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Kaneda Sunday Morning Spectacular

Kaneda Pinball Podcasts YouTube Lives·video·1h 23m·analyzed·Jul 7, 2025
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.036

TL;DR

Kaneda discusses Jaws 50th, King Kong failure, Potter code, and industry saturation on Sunday livestream.

Summary

Kaneda hosts a Sunday morning livestream covering recent pinball industry news, primarily discussing Jaws 50th Anniversary Edition, King Kong's poor reception, Harry Potter code updates, and the broader market trends of oversaturation, content fatigue, and complexity in modern games. He reflects on community sentiment, addresses trolls, and discusses upcoming releases including speculation on Beetlejuice vs Gremlins timing.

Key Claims

  • Jaws 50th Anniversary Edition Premium has a superior playfield (with glitter) compared to regular Premium, potentially devaluing older Premium units

    high confidence · Kaneda discusses how the LE glitter looks 'fire' and regular Premium has 'the worst translite out of all them,' suggesting older Premiums lost value

  • King Kong is a total design miss that failed to capture iconic King Kong moments or imagery due to poor licensing

    high confidence · Kaneda states repeatedly 'total miss on every level' and criticizes lack of licensed Empire State Building, iconic movie posters, and proper Kong imagery

  • Harry Potter has 96 modes, which Kaneda views as excessive and makes the game inaccessible to casual players

    high confidence · Kaneda repeatedly references '96 modes' and uses it as an example of modern game complexity being overwhelming

  • Guns N' Roses has 35 patches that require memorization and stopping mid-game to scroll through, creating poor user experience

    high confidence · Kaneda states he doesn't want to 'memorize what 35 patches do' and complains about mid-game scrolling requirements

  • Pinball content and game market is experiencing saturation and fatigue, with subscriber growth plateaued across all creators

    high confidence · Kaneda reports losing subscribers (down to 650) and states 'nobody's growing in the content space' and 'people are burnt'

  • Stern can produce approximately 800 games per week, making scarcity claims about Jaws 50th dubious over a 6-month window

    medium confidence · Kaneda calculates 6 months production capacity and states 'this game is going to be ever hard to get'

  • Christopher Franchi placed a Gremlins teaser on Evil Dead boxes, suggesting Gremlins might release before Beetlejuice

    medium confidence · Kaneda notes 'Franchi put the Gremlins teaser on the boxes of Evil Dead' and positions Gremlins as 'more of a holiday movie'

  • Modern pinball games lack the physical wow factor of old Williams games and rely too heavily on software/lights

Notable Quotes

  • “I think there's just like diminishing returns. I think people are fatigued and I think there's just so much content now... there's just an oversaturation of everything in pinball. There's an oversaturation of games, content, oversaturation of uh even conversation.”

    Kaneda @ ~early in stream — Key commentary on market saturation and content fatigue affecting subscriber growth across all creators

  • “If you literally walked up to a Harry Potter pinball machine and you were not like one of us, you would have no idea what you're doing. It's gotten crazy. 96 modes. Just think about that for a minute.”

    Kaneda @ ~mid-stream — Critique of modern game complexity as a barrier to casual player onboarding

  • “There's nothing fun about 35 patches in Guns N' Roses. I don't want to memorize what 35 patches do. I also don't want to stop in the middle of every single game and be like scrolling through 35 patches.”

    Kaneda @ ~mid-stream — Detailed criticism of GNR patch system as poor implementation despite strong IP

  • “Stern's King Kong game is a total miss. It's a total miss. They did not capture the iconic King Kong in any way, shape, or form... Just a miss. Like Jurassic Park at least made you feel more like the Jurassic Park movies.”

    Kaneda @ ~mid-stream — Comprehensive Kong failure assessment, positioning it as worse than comparable Stern releases

  • “You're going to charge me $13,000 and you won't even license Kong's imagery properly. You won't even license the Empire State Building... cheap cutting corner approach. No thank you.”

    Kaneda @ ~mid-stream — Combines pricing criticism with IP licensing complaints to explain Kong rejection

  • “The regular Premium has the worst translite out of all them... If everyone who has an older Premium just lost like a couple thousand dollars. They did. They might not want to admit it.”

    Kaneda @ ~mid-stream — Analysis of Jaws 50th Anniversary Edition devaluing existing Premium units

  • “I don't think Potter as a coded game is coded as good as Guns N' Roses... what makes Harry Potter annoying is the way everything is stacked on top of everything on that game.”

Entities

KanedapersonRetro RalphpersonCale HernandezpersonJamiepersonStern PinballcompanyJaws 50th Anniversary EditionproductKing Konggame

Signals

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Growing consensus that King Kong is commercially and critically failed; positioning as worse than comparable Stern releases and worse investment than Jaws

    high · Kaneda reports 'every time I see Kong LE, I don't care. It looks like I'm looking at a Pro' and notes mechanical issues make it 'such an easy pass'

  • ?

    community_signal: Saturation across pinball media landscape with all creators experiencing subscriber plateau; audience fatigue evident in declining engagement despite content proliferation

    high · Kaneda reports 'I'm down to like 650' subscribers, states 'nobody's growing in the content space,' and identifies 'oversaturation of games, content, oversaturation of even conversation'

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Harry Potter's excessive code complexity (96 modes with stacked mechanics) contrasted with Guns N' Roses as less fun despite better playfield, suggesting code design rather than shooting mechanics drives long-term appeal

    medium · Kaneda notes Potter 'shoots better than Guns N' Roses but it's not more fun to like' and identifies code stacking as 'Achilles heel'

  • ?

    design_philosophy: King Kong criticized for fundamental design failures: poor IP capture, weak mechanical features ('B-level mechs'), juvenile art direction, licensing shortcuts (no Empire State Building, no movie posters), and lack of iconic Kong moments

    high · Kaneda repeatedly states 'total miss on every level' and 'easy pass'; criticizes the game for not serving iconic Kong moments and creating visual disconnect with thin translite

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Modern games designed with excessive feature density (96 modes, 35 patches) creating cognitive overload for non-expert players; design philosophy prioritizes depth over accessibility

