Episode 753: "Kaneda's 2022 Pinball Recap"

Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)·podcast_episode·25m 47s·analyzed·Dec 27, 2022

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.034

TL;DR

2022 was pinball's most underwhelming year due to lack of creativity and record-high prices.

Summary

Kaneda delivers a critical 2022 pinball industry recap, identifying lack of creativity and dramatic price increases as the defining trends across manufacturers. Major themes include Stern's continued dominance despite supply chain challenges and leadership transition, Spooky's strong recovery with Scooby-Doo announcement, Jersey Jack's disappointing Toy Story 4, and pervasive communication/production failures at Chicago Gaming, Haggis, and American Pinball. The episode emphasizes that price hikes without corresponding creative innovation are damaging collector confidence and killing FOMO-driven secondary market dynamics.

Key Claims

Stern Pinball is backlogged with a few thousand orders requiring almost a year to fulfill
high confidence · Kaneda discussing Stern's production capacity and order backlog at the beginning of manufacturer review
Stern can manufacture 500 machines per week and fulfill 1000 Limited Edition Avatar orders in two weeks
medium confidence · Kaneda estimating Stern's current factory throughput capacity
Elvira's House of Horrors Premium Edition price increased by $2,000 compared to earlier pricing
high confidence · Kaneda directly stating price increase as fact during pricing discussion
TNA and other games experienced 2-3 thousand dollar price increases in 2022
high confidence · Kaneda comparing price increases across multiple manufacturers (Spooky, Jersey Jack, Stern)
Pat Lawlor's Toy Story 4 for Jersey Jack lacks original ideas and was designed as if 'he mailed it in'
medium confidence · Kaneda's critical opinion on Toy Story 4 after discussing Lawlor worked on it for 2-3 years
Chicago Gaming Company still has not released Cactus Canyon LEs at full scale production levels
high confidence · Kaneda describing Cactus Canyon LEs as 'trickling out' and stating full production hasn't begun
Chicago Gaming's Dennis Nordman game was delayed from Pinball Expo to December, then pushed to 2023 (Texas Pinball Festival timeframe)
high confidence · Kaneda detailing the delay timeline for Chicago Gaming's new game
Spooky Pinball sold more games in one day than ever before when announcing Scooby-Doo
high confidence · Kaneda stating this as a notable achievement for Spooky during their recovery discussion
FOMO and machine flipping/scalping have largely died due to lack of creative themes and higher prices
high confidence · Kaneda explaining the shift in collector behavior and secondary market dynamics

Notable Quotes

“We all can agree 2022 was one of the most underwhelming years in pinball history.”
Kaneda @ Early in episode — Sets the primary thesis for the entire recap episode
“The lack of creativity and the increase in price is really the defining factor of the year.”
Kaneda @ During price discussion — Summarizes the two main criticisms driving the negative 2022 assessment
“I don't think Gary Stern's really been calling the shots for a long time now. I think he's just been sitting back and watching the big checks roll in and he's laughing all the way to the bank.”
Kaneda @ During Stern Pinball discussion — Opinion on Gary Stern's current role and involvement in day-to-day operations
“Remove the artwork from both of those games. They're not that creative.”
Kaneda @ During Spooky Pinball discussion — Critical assessment of Spooky's 2022 game designs stripped of theme
“Pat Lawlor was working on this game for two to three years. It looks like he mailed it in.”
Kaneda @ During Jersey Jack Pinball discussion — Harsh criticism of Toy Story 4's creative effort and design originality
“It is going to go down as a great shooting game but it will lose value every single month.”
Kaneda @ Concluding Toy Story 4 assessment — Predicts secondary market value loss for Jersey Jack's premium-priced title
“If you own a pinball machine or many pinball machines and every day you get to wake up and enjoy your machines, you had a great 2022 with pinball.”
Kaneda @ Final thoughts section — Balances negative industry critique with appreciation for personal enjoyment
“We're all gonna start to hesitate more. We're gonna wait and see, we're gonna make sure we play these games.”
Kaneda @ Closing commentary — Predicts shift in collector purchasing behavior due to high prices and low creativity

Entities

Stern PinballcompanyGary Sternperson Jersey Jack Pinballcompany Pat LawlorpersonSpooky PinballcompanyChicago Gaming Companycompany

