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Kaneda's Pinball Podcast Saturday Morning Spectacular - March 7

Kaneda Pinball Podcasts YouTube Lives·video·1h 29m·held·Mar 7, 2026
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.034

TL;DR

Beetlejuice praised as best-looking pinball ever; Pokemon market oversaturated; AP logo criticized.

Summary

Kaneda discusses Beetlejuice as an exceptional design achievement, analyzes Pokemon Pinball Pro/LE tradeoffs and market pricing dynamics, and critiques American Pinball new logo and remaster strategy. He expresses concerns about secondary market saturation, scalping behavior, and the importance of brand identity and design details in pinball manufacturing.

Key Claims

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

    medium confidence · Kaneda, speaking about market projections for Beetlejuice secondary market value

  • Pokemon Pinball Pro is the most stripped-down Pro ever made, with nearly everything removed except Meowth.

    high confidence · Kaneda, describing features removed from Pro version compared to LE

  • David Vaness said Dungeon Crawler Carl is 'not next' from American Pinball, but didn't deny it's being made.

    medium confidence · Kaneda, interpreting Vaness's non-answer during an interview

  • Pokémon (Premium/LE) secondary market prices are collapsing from $20k to $18k due to oversupply of listings.

    medium confidence · Kaneda, analyzing live secondary market pricing trends on PinSide

  • Stern engineers failed to engineer the Pokeball to open and release the Pokemon, only making it shake.

    high confidence · Kaneda, critiquing Pokemon's mechanical design compared to Beetlejuice's worm mechanism

  • American Pinball new logo has spacing and design errors and is not suitable for merchandise.

    high confidence · Kaneda, directly critiquing the logo reveal and advocating for redesign

  • Franchie (Spooky artist) did brand new art for American Pinball and is working on an unannounced game.

    medium confidence · Franchie, confirming new artwork done for AP; He-Man speculated as possible project

  • American Pinball first game back is a Cirqus Voltaire remake, not a new original title.

    high confidence · Kaneda and Franchie discussing AP's upcoming release strategy

Notable Quotes

  • “Mark my words, Beetlejuice will be much harder to get than Evil Dead. Mark my words, Beetlejuice prices will hold very, very strong around $20,000 forever.”

    Kaneda@ 8:55 — Bullish market prediction on Beetlejuice's secondary market value and scarcity

  • “There is not a single person that is going to unbox a Beetlejuice and be disappointed. There's not a single person that's going to lose $5,000 on a Beetlejuice ever.”

    Kaneda@ 8:41 — Strong confidence in Beetlejuice's collectibility and resale value

  • “Don't put this game in a lineup. I mean it when I say don't put this game in a lineup. This game deserves to be in a space of its own.”

    Kaneda@ 15:07 — Extreme praise for Beetlejuice's visual presentation; recommends display as centerpiece

  • “I'm just saying like this is just are you making like are you making it though and just see what it because you know what I'm saying when you interview somebody a non-answer is sometimes very much the answer.”

    Kaneda@ 5:49 — Meta-commentary on interviewing technique and inferring product plans from non-answers

  • “They literally took out everything. The magnet's not in the pro. This is the most stripped down pro ever.”

    Kaneda@ 27:41 — Critique of Pokemon Pro version's minimal feature set compared to LE

  • “When you see it just all does is this... Every time I get $50, I'll shake it again... Let's have a moment of silence for Stern Engineering.”

    Kaneda@ 29:39 — Sarcastic criticism of Stern's inability to engineer a functional opening Pokeball mechanism

Entities

KanedapersonChristopher FranchipersonDavid VanesspersonSpooky PinballcompanyStern PinballcompanyAmerican Pinballcompany

Signals

  • ?

    product_concern: Pokemon Pokeball mechanism criticized as non-functional (only shakes rather than opens to release Pokemon); Stern unable to engineer basic signature feature despite 40 years of manufacturing experience

    high · Extended criticism of Pokeball mechanism; comparison to Spooky's worm mechanism in Beetlejuice as superior engineering

  • $

    market_signal: Pokemon LE secondary market experiencing price collapse from $20k to $18k within days due to oversupply of listings; race to bottom dynamics observed with multiple unsold units at $18k

    high · Live pricing data from PinSide showing 10+ listings at $20k unmoved, multiple at $18k sitting unsold; anecdotal sales at $20k contrasted with current unsold inventory

  • ?

    collector_signal: FOMO-driven pricing for Pokemon LE collapsing as hype cycle peaks and supply increases; early adopters selling before further devaluation

    high · Kaneda analyzing seller behavior: people listing at lower prices to exit before game ships and prices stabilize lower

  • ?

    community_signal: Community tension over secondary market scalping; Space Ace80 called out for profiting $14k off two Pokemon LE sales without contributing to community; satirical shaming of scalper activity

    high · Extended live commentary mocking scalper profit margins; discussion of scalping as problematic community behavior

  • ?

    product_strategy: Pokemon Pro stripped of nearly all distinctive mechanical features (magnets, ramps, moving animatronics, subway, whirlpool) leaving only Meowth in center; described as 'most stripped down Pro ever made'

Transcript

youtube_auto_sub · $0.000

0:03
All right, we're going to do a little show today. We're going to talk pinball. I'll be right back. I got to go get my coffee. Hold on a second. Hold on. I got to just one sec. One sec.
0:42
GOT TO CATCH THEM ALL, BABY. We got to catch them all. Pokemon, you're my best friend in a world we must defend.
1:06
Oh, Charmander, you're my best friend in a world we must defend. I love it. I love it. Everyone's like, "Oh, man. Oh, man." Wait, hold on one second. Let me check something out real quick. What's up, everybody?
1:27
I need to see something. Let me get confirmation on something. Oh, okay. So, I just wanted to make sure cuz someone was like, "Oh, David Vaness said they're not making Dungeon Crawler Carl." He just said it's not next. Oh my gosh. All right. All right, everybody. Let's get the headset on. Good morning. You got Franchie here already? What's up, Franchie? Franchie, man. I've been killed it, bro. Killed it. I want my Frenchie apron signature card, man. One of 50. The last one better have it, baby. All right, let's let's set this up here. I don't know if this is gonna I don't have enough juice on this phone, but for those people on Facebook, whatever. Join. Come on, man. Join YouTube. You Facebook guys. Crazy thing is I get like more people on um more people will will see this via via Facebook than they will YouTube. It's I don't I don't even check my YouTube views. What's up everybody?

  • “You got to remember this is a company that Godzilla does nothing and Jaws doesn't eat the ball and everybody accepted that.”

    Kaneda@ 33:17 — Pattern of Stern underperforming on signature mechanics across recent releases

  • “I don't think you pave the way for a new chapter in a new company by looking backwards. I don't think remaking Rick's games is a wise decision.”

    Kaneda@ 40:46 — Criticism of AP's remaster-focused strategy under new management

  • “Every little detail you do, every little move you make has more of a significant impact than you realize.”

    Kaneda@ 37:53 — Philosophy on brand building and why small design decisions matter

  • “Franchie said Warner Brothers wouldn't allow them to do a Beetlejuice sound alike.”

