Episode 761: "Stern's Next 4 Cornerstones?"

Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)·podcast_episode·20m 8s·analyzed·Jan 23, 2023

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.033

TL;DR

Kaneda reveals four upcoming Stern cornerstones: Venom, Foo Fighters, Jaws, Indiana Jones.

Summary

Kaneda claims to have insider information on Stern Pinball's next four cornerstone games releasing over 2023-2024: Venom (March 2023, Brian Eddy design), Foo Fighters (Jack Danger design), Jaws (Keith Elwin design, 2024), and Indiana Jones (possibly John Borg design, 2024). He also criticizes James Bond's poor sales performance and distributor tactics, predicts a potential Tron Vault Edition, and argues for transparency in pinball marketing to combat FOMO-driven sales strategies.

Key Claims

Stern Pinball's next four cornerstone games are Venom (March 2023), Foo Fighters, Jaws (2024), and Indiana Jones (2024)
medium confidence · Kaneda, citing a single unnamed source he describes as 'so good' he'll stake his podcast reputation on it; admits he hasn't seen any of the machines
James Bond is a launch failure with majority of units unsold; distributors are using sleazy tactics to move inventory below MSRP
medium confidence · Kaneda, observing Pinside listings and distributor behavior; claims majority of 60th Anniversary Edition units are not sold
Venom is designed by Brian Eddy (Zombie Eddy artwork), based on comics not movies, code-complete for over a year
medium confidence · Kaneda's unnamed source; claims game is finished and ready for launch
Foo Fighters is a Jack Danger design but has weak IP appeal with only 20 million album sales vs competitors like Nirvana (75M) and Guns N' Roses (120M)
medium confidence · Kaneda citing source for theme selection; provides album sales comparison data he appears to have researched
Jaws will be a Keith Elwin design without full movie assets but will feature a shark popping up from playfield
medium confidence · Kaneda, citing sources and noting Christopher Franchi's Jaws translites were popular at shows, suggesting rumor accuracy
Indiana Jones will be the 2024 cornerstone inspired by new Indiana Jones movie with time-travel mechanic connecting past films
low confidence · Kaneda's unnamed source; Kaneda speculates John Borg may be the designer based on designer availability
Stern will reduce Limited Edition production from 1,000 to 500 units for niche themes like Foo Fighters due to limited collector base
low confidence · Kaneda's prediction/analysis rather than from source; argues market cannot support 1,000 LE units for low-appeal themes
A Tron Vault Edition is in development and may release alongside these cornerstones

Notable Quotes

“This hobby has been dominated by FOMO for too many years. These companies keep these launches super secret, super private.”
Kaneda @ early in episode — Core thesis about industry marketing practices and customer information asymmetry
“This game is a total launch failure by Stern Pinball. And this is all they have left.”
Kaneda @ discussing James Bond — Strong condemnation of James Bond sales performance; suggests distributor desperation
“I am the pinball podcaster that's for the people. I want to give you all the information you need.”
Kaneda @ mid-episode — Self-characterization of role; contrasts with mainstream media coverage
“Wait and see. Those two words, if you embrace them, if you make love to them, you will be so much happier in pinball.”
Kaneda @ discussing Tron rumor — Recurring advice to listeners about patience and avoiding FOMO-driven purchases
“I have not seen any of these machines, but my source is so good on this that I am willing to put my podcast reputation on it.”
Kaneda @ introducing four cornerstones — Acknowledges lack of direct evidence while claiming high-confidence source; willingness to stake credibility
“The Foo Fighters are not that popular... 20 million albums is not a lot until you look at stuff like Elton John has sold 250 million albums.”
Kaneda @ discussing Foo Fighters theme — Skepticism about theme selection; provides market comparison data
“If this is true, and again, I haven't seen anything. So take some of this with a grain of salt.”
Kaneda @ discussing Foo Fighters and Jaws — Disclaimer about sourcing and accuracy; sets expectation for medium confidence
“Can you imagine if 2023 is going to be freaking Venom, Godfather and Foo Fighters?”
Kaneda @ after listing first three games — Rhetorical expression of skepticism about whether lineups are realistic given recession/market conditions

Entities

KanedapersonStern PinballcompanyKeith Elwinperson Brian Eddyperson Jack Dangerperson John Borgperson Venomgame