Transcript

youtube_auto_sub · $0.000

0:06
All right, we are live here. Hopefully the service is good. Ah, such a beautiful, beautiful weekend. Let's get this people some links.
0:21
Talk some pinball for a little bit today. Go over what's happening in the hobby this week. It's been it's been eventful. I mean, it's been more eventful than some previous weeks. So, we got some new games to talk about. We've got um some updates on existing games. Lots of code dropping. Lots of code. Lord Olaf, for you guys in Europe, this is a great time to join. H just so nice out. It's perfect weather. It's gonna, you know, I took off next week and it's going to rain. It's literally going to rain all next week here. I just wanted to like I just wanted to go into the sunshine. I wanted to put my feet in the sand. And I I hate There's nothing worse than planning a vacation. It's a station and the weather's not good. It's been a very rainy summer. What's up, Retro Jeno? Jenga is in the house. Denmark. We got Fred. We got Joe. Thank you guys for the uh for following me into Sunday. Just couldn't do the show yesterday. Just too much going on. Brenda wasn't feeling great. So, we we did a little audible and it works. We got everybody here. We got we'll get a good audience, you know. I will say I have to say I as much as I like doing it like this, Facebook Live now sends it to so many more people. like any Facebook live for some reason now I get like 4,000 5,000 views. So as a a vehicle to drive people to sign up I don't you know it's like I'm I'm not gaining subscribers anymore. I'm like losing subscribers for the first I'm down to like 650. Like it's I don't know what else to do really. I don't I think there's just like diminishing returns. I think people are fatigued and I think there's just so much content now. Look, I'm really happy with every one of my subscribers and I'm going to keep doing the show, but I think everybody's sort of peaked and plateaued. Jenga can attest to this. No one's growing in the content space. Nobody. Like, we're all just sort of like treading right now like stay trying to stay flat. But I think overall there's just an oversaturation of everything in pinball. There's an oversaturation saturation of games, content, oversaturation of uh even conversation. I I do think people are like burnt a little bit. They're just burnt. But every week I think why the people stay, you know, a lot of people stay on Canadas Pinball Podcast on Patreon. Three shows. It's a lot of fun. The chat's amazing. Uh Brenda's doing better today. Thank you for asking. Um and let's get this shared on the Patreon chat. It's Fourth of July weekend. I don't expect too many people to be hanging out here. You probably shouldn't be hanging out here. Uh anyway, but you know it's earlier too, so I changed the time. We're going to give everybody a few minutes to come in. Then we're going to go and we're going to talk about what's going on in pinball. And I think there's um I think there's like the big news is Jaws. Big news is people waiting for Potter. Uh a lot of code updates on the Stern front. People are giving a lot of good feedback on those code updates, but for the most part, you know, it's summer. It's July. It's like Fourth of July, barbecues, beers inside playing pinball. Like I had some friends come over and they they came upstairs, they saw the Guns and Roses, and within like 30 seconds, they're like, "Dude, let's just go outside and have some beers." Like, you know what I'm saying? I think sometimes we um we overestimate people's desires when they see a pinball machine to play and own one. It it's not as it's not as uh much as we think. And that's why like even though there's a lot of money and there's a lot of potential buyers of these machines, it's hard to get people to really like click with pinball. It takes a while. And I was thinking too, like a lot of these modern games are very complex. They're really not good gateway drugs to getting into pinball. You would just be so confused walking up to most of these machines. Uh, and you know, they don't they they they don't have the same level of like physical wow that the old Williams games had. They don't they definitely don't let players like see really cool things happening with the ball. It's all software now. It's all software and lights for the most part. That's what this hobby's turned into. Uh the community continues to justify that as being loaded and packed games. I I I mean I find it funny if you like literally if you walked up to a Harry Potter pinball machine. You and you were not like one of us. You would have no idea like really what you're doing. You would have no idea where to look, what to like it just no. It's just it's gotten crazy. I think it's way too much. 96 modes. Just think about that for a minute. 35 Guns and Roses patches. Who Who thought that was a good idea? Did anyone think that was Are there 30 are there 96 modes in Monster Bash or, you know, Theater of Magic or Medieval Madness? 96.

high confidence · Kaneda criticizes modern games for not having 'the same level of like physical wow' and states 'It's all software now. It's all software and lights'

  • Harry Potter code is a 'convoluted complex mess' with too much happening simultaneously, making it less fun than Guns N' Roses despite shooting better

    medium confidence · Kaneda states Potter's 'Achilles heel' is that 'everything is stacked on top of everything' creating overstimulation

  • Jaws will always be more desirable than King Kong because Jaws is iconic and Kong failed thematically

    high confidence · Kaneda repeatedly contrasts Jaws and Kong demand, stating 'Jaws is Jaws. Jaws is iconic' while Kong is a pass

    • Kaneda @ ~late stream — Nuanced comparison of two flagship Stern games, identifying code complexity as Potter weakness

  • “Every time I see Kong LE, I don't care. It looks like I'm looking at a Pro... I'm not going to be one of those content creators that tries to see the good in it and tries to warm up to it. No, I won't.”

    Kaneda @ ~mid-stream — Explicit statement that he won't provide positive coverage of Kong unlike some peers

  • “My favorite pinball personality, the only guy that like really gets it these days is Kale Hernandez over at Electric Bat. He's the coolest dude I know in pinball right now on the content level.”

    Kaneda @ ~late stream — Endorsement of Cale Hernandez/Electric Bat while distancing from other personalities

  • “May you spend more time outside than inside playing pinball. I mean it... Don't travel the world and be one of these people that just looks down at the pinball machines that you see everywhere else.”

    Kaneda @ ~mid-stream — Philosophical reflection on pinball hobby's place in broader life priorities

    • Harry Potter
    game
    Guns N' Rosesgame
    Christopher Franchiperson
    Beetlejuiceproduct
    Gremlinsproduct
    Evil Deadgame
    Jack Dangerperson
    Jersey Jack Pinballcompany
    Electric Batcompany
    Wormhole Pinballcompany
    Australian Pinball Expoevent
    Orbital Albertperson
    Williamscompany
    Jawsgame
    Jurassic Parkgame
    John Wickgame
    Barrels of Funcompany
    IPG/Omnicomcompany

    high · Kaneda uses Harry Potter (96 modes) and Guns N' Roses (35 patches) as examples of poor gatekeeping design that confuses casual players and requires memorization

  • ?

    licensing_signal: King Kong licensing constraints led to cost-cutting on essential IP elements (no Empire State Building, no movie posters, no licensed imagery), undermining thematic coherence and justifying premium pricing

    high · Kaneda criticizes 'cheap cutting corner approach' and states willingness to reject game due to licensing failures despite manufacturer efforts

  • $

    market_signal: Jaws positioning as long-term collectible with scarcity premium; host skeptical that 6-month production window creates true scarcity given Stern's 800 games/week capacity

    medium · Kaneda calculates that 6 months of production (July-December) at 800/week will create ample supply, questioning distributor claims of 300-unit runs

  • ?

    community_signal: Community drama regarding podcast personalities and content creators; Jamie (Wormhole) pressured others to unsubscribe from Kaneda over Barrels criticism; Orbital Albert publicly criticized departure

    medium · Kaneda reports Jamie 'forced them both to unsubscribe' (Cale and Ralph) and notes Orbital Albert 'felt free since he stopped listening to Kaneda'

  • $

    market_signal: Host rejects $13,000+ pricing as unjustifiable when games ship with licensing shortcuts and mechanical failures; questions value proposition at premium tiers

    high · Kaneda states 'You're going to charge me $13,000 and you won't even license Kong's imagery properly' as key reason for dismissal

  • ?

    product_strategy: Jaws 50th Anniversary Edition Premium with glitter playfield superior to regular Premium translite, effectively devaluing older Premium units and creating confusion about tier value

    high · Kaneda states older Premium owners 'might have lost like a couple thousand dollars' and notes frustration that 'cheaper version had the nicer interior'

  • ?

    rumor_hype: Gremlins teaser placement on Evil Dead boxes suggests release sequencing priorities; Kaneda speculates Gremlins holiday positioning may make it release before Beetlejuice

    medium · Kaneda notes 'Franchi put the Gremlins teaser on the boxes of Evil Dead' and reasons 'Gremlins might be first' as 'holiday movie more than Beetlejuice'

  • ?

    technology_signal: Modern pinball games prioritize software/lights over physical mechanics, creating disconnect from legacy player expectations and reducing casual appeal

    high · Kaneda criticizes that modern games lack 'the same level of like physical wow that the old Williams games had' and notes 'It's all software now. It's all software and lights'

