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FREE SHOW: Episode 1222: "My Reaction to Transformers"

Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)·podcast_episode·58m 29s·held·May 20, 2026
View original

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.036

TL;DR

Kaneda criticizes Stern's Transformers for removing Optimus transformation, weak Megatron combat, and rapid-fire release strategy.

Summary

Kaneda delivers a critical live reaction to Stern Pinball's Transformers G1 game, focusing primarily on the decision to keep Optimus Prime static rather than transforming despite evidence he was originally designed to transform. While praising the art direction, theme integration, and character work by Pat Lee and Peter Cullen, Kaneda identifies significant gameplay and design misses: Megatron's weak ball return mechanic, asymmetrical Autobot/Decepticon feature distribution, and insufficient LE exclusivity. He contextualizes his disappointment within broader criticism of Stern's rapid release cadence and manufacturing-driven business model, arguing the company is cannibalizing its own product portfolio and burning out internal talent by launching Pokemon and Transformers within weeks of each other.

Key Claims

  • Optimus Prime was originally designed to transform but was removed shortly before release; George Gomez's promotional video shows Optimus transformed at the 33-second mark

    high confidence · Kaneda, direct analysis of promotional video evidence and developer footage

  • Megatron's ball return mechanic is underwhelming—he tosses the ball underhand rather than firing it back like dragon-shot mechanics in other games

    high confidence · Kaneda, observed from gameplay footage and live commentary

  • Pokemon LE buyers have only had the game for ~30 days, and launching Transformers so quickly creates market cannibalization and FOMO fatigue

    high confidence · Kaneda, based on Pokemon LE delivery timeline

  • The Transformers LE lacks exclusive features compared to the Pro and Premium tiers—no exclusive mode beyond standard play

    medium confidence · Kaneda, community feedback and game specifications analysis

  • Stern's rapid release schedule and private equity investor pressure are driving internal burnout and preventing games from reaching completion before launch

    medium confidence · Kaneda, opinion/analysis regarding business model and manufacturing realities

  • Soundwave is the best implemented mech in the game; only Decepticons have active mechanical features while Autobots are largely static

    high confidence · Kaneda, direct gameplay observation

  • The game uses a square aspect ratio display rather than full-screen, limiting visual impact of the classic cartoon assets

    high confidence · Kaneda, technical observation of screen implementation

  • Transformers LE prices ($13,000) will not be hard to acquire despite early sellout to dealers; Pokemon LEs and other recent releases remain available

    medium confidence · Kaneda, secondary market analysis and dealer inventory patterns

Notable Quotes

  • “Stern Pinball has made a transformer pinball machine in which nothing transforms.”

    Kaneda @ Early in show — Core thesis statement encapsulating the central design failure

  • “You know they engineered this game to sync up his transformation with it on the screen. You know that's what was there. And this thing was yanked out, ladies and gentlemen, I mean like just a few weeks ago because a lot of internet sleuths have like found this out.”

    Kaneda @ ~5 min — Evidence that transformation was removed late in development, contradicting official messaging

  • “Everything about it looks pretty damn cool. Everything else happening looks pretty awesome. It is one of the best art packages that nails the theme Stern's done in a long time. No complaints on the art. Pat Lee nailed it.”

    Kaneda @ ~15 min — Acknowledges strengths in visual presentation and theme integration despite mechanical failures

  • “It's like Decepticon Pinball featuring the do nothing Autobots. And there's no other way around it.”

    Kaneda @ ~40 min — Summary judgment on asymmetrical feature distribution between robot factions

  • “I just don't see enough to separate these LE games. So if I'm going to spend $13,000, I'm going to spend $3,500 more than the premium buyer... I don't even get an exclusive mode.”

    Kaneda @ ~30 min — Core complaint about LE value proposition and pricing justification

  • “Stern is Stern's worst enemy and Stern's biggest competitor and Stern's biggest issue is themselves. They're simply competing against themselves.”

    Kaneda @ ~50 min — Central business criticism: internal portfolio cannibalization driven by private equity pressures

  • “I'm not ready yet to date again. I think most of you can understand that analogy. I'm not emotionally ready to get back out there. And so when I have had a Pokemon that is empty, empty, and I just spent $14,250 on it... I'm not ready to date another game yet.”

    Kaneda — Metaphor for buyer fatigue and unmet expectations with recent releases

Entities

KanedapersonGeorge GomezpersonPat LeepersonPeter CullenpersonJack DangerpersonElizabethpersonSeth DavispersonStern Pinballcompany

Signals

  • ?

    product_concern: Optimus Prime was designed to transform but was disabled late in development (evidenced by George Gomez promotional video showing transformation at 33-second mark); ugly bolts added post-facto to lock figure in static position

    high · Kaneda's detailed frame-by-frame analysis of promotional video; pattern of late-stage removal contradicting design intent and player expectations

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: Megatron's ball return is underwhelming—soft underhand toss rather than dramatic firing mechanism like D&D dragon; fails to create sense of player battling enemy mech

    high · Kaneda's direct observation from gameplay footage; contrasts unfavorably with established precedent in other Stern titles

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Decepticons dominate mechanical engagement (Soundwave locks balls, Megatron returns balls) while Autobots are almost entirely static; Grimlock notably has no ball-lock feature despite thematic appropriateness

    high · Kaneda's comprehensive playfield analysis; pattern of Decepticon-only mechanical activity identified as core design miss

  • ?

    product_strategy: Transformers LE lacks exclusive gameplay modes compared to Premium/Pro tiers; foil decals on cabinet are insufficient value justification for $3,500+ price premium

    high · Kaneda's LE value analysis; comparison to historical precedent (Tron Daft Punk multiball exclusive); community feedback acknowledging weak tier separation

  • ?

    business_signal: Stern's rapid release cadence (Pokemon followed by Transformers within 30 days) attributed to private equity investor pressure on manufacturing targets; internal competition between portfolio titles

