You're the one to sacrifice anything to please him. Do you really think he thinks about you when he's out? He's a cold-hearted snake. Sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up. Imagine if I said to you, if you don't subscribe to Canada's Pinball Podcast by December 31st, I'm never going to let you subscribe again. I am so tired of this ridiculous mid-production of a game that's not selling well attempt to create FOMO I'm talking about the latest over at barrels of fun man it's like David you know I don't even know what to say anymore it's like I'm so tired of like the narrative versus the reality and that is what this game has boiled down to there is the reality of a game that's now been out for nine months, nine months, and it can't even sell like barely 500 units. And you could sell 525 Winchester mystery houses in freaking two days. And so you got to ask yourself, what's the point? We really missed the mark on Dune. And I get what they're trying to do right now. They're trying to inject any sense of urgency to buy one, but the communication is where I have the issue. This is what I do for a living. And now we're sort of like trying to create two things at once. We're trying to create extreme FOMO for Dune new in box, which clearly people don't want anymore. David, there's nothing left to sell people on. You've had nine months to sell people on this game and they still don't want it, you can't get a thousand people. And I've said this before. If you can't sell more games in nine months than Kaneda has of subscribers of Kaneda's Spinball Podcast, then you picked the wrong theme, right? You guys know how to make games. You know how to make mechs. You know how to put assets in. Your games look beautiful. It's just the theme that's not clicking with people. And I know it's like, well, if we just keep trying, it's kind of like, you know, one of those annoying girls in high school that you're not attracted to and she wants to date you. You know those women that used to follow you around? They would do nice things for you. They would bake you cookies, but you just don't want to go on a date with them. And even if they're attractive, I don't know, maybe they've got bad breath or something, but there's just something about Dune that's just not take my money now. And I'm not hearing bad things about the game. This is what's frustrating for David and team. I know it, guys. I know what you're going through. It's like you can't understand why people don't want to buy it new in box. People are going over and playing it and enjoying it. The assets are phenomenal. You know, the display is incredible. The Worm Neck is really cool. It's shiny. It's beautiful. But for some reason, that's not enough to get more than 500 people after nine months to write a check for $11,600 because there's just too much other stuff happening in pinball that has people more excited. And also people are worried about losing money because if there's no demand at 11.6, guess where the price on the marketplace truly is? It's less than 11.6. But now I'm seeing some stuff that I just got to call out, man, because like, what is this now? Now we're taking money on toppers that are not going to be out for like nine months. This is ridiculous. Not only that, they are threatening. And I mean this. This is like a threat. It's kind of like a threat that we're no longer going to be able to get you a Dune unless you order it by December 31st. Let me read what they wrote. And let's discuss if this is not what they are saying right here. Dune update. last call for for the alternative back glass and the animated topper last call for the animated topper how you where was the first call you know did i miss something was there a first call for the animated topper how is this now the last call and we're about to see something we've never seen in the history of pinball topper sales a company is trying to get your money on concept photography They don't even have it ready. We are living in a new period of like common sense. Like you're not going to pull the wool over our eyes with like statements like this. Okay, so let's go. Dune orders have been very strong with over 500 games sold. Very strong. Come on, David. Let's just have a conversation, you and me right now, man, amongst my, you know, 700 listeners right now. Very strong. Winchester. If Dune was very strong, what was Winchester? Astronomical. you know, a juggernaut. What was Beetlejuice? They sold every game before the game was even revealed. So how is this a very strong seller? This is not a very strong seller. The truth is, again, the truth is versus the narrative, the reality is it's been a very weak selling game. If you count up the amount of days and nine months since the reveal of this game to today, it's very bad it hasn't been a very strong seller in fact it's been a very weak seller i think they sold more labyrinth games by now and so you got to think about the ip around dune they got all the assets they got timothy chamelet they got everything in it and yet you still couldn't move over 500 units really in nine months with one of hollywood's biggest stars right now So not very strong They go on to say due to production capacity committed to Winchester Mystery House new Dune orders will be paused after December 31st Okay, so you have, are you sitting down, people? You have two weeks to get in your Dune order, or we are going to pause