    • 6:14
    Um, I I don't I don't know, man. I don't know. I don't I don't like I got I want to respond to that. There's nothing fun about 35 patches in Guns and Roses. In fact, I I kind of hate it because I've had the game now for over a year. I I don't want to memorize what 35 patches do. I also don't want to stop in the middle of every single game and be like scrolling through 35 patches. If Guns and Roses had just like 10 or less patches and made those patches meaningful, it would be such a better implementation of patches. But the whole like and then then they get even stupider people. Like to like light an extra ball, you got to collect these four patches. And I still don't know which four exactly they are. It's like the Vader patch, it's the Fender patch, it's the like it's so stupid. I just don't like it. Okay. I think it was it and and again it's just this is the same company that's now put 96 modes into Harry Potter.
    7:33
    How's everybody doing gang? Guys have a good Fourth of July. You would hate my pinball jacket, Chris. It has like 20 patches on it. You know, I always said this like it would have been really cool. There's another missed opportunity for Jersey Jack when Guns and Roses came out and they had the patches. It just would have been really neat to also sell denim G&R pinball jackets with the patches from the game on it. You know, we when you think about the fact that this company had Guns and Roses licensing permission to do whatever they wanted to do with G&R and they only released one crappy t-shirt really. I mean, just think about how sad that is. Like, we all should be rocking a really cool G&R pinball jacket. And think about that for a minute. You're rocking this unique limited, doesn't have to be limited, but this really cool Guns and Roses, make it a black denim jacket with cool patches on it. When you wear it out and people ask where you got it, you're like, "This is from a pinball company that made the most epic G&R pinball machine." It's just a great way to advertise and and get people, you know, excited. But only people who own the game can buy the jacket. Something like that, you know.
    8:55
    Dude, Robert, man, Robert, cancer-free brother, God bless, man. You know, sometimes sometimes I think we all lose sight of of everything. And I mean it. I I've felt this way more and more as I get older. or the um standing at the crossroads of my past and my future and the present and thinking about some friends I've lost along the way and and this beautiful sunny day, these beautiful children I have. The I was with Cassian this morning and Killian, how precious life is, how fast it goes. Like when I think about I've been in this hobby for 12 years now, 13 years that that little baby is going to be 12, 14 years, a teenager, how fast all this time went. The time that's gone by with just all of us just hanging out talking about pinball. So, I just want to say, you know, I wish each and every one of you nothing but health and happiness in life and and may you um may you spend more time outside than inside playing pinball. I mean it. And when you travel the world, don't seek out where the machines are. Seek out where an interesting restaurant is. Seek out where an interesting activity is that you can't play back home. Don't travel the world and be one of these people that just looks down at the pinball machines that you see everywhere else. Just don't do that. Yeah. F cancer. You know, I lost two aunts. Two of my aunts I lost to cancer. I lost my sister-in-law and um my mom is a cancer survivor. So my mom's story is crazy. She just like woke up one day and just didn't feel right and she went to her doctor and they found stage one breast cancer and they they removed it and you know knock on wood she's been cancer free now and I want to say like 15 years but it's just like she just had like a feeling that something was wrong. You never know. You know, it's not, you know what, you never know what's going to get you, when it's going to get you. Brenda is feeling better. She is feeling better. Um, she wasn't Yeah, she's Nothing's serious. She's just tired and needed a break. And so, it's good. It's all good. She's She does way too much. You know, it's interesting. You know, before I get into pimp, it's interesting. There's a shift happening in culture where I think, you know, to have kids and be a working mom and all this stuff like it's grinding. It's grinding down. So many women out there, you know, you get you get all that stuff. You get the career, you get the kids, you get the house, but you got to do it all. Like, it's way too much. You know what's coming back now? Like the trend. This is funny. Like finance bros are like popular again. Like, you know, I what I mean by that is like being a finance bro and and you know, women are are finding them attractive again because they understand now like maybe I don't want to like work my ass off while I'm also trying to raise a family, which is a full-time job. Maybe I don't want to spend $5,000 a month on daycare. Or maybe it's okay that Timmy goes into the hedge fund every day and just lets me go to the country club after I drop the kids off. It sounds a lot better than having, you know, stupid deadlines and homework every night. You can be productive and still not like grind away your life. I think what's happening too in culture too is like we this this promise of like linear success is over. And what I mean by that is the promise that if you just kept going in the same line or trajectory that your parents went in, you would be just as successful and if you went to college and got a job and you'd you'd be a homeowner. Like all of that is like not panning out now. So now we're like kids are realizing I'm not going to be as successful. The opportunities are not as plentiful and I'm not going to be able to afford a house. So they're looking for other I don't know other lifestyles really. The corporate America promise. Um yeah, my daycare is like 6,000 a month people. It's brutal. It's brutal. It's just what are you going to do? They need daycare. We can't do both. 6,000 a month. So when you're like, "Ah, man." All right. So, let's talk about Jaws 50th. Let's start the party there. So, curious how you all feel about the Jaws 50th anniversary edition. Do you like it? Do you not like it? Do you think the value is there? Do you think uh I I saw some crazy story where some Dro was telling a con customer they're only going to make 300 of these like like loser Dro said that like if a Dro says that to you as a customer please out them so we can chastise them and like come on Stern's going to make 300 by Wednesday. They're not going to make only 300 of these. I I I absolutely hate it when distro only got one more and then they sell it, then they call the next customer. Only got one left, then they sell it, then they call the next customer. Only got one left. It's such a Don't be a sleazy salesman. Code update was worth the wait. It's amazing. Yeah. No, I've heard nothing but good stuff about the code update. Something about some shark call out that's not as plentiful as it used to be. I I don't know. There some shark ramp mode. I that's the only thing I I've been seeing people complain about. To me, it looks blah. The Ellie is much better. Okay, I do think it'll look a little better in person than it is photographing. Um, the glitter looks cool, but Ellie is fire. Yeah, I I'd be just annoyed though, like if I loved my Jaws Ellie, knowing that there's just a nicer playfield out there. I I I I I really would be annoyed by that.
    15:33
    You know, it's like it's like if you bought the more expensive car, but the cheaper version had the nicer interior. You're like, why? I kind of want one. Yeah. Um I I kind of also feel like I'm just going to say this. I feel like that, you know me, I I talk about the market. I talk about speculating. I talk about what I would buy if I were you. I actually don't think buying a Jaws 50th premium and keeping it in a box is a bad buy. Because if they're only gonna make it for the next six months, the pro, you know, we don't know how many they're going to make, but there is a decent chance, and I mean this when I say there's a decent chance when next year rolls around and all these newbies come into pinball, Jaws is Jaws. Jaws is iconic. You know, they're going to want one. And this will be the one people will want. People will want this one more than they'll want the regular premium. The regular premium has the worst translite out of all them. The regular premium doesn't there's to me this game tanks the value of the older premium. If everyone who has an older premium just lost like a couple thousand dollars. They did. They might not want to admit it. They might put it up on pin size 8200 firm. You're not going to get it anymore. like this is going to be the premium everybody wants. You know, Stern was either going to screw over Ellie owners or premium owners. So, like I actually I actually think this is um Well, Keith, here's the thing. I think the thing is because they're not numbered, Stern is just going to make a ton and tuck them away. And you know cuz then and then dealers and distros will just always be allowed to order them whenever you know well into 2026 and Stern will just say well these orders were placed in 2025 and we we were just fulfilling orders cuz think about that like what's to stop them from making this next year and they're just like we these were just leftover orders from last year that we're just fulfilling.
    17:59