Signals

?
machine_intel: Kaneda claims to have insider information on four upcoming Stern Pinball cornerstones with specific themes, designers, and release timelines
medium · Kaneda states he has a single source 'so good' he'll stake his podcast reputation on it, but admits he hasn't seen any of the machines; provides specific details (Brian Eddy on Venom, Jack Danger on Foo Fighters, Keith Elwin on Jaws, speculated John Borg on Indiana Jones)
?
product_concern: James Bond cornerstone is underperforming significantly with majority of 60th Anniversary units allegedly unsold
high · Kaneda directly observes Pinside secondary market listings at $17,500 (vs $20,000 MSRP); notes Stern requesting distributors pay invoices; describes as 'total launch failure' Stern is 'not used to'; Keith Elwin signing toppers as last-resort incentive
$
market_signal: Distributor tactics to move James Bond inventory below MSRP through customer resales, circumventing Stern's minimum pricing rules
high · Kaneda observes Pinside listings at $17,500 for new machines; notes this requires customers to buy at discount and immediately resell; promises separate episode reading terms between Stern and distributors; describes as 'sleazy'
?
rumor_hype: Tron Pinball Vault Edition rumored in development; Kaneda advises against current purchases or sales based on unconfirmed information
low · Kaneda: 'I think we may also see a vault edition of Tron Pinball mixed in with these titles'; asks not to be PM'd about sourcing; uses 'wait and see' framing
?
design_philosophy: Stark disagreement on Foo Fighters as cornerstone theme; Kaneda argues insufficient IP popularity (20M albums vs Nirvana 75M, Guns N' Roses 120M) will cap LE sales

Topics

Stern Pinball's 2023-2024 Cornerstone PipelineprimaryJames Bond Launch Performance and Sales CrisisprimaryIndustry Transparency vs. FOMO-Driven MarketingprimaryDesigner Assignment and Game Development CyclesecondaryLimited Edition Pricing and Production NumberssecondaryDistributor Pricing Enforcement and Secondary Market TacticssecondaryIP Licensing and Theme Selection StrategysecondaryKaneda's Track Record and Media Creditmentioned

Sentiment

mixed(0.35)— Kaneda is enthusiastic about the rumored game lineup and his role as an information broker, but deeply critical of Stern's marketing practices, James Bond's poor performance, and distributor tactics. He's self-promotional but also genuinely frustrated with industry opacity and consumer information asymmetry. Overall tone is combative toward manufacturers while celebratory toward his own role.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.060

