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Kaneda's Pinball Podcast Saturday Morning Spectacular May 30

Kaneda Pinball Podcasts YouTube Lives·video·analyzed·May 30, 2026
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.034

TL;DR

Kaneda critiques pinball industry scaling, defends market speculation, and discusses manufacturer pipeline rumors.

Summary

Kaneda discusses pinball industry dynamics, manufacturer growth pressures, and market speculation on an extended Saturday morning live stream. He critiques unsustainable scaling practices across the industry, expresses concerns about Barrels of Fun's financial health, defends his market speculation practices (particularly Pokemon LE), and attempts to help a community member named Ashley acquire a John Wick LE for charity. He also speculates on upcoming Stern rumors (Ozzy Osbourne, Star Trek, Bill & Ted's, ACDC, Kiss remakes) and discusses Jersey Jack's Sonic the Hedgehog strategy with unlimited CE production.

Key Claims

  • Barrels of Fun is having financial difficulties, evidenced by their requiring pre-orders on the Dune Topper eight months in advance

    medium confidence · Kaneda, speculating on company financials based on business practices he observed over 15 years covering the hobby

  • Pokemon LE code is thin and the game will continue to sink in price and hype

    medium confidence · Kaneda, based on personal gameplay: 'Pokemon code is so thin right now. I just played it again...There's just so much missing in the game'

  • Ozzy Osbourne pinball machine by Stern is a legitimate rumor

    medium confidence · Kaneda: 'Is the Ozzy pin rumor legit? Yes, it is legit. And I fully expect John Borg to be making Ozzy Osbourne.'

  • Jersey Jack's unlimited CE strategy for Sonic is unprecedented and its success is uncertain

    high confidence · Kaneda: 'Nobody knows. I don't know. This hasn't been done before' with reference to unlimited Sonic CE production

  • Multiple pinball companies are in more trouble than people realize, primarily due to their own business decisions

    medium confidence · Kaneda: 'I think a lot of them are in more trouble than people realize...Every single pinball company that has failed is because of mistakes that they made'

  • Kaneda has never received a discount on pinball machine purchases despite relationships with dealers

    high confidence · Kaneda: 'I've never been given a single dollar off of the purchase price. I have paid full price for everything in my entire 14 years in pinball'

  • Approximately 100 of the 750 Pokemon LEs were purchased with intent to scalp rather than play

    low confidence · Kaneda speculation: 'About 100 people out of the 750 LEs about 100 people bought that game with the intention of scalping it'

  • Transformers for Stern has exposed issues within the community regarding fans, shills, and apologists

    medium confidence · Kaneda: 'There's been a lot of weird stuff happens when you get a game like Transformers out. It really sort of like exposes everybody'

Notable Quotes

  • “Every single pinball company that has failed is because of mistakes that they made. All right, no one sabotaged the company...There's nothing that will be innovated that will put pinball manufacturers out of business.”

    Kaneda@ 5:25 — Core thesis on manufacturer failures being self-inflicted rather than external market forces

  • “I think the biggest mistake almost every company is making is growth, growth, growth, growth, growth, bigger, bigger, bigger, bigger, more, more, more.”

    Kaneda@ 6:14 — Critique of scaling pressures across the industry, particularly directed at Spooky Pinball

  • “Why would you ever require people to make pre-orders on a topper eight months in advance...it reeks of needing cash flow.”

    Kaneda@ 36:10 — Financial concern about Barrels of Fun based on business practices

  • “Pokemon's going to continue to sink in price, sink in hype. It's never fully going to come back.”

    Kaneda@ 28:58 — Market assessment of Pokemon LE secondary market trajectory

  • “They should have struck a little bit harder with all the Optimus BS happening. They didn't even make a joke about it...They had a golden opportunity.”

    Kaneda@ 33:26 — Critique of Jersey Jack's marketing response to Stern's Transformers issues

  • “This is the stupidest thing ever, man...You will never get anywhere near $50,000 in enjoyment with that game.”

    Kaneda@ 3:11 — Criticism of secondary market pricing on Batman SLE listed for $50k

Entities

KanedapersonStern PinballcompanyJersey Jack PinballcompanySpooky PinballcompanyBarrels of FuncompanyPinball BrotherscompanyAmerican PinballcompanyCointaker

Signals

  • ?

    business_signal: Kaneda expresses serious concerns about Barrels of Fun's financial viability based on business practices (requiring pre-orders on topper 8 months in advance with only PowerPoint mockup), suggesting potential cash flow issues

    medium · Kaneda: 'That moment happened...There would be no reason to do that if that company's financials were in place...it reeks of needing cash flow'

  • $

    market_signal: Secondary market pricing for rare/desirable machines (Batman SLE listed at $50k, John Wick LE at $11.5k) demonstrating significant markup over MSRP; Kaneda characterizes this as unsustainable and community-damaging

    high · Specific pricing examples cited; Kaneda describes it as 'the stupidest thing ever'

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Marked decline in community enthusiasm for Pokemon LE; Kaneda predicts continued price and hype deterioration due to thin code/missing features

    high · Kaneda: 'Pokemon's going to continue to sink in price, sink in hype. It's never fully going to come back...There's just so much missing in the game'

  • ?

    industry_signal: Industry-wide trend of manufacturers facing pressure to scale up production; Kaneda criticizes this approach as unsustainable, arguing quality of life and company stability should take precedence over growth

    high · Kaneda: 'I think the biggest mistake almost every company is making is growth, growth, growth...When people pressure Spooky to scale up, scale up, make more, make more. Why?'

  • ?

    personnel_signal: Kaneda claims Stern employees reach out to him expressing dissatisfaction with working conditions and lack of control over game quality, indicating internal stress

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.293

0:00
I said this room is interesting. Filled with clothes. I'm not worried about it. I'm not worried about anything right now other than other than the shills, baby. What's going on, everybody? Welcome to the party, pals. Do we have to go on Facebook again? And like, it's just pointless. Why can't these Facebook people, we get no stars there. I think I'm coming to the end of like even doing this on Facebook. I don't even know why we go there.
0:41
Good morning. Good morning. It is a beautiful morning. Well, a little overcast. It was sunny. I've been up since 630. Killian and I went on a little run to Walmart before mama woke up. To get Hungry Hungry Hippo. That's the truth. It's amazing how you can spend 20 bucks on a kid and blow his mind. And here we are with these $30,000 for two pinball machines. I mean, just think about it for a bit. Like for $30,000, two pinball machines, $30,000, you can buy your kid all the toys in the world for their entire life. But so be it. How's everybody doing? We're going to talk about, we're going to talk about, man, it's been a week. It's been a week.
1:38
Hungry, Hungry Hippo is great family time. It's been a week. There's been a lot, you know, a lot of weird stuff happens when you get a game like Transformers out. It really sort of like exposes everybody, you know, where where the fans, where the shills, where the apologist, where's the common sense, where's the where the people looking out for the community. I look at I love watching all of it. It's fun. It's it's it's a hobby, too, that's never satisfied. It's part of what makes pinball so fun is that we have all these expectations, a game comes out, and it's very rare that a game really delivers on the expectations. Thanks for watching. It's just to not send the check in. I feel so liberated, man. It's like, I don't know if I want any of these games. I'll just get them down the road for so much less. Not a little less. So much less. And then I look at games like some dude just listed a Batman SLE for $50,000. It's like, you know what? This is the stupidest thing ever, man. Stupidest thing ever. You will never get anywhere near $50,000 in enjoyment with that game. And no one even cares that you have it anymore because you know why? Because now you're a jackass that thinks it's worth $50,000. Stupid. It's stupid. I mean, people forget Batman SLE, made with the really cheap cabinets, made with the really cheap play fields. And I love it when these guys are like, less than 200 plays. You put less than 200 plays on a Batman SLE in 10 years, your life is broken. You're more concerned about being OCD and preserving it. You didn't play it. You didn't enjoy it. I love Batman 66. I put a playfield protector on it. I played it about 200 times in a weekend. You had it for a decade and these dudes barely play the games.