Signals

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sentiment_shift: Widespread community disappointment with 2022 game releases and lack of excitement about Game of the Year candidates; Kaneda notes many people 'shrugging their shoulders' about what was best in 2022
high · We all can agree 2022 was one of the most underwhelming years in pinball history... I don't think I've seen a year where each and every one of us is struggling to get enthusiastic
$
market_signal: Coordinated price increases of 2-3k dollars across multiple manufacturers (Stern, Jersey Jack, Spooky) in 2022; described as 'the story of 2022'
high · TNA costing 2-3 thousand more... Elvira's House of Horrors (Premium Edition) is now going to be 2 thousand more... Jersey Jack Pinball decided to make their games 2-3 thousand dollars more... Stern Pinball [did] so as well
?
product_concern: Multiple manufacturers experiencing quality control failures: Pinball Brothers' Alien with broken bumpers, Dutch Pinball's Micro Playfields pooling/chipping, general assembly line consistency problems
high · one owner had a lot of issues... these are assembly line built products and you shouldn't have one person's game have a ton of issues and then the next game be perfect... pictures of their Micro Playfields that are starting to pool and starting to chip
?
manufacturer_signal: Chicago Gaming Company and Haggis Pinball criticized for extremely poor communication with customers who paid pre-orders; Kaneda states there is 'no excuse for the lack of communication'
high · They took people's money over a year ago... There is no excuse for the lack of communication from this company... I would still put Chicago Gaming Company below Haggis Pinball... worst communicators
?

Transcript

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0:00

It's the most wonderful time of the year. Oh Merry Christmas everybody. I hope you're all having a great holiday season. It's been a terrific time here in New York City. Killian is just having the greatest Christmas ever. You know my dad said it. He said Christmas is for kids and I reminded my father I'm still a grown child. Able We killing P largestilimравля, Uh P millise등 sf adapt pavementECTכ ountsagog Sergeant.com ghkey44 allora?... We all can agree 2022 was one of the most underwhelming years in pinball history. Since I've been covering this hobby, I don't think I've seen a year where each and every one of us is struggling to get enthusiastic about what's the game of the year. What was the most exciting magical game that came out in 2022? You'd get a lot of people shrugging their shoulders. And I do think the industry is still suffering from like COVID supply chain shortages and obviously making pinball Out Pinball Practing in 2022 is harder than it's ever been before, but we've still seen companies produce. We've still seen new games. And I'll tell you this supply chain shortages due to COVID has nothing to do with the lack of creativity. And I think that is the number one thing when we think about 2022. It was just the lack of creativity in certain titles that people were expecting big things from. So we're going to talk What kind of year did Sternpinball have? Stern Pinball had another great year. This company is backlogged with orders. So many orders that they need almost a year to catch up on all of the orders they have. And these aren't just a few hundred orders. These are a few thousand orders they're backlogged. So Stern Pinball's year was defined by that. We got Rush Pinball at the beginning of 2022 and then we waited a really really really really long time to get arguably the sloppiest launch in the history of Stern Pinball which is James Bond but Stern Pinball was making pinball machines throughout that period of time and so they were filling the backlog orders for Godzillas for Mandalorians for all the people that ordered machines in 2021 who are still waiting and some of you are still waiting for Elvira 29 transientinaneyexperience travelingmanLEY, You're gonna have to pay more, right? Did you see? Elvira now is $2,000 more for the same game. We're gonna talk about on this episode how the price increase is really the story of 2022. I think that's the main two stories of 2022, is the lack of creativity and then the most expensive pinballs ever been. And that is not a good combination, people. oh look I'm for higher prices but if you're going to charge me more, then put more into the game. But 2022 was defined by games like TNA costing 2-3 thousand more than it used to cost. Elvira is now going to be 2 thousand more than it used to be. Jersey Jack Pinball decided to make their games 2-3 thousand dollars more money as well. So did Stern Pinball. And so the lack of creativity and the increase in price is really the defining factor of the year. Okay, but we're not just talking about price. We're talking about the manufacturers. So Stern Pinball. I think all things considered stern pinball is still moving along at stern space. I don't think anything can really dent them. I don't I don't I think they're still going to sell all 1000 James Bond le's at $13,000 Gary Stern stepped down this year is that going to change the company at all? I don't think so. I don't think Gary's really been calling the shots for a long time now. I think he's just been sitting back and watching the big checks roll in and he's laughing all the way to the bank and he Soviocalotte Durrắ sich alțăxim illMoříº Jeganićă- shared film kilometres notaº end tejschardă koși băluă Speaker the matter is musună go emission for understanding in the clearer anche birka lanvi♥ wehmerびuči morue I think it's not just Stern's fault. I think the license holder must have like tied their hands behind their back and it still continues to be pretty sloppy when you think about the fact that they announced the Keith Elwin pin in September and here we are end of December and we still don't even know what it looks like how much it cost but Stern is about to move into a much bigger factory which is going to be interesting right because we know right now in their current factory this company is pumping out like four to five hundred The video audio is staid linger to lack of added Ellis, Kkan的Bad Romney,Exreibtろ Tal ends,