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.175

0:00
You're at your best when the norm gets rough. You've been put to the top, but it's never enough. You got the top. Sing, sing, sing, sing, sing, sing, sing, sing, sing, sing. Welcome everybody to Kaneda's Pinball Podcast. Here we are. It is Wednesday afternoon. The much debated mystery has been solved once and for all. Would Optimus Prime transform? I told everybody he would not. A lot of skeptics out there saying, why do people listen to Kaneda? He doesn't know what he's talking about. He doesn't transform. Nothing on the left side of the game transforms. In fact, nobody transforms in Stern Pinball's Transformers. Now, there's a lot in this game I really, really like. And if you're a fan of Transformers G1 and this game drops into the pinball world, I don't know how you're not excited about what's in this game. But there's some really, really big caveats. And to me, I want to tackle it from a few different angles. First and foremost, I want to look at this game and say, hey, do we feel like Stern nailed? The theme integration on Transformers G1. Where did they get it right? Where did they get it wrong? Is this sort of doing anything in the wow, that's a pinball moment. I can't wait to play this game. I can't wait to own this game. Maybe what about this game? Did they nail? Where did they come up short? And it's a live show. So I want to read some of your feedback on the air. And if you've got any feelings on the game, I would happily take them and let's talk about it. So, you know, someone just said Optimus looks like he ate Bumblebee. He's a little chunky, huh? We're going to talk about the sculpts because these don't look like the toys we grew up with. They made a clear decision to make the sculpts in the game look like more the animated characters that are on the screen. They're more Toon style than toy style. Do you like it? Do you not? Okay. So first and foremost, let's start with the major, major elephant in the room. Stern Pinball has made a transformer pinball machine in which nothing transforms. Transformers, they got away with it with Jaws not eating the ball. Godzilla doesn't do anything. Two of the best games of all time. So you could hard stop there and be like, it doesn't matter. But I do think in Transformers, and I was watching a YouTube clip. I think it was Vid's clip. I was watching a clip or Vic's clip. Sorry, Vic. It was Vic's clip. And it's like Autobot multiball. And it's that moment where Optimus is in robot form and he's like, Autobots, transform and roll out like the most iconic phrase and moment in the entire franchise history. And you're watching it on the screen as you down into a truck and there's the static toy like right there. You know they engineered this game to sync up his transformation with it on the screen. You know that's what was there. And this thing was yanked out, ladies and gentlemen, I mean like just a few weeks ago because a lot of internet sleuths have like found this out. If you watch the George Gomez video, Optimus is clearly transformed at the 33 second mark in that video. You don't see him standing up. So when George was actually shooting the promotional videos for this game, Optimus Prime transformed. And so they clearly, you know, didn't like re-sculpt him to not. If you look at this actual figure in the game, they've simply put like bolts, like really eyesore bolts, screwed them in to hold them up in place. He's kind of like, look, you know what I'm saying? Like he's, he was, this is not a sculpt that was meant to be a static target. And so look, look, it's just a real, real disappointment. And you kind of have to get over that disappointment. Robert just said, if the full mech is installed, then make the mech work on the game start and game over. See, I agree. Like if you can make them transform, at least make them transform once and then stay in the static position. But I just think in general they didn want to ever replace any of them And I don think all of them failed How many ball hangups could there be So if you just made him transform when multi started why would he hit the ball Why wouldn you just have him transform first from standing up to into truck mode and then the multi starts I think, you know, him getting hit by the balls during multi-ball was probably the stuff that was messing up with the linkage of the internals of him. But in the end, it's hard to avoid that Stern Pinball wants you to buy a $13,000 LE, a $9,800 premium and a $6,000 pro of a transformer game in which they could not get anything to transform. Now, that is clearly the major, major, major disappointment in the game. And I think if you remove that major, major, major disappointment in the game, everything else in this game looks pretty damn cool. Everything else happening looks pretty awesome. It is one of the best art packages that nails the theme Stern's done in a long time. No complaints on the art. Pat Lee nailed it. The art direction was spot on. Make this thing look like it was yanked out of 1986 and they nailed it. The theme integration, the assets on the game, in the game, should I say, incredible, incredible. My only complaint is that it doesn't go sort of full screen. It's sort of the square screen. So you're only getting a smaller usage of that window or that bigger screen because the old cartoon was shot in a different perspective. What is it? The aspect ratio. That's what I'm looking for. It's a different aspect ratio. And so they've surrounded it with some cool sort of retro looking things surrounding it. You know, a little disappointment that they didn't sort of change the aspect ratio to fill up the full screen. And maybe you're losing too much of the action. So I get it. It's like when you watch a movie on an airplane screen and it's been reformatted. So there's none of that going on. But man, the fact that they've got like all that fun stuff from the Transformer commercial brake bumpers and all that stuff is in the theme. And Peter Cullen is doing all these original call outs. Super, super cool. I mean, everything about it. And like we've got Elizabeth on the code. She knows what she's doing. They've got this special mode. We're going to talk about. You got the touch is in there as a special sort of gameplay mode. It's not part of, I think, the overarching journey of the game. I think it's a special mode that you play. I'm not exactly sure how that works, but it's in there. Yeah. So if I'm a Transformer G1 fanatic and you put all this stuff into the game and I am a Transformer G1 fanatic, I used to collect the toys. If you don't know that, I my room was dedicated to Transformer toys for almost 15 years. I mean, nobody loves this property more than me. And I'm looking at this game and I'm like, yeah, there's a lot to be really excited about. But here's the thing, you know, I love the art. I love the music. I love the call outs. I love the light show. I just think there's also some real glaring sort of