  • Fallout will have more code than Pokemon four months after each game's release

    low confidence · Kaneda prediction: 'I guarantee you there will be more code in Fallout when it comes out in four months than there will be in Pokemon four months from now'

  • Back to the Future will only be distributed through Cointaker, not other dealers

    medium confidence · Kaneda: 'You are not going to be able to get a single back to the future from any other dealer that you usually work with'

  • “The market got extremely hyped for Pokemon...About 100 people out of the 750 LEs...didn't even like the theme. They just had the opportunity to get an LE and they grabbed it with the intent of selling it.”

    Kaneda@ 24:13 — Market analysis of speculation vs. genuine fandom in limited edition sales

  • “I'm worried about barrels. I'm very worried about barrels...I think that when you look at the moves that they've made, I think people are being a little bit delusional and overly optimistic.”

    Kaneda@ 35:21 — Direct concern about Barrels of Fun's financial viability and market positioning

  • “Do you know why people who work at Stern reach out to me at times and are just like not the happiest? It's because...they feel powerless...working there is very stressful and it's not this dream job everybody thinks.”

    Kaneda@ 44:37 — Insight into workplace conditions at Stern based on insider contacts

  • “You are not going to be able to get a single back to the future from any other dealer that you usually work with...Get in good [with Cointaker]. Maybe order a few games from them this year.”

    Kaneda@ 38:40 — Distribution intelligence on Back to the Future exclusivity and dealer relationship strategy

    • company
    Sonic the Hedgehoggame
    Transformersgame
    Harry Pottergame
    Pokemongame
    John Wickgame
    Batman SLEgame
    Batman 66game
    John Borgperson
    Steve Ritchieperson
    Ashleyperson
    Ralphperson
    Melissaperson
    Back to the Futuregame
    Winchestergame
    Alice Adventures in Wonderlandgame

    medium · Kaneda: 'People who work at Stern reach out to me...not the happiest...they feel powerless...working there is very stressful and it's not this dream job'

  • ?

    product_strategy: Jersey Jack pursuing unlimited CE production strategy for both Harry Potter and Sonic; Kaneda considers this unprecedented and expresses uncertainty about its market viability

    high · Kaneda: 'Harry Potter is such a bigger IP than Sonic. So I am curious to see if this unlimited CE strategy...continues to work. Nobody knows. I don't know. This hasn't been done before'

  • ?

    collector_signal: Significant portion of limited edition buyers (estimated 100 of 750 Pokemon LEs) purchase specifically for resale rather than gameplay; most inexperienced at market timing

    medium · Kaneda: 'About 100 people out of the 750 LEs...bought that game with the intention of scalping it...They didn't even like the theme'

  • ?

    rumor_hype: Multiple unconfirmed Stern rumors circulating: Ozzy Osbourne, Star Trek (Keefe Elwin), Bill & Ted's, ACDC remake, Kiss remake with Zombie Eddie artwork, and Dracula. Kaneda notes collision of too many rumors simultaneously

    low · Kaneda lists multiple rumors with varying sourcing: 'Problem with the Stern rumors right now, gang, is there's too many rumors that are colliding at the same time'

  • ?

    operational_signal: Back to the Future will have exclusive distribution through Cointaker; Kaneda advises players to establish relationships with this distributor before release to secure machines

    medium · Kaneda: 'You are not going to be able to get a single back to the future from any other dealer...Get in good with them. Maybe order a few games from them this year'

  • ?

    community_signal: Community demonstrates willingness to support charitable causes involving pinball; Kaneda attempts to coordinate fundraiser for John Wick LE purchase with proceeds to feline rescue

    high · Ashley's participation and positive community response to charity-focused game acquisition effort

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: Pokemon LE assessed as having minimal/thin code; Kaneda reports reaching end-game state (Charizard vs Pikachu) in nearly every playthrough, indicating limited rule depth

    medium · Kaneda: 'Pokemon code is so thin right now...I got again to the end of the game, which is the Charizard versus Pikachu. I can get to that almost every time I play the game'

  • ?

    content_signal: Extended Saturday morning live stream format generates community interaction via chat, donations, and real-time discussion; used for rapid market intelligence dissemination

    high · Stream structure involves live chat questions, donations, trophy gifts, and interactive problem-solving (Ashley's John Wick hunt)

