 12+ machines listed at $20,000 with no buyers; realistic price should be $17,000.

Pokemon LE buyers are primarily speculators and distro curmudgeons rather than genuine Pokemon franchise fans.

Stern production capacity and global manufacturing network are not threatened by boutique pinball competitors.

The $1,000 Alice Goes to Wonderland miniature pinball machine is exceptional value despite its delamination defect.

Beeteljuice is the nicest modern pinball machine ever made, with superior physical craftsmanship and detail compared to Stern machines costing $3,000 more

Spooky Pinball playfields have noticeably better gloss finish and clarity than modern Stern playfields, possibly due to clear coat application differences

Beeteljuice ($10k) offers significantly more creative content, sculpts, and design detail than Stern Premium Editions ($9.5k) despite similar pricing

Barrels of Fun is considering producing a Dungeon Crawler Karl pinball game based on Karl DeAngelo's book series

The Dungeon Crawler Karl book series has sold approximately 6 million copies across the first six books

Pokemon LE secondary market is saturated with sellers; few buyers willing to pay the $20,000+ asking prices

Star Wars: Fall of the Empire LE machines are depreciating significantly from $13,000 retail to ~$9,000 secondary market

Spooky Pinball should be considered the best modern pinball company, surpassing Stern and Jersey Jack Pinball

Stern used the Spike 3 platform primarily as a cost-reduction measure rather than as a creative enhancement technology

Beeteljuice represents a new standard/bar that other pinball manufacturers must meet in 2026 and beyond

Beetlejuice is the greatest modern pinball machine ever made and the nicest pinball machine in history.

Spooky Pinball created artificial FOMO on America's Most Haunted by announcing a 150-unit limit when the game was struggling to sell.

Stern Pinball did not license the Empire State Building for King Kong despite it being the most iconic element of the franchise.

King Kong's art direction is inappropriate for the franchise, resembling a children's book rather than the classic films.

Stern should have acquired Spooky Pinball years ago rather than allowing them to become a competitive threat.

Pokémon will be a successful game because of the IP strength and simple, fun gameplay appealing to casual players.

Beetlejuice will become the foundation of every pinball collection going forward.

Winchester Mystery House is overly frustrating with poor shot design, particularly a difficult-to-hit ramp.

Pokémon secondary market will see significant oversupply with many eBay listings due to speculative buying.

Spooky Pinball and Jersey Jack Pinball are the only manufacturers currently making truly home-worthy machines.

Pokémon Limited Edition secondary market is currently $18,000 for a same-day deal, potentially $20,000 if waiting a few days

Someone traded a Beetlejuice machine straight-up for a Pokémon with no additional mate value, which was a poor trade decision

Savoy/Hap, a major pinball parts supplier, is shutting down their pinball division

Winchester Mystery House secondary market is not reaching $20,000 asking prices despite hype; estimated fair value $18,000

2025 will be 'the best year in the history of pinball' with major releases from multiple manufacturers

Sonic the Hedgehog will be game of the year 2025 and superior to Pokémon

Three best-edition pinball machines cost approximately $45,000 total now vs. $18,000 ten years ago

Zombie Yeti's Limited Edition art direction on King Kong and Walking Dead failed to adequately differentiate from Premium editions

Pinside marketplace rules restricting Pokémon sales are economically counterproductive and drive prices upward

Flippin' Out Pinball has 14-15 of the 750 Pokémon Limited Edition units tracked on Pinside

All 750 Pokemon LEs will be manufactured by April, forcing scalpers to take delivery or sell before that date

Pokemon LE secondary market prices will not sustain at $20,000 asking prices; will settle lower as multiple scalpers attempt simultaneous sales

Most Pokemon LE buyers are speculative scalpers, not genuine Pokemon fans; they leveraged dealer relationships to secure allocations

Rocky IV would be a superior pinball theme to Rocky I due to pacing, 'No Easy Way Out' soundtrack, and visual potential (Lamborghini, Drago/Apollo scenes)

Stern will announce two separate Transformers LE editions at 500 units each (Autobot/Decepticon or Optimus/Megatron variants)

Barrels of Fun hired the homebrew Big Trouble in Little China designer; Carl D'Angelo may also have been developing a BTILC homebrew before Winchester assignment

Barrels of Fun will need to announce its next game title before year-end; Pinball Expo is likely venue (historical precedent: Winchester announced there)

2025 represents the best year in pinball history due to unprecedented concentration of major IP releases (Harry Potter, Back to the Future, Goonies, Transformers, Pokemon, Sonic, etc.)