misses as well. And I want to talk you through what I mean by that. First and foremost, I don't mind any of the sculpts. I think Megatron looks cool. I know he looks a little bit more anime tune like. I know that Soundwave looks perfect. But they made him look more like the cartoons versus the toys. I don't mind that. But what I do mind is a little bit of a lack of drama. And when I first saw Megatron fire the gun, I felt a lack of drama. So you're telling me that Megatron, instead of firing the gun back at you the way the dragon fires the ball back at you in D&D, we know Stern knows how to make a way to sort of create a mech that battles with the player. That Megatron just kind of limp, tosses the ball kind of underhand like I throw the ball to Killian, little soft little whoop-de-doop. You know, it doesn't feel like a battle. Feels like a little, here you go, here you go, wire form. Like, does that feel like it's charging up and it's like firing the ball back at you? And I know I know like that going to cause dimples or this or that but it just doesn feel like you battling Megatron It just doesn So underwhelming underwhelming And then what we left with is Soundwave who releases the balls as cassettes That super cool That is super cool It the best mech in the game I think the best mech in the game is Soundwave It captures perfectly in the show when he releases the different cassettes from himself Super super cool All right I want to read your guys commentary as I go So Stephen Emmett said all the hype they self-generated talking about the world's greatest mech and they didn't deliver. Well, Steve, here's the thing. They didn't hype it. We did. The community did. Because here's the thing. People over at Stern saw that Optimist transform and they were so excited about it. And so that is why, even though I love George, him saying that it wasn't that much fun and after seeing it two times, I don't buy it. I don't believe it. Like every little kid would just in their own world and their imagination, you dream of watching Optimus Prime transform. So I don't believe that seeing Optimus go from truck to robot mode would ever get old to a Transformer fan. And so I know that's the company line to make up the excuse that they couldn't get it to work, but there's no way losing that adds anything to the gameplay or the fun factor of the game. So Matt just said, just got here. How many less than meets the eye jokes have there already been? Wow. Wow. So Matt, I mean, that's pretty brutal. It's kind of funny at the same time. I think Megatron was supposed to shoot over Optimus's head. Yeah, it just looks like everything, man. Like, I feel like, and I'm not sure about it, but I just feel like there was a lot of 11th hour decisions that have sort of turned this game into what it wasn't supposed to be. It also looks like when he says Autobots roll out and he goes into truck form that when he's in truck form, he blocks some of the shots, which kind of makes sense. So it just feels like, you know, they wanted to do this thing. They had over two years of development on it. And at the very last minute, it was yanked. And again, if you look at the George Gomez promotional video, it was in there in his transformed mode. He was a truck. So clearly between Gomez filming that video and the game being revealed, they removed it and they put a really ugly bolt to just keep him standing up like some sort of mummy. But it is not, you know, it is not what anybody really wanted. So I'm really, you know, it's hard for me and I want to talk about how I'm digesting this game as a much bigger Transformer fan than I am a Pokemon fan. And I want to sort of walk you through what's in my head as I think about this game coming out and it's only May 20th. Here's the thing. Here's the thing. I just bought a Pokemon. Many of you just bought a Pokemon. So what was hard for me today was really to maintain any excitement or FOMO around this game Because I still feel unsatisfied and unfulfilled with the $13,000 Stern machine I just bought. So before the game I just bought like a month and a half ago, even as anything in it, they're serving up another game that they want dorks and geeks like me to buy. And I'll tell you, because of that, it made my FOMO. Normally I have FOMO to get an LE on a game for like a day or two. And I will say this and I say this and it's just like just fatigue. It's like the moment I saw the videos and I saw Megatron limp the ball over to the rail and, you know, there wasn't anything dramatic. It was cool, but trust me, cool is not good enough anymore to get me to spend this kind of money, especially when you just took this much money from me. I think I'm really feeling fatigued and oversaturated and there's real cannibalizing. My ability, maybe not yours, but my ability to get excited about the next game can't happen this quickly after a game. Remember, Pokemon didn't ship right away. There was a delay in getting the LEs on the line. And so really LE owners have only had the game for like a month I had the game for a month And 30 days later you hitting me with another game that has more in it So on a just pure like I good Like I good Like this this you you haven even like gotten even close to making Pokemon anything magical or amazing yet And you have already moved on to the next game And you maybe have a designer or a coder on this game that is doing amazing stuff. You know, let's talk about some of the quirkiness to it. There's that player and player co-op mode where one player is on each flipper and it's like Optimus and Megatron and you each have a flipper button. That's fine. I mean, I think that's cute. I mean, the way they were slapping high fives. I mean, I don't know how many times you're actually going to want to do that. I don't know if that's something that is going to excite the kids in you or you bring your children over and do it with and how even satisfying that mode will be. You could literally do that with any game. You know what I'm saying? You could be playing any game at any time and I could just be like, okay, Brenda, stand over there and you flip on that button and I'll flip on this one. And I know that the mode is maybe set up where you're probably battling each other. I think that's what it is. It's like the player on the left side is an Autobot. You're Optimus. And the player on the right side is Megatron and you're fighting each other. So, you know, a little adorable way to do something unique like that. But here's another miss. That should have been an exclusive thing for the LE game. Once again, I'm going to come back to this. I just don't see enough to separate these LE games. So if I'm going to spend $13,000, I'm going to spend $3,500 more than the premium buyer. I'm going to spend, this is crazy when I say this, I'm going to spend $6,000 or more than the pro buyer. I don't even get an exclusive mode. I don't get an exclusive mode. I think that player versus player should have been an LE exclusive.
@ ~55 min