    • 3:59
    Oh man, you can't tell people what to do with it. I don't care what people do with their money, but I can say what I would do. I would play it. I would drive my Porsche 911 GT2 RS. I would drive it every day. We all going to die, baby. And on that moment when you die, you're going to wish you spent more time with your family. Sperry Pintlejuice, Evil Dead. I know, getting divorced saying you only had sex 20 times. But man, it's going to be a fun June in pinball. We all know it. It's a lot's about to pop, a lot's about to happen. And I really do appreciate that we have all these companies. I think a lot of them are in more trouble than people realize. And I think that's, you know, it's just every I can't.
    5:15
    I can't. If you look at every single pinball company that I think is in a little bit of trouble, every single reason they're in trouble is of their own doing. You understand this? Every single pinball company that has failed is because of mistakes that they made. All right, no one sabotaged the company.
    5:36
    You know, nothing else got innovated that put them out of business. This is the, you ever think about this for a minute? There's nothing that will be innovated that will put pinball manufacturers out of business. The only reason a pinball company will go out of business for the most part that has a decent thing going is if they make bad decisions. They choose bad themes. They don't have the ability to make the games on time. You know, that's the it's Stern Pinball moving into the big factory created such a squeeze on everybody over there that if Stern fails, it's because of that decision to get too big. I think the biggest mistake almost every company is making is growth, growth, growth, growth, growth, bigger, bigger, bigger, bigger, more, more, more. Is that where we're at? is that you just can't have a company and make a thousand pinball games a year. Everybody can make a good living. And you're on to the next game. You know, when people pressure Spooky to scale up, scale up, make more, make more. Why?
    6:38
    Why? At what point does the family over there and everyone who works there have a great quality of life? They're not biting off more than they can chew. Sperry Pintlejuice, Evel Dead. What else is going on in their lives? What else makes them tick? Do you know their wives' names? Do you know their kids' names? Do you know where they live? Because when you only look at pinball and you only talk about pinball, I think it's a very myopic way to be a pinball personality. Sperry Pintz Maybe you should just like not rush at everything and bail them out. I mean, that's all you're doing is you're bailing them out.
    8:24
    Oh, man, how's everybody doing? Now, I did want to there is a story I want to tell everybody and maybe we fundraise on this show. But I want to get this really amazing woman, Ashley, her I want to get her a John Wick Ellie. Now, we're not going to raise all the money for it, but it'd be nice to maybe take a little something off the top. It'd also be nice to find her one.
    8:51
    So she's a huge John Wick fan. I want to see if I pull it up on Facebook here. I want to show you, like the thread was funny because I was like, I don't think you're a real person.
    9:08
    And let's see, Ashley, view profile. Yeah, call me crazy. Call me crazy. But I just thought that Ashley was a fake account because here is like she's like, I really want a John Wick. And I'm like, there is no way there is. And she's telling me her John Wick story there. I was like, there is no way that this is even a real account. You know, like, and I'm like, this is fake. And she's like, what? Like getting trolled by the infamous Kaneda? And I'm like, wait, what? Like you, you really want, you really want a John Wick? And she's like, yes, like, I love it. I love it. I love it. And it's just like, wow. Wow. Like, and her, her budget's around 7500. And I've had a great conversation with her over the last day and her excitement for the game is so genuine and it's fun to watch. And I don't even know if there's any LEs out there. And I was like, look, let's have some fun. Let's try to get Ashley a John Wick LE. And I know with this community, maybe we can take a little something off the top. It's fun to see someone who's really into a game that I know I pan for so many years.
    10:33
    So is there any – well, that's the thing. She loves the game and she wants an LE. That's just going to throw it out there, guys. Don't be cruel. Hold on. I'm getting pretty hot in the sun. Let me be right back. I got to put a t-shirt on because I'm going to die in my Knuff sweatshirt. Hold on.
    11:09
    Thank you. All right. You know, someone's like, why can't you get a premium? Guys, coming back, MGK stop. Some people just want the LE. When you love a game so much, you want the LE. It's just how people roll. All right, what are we doing here? Let's see. John Wick, Elk Pro is just fine. Soul Mine, all right.
    12:16
    Does anyone know where John Wick LE is? We got to start there. Two John Wick LEs on pin side for 11,000. Oh, so that's not happening.
    12:28
    That's crazy. That game's not worth that. Come on. Well, we'll see what we can do. If anyone finds a John Wick LE that pops up for the normal price of $8,000, then we can start working on it.
    12:46
    But, you know, I think we're about to get a really interesting game in Sonic. I'm kind of, you know, I don't know about you guys, but I'm just tired of hearing from the people that have seen Sonic that won't admit they've seen Sonic. I made fun of that last weekend. Last Saturday's show, obviously, was one of the greatest, maybe the greatest live Kaneda ever. Maybe one of the greatest live pinball takedown shows ever, but it's comical. It's comical. And they're still on this sort of, I can't say anything. You know, look, I reached out to my friends at JJP. I mean, if I wanted to go over there and see the game, I could. I just I'm not traveling in that direction and the game is going to be out any day now. And also the reason why I kind of just want to see Sonic for the first time with each and every one of you. I hope it doesn't leak. And so what I would love to do is do a live reaction show, you know, to the game. And then I may join, I'm just going to start the promotions for this. Let's hope Ralph doesn't back out. The roundtable.
    14:02
    I mean, we're talking Kaneda, Kale, Jamie, and Ralph giving our impressions of Sonic the Hedgehog. Ralph's making the Sonic video. That's happening. Yes, he's getting paid in a Sonic CE. Yes, Marcus is doing most of the work. Yes, it's a lot of work on both of them. No, Marcus is not getting paid in a Sonic CE.
    14:27
    Man, man, it must be nice having an assistant doing a lot of the work, a lot of the editing. I do all of it. I do all of it.
    14:36
    I don't get paid in any game either. I mean, I don't know. I just find it funny, all these featurettes, the making of, the making of. The making of Sonic the Hedgehog Pinball. How did you do it, Steve Ritchie? How did you get the loop-de-loop to work?
    14:57
    Tell me. My Patreon account says I'm suspended in the type bar, but I can watch everything and like stuff. How do I send them an appeal? I don't know what I did. I looked at standards and I don't think I violated any. Railman.
    15:17
    Ed Mara. Ed, let me look into it. You might have said something. I don't know. I don't have you blocked. It's weird. So I can look into that for you. Also, ask them as well. Sometimes things like that happen. Roundtable. Four guys that don't know pinball. No thanks. Scott Jones. Scott, let me just tell you right now. You think the four of us don't know anything about pinball, bro?
    15:51
    Scott, you're making yourself look stupid, bro. Like, seriously. When you say that the collective, Cale knows nothing about pinball. Funny, bro. What's up, Ozzy?
    16:08
    Ozzy, the number one donator to Brenda's Sake Fun every single week. Look, man, I don't know what, you know, look, people have said many things about me over the years, but to say I know nothing about pinball is probably the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Sperry Pinball LLC, Jair Borg, Borel, Jair Pint, Jair Pint, Jair Pint, Jair Pint, Jair Pint, Jair Pint. Look, I've had more time to digest Transformers, more time to see a few people talk about the game.
    17:07
    And the more I put it all together, just total wait and see game. I think that's it. Play it. See if you enjoy it. Game's going to tank in value. We all know that. It's going to tank in value. Thank you for watching. Because really the best thing in it is really just the code and the code and the sounds. And so why not just experience the best?
    18:05
    What the highlight of the game is, is the software from that is her nickname Lizzie. He kept calling her Lizzie. Are we allowed to call Elizabeth Lizzie? Is that is that it now? Is is that her pinball nickname? I didn't know. I, you know, I just. So he kept saying Lizzie. Is he saying that?
    18:26
    It's like if that's not what she goes by and he's saying Lizzie, that's weird to give someone a nickname, like a cutesy nickname that's not even – I've never heard anyone call her Lizzie.
    18:39
    I was like – when I was watching, I was like, oh, is Carrie on like a first name intimate basis with Elizabeth where she goes by Lizzie? It was strange.
    18:51
    That's really weird. That's like me calling like Keefe Ellwin like Keyman or like, I don't know, like Elwie. That's strange.
    19:08
    Yeah, no, that's really, that's a little awkward, Kerry. Come on. Lizzie, like damn, man. I feel like it's a little, anyway. I love it too, the people that play the game. They're trying to stand on a little bit of like, I've played it and when you play it, you're going to have fun. Oh yeah, really Chico? Is that all they've ever got? When you play it, you're going to have fun. I ordered an LE.
    19:40
    Now, do you think all these guys ordering LEs with dealer advertisements left and right on their show, Do you actually think they pay retail for those LEs?
    19:53
    What do you guys think? Do you think content creators who are advertising for dealers, do you think they pay retail on their game? Do you not think they should be transparent about the price they pay for the game? Do you think that is misleading to not be transparent about the price they pay for the game?