    The next pin to buy is Beetlejuice. Um, so do you guys think it's going to be Beetlejuice or Gremlins? Now, I some part of me kind of feels like Gremlins might be first. And the reason I'm saying that is Franchie put the Gremlins teaser on the boxes of Evil Dead. So, I could see Gremlins being a holiday movie more than Beetlejuice. I could see that being the case. Chris, do you agree? ending sales at the end of the year was smart. Um, yeah, I mean, it's not stupid. It It doesn't hurt them to try to inject some FOMO into the sales of the game, so why not, right? I mean, it look, it was like their attempt at FOMO. So, now look, I I never like uh FOMO that's not measurable. You know what I mean? Because if if you're gonna try to make me feel fear of missing out and then you're not going to tell me how many you made, you're not going to tell me like I don't I don't I don't know. I don't like to deal in uncertainties when it comes to FOMO cuz I I just again it's only July, July, August, September, October, November, December. Like again that like six months for six months of a company that can make 800 games a week. I'm really not feeling like this game is going to be ever hard to get. You know, the the good news is this is that Jaws is a better game than King Kong. And Jaws will always be desirable way more than King Kong. Jaws is Jaws. Jaws is iconic. Jaws will always be iconic. Stern's King Kong game is a total miss. It's a total miss. They did not capture the iconic King Kong in any way, shape, or form. They didn't serve back to us iconic King Kong moments. Um, it's a total miss on every level. And I mean this like it's just a miss. Like Jurassic Park at least made you feel more like the Jurassic Park movies. I don't think this makes you feel any connection to King Kong at all. like the way people think of Kong, the way people hear Kong, the way people and again it just feels like a a little cartoon like the way they approach Kong just feels very juvenile and neutered and and and it doesn't click for people. So I think Kong is just like who cares? Like who cares? Like every time I see Kong Elise, I don't care. It looks like I'm looking at a pro. Every time I look at the Kong dull playfields that have no clear coat on it, I'm like, "This game looks dull. It looks boring. It looks and and look, the Kong owners will try to like hype it. I don't care. I just don't care. It's like it's like John Wick. I just don't care about John Wick. I don't care what they do to the game. I don't I I I just, you know, for me with so much product in market and so many great stern machines available and so many great games from other companies available, when a game to me misses the mark, I'm not going to be one of those content creators that tries to see the good in it and tries to warm up to it. No, I won't. No. Total miss. You're going to charge me $13,000 and you won't even license Kong's imagery properly. You won't even license the Empire State Building. You won't even license any uh iconic King Kong movie posters. I cheap cutting corner approach. No thank you. On to the next. On to the next. I I I don't stern. You You made you This is your problem that you created. Once you want to charge this much money, I'm not buying an assetless King Kong ever. And most people feel that way. Godzilla. All the assets you want, Jaws. All the assets you want. Easy pass. Easy pass. And and and and making it even easier to pass on Kong is are all the mechanical issues with the game. I mean, all the mechanical issues with that game. Such an easy pass.
    22:25
    if you guys want to I wanna I want to plug um I'm going to put my friends fashion line in the chat here, but if you guys want like cool clothes that make you look like I mean this brand is amazing and you know if you're tired of this is like a Canada ad. If you're tired of looking like the same cargo shortwear and pinball dude, this is um this brand is I mean I went there. I got these vintage World War II glasses there this weekend. My friend John went to high school with him. Has this really awesome fashion line called Re. I'm going to put it right here right now, guys. Um clothes are amazing. The everything it's just cool. like you want to be like a little Paul Newman kind of, you know, don't look like every other dude with the polo or the vineyard vines or whatever you guys are rocking this these clothes. Amazing. Amazing. So, um, trust me, you and you'll look so good in everything. I mean, well, yes.
    23:38
    H Yeah. Cargo shorts. You know what I started using? I have a I have a fanny pack. I have a IPG, who's my parent company for now, before Omnicom takes over. I have a a fanny pack. And I will say there's nothing in the summer more practical. There's nothing more practical than a fanny pack when you're riding a bike to the beach and you just want to have like your phone, your wallet, like your, you know, your AirPods. It you know, you don't want everything in your short in your swim trunk short. So the fanny pack is like yeah like it's the greatest invention ever. I feel so cool not cool at the same time. All right. So okay. So Kong is a miss. Jaws 50th the Jaws 50th will sell fine. I I think the dilemma I mean Jaws sold a lot. I I always wish that Stern would somehow communicate earlier on what their plans would be with a theme. So, like, but but gang, I mean, I fully expect there to be a Batman 60th anniversary next year. You know what I'm saying? Like, why would they not do Batman 60th? They need to make money, gang. And more people want Batman's than, you know, Walking Deads.
    25:05
    Oh, geez. I'm not carrying firearms. Um, man, how's everybody doing? Frank, how you doing? Frank, I think our golf is going to get rained out next week. I I just h I can't believe the week I took off in this beautiful beachy town I live in is going to be nothing but rain showers all week. All week. I'm like, I I I don't I can't get a break. I I I might almost flip the dates and just I don't know.
    25:46
    What an absolute fogg this guy is. Who's this guy? Is this is Retro Aussie? Is this guy making fun of me? Dude, you're coming in hot with the troll. Let's see. Yeah, I think he's like I think the other thing he said is tryh hard. Who is this guy? brother. What? Like, do you want to stay and hang out? Because like, dude, I'm just going to block you right now, but I just want to I want you to um it's an interesting way to spend some time. Just roll into Canadas.
    26:16
    And yeah, man, I would love to keep you around, but what's a flog even mean? Let's see. I don't even know what a flog is. I've been called a lot of stuff. Is that an Australian term? Definition of a fogg. Beat. Beat someone with a whip or stick as punishment and torture. Oh, that doesn't How's that? That's a verb.
    26:52
    a person considered to be pretentious, conceited or foolish as evidence suggests it is Australian? Oh, okay. So, this guy I'm getting an Australian insult.
    27:07
    I mean, I love it. Yeah, he could stay. Just listen to me, bro. I dude because you you're spending your time listening to me. Who's winning in this scenario? I I bring all the Australian insults, man. I love it.
    27:26
    Albert said he felt free since he stopped listening to Canada on his podcast. You know, look, um, Orbiter Albert, right? Like the the dude exists to get a reaction out of me. I haven't listened to his show in years. So like he he can join the club of people that you know what's sad to me is when these people leave they they can't just like unsubscribe. They have to leave and try to tell other people to unsubscribe. Like like it's like I'm not just leaving the restaurant. We all should leave the restaurant. Albert, I feel sorry for you, man. I really do because like that's such a catty and petty way to just if you've had enough of my podcast, dude, just leave. But you feel free now. If you felt trapped by listening to Canadas Pinball podcast, something's wrong with your life, brother. Like, I didn't trap you. I didn't even make you sign up. You signed up, bro. I don't care. I still got the most subscribers, more than anybody, everybody combined. I'm still happy with the show I do. I don't make anybody join. I If you want to cancel, cancel. If you want to join, join. It's still the most entertaining pinball podcast out there and the majority of people consider it that. That's why we have the most subscribers. Um, but you know, Jamie at Wormhole tried to do the same thing like I'm leaving and I because of what he said about Barrels of Fun. I'm leaving and you should unsubscribe. He he did it to Kale and to Retro Ralph and he kind of forced them both to unsubscribe which they did which I don't care. doesn't like doesn't it doesn't change anything because what what these guys don't get is this is my creative outlet and I enjoy doing it. Um Chris, don't listen to him.
    29:29
    Anyway, um, no, I love I love um let's talk about um let's talk about Potter. Okay. Um Albert, I know you're here, bro. I know you're here, but like you know, like it's fine. It's fine, bro. Like I believe me, we've all been in this game for so many years. The last thing that I think about on my mind these days is where I stand in favor with other pinball personalities. Like it's you. Again, I keep saying this, my favorite pinball personality, the only guy that like really gets it these days is Cal Hernandez over at Electric Bat. He's the coolest dude I know in pinball right now on the content level. I'm on a chain with Kale, Retro Ralph, and Jamie from the wormhole. Kale and I are just having fun every day texting stuff. Retro Ralph refuses to engage. He refuses to engage. He's busy putting on his Harry Potter robe. I'm having so much fun. 96 modes of of not not so muted movie clips. Now I'm Okay, let's talk Potter because look, I think AI gate is over. I know they're pausing to fix some of the artwork. When you stand over the game, you're not going to notice any of that. It's just um it's just like it's it's it's it's so small the AI issues everyone's been moping about. Um I think Potter is again it's just going to be a game a lot of people wait for. There's going to be a lot of orders. They're going to sell a ton of Potters. Like I I I I keep saying this like they're going to sell Um, a lot of potters. I Here's the thing is I don't think they're going to sell as many Potters as Guns and Roses. I don't think Potter as a coded game is coded as good as Guns and Roses. I just think it's shoots better than Guns and Roses, but it's not more fun to like I Okay, it's more fun to shoot. But I think what makes Harry Potter annoying is the way everything is stacked on top of everything on that game. Cuz imagine in Guns and Roses when you start a song, everything else was still active and every song was interrupted with other stuff. I I think Harry Potter's Achilles heel right now is simply that is that the code is a convoluted complex mess where it's just too much happening at once.
