I'm on the pursuit of happiness and I know everything's shining on this beautiful day. I'll be fine once I get it. I say, I say, I say, I say, I say, I say, I say, I say, I say, I say. Welcome everybody to Kaneda's Pinball Podcast. Happy Monday morning. It is Expo Week. Everyone is still alive and ticking and we have so much more to be thankful for in life than stuff we should be upset about. And I'm going to talk about that on this episode of Kaneda's Pinball Podcast. All of our different pursuits of happiness in pinball and what it means to us and what we're going to see at Pinball Expo. I'm going to talk a little bit about the fact that they banned me from Pinball Expo. I haven't really brought it up that much but I want to talk about it. I want to just clear the air because people keep asking me independently if I'm going to be there and no I'm not. And I'm going to give you the truth about what went down and how it all transpired and it's kind of silly but you know me. This is what I'm used to. Kaneda has been banned from all these forums and he's such a terrible toxic person. And you know, on Saturday Morning Spectacular, I got into it a little bit with pinball artist Mr. Christopher Franchi. And if you watch the show, at the end of the show, we went a little back and forth. And here's the thing, I definitely want to sit down and talk to Mr. Franchi. I love his artwork. I think he's one of the greatest pinball artists in the history of pinball artists. But if we're going to do it, we're going to do it right. And I think him and I should just talk live to each other. That's how it's going to go down. We're not going to do a prerecorded show. I'm not going to have to edit anything. Is there any more fair medium than a live chat between two larger than life pinball personalities? And I don't expect it to be a battle royale. I'm not mad at him. I don't hate him. I don't hate anybody in pinball. You know what he said to me? He said he can't have me on his show because his co-hosts hate To me and I think hate is a really strong word and I don't think that word should be thrown around in the pinball hobby I don't think hate should be thrown around in any hobby Why would you be a part of a hobby if there's things in it that make you hate people? There's no room for a hate in pinball, right? I could really really really be upset with Jersey Jack Pinball for charging this much money for Toy Story with no toys in it But I don't hate people over there. I don't hate Pat Lawler for fumbling this game I'm going to go right into the expo story right now. There are people out there in the pinball world that absolutely certifiably hate me. And I don't know who they are, right? I mean, you could probably make a pretty long list of people who hate Kaneda or have reasons to hate Kaneda. There are definitely manufacturers out there who probably don't like me. I've been called unkind. I've been called toxic. I've been called narcissistic. But here's the thing. Every single pinball company out there who's successful, they They don't care what Kaneda says. They're too busy taking care of business. And I'm just gonna say this and I normally don't reveal like what goes on behind the scenes but I have a good rapport with Mr. George Gomez. I can still talk to the gang over at Spooky. David Fix and I have a relationship. Barry over at Dutch Pinball will talk to me. Jack Guarnari talks to me. I think everyone who's out there who's making pinball machines, that's their focus. And I think if you zoom out a little bit, all of these pinball companies All this is about the Pinball Podcast. This podcast is not a podcast about me hating on pinball. If this was a podcast in which I hate pinball, I would challenge anybody to find a sound clip that says I hate pinball. No, I don't hate pinball. The only thing I really hate in pinball, I mean this when I say it, the only thing I really hate in this hobby, and there's not a lot. The only thing I really hate are nonrefundable deposits. Okay, I really hate that. I don't like the high pricing, but I don't hate it. I mean, I know why these companies are doing it. But when people say they hate you. So here's what went down with Expo. And it's a little unfortunate because I was planning to go. I haven't had many vacations or time off since having Killian. Thankfully, my beautiful wife Brenda got me the trip to Vegas. But here's what happened. I booked my hotel room to Expo months ago. And about a month ago, I got a note from Rob I'm here with Mark Burke over at Pinball Expo saying that because I snuck into the exit of last year's show and did a walk around of Expo that I was banned from the show. Like that the reason he gave me and I knew it was a bogus reason because I was talking to Emoto and all the other pinball content creators We all did that because they didn open the show up for media early So we just went in and we walked around we showed everybody what was going to be at Expo and you watch those lives and they were great All that did was really celebrate what was going on at the show We didn spoil anything We didn reveal a game that wasn supposed to be revealed We didn ruin anyone seminar moment We just walked around and said Hey here Here's what's going on at Pinball Expo. So that's not the real reason. That's the reason Rob Burke gave me. And then I heard other reasons from David Fix. Here's the overall reason I'm getting. I am hearing that there are other people going to Expo who did not want me there. And they said basically they wouldn't go if Kaneda went. So then it was an easy decision. Let's just get rid of Kaneda's presence at the show and everyone will have a better time. I wholeheartedly disagree that a show is better because I'm not there. I think people who love this show and are going to be there would have loved to have hung out with me. And as all of us know, the shows are all about hanging out with people and having a good time. I was hanging out last night with Benjamin from France, a Canadian club member who's in New York City on his way to Chicago for Pinball Expo. And we hung out last night with his coworker, Pat from Ireland, who actually grew up across the street from Brenda's house. He went to the school that's across from where my wife lived as a child. Same здep filmmaker forожденияр Ramaz bh, Safari���ậ Entscheidung astrologicalsktóח breve lesbianid known as Kanyah Fadiloye Cheers upluenta, thanksziękujęke labour, erihaniy, prith accountability