    20:26
    Because doesn't that give a false sense of an endorsement that you think that this game is worth the money?
    20:38
    Maybe. Even with my relationships with Melissa, with Frank, with Mike, with everybody, I've never been given a single dollar off of the purchase price. I have paid full price for everything in my entire 14 years in pinball. I've never cut the line. I'm on lists. I'm in good graces with a lot of dealers, but I've never sort of misled anybody. I've never got anything for like a discount.
    21:18
    And, you know, because you saw that a lot with people just buying every elite. Well, they're not paying.
    21:24
    Did you disclose that you offset cost of Pokemon when you were pumping it while you had one to sell?
    21:31
    I said I had another for sale. Did you disclose that you offset the... Yeah, I told everybody. I paid $3,000 for my Pokemon LE.
    21:45
    I never hid that. I paid $3,000. You said it after you dumped it, bro? No. But the thing is, JC, when I tell people that I have two of something, guess what happens? Guess why I can't, I can't, I'm not allowed to ever take advantage of the market because then everyone comes at me. Like I had two Metallica remasters and then everyone started complaining, even though, why can't I buy two of something? There's nothing in any pinball release that says limit it to one per customer. And as someone who speculates on the pinball hobby, someone who speculates on the market, it's be like saying you can only buy one share of a Netflix. You can only buy one share of NVIDIA. Why is it that I can't buy two things if I want to?
    22:42
    I lost money on Ultraman. I lost thousands of dollars on I lost two thousand dollars on Toy Story 4.
    22:49
    I lost three thousand dollars on Magic Girl. I lost. I'm trying to think what else that I go in on early.
    23:02
    I'm going to end up losing money on Guns N' Roses CE. I lost, you're not going to believe when I say this, but I lost a $16,000 profit on a Guns N' Roses CE when it first came out. Because I don't even want to tell you what happened there. But I had two and my second one got, you know, where my dealer kind of messed up on shipping it.
    23:37
    So, look, I still think Pokemon is a fun. I just don't, you know, look, gang, did I absolutely take advantage of the Pokemon hype? Do you think only I created the Pokemon hype? Also, the person who bought my Pokemon doesn't even listen to Kaneda's Pinball Podcast.
    23:57
    So it's not like anything I did. The market did it. You understand that. The market got extremely hyped for Pokemon.
    24:06
    It was an instant sell out. But here's the funny part, gang. About 100 people out of the 750 LEs about 100 people bought that game with the intention of scalping it Do you understand this About 100 Pokemon buyers out there don even like the theme They didn want it They just had the opportunity to get an LE and they grabbed it with the intent of selling it
    24:35
    And most of those individuals don't know how to scalp. They don't know how to flip. They don't know how to do it right. You got to sell right away. You got to take the money on the table right away. If you had scalped your Pokemon LE on day one, you got $5,000 to $8,000 easily, easily.
    24:57
    And guess what? The person buying it, they know they're taking a risk because they're going in because they're nervous that it might go up even higher because it's just the way the market's going. It was very, very, it was crazy.
    25:10
    So I don't blame anybody in these scenarios. You know who people should feel bad or the dude that bought Zach's Charizard for $27,000. You understand like the dude paid $27,000.
    25:26
    And gang, gang, who do you think he gave $27,000 to? To Zach Many. Do you guys understand this? If he paid $27,000 for number six Pokemon, who do you think he gave the $27,000 to?
    25:47
    Zach. Is anyone banging down the door? Do you think Zach sold none of those Pokemons for over MSRP? So like, he played the market. He's a dealer. This is like a car dealer playing the market on a hot Rolex or, I mean, a hot, you know, Porsche and a watch dealer playing the market.
    26:17
    You know, I don't see the pitchforks. I mean, think about like that, you know, I mean, it's just it is what it is. Like the thing is, like, you can only do that so many times. You will become unreliable.
    26:32
    You know, your credibility will be shot. Yeah, well, Fizzy, yeah, good luck, Fizzy. Dealers can't sell below, but they can sell over.
    26:47
    They absolutely can sell over. There's no rule that a dealer can't sell over MSRP. There's none. Wait, so JC, I love guys like JC. So JC just said people can get very upset about it and find ways to screw you over. So JC, I want to deconstruct what you just said. This is funny. So you're saying that the guy that paid over will find a way to screw over the person who sold him the game. Nobody made him buy it for over sticker. Nobody made him buy it at peak price.
    27:31
    JC, I don't really understand why you would say that. Like you don't have a single example of that ever happening at all. I challenge you right now to present this audience with a story where the individual who paid over was so mad that he paid over at peak price that he came back to screw someone over. So you're just making up fiction, bro. Thank you. A pair of Air Jordans. It's not a Pokemon card.
    28:35
    Anyway, who cares, man? All I know is this. The past is the past. It's over. Anyone who paid a lot over for Pokemon is not a happy camper right now. Pokemon code is so thin right now. I just played it again and I got again to the end of the game, which is the Charizard versus Pikachu. I can get to that almost every time I play the game. There's just so much missing in the game. So Pokemon's going to continue to sink in price, sink in hype. It's never fully going to come back. I think what's going to happen, too, is like, OK, so Pokemon buyers, you know, you got to kind of just hold on for the ride now.
    29:23
    I guarantee you there will be more code in Fallout when it comes out in four months than there will be in Pokemon four months from now.
    29:35
    Is the Ozzy pin rumor legit? Yes, it is legit. And I fully expect John Borg to be making Ozzy Osbourne.
    29:44
    Problem with the Stern rumors right now, gang, is there's too many rumors that are colliding at the same time. So we've got Keefe Elwins doing Star Trek next year, the original Star Trek. John Borg is doing Ozzy Osbourne.
    30:02
    I think we're going to get a remake of Kiss, and they might use like Zombie Eddie's artwork that maybe he did during the John Papaduke Zidware Kiss game. I think that Brian Eddy's original Dracula game is also coming.
    30:20
    When it comes to like ACDC and Aerosmith and, you know, so I heard John is working on an all new ACDC as well.
    30:34
    Bill and Ted's is also a rumored title that Stern has been working on. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. And then we're going to get a movie theme from American Pinball. I think American Pinball also has a music license. And fifth element to me is like the big one.
    30:58
    If Pinball Brothers makes the fifth element and they do it right, I am beyond happy if that game comes out. I don't like the Arnold-less Predator, but if they have Bruce in this game, I don't know how you make it without Bruce.
    31:16
    You know, Seth, look, there's a lot of people out there now. So, you know, have you seen Seth's? Have you seen the photo of Seth when he joined Stern and the photo of Seth now? I mean, I know he doesn't dye his hair like Kaneda, but have you seen the man is aging like like he's aging in a way that only a pinball CEO who doesn't have control over. Sperry Pintlejuice, Evel Dead. They passed on too many great themes. I basically heard from someone who knows the next three games from Spooky Pinball, and they basically said to me, I think Spooky is just going to continue to have this feeding frenzy sell out at least the next three games. So that's like three more years. And that starts with Goonies. They're not talking about Beetlejuice. So, I haven't seen Fallout, but Goonies, man, big pirate ship, get ready. Goonies, are you guys on the list for Goonies?
    32:47
    Am I allowed to get more than one? Can I scalp one? You know I'm going to get more than one, right? I mean, that's just the way it works. You know that Kaneda is like... Is anyone shocked, though, that... You know, when I go into a restaurant and they know me, and even though they're booked with reservations, they'll find a seat. They'll find a game for Kaneda.
    33:15
    It's what the content gets you. I think Jersy Jack should have given us a little bit more of a tease of Sonic. I don't know what they're waiting for. They should have struck a little bit harder with all the Optimus BS happening.
    33:33
    They didn't even make a joke about it. They had a golden opportunity to make fun of Stern's fumble, and they didn't do anything. They could have shown something. They could have shown just a little section of the new game. They had a golden opportunity to get everybody to just fawn over their game and continue to make fun of Transformers. They didn't do anything. I don't know. What's the point? But I don't know. I feel – do any of you guys ever just feel good like you're not going to spend $13,000, $15,000 right away? Maybe. I'm curious because for the first time ever with unlimited Harry Potter CEs and knowing that there's like 3,000 of them out there, knowing that the Sonic CE will be unlimited, I am curious to see. I mean, Harry Potter is such a bigger IP than Sonic. So I am curious to see if this unlimited CE strategy for Jersey Jack, like if it continues to work.
    34:56