  • “Before Jack Danger can even like finish X-Men, probably one of the most ambitious creative games the company's ever made, you forced them to release it. All because of the pressures of the manufacturing side of the business and the private equity guys.”

    Kaneda @ ~52 min — Identifies internal talent pressure and release-schedule mismanagement as company-wide issue

  • “Pokemon is worth about like $290 billion more than the Transformer franchise. I just don't think seeing that, seeing it's easy to get a Beetlejuice now, seeing that Sonic is right around the corner.”

    Kaneda @ ~45 min — Market analysis: Transformers lacks IP moat despite strong fan reception; competition from JJP Sonic imminent

  • “There's a reason why we have 707 subscribers. There's a reason why we have more subscribers than anybody.”

    Kaneda @ ~38 min — Self-promotional claim linking audience size to unfiltered critical coverage (contrasts with 'shill' media)

    • Jersey Jack Pinball
    company
    Spooky Pinballcompany
    Transformers G1game
    Pokemon Pinballgame
    Sonic the Hedgehoggame
    Jawsgame
    Godzillagame
    D&Dgame
    Jurassic Park Home Editiongame
    The Uncanny X-Mengame
    Tron LEgame
    King Konggame
    John Wickgame
    Falloutgame
    Ozzy Osbournegame
    Pinsideorganization
    Cale Hernandezperson

    medium · Kaneda's analysis of business model; references to Seth Davis role; pattern of simultaneous multi-game launches creating market overlap

  • ?

    personnel_signal: Creative and engineering talent at Stern subjected to unrealistic development timelines and immediate handoff to next project; X-Men cited as ambitious project forced to launch incomplete

    medium · Kaneda's commentary on Jack Danger and development team pressures; pattern of acknowledged incomplete code at launch requiring year-long updates

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Kaneda reports significant FOMO fatigue after Pokemon purchase; Transformers LE announcement generates minimal excitement despite strong IP (contrasts with historical day-or-two FOMO cycles)

    high · Kaneda's direct statement: 'I can't help but feel like it's just another Stern'; emotional narrative of buyer burnout and relationship metaphor

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Jersey Jack Pinball's Sonic the Hedgehog preparation frames as capturing unmet demand from Transformers LE design shortcomings and Stern release exhaustion; JJP's unlimited CE model contrasts with Stern scarcity tactics

    high · Kaneda noting JJP showing Sonic this week; community comment (Alexandro) explicitly crediting 'Sonic primed to capture unmet demand'; contrast between JJP unlimited production vs. Stern limited LE model

  • $

    market_signal: Despite early dealer sellout of Transformers LE direct allocations, Kaneda predicts high availability on secondary market; 745+ additional LEs expected through distributor channels; comparison to Pokemon LE (32 units) and Beetlejuice (now easy to acquire) pattern

    medium · Kaneda's dealer/distributor inventory analysis; historical pattern of LE availability after initial FOMO window; current market observation of Beetlejuice and other recent titles

  • ?

    design_innovation: Grimlock could have been implemented as dinosaur-form ball lock (repurposing Jurassic Park T-Rex mechanic) to create dual-faction mechanical symmetry; absence represents significant thematic and gameplay miss

    medium · Kaneda's design critique suggesting Grimlock lock feature; references to Dinobots narrative role in G1 canon; comparison to existing T-Rex precedent in portfolio

  • ?

    content_signal: Kaneda explicitly positions his critical stance against perceived industry 'shills' and dealers who amplify positive coverage for kickbacks/advertising fees; credits unfiltered criticism to 707-subscriber channel loyalty

    medium · Kaneda's on-air commentary about dealer/shill coverage; self-promotional framing of critical independence; audience engagement around honest vs. compromised media

  • ?

    leak_detection: George Gomez's official promotional video contains evidence of Optimus Prime transformation design at 33-second mark; removal between video shoot and release indicates late-stage redesign not publicly acknowledged

    high · Kaneda's frame-by-frame analysis; 'internet sleuths' discovery of transformation in promotional material; physical bolts on production unit as proof of retrofit