    32:21
    Well, retro retro Aussie man. Let me tell you something about me. Let me tell you something about me. Like I've anything you think about me, I know about myself, right? And anyone who's anyone who pretends to go through life
    32:43
    and and act like you're perfect or you're not insecure, you have no anxieties, no fears. Come on. Every We're all in the same boat, brother. We're all in the same rock hurling through space, right? We're all going to die. So, like I I just think um if you hang out more, you'll get past the superficial, you know? Look, I I on purpose, man, I on purpose know exactly what I do. I know that I can rock up and look like a dbag and I can dress like an a-hole. I know everything I do. I'm not doing it without acknowledgment or understanding of what this is going to make people think about me. And I'm a very flawed human being. I have good qualities and bad qualities, but in the end, those who know me and when you're a friend of mine, I have a really good heart. And I do and I and I mean well, and I think I understand more about life than, you know, than some of the other, you know, influencers out there in the world that are just doing it like I'm because remember like I'm not doing this for much money at all. Uh but yeah. Yeah. No, I just want to have a good time, man. I have a good time. Like we're all we're all going to die. We're talking about pinball and every day above ground's a good day. There's going to be good days. There's going to be bad days. Just as much as we can wake up in a good mood. Good. Um, and I love Australia. So, I got invited to go to the Australian Pinball Expo. And I need to get back to these guys. But I guess the thing is this. How do I can I ask you guys and don't tell them I said this? How do I explain to my friends who invited me that I just don't think I could do like a 16 to 18 hour flight in coach? Like is it how do you like you know what I'm saying? someone invites you and they're they're going to pay for my plane ticket, but how do I how do I let them know that like I just can't do a flight that long in coach?
    34:50
    I I just like I I don't know how to say it back without sounding like a primadana douche, but like in the end like I just I I I can't do it. I can't do it. Should I do like a canada gofundme to to upgrade to to first class? What should I do? What should be a fun way to do this? But Wayne wasn't the invite. It was it was other enthusiasts over there. They want me to come to the show premium economy. Now in premium economy, do you can you lie down? Like I what how nice is I? Because some planes are different. some planes, you know. I I just need to go flat, though,
    35:36
    because because I have to assume a ticket from New York to Australia is like first class or business class. I mean, we got some time, but I mean, it's probably a $5 to $8,000 ticket, right? Heaps of leg room. N I I need I can't do it. I can't do it. I can't do it. I can't do it. Like I fly I I can't.
    36:12
    I know. I know. I But I think I think if we set up a Canada GoFundMe because you know you know my my my fans have raised money for a lot worse causes. Um we could probably knock that in half.
    36:30
    I've got some frequent flyer miles. Go Air New Zealand and stop off in New Zealand. Yeah, I know Jack is going. I bet Jack's flying business class.
    36:45
    I know. It's like 10k. I'm not surprised. That's what I've spent going to Japan. It's so much nicer. You know, again, you look forward to the flight. Ah, it's killing me. Maybe I could split it with those guys. Well, I'll have to reach out to them. But like, it's just the truth. I just want to be honest. Like, I can't fly that far.
    37:18
    Get Canad Australia business class would be funny. Um, no. Oh, I you know and then I I would wear like a t-shirt with all the sponsors names on it. Like it'd be the most funny first class experience. Well, I'm going to figure out if we can do this.
    37:40
    Look, I mean, Retro Ralph got a free Well, not free. He he shot the content, but he got paid in a he got paid in a Harry Potter CE to make the the the the launch video. That's 15K. And you're telling me what would be more entertaining, Canada in Australia or Ralph's video with the keys in the back box? We saw the keys. Uh, try to get Ralph to just make a response is funny. He won't do it. Um, what do we got here? Geez. Retro. I'm happily married. That'd be funny.
    38:25
    Um, okay. So, Potter Code. Who here Who here has played Potter? The The thing about Potter that's interesting is like almost almost like everybody who ordered one never played it yet. So, I look, I just think it's good news that they're making unlimited CES. I still think the CE topper is just so embarrassing. I don't like I the more I see the CE, the less I It's not aging on me. The what is the Nema Lima? whatever the version is. I actually think the arcade version is the way to go. I just saw some dude 10k arcade version of the game. It you lose nothing. The hot rails are there. What What do you have to add? A shaker motor. That's it. And you got the same game. Let me tell you, as someone who has all those dumb lights underneath and behind, like the the lights on the cabinet, you don't uh it doesn't do anything. You don't even notice it because the playfield's so lit up. I think the arcade is the way to go because again I just I I I I don't think there's like any you won't be having any more fun on any of the other versions. You think about a pinball experience and you're just you know the moment you're locked in, right? The actual sex with the machine. Let's use that as a metaphor. When you're actually having sex with the machine, you got your hands on the buttons on the I could use other terminology. I won't. And you plunge the ball. Nobody on a Wizard edition or a collector's edition is having more fun than you. And you spent $10,000. the arcade edition is the way to go 100%. I think I think people ordered the CES are going to be disappointed when they see the topper. I don't think the other CE elements are worth it. I just don't.
    40:26
    It's re It's really not. I can I This is like so ridiculous to me. The The Mina Lima is not the most beautiful cab in pinball. Like it's gang. Like what? What the heck are you guys talking about? Like I understand that Eric and the Potter fanatics geek out over that, but that does not look better than Deadpool or Batman SLE or Ghostbusters. I'm sorry, gang. It's in person. It's And it's like a matte finish. I I'm sorry. It doesn't pop. It doesn't make your jaw drop. It's not a wow machine to walk up to. I'm sorry. I I am being completely objective here. I I I think Avatar has more Avatar CE looks better to walk up to. Uh Elton John Platinum is more woow. Evil Dead is more wow. I I'm so those people like again most of you haven't even seen it in person. It's dull because it's got like a matte finish.
    41:46
    No, I I just don't think it like I and again like to me and I know this is a weird thing to harp on but to me the topper like ruins the entire package cuz I just think the topper should have been made also by mean Lima. Like the fact that why didn't Eric get me Lima to make the topper for the damn game? Like what what's wrong with these people? Like why do I have to tell them this? Like you you've got this artist making this the most unique. It is I'll give him this. It is the most unique decision to make a game this way. So then you just mail it in on the topper and slap on some plastic ugly crappy Hogwarts. Why didn't he have Mina Lima make a Hogwarts beautiful like artistic layer topper that just tied it all together to stick that thing on top of this game. It's like taking a dump on top of a Ferrari. So, I'll give you this. The game is be it just it ruins it for me. And they had they had years to get this topper beautiful and nobody stood and looked at it and said, "We're not putting this crap on this game." I I can't. The Avatar topper is incredible. The Elton John CE topper works perfectly, albeit it's just leftover parts from what? From Toy Story. It's funny.
    43:19
    Who is running the Australian Expo? used to be Wayne. Um, Marty Robbins, man. Dude, where's Marty Robbins these days? Has anybody know like has he like him and Damian like has he have they has anyone like followed up on like where's Damian now? Because dudes like that don't fully go away. They they declare bankruptcy on this LLC and then they move on to their next like next like shady business. But has anyone heard from Marty or Damian? I'm asking the Australian dudes.
    43:57
    Who who is on the podcast? Oh, Wayne was I will say this, you guys in Australia, you guys are like, you guys are crazy, man. Like the prices you guys pay on a machine.
    44:18
    Marty Robbins was on a podcast. Who who had him on the podcast?
    44:28