Pokemon LE is selling for around $25,000 on the secondary market with documentation and verification

Pokemon LE demand is the highest in 13 years of Kaneda's podcast coverage

Stern Pokemon Pro model has magnet, moving Pikachu, and Squirtle ramp features removed vs Premium/LE

Dealers Troy and Jeff make $2,500-$2,700 profit per Pokemon LE sale

Winchester demand is artificially inflated by scarcity; supply of 800-1000 units would still be available

2026 will have five major pinball releases that buyers want, forcing $30-50k annual spending decisions

Secondary market FOMO is essential to pinball's survival as a hobby

Twippies Awards 2025 destroyed by Colin; Game of Year winner got only ~260 votes vs historical 3-5k

Winchester secondary market at $18-20k, with isolated claims of $25k but zero documented $20k sales in Kaneda's network

Dune production came up 300 units short of Barrels of Fun's anticipated output

Pokemon Pinball LE secondary market currently trading at $20,000-$24,000 based on 13 years of marketplace observation

Metallica Remastered LE has held value better than other recent Stern LEs, with only one listing at $16,900 on Pinside after peaking at $18-19K

Recent Stern LEs (Foo Fighters, James Bond, Venom, John Wick, D&D, King Kong) have depreciated $3-6K from MSRP

George Gomez is on record promising no additional special editions of Pokemon Pinball beyond Pro/Premium/LE tiers

Approximately 50 Pokemon LE owners are speculators seeking to sell who don't actually want the theme

Beetlejuice spot values have declined from $10K+ asking prices to $3,200-$4,000 range due to Pokemon hype shift

Three top-tier 2025 pinball games (Pokemon, Sonic, Transformers LEs) will cost approximately $41,000 total

Once all 750 Pokemon LEs are manufactured in 6 weeks, secondary market prices will likely decline as supply increases and 50+ speculators attempt to sell

Pokemon collectors may not have appetite for $20K+ pinball purchases unlike pinball enthusiasts, creating unknown valuation variable

Speculation and secondary market flipping represents minority activity (30 people out of ~750 LE buyers) and does not meaningfully damage hobby

Pokemon LE units are selling for $20,000 immediately after Friday announcement

All 750 Pokemon LE units sold out by Monday (three days after Friday announcement)

Pokemon LE secondary market price will reach approximately $30,000

Pokemon could become the best-selling Stern machine of all time

Stern deliberately produced only 750 Pokemon LEs (vs. 1,000 for John Wick and Venom) to drive scarcity value

Stern's work environment has been toxic and demoralized for approximately four years prior to Pokemon's success

Pokemon game design intentionally draws from Monster Bash, Attack from Mars, and Medieval Madness as inspiration

Zombie Yeti and his daughter art-directed and designed the Pokemon playfield art

Sonic CE production will be unconstrained (as many as demand warrants) in contrast to Pokemon's 750-unit LE limit

John Wick and Venom LE prices will crash to approximately $6,500 as Pokemon-driven market reshuffles collector priorities

Pokémon Pinball has approximately 7-8 total shots from flipper to flipper.

This is the first game since Stern has gone to the Spike 3 platform where the big screen is actually utilized in the right way.

Pokémon Company did not allow Stern to illustrate on top of their IP; all artwork is pre-illustrated by Pokémon artists.

If Pokémon becomes ultra-repetitive in collecting mechanics, the game will see significant used sales within months.

Pokémon LE units will trade well over $13,000 on the secondary market due to Pokémon fandom scale and scarcity.

If only LE tier existed (no Pro/Premium), the Pokémon machine might have remained available for six minutes instead of selling out instantly

Pokemon Pinball is a dream crossover for fans who enjoy both pinball and Pokemon

Kaneda was invited to Stern headquarters in Chicago to be among the first to play Pokemon Pinball in person

Pokémon Pinball is an instant sellout at 750 LE units for global collector base.

Stern is changing manufacturing order to make Pro models first instead of LEs first.

Costco has ordered 3,000 Pokémon home edition machines.

No legitimate photos of Pokémon Pinball playfield have leaked despite community rumors.

Stern LEs from last 4-5 years average $4,000 (~30%) depreciation; worst in pinball history.

Pokémon will sell 4,000-5,000 units between now and end of March 2025 due to manufacturing scale.

Back to the Future Pinball will not release in 2025.

Sonic Pinball will outperform Pokémon and Harry Potter in community sentiment.