    Kaneda@ 12:51 — Licensing constraint explanation for why Beetlejuice lacks character voice callouts

    • Beetlejuice
    game
    Pokemon Pinballgame
    Evil Deadgame
    Dungeon Crawler Carlgame
    Cirqus Voltairegame
    Winchestergame
    Godzillagame
    Jawsgame
    King Konggame
    Venomgame
    John Wickgame
    Harry Pottergame
    Transformersgame
    Bruce Campbellperson
    PinSideorganization

    high · Detailed itemization of removed features; comparison with other games' Pro versions; criticism of design decision

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Kaneda advocates for prioritizing visual design and brand identity over pure mechanical execution; criticizes manufacturers for focusing only on tactile gameplay while ignoring aesthetic and brand presentation

    high · Extensive discussion of Beetlejuice's visual impact; critique of Stern's cabinet decal application; emphasis on t-shirt test for logo viability

  • ?

    industry_signal: Increasing number of manufacturers competing for finite $10k+ buyer base; successful Stern ALEs holding at $13k seen as marker of market saturation; CO (cash out) era over

    high · Market analysis showing demand ceiling; discussion of LE games as prestige items replacing previous purchasing patterns

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Strong positive sentiment surge around Beetlejuice; described as 'most gorgeous pinball machine ever stood in front of'; hype around unboxing begins; strong resale value confidence

    high · Extended praise; comparison to Harry Potter finding Pokemon unfavorably; prediction of strong secondary market hold

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Spooky Pinball positioned as superior on mechanical design and visual presentation vs. Stern; Beetlejuice worm mechanism cited as exemplary; Stern's Pokemon, Godzilla, Jaws criticized as underperforming

    high · Direct comparisons between manufacturers; specific mechanical examples; discussion of engineering capability gaps

  • ?

    product_concern: Warner Brothers licensing prevented Beetlejuice from including Beetlejuice sound-alike voice callouts; licensing seen as significant constraint on creative vision for themed games

    high · Franchie's explanation of licensing restriction; discussion of voice acting quality as result of constraints

  • ?

    business_signal: American Pinball under new management (non-Rick); criticized for moving too quickly without clear vision; remaster strategy prioritized over original titles; logo redesign viewed as rushed and poorly executed

    medium · Kaneda's direct critique of AP's approach; observation of premature announcements to content creators; criticism of logo spacing errors

  • ?

    design_innovation: Beetlejuice's worm mechanism praised as innovative mechanical achievement; described as complex physics/geometry challenge that Spooky successfully engineered; contrasted favorably with Stern's Pokemon failures

    high · Extended discussion of worm mechanism; Kaneda's surprise at Spooky's engineering capability; comparison to Pokeball failure