I am a real American, fight for the rights of every man. I am a real American, fight for what's right, fight for your life. Welcome to Kaneda's Pinball Podcast, the world's only pinball podcast that will do this. We're going to tell you Stern's next four cornerstone games. And I think I have them in order of release. So we shall see how accurate we are. But this is the kind of stuff I know you love. This is the kind of stuff I love to do. I love doing shows like these because I love giving you a peek behind the curtain. This is what these companies don't want. They don't want you to have all of the information you should have so you can make the best purchasing decision in the pinball world. This hobby has been dominated by FOMO for too many years. These companies keep these launches super secret, super private. they only want you to buy the game that's on the line. Stern needs to sell a lot of James Bond machines. And guess what? They're not selling. And guess what? If you hear what the next four themes are going to be, and maybe one or two of them appeal to you more than James Bond, guess what you're not going to do? You're not going to buy James Bond. And you might not buy the next machine if it's the third or fourth machine that really excites you. Are you ready for it? I'm excited. We don't have to talk too much. But before I reveal to you what the four cornerstone games are at Stern Pinball, I want to just clarify one error I made on my last show. And this is because of Pinside. On Pinside, it says there was 122 Big Bang Bars produced by Capcom. There were not. I think it was like 12 or 13. And then Gene Cunningham made the rest, like another 164 or something. So just want to clarify that. We also got some news yesterday. So this is funny. Stern Pinball is asking all of its distributors to pay the invoices on James Bond's 60th anniversary edition. And in that email to their distributors, they announced that Keith Elwin will be signing personally every one of the 500 toppers going on top of the 60th anniversary games. But in the same email, they also did not say that those toppers would be exclusive. The only thing exclusive about this topper, because they're going to sell it to anyone else who has a James Bond, the only thing exclusive will be the 500 toppers that he signs. What is his SIG even worth? I mean, it's already on the apron, and he's probably going to sign the back of the topper not to mess up the topper when you're staring at it. This whole thing is a total joke. This game is a total launch failure by Stern Pinball. And this is all they have left. Like they got together in a conference room and they're like, what can we do to try to entice distributors to find new buyers for this game? Because this game is going on the line next week. And Stern is not used to this, ladies and gentlemen. They're not used to having a game go on the line in which the majority, I guarantee you, the majority of these games are not sold. There is no way they sold 250 of these games at $20,000. And now we're seeing distributors do a little bit of a sleazy tactic. You can see it on Pinside. They're getting some of their customers to list the game for sale for $17,500. And there's going to be another podcast I do this week in which I read for you the terms and conditions between Stern Pinball and its distributors because Stern has a rule that their distros can't list a game for sale below a certain price. So that's why they're doing this. And John Youssi these guys being like, I just bought James Bond. You can get it new in bucks and you can have it for $17.50. Sure. So you're telling me that some dude bought this game for $2,500 less than MSRP and he's just willing to pass it on right away. Absolutely inane, sleazy sales tactics going on. But Kanaid is about to blow all that up because I'm the pinball podcaster that's for the people. I want to give you all the information you need. I know a lot of other media outlets have been saying rumors Do I need to remind people that I told everybody in April of 2022 that Twilight Zone was being remade And yes Twilight Zone is being remade And I think it going to be a Raw Thrills game. And they're going to partner with Chicago Gaming Company. Chicago Gaming Company is going to build it. And Raw Thrills is going to be the company that distributes it. Okay, so wait for that to happen and Canada not get any credit for that rumor because only 10% of the pinball media give me credit when I'm right 90% of the time. But one of my good listeners said, hey, Chris, you don't even need to talk about anybody else. There's a reason why we subscribe and he's right. So let's get to it. So as we know, Stern Pinball is moving to a new factory and that move coupled with their backlog means they are only going to come out with two cornerstone games in 2023, and they may only come out with two cornerstone games in 2024, but I'm not sure about 2024. Now, four cornerstone games. I have not seen any of these machines, but my source is so good on this that I am willing to put my podcast reputation, if there even is a reputation left, that you are going to see these four titles from Stern Pinball over the next two years. I think we may also see a vault edition of Tron Pinball mixed in with these titles. And please don't PM me about how well is my Tron vault edition news, because just trust me, wait and see. If you want to buy a Tron, don't go overpay right now. And if you own a Tron, don't sell it based upon what I just said. Wait and see. Those two words, if you embrace them, if you make love to them, you will be so much happier in pinball and you will have a much better 2023. Are we ready for the countdown of Stern's four next cornerstone titles? Now, not all of these are going to be a surprise and you know we've been talking about some of these, but we are going to, on the record, say that these are going to happen. So the first game we're going to see, and we're going to see it this March, is the following title. Or do you mind if we just call you Peter Parker? What did you say? Oh, you're quite the bully when you want to be, aren't you, Parker? Problem is, Eddie Brock isn't the same guy he once was. Why don't we introduce you to our better half? We call ourselves Venom. Ah, well, you probably knew it was Venom. I've been telling you it's been Venom for over a year. The game is done. It's Brian Eddy with Zombie Eddy on artwork. It is not based on the movie. It is based on the comic book, and we're going to get comic book style art, and we're going to get comic book style coding on the game. Now, the big question with Venom is going to be this. How are they going to sell 1,000 of these things at $13,000 a pop for LEs? And how are they going to sell premiums at like $9,700? But we are going to see this game. And unlike James Bond, look for this game to be code complete when it comes out because it's been finished for over a year. All right. Number two on games coming out is the following. And I wonder When I think along with you If everything could ever feel this real forever If everything could ever be this real love, yeah The only thing I'll ever have to view God promised not to stop when I said he would She said You can hear what some of you are saying right now, why the Foo Fighters? And if you think about the Foo Fighters in pinball format, it is a little bit of a really strange selection. And I'll