karaay, lugunhasugnie Insideach zagba, miss veryhrongnethaw, Exc logistics, Glublizch heightout awful, Mike Arthur, Ebby Gheres Greater 케 아직this escolte store. Apostytruth. ride,demo, ecstar- history~! igart, Oh? channel, my fr gaze, maryayacc 물론지 yitsoooo Uhh, Ooh-ooouhs Hey moments, it's alk tough. I want to have the privilege to be your hostлив防 특별์ day I'm content to be live again on playshtaking Des Amerkay. Shanahan Wie pretzelsawattset financiers inside my wallet. And here's the hardest part for me is I'm very transparent, I'm very out in the open. If I don't like something, you're going to know it came from me. But all those people out there who don't like me, they hide in the shadows, they don't reveal who they are, they don't want to stand in front of it. They want to complain behind the curtain and there's nothing I can do. I can't defend myself, I can't have a conversation with them, I don't even know who they are. So all I can say is this, if you're going to Pinball Expo, have a good time. You're gonna have a good time. Hang out with people, drink some booze, don't worry about the outside world. It's a tiny little bubble of a bunch of geeks and nerds that nobody else on the planet really understands. We are a little circle of nerds and geeks. People think we're losers, right? So it's funny that we turn on each other so much. It's funny that we bicker and fight so much. I'm a fan of pinball and I see the level of anger towards each other. It's so weird. Everyone in this hobby should realize this. We're the ones who need to be in it together, us as a community because everybody else thinks we are in an arrested state of development. They think we can't grow up. They think we have our priorities all wrong. They think we are losers. If you remember the arcades in the 80s and 90s people, and I'm speaking to a lot of you out there, the cool kids did not play pinball. All was where like the older guys who were smoking, who were really too old to be in that arcade, that's who was playing the pinball machines. All the cool kids were playing like Street Fighter and playing Mortal Kombat and playing like Daytona USA. I mean I grew up in the arcade culture and I remember like you hopped on a pinball machine when the Street Fighter machines were occupied. No one ran to the arcade as a kid to go play Addams Family Pinball. No, it just didn't happen. So we're just all in this together and I want to say moving forward. And I encourage Franchi to do this moving forward. If someone has a problem with Kaneda's Pinball Podcast, just come to me. If you know someone who doesn't like the show, have them hit me up. I would love to have a conversation with them. I would love to have a beer with them and talk about why they don't like me so much. The reason why I titled this show just Do What Makes You Happy in Pinball, that is the only real lesson that matters in all of this. It doesn't matter what Stern makes or Jersey Jack makes or what these games are. Each of you is on a some of you you love unboxing games every year for some of you you can easily afford it for some of you you can and that what makes each of our lives beautiful is that we all different we all come from different places we have different jobs We have different need states We have different things we love You know what I love about pinball is that no game is universally loved by everybody Like some people love Godzilla I talked to people who hate Godzilla They don like it but they can never say it because if they say it on pin side they be attacked by the Elwin army See that why this hobby is so fun because every few months a new game comes out and we get to have a new game I love that about pinball and my pursuit of pinball happiness is right here. I love doing this show more than playing pinball. I think it's quite clear that that's the case, right? I've done 733 episodes about pinball. I have not reviewed 733 games. I don't talk to you about rule sets. I don't talk to you about scoring strategies. I talk to you about the hobby and I try to capture what's going on in this hobby and I love it. I love to about this hobby is it's always changing. You know, people will ask me like, what do you talk about? How do you find topics? And I would argue there is always something to talk about that's new and interesting in pinball because the pinball community changes with the tides, right? Look at pinball now. Did any of us ever think we'd be paying this much for games? None of us thought that way. Five years ago, nobody thought every single game coming out would be over $10,000 with like taxes and shipping. Nobody thought that. So that is changed. This week's topic is Pinball. What excites me about this topic is that our expectations are super high because they need to be. Speaking of super high expectations, there is going to be a lot of conversation when we finally see James Bond. Here is my prediction on the James Bond stream. I think the game is going to be a James Bond fan's dream come true because I think you are going to see a ton of clips. I think people are going to start to look at all of these games like they're kind of not worth this much money. And I mean that. And you can see it in the Toy Story thread. You can see it. Like if people were like, if this game was eight or nine grand, I could look at it differently. And I absolutely think you have to look at a game differently based upon what it costs. Let me ask all of you a question. If you go into McDonald's and you have a quarter pounder with cheese, it's a delicious meal, right? How much does it cost you? It's like what? $6.95 and you have this delicious cheeseburger. Okay, if you walked into McDonald's and that burger was $25, would you look at it the same way? It's still a delicious burger but would you want to spend $25 on it? Probably not. And that's what's happening in pinball. All pinball on some level to each of us is delicious. It's fun. Like it's a toy. It's a game. But I'm going to look at a $13,000 Stern LE differently than an $8,000 Stern LE. And I think everybody is. And that's what's really interesting. Now, when I look at the game, and I look at what we're getting for $13,000 versus what we used to get for $8,000, I come to a very simple conclusion. I don't see the value. I don't see the value in these super expensive games. And it's like nobody else wants to say it. I'm listening to all the I'm going to be doing a lot of these different shows. And everyone's