    • 3:08
    In a world we must defend. Um man, what a week for pinball. We got my Charmander here. Um I feel besides my stiff neck. I you know what happened yesterday? I was doing bench press well with like the assistant machines cuz I don't like you know and I I don't I don't think I was like sitting right and man I tweaked it right here. It's feeling better today. I just did some stretches but man getting old man getting old. I got my eyeglass prescription. Uh I dude this there's a moment where like you literally can't see anything. I'm like uh I woke up one day. I woke up one day and I I looked at my phone. I'm like everything's a blur. Everything.
    3:56
    The dog is downstairs. I'm dogsitting right now. Dogsitting this beautiful white lab. She's gorgeous. Tiny. Her name's Tinie. Um, our neighbors are traveling and we love to dogsit. Whenever Tinie stays over, the kids go crazy. We We dogat Tinie all during Christmas and the kids went nuts. It's nice to It's nice to dogsit for like a few days and then give the dog back. For now, look, we are definitely getting a dog in this household though. 100% getting a dog. Just need to wait just a little bit for Killian to be just a little bit older, a little bit more responsible. But we are absolutely I I Dogs are love. A dog in the household changes everything. How's the mic? Is it good? All right. So, look. I got my I got my Jigglypuff. Jigglypuff. I I am just I'm in such a good pinball mood. I'm so happy for people unboxing their Beetlejuice machines. I'm unh I'm so happy for Pokemon Pros on location. And we're going to talk a lot about both th those games today. We're going to talk about American Pinball's new logo. We're going to talk about uh Knaps Arcade telling us that I no one ever said that dungeon crawler Carl was next. Notice how he didn't say they're not making it. Of course they're making it. It's just not next. I think next is is either neverending story or maybe big trouble. I don't know. I think it's never ending story though. I really do. Maybe I don't know. You know what I'm saying? Maybe it's G.I. Joe. Who knows? Who knows? But it's it's just it's funny that we you know we got that sort of like half like no one said it was next. I wish Jason would have just asked him and Jason don't get mad. I'm just saying like this is just are you making like are you making it though and just see what it because you know what I'm saying when you interview somebody a non-answer is sometimes very much the answer. So when you say like are you making it and he doesn't say anything then yeah probably making it
    6:12
    ah how's everybody doing? How about the Beetlejuice gameplay? Okay, so let's start there. Okay, I effing loved shooting Beetlejuice and I've shot many machines where the first 20 minutes I hate it where the first plunge I hate it. I think Beetlejuice shoots great. I think it absolutely shoots great and I I had no issues with the shots. I thought there were shots that had nice flow and return back to the flipper. I didn't feel like this over scoopage at all. I understand what some people are saying, but I think what's interesting to me about Beetlejuice is I mean it's a game where like the sum of the parts are absolutely insane. They're absolutely insane. I there is no one who's going to walk up to a Beetlejuice and not feel like they just stepped into stepped into a Tim Burton movie in pinball form for the first time ever in the history of pinball. And if you don't see the significance of that, then I don't know what to tell you. The same way like Pokemon on Pinball has similar significance. Okay. So, but I don't think I've ever stood over a game in my entire pinball career. Is it a career? I don't know. I got W2s. I got, you know what I'm 1099. So, maybe it is. It's the most gorgeous pinball machine I've ever stood in front of. And I went from I went from it to Harry Potter. And it really does make a lot of Potter seem very empty. Also, like the Potter artwork fits the theme for sure. doesn't pop like Beetlejuice, man. It's just so fun. It's just like It's just perfect. I I keep telling people this. Everything from the Beetlejuice sign, everything to the Dante's Inferno, everything to the Worm, everything, you know, everything in it. It's just perfect. It's perfect. Now, I don't know uh exactly, you know, the the gameplay of the upper flipper. That seems to be like the issues I've heard from people. The upper flipper seemingly isn't as rewarding as some upper other upper flipper shots that people have been playing in other games. But that being said, man, there is not a single person that is going to unbox a Beetlejuice and be disappointed. There's not a single person that is going to lose a dollar on a Beetlejuice ever. There's not a single person that's going to lose $5,000 on a Beetlejuice ever. Mark my words, and I mean this when I say this, mark my words. Beetlejuice will be much harder to get than Evil Dead. Mark my words, Beetlejuice prices will hold very, very strong around $20,000 forever. And as I've been saying for a while now, now that like everything is 10, everything disposable is 10. Everything there's mass-produced games at 15,000 now that this is going to be one of those games where people say, "I'd rather have one Beetlejuice in my house than two Stern Premiums. So, and and again, no premium coming, no anniversary edition coming, no more games coming ever, and it's the most stunning pinball machine I've ever seen. And it's maybe one of the best theme integrated pins on on a lot of levels. To me, what they need to work on, I think they need to get a Beetlejuice soundike person to do some fun call outs because what it's missing right now, like you know how Bele juice when he gets up, come on, man. Like that's a terrible, but you could find someone that could kind of almost nail it. And I think they need more call outs in the game that are are speaking about the game itself and the gameplay itself. Uh, you know, Evil Dead obviously has that in spades. And, you know, our thoughts and prayers are with Bruce Campbell, who announced this week that he is, uh, has been diagnosed with cancer. F cancer. I hate it. Sucks. I've lost too many friends to cancer, too many family members. The call outs are turned off. Oh, are there call outs that are So, maybe they weren't on Fizzy because I don't think I don't think Frank touched the game. So, that's interesting. So, Oh, that's so interesting.
    10:37
    It's a new character. I don't know if you're allowed to introduce a new character. You know what I'm saying? Remember when Jersey Jack was throwing like their own people into Godfather? I don't I don't know if that's like I don't think that flies with a licensed game.
    10:57
    Bug said he doesn't like the call outs and it is better without it. Well, okay. I got another idea. Make the call outs better.
    11:08
    You know what I'm saying? Like, okay, that can't be the only solution is I don't You DON'T LIKE YOUR OWN CALL OUTS, BUG? YOU MADE THE CALL OUTS. WHAT? WHAT? WAIT, WAIT, WAIT. You made call outs for your own game. You don't even like them. Then, then then come out with a different strategy.
    11:30
    There a special spirit that guides you done in house. Well, yeah. I mean, that's the thing. It's like, you know, call outs, I I I will say this, really good voice actors, they're not cheap. And writing a good script for pinball callouts. And here's the thing, too. Making sure the you're in the studio with the person and and you don't stop until they nail the call out like that. Like, you go back and hear the call outs on Medieval Madness and Attack from Mars. are so much better than anything going into most of these modern games. It's incredible. It's incredible. You know, you see some of the some of the voice acting in modern pinball is just so bad. And it's sad. It you know, it was always sad to me that they didn't get Adam West to do way more cool call outs for Batman 66. It was really like whoever was guiding that process really dropped the ball. I mean, they didn't even get him to say, "Holy, you know, like, holy pinball robin in SLE." Like, they didn't even get him to do a call out for the SL. Like, when you booted up the SLE, they easily could have had him say something about one of you've got one of 80 SLEs. You know what I'm saying? Like, why not?
    12:51
    Okay. Well, Franchie said Warner Brothers wouldn't allow them to do a a Beetlejuice sound alike. So, you know, there you go. The um you know, once you hear the realities of of working with a license holder, it is what it is. You know, many things I want to do at work I can't do because my clients say no. I just or our lawyer says no. And then it's shut down. It's absolutely shut down. Like I suggested, we're doing a World Cup campaign. Wanted to work with Tim Howard. He's a a a he was the World Cup goalie for the US team last time around. Can't work with him because he called Trump a racist. That's it. Can't work with him. We're not with Look, I'm not here to get into a political thing, but like, you know, brand doesn't want to go any a brand that's selling a lot of product to, you know, Trump Trump fans can't work with a guy that says Trump's a racist. Done. Good. We'll find someone else. Um All right. So, here's the thing. Here's the thing. We got Beetlejuice most stunning game of all time. You got to go Buttercinet. I I you know, Spooky should give me a little bit of commission how much I push Buttercinet, but it is insane. Like, yes, it is better than the Jersey Jack Radcow. Now, don't get me wrong, I love me a good Jersey Jack Radcow. I love it. It's It's great. I love the decals that are on uh Barrels of Fun games. Ever stood up to a Barrels game? This amazing. It's embarrassing that Stern doesn't have something similar. I mean, when you think about it, like, why is it that I'm about to spend $13,000 on a Pokemon le and it's going to the the cabinet decals are going to be applied by two guys with a with a like a squeegee and this cheap little flimsy sticker? Like, it's just come on, Stern. Like, did you lose the technology that allowed you to have a decal like Batman 66LE? Did you lose that technology? It doesn't matter in a lineup if you won't see butter. Don't put this game in a lineup.
    15:07
    I mean it when I say don't put this game in a lineup. This game deserves to be in a space of its own.
    15:17