    Oh, back on Final Round. Well, I mean, no one's going to take that guy seriously again. I mean, but Final Round is Jeff Tolas. I mean, Tolas has been trying to get him back back into the game and and they didn't even talk about Haggus. See, it's just a joke. Now it's just that's just that's just Marty and Jeff singing in the shower now thinking they're like they've got a sold out stadium. No one's Dude, when Jeff Teis came back and tried to like help usher Marty back into the hobby.
    45:11
    I don't know. I don't think he's I don't think he's a you know, look, I don't this maybe he's a good dude. I don't know. But I think the way he compartmentalized Haggus with his show and like selectively decided not to give updates when he Dude, I don't know, man. Like he knew he knew that company was up up up you know its creek. He knew that he knew the company was failing and he still went on and and refused to give updates or told people like I don't know man. I don't think that's like what a good dude does. So, don't don't um you know, and you got to remember like I have friends who lost like $20,000 on this company. I'm sorry.
    45:59
    No, no. It's also like people forget like Jeff also allowed Steve Bowen to come in there and was like, you know, he was hyping Deeproot for the longest time because this is what because it's I get it like Steve Bowen's your friend so you you let him pump and dump his company. Marty Robbins is your friend so you let him hype it and in the end like everyone who listened to Canada didn't lose a dollar. Everybody who listened to Jeff Tiololis like lost a ton of money and then you got to go listen to like the backpedaling shows that he did, you know? It's amazing. It's amazing. Dude hates my guts. I mean, I know he hates my guts, but like it is what it is. Like there's a reason why Final Round has like like four Patreon subscribers. You know what I'm saying? Here, let's look and see how many they have right now. Hold on. Numbers don't lie, as they say, right? Let's see. Final round. How many people are contributing to Final Round Pinball Podcast? Let's see. Can someone look it up for me? Oh, here we go. I'll find it.
    47:08
    All right. Here we go. Final. I don't even know if they're still on here.
    47:27
    Here we go. We got I got everybody up right now. Bowen, Don, Pinball, Profile, Pinball Party, Carrie, Triple Drain, Wamp. I don't even know if they're still on here. I don't think so.
    47:47
    Final round. Pinball Patreon. Let me let me Google search it.
    47:56
    I don't think they're still on it. They might have yanked it down. Oh well. Well, now they got zero.
    48:09
    Yeah. But you know, here's the thing, Albert. Here's the thing is like
    48:19
    the problem with Jeff and I I I'd say this to his face is if you want to be a positive ambassador for pinball, I'm I'm all for that, brother. Like I do think Jeff has done a lot of great stuff for pinball. But but what he fails to recognize though is the charact like he can't see past the Andrew Highways, the Robert Muellers, the the Damen Hardens. Like he literally gives everybody everybody. not just the past, but he continues to endorse these companies well into periods of them ripping off customers and being caught in lies. Like, so there's a there's a there's a a line where like are you positive or you just like are you celebrating everybody and everyone regardless of context? And then once you do that, then you cease to have something called credibility because you're burying what's happening over at Haggus because Marty's your friend. Like, so then you're just selective re, you know, revisionist history on all these companies. And then and then you're not just that though, you're bringing personalities onto your show to convince consumers everything is all right with these companies. So, these people are placing non-refundable deposits and then when they go belly up, you take no accountability. So, go back and listen to Canadas Pinball podcast where I ever interviewed Marty Robbins ever. I think I interviewed Damian once back in the Haggus days. Never when he did like Kelts. Never again. Never wanted Andrew Highway on. Never wanted Steve Bowen on. Never. You know, never. I had Robert Mueller early on. Early on. And then what did I do? I I chastised that dude when it was clear he didn't know what the heck he was doing. So just saying just saying like I don't know like if you're going to do positive things for pinball maybe the most positive thing you can do is prevent people from getting scammed by friends of yours in the industry.
    50:30
    Yeah, Albert. Um, yeah. I don't I don't see all the hard work these tournament guys do. Oh, man. Dude, tell me how much hard work is the tournament. I'll tell you why I don't go near pinball tournaments.
    50:47
    You ever seen a pinball tournament room during a show? Like everyone else at the show drinking, having a good time. Like, you know what I'm saying? Ever pop your head into the tournament room? It it is like um it it it's got the same vibes as like going into like a public bathroom in Central Park. It's just like it it's just hot. Everyone's sweating. People are like banging machines. Like people are like fighting for for that leaderboard. And then when they're at the shows, these dudes are just like it just hijacks all their time. Okay, cool. Like I just don't why why would you do that? Are you going to remember finishing 18th in that tournament or you gonna remember like hanging out with your best buddies and like actually having a great time at the show?
    51:45
    All right, I'm reading some of your comments. Andrew Highway, remember he bought that boat and he tried to like fix that boat. But then they found out about his pinball venture and they all the investors left.
    52:04
    Let's see who we got here. The most positive is to be honest, never blind of Yeah. Yeah.
    52:15
    Yeah. No, they are depressing the tournament rooms. Like gang, I've never in a million years like everyone knows like Canada's Canada covers a a portion of the hobby. Tournament play is not not for me, man. Not for me. Like it's when Nate Shivers went into tournament talk, it was like the show is over. The show is over.
    52:43
    I don't like tournaments. I don't like league nights. I don't want to spend three, four hours watching, you know, crazy Levy spend a half hour on a machine. And and and dude, you know what I hate about Okay, I hate a strong word. You know what I don't like? I don't like watching the way location players and tournament players treat somebody else's machine. When I see these guys like slapping the machines, like throwing them around, I'm like, what do you think you're trying to do here? I don't know. Talk about having to slap machines. Let's get back to some of these pinball games. So, apparently, Dungeons and Dragons is very outlane drainheavy, and there's an outlane on it that's wide open that you can't close up. And I'm hearing from the D&D owners. I'm in the thread. I was reading it. They're they hate it. And even though you got the center shield, it's really ruining the fun of the game. And it's unfortunate. I hate Guns and Roses is an outlane drain monster. Ninja Turtles is another. Wizard of Oz is another. Uh-h which games do you guys think? I'm curious what you guys think cuz I think there's nothing more frustrating than a game that just constantly outlane drains. Uh it ruins it it ruins the fun. It it ruins the you know your enjoyment and any missed shot is going to send it there. Which games are just terrible? Stranger Things. Okay.
    54:27
    Why doesn't this guy like Wick? Which guy? me. Robert, are you asking me why I don't like wick? Cuz I'll I'll explain in a second.
    54:47
    Um here here's my Yeah, Turtles is terrible. Um, the reason I don't like John Wick and Oh, Wick has some outlane problems. I I just think John Wick I love the first movie. I probably really enjoyed the first three John Wick movies, but they just kept on going. And I remember I walked out of the theater on the last one. There there was a moment where he was running he was in this sort of like French like apartment or sort of like brownstone in France and he and he needed to get out and he like ran and jumped through glass doors or a window on like like 30 40 feet up and just Superman man through glass and then rolled on the ground and was up and and that that's when I I walked out. I was like I I get that this movie is always these movies have always been about you know hyperbolic action scenes and like you know unbelievable but but once you cross over to stuff like that now where he's just completely invincible like a superhero uh I'm out. I'm done. I mean, like, I get it. It was fun. Boogeyman, like the the the the Continental, the gold coins, all of it. It It worked for a while and then it just too many of them. And I just I just thought it was ridiculous. And so that, you know, it's become one of these movies now where you go back and watch it every once in a while, but like, do I want to own a John Wick pinball machine that has no guns? I also I think what would have made me own a John Wick machine is if they nailed the theme. And look, I think they missed the theme not because of the lack of guns on the artwork, because the guns are all on the screen. You see all the action shots. John Wick is all about a rave under glass. It needed to be that. It needed to have like lasers and like feel like you're going into a a nightclub. And they failed to capture any of that cuz Stern's lighting system is cheap AF. There was no like feeling of that vibe of John Wick in that game at all. like it really needed to feel like I'm stepping into one of those like laser beam mirrors nightclub assassins like like badass Neotokyo kind of vibes and I look down and I just see I mean they tried to with like the plastics with the neon but it's just it's just Stern's platform it is so limited in in how it can really creatively create some of these themes under glass that it's just like the easiest pass ever.