    • 17:16
    And don't hate me when I say this, but I also think Stan Bushes, you got the touch. That moment or that mode should have been an LE exclusive. The same way Daft Punk Multiball was an exclusive to only Tron LE. And you know me, I'm an LE buyer only and I've been searching in a futile way to just find more value in these LEs. Like I'm going to ask you guys a question right now. Does the LE have the nicer decals on the outside? Does it have the foil decals? Does anybody know? Because I was trying to get a sense of if it's going to give you that and I couldn't even see it. I'm not sure if it's on the Matrix, no pun intended, but the game Matrix that has all three models. So I want to read what some of you guys are saying right now. Scott Jones says, the pinball community's eyes have been opened. Stern can no longer gaslight and hide. Their product does not stand up to the competition. It's that simple. Well, Scott, you know, Jersey Jack Pinball is down the street and they're showing people Sonic the Hedgehog this week. It's not even a secret. I mean, people I know are going over there. And so it's going to be an interesting 24 hours. It's another reason why I would wait before buying this game. So it does have the foil artwork on the cabinet is what I'm hearing. Okay, cool. I mean, that doesn't make up the value gap between the LE and the premium, but it's a start. It's a start. However, it does have more in it. It doesn't have more in it, says JC. Meowth, a more significant mech than anything in Transformers. Wow. Well, you know, I don't know, man. Like, I don't know. I think Meowth does do more and it more impacts the game. And I will say this, even the battle arena in Pokemon just adds a lot more chaos. I'm not sure where that chaos is going to come from in Transformers. There's no magnets. There's no like upper playfield. They missed an opportunity for a lower playfield, Sharkticon sort of thing. There's no – it's why the Transformer movie is a better thing to capitalize on and I get it. It's a whole different license. But that's my thing is like, I don't know, where's, I don't know, where's the drama in the environments in this game? I mean, it's just, it's just killing me that only the Decepticons do stuff in the game.
    20:00
    Outside of the play field does nothing. That's a huge problem for me. It almost feels, and it is, it's a game that's half complete. How can you have Soundwave lock balls, but Grimlock, his name is Grimlock. Why didn't they have balls being locked on both sides? Does Grimlock lock the balls? I'm not even sure. But it seems like the only physical ball lock is on the right side. It would have been really cool to somehow lock balls into grim lock. And then you've got nothing from Optimus. So it's unfortunate. It really is unfortunate that this is sort of like Decepticon Pinball featuring static Autobots. And there's no other way around it. It's like this is Decepticon Pinball featuring the do nothing Autobots. OK, and it's just like, I don't know, man. I don't know. You got the character named Grimlock. You know, I might be an executive creative director for a reason if I were to sort of guide Elliot and team. How are we not going to have Grimlock lock a ball? I think what they needed on the other side of the cabinet. And this is why, you know, Optimus failing at the 11th hour, it would have been awesome to maybe, you know, repurpose the Jurassic Park T-Rex head as Grimlock and have him like eat the balls and lock the balls and fire the balls out like Grimlock. You know, the Dinobots, Dinobots were the badasses. They were like indestructible, right? Optimus always called him in when he needed those badasses to take out Devastator and all the, you know, the other super powerful Decepticons because the Dinobots were like impenetrable. Optimus does nothing. I saw too, there was like a lot of people calling me out on Pinside before the game released saying what an idiot I am, how wrong I am. And then one guy was like, Canada was right, man. Optimist doesn't do anything. Yeah, I was right. There's a reason why we have 707 subscribers. There's a reason why we have more subscribers than anybody. Dude, not only that, not only am I going to get you guys all the details on Back to the Future before anybody else. The freaking game is in my phone. It's in my phone. I'm looking at the DeLorean now, the 80s cafe. I'm looking at it all. It's all in my phone. And you're going to get it all if you're a club member. If you're not, I don't know what to tell you. Go to Pinside and say how wrong I am. Anyway, Megatron could have shot the ball into a lock on the left area instead. Look, Megatron should be firing the ball back at you. He should be firing the ball back at you. You should be battling Megatron. Grimlock doing nothing stinks. How come the Decepticons have all the activity, said Michael. Look, look, here's, here's, and again, here's the thing. I think this game looks very fun. The LE versions were sold out. The LE versions are not sold out. Michael Suna, you must be new to pinball because all you're witnessing is the Stern LEs sell out right away because they only sell five directly. Trust me, Michael, 745 more of those LEs are getting bought by dealers and distros who now have to find buyers for those games. Now, I want to get an LE one day. I do not think that this LE is going to be hard to get. Not as I stare down the barrel of 32 Pokemon LEs, an IP that has so much more of a fan base, millions more people, billions more.
    23:58
    Pokemon is worth about like $290 billion more than the Transformer franchise. I just don't think seeing that, seeing it's easy to get a Beetlejuice now, seeing that Sonic is right around the corner. Brenda, come on. I love you, baby. I love you. I'm doing a show and I love you to death. And now's not the time to take the utensils out of the dishwasher that's 10 feet from me. And like, you know this, you know how much I love you. You know how much my fans love you. You know how much they love it when I talk to you like this. But I just love you to death. I just this is not the moment. You know, there's moments and then this is not the moment. OK, see, unlike Optimus, Brenda does stuff. You know what I'm saying? Unlike Optimus, Brenda moves, she grooves, she takes care of this household, this family. Optimus just stands there.
    24:53
    Look look here the thing I want to read your comments What do you guys think about this game Because this show live I not editing it You going to get it in all of its mistakes and all of its glory But I just want to say coming out of Pokemon it was really hard for me to get super excited about seeing this game after an hour I watched it, and I'm like, all right, all right, it's cool. I like what they did there. But in some weird way, with Stern launching games on top of themselves so quickly, I can't help but feel like it's just another Stern. It's just another Stern. The launch video, it's always the same. Hi, I'm George Gomez. I'm happy. Like it's the way they do their videos are the same. It was a little cringe when all three of them at the end said, roll out. Did you guys see that video, that four minute video? It was very cringe. And it's just like they're just doing the same thing. It's like Stern just puts the next game on the line. They put the next game into the marketing line of sight. They make the same video in the same way every single time. And at some point, I'm fine with that when your products were $5,000 for a pro and $7,500 for an LE and there was more time between launches and games even came out with code more complete. But nowadays, when you're rushing these games out and all the marketing is the same and then every owner on week one is a guinea pig that has to wait a year for the game to be done. And by the time my game even starts to wake up a little bit, you're on to the next game. I really don't feel like it. You know, I just I feel overwhelmed and fatigued by it all. You know, I don't know. I don't know. Look, someone's upset that I didn't do this on YouTube. I did it on. I'm sorry if I didn't do it on YouTube. I sent you to Facebook. Guys, it is what it is, man. Kaneda rolls, you know, to the beat of his own drum. What did Greg Colton say here? My boy, Greg. I want to play it first. Then if I like it, I'll get an LE for $9,000 when the impulse buyers get bored. Greg, 100%, man. 100%. Look, I'm going to tell you this right now. Brenda's right here. I will have a Transformers LE one day. And I guarantee you, I won't even spend anywhere near $10,000 on it. I will happily let the people that can't control the FOMO. And I'll tell you this right now. The only people that can't control the FOMO are the newbies. They you know what I'm saying? Nobody who's been around this hobby for 10 years or more can really get excited like this anymore. It's just too much of the same approach with the same formula and the prices are double like that just doesn't really make anybody excited. Let's read what some people here are saying. We got JC said, we already read JC's Meowth comment.