Project Pinball generates ~$900k annually with ~$600k+ in expenses for 50 machines with volunteer labor.

Transformers Pinball is superior to Pokémon Pinball based on player feedback.

Pokemon LE will sell out instantly and reach secondary market prices of $14,500+ in short term

Stern will reveal Pokemon to media Wednesday under NDA but dealers/distros will receive assets earlier causing Tuesday/earlier leak

AC/DC and KISS remasters are both in development at Stern; order unclear

Stern has been shipping poor-quality launch codes recently, indicating resource strain

Brand new Winchester unit #19 shipped with 827 plays logged on hardware

Beetlejuice show game is currently too easy due to excessive ball saves

Back to the Future will not be released this year; approximately one year away

G1 Transformers will be more impressive than Pokemon; industry consensus says Transformers will exceed Pokemon quality

Pokemon will be good/solid but not great; quality depends on execution of decent theme

Back to the Future mechanical design lacks standout wow features compared to The Big Lebowski

Pokemon Pinball will sell well due to IP size and being the first Pokemon pinball machine, despite mediocre gameplay

If manufacturers sold direct with one-per-customer limits, scalping would end overnight

Manufacturers could save $1-2M+ per title by eliminating dealer/distro middlemen

Stern no longer has leverage over dealers; dealers now dictate terms and Stern must beg for orders

Scalping is a positive market signal of game quality; bad games don't command premiums

Kaneda purchased a Batman 66 SLE for $16,000 new in box and owned it for two years

Saturday Morning Spectacular reaches 2,000-3,000 total viewers per episode across platforms

Beetlejuice was sold out before becoming available and is possibly the fastest-selling pinball machine ever

Stern is deliberately avoiding placing Pokémon next to Beetlejuice due to competitive concern

Only 58 Labyrinth pinball machines remain in inventory

Winchester represents a 'fluke' success for Spooky Pinball rather than evidence of repeatable design competence

Pinball media content creators have material influence over listener purchasing decisions

Pokemon will not debut at Texas Pinball Festival mid-March; it will release well before then

Dealers are expecting Pokemon delivery on February 11th

There will be 10 Beetlejuice show games at Pinball at the Beach that will be sold to customers

AC/DC is the next remastered game, not KISS

Stern will make more money in one day on Pokemon than all boutique companies have made all year

American Pinball is under new management and no longer led by David Fix

Pokemon Pinball will release on January 30th in two versions: Pikachu and Charizard

Stern's The Walking Dead Remastered is a colossal commercial failure

Stern failed to survey the community before choosing The Walking Dead for remastering

Transformers will significantly outperform Pokemon in quality according to people who have played both

King Kong LE at $9,800 has received zero offers in secondary market

Harry Potter CE Arcade Edition outsells the $10,000 Premium version almost 10 to 1

Stern should restrict premium art packages to LE versions only with minimal art on Pro versions

Beetlejuice will dominate Pinball at the Beach tournament

American Pinball is making games nobody wants by continuing Legends of Valhalla production

Kaneda's podcast provides $5/month value equivalent to significantly more expensive industry content

American Pinball's focus on 'technology and connectivity' misses the core appeal of pinball, which is magic and theme

Modern pinball games lack mechanical innovation and 'wow' moments compared to classics

American Pinball should symbolically burn old inventory to signal complete break from past

Stern games from the last four years have not held value, with estimated $40k aggregate losses for buyers of every LE

American Pinball's restart will ultimately fail because the company cannot assemble a cohesive team or produce competitive products

Dutch Pinball came approximately 30% short of their promised 500 Alice machines per year

Dutch Pinball needs a manufacturing partnership with Stern or Jersey Jack to meet Back to the Future demand

Barrels of Fun requiring topper pre-orders before production indicates cash flow problems

Winchester Mystery House production #7 has substandard wiring compared to industry standards

Stern's remaster strategy will alienate original game owners and is unsustainable long-term

KISS LE machines with toppers have lost approximately 50% value due to remaster announcement

Pokémon Pinball release is expected later than initially predicted but will hit February 2025 anniversary window

Kaneda previously worked as a marketing consultant at Stern with 25 years of marketing experience and presented comprehensive strategic analysis

Kaneda is the highest-earning pinball content creator among nano influencers in the space

There are between 13-15 pinball manufacturers active in 2025

Stern Pinball released five games in 2025: Dungeons & Dragons, King Kong, Jaws 50th, Star Wars: Fall of the Empire, and The Walking Dead Remastered