    Nobody knows. I don't know. This hasn't been done before. Here's the thing about Barrels, gang. I'm worried about barrels. I'm very worried about barrels. I'm not worried that they can't make a great game. I'm worried about barrels financially. I just am. I think that when you look at the moves that they've made, I think people are being a little bit delusional and overly optimistic. And I haven't, I don't know, man. I'm worried about them. I don't think they're getting games out as fast as they need to. I still go back to the need to take pre-order money on the Dune Topper. You have to understand, man, like that moment happened. Like, there would be no reason to do that if that company's financials were in place. You cannot tell me why you would ever require people to make pre-orders on a topper eight months in advance.
    36:23
    And all you did was show a PowerPoint slide of the topper idea. I've been covering this hobby for 15 years. I've never seen a company do anything like that. And it reeks of needing cash flow. And I think, you know, Winchester was rushed out. Yeah, they got the orders, but like, look at like, Winchester was out October, November, December, January, February, March, April, May, we're at June now, nine months ago, gang. Nine months ago. I think sometimes people forget how to count, how many months have eclipsed nine months ago.
    37:15
    And what number are they on? Well, the thing with Dutch is Dutch just got a very, very big investor. And I mean, did you read, did you read the latest update on the Alice's, the Alice Adventures in Wonderland topper? Did you read it from Wrench? Did you read like, what a, what a complete, like, and now it's like delayed until August, September. Now you have people waiting longer to get their topper than their game.
    37:51
    I mean, Melvin engineered a topper that's not the easiest. But the whole thing is just the consumer experience is just really just painful. And I think a lot of people are just holding on to their Alice spots because they'll be first in line to get back to the future.
    38:10
    And yeah, I saw someone was like, well, you know, you need to be in good with Cointaker. And, you know, they're not going to be like sub distributing this game. Of course not. Why would Melissa? See, again, I want to I want to stand up for Chris and Melissa here and like why all of you should be getting in good with them. And here, gang, here's the other thing. Getting in good with them, you need to do it before back to the future comes out. You know what I'm saying? You are not going to be able to get a single back to the future from any other dealer that you usually work with. Right? You know what I'm saying?
    38:50
    And so, like, get in good. Maybe order a few games from them this year. You know what I'm saying? Get on their Christmas list. Like, whatever. But that's the way it's going to work, gang.
    39:02
    It was articulated that the people. All right, we got Ashley here. Now, Ashley, she's on Facebook. Ashley, welcome to the party. We talked about your John Wick, Ashley.
    39:19
    First and foremost, we got to find you one. See, what we need to do is find Ashley a John Wick, Ellie. I think there's like one on YouTube that's, or sorry, Pinside, they're like $11,500. We're not paying that. We're not paying that. Now, Ashley, what's your budget? $7,500, $8,000? Ashley, if we can make up the difference, if we can put eight grand on the table, if you've got $7,500 and we can raise $500, will someone offer up a John Wick LE for sale and be a hero? Thank you for watching. In the history of pinball podcasts, and we get zero. Guys, who's going to get, you know, what do I give? Let's see, what do I give? Thank you. You need a Botox fund.
    41:08
    Who needs a Botox fund? Me, Anthony? Do I need Botox? I don't know, man. Look at John. Thank you, John. Thank you for starting it. Dilly dilly, baby. Thank you, guys. That's how it's done.
    41:32
    Alright, she wants to play it for charity. So Kitty, who would you give the money to though? Please don't say Project Pinball.
    41:41
    Please don't do that. Dudes are making like a million dollars a year. Here we are. Like nobody wants, don't kick that can, Kaneda. Don't kick that can.
    41:53
    I have a Halloween on location that all profits go towards feline rescues. Okay, well, we'll give it to cats.
    42:02
    Okay. Well, you know, it's like it's a, you know, actually, it's interesting. The demo of pinball, the demographic and raising money for cats, you know, there's a little bit of a gap there of who the audience is. But, you know, it's like I'd actually rather raise money for cats than keep giving money to a pinball charity that's basically pulling in like almost a million dollars a year for games that are not even donated to hospitals. They still own those games.
    42:37
    And then all the all the maintenance on them is is all donated maintenance. So where's all the money going?
    42:45
    You can't say that. Did you just say that again? If you can't afford the turbo, you get the 911 for it. You don't take a loan to get the turbo. No, not right.
    42:58
    So, Ashley, what people here are saying is, like, if we just want to play the game and put it on location, do we need an LE for that?
    43:06
    We got a gift here, baby, from my boy over in New Canaan. The Goat Trophy, man. How much is the Goat Trophy, Michael? I don't even know. It doesn't tell me what these trophies are worth anywhere.
    43:23
    1,000 jewels. I don't even know what 1,000 jewels is. I don't think it's that much. I think it's going cheap on me, man. New Canaan? I know how much New Canaan is.
    43:37
    Yeah, so we'll figure this out. You know, Kitty, whether we can help find an LE, get a machine. Once that charity starts, this is a really good community to bring in there. I think that will be a moment, too, when you start playing.
    43:54
    I think this is a group of guys that will open up their wallets for feline rescue. I think that's a great cause.
    44:03
    So the thing is, what were we talking about? We were talking about barrels and sort of the cash flow issues.
    44:15
    It's hard, man. It's hard. You know, does it look like they're having fun at Stern? Let me ask you guys a question. Like, let me just let me be candid here for a minute. Do you guys realize, you know, when Ralph says that no one over there should have told me how great the mech was and I shouldn't have got people's expectations up, he doesn't blame me, but it's like he blames the person at Stern who told me, okay? Do you know why people who work at Stern reach out to me at times and are just like not the happiest?
    44:48
    It's because it's like the only outlet for them to almost, they want it to get better, but they feel powerless. And I do think going to people like me is one of the ways in which they want more people to know that it's not all sunshine and rainbows and that working there is very stressful and it's not this dream job everybody thinks. Mr. Richard said, can you guide me knowing what you know, Sonic or Potter, please elaborate. Well, Mr. Richard, I think it's one game we know, one game we don't.
    45:30
    So if I were to guide you on Sonic or Potter, hard, I haven't seen Sonic. I would start with the question of what theme do you like more?
    45:42
    OK, because I think they're both going to be great games. And I almost could give you the answer just on that question alone. Which theme do you have more of an emotional connection to? And right there, I would say that's the direction you should go in. Because they both are going to shoot great. They both are going to have an overload of the theme you love. So that's question number one.
    46:10
    You know, it's like, and because Potter is a flow game very much like Richie's kind of games, it's not even a question of what kind of gameplay do you like because I think they're both going to be fast.
    46:24
    Same feelings for both themes, like didn't like Potter theme but loved the pin. Okay. Well, here's the thing about Potter to me.
    46:42
    Here's what I don't like about Potter. Is that the CEE, they didn't get the artist to do the whole thing. I just would have loved for the CE to have that art style also on the play field and also on the topper.
    47:05
    But it is a beautiful game and so there's that. I also just I do find the Potter code to be very, very, very, very like what I don't like about JJP code when it goes overboard. You know what I'm saying? I get it. It still feels like a lot is happening at once, and I still don't feel like it pulls you in without overloading you with so much going on. And I don't know, for those of you who have owned it or have it, maybe that goes away with time as you learn more and more about how the code is laid out. But it just feels like it's just a lot going on again.
    47:56
    So, but if I were to just give you, I would just, Richard, I mean, just wait two weeks, bro. Wait two weeks, Sonic will be out.
    48:04
    And you can make up your mind. Where's Mozzy, man? We can't get sake with five bucks. Brenda's going to be so disappointed. Am I running out of steam on the donations for these live shows?
    48:23
    Don't make me shill Sternman. I'm never going to. Just so you guys know, there's not really any beef happening between any content creators. I think you know Ralph is a big Transformer fan and I think he really likes the code that Elizabeth put in it I just don think half of the game being limp is a success
    48:57
    Michael Jackson rumors. You want to talk about that? Well, Jersey Jack had the Michael Jackson license about like 12 years ago. They decided not to make the game when the Wacko Jacko documentary came out. I mean, I know the new movie is popular. It's nice to think about Michael Jackson like he wasn't sleeping with children, but he was not convicted, but he was clearly going over eight year old houses and spending the night. So I don't know. I, you know, look, I. We all have had to compartmentalize Michael Jackson, all of us. There's just no way around it. You have to compartmentalize him. You're going to tell me you're going to turn it off when Smooth Criminal comes on the radio? You're not. You know? You know, do you? I just, he wasn't convicted. You know, there's always going to be that.
    49:52
    But weird dude, right? Weird dude. Died at 50, man. I'll be 50 in a few months. He looks like such a skeleton at the end.
    50:05
    Like his nose, the tip of his nose was fake. You know that? It fell off. Because of all his, I don't know.
    50:11