5:16

Game發生試戰時特別詳細 RedO coop or see the video viable format it again in the description under this video disparity бли見 So 600 machines a week, let's just say it's like 500. They can make a thousand LEs in two freaking weeks. Two weeks they can actually fulfill a thousand LE orders. I think what's going to be crazy about Stern's efficiency now and more than ever what's changed about pinball is you now at these prices, you need to be damn sure you want the game because they're going to make the game pretty quickly and then you're going to have to hand over your money. And we all know the other big thing that's changed about pinball in 2022 is scalping and flipping machines is pretty much dead. Like FOMO is dying quickly in this hobby and it's dying quickly. You know why? Two things lack of creativity, lack of great themes and also higher prices. Maybe that's the third thing, right? We're not really getting the themes that are like take my money now kind of themes. Okay, but it's not all bad. It's not all bad. Like at least we have so many more options in pinball Scott Lee Ben Data East and Sega It is now like one two three four five six seven eight I think we have over 12 companies right now that are currently manufacturing and putting pinball machines in boxes for you to make up your mind on And that a great thing Okay so good year for Stern Pinball What kind of year was it for Spooky Pinball Okay so Spooky Pinball had a little bit of a mixed bag year I would say that 90 of 2022 was a little The game is starting to stabilize in terms of pricing and enthusiasm in the hobby. I would argue that both of those games because they're the same design don't have a lot of creativity in them. They just don't. Remove the artwork from both of those games. They're not that creative. Spooky got what they paid for in the coding department and in the animations department. Ultraman absolutely torpedoed in value. And we're not just talking like a few hundred bucks. We're talking like you might have lost three to four to five thousand dollars. And if you had waited, if you had waited and not The game you could get the same exact game for $4,000 off. So they had a really rough majority of 2022. But, but we all know how this story ends. Spooky Pinball unveils Scooby-Doo to really strong response to a really strong fanfare. And Scooby-Doo looks to be a much better shooting pin. It looks to have much more value in it. And it's based on a theme people really want. And it looks pretty beautiful looking at it. Spooky Pinball has had a really terrific end of 2022. The big question mark is when we finally see more of the game in January, are they going to feel as excited when they see the gameplay and the coding of the machine? Will their excitement remain once they see Jack Danger flip this machine in early 2023? He's going to play the game sometime in January. But a very good year for Spooky. You can't deny the fact they sold more games in one day than they ever have before and they're going to make 1969 Scooby-Doo's and based on theme alone, I think they're going to sell every single game eventually. And I also think you should wait and see because if you wait and see, trust me, you'll be able to get one for cheaper than MSRP. There's just too many games coming out people. All right. What kind of year did Jersey Jack pinball have? I almost feel like just skipping this one. No, I'm not going to skip this one. I know they think I have an agenda. I don't have an agenda. I only own one pinball machine on planet Earth. It is a Jersey Jack pinball machine. I don't have anything personal against this company. But Toy Story 4, I'm going to just go over it quickly, is the game I'm really talking about when I talk about lack of creativity. You look at this game. Pat Lawler was working on this game for two to three years. It looks like he mailed it in. There aren't any original ideas whatsoever in this game. It is basically no good gopher's light. We also didn't want Toy Story 4. We wanted 1 through 3. We wanted the movies we fell in love with. And that's the year Jersey Jack has had. They had a golden opportunity to bring out a magical toy filled game that was going to blow everybody away. Instead they released an underwhelming game that is fun to shoot. The layout is really nice. It is a fun game to flip but it's a $12,000 to $15,000 toy that's based on a movie about toys coming to life in which the Jersey Jack version of the toy has no toys that come to life. That is where the story begins and ends on this title. It is going to go down as a great shooting game but it will This Week in Pinball Podcast, Terms==Analytics, Closed Caption, Text, Text,Continue to the Game of Thronesdisciplinary continue to lose value every single month and it is going to go down as a miss for jersey jack pinball and i think we're going to see at the twippies it's not just kaneda who feels this way i think you're going to see this game losing almost every single category except maybe artwork and that is not a win for pat lawler's final game in the pinball space so really bad year for jersey jack pinball distros are sitting on these games And nothing Panzerfreak says is going to change people's minds. Alright, let's go on to Chicago Gaminging Company. Talk about back to back companies which I should just skip when it comes to what kind of year have they had. Another horrible