taking more orders and making more of them. So the other part, again, the narrative versus the reality. I remember when they were telling us that this company was expanding because they were going to have two lines of games going at the same time. This is not that. You're going to take Dune, turn it off to turn on Winchester. OK, so that's not two lines. That's not an expanded capacity for manufacturing. that is simply we have to retool the factory to make the next game and the first game we have to stop making all together so that is not what they said they were going to be capable of doing they were expanding to have two lines okay so they're not going to have two lines and then it says orders can be placed through barrels of fun or distributors until then with current orders scheduled to ship February 2026. Okay, so all the existing Dune orders out there, it seems they will be fulfilled by February of 2026. My worry about reading that, if you just think about it, if all the orders for Dune are not going to go out until like February 2026, the shortest month of the year, You know what that means? That has to mean that Winchester is not going to be on the line until March. OK, I'm just reading what they're saying, because what they're indicating is they have to stop making dunes to start making Winchester. Now, look, I know I'm going to get a phone call today that's like, oh, you had just called me, Canada. that like, oh yeah, maybe there's like four or five people barnyard building like a few Winchesters to trickle out here and there. But full production, man, you know what I'm saying? Like a little line over there. Is that really a line? I want to see full production video of Winchester on the line. And I am telling you based upon what I am reading right here, It is my assumption that the full Winchester line is not going to be turned on until sometime in March. OK, because I think Dune is going to end at the end of February. OK, but here's the line that just got me boiled this morning. Man, this is the line that just got me going. So you got to go back and remember, they said they were going to make a thousand dunes. Right. OK. A thousand dunes. and so you know they're barely at the halfway mark a little over 500 have sold and so they're trying to sell in the next two weeks a game that couldn't sell 500 units they want to try to sell 500 in two weeks because you know they want to sell every one now look there's no like need to sell them all in 2025 2026 down the road they could always make more the problem with that is what i was just talking about it's so expensive to retool the factory to go back to an older title You don't want to do it like that. Like Spooky doesn't want to make Beetlejuice now, then make another game, then make more Beetlejuices. Like when you're a boutique, you want to have all your efforts, all your parts, all your people trained to make the game that is on the line to focus on getting all of those orders out the door. You want to get all the orders for your game in the first couple of weeks. You want to sell out and then you want to know exactly what you need to build for the entire year. that is what spooky is going to do with beetlejuice they are going to do it with goonies they are going to do it with gremlins what you don't want to do is this you don't even want another scooby-doo you don't want to like say we're going to make this many and then you didn't get the orders and then you have to like figure out mid-production marketing moves to try to create urgency and FOMO but this is the line that just boils Kaneda's blood as a marketer as a communicator the next line is everything for me. It says, this is likely the final opportunity to purchase a new in box dune machine. Okay. I want to stay on that line. Why? Why would this be the final opportunity? So what this is indicating is we are never going to make more dune machines ever because this is what final means. So I want to deconstruct this line. So David and company, are you saying if this is the final opportunity to buy a new inbox machine, are you telling us like, why don't you just say it clearly? Because this is not very clear. Are you saying that the final order you get on December 31st, that is going to be the final dune machine order you ever take. Do you have what it takes to communicate with that level of transparency and clarity? Because if that is the case, David, then yes, this might work in getting you a lot more orders if it is truly the final. But you're not saying that. You're sort of saying it, but you're saying it in a roundabout way that leaves you the door open to make more in the future. It's weird to me because there's one word in this that is his backdoor exit to being fully committed. And this is my problem with marketing and communications. When you don't fully commit, it's wishy-washy. It's made up as you go. It let say stuff so we can move the goalposts midway through the game There one word in here that gets them out of jail And you know what that word is Likely right See if you read it again this is likely the final opportunity If you remove likely, then it's just the final opportunity. But he put that word in strategically so they could always come back and make more. Again, I know this is like nitpicking the language, but we have to really make these words matter because you know what they want to take from everybody right now? Your money. They