    But I don't think it's next. It's Van Halen. So that's that. Ozzy is having his gallbladder removed right now. Oh, man.
    50:29
    Damn. Yeah, he came in earlier. I think he's like at the hospital right now. He's like watching like from the bed as they pump him with anesthesia. Like, of course, we all hope he's okay.
    50:49
    Do you need a gallbladder? Or is it just something you could just yank out? So, look. I don't know, man. Fallout. Have you guys all seen the Fallout show? Do you want it? I was talking to someone the other day about how I still think one of Elwin's greatest designs is Avengers.
    51:17
    But again, if that was the Avengers movie, I think that would be the number one pinball machine over Godzilla. Does anyone agree with me on that? If Avengers was based on the movies and the endgame movies and had those clips, I think it would have been the number one game of all time. I actually think Avengers is Elwin's kind of coolest game to shoot. I do.
    51:44
    I just, when you look at it, man, it like, doesn't it make Transformers even look empty? Thank you. And then I found the second season absolutely like it just lost my interest. The first season did such a good job of like team teeing up all the curiosity. And then the second season was just like. Well, what, um, I'm trying, there's like another, like, do you think, okay, so Stern's going to do James Bond Goldfinger edition in Spike 3. What do you guys think that's going to do to all the other James Bonds that are out there?
    53:13
    This is what's always interesting about Stern's business decisions to cannibalize their own collectors. If they make a gold finger, kind of like Jaws 50th. See, I think Stern's biggest mistake was they should have made the anniversary editions and the Jaws 50th and the Goldfinger. They should have made those SLEs.
    53:44
    This is the mistake. They should have made those SLEs. And what they should have done is made them like 20 grand. I'm just going to tell you what I would have done if I were Seth. And they should have said that anyone that currently owns an LE will put you into a lottery system to be the first dibs at these.
    54:05
    Right. OK, so that way instantly. And we're going to sell them all directly. We're going to sell them all directly. None of these are going to dealers and distros to backdoor deal them. None of them are going to Kaneda to scalp. If you own an LE of James Bond, you get put into the lottery drawing to get the right to buy one. And then you just give people the option. That way it's 100% fair. Spooky Pinball Inc. Wayne easily.
    55:10
    They know where every game is, bro. Once you're insider connected, they know where every game is. Well, then, if you're not on Insider Connected, you don't get into the lottery, man. That's all you got to do.
    55:47
    Thank you. We had like new leaders coming in from outside and they were they were not O.G. Weber people. And I know there was clearly a battle to get the helm. And I just feel so relieved that. That my people, the people I love are are leading again.
    56:38
    And for those of you who are working, I mean, can you imagine it'd be like if Stern freed themselves from the private equity fears? You understand that's where Stern is falling down. So this is the stuff that nobody really wants to even talk about, is that the private equity money, that's the loan they took.
    56:59
    That's who they're working for now and paying back. And that loan comes, I believe, with like a monthly payment that if they don't hit their numbers, the interest on it. And I think they're losing shares in their own company to the private equity. You know that Gary's been trying to sell Stern Pinball now for years. You do know that Seth was brought in to find a buyer. Do people know this?
    57:30
    I'm not making this up. I know people intimately. I know people who had meetings with Seth and Gary. They flew to meet these individuals, and they told them how much they wanted for Stern. They were trying to sell the company.
    57:54
    So I think what we're experiencing now, gang, it's like a Stern pinball at the very end. Gary didn't get the sale. He didn't get the company sold when he should have, which was the heat of COVID. George is just trying to keep everything moving, which is a titanic of an operation. The talent over there is sort of stuck because there's like not a lot of other opportunities to work in pinball. And so what we're witnessing and what we're getting is games that are rushed to market, incomplete, and games that are cost-cutting.
    58:38
    And it's really, you know, Seth is not the guy that's like, let's put in as much as we can. Let's innovate as much as we can. You know what I'm saying? I don't think anybody is over there.
    58:53
    I think their sort of approach – and look, I also – I do think they want to make the best pinball they can. I do. But I think they've got real financial pressures. It's like when a client comes to me and they're like, we want to own the World Cup conversation. We want to dominate. We want to do this. We want to get everybody talking. We want everybody to be happy. Cool. What's your budget? They're like 80 grand. I'm like, okay, so it's not going to happen.
    59:16
    And I think that's what's happening with Stern right now is like the passion is still there, the intent.
    59:22
    But the cost cutting and the budget and, you know, is demoralizing people over there. So if you if you actually think that Optimus wasn't working, he was.
    59:35
    And you could see it in Elliot. You can see it in his face. You can see it in the team. The team is pissed. So this is the stuff that like the other content creators like they don't even want to like, you know, like, well, if I say this, I'm not going to get invited. These dudes spent money out of their own pocket to make content to help Stern sell more machines.
    60:00
    At least a thousand dollars each. Stern won't even pay for influencers to come see the product. Yeah, well, you know, it's, um, but I've always felt this way. You know, you saw it with the pricing of James Bond 60th. You've seen it with so many of Stern's moves. They, they literally do not care. And about like, I don't mean they don't care about like, you know, making good games. I mean, they literally don't care. And they've shown this when it's the marketing side of it. Not the manufacturing. They don't care about screwing over their previous customers. That's a completely separate conversation from, you know, are they trying to make the best pinball? Are they passionate about it? That's a different topic. But they have shown us historically that they will screw over their previous customers without any care whatsoever. They will say things they don't hold up to. They will lie about certain things. Oh, this James Bond topper is exclusive to the James Bond 60th buyers. So then they lock in all those orders. Oh, what we meant was they're signed exclusively by Keith Elwin. And then they open up more of those toppers. We're only making 500 Munsters, LEs. Okay, orders are great. Okay, no, wait, we're making 600. Remember when they did that?
    61:30
    Some people don't remember. Ralph wasn't around when they did that. We're never making more LEs. Jurassic Park, LE.
    61:39
    30th anniversary edition. Another Elvira edition. How many Elvira editions did they make? So all this stuff, like you just keep burning people, burning people, burning people.
    61:53
    And, you know, keep buying, you enable that behavior. You know, and I do agree. It all came down. Here's the biggest problem with Stern Pinball. They still do not have a marketer that understands pinball.
    62:11
    The pinball home buyer. They do not have anybody running their marketing department that understands the home buyer of new and boxed Stern machines. Nobody over there does. Not Mr. Sharp, not the CMO.
    62:27
    I think Seth is trying to learn, but nobody. I don't know. I don't even know if Jared does day-to-day marketing. I can't figure that out. I don't know.
    62:38
    It's the weirdest marketing team I've ever seen. It is jody. Like it's fractured. They don't have a strategy that's really working. And what they've shown me over the years is their inability to ever try anything new or pivot or like, you know what I'm saying? Like reducing the number of LEs is like the only thing they know how to do. And even that they can't really do it right. And you got to think about like the marketing of like you have this SLE thing going and then you just abandon it when it was very successful. You know, you said you never and here's the real danger now. It's like I think like what Seth is doing of like constantly looking to previous titles to make more of them is it's a horrendous last ditch effort to cook the books.
    63:30
    For a sale, though, like you got to sell the company like hand that, you know, you know, you got to hand that to the next owners who who have no idea like what. What a problem that was.
    63:46
    Newton said your presentation from last year was awesome. Where can I find it? Let me see. I got to find it and I'll get it up somewhere.
    63:57
    Well, you know, it was it was. I put a lot like when I went in to meet with them, it wasn't even on the agenda like they didn't think I was coming in with anything and I came in with all of that. But the inability, again, to do anything creatively. I'll give you another example. Did they do anything creative to launch Transformers?
    64:20
    Oh, wait. What did they do? What creative move did they make to launch Transformers? Anyone say anything different?
    64:38
    Did they... I don't know. Did they hide something in a 1980s Transformer toy box somewhere? Could they have done that? Yeah, they could have done that.
    64:57
    Could they have had a competition? Whoever can transform... You know, I would have taken like... Like, had a competition, whoever can transform, like, one of the big complex ones the fastest. Whoever can put Devastator together the quickest wins a free machine. Did they do that? No.
    65:18
    And this is what I told Seth, Gary, and George. I'm like, what you guys are doing all wrong is you don't understand about memory.
    65:27