Jersey Jack Pinball secured all eight Harry Potter movies with previously muted clips now unmuted

J.K. Rowling did not want Harry Potter in bars because she considered them seedy

Barrels of Fun released Dune in March 2025 with a few hundred units produced

Jean-Paul DeWin is transitioning from Jersey Jack Pinball to work on Back to the Future with Dutch Pinball

Stern Pinball is the only major manufacturer producing more than one game per year

Pinball prices have increased from $6,500 for Stern LE to $13,000+

The boutique companies have improved their product quality to match or exceed Stern Pinball

2025 represents a golden era of pinball despite pricing concerns

Walking Dead LE machines are selling for $11,500 on Pinside secondary market despite $13,000 MSRP, indicating zero demand for 500 units produced

Walking Dead LE buyers will lose approximately $3,000 in value within one to two weeks when new Stern releases arrive

Full cost of Walking Dead LE ownership including topper and shooter rod is approximately $14,200

Expression Lighting System with armor is cheaper to produce than Spike 2 hardware platform

Churchill-era cabinet manufacturing for Stern produced superior playfields and cabinets compared to current in-house production

Ghostbuster playfield inserts experienced lifting issues requiring repopulation and replacement

Jersey Jack design philosophy under Jack Danger instructed Steve Ritchie to 'put everything he possibly wants' into Sonic the Hedgehog, contrasting with Stern's cost-cutting mandates

Jaws 50th is the last Spike 2 platform release from Stern Pinball

Beetle juice and Winchester Mystery House Spooky Pinball machines are launching within weeks and January 2025 respectively

Stern has been making pinball machines for 40 years

The Walking Dead Remastered is a flop with instant depreciation of $1,500-$2,000 on new-in-box units.

Stern's cabinet design using cheap brackets is comparable to Ikea furniture and represents cost-cutting without craftsmanship improvement.

Spooky Pinball's Beetlejuice is 2-3x nicer than current Stern output, reversing historical quality differential.

Stern's next January 2026 cornerstone game is 'make or break' for company viability.

Godfather Collector's Edition tanked from $15,000 MSRP to $8,000 secondary-market asking price (~$7,000 loss).

Pokemon is a poor demographic fit for pinball's core buyers (40-60 age group) compared to Transformers G1.

Stern brought in designers from outside pinball lacking authentic franchise passion, treating assignments as jobs.

Spike 3 is 'nothing but a cost-cutting measure' with no substantive improvements in lighting or computing power applications.

Stern's remaster strategy (Walking Dead, planned AC/DC return) is ineffective and will not attract sufficient new buyers to justify burning 6,000 existing owners.

Jersey Jack ships toppers with every Limited Edition; Spooky Pinball ships toppers with every game; Barrels of Fun experienced delays on Dune and Winchester toppers

Star Wars Limited Edition is $3,500 more than the Pro model with minimal exclusive content differentiation

The Spike 3 rollout has been embarrassingly bad from a communication standpoint, leaving the community unclear on major changes and benefits

Recent Stern games have been underwhelming in quality compared to boutique competitors like Jersey Jack, Spooky, and Barrels of Fun

Stern should reduce output to two cornerstone games annually to improve quality and justify premium pricing

Home buyers should not purchase Stern games at new retail prices; secondary market will offer better value

Beetlejuice secondary market prices have stabilized around $5,000 over sticker

Harry Potter CE and Beetlejuice will become foundational games for modern collector collections

Stern has lost its collector base and the three-tier pricing model is unsustainable

Stern uses cheap Raspberry Pi processors in Spike 3 platform causing performance concerns

Christopher Franchi was mistreated by Stern management over artist merchandise sales at events

Goonies pinball license is exclusive to one manufacturer

Tournament players exhibit destructive behavior toward machines and poor sportsmanship

Derek (tournament figure) ended friendship with Kaneda over 2024 election voting differences

Spooky is acquiring premium IPs (Goonies, Gremlins, Back to the Future) via Christopher Franchi

Beetlejuice will sell for $20,000 on the secondary market

Beetlejuice sold out in approximately 9 seconds

Winchester took a couple days to sell out

Demand for Beetlejuice is 10 times higher than Winchester

Stern has lost the Ghostbusters license

Dutch Pinball is developing Back to the Future with all assets

Winchester features 4 flippers and no upper playfield

Stern's repeated IP strategy (Star Wars, Transformers, AC/DC) is boring and stale

Pinball will see significant improvement in game quality in 2026

Project Pinball's raffle revenue significantly exceeds machine costs with unclear expense allocation

Beetlejuice is selling for $15,000-$18,000 on the secondary market with verifiable sales

Barrels of Fun's next game after Winchester is a licensed theme game

Pokemon is likely designed by Jack Danger or Keith Elwin, not George Gomez

Stern should discontinue Limited Editions and focus exclusively on operator location market

I told everybody for months to get on a list for Beetlejuice.