    All right, so I look I'm um let's talk market value of Beetlejuice moving forward. Okay. So, I think um we're learning a lesson here in in hype and FOMO and market value. I want to I want to talk about this for a minute. I would love your guys' opinions about this. I think what's happening in pinball in general is there's just only oh so much you like only oh so much product that you can expect to move around $10,000 or more and the amount of games now that are so expensive it's starting to feel like a successful Stern Ali I mean like a Stern Elite that's a smash hit that as demand may only hold at 13,000. You know, the days of like CO's over, CO's over. These pinball companies are all turned back on and there's so many of them now. I think if you buy a Stern Ali and two years later it's still worth 13, like you you're you're that might be like what Pokemon's fate is. I think Jaws le is going to sink down to 10. I think King Kong El's are going to be like 7500 soon. John Wix 7,000. Venom 7,000. Um, Pokemon Ellie is selling for 20K all day. Many sales. No, it's not. No, not anymore, man. Where Where are these $20,000 Pokemon sales happening? Where are they happening? Because I see games unsold for 18. So, I don't believe that. I maybe distros are doing it and they're not documented. I don't think there's like a ton of Pokemon le selling for 20k all day long. Give me your email and I'll show you. I sold two. Okay. Space. I don't like I mean I don't I don't deny it, but did you sell them on pinite or or how did you sell them? That's my question. How did you sell them? I I also think Yeah, maybe last week. I don't think now
    17:41
    I I just I want to know how this guy where he sold them because I I and you you sold two. I sold one on pinside and one pre-sold last week. So, I don't I don't deny that you sold them. I what I but I think here's the thing, man. A lot can happen in a week. And so a week ago, 100% I think you got your 20k for those two games, but now you're not getting 20k cuz now so many dudes are listing their games for 20k. Like remember like about four days ago about 10 spots went up on pinside for 20k. So I think now it's a race to the bottom. So now 18k Pokemons are sitting there. Now there's two at 18 and they're both sitting there. Now if both of those here's the thing. If both of those 18 sell like this this weekend then they might go back up to 20. You see what I'm saying? Because then those people have been like, "Well, we priced it too low. You know, it went too fast." But I think those 18 guys are looking at all those for sale at 20 not moving and they're like, "I don't know. I want my money." And people want to get out before the game ships. Retro Jeno in the house. Jen is do you know what it feels like loving someone that's in a rush to throw you away? Do you know what it feels like to be the last one to know the lock on the door has changed? I always like that Enrique line was always a little creepy and weird. Like how would you know you're the last one to know the lock on the door has changed. You know what I'm saying? Like maybe there was another dude she was banging after you Enrique who actually was the last one to find out the lock on the door has changed. You know what I'm saying? Like maybe I just found out the lock changed and it's been like years. H.
    19:49
    All right. So, here we go. This week, 18K on the pin side. I won't lie, I wish I trade it for Beetlejuice Plus cash. I was offered
    20:00
    um collectors don't. Okay, so we got Tolbert in here and we've got Okay, here's the thing, people. You know, collectors want to collect what they want to collect
    20:20
    and Winchester is the best game of the three. I look, here's the deal. I I think we're in a space now where arguing these semantics and these subjective things to this level is silly. I think Winchester is a really cool game. I don't get any real like I don't have nearly as much connection to Winchester as I do to Pokemon and as I do to Beetlejuice. So Winchester is let me let me put I the reason why and people think like oh I'm mad I didn't get in on a W. Don't no I'm not. I'm very happy that I didn't steal someone's spot cuz I would have scalped my Winchester. I would have sold it over. And last time I checked, I got a buddy trying to sell one Winchester for 20 GK. No offers yet. See, I think Winchester is going to be this funny game where like when you guys finally get it, let's talk about it for a minute. When was Winchester revealed to the world? When? Pinball Expo, right? What date was that? Let's ask you guys to do some math. What date was Winchester revealed to the world?
    21:48
    Yeah, Kale made $50,000 off his Godzilla while these guys are trying to hunt down a Winchester.
    21:57
    Okay. October. Okay. Almost. How many months ago was that? Let's do the math, people. What's up, Dana? We got no sad boy. We got no donations. We got no money yet. What? You guys run out of money? All you scalpers, this guy in here just This guy in here, where where's where's our boy at? You just sold Let's Let's Let's call him out by name. And not a single donation. Where is he? Where is he? Space Space Ace80, bro. Space Ace8. Thank you, Fizzy. Space Ace80. This dude sold two Pokemons for 20 grand. How much is that in profit? $14,000, bro. For doing nothing and not a single penny towards Canada. We're going to shame you, you scalper. Um, Dune had a big resurgence. What? Chris L. Man, I don't know how much money David Vaness has paid you to to insert your head so far up his rear end. Brother, I love you, but you are like out of your mind. Dune has had a big resurgence. No, no, no. Yeah. How could you resurge when you're when you missed your when you missed your sales target by 50%. Yeah, man. We we we we WANTED TO SELL THE THOUSAND. We couldn't get 500 orders. THERE'S SAD BOY, BABY COMING IN. Coming in, sad boy, right now. He didn't even have to like He didn't even scalp two Pokemons. Do I have to do this? Do I have to do I've been up since four o'clock in the morning talking to Melvin, talking to people in Europe. Look at this. The truth. Carth Kareth. Look at this. We just got a hundred bucks. Brenda's sake intact, baby. Oh man, I met Bruce. Yeah, love for Bruce, baby. Does anyone know what cancer he has? What stage it is? Because all that really does matter a lot. You know, I look, I heard Transformers has the greatest mech Stern has ever made in it. And this is coming from a designer over at Stern. You know what I'm saying? And like that that gets me really excited.
    24:31
    I think scalpers are morren chase Tolbert. You sound like you're very rich, brother. Is dude is 14,000 for doing nothing chump change m I mean I don't know man. Thank you for the stars Ted. I love you. I don't know man. I don't know. Like if you want if someone wants to give me their if someone if someone considers 14,000 chump change then just you know come on PayPal me your chump change.
    25:02
    Azie man, you missed the greatest 24 minutes in pinball content. No, you didn't miss much. All right, so here's the deal. Here's the deal. Let's let's talk about
    25:16
    if you're if you've been working for 25 years and invested wisely. Well, yeah. I mean, look, Tolbert, I'm just I'm just saying. Look, man. Look, man. I I I could drive a $100,000 Dodge Demon and say $14,000 is chump change. But if I can make $14,000 in one day off the books, these people aren't paying taxes on that, bro. That's not chump change, bro. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, it's all relative. But I mean, because you got to remember that Tolbert 14 grand for like five minutes of work, bro. That's the most expensive. That That's as much as like a heavyweight fighter gets paid per round. I mean, per second, you know? I don't know. I'm not even know what I'm saying now, but you know what I'm saying is no work was done.
    26:06
    Um, all right. So, here's the thing. Here's this thing. Let me let me put a pin on. Let's talk about the Pokemon gameplay stream because Stern came out of nowhere and just like did you notice how weird that was? They came out of nowhere and just like put up that stream, which by the way was filmed like two weeks ago, by the way. And and it wasn't live and it was pre-recorded and they clearly had to get it approved by the Pokemon Company. I'm watching the stream and I'm, you know, I didn't want to watch all of it. I never watch all the streams. I don't want the whole game to be spoiled and I jackpot jackpot. Jackpot jackpot. But I will say this, the game looked like a fun shooter. The fears of a long ball time were erased pretty pretty early on watching that stream and it looks fun to shoot. Like no, no doubt about it. The part and I keep saying this. This is the game where like getting the pro is idiotic. And I I I love that like everything is taken out of the game. They the only thing they leave in is Meowith, which to me is like they they obviously couldn't take that out. But everything else they remove the magnet, the ramp that lifts up, the Pikachu that moves and talks and tracks I mean and tracks the ball. The other one talks. They took out, you know, the subway. They took out the the sneak the sneaky like back door entrance. They took out the S squirtle whirlpool. They took out everything. They took out the magnet. They took out everything. They literally took out everything. No, the magnet's not in the pro. This is the most stripped down pro ever. And just because just because the big thing is in the middle, they took out everything else.
    27:59
    And it's just funny to me that people are like, "Pro is the way to go. Pro's the way to go. No, no. Pros are pros are for hose on this one. It's a stripped down Ellie. I don't even understand what that means. I think this LA looks phenomenal. I think it looks phenomenal. I can't wait to get it. Yeah, but yes, it is not a loaded game. I Nobody Look, you should unsubscribe and never follow my content again. And if if you do not see me coming out here being like they loaded up Pokemon, there's no drop targets. There's no the they didn't even make the Pokeball open up people. I mean, when I think about maybe to me that's more of an egregious crime than the rubber ducky Jaws toy that doesn't eat the ball. The fact that Stern Pinball with all of its engineers and all of its what is it now 40 years of making pinball machines. They have 40 years of pinball making machine experience. They could not get them to open up the Pokeball to release the Pokemon into battle. Think about that for a minute. This is saddest, you know. And in a way, like when you see it just all does is this. This is all they could do with all the engineers. Ready? Ready? Wait for it. The biggest pinball company in the world. All they could do was make the Pokeball do this. Ready? Wait for it. You see it? Every time Every time I get $50, I'll shake it again.
    29:47
    George Gomez, 40 years of making pinball machines. Pokemon all about throwing down your Pokeball that opens up to release your pocket monster. Let's not make it open up. Let's just make it do this.
    30:04
    Let's have a moment of silence for Stern Engineering that couldn't figure out how to do that. Let's do it again and do one minute every every 10 seconds. So, we're going to just do a little Charmander shake in a as a as a sort of um a moment of silence for the stern engineers that couldn't figure out the easiest thing in the world to do. Ready?
    31:35
