Pinball Omnibus: Episode 5

Cary Hardy·video·7m 25s·analyzed·Jul 1, 2021

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.023

TL;DR

Toppers, playfield issues, Halloween announcement, and Stern's September software surprise.

Summary

Cary Hardy reviews recent pinball industry developments including Elite Toppers' Indiana Jones topper release in three tiers, Jersey Jack's Guns N' Roses playfield quality issues, Spooky Pinball's Halloween game announcement with three price tiers, Haggis Pinball facility updates, and George Gomez's revelation that Stern will add special software features to multiple games in September.

Key Claims

Elite Toppers sold out their Elite Indiana Jones Topper tier ($2,199) with only 25 units produced
high confidence · Cary Hardy directly states sales status at time of recording
Jersey Jack Guns N' Roses playfield issues stem from using undersized posts in oversized holes, causing movement and damage
medium confidence · RetroGenCo video analysis cited by Cary Hardy; technical explanation provided but secondhand reporting
Spooky Pinball's Halloween game will be released in three tiers with pricing: Collector $9k, Bloodsucker Edition $8k, Standard $7k
high confidence · Cary Hardy states official announcement received; specific pricing confirmed
Spooky Pinball will use the same playfield design for Halloween and a second unreleased niche-themed title
high confidence · Playfield dissection and official announcement; both themes use identical design
George Gomez announced Stern will add 'amazing, super cool stuff' to multiple games in September
high confidence · Direct quote from George Gomez on Just Another Pinball podcast; interview with Joel Engelberth
Spooky Pinball's three-tier model may become their standard going forward
medium confidence · Cary Hardy speculation based on Halloween game announcement; not confirmed by Spooky
Haggis Pinball is experiencing facility and material cost issues due to COVID and lumber price increases
medium confidence · Cary Hardy cites Haggis Pinball's weekly update videos; secondhand reporting of Damien's statements
Spooky Pinball's tier production model is demand-based: production numbers for each tier depend entirely on customer orders
high confidence · Cary Hardy explains Spooky's stated ordering system; officially announced approach

Notable Quotes

“I think that in September, in the vicinity of September, you may get some amazing, super cool stuff for a bunch of your games.”
George Gomez@ 5:57 — Official teaser from Stern's Chief Creative Officer about upcoming software features across multiple games
“So there's a lot of lead way for the post to move around and beat the hell out of the playfield”
Cary Hardy (summarizing RetroGenCo analysis)@ 2:08 — Technical explanation of recurring Guns N' Roses quality issue
“there will be two different themes utilizing the same design there will not be like a mega licensed theme it will be a niche theme”
Cary Hardy@ 2:58 — Reveals Spooky's dual-theme design strategy for Halloween playfield
“What models they make depends on what models are ordered. So, all of these could be collector's editions. They technically could.”
Cary Hardy@ 3:49 — Explains Spooky Pinball's demand-based production tier system
“98% of this interview was solely about the involvement and making and all of the inner workings of Deadpool, the game”
Cary Hardy@ 4:43 — Highlights George Gomez Just Another Pinball podcast interview focus

Entities

Cary HardypersonElite TopperscompanyIndiana Jonesgame Guns N' Rosesgame Jersey Jack PinballcompanySpooky PinballcompanyHalloweengame Haggis Pinballcompany

Signals

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business_signal: Haggis Pinball experiencing facility relocation challenges and supply chain cost pressures affecting production timeline
medium · Cary Hardy cites Haggis weekly updates documenting COVID-related issues and lumber price increases impacting facility expansion
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community_signal: Stern planning significant software feature rollout across multiple games in September, possibly including challenge modes and DJ mixer integration
high · George Gomez direct quote from Just Another Pinball podcast teasing 'amazing, super cool stuff' for September release to multiple games
?
design_philosophy: Spooky Pinball employing playfield design reuse strategy with multiple themed variants from single base design
high · Cary Hardy confirms Halloween and unreleased niche-themed title share identical playfield with different artwork/theme treatments
$
market_signal: Aftermarket topper market segmentation: Elite Toppers Indiana Jones release shows tiered production strategy with limited Elite tier (25 units, sold out) versus unlimited standard tier
high · Cary Hardy documents Elite tier sold out quickly (25 units), Deluxe tier limited to 75 units, Standard tier unlimited production
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market_signal: Spooky Pinball adopts three-tier model for Halloween game; potential shift toward standardized tiered pricing across future releases
high · Cary Hardy notes 'Spooky pinball maybe going forward that's probably what they're going to do going forward' regarding three-tier model

Topics

Aftermarket toppers and accessoriesprimaryManufacturing quality issuesprimaryGame announcements and revealsprimaryPricing models and tiersprimarySoftware updates and featuresprimaryManufacturer business updatessecondaryPinball design strategysecondary

Sentiment

mixed(0.55)— Generally informative and neutral reporting tone, but quality control concerns about Guns N' Roses temper enthusiasm. Excitement about new announcements (Halloween, September features) balanced by acknowledgment of industry challenges (Haggis facility issues, lumber costs).