Beetlejuice sold out in 9 seconds with 30,000 people trying to access the Spooky website.

Stern 'got rid of' Christopher Franchi because they didn't want to make Beetlejuice.

Stern LE buyers have consistently lost $3,000–$5,000 per machine over the past four years.

Last Stern machine to exceed collector expectations was Batman (9–10 years ago).

Spooky will never rerun Beetlejuice or Winchester; they are confirmed one-time-only production.

Pokémon pinball is in development with a 'lunchbox deal' (limited licensing scope).

Stern Star Wars LE will depreciate from $13,000 to $10,000 within one month.

Kaneda (Canada Club) secured five Beetlejuice units at MSRP for allocation to members.

Beetlejuice will sell out in 9 seconds to 15 minutes of becoming available

Secondary market price for Beetlejuice will be $18,000-$20,000+, potentially exceeding Evil Dead's ~$15,000

Evil Dead took a long time to sell out and now trades for around $15,000 on secondary market

Spooky Pinball is manufacturing 1,079 Beetlejuice units total: 999 standard + 80 show games

Stern passed on Beetlejuice IP, allowing Spooky to acquire it instead

Christopher Franchi was 'basically booted from Stern Pinball' and is now thriving at Spooky

Beetlejuice represents a watershed moment in pinball comparable to modern-day Addams Family impact

Stern's Walking Dead stream launch on same day as Beetlejuice reveal is a tone-deaf marketing misjudgment

Back to the Future (Dutch Pinball) will be revealed in October 2025 and ship by December 2025

Kaneda holds 5 Beetlejuice units reserved for Kaneda Club members at MSRP

Beetlejuice has more going on mechanically than Harry Potter CE despite $5,000 lower price

George Gomez is finishing Pokemon game after Jack Danger's initial work, not Transformers

Keith Elwin is a Pokemon fanatic and may lend talents to Pokemon game

Beetlejuice will launch Thursday midnight at $9,999 with 1,079 total units (999 LE + 80 show)

Foo Fighters LE depreciated from ~$15K to $8K, representing $5K-$7K loss

Lyman is working on and leading Walking Dead Remastered project

Stern's art direction problems stem from oversaturation and overly colorful aesthetic on King Kong, Star Wars, Walking Dead

Pokemon is the biggest IP in pinball history, surpassing Star Wars, Harry Potter, and others

Approximately 95% of Winchester Mystery House pre-order customers have never played the game

Walking Dead Remastered animations look AI-generated and awkward

Beetlejuice will attract 3,000-5,000 order attempts for 1,079 available units

Beetlejuice will immediately drop from $10k MSRP to $15k on secondary market, while Walking Dead Remastered will drop from $13k to $10k

Big distributors have only sold a handful of the 500 Walking Dead LE units

Star Wars playfield artwork is poor quality and doesn't look good for a $13k product

Christopher Franchi brought Stern the IP themes for Beetlejuice, Wonder Woman, Batman 66, Superman '78, and Jaws

Stern did not license the Empire State Building for King Kong, cutting corners on a $13k product

Jack Danger (Stern designer) was burned out by X-Men code issues and no longer wants to do design work

American Pinball is coming back and has hired a customer service person

Stern should be terrified of Beetlejuice raising the bar another level in design/quality

Stern's repeated use of overly colorful art palettes creates visual monotony and community fatigue with their product line

The Walking Dead Remastered LE (500 units) will sell out instantly on day one, faster than any recent Stern LE

Metallica Remastered original LE still has collector value due to Dirty Donnie art package being first fully illustrated Stern machine

Winchester's Mystery House sold out in two days, which would have seemed impossible six months ago

Dune failed to reach 500 sales in six months, indicating poor theme selection by Barrels

Original Walking Dead art package was 'horrendous' and dramatically inferior to new Remastered art, making new version compelling despite unchanged gameplay

Stern games consistently look and feel cheap compared to boutique competitors, limiting their market competitiveness at $13k+ price points