want to take your money. I know a lot of you have been on the fence with all these new games and you're not exactly sure where to invest your money. I don't like language like this because David knows that these words matter. If it is the final opportunity to buy a new in box dune, and he says that with clarity, I think they would sell a lot more. But that word likely to me would keep me away because it means to me, you know what? I don't think he knows what he's going to do. I don't think he knows what the market is going to do around Dune. And you have to use some common sense that these games are not going to go up in value. The demand is just not there. This is not the next Pirates of the Caribbean. We've all had a chance to buy this game and it's not going to have this second life run on it. It's just not. All right. So not only the game is likely to be the last new in box chance you're going to get the alternative dune back glass by artist jonathan bergeron is now in stock featuring a mirrored deep blue finish it is available for 2.99 through barrels of fun no order deadline at this time all right and this is like why i'm even getting confused okay so the topper and the back glass it's not the last call for them as i was saying earlier but this is why it's confusing because if you read the top and it says dune update dash last call comma alternative back glass and animated topper i guess he's just categorizing the three things he's talking about it's not the last call for the back glass or the topper all right so that makes sense so my earlier joke about it being the last call on a topper that didn't have a first call uh it was funny it was funny but here we go okay so the back glass by the way is beautiful if you have this game you're getting the back glass like david i just sold you back glasses to every single person who owns a Dune. It is so much nicer than the original Translight. It looks stunning. I think it's probably one of the most stunning Translights I've ever seen. It's so beautiful, in fact, that I just want to encourage the people over at Barrels of Fun not to put this damn topper on top of the game. And I mean that. And I'm looking at this topper concept and I want to talk about it for a minute because you're selling a topper. The long-awaited Dune animated topper is now available for pre-order. The toppers are not going to go out until August of 2026. I don't like this. What is this? What is this? Like, well, you're going to sell a pre-order on a topper. Let's count the months. Okay. January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August. Okay. So we are now at eight months from now. These things are going to ship and you can pre-order it today. Come on, David, what is that? What is that? I would say whether it was David and barrels, whether it was stern, whether it was spooky, whether it was, I would call anybody out. What is that? Eight months. You want to take orders now? What this reeks of is cashflow issue to invest in this thing, to get it made. All you're showing is concept photos. Why do you need money now? When you ask for money eight months in advance on something that's not finished, it's not finalized, and it's not ready to show off, you should not ask for money on something unless it's real. Are we going to start taking pre-order money on concept everything now? On a concept pinball machine? On a concept accessory? That's what this is. and it just reeks of a cash flow issue. And you know, there's no way around it. And I think this is just sad. I don't even want to see it. Don't even take money now. You should reveal this topper when it's ready. You should reveal this topper when it's real and you should reveal this topper when it's ready to be put on top of a machine. Not like this. This isn't how you do it. Did Spooky reveal their Beetlejuice topper as a concept piece of artwork in which they were not going to ship the Beetlejuice topper for eight months and take pre-order money on it. Topper's done when the game's done. You have all this time, you know, and I'm just here to say right now, the pinball marketplace is getting more competitive. Games are losing more money now than they ever have before. People are tired. People want the full shebang, baby. The full shebang, man. Spooky pinball gave us the full shebang on day one. What is this? These trickling out of things, you know, and when you think about it, the dune topper now, what happened? I mean, the labyrinth topper was pretty much ready to go on day one. And again, if a company sets a precedence of we're going to do it this way and you did it with labyrinth, why all of a sudden now are you taking pre-order money on a topper that's not going to be out for eight months cash flow? What other reason would it be? You know, I know I'm going to get the phone call today. It's not a cash flow issue. Then what would it be? Because it wouldn't make any other sense. unless you needed the money. You got all the money from Winchester. I think what they need to do is this. Look, I'm not even gonna go into the topper itself. I just, I don't know, something about that worm, it just looks weird. It looks a little creepy. It looks like those slugs that you eat. I just wouldn't go in this direction. If I were them, I would scrap this topper altogether. I would make a very beautiful and very elegant that device that they use you know to create the vibrations to call the