    Okay. I mean, and then go over and look at the worm mech in Beetlejuice. Go look at the worm mech in that game. When I stood over Beetlejuice for the first time, I I that was the thing. I was like, "What? How could How could Spooky Pinball make this? I didn't think they were capable of it." And I get that there's a little bit of just like, you know, there's a little playing around with angles and geometry and physics to, you know, when when when you shoot the ball into the worm's mouth, you're not quite sure it's going to work, but it does. like I would it goes in like they they made it so it works. Um and I'm like looking at that I'm looking at you know the um God it's just it's just funny to me. Anyway,
    32:41
    yeah, Berto had a good point. Like they could have had it's like there was a screen inside the Pokeball so when you open it up it shows the character that's about to go into battle. That could that would have been cool.
    32:57
    You know look again for this much money there's stuff you could do. The other thing that's like sad is that the Pokeball also when your Poke Monster when your pocket monster is done battling, the Pokeball can pick up your Pokemon with like the red beam of light. They didn't even engineer that. I mean, you got to remember this is a company that Godzilla does nothing and Jaws doesn't eat the ball and everybody accepted that. So, like I don't know. What's up, Ian at Nudge, man? All right, let's let's go on. Look, Pokemon's going to do just fine. It's going to be a game that's going to be around forever. It's going to make a million bucks on location and Ellies are going to hold value. I think Ellies are going to hold around like 16 to 17,000 will be where they net out. You're not going to see them at 10k people. It's still Pokemon. Like, don't be silly. And look, they only made 750 Pokemon, the biggest IP in the world, where they have a thousand John Wicks out there. So, like, come on, man. This thing is gonna hold just fine. Um, you don't have to bet. Just enjoy the adoration. Okay, so here's the deal. Here's the deal. Um, let's just switch gears real quick to American Pinball. I am going to talk with Brian over there. Really nice guy. Um, I haven't spoken to anyone at the new AP management. I, you know me, I know Melvin
    34:37
    and I'm I'm going to have a very great conversation with these guys. I'm really happy they're in the in the driver's seat and I think I've got a lot of thoughts, you know, for them and I want to give them some really solid advice and I think they've come out of the gate a little too quickly and I think they've made decisions
    35:01
    that they've told us about, but I'm not sure they had a full vision or plan for everything before they started talking to content creators and and now this week I saw the new logo and yeah, you know, I I just I don't like it. I don't like it. Here's why. And it's not even like Americana like that. It's just it's not even like designed well. There's literally like gaps in the letters that aren't right there. There's literally spacing mistakes on it. And and here's the thing. I could get a couple of my junior designers in two hours to come back with 10 options each. That would blow that away. And and this is, you know, I'm going to talk to Brian about all this. Like this is it, man. Like you get a you get a chance to rebuild a company. All of these details matter. And I know in their minds they're like, "Well, we're just going to get to we want to make good pins, but dude, trust me, you don't want this logo on your t-shirts. You don't would you wear that as a t-shirt?" And I've always said this, the t-shirt test is everything with a logo. And you know, you can't get really just cavalier about your logo. Do you know how much time Steve Jobs put into getting the Apple logo right? How many books have been written about coming to the Nike swoosh? So like when people get like, oh, it doesn't matter. It's just a lo like and the way that this company just keeps changing its logo every few months. Like it doesn't matter. Like no, stop. Stop. Stop. I I don't I don't think this is how you do it. Like, and here's my advice to everybody over at American. You know, I haven't talked to you yet. I'm sure you guys are amazing people with great intentions, but I if I asked you right now, what is your game plan and who are you learning from? So, if you're going to come back from being pretty much, you know, you were a company that was run by a guy that was like the laughing stock of pinball, right? LA, like made some of the worst business decisions ever. And you, you know, you're going to resurrect this thing. I'm fine with that. But you got to leave you got to leave some room for there to be mystery. And you've got to leave people wanting more. And I will say, you know, hearing some of the interviews and seeing the new logo, the logo doesn't make me want to. I I I mean it. Every little detail you do, every little move you make has more of a significant impact than you realize. And that is why I think where these pinball companies get it all wrong is they stop thinking like we're creating a brand and all they think about is the tactical execution of the machine and they think that's all that matters. But it's not true. It's not true. And the last thing you want to do because imagine this. Imagine you make a Porsche 911 that's gorgeous. It's the sexiest car ever. And then as the logo, you put a donkey, you know, sticking out of the hood, the front hood of the car. Would you want to do that?
    38:45
    Well, Franchie, you know, text me, brother. Give me all your scoops, bro. I franch I mean, do you want to say the scoop here? Like, I don't know what you want me to do. I'm just I I'm I'm speaking and so I I don't I I am not always following the chat in real time. So I don't know if you want to text me the scoop. I don't know if you want to say it here, but if you want to say it here, the floor is yours. I You don't have to I I don't know what you want, man. But I'm going to look. All I'm going to say is this. If I was American Pinball. All right. So tell us right now what's the scoop other than the first game back I hear is Circus Voltater.
    39:33
    I did some brand new art for AP in the past month or something coming.
    39:40
    Okay. Is it He-Man? All right. Well, that's a good scoop, Frenchie, man. I mean, I thought you were like spooky. Okay, that's all you can say, Ben. I Well, I look I look,
    40:18
    I understand why they're doing remakes, you know, getting the the the new folks up to speed on on manufacturing. But here's my thing, and this is just my personal opinion. So all all of what I'm about to say now is my personal opinion only. I don't think you pave the way for a new chapter in a new company by looking backwards. I don't think remaking Rick's games is a wise decision. I think that you could do that and I think Rick has been trying to find different manufacturers to park his barge next to forever. I don't care anymore about Circus Voltater or Todden coming Todden's coming from Padre Gaming, you know, get ready to uh take it out of the box already rusted. Theater of Magic coming back, Twilight Zone. I I don't care. These games are not hard to get. They're not going to satisfy anybody in the modern pinball world. I mean this. They had a place in time. And in that place in time, all of these games were magical. These games were designed in the '9s to give you a few minutes of pinball fun. Nobody was bringing games into their home. These games were meant to pull you away from all the video games in the arcade and that's why they were coded the way they were coded. Nobody was like, I'm going to be playing Circus Voltater 6 months from now in my house. No. remaking these games in 2026 is a losing proposition financially, emotionally, metaphorically, spiritually, literally, you know, analytically. Like, it's so these games, it's like nature. It's like I feel like I I you know what I'm saying? I feel like Dr. Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park. I I I feel like Jeff Goldbolum. These games had their time and nature selected them to go obsolete. These games are all obsolete and every time they try to remake them, every time they try to put new art or new code, it doesn't work. You'll sell a few, don't get me wrong, but they're not good enough and they're not built for the home market. And the problem now is you're gonna try to sell a game that's easy to get at eight or 10.
    43:05
    You're going to try to sell it for $10,000 or more. And it's not going to be built as well as it was in the B Williams days. It's not you. Nobody in modern times is building a game as good as Bali Williams.
    43:23
    So, I just think that this and of course Rick wants you to make these games and of course Rick talked you into these deals, but now on the on the moment you wanted me to get excited about the new American pinball, you decided to establish your new company by making an old 30-year-old product that is not going going to work well in the modern pinball world. You know what I'm saying? So, I again, not that's their decision. It's their prerogative. And I don't think it's going to like do anything other than train their staff on how to make games. But I just And you got to remember this. So, by the time we get to American Pinball's Circus Voltater, and by the time we get to Pedretti Gaming's Todden, which is coming out this year, by the time we get another Twilight Zone. Cool. What happens when you release that game? When Sonic the Hedgehog comes out, and Sonic the Hedgehog is going to be the best shooting Steve Richie game ever. It's going to be the coolest Jersey Jack pinball machine of all time. What are you going to want to buy? What do you want to buy? And it's going to have I mean Sonic the Hedgehog is going to come out with basically fully coded game. Oh, and if that doesn't float your boat then Transformers generation one or would you like to go play Circus Voltater and after 30 minutes because you're so used to and also you've been conditioned for like for modern you've been conditioned by modern pinball machines. That's what you expect when you buy a game. Believe me, I bought a Toaden, a Tales of the Arabian Knights. It's a stunning game. I couldn't wait to get rid of it because it was just like there's nothing else to do. you see the end of the game so easily every single day like and with if with just because you got to remember these games were designed for someone on a good ball in an arcade in 199 like two to four. It was designed so that you could beat the game in the arcade if you had a good ball. That's it. The these were not designed to sit in your home and play it over and over and over again.
    46:10
    The other thing is this, any any true collector and and again this isn't cars, but like any true collector is going to want the Bali Williams game made by Bali Williams.
    46:27
    Unless you really, really, really, really make it nicer like CGC did with some of their titles. But here's the thing now. CGC's quality is gone to [ __ ] Sorry to curse, but CGC's quality is like off the deep end. They mailed out cabinets to people with Bondo on it. They didn't even sand it down. I don't know what happened over at TGC, but you're not getting what you were getting when you were unboxing the original Attack from Marses and Monster Bashes or the original Medieval Madnesses,