year for Chicago Gaminging Company. I would argue that Chicago Gaminging Company takes the prize for worst year by any manufacturer. Because they didn't do anything. They still are making people wait for Cactus CanyonLEs. I think they are finally trickling out and I mean trickling out. I don't think their full scale production has begun. So it was like another dead year for CGC. We still don't have the Lyman sheets code. We have no idea how much that's going to cost and their communication and I mean it when I say this. There is no excuse for the lack of communication from this company. They took people's money over a year ago and they Stanley P حiell The game is a game that is supposed to be released in 2022 and I think it comes down to like parts supplies and delays Because the game everybody is really waiting for is the Dennis Nordman game It was supposed to come out sometime around Expo and then they delayed it to December and then they delayed it until sometime in 2023 So I don think we going to see their new game until sometime around TPF and I think AP is another company that had a really dead year Like not a lot went on over at AP If I had to guess I would say in total American Pinball Layne DigitalPenomenapen each case,eadplate, Backup wyand student preparatory text practicion operator parter card payment order receipt payment cash payment The game is a game of the past, not the past. We don't need more Oktoberfests. We want to see what the future of AP holds and that is the Dennis Nordman game with Christopher Franchi on artwork. Alright, what kind of year was it for P3 Multimorphic or Multimorphic P3? I always get it wrong. I will never get it right. Jerry, just call it something else, please. Alright, what kind of year was it for P3? Well look, weird out, another game. People want it, people ordered it, most people aren't getting it. It's just been another year in which people are being told if you order a game today, your wait time is one year. Now the thing about P3 is this. The next title is everything. Are they going to continue to get licensed themed games and put them on this platform in a way that's enticing enough to get people to spend $13,000 on one of these things? And I don't think we know yet what the answer Titp Polyteavirus, Tintopмотри sano Shredder, fom Neoitte ½ni extractor, Vincide 350 Topic of Memory här вс Savioräťažh discordadas últ, nelläŞüťціä Gotta prote Chuck Phraia HassiţhiţhaŤslaughs călaşın kau estimate & we need to see were lesson stop with this clap form is really going to take off a waste I'm not sure what the total number of multi morphic units that have sold but like again nobody wants to talk about it and look when it comes to these kind of like small boutiques I think promoting how many you make is actually a good thing because you want to know how many multi morphic P3 owners are out there because the more out there the better because the more out there then you want to get one and go online and play with other people but I have no idea have they sold 500 have they sold 700 has it been like All right, okay, let's go on to our next stop on this Kaneda's holiday tour of 2022 and we're gonna land at the Pinball Brothers. What kind of year have the PinballBrothers had? Well look, they've got their Alien games going out to customers. Call me a little quirky you kinda have to know when you buy a product from these smaller boutiques you're gonna be lifting the hood a lot more than you would on a stern but for the most part I generally hear positive things about the alien machine from owners I always hear very positive things about the visceral atmospheric experience that is alien pinball I've never played one that wasn't broken because I played the tips artillery A quick look at some of the game issues we have seen, including some of the more within the game quality and feel that there is some game quality and feel that there is some real bad quality issues going on with the game. I think its one owner had a lot of issues and I'm not going to say a lot of them have issues but it is also concerning right because these are assembly line built products and you shouldn't have one person's game have a ton of issues and then the next game be perfect. You kind of want every game to be perfect for this much money and so we will see whether or not these quality issues pop up on any future Queen machines. The game is very underwhelming and I'm going to tell you this it's their fault that the first video footage of Queen Pinball that we get is this underwhelming footage because as a company they should have created a five to ten minute video showing us all the cool features of the game now you've got a homeowner whose pop bumper doesn't work who's got issues with the game he's putting the first piece of Queen video out in Valentine by synth había qua w navigbreaknoob porch Вd heartfelt energiaります the Alright so what kind of year was it for Dutch Pinball Well it was a good year until like a few hours ago I mean I think Dutch has been getting it done They been cranking out games But just a few hours ago people are uploading pictures of their Mirko playfields that are starting to pool and starting to chip And all of a sudden the nightmare that is Mirko playfields could be rearing its ugly head again Now Mirko has been making In play mies torrential Constitution inequit Behavement 350

