Spooky Pinball is SOLD OUT of Rick and Morty!

Cary Hardy·video·7m 2s·analyzed·Dec 16, 2019

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.018

TL;DR

Rick and Morty sells out in 4 hours; Hardy defends pricing, discusses secondary market flipping.

Summary

Cary Hardy celebrates Spooky Pinball's Rick and Morty sell-out in four hours, attributing success primarily to theme and designer Scott Denise's reputation rather than gameplay or art. He defends the $500 Standard-to-Bloodsucker Edition price difference as reasonable compared to Stern's typical powder coating costs, notes secondary market flipping already occurring at inflated prices, and anticipates hands-on play at Texas Pinball Festival when machines ship end-of-month.

Key Claims

Rick and Morty sold out within four hours of release
high confidence · Opening statement by Cary Hardy about Spooky Pinball's inventory
Theme, not art or gameplay, is what is selling the Rick and Morty game
medium confidence · Hardy's analysis: 'Theme is what is selling this game, not the art, not the gameplay...the denisi design' — opinion-based assessment
Designer Scott Denise's reputation significantly impacts hype; hype would be lower with an unknown designer
medium confidence · Hardy's rhetorical question: 'can you honestly tell me that the hype for this game would be as high as it is if an unknown was the designer for it'
$500 price difference between Standard and Bloodsucker Edition is justified and comparable to Stern's typical $1,000-$1,500 powder coating cost
medium confidence · Hardy's comparative pricing analysis
Rick and Morty machines will begin shipping end of month
high confidence · Hardy states: 'These babies are going to start shipping out at the end of the month'
Secondary market flipping is already occurring with asking prices at $50,000+
high confidence · Hardy shows live search results finding someone asking $50,000+ for a place in the production line
Kaneda posted a joke listing for $50,000 with Kaneda couch included; he is not actually selling his Bloodsucker Edition
high confidence · Hardy clarifies: 'Kaneda says this is a joke. He's not trying to sell his machine, his bloodsucker edition that he does have on order.'

Notable Quotes

“Theme is what is selling this game, not the art, not the gameplay because we haven't really seen much gameplay as it is”
Cary Hardy@ 1:00 — Core thesis about what drives Rick and Morty hype; suggests gameplay is secondary to theme/IP
“can you honestly tell me that the hype for this game would be as high as it is if an unknown was the designer for it”
Cary Hardy@ 1:11 — Attributes significant portion of hype to Scott Denise's reputation and track record
“It not just the color of the armor that is different It also the portal basically cutouts in the armor of the side rails that adds a little bit to it but mainly it is the color for more”
Cary Hardy@ 1:37 — Details what differentiates Bloodsucker Edition from Standard Edition beyond cosmetics
“Just because they sold out doesn't mean that you don't have a chance at owning this game. You're going to have many of these people get impatient and antsy...they're going to sell their spot in line to the highest bidder.”
Cary Hardy@ 4:10 — Predicts secondary market will emerge as buyers grow impatient waiting for delivery
“i could get me a ricky and morty machine right now for fifty thousand dollars fifty thousand and one dollars no you you had me at fifty thousand but fifty thousand and one that where i draw the line”
Cary Hardy@ 5:01 — Humorous commentary on inflated secondary market prices already emerging

Entities

Spooky PinballcompanyRick and Mortygame Scott Deniseperson Cary Hardyperson KanedapersonStern PinballcompanyTexas Pinball Festivalevent

Signals

?
competitive_signal: Hardy predicts buyer cancellations will occur if gameplay disappoints or Stern releases competitive new titles, creating secondary market supply despite sell-out
medium · Hardy: 'possibly even change their mind after seeing other people get their machines before them and not being impressed with the gameplay or whatever, or Stern drops their next title'
?
design_philosophy: Rick and Morty's success driven by theme and designer reputation (Scott Denise), not gameplay or art; gameplay largely unproven in real-time before sell-out
medium · Hardy: 'Theme is what is selling this game, not the art, not the gameplay because we haven't really seen much gameplay as it is' and speculation on Denise's importance
$
market_signal: Secondary market flipping already active with asking prices at $50,000+, demonstrating significant arbitrage opportunity and FOMO-driven resale
high · Hardy finds live listings: 'i could get me a ricky and morty machine right now for fifty thousand dollars fifty thousand and one dollars'
$
market_signal: Rick and Morty sold out within four hours of release, indicating extremely strong demand and FOMO-driven purchasing
high · Hardy's opening: 'congratulations to spooky pinball for selling out within four hours all of their rick and morty pinball machines'
?
community_signal: Scott Denise's designer reputation appears to be a significant demand driver for Rick and Morty, suggesting brand loyalty/trust in designer pedigree
medium · Hardy's rhetorical: 'can you honestly tell me that the hype for this game would be as high as it is if an unknown was the designer for it'

Topics

Rick and Morty pinball sell-out and demandprimaryPricing and value proposition of Standard vs. Bloodsucker EditionprimarySecondary market flipping and speculationprimaryDesigner reputation's impact on game hype (Scott Denise)primaryTheme vs. gameplay/art as drivers of consumer interestsecondaryRick and Morty TV show quality and appealsecondaryShipping timeline and production rolloutsecondary

Sentiment

positive(0.78)— Hardy is celebratory about Spooky's success, defends the game and pricing against criticism, expresses hope for the game's performance. Minor skepticism about gameplay unknown and theme-heavy positioning, but overall supportive tone.