    58:05
    Could Wick get better with code? No. No. They just released a big code update. Nobody cares, man. You know, it's like it's like asking um will a dead person have more personality if you change their clothes? You know, it's a it's the game's dead. the game's dead. Like, no, there there are certain games that are so far beyond saving that any resources allocated to trying to save those games is a further waste of money. You're not going to sell any more John Wicks ever. If you're Stern, John Wick owners have lost a fortune. The games are going to keep going down. John Wick Ali is another one of these. Do you see the Venom Ali for$7,000, gang? That that's that's John Wick. A Venom Ellie and once and it's not even sold a Venom for $7,000.
    59:07
    I mean talk about like how bad Stern Marketing was for a while. Like I Jody made some really bad decisions.
    59:16
    But even when I talked to George, you know, they were like, "Oh, we were supposed to launch Venom with the Venom movie. Then that got delayed. Like no one cares about the Venom movies. Like where are you guys in all this? Like who's got the who's got their finger on the pulse of real culture? Cuz it's not Venom. Never was Venom.
    59:42
    Gang. I know I don't um I don't really bust here much and I I you know I'm losing money not being on Facebook, but I think you guys prefer this platform. I I know there's like super chats here. Um but if you if you like what you're hearing and you want to make a donation to Canadas Pinball Podcast and a first class Australian business ticket donation, um just you can you can just PayPal me here. I know.
    60:10
    And we'll see. I'll read I'm going to open up PayPal now and read out anyone who makes a donation. Let's just do it that way. I I'll gify it in real time. Of course, I'm a shill. I always shill for myself. Let's see if anybody sends any money. Let me open up PayPal. Let me log in and we'll see what happens here. Sign. Log in. Is this my password?
    60:36
    My PayPal currently with a balance I I have a minus one balance. This is funny. Let me show you guys this. Oh my god, this is so funny.
    61:13
    there's a Halloween. Yeah, like I think some of these older spooky games um I think some of these older spooky games with like servo issues and Halloween and I don't know, man. They're they're Ultra Man's like I mean you can't even really give it away to be honest. Um
    61:40
    my overall feeling gang in in all of this is we're we are at a um I I hate to use the term like the golden age of pinball. Like there's more great pinball now in the world than there's ever been in the history of the world. There are so many great games. You don't need to spend a fortune to have pinball fun. And the biggest problem right now I see is you have like 14 pinball companies that need to sell new inbox games every year. And people are pretty much out of room. And you know, you normally need to sell a game to get a new game, but selling that old game is harder and harder because everything's just oversaturated. And so in in an oversaturated market, it sort of begs the question, why is why aren't pinball companies pulling back more versus pumping more out? Um, and I also think in an oversaturated market, you have to work much harder to make sure you nail the theme and you really nail the um the sales. Like you need to nail the sales. Uh um you know I've I know that Barrels of Fun Dune is um you know they've sold they've sold a decent amount but not where they need it to be by now. And you know the hard part now is every month that goes by Dune you know there you know Dune becomes an old game even though people don't have it yet. And so then the attention goes on to Jaws 50th. The attention goes on to episode one through three Star Wars. The attention is going to go on to other games. And you know, by the time they've made by the time they've made 500 Dunes, we might be seeing Keith Owen's Pokemon. Um, and Dune was never a theme that most people wanted.
    63:54
    Well, look, I I I think man, Barrels to me is just a little bit of an enigma. Like, if they had just nailed the theme, they would they would have sold so many more games. But I like I can't make a I can't get into the head of a pinball manufacturer. And you know, David's it's look, David got it done. He made all the labyrinth games. And I do give them credit for, you know, there's no shenanigans. I mean, you ordered a game from barrels, you got a gain. You know, they have to start somewhere. But now they need to nail the theme. And I think Spooky is just Spooky is the company that I would I would want to just walk in every day to. You're in I mean, look, you're in Benton, Wisconsin, so which means like every every hot waitress at the local bar is going to know me.
    64:53
    I'm just joking. No, but you're like you're literally living in Benton, Wisconsin, which I I tend to believe the reason I love what I know they have is they have two things that are everything. It's and it's not and one of them is not a pinball company. They they have family and they have community. All right? So, when you think about and I I realized this the older I get in life is like you want to live somewhere where there's a community and you want to live somewhere where like you have family. And now by family I mean the family you're born into and the family you choose. And as you get older in life, like you know, sometimes the family you choose is is is the family you consider family. But I feel like those guys roll in every day and they've got that and they don't have the stresses of super high rent because Benton, Wisconsin is making it very favorable for Spooky Pinball to operate there as they should. It's an American that's how the American process should work. You're you're creating jobs in our tiny little town. So, we're going to help you keep those jobs intact. That's how it should be. Looking out for a local business's ability to thrive, right? Versus just like squeezing them so they have to take the jobs elsewhere, right? Jersey Jack wanted to stay in New Jersey. It was just that it was just too expensive. Even the taxes in New Jersey, I mean, much cheaper to make the games where they're making them now.
    66:33
    Um, and and I just think like that's where the fun is at, right?
    66:47
    you know, Stern to me is such a company at a crossroad. And the crossroad Stern is at is is so simple in my mind. They need their next evolution of their platform. They need to get their games looking closer to how a Jersey Jack pinball machine looks. Isn't it funny how both of these companies to me just complement each other? Like if they were to like have a baby, then we'd have the best pinball in the world. Jersey Jack's platform is the most gorgeous in the history of pinball and nothing's ever come close to looking as beautiful as a JJP. The games are just like don't shoot very well and are overly complex. Stern makes much more enjoyable shooting games. Stern understands how to bake more fun into a pinball experience, but Stern games look cheap compares compared. You go from a you go from a King Kong LE to a Harry Potter like even the Harry Potter arcade edition looks more expensive. Stern just doesn't make a $13,000 product. I mean I it's just like there's no other way to say it. They literally do not make a $13,000 product. They don't look that expensive. They don't feel that expensive. And it it doesn't stop there. Those $13,000 sterns don't even come with a topper or all the accessories. So all in some of these stern machines are 15 $16,000. They charged us $20,000 for James Bond 60th. You have to like I I you know I always there there are seinal moves that a company will make that telegraph what they think about the community and how they value their own product charging 20 grand for James Bond's 60th to me like that was the moment like you have that and then you highlight a hologram sticker as one of the special things you're going to get with Jaw's 50th.
    69:01
    They're good guys over there. You know, I met with Seth. I met with Gary. I met with George. They're great guys.
    69:12
    I I'm going to be honest. I would love I would love to work at Stern Pinball and and and have the ability to make an impact. I'm not sure I could because I'm not sure like, you know, I don't have all the line of sight into the margins and everything, but I definitely know this community. And and and I mean this when I say this, and I told this to Gary, I told it to George. I told it to Seth. I know the new and box collector buyer better than they do. It's that simple. They their company's marketing has been run by someone who doesn't understand collectors or new inbox buyers run by pinball players, pinball nerds, tournament guys, like their mindset. Gary's Gary's always seen the distros as the as the customer, right? When you see the distros and the dealers as the customer, you're you're not seeing the real end user because he doesn't care. Like as long as the orders are coming in from these people, I don't care what the buyer, the actual buyer of my product, I see my buyer as the dealer in the DRO. That is how that company has operated for decades and it worked for decades. Just doesn't work like it used to anymore. So nobody's looking out for the act for you and me, the end user.
    70:39
    I would absolutely be successful at Stern Canada. Have you had much to do with Wayne in Australia? Um, I know Wayne. I know Wayne pretty well, right Wayne? We've we've we've talked for years.
    71:01
    Um, Wayne's a really good guy. Wayne Wayne's I like Wayne because he's a he's a he's an alpha male. You know, Wayne's one of these dudes, too. Like Wayne Wayne knew how full of BS Damian was right away. Wayne warned many people, me included, and I believed Wayne. Wayne, right? How many times, Wayne, were you sharing like literally public info on the realities of Damian's BS? And even when Wayne was trying to wave the flag, people wouldn't listen. I listened.