19:45

The 500 bucks because of his bad work now I don't want to have to spend that money that money should come out of his pocket not mine I really hope this doesn't become more widespread Because I really want to see Dutch pinball get to their next title and look let's face it They can't afford to have to give out free playfields to people so if they find those issues I think you're gonna see something very much like Jersey Jack The opportunity to buy one at cost which is probably around $500. All right, let's keep going who am I missing here? What kind of year has it been for our good old friends at Haggis Pinball? The most efficient pinball company on planet Earth like I'm just gonna say this right now I just hope these guys get the games built I hope they get them to customers and that's all I'm gonna say on Haggis Pinball I'm gonna give them a holiday treat and not be mean because I heard I heard some accusations on another podcast like I'm the one who took your money and promised you a game in 8 weeks and then made you wait 8 months. That was me. That was Kaneda. The big bad toxic podcaster in New York is singlehandedly responsible for some company's poor decision making. Okay, look, I said I wasn't going to go there. Let's move on. It's been a bad year for Haggis. Hopefully, they can get this ship turned around and get more games made because they got a lot of these games to make people. 250 Mermaid editions. They also took a few hundred orders for standard editions of Fathom as well. Not a good year for Haggis Pinball, but I would still argue I would still put CGC below Haggis. I know those two companies really battle it out for the worst communicators and the worst when it comes to efficiencies. I think that's kind of it. I don't think anyone else made a dent in pinball. I'm looking at my list, my old list, and I've got like Pinball Adventures. I don't think they have a game out really yet. We have Team Pinball. They're gone. Circus Maximus. Where the heck are those guys with their Kingpin remake? That's gone. That's dead on arrival. Skitbee, Zidware, and Deeproot. Like this was from like March of 2021. I listed all the pinball manufacturers and not all of them have survived. Okay. So here's my final thoughts on 2022. It wasn't the best year in pinball from a new in box standpoint, but I'm going to tell you this right now. If you own a pinball machine or many pinball machines and every day you get to wake up and enjoy your machines, you had a great 2022 with pinball because this is what pinball is all about. You get a few games you love, you wake up, you take care of yourself and your family and your responsibilities, and then you get to have some truths unpredict妖 it expect that diverse ública inski and secret 没事 of digital briefing where Raza and the package those lightning that your door The next five years at least so there is a lot of pinball coming and I kind of like the fact that we had an off year I'll tell you why because we had an off year and the prices went through the roof. What's really good about that It's made each of us wiser each and every one of us. We are so much smarter now with our pinball money I mean it we are all gonna start to hesitate more. We're gonna wait and see we're gonna make sure we play these games The game comes out and it's super creative absolutely it could get $15,000 in a heartbeat but if it comes out and there's no creativity in it weekly Hi, thank you so much for your subscriptions and being a member of the Kaneda Club. I hope you and your families had a terrific holiday season. Obviously, I'm not going anywhere. I think Twippie voting opens up next week. Get ready. I mean, there is, like, zero hype for these Twippies. Nobody's talking about it. They're not even talking about it. Nobody's even sure, like, what happens, like, Jan 1 or Jan 2, but get ready. All we need is your vote and someone else in your family's vote, and we easily Some 노�ожу interesses crystas Kathryn The most wonderful time, yes the most wonderful time, oh the most wonderful time of the year.