    47:06
    you know. So, I um I I'm I'm going to have a really great conversation with Brian. And Brian, you know, like, man, it's just like I mean, this is what I do for a living, you know? I mean, help help brands bring things to market. This is a new American pinball, right? They're coming to market. I guarantee you there is nobody on that team that has any true marketing experience.
    47:37
    So, this is what you get. you just get like a lot of like, you know, a a lot of stuff hitting the market and communications happening and nobody's really got a vision and a plan for it. And you know, and I can't wait to talk to them because my whole thing with them is this. It's like you guys have a golden opportunity. You now have been able to observe this industry now for a very long time. You understand what works, what doesn't. and you understand what games have launched in a way that made them pop. You've you've seen games been dead on arrival. What And you know, if I walked in there to and talked to Brian and Ronald and Melvin, all of them, all three, what what have you guys learned that you think is valuable as we start the next chapter of American Pinball? These are the kind of questions you need to ask. I I I know you got the money. It's not about the money. It's like, what have you learned that you want to be the foundation for how people perceive American Pinball 2.0? What's working for us? For us, for us, what's working for us and what's working against us? Have they done like a a SWAT analysis like that? And really really, you know, who do we want to be like, right? Who do we want to be like?
    49:10
    If if I'm like, if I'm them, my target 100%. And I write the name real big on the wall. This is who we're chasing. And it would be Spooky Pinball. That's it. Spooky Pinball has shown everybody like this is how you do it. Spooky Pinball didn't remake anyone else's stuff. Has Spooky Pinball ever remade someone else's game? Has Spooky Pinball ever looked backwards? Right. Did they bring out another Rick and Morty when they could have? No. They held true to their promise. Remember, Stern lied to us. Stern has lied to the community many, many times when they said they were never going to do something. They did it because they could have made because if there was money to be made, they did it and they burned their customers. Why do you think we see so many Kissle's up for sale right now? Because all of those guys who were told there was never going to be another Kissle and they're diehard Kiss fans. They know they're about to get burned. Burned. And they're all trying to get out now. They never wanted to sell those. Nobody listening to Kissle right now wanted to ever let it go. They have to let it go because when the remastered one happens, their games are gonna tank and then they're gonna have to buy the rem that they have to buy their very own game again. Think about how crappy that is. Let me tell you something, Azie. I know for a fact that there was a very serious conversation at Spooky Pinball. They will not deny this because it happened. I have spoken to someone who was in the room. They were very much considering
    51:00
    making a new layout of Rick and Morty and keeping the code. And that way they could have said it was like a new game. And they thought about it because they realized they had left millions of dollars on the table. and they came to the conclusion that it would be better for us in the long run to stay true to our word than to take that money and burn our customers. Now, you tell me in this shitty world we live in now, and I don't mean it. Look, it's shitty on every side. Don't get me wrong, I'm going to I'm going to go off on a little bit of a rant here. All All All the world is [ __ ] now, right? It's [ __ ] wars going on. The rich got a lot richer. Everyone else, we we screwed them over. Can't Kids can't afford anything. Houses or salaries are [ __ ] All these companies are merging to become massive company. Like the more the more companies fire people, the more profit they make. So the more the stock goes up while everyone else is left handing like nothing. So he just f over everybody so Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and a few tech guys can be worth trillions of dollars while they fire tens of thousands of employees, pregnant women, families, or so this is corporate America now. No, no loyalty. You know, the whole reason you're a billionaire [ __ ] is because you're supposed to help out the world. And when you like, okay, and don't get me started on everything else happening in the world. And and look, I hate all sides of it. I think all politicians are scumbags. I think all political parties are broken. I think everyone's a liar. Every, you know, if you think he's bad, they're just as bad, right? Nobody's innocent in this world of like politics. Okay? So, that is why when I see a little company in Benton, Wisconsin, make a decision that is ethically the right one, morally the right one, and just the right human thing to do. So when I now have a chance to spend money, of course I'm going to get a Beetlejuice. Now look, I also do believe in something else. Forgiveness. I think Stern is never going to do it again. Now I'm actually, as I said that, I'm just like, well, isn't Kiss Remastered that? you know, they've got this annoying loophole and like it's not this if it's not exactly the same game, then it's not, you know, another we're not remaking more of that Ellie. It's the new Ellie. Like, I get it. I like this is Seth Davis implemented this and I I think it's Seth's biggest mistake amongst a few other mistakes of passing on some of the biggest titles ever that people love. I think it was a humongous mistake for them to even go down this road. I don't think Stern realizes the long-term damage this has done to their brand. You know, because reputation, and I know this better than anybody, reputation can be killed in an instant and take an eternity to repair. And and that's a lesson for everybody. And luckily, you know, Canad's pinball journey, I've I've made some mistakes throwing a drink in Tim Ston's face, having a few too many during some of the awards shows, but I don't think I've ever done anything like where I've lied to anybody. Have I ever lied to any of you? Have I ever lied about something I was going to do, then I didn't? Like I'm gonna give away those five Beetlejuice machines at MSRP. Those are not going to get scalped. Those are not going to get What have I lied about, Frenchie? Franchie is gonna be like, "You said you weren't going to share the French. I didn't share the arts. I I might have given it someone someone else put it up. It wasn't me."
    55:16
    Yeah. I mean, I like He promised he wouldn't share it. It's okay, Franchie. But Franchie, you got to admit, you got to admit, you got to admit the this the karma around all that ended up you might still be there, Franchie. You know what I'm saying? And it wasn't that it all happened. You know, look, good things came out of all that. And I'm glad you're here. The Ralph test text. What Ralph text? I lied about a Ralph text. Oh, that was a joke though. That wasn't a Dude, I wasn't lie. That was clearly a joke from the very beginning. Dude, thank you Azie for the for the Brenda bottle of Saki. We're going to go get a nice bottle with that one.
    56:05
    I did not get Franchie sacked. I um Oh, Brenda, don't block me in. Don't don't don't. I'm gonna have
    56:17
    I I think we know how happy you are, Franchie. Frenchie, I'm I'm really happy for you, man. And I'm happy that we are friends again. And I'm happy that Cliff Albert, Do you guys hear Cliff Albert's interview, by the way? Can we talk about that for a minute? Um, Cliff, you know, I I I I what I loved about the interview, you know, I I Hold on one second.
    56:47
    Babe, sweetie. Babe. Hey, after they go in, can you just I can't get you out first. I'm up here. Could you not block me in? Love you.
    57:01
    You can't You can't order me to get you
    57:01
    You can't You can't order me to get you like that, Killian. No. No.
    57:14
    Who's Cliff Albert? He did um he did the podcast on Dirty Pool's podcast was Jeff's show. What is Brenda doing? The door is open.
    57:37
    Just watching her park. Irish women with a big minivan makes me so nervous. Like these Irish these little Irish ladies were raised to drive these little hatchbacks. Driving a huge mini. She's Oh my god.
    57:58
    Okay. Here's the thing. The interview's funny. You should listen to it because it it goes I I've heard so many pinball podcasts. I got to be honest. I'm I'm kind of bored of pinball interviews. I I don't really do them anymore. And you know, some of them are good, some of them are whatever. But this one's probably one of the most entertaining, you know, because I think a lot of times people like listen to interviews and they want to be informed. They're like, "I get it. I get it. It was hard to work with the licenser. I get it. Yeah, we thought about doing that, but it wasn't fun." Like, they're all they're all kind of the same. And then Cliff comes out and he's like, "My favorite um you know, Harlem Globe Trotters is an amazing pinball machine. My aunt like had sex with a couple of them." And I'm like I'm like right there, man. You win. You win. You hear Killian. He's ringing the doorbell. The dog's going crazy.
    58:54
    Put the Put the logo out there. Shows incredible bad judgment. what kind of decisions will be made. Okay, so John Erlick, I I want I I John, I agree with you 100%. And I'm just going to I'm going to I'm going to text Brian after this. If you think this logo is good, what it does is it telegraphs and and and I look I for lack of a better way to say this that you don't have good taste and and I but what I heard internally was like they're just like, "Yeah, yeah, whatever. It's just a logo. Like, let's just get on to making great games." I'm like, "But that's my thing. It's it's like a stain on a white shirt. Like you could have the most impeccable white shirt But if there's a stain right here, it it could be a $10,000 hand silk, whatever. That's the problem with looking at that logo after everything. You know, you're going to you you want that on every trend. It just says if these guys think this is good enough, then what is my confidence that they will make the right tasteful decisions moving forward? John, I couldn't agree more. And this is what I tell my clients. This is what I tell people at work. These details matter. And I'm a stickler for the details. And this is why you need I I mean this. You need like professionals who know what they're doing. You can't just like hand over the reins to people that have never done marketing, never done branding. This is a branding exercise. This is a branding exercise. Okay. You know what I would have done if I was Brian and and you know what is it Ronald over there and Melvin? Put up all the logos of all the pinball companies on the wall. Put them all up on the wall.