Spooky show game production (80 additional units) was driven by dealer pressure, not legitimate consumer demand or manufacturing necessity

Back to the Future SLE with approximately 88 units will launch in roughly one year and be the hardest-to-obtain pinball game to date

Luke Peters' announcement ending show game production going forward signals internal awareness that the show game strategy was problematic

Secondary market flipping and resale value appreciation is healthy for the pinball hobby; speculative losses are the actual threat to hobby sustainability

Beetlejuice will sell 999 units instantly, with Flippin' Out already sending deposit invoices

Christopher Franchi is the confirmed artist on Dutch Pinball's Back to the Future game

Winchester Mystery House sold in two days what Dune could not sell in six months

Stern's The Walking Dead Remastered will launch at $13,000 (double the original $6,500)

Beetlejuice secondary market prices will reach $18,000+ instantly due to scarcity

Stern collectors have lost $20,000-$30,000 in value from LE purchases over 3-4 years

American Pinball is defunct and no longer making games

Stern is in 'big trouble' due to colossal mistakes and cannot recover perception damage

Spooky Pinball's intentional scarcity model (999 units, no reprints) creates long-term customer loyalty vs Stern's short-term profit extraction

Jersey Jack Pinball will be #1 high-end boutique, Spooky #2 overall, Barrels rising if theme selection improves

Winchester Mystery House sold more units in two days than Dune sold in approximately six months

Barrels of Fun can produce 50-75 games per month

Beetlejuice will be announced/information revealed around Halloween

Jersey Jack Pinball may have secured the Ghostbusters license for a game after Sonic the Hedgehog

Star Wars has a fan layout with better flow than Winchester but is boring

Jersey Jack arcade/standard editions are the worst-selling product models and should be discontinued

Stern is in 'much bigger trouble' than people realize

Pinball industry will consolidate toward boutique manufacturers over 2-3 years

Beetlejuice will sell out in nine minutes

Winchester Mystery House has greater appeal than Beetlejuice despite lower demand prediction

Kaneda's Pinball Podcast has approximately 1,150 episodes

Winchester Mystery House sold out after 2 days at Expo and outsold Dune's 6-month sales

John Borg designed Star Wars in approximately 8 months

Winchester Mystery House success prevented Barrels of Fun from sinking financially

Star Wars Pinball lacks special LE differentiation compared to previous limited editions

Star Wars is one of the most uninspired, boring pinball machines ever made with absolutely zero creativity.

Haunted House sold out in exactly two days.

Haunted House is worth $11,600 as a collector investment and will increase in value.

Predator will sell all 300 units despite missing Arnold Schwarzenegger.

FOMO died because games became mediocre and overpriced, not because FOMO itself failed.

Stern needs Keith Elwin or Jack Danger to deliver a hit game or the company looks desperate.

Four of six Evil Dead show machines sold on day one at Expo.

Dutch Pinball can only produce approximately 500 games per year.

Someone offered $50,000 for the Big Trouble in Little China homebrew game.

Star Wars: Fall of the Empire has had a very mediocre response from the get-go

X-Men LE machines are selling for $8,000, representing a $5,000 loss

Legends of Valhalla sold for $3,500 at auction

Stern is shuffling its sales team, moving people to Europe and bringing in new sales help

Barrels of Fun took Kaneda's advice to showcase Dune in a separate dark room with proper lighting

Beetlejuice from Spooky will be an instant sellout within less than two months

Dutch Pinball would have collapsed like Haggis without Melvin Williams' support

Stern needs to release a new game every four months or face going under

JJP will lead the pinball market in five years; Stern is in trouble

Stern's biggest mistake was never acquiring boutique manufacturers like Spooky years ago

Stern LE machines have depreciated every year for the past four years, with buyers losing $500-$5,000 per machine

Beetlejuice will sell out in nine minutes and reach $18K secondary market price due to 999-unit production limit

Stern has financial troubles and no actual order backlog despite Neil McCray's Pinside claims

Star Wars: Fall of the Empire features an embarrassingly poor design element ('ad-ad sticker') on side armor

Transformers will be Stern's next cornerstone game with full Spike 3 platform, announced at CES

Walking Dead Remastered will not impress and won't be showcased at Expo

Dune game sales are weak due to theme unpopularity (Timothy Chalamet film and HBO show both failed)

K-pop Demon Hunters has greater cultural impact than Akira and would make an exceptional pinball game appealing to ages 6-60