tell you why. The Foo Fighters are not that popular. And I mean it, even though they have 10 studio albums and don shoot the messenger the Foo Fighters have sold 20 million albums Now look that a lot of albums until you look at stuff like Elton John has sold 250 million albums Nirvana, with much fewer albums, sold 75 million albums. And Guns N' Roses sold 120 million albums. So 20 million is not a lot. And so some of you are Foo Fighter fans. I'm not going to argue with you about your love of Foo Fighters, but as a cornerstone theme, I'm not really sure Foo Fighters is the way to go. We shall see. I know a lot of you out there were hoping it was going to be He-Man, Masters of the Universe, but I am hearing from my source that Jack Danger's game is going to be Foo Fighters. And again, it's another one of those themes where if this is true, and again, I haven't seen anything. So take some of this with a grain of salt. But if this happens, there's no way you're going to sell a thousand Stern LEs at $13,000. And I just don't know what they do because they can't lower the price because then everyone who bought the James Bonds for like $13,000 is going to be pissed off. I think what Stern's going to end up doing with titles like Venom and titles like Foo Fighters, I think they're going to knock down the number of LEs to 500. They have to. There's no way you can make more Foo Fighter LEs than Stranger Things or Ghostbusters or even Star Wars. Like we got to get back to reality that the LE is for the diehard fans of the franchise. There's just not enough in the pinball buying community to float a thousand Foo Fighter LEs. And look, I know some of you are like, oh my gosh, 2023 is going to be Venom and Foo Fighters. I might as well hold on to my money until 2024. And let me tell you, I think that might be a smart move. What's the two words? Wait and see, because wait till John Youssi what the two games are going to be in 2024. Let's get to number three on my list. Skip it. Skip it. Skip it. Skip it. Come on, skip it. Pippin! Did John Youssi that? It is happening, people. Jaws is a Keith Elwin machine. That is what I'm hearing. Keith Elwin and Jaws pinball, much like Jurassic Park. It won't have all of the movie assets, but I'm hearing it will be a Jaws adventure. And if you love Jurassic Park and you want to see a big shark and you got to have a shark popping up out of the playfield and eating balls and you got to shoot that yellow oxygen tank. I don't know. Are they going to have that as the final way to kill the shark. Look, this game, whether you love Jaws or not, right? Because Jaws don't do call-outs, and if you don't get the actors from the movie, will it still work? I have a lot of faith in Keith Elwin making an all-original Jaws game that, like, pays homage to the movie scenes we like. Much like Jurassic Park, that is going to work. And look, this game, if they make it, you know, there was a reason why at pinball shows people were loading up on Christopher Franchi's Jaws translates, because I think this rumor that's been swirling through pinball for a while is pretty damn accurate. So look, Keith Elwin just came out with his James Bond, and I don't think we're going to see another game from him this year, but I do think we're going to see this Jaws machine sometime in 2024. I'm excited. See, this is why, this is why you might not want to buy a game from Stern next year. You might want to wait for something else or explore Scooby-Doo or go get Godfather. Oh, how is Godfather? Can you imagine if 2023 is going to be freaking Venom, Godfather and Foo Fighters? I mean, I think during a global recession, our money might be the safest it's ever been in the history of pinball launches, but wait, 2024, things might be turning around. This is the final one. And look, this one kind of gets me excited. All right. Are you ready for it? Drum roll, please. The fourth cornerstone I hear that's in the works over at Stern Pinball, ginormous IP, ginormous IP is the following. I miss the desert I miss the sea. And I miss waking up every morning wondering what wonderful adventure the new day will bring to us. Those days have come and gone. Perhaps, perhaps not. I don't believe in magic. But a few times in my life, I've seen things. Things I can't explain. And I've come to believe it's not so much what you believe. It's how hard you believe it. Yeah! And he gets something outed to the world for everybody to discuss. So Indiana Hilton Jones, the new movie coming out this summer. I'm hearing this will inspire the next game from Stern Pinball in 2024. And here's the thing about this movie. If you look at the trailer, there's a time machine element to this movie where he's going to go back. And I think relive or experience the old scenes from the movies that we all loved. And so I think this could be all of the Indy magic in one. Now look, I know a lot of you are saying Stern already did an Indiana Hilton Jones game and it wasn't any good. And the Bally Williams game is perfect. Well look, I'm not here to tell you this game is going to be good or bad, but I'm here to tell you this. All I can report to you is that I'm hearing from my source that Stern Pinball is going to make a new Indiana Hilton Jones game. Now who's designing the game? Who's on artwork? Who's on code? I don't know, but if I were a guessing man and I were a betting man, I think this game is going to be John Borg's next game. Think about it, people. Who's due up for another game? If Brian Eddy is doing Venom and we know Keith Elwin is doing freaking Jaws and we know that Jack Danger's doing Foo Fighters, then that means that John Borg might be working on Indiana Hilton Jones. Maybe Gomez is working on it, but he just did James Bond. So I think John Borg, Indiana Hilton Jones, 2024, Canada's Pinball Podcast. People, I love doing these shows. Thank you so much for the support. We are over 540 club members right now as of today. And I hope if you're listening to this and you're new to the Canada Club, you now know what Canada is all about. This is the most entertaining and the most fun pinball podcast I believe on the planet. I think we have a good time here. We have a great time on Facebook Live during the Saturday Morning Spectacular's. And that's how we're going to do it. We're going to tell you what we know when we know it. Look for that show this week where we go behind the curtain again. and I'll read for you the details from American Pinball to its distributors and Stern Pinball to its distributors. I can see people shaking right now. We don't want consumers to have all the information. We don't want consumers to know how much money people are making per game sold. Why not? Why can't we be more empowered? If we're empowered and informed, it just makes us better consumers. I'm on your side. I'm not trying to sell you anything other than this pinball podcast. And you got to admit, for five bucks a month, it's sure worth it. And for those of you who've upped your amount by more than $5, I really do thank you. I mean it. I went to buy coffee today. Two coffees were almost $8. And so maybe that's me saying, hey, if you're only giving five, you know you can give 10. Everybody have a great day. We'll talk to you soon. I gotta be a man, I can't let it slide I am a real American Fight for the rights of every man I am a real American Fight for what's right, fight for your life