    27:56
    Alexandro said, not enough value in the LE, I don't care. Sonic is now primed to capture this unmet demand. JJP is very lucky. Well, look, I mean, the other thing with Sonic gang is there also is no FOMO there because they're going to make the CEs forever and they're not going to limit the CEs. So, you know what I'm saying? It's like, do you really, if you really read it, you really need it right now is only what an operator would be thinking right now. Okay, what else we got here? Cale Hernandez, Cale at Electric Bat, who is an operator, the best in the country? He said getting the pro and it's going to make him some money. Yeah, of course. Of course. I mean, that's like the smart buy. I will say, how sad is it that they took out the sculpts of Grimlock and Soundwave in the Pro? If there ever was a game, though, where you're really going to feel like you're missing out on a lot, I do think the Pro is pretty damn stripped down. And if you look at how much was in the pro of like King Kong versus how much is in the pro of this game, you really, really are going to be shocked how little is in this game. Albert said, I do think the layout is better than John Wick. Well, that's yeah, but Albert, that's not even saying much. Like John Wick was kind of like a fan layout. Like, right. It was fast, but it was kind of brutal. This definitely feels like, you know, it's better than John Wick. But again, is there anything in this layout that really has you excited? That's my point. I just think for this much money, Stern needs to delay the excitement between titles. They need to give one title a chance to catch on culturally within the pinball community. This doesn work Look I a marketer guys You know this I boast about my limited marketing skills all the time I would never recommend if these companies were my clients to launch so many games on top of each other I would never recommend Sonic and Transformers within like a month. I just don't – I get it that they have manufacturing realities, but there's also just smart marketing. And the problem with Stern is this. Is Stern's worst enemy and Stern's biggest competitor and Stern's biggest issue is themselves. They're simply competing against themselves. They are in a competition with themselves to appease the private equity investors. Seth Davis has been brought in so that this company can make the private equity investors happy because if he doesn't reach those numbers, they lose more of the share of their own company. That's not a place you want to be in. Spooky Pinball is not running their organization because they've got private equity investor demands. You know, it's just it's a different vibe. Jack Danger, welcome to the party. And because Stern is moving so quickly and Jack, you know this more than anybody. It's like they're basically burning out their own creativity. They're burning out their own employees. Imagine working for two years on a game or working for a year and a half on Pokemon. Imagine working so hard on something, you're not even going to give me the spotlight for more than 90 days. And then you're on to the next game. How disappointing is that? You know, there's been times where like, you know, when a movie studio wants to release one movie on top of another, you know, the reason why Titanic came out in the winter, do you know, the real story? Because Harrison Ford was releasing Air Force One and he said to the studio, you're not releasing Titanic at the same time as my movie. You'll cannibalize my movie. My movie won't be able to catch on in culture. So they moved Titanic to the end of the year. And so this Stern model of like before Pokemon can even have a shot, you've moved everybody on the Transformers. It doesn't work. Before Jack Danger can even like finish X-Men, probably one of the most ambitious creative games the company's ever made, you forced them to release it. All because of the pressures of the manufacturing side of the business and the private equity guys that couldn't just like hit pause for a month so we get it right. Hit pause so we get it right. Let's not release it until it's ready. That is not the environment over there. And so, you know, I feel like, you know, like the fatigue we're feeling is probably just an ounce of the exhaustion that the Stern employees are feeling with the pressure to code these games on unrealistic timeframes, knowing that you're not even baking in approval times and licensure issues. And I need to like you're rushing it, rushing it to market. And before they finish one, bam, you've slapped another out into the world. And before that game's done, bam, you're going to hit us with Fallout, bam, Ozzy Osbourne, bam. It just doesn't stop. It doesn't stop. And I think that to me is kind of how I felt today. I'm not ready yet to date again. I think most of you can understand that analogy. I'm not emotionally ready to get back out there. And so when I have had a Pokemon that is empty, empty, and I just spent $14,250 on it with taxes and shipping, I'm not ready to date another game yet. And you're asking me to date again. And you were the one who broke up with me. You were the one that was unfulfilling. You were the one that didn't ever reciprocate any of my love, Stern. You didn't reciprocate my love. I gave you my and you gave me an unfinished product And so right now people on Facebook they like oh man like this is it This is why Canadian Pinball Podcast has all the subscribers because no one else is going to give you a show like this today All the shills are going to be over there being like, oh yeah, man, it's great. Yeah, man, it's great. Yeah, yeah, yeah, get my kickbacks, put my ads up for dealers in front of my, yeah, pop, pop. No, nah, man. Nah, we zooming out, baby. We zooming out. I'm on a 48-hour fast, baby. I'm thinking differently. I feel lighter. I feel lighter. I feel strong in the core. I've been doing these 15-minute military calisthenic morning workouts. They've been kicking my ass. I feel like I want to throw up after just eight minutes. We're different now. It's different, George. The videos aren't hidden like they used to. We could see it in the background. Optimus ain't transforming, but he did. He did. He was transformed at the 33 second mark. So ladies and gentlemen, you know, on this live show, I just want to say that, you know what? There's a lot to like in this game. There's also a lot that misses the mark in terms of what we should get for the money. The decision is yours. I have friends on here. Ozzy's one of them. I have friends on here. They're already buying an LE. Doesn't matter what I say. They've got enough money. They don't care about losing $3,000. They want an LE. That's cool. I encourage you to play the game. I encourage you to like buy what makes you happy. Ultimately, we're all going to die. Fill your house, fill your home, fill your house with what makes you happy. I am. I just bought Pokemon. It makes my kids happy. I'm waiting for more to go into that game. But, you know, what wouldn't make me happy right now is after buying an unfinished Pokemon, handing the same company more money. Okay, because I don't know, like I got to treat Stern like my kids. When you reinforce bad behavior, guess what you get? More bad behavior. So if we keep buying these Stern machines incomplete, when the game you just bought got, you know, abandoned, hello D&D topper, hello code on Pokemon, hello code on the walking dead, hello, hello, hello. So when you when you reinforce that bad behavior by buying the next thing right away, guess what we're going to get more of it. So it's easy for me to put up boundaries between me and the company. And so I think they did a lot of good here. But I also you understand why this is why it's not fair to Elliot. It's not fair to Elizabeth. It's not fair to Pat Lee. It's not fair to everybody working on this game. That you're teeing them up for this kind of response from people. They don't deserve this. They deserve to have the spotlight. They deserve to have a window of period in which what they've been slaving over can have a chance to catch on and to be absorbed by the community. You know what I'm saying? Because you didn't even give them a week, bro. So Stern, you know what's happening down the block. People are seeing Sonic the Hedgehog tomorrow. So you didn't even give this team a day before their game is about to be, you know, kind of yanked back in the expectation world because now we're going to see all this Sonic.