Keith Elwin and Jack Danger are the only Stern designers currently making exciting games

Outside consultants and marketing spend cannot fix Stern's core product quality problem

Stern's sales performance and market position have declined significantly since 2017

Eric Gilley's social media posts indicate he is no longer confident in Stern's direction or strategic vision

The James Bond pinball pricing error ($20,000 instead of $7,000-$8,000) caused $10,000 losses for 500 loyal customers and damaged brand trust permanently

Star Wars Pinball was designed by committee and rushed, resulting in a mediocre game despite having premium IP and substantial design talent available

Stern rejected Back to the Future and Beetlejuice licensing opportunities due to internal politics

A Stern executive told Kaneda directly: 'The customer we want isn't the customer we have'

Stern's facility overhead has become financially unsustainable relative to current sales revenue

The pinball community will not return to Stern without fundamental changes to leadership, communication, and brand strategy—not just better game design

Spooky Pinball's transparent, community-engaged approach is more effective than Stern's secretive, hierarchical model

Walking Dead Remastered will not sell well despite being a remake of successful original due to current Stern brand perception and price increases

Kaneda spent 29 minutes criticizing Orbital Albert Agar on a livestream

Beetlejuice will sell out faster than any game the pinball community has seen in a long time

Stern Pinball charged $20,000 for James Bond 60th LE and misrepresented topper exclusivity

Barrels of Fun initially offered Labyrinth at 1,200 units before reducing to 1,000

Jersey Jack Pinball has The Matrix license but will probably never produce a Matrix game due to actor licensing requirements

Star Wars Pinball game was rushed and John Borg is not proud of it

Stern Pinball's treatment of talent (e.g., Jack Danger) has been damaging and broken potentially valuable employees

Big Trouble in Little China is in Kaneda's top four desired pinball themes

One of Kaneda's ideas will be implemented in Spooky's next game

Star Wars: Fall of the Empire is a mediocre game that does not represent improvement over Lord of the Rings despite 21 years of technological advancement and resources

Stern Pinball's new CMO Mark was hired in March and has not publicly introduced himself to the community

Stern Pinball has made zero strategic moves in the past year to win back core home collectors despite being directly pitched this strategy

Stern Pinball's recent LE releases depreciate from ~$13,000 retail to ~$8,000 secondary market value in short timeframes

Jack Danger was assigned a weak coding team on X-Men, forcing early release and negatively impacting his well-being

If Keith Elwin left Stern Pinball, the company's viability would be essentially over

Stern Pinball structurally views distributors as primary customers, not home buyers, despite the latter generating long-term revenue

Big Bang Bar prototype was handed to Pedretti Gaming for remake; Melvin Williams is not involved

Ghostbusters was the last Stern LE to generate genuine consumer wow/FOMO

Stern Pinball has approximately 90 non-manufacturing (office/cubicle) employees

Stern should reduce output to two annual cornerstone releases with exclusive 500-unit LE editions and dedicated toppers

Ghostbusters has more mechanical magic than Star Wars: Fall of the Empire

Big Bang Bar may not appear at Pinball Expo due to publisher/manufacturer financial constraints from Predator and Funhouse failure

Star Wars: Fall of the Empire is generating more disappointment than Dungeons & Dragons or King Kong

Stern has had three consecutive game misses (D&D, King Kong, Star Wars) for the first time in a long period

Stern's business model requires demand to exceed supply by one unit every month to be sustainable

Star Wars LE will be a $10,000 secondary market price within a couple months

Predator sold fewer than 300 units

Walking Dead Remastered will not add mechanical improvements despite Spike 3 capabilities

Star Wars Pro and Premium/LE share identical playfields despite $7,000 price differential

Kaneda declined debate invitation because he doesn't think he can beat Orbital Albert

Kaneda spent approximately 90 minutes on his show (Saturday Morning Spectacular) discussing Orbital Albert

Kaneda has threatened violence against Glenn the Skateboarder at a specific time and place, crossing into illegal territory

Kaneda has blocked Orbital Albert on Facebook but not YouTube

Kaneda talked about Orbital Albert more than he talked about Star Wars last Saturday (Star Wars pinball just released)

Star Wars Pinball has weak sales; only 25 people ordered across all trims at a major distributor

8,000 units of Steve Ritchie's original Star Wars pinball were produced and sold

FOMO is dead for Stern Pinball as a brand

Star Wars LE will depreciate from $13,000 to $10,000 within months

Beetlejuice will be the hardest game to acquire in the last five years

Beetlejuice will sell for $15,000-$18,000 on secondary market immediately

Stern leadership does not listen to home collectors and avoids community dialogue