    60:49
    All right. This is This is like these we love these suck. Yeah. I mean, Frenchie, I here's the thing, Branchie. I think your logo worked well with the whole like Galactic Tank Force kind of vibe going on. Um, and it's unfortunate because I think your logo got like connected to that game, but I look I I think it's a new company, new logo. I think they should do they should do it justice. I think they're going to like now, you know, I was telling Melvin, I'm like, "Look, man. Like, you might not like the logo. You might like the logo. I don't know how Melvin feels about the logo, but I it wasn't his decision either. A lot of you like Melvin is coming into this company after so many decisions have already been made. I think hiring him was the best decision they've made. Absolutely. But my point is I think they're going to change this new logo. And the reason why is because of this because and this is why I am so protective over this and my freedom to say how I feel about it because you know what I'm saying like if I sign an NDA or I'm like you know that's why you have to be all or nothing. You know what I'm saying? saying like if a pinball company wants me to be a consultant, that might be something that I I explore, but my ability to publicly say, "I don't like this logo. I think this logo is more significant than you think because it telegraphs that we might not have good taste and we're not going to make good decisions and it doesn't pass the t-shirt test." Like, no one wants to wear this on their t-shirt. Don't say this is good enough. Don't rush past your logo. Don't Don't even go out and start interviewing people and telling them you're making ballet classics. Don't Why would you say that already? You haven't really delivered the story yet. You know what I'm saying? So already you want me to think it's a new company, but you've already got me focused on the past. And then the rest of the communication was all around how we're still going to show support for the atrocious games David Fix made. I does that feel like a new company?
    63:15
    Again, there's a reason why I think my bill rate is somewhere over the, you know, in excess of like hundreds hundreds of hundreds of dollars an hour. I'm I've been doing this for 26 years. I'm not just this is not new to me. Also, like gang, and I think most of you agree with me, which shows me this, most of you are not in marketing. You don't have market. You don't need marketing. The best marketing in the world is common sense. You will never have a more valuable skill set in this world than common sense. Common sense. Okay? You know, I don't need to be here and I got 26 years of market. Yeah. Yeah, I do. But common sense. Even if I didn't, I could see that's not that's not where we should stop if we're trying to rebrand this company, establish a new vision, and and get people excited about what we have coming down the line. Did have has anything they've said or done so far made you excited? Anything? The logo hasn't. Remaking old games hasn't. Announcing you're going to continue to make code updates on David Fix's like tragedies. Nothing. Nothing.
    64:28
    I almost feel like you're talking to me. I'm spinning something up. I need a logo. But guys, you could go to Fiverr. Do you know what Fiverr is? Fiverr is a freelance resource where you could put out a bid, not a lot of money, and get some of the most talented graphic designers that are out there to make you a bunch of logos to choose from that you own.
    64:57
    The world is filled with incredible artists that would that need work. And look, I hope you guys understand like none none of this I'm saying like is like this isn't rocket science here. I'm not picking on anybody. But the moment you put stuff out there, it's open for interpretation, interrogation, and opinions. And that is why it's like that is what scares me is that you guys these companies you sat in an office and you said a good name for this company is Barrels of Fun. I still don't like that company name. It's stupid. It's stupid. Like it Barrels of Fun. I I I get that people are talking about it and I again I think that's another thing. It's like, well, it got people's attention, and I get it, but you know, and now everyone's just calling you Bof. Okay,
    65:59
    I think Stern makes sense. Jersey Jack makes total sense. Spooky Pinball makes sense. I like those names. I like those brands. I like how each of those companies has their distinct branding. Yeah, but being remembered isn't all that matters. You know what I'm saying? I remember the Pontiac Aztec.
    66:27
    we remember every pinball company. You know what I'm saying? Is is P3 multimorphic? I don't I don't like I never like that branding. I can never tell which one it was. Like Jerry like is it multimorphic? Is it is P3 is the PL? like the whole thing.
    66:48
    Um, Chicago Gaming Company, I like, you know, whatever. Simple. Get it. Not exciting, but not, you know. Homepin, terrible. Deeproot, the worst. Easily the worst. Speaking of Deep Root, have you guys seen Robert Mueller's latest excuse that he was conned? This is amazing. This is an amazing uh it was just put up before I did the show that Robert Mueller is not the criminal. He was the one who was wrongfully swindled into buying these insurance scams. What what I mean it the the level of ridiculousness of this thing like oh I he paid $4 million for some insurance thing that a dude paid $800,000 for. So now now he's the vict. He's the victim. He literally, this is like he's he's a he's a classic narcissistic sociopath which makes himself the victim to his own crimes.
    68:01
    I It's amazing. It's amazing. And he blames everybody but himself. He's like, "I was about to be able to release the pinball machines until they made me bankrupt the company.
    68:22
    It's weird. Sounds like a Isn't that like a Wasn't it? Yeah, cuz it was a book first, right, Todd?
    68:31
    I have a friend who's making that Merlin game. I don't know where it is, man. I mean, I He's never shown me a single Whitewood. I hope it's I've seen the artwork. It's awesome. Matt Andrews did the artwork on it. Um, but his company's name is really cool. It's perfect. The logo is amazing. The name is amazing. It's perfect. I'm surprised nobody's thought of it. Um, well, who else is out there? Dutch pinball. Yeah, Dutch, you know, DP. DP man stand for a lot of things, right? Um, let's talk about Dutch real quick. If a pinball company offered you a commission on games sold, would you be their promoter? No.
    69:20
    No. I I I I spent a career calling out the content creators that were getting kickbacks and were not transparent about it. I It's not my thing. It's not my thing.
    69:44
    I I I to me the moment a content creator like myself who's built a community for the last 13 years on speaking to you candidly and in an unbiased way. I would I couldn't do that with integrity and and then be promoting a game. That That's why I always say to people like I'm not opposed to one day maybe transitioning into like a a career in pinball, but the moment that happens like the podcast would have to stop unless I was brought in as some sort of consultant. But even then, I mean, you have to understand the difficulty with that because All right, let's just say this, right? American Pinball wants to kick me. Um, but let's just talk in hypotheticals, right? Because I I like talking in hypotheticals. Let's just say American Pinball wants to give me some money to consult, right? Well, let's just let's just throw out a number. $10,000 to come in here, you know, give us like um an analysis of of our organization, some ideas, some recommendations, and and also like as we're developing things, we would love you to come in and give us like your point of view on stuff and and you know, both from a creative standpoint and a marketing standpoint because, you know, we we appreciate your your opinions. You seem to have a good sense of how people are going to respond to uh our brand and these products. Okay. So, let's just say the $10,000.
    71:21
    So, let's say I take that money and I agree to that arrangement and I go in there and I do that and then I
    71:31
    have a podcast that every week I'm talking to you and I love I love this community. I love the community and the trust I've built with the people that listen. And then let's say they do something, they release a product like Circus Voltater and I'm like my freedom to give my unbiased opinions about that product are now no longer
    71:56
    present. I I would absolutely feel an obligation not to be honest about it or to be reserved in my expression, if you will. Now, here's where it gets interesting. There's no such thing as anybody that's unbiased. All we can do in life is try our best to keep our bias to a minimum. But human beings are human. So I of course have individuals individuals individuals and companies in this hobby that I am friends with that I respect that are my favorites. Okay? I mean, it's just I'm human, you know? I'm not a bot analyzing numbers. So, when when a company is nicer to me and and and gives me access or or at least like engages with me, of course, I'm going to give them a different kind of response than a company that's trying to sue me. and hurt my family and you know blame me for their mistakes. Now those are two extremes but it's I I like you know like I'm friends with you know designers at some of these companies. I'm friends with with some of the financial backers of some of these companies. I'm friends with content creators. I'm friends with distributors and dealers. And I think you guys all know all this. Like I'm never um I'm never secretive about where my friendships lie, but I'm very honest. If you heard my last podcast, I talk all about like here's here are the issues people are having with their Beetlejuicees. Here's the uh feedback I'm I'm seeing on Pokemon. Like people who love Pokemon are like really concerned that you don't train your Pokemon, you don't level them up, you don't um you know, if you don't evolve your Pokemon, have they really captured what the spirit of Pokemon is all about?
    74:25
    I would rather scalp three machines than just tell you I'm going to do it. And let's just say, let's just say hypothetically, I'd rather scalp three Pokemon less and make $21,000
    74:37
    than be paid as a promoter by a dealer and getting kickbacks.
    74:43
    My my issue is like when I try to scalp anything I if you knew how much money David Fix costs me, I never asked I never you know I you most people would have set up a GoFundMe.
    75:02