like, yeah, you know, and Canada was the one who said they could raise prices. Yeah, I did. And they are. And look what's happening. They're probably going to be successful at it. But you know what's awesome? You know, it's awesome because the more this goes up and up and up, the more people are going to say no, no, no. And the more people are going to look for more and more and more. And the more people are going to look for dream theme that they want to bolt to the ground. And the days of like shuffling games in and out of your home are going to be over. Maybe not for good, but I think the days of buying new in box over and over and over again I'm going to be over because I think these things are going to start to depreciate much more than they ever did before. And the only place for the price to go down is south. And I think the big issue and I mean this, Canada means this, the big issue in 2023 is going to be every single distributor is going to have an abundance of inventory, they cannot move, we are going to see an absolute flipping upside down of where the community was a year ago when COVID hit in which nobody had any games in stock to sell. What's going to happen in 2023 when the market goes down the toilet, which it is going down the Toilet. I mean like the world global economic market as it goes down the toilet, you're going to see people pausing on buying new pinball machines and you're going to see dealers overstocked. The reason they're going to be overstocked is that all the policies that are in place on how distros get games. They were set up when times were great and every dealer wanted to get as many le's as they could because they would sell out Instantly and then to get those le's you had to buy a bunch of pros and premiums but the problem now is when you sit on that pro and premium inventory and you can't lower the price and who's gonna run and buy a premium where they gonna make limitless amounts of them and they gonna make them for five years So why would you go buy a premium the first year the game comes out because everyone gonna know this if you just wait and don buy it new in box you can go get that premium for and a homeowner will take better care of it than the damn shipping company and then here the other good part when you finally buy the game if you let the FOMO pass by you will I'm going to be in complete for an entire year. So ask yourselves, why do you need to own James Bond right now? Why do you want to play the game when the sausage isn't fully made? If you wait a year, you'll be able to get the game. It'll be brand spanking new. You know, everything's going to have less than 200 plays. This week's topic is pinball. Pinball is a game that is designed to be played in a way that is not a game that is supposed to be played in a complete form. The other scary part that I haven't talked about on this show which is going to be interesting, did John Youssi what Stern said about Stern Insider Connected? I think Stern is going to require you to sign up for InsiderConnected to unlock features of the game. That is the next thing that is coming in pinball, all the DLC. It's coming. Stern has a strategy. If you ask me, I think all of these pinball companies' strategies were set in place during a bull market. And I think it's going to be interesting to see how these companies sort of shift gears if the economy goes down. And look, when people say like, oh, you know, pinball survived the recession of 2008. Don't forget this. In 2008, when pinball survived the recession, there was only one pinball company making games. Now we have like 10. Back then, if we look at the price of a Stern machine back in 2008, If we adjust that for inflation, those games were still cheaper back then than the games are currently when you look at the inflation and you do the adjustment for it. So look, it's going to be really interesting. I'm going to be here along for the ride. I'm going to be here talking about the James Bond stream when we see it. I am going to be your venerable pinball servant. I'm not going to go away. I'm not going to let the haters deter me. This is the greatest pinball podcast in the world. It is and I know it is and it's the most entertaining. We're not afraid to talk to anybody. We are not afraid to go after the issues in pinball. We're not afraid to go underneath the surface of what's happening in pinball. We are not here to give every game a good review. There are failing games in pinball, right? And that's the thing. People are talking about this. If you're going to review pinball machines, you got to be able to give some games a D and an F. If you don't have a failing game, like a game like Thunderbirds is an F. That's it. So I want each and every one of you to To enjoy Pinball Expo, I think we're going to have a lot to talk about with this James Bond stream. And the other big question mark is where's the Keith Elwin game? Isn't it weird that Stern like announced this game in a press release and then the photo leaked and they've said nothing else about the game? I don't think we're going to see the Elwin machine until like December. But here's what's weird, right? It's like for some of you James Bond fans out there, how do you feel good about buying a $15,000 LE when you might want the Keith Elwin game instead shouldn't Stern show you everything available before they take your money if I were you just listen to Kaneda I would just wait don't run to buy this game it is not going to be hard to get a James Bond LE if you don't think so go look at the marketplace on pin side you could easily get this game right now for like 14 5 $15,000 and look it's going to keep coming down the price is not going to keep going up the price is I am not only just gonna go down because a thousand of anything is not very limited, alright. There are not that many people that wake up and wanna drop 15k on a pinball machine, okay. There's just not that many but look find your own path of happiness in pinball. And I'm glad that for each and every one of you listening to this right now. Part of what makes you happy in pinball is Kenaite's pinball podcast and that makes me super happy and seeing these club members every month makes me super happy. I put the challenge out there to you guys. Invite a friend. I'm on the pursuit of happiness and I know everything is shining on this golden day. I'll be fine once I get it. I'll be fine once I get it. I'll be fine once I get it. I'llabyte ENN육 .