Recent Stern releases have collectively caused $17,000 in LE value loss to buyers

Christopher Franchi's artistic approach maintains source material fidelity better than competing manufacturers

Harry Potter CE's unlimited production strategy contrasts favorably with traditional LE scarcity models

Star Wars LE will sell faster and reach $18,000 secondary market price

Kaneda intentionally mischaracterized Glenn's comment as political to manipulate community perception and generate clicks

The AT-AT toy is too small and the shot logic is incorrect—it should loop around the legs to tie them up, not loop over the head

Star Wars playfield art quality is poor and inadequate for a $13,000 game

Star Wars is less visually impressive than Harry Potter and Evil Dead (Spooky) despite similar or higher pricing

The licensing prevented the use of the full Star Wars theme song—only a 'weird version' was included

Game text dialogue is being cut off on the display screen during gameplay and should show full-screen scrolling

The LE Limited Edition pricing would be more appealing at $8,500 rather than current pricing tier

There is nothing 'magical' or wow-factor about the Star Wars game presentation

John Borg's presentation of Star Wars lacked energy and enthusiasm

Stern did not fumble the Star Wars: Fall of the Empire launch; community complaints are unfounded

Theme and IP are the primary drivers of pinball machine purchases, not mechanics or layout

Star Wars LE machines will sell out on day one, likely at $15,000 on secondary market

King Kong pinball failed primarily due to poor art direction, not gameplay

Christopher Franchi left Stern Pinball for Spooky Pinball to design Beetlejuice

The Walking Dead Remastered is coming at Pinball Expo, approximately one month after Star Wars release

Keith Elwin is designing a Fallout pinball game for Stern and it will underperform commercially

Sonic the Hedgehog (by Jersey Jack) will outsell Fallout and Pokemon-themed pinball games

Spooky Pinball is the only manufacturer currently generating real FOMO in the market

Beetlejuice will be the most exciting pinball machine since Ghostbusters or Batman

Star Wars LE will sell 770 units in one day in America due to IP strength alone, regardless of mechanical innovation

Recent Stern LEs (King Kong, Venom, John Wick) have failed to sell out and sat unsold for extended periods

Jeremy Packer (Stern art department) has failed to make LE versions meaningfully different from Pro and Premium versions

Pedretti Gaming is making the Big Bang Bar remake

Boutique manufacturers (Pedretti, Pinball Brothers, Turner, Barrels of Fun) are struggling and will face difficulty

Community sentiment has shifted away from purchasing every new release due to high prices and lack of mechanical magic

Prior Star Wars pinball code designer Dwight Sullivan prioritized multiplied points over narrative immersion

Disney approvals are constraining Stern's ability to tease the Star Wars game pre-launch

Star Wars 2025 LE pricing is $13,000, approximately $4,000 higher than the previous Star Wars LE

John Borg is expected to design Star Wars with safe, casual-friendly mechanics rather than mechanical innovation

Beetlejuice will sell out in approximately 9 minutes at 999 units

Star Wars LE is limited to 770 units

Star Wars LE will sell for $18,000 on secondary market

Stern has not made a great LE in a long time

We have never had a great modern Star Wars pinball game

Stern needs a Kaneda-like personality to effectively market Star Wars

Barrels of Fun has 20+ employees, similar to Dutch Pinball

Small boutique manufacturers with 3-5 staff cannot efficiently operate as manufacturing facilities

Fall of the Empire uses movie assets from Episodes IV, V, and VI

Star Wars game reveal expected next week before media day

Star Wars is launching on Spike 2.5, not full Spike 3

Stern using existing cabinets to clear inventory from X-Men and D&D orders

Jersey Jack would execute Star Wars better than Stern with RGB LEDs and hot rails for hyperspace effects

Neither Stern nor Jersey Jack have produced impressive mechanical features in recent years

King Kong sales fell significantly short of Stern's projections

Big Bang Bar remake shouldn't have the remaking company's logo on original Capcom artwork

Star Wars LE (770 units) will sell out instantly and reach $18,000 on secondary market

Internal Stern source said Star Wars game is 'okay' (not magical)

Stern makes world's greatest $7,000 machines but world's worst $13,000 machines

Spooky's next game will sell for $18,000-$20,000 secondary (possibly cracking $20k)

Star Wars LE will have no European distribution; all 770 units in US