    You don't understand about how people never forget when they see something really cool happen. And that's what marketing is. Now, what do you think brands do stunts during the launch of a product? Because they want to create a center of gravity and a memory that everyone will always go back to. Kind of like movie trailers are like that, right? But we don't even get pinball trailers. There's a reason why you get movie trailers months in advance. It excites you to make you think about it, to make you mark the calendar, to make you dream about it at night. Pinball marketing to me is the dumbest thing. It's like everything is condensed into the same day. Same day.
    66:15
    The trailer comes out the same day the movie does. You don't even have time because, again, they're so insecure that you won't buy it unless they force you into this FOMO feeling. And it's not working anymore.
    66:33
    Complain all we want about Stern, yet they continue to bring in more revenue than everyone else. No one else even close.
    66:41
    They're doing some more revenue. But what's their debt? Outlines Pinball. I know that, of course, they're bringing in the most revenue, but what's their debt?
    66:53
    Revenue means nothing if you have more debt than everybody. More stress. Do you ever make a lot of money and not be as happy as you were when you just got out of college and you had more fun every day? You know what I'm saying?
    67:08
    When I got out of college, I was making $24,000 a year. So I don't think Stern's revenue is anything. I think when you open up the door at Stern, first and foremost, if you've ever been to the new Stern factory, you instantly get a little bit concerned that this place is way too big. You feel it right away when you walk in. It's way too big. It's like this huge empty lobby. That place is too big for them. So I am. I think they overemphasized Insider Connected and I think they underappreciated the buyers.
    68:16
    Again, I asked that very simple question to each and every one of them. I said, have you ever done anything special for a home customer that has bought a quarter million dollars of your product? Have you ever done anything special for a customer that has bought a quarter million dollars of your product? And they just looked at me.
    68:42
    So you didn't give that person early access to a new game? Nope. You didn't give that person, you know, a special item maybe?
    68:55
    Maybe put into the, you know, because they don't even have like a loyalty program. They don't even have like a VIP club. They have nothing. They have absolutely no way of rewarding and encouraging, you know, people to stay like in the family. It reeks of a company that just thinks if we build it, they will come. And that has been the MO for a long time. And that's why I like these newbies. I got to be candid. It's annoying watching newbies go from like not even being in the pinball to being in the pinball for just four years. I mean, literally, they came in during COVID at maybe the weirdest time in our hobby and then act like they know anything about what the OGs are going through. I mean that. It's just, I just, look, anyone with money can come into any hobby and just own it. You know what I mean?
    70:08
    Like, if you have $100,000 to spend on pinball machines a year, you could buy every single LE, you can create a content channel, and you can just, you know, get attention and share your excitement. And that's what some of them are doing.
    70:25
    But I don't, you know, to me, that's not interesting because it doesn't, they don't have the context of any of it other than, again, like it's just their own enthusiasm is what cool, but really? Well, I think Spooky, you know, I don't know why they don't just sell direct. I mean, again, I don't quite get it. At least Stern does launch parties. Is that where they send the banners, the translights, and the knickknacks that nobody wants? Is that what we consider launch parties?
    71:26
    You lost your bet that Optimus was moving. Well, look, I just think Stern is just one year away from turning it around a little bit. I don't want to see these guys damage control every launch. I don't want to see these guys just inviting Mickey Mouse YouTubers in. It doesn't work. And also this. I think it would help all of us. I think it would probably help me shut up. I think it would help.
    72:01
    Why wouldn't they just release their sales numbers? Why wouldn't they just say how many total they made of each game? So that way we could even somehow – I think there would be like an increased market around certain titles because not as many were made. And they don't want you to know that like 12,000 Godzilla premiums are out there, which is probably the case. I don't know. It's just that all I know is this. When I talk to people that are over there, they don't seem to be loving life.
    72:41
    And is not happiness the most important thing? Is not peace of mind the most important thing? And that's all I want for my friends in any pinball company. I want them to be happy because I know if they're happy, the passion is going to go into it. This company yanked out a working mech to save money Elliott put the passion in and they yanked it
    73:17
    And I really, I'm allowed to just be like, because of that, I don't want to ever buy this game. Because I want to send the powers that be at Stern a message that if you keep yanking out what your designers have loved to create, we're not buying anymore.
    73:45
    And again, it's hard because none of those designers can publicly say these things, but that's how they're speaking behind closed doors. George knows it. Gary knows it. Seth knows it. If we were a fly on the wall at a Stern conference room meeting, I'm sure it would be eye-opening for everybody.
    74:10
    I know the mood is way different at Jersey Jack Pinball. Have you guys met Tom Capera? Have you guys ever met Tom? I think Eric has a, you know, Eric Minier, you know, Eric's always been nice to me. There's times he hasn't been nice to me. I think Eric has, you know, a little smugness and swagger to him, you know, and honestly, it's a good thing.
    74:38
    You know, I'm so tired of like, so be a little smug, be a little like, I don't, I don't, bro, like I'm making these games that are selling thousands. Sperry Pintlejuice, Evel Dead. All those years out the door to us. And he's amazing. And Jersey Jack, and I will say this, I get the feeling it's just a more fun company to go in every day and work there and bake on the games. Mark Seiden's an amazing dude. You know, sat down with the Abbas family like they're, I don't know, they're great people. And here's the thing. You change. Your demeanor changes. Your optimism changes. Your energy levels change. Your stress levels go up. You're then driven to make decisions based on fear out of like financial outcomes. It's not easy. You know, Brenda loses her job. There's a lot of fear that she's experiencing. And my job is her husband is like, it's OK. Like, we're OK. We're okay now because there's new leadership and Daddy-O is going to work extra hard and I've been working extra hard. But looking at my children and my beautiful wife makes it easy. But I do think we have a good quality of life.
    76:56
    And I know this is weird to say, but I'm an executive creative director. And I don't want to be a chief creative officer, which is the next title. I don't want to get to that role because that role is more managerial and more operational.
    77:16
    That's why you make more money because you're managing a team, an entire team of people. I want to stay in the work. I want to stay in the work with the clients. I want to keep developing the work, but I don't want to be responsible for a lot of other people. Sperry Pintlejuice, Evel Dead. So we had a little skunk works team. It was just three of us with just three of us who all got along, but we're all different. And we, you know, we're like the white stripes. Like we made so many good ideas happen because of our respect, the differences of styles, the difference of interest. But we could all get in a room and just be like, man, Daniel, that idea sucks. Like Jason, what is this? Come on, I'm not going with this. Like my problem when you become a manager of people you didn't hire. And it's hard. You inherit a lot of people that you might not want to make music with. And you have to just, you know, that's why a lot of managers just, they get rounded out. They get soft and they lose their edge and they lose what makes them great because you get to that level and you're not fighting anything anymore. You're not fighting to make a name for yourself anymore. You're at the top. There's no title above that. And so then you just become more of a philosopher than a doer, right? You're judging other people's work versus creating the work still. And I don't want that. And, you know, I just want to be in it. I want to be in it. Thank you. The hardest thing is like when they're like, Chris, can you help this person like present with more energy? I'm like, are you like serious?
    80:25
    I feel like you get to the age of 30 and if you're not charismatic and your job is to sell creative ideas like.
    80:34