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.021

pop my sternum cheese bravo congratulations to spooky pinball for selling out within four hours all of their rick and morty pinball machines i knew it would sell out but four hours that's that's pretty impressive. I've been getting a lot of feedback on this game recently and I completely understand where a lot of you are coming from when it comes to how you feel about whether it be the art or the layout even or just how things look according to you. I completely understand that. Theme is what is selling this game, not the art, not the gameplay because we haven't really seen much gameplay as it is just a little bit in the trailer but nothing in real time but not just the theme but it's the denisi design can you honestly tell me that the hype for this game would be as high as it is if an unknown was the designer for it i mean something that makes me scratch my head is those that purchase the standard edition seriously it's a 500 difference between the Standard and the Bloodsucker Edition and it's quite obvious where the money's going to when you looking at the game Yes there obviously going to be a profit margin in there but in my opinion it well worth it It not just the color of the armor that is different It also the portal basically cutouts in the armor of the side rails that adds a little bit to it but mainly it is the color for more If you want to compare that to what Stern would normally do when it comes to powder coating their legs and armor and stuff like that, you'd be looking at about a thousand to $1,500 price difference. And it's not too late to upgrade guys you can still actually call your distributors and upgrade your standard to a bloodsucker edition if you so wish to and there may be some of you that's like oh i don't like the purple the purple doesn't look good but it's still basically the cutout sequence for the buttons on the armor itself you can easily get this machine with the purple on it take that stuff off send it to your local powder coater which there's more than likely going to be one near you that you don't even know about and they could easily sandblast that purple off and do whatever color you want for, I'd say, a couple of hundred bucks. But I honestly like the purple. The purple goes very well with the art. That $500 difference, by the time you get your game, you can make up that $500. You know, mow some lawns, work the overtime, sell your body. Don't actually sell your body. I'm not condoning you in doing that. I've only done that once in my life, guys. I don't regret it. I don't regret it because, you know, at that time, gas was cheap and 20 bucks is 20 bucks now since the theme is what's selling this obviously those that are really after this game have watched the show and really adored it and i still don't get that feeling of the theme because i'm only on season one still i'm like probably like in the middle of season one and talking with my brother who's a big fan of the show he's all caught up with season four and everything says that in comparison to the remainder of the show season one is actually the worst season He says it actually sucks in comparison to season two and going forward That may or may not be what everyone else believes, but, you know, if it's true, if not, let me know down below. The soonest I'm going to be able to play this game is going to be at Texas Pinball Festival. I'm sure Spooky's going to bring at least, maybe, two. Might just be one. I hope not, because that line's going to be forever long. but hopefully they can bring a couple up there to the pinball festival for everyone to get a hands-on. Although I do have a buddy of mine that did put in for a Bloodsucker edition, and he's only like 20 minutes away, but who knows what place he is in line. Could be 17 months. Which brings me to my next point. Just because they sold out doesn't mean that you don't have a chance at owning this game. You're going to have many of these people get impatient and antsy and just, you know what? possibly even change their mind after seeing other people get their machines before them and not being impressed with the gameplay or whatever, or Stern drops their next title or two by the time that happens, and they're going to be like, you know what? I changed my mind. You've given the potential buyers time to change their mind, so they're going to sell their spot in line to the highest bidder. That's just the way it is. This is the way. This is the way. this is the way it wouldn't even surprise me if i could look online right now and probably see people trying to sell their place in life oh and looky here guys bam i could get me a ricky and morty machine right now for fifty thousand dollars fifty thousand and one dollars no you you had me at fifty thousand but fifty thousand and one that where i draw the line no ain gonna happen wait well now I sold the one dollar is no longer relevant it comes with a piece of Kaneda couch count me in oh buy out right now here we go it's mine tempting Kaneda very tempting I was not interested but since it comes with a piece of couch, I'll talk to the wife. On a side note guys, Kaneda says this is a joke. He's not trying to sell his machine, his bloodsucker edition that he does have on order. He's not trying to sell it for $50,000. These babies are going to start shipping out at the end of the month and that's when we're going to get a better idea on what this game has. I hope this game does well and Spooky, keep it up. That's what she said. if you like what you've seen here then give me that thumbs up down below and if you haven't already then be sure to hit that subscribe button down below that way you can be notified whenever i upload something for your viewing pleasure until next time guys peace out These babies are going to start shipping out at the end of the month and that's when we're really going to get a... Am I going to sneeze? Or not? Okay, I thought I was going to sneeze. Okay, where was I?