    New baby, new mortgage. You know what I'm saying? David Fix man screwed me. But you know what? I learned a lesson and I forgave him. And that's the ultimate lesson is I forgave David Fix. That's it. I see him at a show. We're fine. You know what I'm saying? I I don't threaten him. I I'm not hostile towards him. He's not the one that tried to get me kicked out of Expo, you know, is other people. I don't I don't really understand that either. Like I'm like literally seriously people are trying to sell the game and they're like I mean you want to make friends with the content creators who have thousands of followers. You don't want to like go after them. It's weird. You know if I was trying to sell any pinball product everybody who makes content would be my best friend. And that's why certain invites everybody over. I have no problem. I do think they should have a separate sort of in more intimate exposure to their new games with the OG content creators versus like I don't want to walk in there with all those YouTubers. It's not my thing. I have nothing against them though either. Like I really don't care guys. Like when I see a whole bunch of newbies like crowding into Stern to see Pokemon, I'm like, "All right, I got a hot Irish wife. I've got money in the bank. I live in the most amazing little town. I've got great friends. I got a fun job. I've got all my siblings and parents are still alive. I'm going to get upset by that. I don't care. They're just trying to sell their games, guys. You would do the same thing if you were Stern. You do the same thing. Come on, man. You let anyone anyone in who wants to cover it.
    77:01
    You know what's unfortunate is like we've lost a lot of like the great media outlets that used to have more following. Like I, you know, like I feel like a popular science, you know, featureette on Stern would be more valuable than all these little YouTubers.
    77:21
    Jake Danzig is building an Akira pinball machine. How do you feel about that? Yeah, it's cool, man. I look I I've said this a million times. I don't have any ill will towards Jake Danzig. I don't even know Jake Danzig. You know what I'm saying? It's like, so I hope everybody builds an Akira pinball machine, man. I hope he puts some cool ideas in there. And I think that I think we're going to see an Akira pinball machine by by a real manufacturer. What's up, Tux? How you doing, brother? We love you. We hope you're doing well, man. Hope you're feeling well today. But you know what I'm saying is like I I I can't even conjure up any ill will towards someone that I've never interacted with really and and like have no hard feelings towards. So I I believe in karma. I believe in energy. I believe in in in good vibes. Lately I've been more and more about trying to find the right perspective on everything. So, I'll give you an example where I I was at I was having an issue this week, early this week. I was, you know, I I the last year I've been struggling a little bit at work in the sense that I'm really good at coming up with good ideas. I'm really good at uh giving ideas quickly. I'm good at, as you can tell, thinking on the fly. I'm really great at presenting to clients. I'm really great at selling ideas and logistically like the details, the minutiae of getting executions done, you know, that's where I I love the support of the teams we have, but I'm not a great leader of others. I I I have never ever pretended to be. As you can tell, I am much more of like a lonewolf skunk works kind of guy. Like I when I had my culture tap team at my company, I like handpicking a few people and that's it. Like I don't want to have to like tell other people yes or no on their thinking. I don't I don't like leading groups of people to get to something. I don't not not in my industry because it's like to me I want to come up with my ideas. I want to come up with ideas with people that I trust. Now, that doesn't mean I don't like working with teams, but I don't like inheriting other teams. And that's why I'm not like more and more senior and more and more. I get it. I get it. That's a skill set that is a requirement to keep climbing because you got to be able to manage. I I get it. It's just not what I'm good at. It's not how I am. So, you know, over the past like year, they had me in more of a traditional like leadership managerial role, and I really did not enjoy it. It didn't lead me to feeling more motivated. I did I I felt like this isn't what I'm good at. Like people are coming to me for like design, you know, like like they're doing like the type face. I'm like, I'm not a designer. Like that's not exact. That's not my skill set. So then recently they're like, "All right, Chris, we want to like let you go back to being what you do best. You you you know, just be like an be the ideas guy that you you're great at. Like bake ideas and cut me loose a little bit." Okay. So then what happens is they do that and then then all of a sudden I feel like I'm getting left out a little bit of because if you want to be like a lone wolf or be like more independent it means you're not going to be included in all the group things that are happening in terms of meetings and being kept in the loop. And initially I was like what why am I being looped out? Why am I being looped out? you know, and I was like flying off the handle ear and and then and then I was like, "Wait a minute. They gave me what I asked for. They're giving me the autonomy to do the stuff that I do the way I want to do it. As long as I deliver the results that they they Chris, you can't now cry that you're being left out when you told them you don't want to be that other role." And it was all the perspective I was looking at it through. And I was also the other thing that's really hard to do in life. It's really hard to not take things personally. This is probably if I were to say the one piece of advice that anyone who's ever worked in corporate America, anyone who's ever worked with multiple teams across multiple state, the ability to take something the wrong way is all in your own head. They don't they're not like we're not inviting Chris to this meeting and they're why wasn't you like it's so easy to take it as a personal slight than anything. Doc Doc Martin you're bored. All right, Doc. Well, Doc, here's the deal, bro. For being bored, you're gone, bro. I'm kicking you out.
    82:16
    He's [ __ ] You mother I can't even like Mhm. I don't understand what's going on here. Let's see what we got here.
    82:52
    Anyway, guys, sorry I bored you, Doc Mario. you seem like you'd be chill and enjoy. Well, here's the thing. I am, man. I am. I I will say this. I Here's here's the thing is I'm a dude born in 1976, bro. I was a child of the 80s and 90s. I've had work mentors. I I was cut from a different cloth. I'm a social person. I I want to get to know you. I want to go to happy hours. I want us to like enjoy life. And I don't mix well with people that reject my offers to get to know the people. So, let me give you an example. Like junior level people, all right, like let's all go get lunch. No, let's all go to N. And like and that I'm tired of that. I like when I was younger in my career and more senior people wanted to build more of a relationship and a bond. You you cancelled other plans to be there. These these kids don't care. They don't care one bit. Like it's the other way around now. They think like I like it's like the senior people's job to win them over. And like I I'm sorry. It's just not the way like organizations work. It's not the way life works. It's not the way anything works anywhere. And I'm not a jerk about it, but it it's like it's it's also like you here's the other thing. The reason why I again I don't want to be a manager. You can't give in my industry. You it's like you can't give real feedback. You know, I'd always get you you crap on people's ideas. Well, they're not effing good. And sometimes mine are not. And I don't crap on everybody's ideas. But my problem is is like I don't I don't want to like I don't want to like stop what I'm doing trying to bake something and like have to like
    85:23
    some people are good at it, some people are not. And that's my whole thing.
    85:34
    Yeah, man. I mean, look, it's just different people. I I think what I miss what I miss. Do you enjoy shooting pin? Like, is that something you do casually often? Um, yeah. I just don't have as much time as you think. So, here's the thing. with young kids in a house where I don't have like a private basement or it I just can't play much. It just wakes up everybody in the house. So, believe me, that's why I'm so excited to get Pokemon in this house because we're going to play it and we're going to play the hell out of it and we don't no one here wants to play Guns and Roses anymore.
    86:20
    So, you know, I'm really going to teach Killian how to play poke uh play pinball on Pokemon. He's at the right age and it's his like I love this feeling and he's he's so excited because it's his first pinball machine and he's so excited to get it and he's I and and I know this about my son. the moment he feels like this sense of like ownership and pride in it, he's going to like really want to like play it all the time. And it's good because I think it's very healthy to get kids in front of pinball machines and get them off of like just zombies watching cartoons all day long.
    87:11
    Anyway, guys, I think it's a really fun week in pinball. I think we're going to get a lot more reviews of Beetlejuice. We're going to get a lot of people going out to locations soon to play more Pokemon. And then look, all the Pokemon le's, they're on the line next. So, it was Operator Pros, then Ali. And, you know, fingers crossed all those games get made well. And I think it's going to be, you know, hopefully not too long to get Pokemon code into the game and some of those big things they've been alluding to. But I just want to say thank you guys for hanging out. Charmander, one one more moment of silence for not being able to make the Pokeball open up. Ready? Wait for it. Stern Pinball's greatest engineering ever coming in 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
    88:13
    I mean you can't you can't I mean that's all they did that's all they did was make it shake. Oh yeah that that you don't get that in the pro either.
    88:25
    Everybody be good. Thank you for the support. Let's call out our top fans. Here we got Azie, Sad Boy, and the truth. Carth then Fizzy. The I think this is of all time. Franchie, thank you, brother. You're number five. Brian Watson, Keith, Chris L. Pennies, Jeremy Schmidz. These are how many points you guys have donated in total. Aussie, you're number one, brother. Damn, man. 5100. Amazing. Sad boy, man. You got to catch Aussie now. Have a great day. We'll talk to you soon. Now, there's a new podcast went up last night. And if you're not a member of Canad Pinball Podcast, I mean, come on, guys. At what point at what point are you logging in for free? Are you stealing the shows? What what what point what point are you like, man, check it out. Check it out. It'd be good. All right. Later, everybody.