    You know, I'm so looking forward to next week and I because I've got this like nervous energy that I love or like I'm going in front of all these leaders. Sperry Pintlejuice, Evel Dead. He started sending me decks. Here's our deck about Kan. Here's our deck about our point of view. It's like this is the problem with the world is nobody knows how to just like start fresh. I'm going in to do a meeting I've never done before in my life, talking to these great people who run the biggest pieces of business at my company. Why would I go back to an old deck, an old template? I want to share with you some stuff that I've observed recently that I think is going to help all of our businesses. I want to inspire us to think about new ways we can work with each other. And let's go. And it's not going to be all just like rainbows and sunshines. It's like like the world is getting more and more difficult to get people's attention. Right. But there's like these glimmers of hope for everybody out there that the world is starting to get fed up with with the screens and the loneliness. And it's like, it's beautiful to watch someone willing to pay $250,000 for one seat at a New York Knicks game. We are craving in real life experiences, craving it. It's beautiful to see Pizza Hut is now going to remodel its stores, its stores, its restaurants to look like the 1980s. You know, these kids like Gen Zs, like maybe in the middle somewhere, but Gen Alpha, Gen Beta, like they want all their craving is a return to a time that they know was better. Thank you for watching. People are smoking more, drinking more beer. It's beautiful, man. There's still hope. There's still hope. And as marketers, my main thing is going to be, and I'm going to use you guys as an example, that I've learned more from pinball and pinball people than I've ever learned from PR professionals on how to talk to people. It's really fascinating how this hobby and this show and this podcast, how it's not just trained me in a lot of ways to improve, but just understanding people and how diversity exists, even if everyone looks the same, man. I think that's the biggest thing that I always hated about COVID is we started to like literally judge every book by its cover, demand every book be represented in every aspect of everything. Right. And not only that, we just like Hollywood just over indexed everything like there. Then there wasn't a single male boy lead hero in anything. Right. Like, look at the cartoons from all the animated releases from 2021 until like recently. Not a single boy has any power.
    84:56
    It's just like it's just funny, man. It's like we just went down this road of. And it's coming back, man. It's coming back. And it's going to be beautiful. It's going to be messy. But that's life. It's life. And that's why pinball is interesting, too. It is the analog nature. It's like it's nice to have something that you know that like AI will never take over pinball.
    85:24
    This is never it never will. It might become part of coding or design. I mean, part of me feels like if Stern can figure out how to get AI into code, we get quicker code updates.
    85:37
    But I encourage each and every one of you, you know, just. Let's zoom out a little bit. Zoom out a little bit. You see all these content creators shilling the product. They're also just excited about it.
    85:51
    You know, you find us on one day, we all look like shills. You find us on another day, we all look like curmudgeons.
    85:59
    Is Stern Pinball a great place to work? I bet some people over there it is. I bet some people hate it. I bet that true is everywhere. You're going to find someone to complain at every single company you walk into. I think making pinball is really hard, but I think the playbook on what will make a game successful is easy. I mean that. It's not hard to know what this community wants to buy.
    86:27
    Nobody does focus groups. Nobody asks the right questions. Like if David Van Ness had done anything, he never would have made Dune. Thank you for watching. to give you the information you need to be successful. But you've got to ask the right questions. And you can't just go off of your gut. You can't. It's not the way it works.
    87:23
    I mean, you could. And if your gut is right, maybe, right? And that's why I always say it's like Winchester is like an anomaly that is probably going to Make them make future bad decisions versus better decisions.
    87:38
    But, you know, when you're taking pre-order dollars on a topper that's eight months away, tell me why you would do that.
    87:49
    Tell me why you would remove Optimus Prime from Transformers when you know the whole game was built around that.
    88:00
    Last week's show was great entertainment. Thank you. I mean, like, I came in hot last week because it was funny.
    88:07
    It was funny ripping up that JJP NDA. Oh, Chris Turner, man. Chris Turner. I haven't heard from him in a few weeks, in a few months, really.
    88:20
    I don't know, man. I don't know. Chris swoops in when he's got something to sell and then he's out. He's out. I don't buy the whole like, oh, you know, nicest guy who's just listening to feedback. I don't buy that.
    88:36
    I think he wants to kick ass and dominate, which is fine, which is more normal. But I also, as I said, I say this again, I just don't think that any of these people who began their careers with Deep Root and were in bed with Robert Mueller, I don't think they'll escape the karma of that. I also don't think they have any taste.
    88:58
    That's it. So when like I'll give you an example, when when everyone resoundingly says they don't like the art on Yukon Yeti, what did Chris Turner do?
    89:10
    He made a post that was like, can everybody be nice and not hurt the feelings of the artist? We really like this. You know, like, OK, so instead of hearing what you don't want to hear and getting better.
    89:23
    You want to play that card that everyone should just be nicer. And this is the thing. There's a great book I'm listening to now. It's called The Mom Test. The number one reason businesses fail is that people ask questions in which all they want to get back is a false positive. And that's what I think, you know, Chris Turner is trying to do with that line. And he's just MO in general, is trying to get back false positives from people to reinforce things that, you know, that decisions he's made that probably needs to change if people were more. But here's the thing. People are being honest, left and right, just doesn't want to listen. Sperry Pintlejuice, Evel Dead. I don't get it. Let me ask you guys a question. Can you not license a mech? Could someone not go to Rick, who owns Planetary, could you not license the patented mech that is the Shooting Star from Totem? Could you not put that in another game? Is it impossible to do that? Does the patent not run out over a certain period of time on something like that? How can that still be under patent protection 35, 40 years later? So I don't know. I mean, I'm seriously just asking if anyone knows. Why wouldn't there be like another game that has like the disappearing magnet that's in Totem? Why would we not be able to inject more of that into modern games? So if all the patterns have expired, why haven't we seen anything as cool as that again? And like you could do that shooting star ball trap. It doesn't just have to be in the outlands. I mean, that was a super cool place to put it.
    91:51
    So, gang, everybody, look. Love you guys. Thank you for hanging out every week. You know, it's funny when I'm going in next week, they said, Chris, are you comfortable talking for 45 minutes? What do you think, guys? Am I comfortable talking for 40 minutes? This hasn't been a very, I got to be, I got to be candid. Brenda's sake might be reduced to a bottle of Sapporo. This hasn't been a very, you guys are very generous last week. I feel there's 1100 stars here on Facebook. Thank you for that. But it hasn't been, you guys have been pretty tight wallet. You know, it's crazy. I'm saving you so much money.
    92:32
    Steve Ritchie once said, if one person tells you it sucks, it's an opinion. Two people says it sucks, it sucks.
    92:43
    Is Ozzy back in or is he literally in surgery right now? All right, you want to buy me a lobster on Mike? Let's go. Mike, what happened to the weather? Oh, man. The massive bird poop on a window. You guys get bird poop on windows. It's like they aim for the houses. They're like, Kaneda's there.
    93:08
    I feel like Stern has like launched a bunch of birds towards my house. They're like, go crap on his window.
    93:16
    Anyway, guys, enjoy your Saturday. I love, I love Saturdays. It is date night with Brenda. Normally we get enough for the sake. I think we got almost half a bottle. I got to recalibrate here. Shocking me. Thank you for watching. One thing about a five-year-old is this. It's not getting them to the toy section. All that's fun. It's getting them to leave with only one item. And I feel that that.
    94:15
    You know, all of a sudden he's like, can I only get one thing? And then there's like this water gun. I'm like, you know me. I'm like, this is the thing about pinball and these prices is like with this, as much as they are, I'm like, so I can make a little kid's mind. I can blow my kid's mind for $30.
    94:32
    Or I could go buy a $13,000 game that's going to lose $5,000 in six months. Think about that for a minute.
    94:41
    All the money you guys are losing. Are all the money that you guys lose on these LEs, are you spoiling your wives with that much, if not more money? I'm just curious. I hope so. How many vacations to Japan you could take, which you probably have never been? How many omakase meals you can have? And you'd actually have those memories and those experiences versus just you're literally just lighting money on fire, making Stern and its dealers money while they just handed you a depreciating asset.
    95:22
    I mean, I, like, forget my boys to Toys R Us. I would cry if I walked into a Toys R Us nowadays. In Thailand, baby. Awesome. Look, guys. Be good. The sun is coming out. It's going to be one of those, like, I think spotty days where we get some sunshine, some great clouds.
    95:49
    All right, guys. Everyone's overdue, man. Experiences over items. You know this. Experience over things. I mean that. Now, pinball is experiential, but you know what I mean. You know what I mean. All right. Be good. We got some more stars here on Facebook. Let me see who's giving stars here.
    96:07
    I want to thank Ted Sakebaumhauser. Ted, thank you. And then Wayne. Thank you, Ted. Ted gave 2,000 stars. Ted, thank you.
    96:19
    Let's see what we got. Let's see the top. I don't know if I can do. Let me see if I can see who gave the most on this show. Top fans. I think. Yeah, man, it's not good, man. Let me read the top 10 right now. We got Mike, my boy from New Canaan, with 1,400 points. Newton, number two, at 575. John B. at 550. Fizzy at 350. When Fizzy's in the top four, baby, we ain't making anything. I love you, Fizzy. Keep them coming, man. But, yeah. All right. Wayne's in there. JGB Family, Mr. Ricard, Speed Racer. All right, guys. 904 Pinball Zion, Cal Prague. That's the top ones, man. That's the top ones. Be good, guys. We'll talk soon. Kaneda out. Close it there.
    97:25
    End the stream here. Happy Friday. Happy Saturday.