    71:57
    No. Well, the reason I say Wayne's a little bit of an alpha male is he's very, you know, he's like he's like he is he's an aggressive, you know, he's got more aggressive personality, a beta male. Um, oversaturated, overpriced.
    72:17
    How you guys feeling about the hobby? How much longer do you think it's just you think it's just going to keep on trucking like this? like people just losing a ton on every game. Like we haven't talked about all the new games. I I I don't I think Predator is kind of dead on arrival. I don't know what the Pinball Brothers do now. I think um Predator it's it's it's kind of like already out of my mind. I I don't know if you still think about it, but I I it's one of those games where I don't I kind of seen enough. Like I I don't I feel I almost feel like I feel bad, but then I don't feel bad. I just again it's one of these things where marketing is important.
    73:06
    Yeah, it's too much money, right? If Predator was like $79.95, I think they would sell, but it's it's twice the price to your door.
    73:18
    Um, do you think we're going to get Cuphead out this month? That's the rumor from Carrie Hardy that Cuphead arrives in uh in July.
    73:31
    Uh, I've got no more info on Star Wars other than I'm hearing it's episode one through three. Let me check my PayPal. Anybody? Anybody? I got $4.84. Thank you. Who sent it? Was that Albert? Was that you
    73:53
    from Merchandise Mecca? Thank you, Merchandise Mecca, for the five bucks. You You've taken me out of this the red.
    74:04
    Let's just keep it open and see. Let's just keep refreshing it. Let's see how high we can get this number, you guys. You guys, let's see. Share. Let's This is gonna be funny. I've never done this before, by the way. We're just having some fun. You know how it is. It's Sunday morning. Let's just There we go.
    74:28
    Come on. All you other content creators, Retro Ralph got a $15,000 machine and I'm staring at $4.84.
    74:36
    What is this? I'm going to refresh this and we're going to see who can get to the top of this leaderboard. Where's Bill Brandice? when you need them. He's probably right now. Bill's like he's just polishing the door handle on his V12 Ferrari. He's like I can't afford to give to Canada.
    75:01
    maybe open it up for people to pay you to not come might get more.
    75:10
    Oh, that's funny. If Canada asks people if you gotta pay me not to go to Australia, Wayne, what's the what is what's the vibe on Canada over in Australia? Like, do people like Canad Pinball Podcast? Do they like me over there or or am I am I more popular than Damian? Can we start there? Let's start that as like the the bottom level of popularity. Arnold, you did a job. I can't do it now. I'm outside. And it's like Sunday morning. I'm not waking up my neighbors screaming. Get to the chopper. Run. They don't even say run. All right, let's refresh it. See what we got. Anything? Anyone?
    75:55
    We're still stuck. We're still stuck at 44. All right, I I'll stop sharing screen. This is never going to work, Glen. All right. Um I'm going to do a few more minutes. I'm really excited today. I am um going to gonna go this is the first time ever this has ever happened in my family. So just to give you guys I know sometimes I talk personal life and I you know just let you into my world a little bit. Um I I had been estranged from my older brother for around 30 years. My older brother is three years older than me and really hard childhood with a older brother that you know we we had a lot of there's a lot of fighting there's a lot of tension there's a lot of but like really like three boys like a lot of like very physical very violent like like traumatic childhood growing up my parents sent him away to school like I don't want to give you all the details but anyway we were strange for so many years uh for For for a lot of years of my life, I never went home for the holidays because I just wanted to avoid certain family members. And then unfortunately, uh, his wife passed away about two months ago, a month ago from cancer, very young. And at the funeral home, after 30 years of being aranged, we all reconciled. made me my twin brother and my older brother and most amazing mother's day was we took my mom out for the first time in 30 years she saw all of her boys together which is very special. So today is a very special day because for the first time we're all going to go to my twin brother's house. He's got a beautiful swimming pool and it's going to be all three sons, the grandchildren for my my parents, Killian, Cassie and Killian's got his snorkel and his mask and he's got his floaty. My brother's got an amazing pool. Like it it's the size of my backyard. It's bigger than my backyard. It's like it's like a Vegas it's like it's like he's got like a Vegas like hotel pool in his It's amazing. Um so I really am looking forward to today and it's it's it's beautiful sunny 88 perfect weather as you can see and we're going to go there uh at noon today and just have a really amazing moment. Now I'm just what fills me with such joy is that my parents's biggest regret in life was the fact that their kids weren't getting along to so for all of us to finally get along. And what was amazing about it, and believe me, there was a lot of tears, there was a lot of hugging, there's a lot of crying, there was a lot a lot of everything, you know, when when you when you hold 30 years of emotions inside, it it it comes out so instantly and and it and it's so beautiful now. And my older brother has a beautiful son. He's incredible. Like it's just it's also just feeling now like we have a family unit again that can help each other because we all need help and we need to it's just everything like the one of the biggest fears of my life was always well what happens if my parents pass away and there's all this tension that that just terrified me my whole life. I just thought like, oh my gosh, like everything's going to be a fight. Everything's going to be like it's just going to get worse and worse and worse. And now it's the complete opposite. It's like we can actually talk like adults about how we how we manage our family and how we manage ourselves and our relationships and and these assets and and everything we have. Like let's not let's not fight each other and and and and compete with each other. Like let's work together to build upon, you know, what this family has. And and it's just a beautiful thing. and I just feel very blessed. So, today's going to be a a very magical day.
    79:56
    He He's close by, but he's moving. He's moving. I think he might be moving. I think he's moving down to North Carolina. Um, you know, look, people get out of here because where he's at, high tax region. So, like you go down to North Carolina, you get the most amazing house, your property taxes are nothing. I think everyone's a real This is why I like gang. I'm happy I moved out of New York City when I did because if that if that dude wins the mayor the May oral election. I just think like New York City is just going to keep going south and and the reason why is just it's just it's so expensive to live there. You don't need to you used to have to live in a city to make a lot of money, right? like those hedge fund jobs where you had to be in the city. You had to be like physically in a city to get those opportunities. Now you can be anywhere and you can make that money. You don't need to be living in such an expensive area of the world. And also I have to say this, like the city is just not the same, man. It's not fun. The kids don't go out. The night life is not what it used to be. And then it's just filled, you know, with a bunch of narcissistic pricks everywhere. Like, I get it. I can get that everywhere, you know? And I'm And maybe I'm one of them, but I don't need to go there. I go into the city now to work, which is what I still do a few days a week, and then I go in there for my Japanese jazz bar. And I can, what I love about where I live here is I can go into the city. I'm I'm there 1 hour train ride. I can hit my Japanese jazz bar up for 2 hours and I'm home by like 9:00. And I I don't need a car, so I can walk from the train station to my house. It's beautiful. What's up, Louie? All right, gang. As you can see, the sun is coming.
    82:05
    You know, people who talk on the train are so annoying. It's like every once in a while someone does it. Like they act like they're in their living room. Anyway, everybody, look, I'm glad you guys had a great Fourth of July weekend. Thank you for being a member of Canada's Pinball Podcast. If you're not, would love for you to sign up Canada Pinball Podcast at Patreon. Don't let Al Albert fool you. He's not free. No, no, no, no, no. Now he has to wake up every day and wonder what Canada said on his show. That is like being in prison. Freedom is when you know you've heard Canadas Pinball Podcast every week. Then you're free because what I do for you when you are a member of Canadas Pinball Podcast, I actually free you up from having to go on Pinside. I free you up from having to go to other news sources because I've captured it all. I'm also going to give you an opinion that's not biased and that's liberating. What's not free is when you listen to the shills and you don't know what the real story is. Okay, everybody. Have a great Sunday and we'll talk to you soon. The Jesus of I don't know, man. They're definitely trying to crucify me on some of these shows these days. Later. I'll listen to you again, Albert. Let's do it. I promise you. I'm going to go listen today. Peace out. I want to see you join though. We got a deal. Amen, brothers. Be good.