    38:32
    As honest as you are, you refuse to address X-Men, naming all those games not finished and you ignore the one. I did bring up X-Men. X-Men, 20-sided die. I just said X-Men. All right. I just said X-Men. Maybe you just joined. But X-Men is the number one game. It is the game that started it all. It is the game that never, never should have been rushed to market, never should have been coded with the C team. And again, all that's because you're rushing it. You've got too much. What makes no sense to me is this. If Stern Pinball just slowed down and let their talented people make two games a year, two cornerstones a year, and one remake or one anniversary game, all right, go from three cornerstones to two, give the entire development team more time, And when those games are so much better, you'll sell them so much more. You'll sell them for so much longer. You know what I'm saying? Why would you do what you're doing now, which is just jamming everything onto the manufacturing line every three months, not just a lot of money. 90 days. Like Pokemon wasn't even 90 days, guys. It was like 30 days ago I just got my LE. 30 days. And now you're asking for, you know, a new game to be in my world and in my consideration. OK, so I know there's a little bit of like, you know, this is me, man. This is me. I don't know. I don't know what to tell you guys. Like it's been a long week. It's been a rough week. It's it's been a rough time in my family. You know what? You know, for the reasons my mom is is battling what she's battling. You know, I got a beautiful wife here, most smartest, most attractive woman I've ever met. You know, think about all the friends we have at work at Meta. Eight thousand people woke up at four in the morning and got laid off by Meta as the company has record profits. This is the problem I have with the modern world is like everything now has become about the bottom line. It's not about people. It's not about culture. It's like everyone is just in it for like the shareholders, the shareholders, the investors, the people that don't have the passion, the people that didn't create the items. You know, I know what it feels like. I'm a creative. Like, you know, when I come in and my CFO guy, like the accountants are like just yelling at me every day to put my time in yelling at me every day. Get your time and get your time and get your you know, you know, that does the creativity, you know, does to the product, you know what it does to the human being? When you are just being managed with an iron fist of like, you know, money, money, money, money, money. And the irony is when you let real passion breathe and you let creativity flourish and you allow people to meander, to daydream, to get inspired, to find new ideas. Three in the morning, Jack Danger comes up with a crazy idea. When things don't happen on your schedule, sometimes the most magical things happen. And when you drive people to the bottom line, here's the thing that is killing the entire world right now. People are being driven to answer to bottom line managers that have made themselves rich and they didn't even do any of the work. They didn't do any of the work. The shareholders aren't doing the work. You're there trying to like make something magical. And I feel like every company is suffering from this right now. There's like this pressure put on everybody. And then there's no incentives. There's no bonuses. There's no line of sight into how when does my ship come in if I do all this for you? So I think, you know, it's been an interesting today, this Pinball podcast. And, you know, I love doing this show. It is a creative outlet for me that I appreciate doing. I still don't understand how I've been so successful at living rent free in the heads of so many of those pin side people. I love it. I hope they know this. Every time I read somebody say I'm a jackass and get seven thumbs ups on pin side. I love it. So keep going with the Canada hate because what they don't realize is that is my strategy that the people that are doing my marketing are the people calling me a jerk because everybody wants to hear the jerk. Look, nobody wants to hear the shill. Just hype the game, sell you it for a crazy profit, and then just like, you know, be shocked as to why people aren't seeing what you're seeing. And like, I know I hype games every once in a while, but you know what I'm talking about, man. Like most of the content creators in with the dealers in with the distros.
    43:50
    You know what I'm saying? If I was going to put an ad in front of my show, I won't do it. I won't do it.
    43:58
    Anyway, guys, how's everybody doing? It's a live show. I want to read some of your – what do you guys think about Transformers? I want to know. Right now, we've got 50 people here. I want to know right now, what are your thoughts? I want to read out – this is a live show. What are your thoughts on Transformers? And I will give you a shout out and I will give you the stage, the floor. Kelly Daniels said he can't afford all these games. I don't know if anybody can other than Billy Mitchell. Billy Mitchell Did I say Billy Mitchell I combine Billy Brandes with Kim Mitchell but both of them 20 dice say anytime I bring you up on Pinside everyone says he who shall not be named I mean, yeah, I mean, well, I'll tell you, again, every time they do that, it's like they're trying to prevent people from figuring out where the most entertaining pinball podcaster, what am I, a six-time Twippy winner? Looks good to me waiting on Sonic. I think that's smart, juicy time. I love the names of people. Juicy time. Jim Harris said, I like what I'm seeing. You know, Jim, I kind of agree with you, man. I like what I'm seeing. I just don't feel the need to buy it right now. I don't feel the need to buy it. You know, 20 Sided Dyes said he's impressed by the code. Absolutely. I think Elizabeth is going to kill it. But she's like, I think her and Ray Day right now are like, you know, they're right up there, right up there. And then, you know, Keith obviously gets a great team.
    45:30
    Albert said great call outs, decent art, cool shots, decent mix, especially Soundwave and your favorite song. Yeah, you got the touch. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, look, again, it's almost like the right side of the game got everything right. You know, I think I'm going to start like coining these phrases. The right side of the game got everything right. The left side of the game got everything wrong. And I think everybody would agree with that. It is a Decepticon game. The Autobots do nothing in Transformers Pinball. You've got to know when they – and, Jack, you must know this. When you're like – they must know like, oh, man, Kaneda's going to kill us. He's going to kill us on this.
    46:13
    He's going to see right away that the Autobots do nothing. I don't know. What are we going to use? What excuse? Ball traps? It wasn't fun. You know, he's a neppo baby. Huh? His house is small. He's only in a three bedroom. He wears clothes that make him look like he's wealthier than he is. He drives a car that makes him look like he's compensating for something. What? Man, he's making fun of himself. He's saying all that stuff himself. He's got a horrible haircut. What are we going to say to him? How are we going to shut him down? I don't know, man. I don't know. He seems pretty self-aware and it's, I don't know, I think anyone that sees this game is going to realize the left side does nothing.
    46:54
    The pro is the obvious choice. Pinball, Pin Pim's Pinball, I'm picking up two Transformer Premiums for location. I've already 3D, 3D what? 3D Megatron trophies, okay. I mean, you location guys are funny, man. Can't wait for those league nights. Hold up the trans light. Get your $40 ready. Have you seen some of these photos recently? Dudes are pinching like all these bills and you zoom in and it's like fives and ones. It's kind of funny.
    47:26
    Mike Penrosa said, I'm okay with Optimus not transforming, but to leave that ridiculous cheap looking Optimus toddler sculpt in is a slap in the face. The other sculpts look great. Look, here's the thing. And because Stern did have to yank out Optimus at the 11th hour, there still is a chance.
    47:50