sand worms There a small one underneath the glass I would make a very beautiful sculpted version of that, have it go up and down whenever you're calling a sand worm, and it would look very beautiful, like a piece of art on top of this beautiful game. This is a very beautiful game. I think this topper should be elegant and simple and minimalist. You don't have to make your topper always very big and have all this stuff going on. I think this is like what, like $1,600 or something like that. Make it elegant. Make it beautiful. You know, there's like this weird keeping up with the topper Hilton Jones's behavior going on. I don't like it. I think we need to get back to like a topper is not that important, but it should be the cherry on top of a beautiful pinball offering. You know, the Harry Potter CE topper is horrendous. It doesn't look like a cherry on top. It looks like I stuck a cheap Harry Potter toy I bought for Killian on top of the machine. You know, toppers should be simple. I mean, even look at the Ghostbusters topper. It's not that intricate. The Batman topper, not that intricate, but they work. And there's a reason why people pay a lot of money for those toppers also because they can't have them, but they're very elegant and they look nice. Okay. Now, look, I know I've been very hard on this whole thing because in the end, I think barrels is past Dune already. I do. I think Winchester and what they decide moving forward will define this company. Dune was not a success. It just wasn't. And again, it wasn't me saying this. It was the market. What they need to do is really focus on getting these Winchesters made, then focus on the next game. To me, the next game is everything for this company. It really is. It really is. The next theme, if they don't have another Winchester, you know, week one sellout, this slow burn is just not going to work anymore. It's just really not. There's just too much happening in pinball. There's too many games out there that I believe are going to be amazing in 2026. And people are out of room and they're out of money for a lot of us. And they're just tired. The world today is over inundating us with everything, with content, with pinball machines, with music, everything they want us to buy. Look how many collaborations there are now. How much clothes you need to own this. You need to own this. I think everyone's realizing that simplicity is where happiness lies. Buying more of these things over and over and over again, filling your house with 15, 20 of something is not the pathway to happiness. Life will make you happy when you buy a few things that really are magical and meaningful and you use them all the time. And it's going to get more competitive. And I think pinball is interesting, right? I don't think it's ever going to go away. I don't think pinball boutique companies that make right decisions are going to ever struggle. How are you going to struggle? You know, you only need to sell a thousand. You got to remember that they needed to sell a thousand of a dune pinball machine to a captive global audience that loves pinball and they couldn't find 1000 people to be excited. They could have made 1000 Winchester's mystery houses and they would have sold all of them by now easily in just a couple months. It's just the way it goes. I want this more than this. This connects with me more than this. This clicked with me when I saw it. I want to be part of a community that owns this title and not this title. And it's okay. You got to take some risks. And I get it, man. When they make the deal with Legendary and they got this property and they saw how big it was, they probably thought to themselves, this is easily going to work. And it's turned out to be anything but. But they're going to move on. And Winchester saved them, man. It saved them. Without Winchester, it's game over. Imagine if they didn't have Winchester, if they didn't have Carl, if they didn't have everybody work. It's game over. Game over. A boutique nowadays cannot have a flop without something ready to go next. And that's why it's so scary for Stern. Because it's like flop after flop after flop. And yeah, they keep having more stuff next, but none of the dishes they serve afterwards are any better. And this is why if Pokemon in two weeks is a flop, I think Stern's in big, big trouble, gang. They have to be. I don't see the unboxings. I don't see the orders. I don't see the enthusiasm anymore. And this mid-production FOMO, Jaws 50, buy it by the end of the year. It's just, I don't know, it's just not going to really work. You really don't need to do it that way. Everybody, happy Thursday. Love you guys. Thanks for subscribing. David, I'm sure I'll talk to you today. But come on, man. Come on. Well, you've got to make definitive decisions. Got to make definitive decisions. And words matter. And look, I get it. I would have done this. Here's what I would say. Like, look, dune sales. Here's what we're going to do. We're making $750 total. That's it. Ed Boon. You'd probably get 250 orders between now and the end of the year. It's over. Good. Move on. Move on. As I would say in my industry, the juice is not worth the squeeze anymore. It's just not. All right. If you ordered the parts and you need to sell the games, that's one thing. But if you haven't, don't order more. Don't order more. Just make this many and move on. Everybody, Kaneda out. I'm a cold-hearted snake.