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.022

hmm music music music music music What's up guys welcome back to episode five of pinball omnibus where I talk about a lot of things going on in this hobby in just a short amount of time so let's get started. Now it's been a while since my previous omnibus but honestly not much has happened in in the hobby, but the things that did occur from the previous episode I have documented, so some of it may be old news, but it will be obviously news to some of you out there. Let's start with Elite Toppers. They have revealed and released their Indiana Jones Topper in three tier models. You have your top tier Elite for $2,199, of which they are sold out. I think they only made 25 of those. You have your deluxe edition for $12.99 and they're going to make 75 of those. Those are still available at the recording of this video. And then you have your standard which is selling for $849. And I'm not seeing any kind of limitations on the number that they will make of the standards. For further details on getting your own topper for your Indiana Jones, I will put a link to their website in the description down below. If you want more visuals then there is a video put together by Straight Down The Middle. I'll put a link to their video as well. Next up is Guns N' Roses play field issues. Yes, we're going to beat this horse some more, guys. So RetroGenCo put a video out because he got his hands on his limited edition Guns N' Roses. Actually, it might have been a collector's edition. I can't remember off the top of my head. Like I said this was a couple of weeks ago now but he goes through what he believes to be the reason why we are having issues in these certain particular areas of the playfield For a better explanation on that I will put a link in the description down below for that. Basically, it seems as if Jersey Jack is trying to put a very skinny post in a very large hole with not much grabbing onto this. So there's a lot of lead way for the post to move around and beat the hell out of the playfield next up is spooky pinball news i was just gonna have a section about one little tidbit that they released a couple of weeks ago but of course like i said time has gone by since my last one so therefore we've got a lot more details to go over and that is the fact that we got the playfield from underneath we kind of dissected that a little bit and now we've got the official announcement that this title is going to be halloween further information has been released that not only will this particular design be under Halloween but it will also be under a different title as well but it will not be like a mega licensed theme it will be a niche theme but there will be two different themes utilizing the same design there will be three tier models for spooky pinball maybe going forward that's probably what they're going to do going forward but there's definitely going to be on this Halloween game. Let me pull it up over here make sure I don't get it wrong. So let's start with your collector. Your collector model is going to be 9k, your bloodsucker edition is going to be 8k, and your standard edition is going to be 7k. Now the way they're going to go about doing this is that if all the orders that come in and they request a collector edition then technically they will make all collector There is no limitations to how many there can be What models they make depends on what models are ordered So, all of these could be collector's editions. They technically could. That is up to all of you out there on ordering this game. Haggis Pinball has been keeping us up to date at least once every two weeks at the bare minimum, I want to say, on what things are going on at their facility and how it's going and all in there but they are putting kelts together getting those out they are working on getting into their new facility and building onto that but evidently they're having a little bit of issues due to covid and evidently here in america we're not the only ones suffering from the price hike on lumber if you want to hear damien explain to you what all is going on i'll put a link to his video down below And lastly, it just came out today actually, George Gomez was interviewed with Joel Engelberth on the Pinball Network's Just Another Pinball podcast. 98% of this interview was solely about the involvement and making and all of the inner workings of Deadpool, the game, and how it came to be and complications or issues and all that stuff and junk. So if you want to know all the behind-the-scenes extra additional information about the makings of Deadpool, then this podcast is right up your alley. But a little snippet that has been placed within this interview there a portion in the middle and a portion towards the end where George Gomez states that coming up in September Stern will be adding something to a lot of games that are on the line as well as games that are in your collection This was brought up whenever Joel asked about them adding other features because they added the dj mixer into the games if they plan on adding anything else like challenges or anything like that and this is what george had to say is do you guys have any plans or would would there be any way that you'd consider adding challenge modes back into deadpool funny you should say that you never know what's going to happen in the next few months i think that I think that in September, in the vicinity of September, you may get some amazing, super cool stuff for a bunch of your games. Amazing, super cool stuff sounds really nice. Yeah, and Deadpool might be one of those games. Deadpool might be one of those games. So there you have it, straight from George Gomez mouth that there is something a little special coming, more than likely going to be software based obviously but coming to our pinball machines in late summer and as of right now that's going to be it obviously spooky is going to be unveiling halloween here in the next couple of days if not tomorrow we shall see and of course i will be putting a video out about that i'm sure that's gonna wrap up pinball omnibus episode 5 if you like what you've seen here give me the thumbs up and if you haven't already smash the subscribe button ding my dong that way you can be notified on whenever i upload something for your viewing pleasure and until next time guys peace out