    You know, like you're saying there's a chance. There's a chance. There's a chance that they might make a new sculpt for the final version of the game. And I think that would go a long way in making Optimus look better in the game, right? Because Grimlock looks cool. He doesn't look awkward because he was once having all these joints to transform. So I think if they can make Optimus Sculpt, the final one, look more like that, we're good. The worry is, and maybe I'll ask George this, that maybe they ordered so many of those and now they can't use them and so now they're going to use them like this. So we shall see. The split color choice based on the sales of the original 2010 LEs. Split color sold fast. Red only and blue only sold very slow.
    48:43
    Well, I mean, it, you know, I look, someone just said I paid 3,300 new in box ship for the other Transformers game. That's an issue, man.
    48:53
    You know, if the last Transformer game, I mean, it was years ago, it was like 15 years ago, 3,300 bucks. It was like maybe 15 years ago Let see Tobin said I won a Translate last Sunday at a Pokemon launch party and held it up for the photo All I could have all I could hear was Kinader ranting Yeah like look man I don know What do you do with these translates Why does anyone want to win a translate Why is Stern sending translates Send something else Send T anything else but a translate Nobody wants a stupid translate It would have been great if Megatron was in gun mode. Smack Wick right in the face. Yeah, no, I kind of like him the way he is. Like, it is cool. It is cool. Mike Veracali said, I normally don't have FOMO, but this is all nostalgia for me. I lost my younger brother, 42, who also loved Transformers when we were kids. Man, like, first, I'm sorry about that. And Mike, I feel you, man. Like, this was it for me and my twin brother. This is what we played with. My brother just wrote a book. It's coming out. It's called Maximus Prime. It's based all on the Rodimus Prime storyline. And when we were kids, we used to play with Transformers a thousand hours, man. We would throw them all in a pile. We each would pick one. If you remember walking into Toys R Us and seeing that row of Transformer toys, nobody knew how short-lived the series would be, how short the toys would be on shelf. I mean the original ones. And then I remember being a kid and my mom wouldn't buy me Fortress Maximus because he was $100. It was too much money and just dreaming of having a Transformer that big. It was just a very special franchise to me. So, you know, like nothing Stern comes out with will ever will ever like change that. But I still think it's a colossal, a colossal disappointment that no Transformers transform in Stern Pinball's pinball machine that they were making for over two years. Buddy Lee said, come on, OK, the door is still open for Jerry's interesting mech in pinball. Look, I 100% think that Jerry will make a mech that blows us all away and put it into a multimorphic game. And you know the metaphor I've got. It's like acquiring the nicest suite on the Titanic.
    51:36
    It just doesn't matter. To me, multimorphic, putting the most amazing mech on a multimorphic game is nothing short of a waste. Because even if he does it, the only compelling reason, and his games now are like $12,000 to $13,000 to $15,000. The only compelling reason to buy one of the multimorphic games is if you want all the old titles, and nobody does.
    51:59
    It just doesn't work. You do the math. You add it all up. Eventually, Jerry's like, yeah, man, we have like 18 games. Like, yeah, cool, man. I'm like $87,000 in on one multimorphic platform. Then I got to ship all these boxes if someone buys it?
    52:13
    What will it take for Stern to change? Well, John, it's easy. It's like I said earlier. Stop rewarding the bad behavior. Stop rewarding games that don't have a lot in them. Stop buying stuff that isn't worth that much money. They will only listen to the bottom line. That's it. And I don't want them to go out of business. I don't want them to fail. I just think they need more time. I think Stern needs two cornerstones a year where they throw everything at it. That's it. That's absolutely it. If they do that, they will have two Godzillas a year versus like once every three, four years we get a Godzilla. You know what I'm saying? And also, not for nothing, but some of their designers need to be put out to pasture. I'm not going to name names. I'm not going to be mean. But you know where the talent is and you know where. You know, we're getting the same old. And I think that's a problem. I think let your best people make two games a year.
    53:21
    Let them collaborate more. You know, like when you see a game at Barrels of Fun, it's not designed by other than the Carl game. But, you know, who designed Dune? I mean, maybe not the best example because it's not like we're looking at Dune now like this is the best design game. But you know what I'm saying? It's like, I don't know, like at Spooky, I feel like everyone's got to hand in on things. And I feel like at Stern they be better off if everyone can kind of help out a little bit more I mean even as I say that though I like well maybe not Because in the creative space when you have too many creative cooks in the kitchen it then impossible to make decisions and no one accountable So you might need to have an author. I don't see all the comments. Are you streaming multiple platforms? Yes, I'm streaming on Patreon. So, Michael, if you don't know and you're one of the newbies, it's okay.
    54:13
    I host a podcast where you have to be a member on Patreon. It's called Canada's Pinball Podcast. You can find it on Patreon. It's just $5 a month and you get the most pinball podcast content, three shows a week. It's awesome. You'll see. You'll be in the Canada Club, man. The chat's amazing. I guarantee you it'll be the best $5 a month you can possibly spend in this modern world in which everything is so overpriced. But I want to say this, gang.
    54:45
    It's starting to feel a little bit like New Pin Day just doesn't land with the same impact anymore. I think we're oversaturated with games. I think Stern is cannibalizing its own product's ability to break through. I think Wait and See is the way to go more so now than ever. And, you know, again, this game colliding on top of Pokemon buyers, not a good look, doesn't make you feel good. And then we're going to get Sonic. And again, I wouldn't even release Sonic right now. I just, I don't know, man. I don't know. Finish all the Harry Potters, then move on to Sonic. It's just like, it's an interesting space now. They want us to buy Circus Voltaire's and Tales of the Arabian Nights, a $25,000 Resident Evil. You know, Back to the Future is coming, Goonies coming. It's just like, cool, cool. You know, I mean, it used to be where you could buy every single pinball machine released in a year for 50 grand. Now you're talking like 250 grand. It's just not that we need it all, but I'm just saying it's just it's just the experience of playing like the wow of the game. It hasn't eclipsed for me when I spent $7,500 on a Lord of the Rings LE and I heard that to war, you know, and the multiballs in that game and the moments of magic in Lord of the Rings to me, better than any, almost any of the modern Sterns I've ever played. Better than almost any of the Spike 2, Spike 3, Spike 1, better than all of them in terms of the moment. And when they didn't rely on the LCD screen, they put the magic below the glass.
    56:29
    And I paid $7,500 for an LE, which was a lot at the time. Same person. I'm not making like four times as much money as I was back then. But everything is four times as expensive. So it's just, you know, it's tough. It's tough to stay excited. You know what I'm saying? Of course the dealer content creators are all about hype, hype, hype because you're just making them rich. You're making them rich and you're not making yourself any happier. I mean that when I say it. What will make us happy, fewer games with more creativity put in and more value, man, and differentiate. They really need these LE games to have things that you can only find in the LE. And I mean like gameplay elements, not just stickers and plaques. It's not enough. It's just not enough. Like it's just – again, it's not – I feel like there's no FOMO anymore around – if you got the touch was only available in the LE, FOMO sold out instantly. People wouldn't let it go. But now, all right, the do with the pro has everything I got. It just doesn't work. And he paid, you know, half as much. I'm never getting hired by Stern, man. I gave them the pitch. They had the good pitch. They had an opportunity. Look, I don't even think I'd make half as much as I make now. So it is what it is. I'm happy. Sometimes it's good to keep your hobbies at a little bit of a distance. Everybody love you guys. Be good.
    58:11
    The temper is never enough. You got the touch. You got the power. Yeah.