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My First LE! and It's Stern Pinball's WORST Yet!

Cary Hardy·video·28m 32s·analyzed·May 17, 2025
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.033

TL;DR

Cary Hardy declares Kong LE worst Stern offering, citing 932-unit overproduction and $3,500 unjustifiable premium over mediocre component upgrades.

Summary

Cary Hardy reviews the King Kong Limited Edition pinball machine ($13,000), critiquing Stern's LE strategy, production numbers (932 units), and value proposition. He argues the LE offers minimal tangible upgrades over Premium tier—estimating only ~$1,200 in actual component costs—while claiming corner-cutting on art direction, powder coating, and licensing (notably the unlicensed Empire State Building reference). Hardy positions this as symptomatic of Stern's struggling LE market after oversaturation with 1,000-unit runs (Venom, Jaws, John Wick) and recommends Stern return to 500-unit production, exclusive features unavailable on lower tiers, and best-in-class aesthetics to restore collector prestige.

Key Claims

  • King Kong LE production of 932 units is not rare or limited given market size; 1,000-unit runs on Venom, Jaws, John Wick similarly oversaturated

    high confidence · Hardy documents Stern's LE production history: Deadpool/Jurassic Park/Stranger Things/TMNT at 500, Mandalorian 750, Godzilla/Rush/James Bond/Foo Fighters/Venom/Jaws/Wick at 1,000

  • Metallica Remastered (500 units) secondary market value exceeds $16k, proving true scarcity drives LE desirability

    high confidence · Hardy cites Metallica as 'true limited edition' with high demand/value, contrasts with Kong's poor secondary market performance

  • Kong LE material costs approximately $1,200 retail, not $3,500 premium charge; components include $70 speakers, $100 amp, $240 glass, $110 shaker, $300 side rails

    medium confidence · Hardy itemizes retail pricing for each LE component, acknowledges bulk pricing reduces actual Stern cost further

  • Kong LE art package combines Pro and Premium artwork rather than exclusive design; only back glass is unique

    high confidence · Hardy states: 'It's merely the pro art package on the left and the premium art package on the right' and criticizes lack of exclusive LE artwork

  • Kong LE side rail powder coating is flat matte black, not exotic color matching jungle theme; accessory versions likely coming for lower tiers

    high confidence · Hardy describes Obsidian coating as boring matte black lacking visual impact; predicts third-party side rails will be available

  • Keith Elwin's signature on LE machines lacks personal touch—rushed batch signing by designer, not individual personalization

    medium confidence · Hardy compares to Steve Ritchie signing his Getaway in person; notes Elwin signs boxes of machines passed to assembly workers

  • Stern did not license Empire State Building for Kong; speaker lighting specifies generic 'building' silhouette instead

    high confidence · Hardy: 'They didn't specify Empire State Building because they didn't license the Empire State Building. Just another cost-cutting measure'

Notable Quotes

  • “Only 932 were made, and I say that sarcastically.”

    Cary Hardy@ 0:00 — Establishes core critique: 932-unit production doesn't constitute true limited edition scarcity

  • “The answer is going to be no. Because most of the LE items are all aesthetic and don't matter that much to most people.”

    Cary Hardy@ 22:20 — Summarizes fundamental LE value failure: premium price doesn't translate to tangible gameplay or satisfaction advantage

  • “Metallica Remastered... This is a true limited edition game. And guess what? Due to the nature of it being a true limited edition, the demand is high, the value is high.”

    Cary Hardy@ 7:02 — Contrasts Kong with successful LE model; Metallica 500-unit run holds $16k+ value proving scarcity drives market

  • “Cost alone does not justify the price increase.”

    Cary Hardy@ 2:55 — Core thesis: material/component upgrade pricing doesn't support $3,500 LE premium

  • “They cut so many corners on this LE and still thought that making 932 was the way to go.”

    Cary Hardy@ 8:47 — Identifies paradox: excessive cost-cutting contradicts overproduction strategy; combination fails both scarcity and value positioning

  • “The competition is gaining on you, Stern. Maybe not in output, but with consumer confidence.”

    Cary Hardy@ 27:20 — Signals broader market concern: boutique manufacturers (JJP, Spooky, others) delivering superior LE value, undermining Stern premium positioning

Entities

Cary HardypersonKing KonggameStern PinballcompanyKeith ElwinpersonSeth DavispersonGary SternpersonJeremy Packerperson

Signals

  • ?

    business_signal: LE market saturation and value erosion threaten Stern's premium positioning; Metallica 500-unit success contrasts with Kong 932-unit failure, suggesting critical threshold ~500-600 units optimal

    high · Hardy recommends Stern 'drop the number back down to 500' to restore scarcity/demand; predicts next releases in 600-700 range; notes 'LEs are abundant' and collector prestige dwindling

  • ?

    community_signal: First-time LE purchaser (Hardy) conducting forensic value analysis and public critique; signals growing collector skepticism about LE justification and willingness to publicly challenge manufacturer pricing

    medium · Hardy: 'I was going to actually have the game here in my possession and be able to critique it. Because I bought it. The $13,000. Legitimately. No sponsorship.' Represents shift from passive acceptance to critical evaluation

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Boutique manufacturers (implied: JJP, Spooky, others) gaining consumer confidence relative to Stern despite lower production output; superior value-per-dollar positioning threatened

    medium · Hardy: 'Games with assets, toppers, special powder coating, non-reflective glass, special side rails, for thousands cheaper. The competition is gaining on you, Stern. Maybe not in output, but with consumer confidence.'

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Kong LE art direction criticized as combining Pro/Premium artwork without exclusive design; matte black powder coating conflicts with colorful art package and theme; unlicensed Empire State Building indicates cost-cutting

    high · Hardy: 'It's merely the pro art package on the left and the premium art package on the right'; criticizes Obsidian coating as 'safe' matte black; notes generic 'building' silhouette due to licensing omission

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.086

0:00
King Kong Limited Edition. Only 932 were made, and I say that sarcastically. But it's not just the amount built that makes it limited. It's all about those extra items that you get with it. And one of the things that you get with that is a Certificate of Authenticity Signed by the President and CEO Seth Davis and Chairman Gary Stern. And it lists as mine being number 622 out of 932.
0:35
It will be individually autographed by game designer Keith Elwin. A sequentially numbered limited edition plate. A limited edition King Kong Unleashed full-color mirrored back glass with hand-drawn artwork by legendary pinball illustrators Kevin O'Connor, Greg Freris, and Jeremy Packer. Exclusive full-color reflective foil New York Cityscape and Terror Island side cabinet decals with hand-drawn artwork by legendary pinball illustrators, again, Kevin O'Connor, Greg Freris, and Jeremy Packer. Exclusive foil inside art blades with hand-drawn artwork by legendary pinball illustrators Kevin O'Connor, Greg Freres, and Jeremy Packer. And then interactive speaker expression lighting with King Kong on building, silhouette, and King Kong themed game effects. An upgraded speaker system with 3 channel amplifier, anti-reflection playfield glass, a shaker motor, an exclusive custom black powder coated pinball armor, legs, hinges, and Art Deco inspired laser cut forms revealing gold foil inserts. And all of that can be yours for the low low price of $13,000. But is it worth it? No. Now let me be clear. This is nothing against the game. The game I think shoots great and you're going to be very happy with a lower tier. This is merely talking about this limited edition in particular. To be honest, I've always felt that the limited editions weren't worth the extra cost on material basis alone, but that was mere speculation. But now that I've had this here, I've been able to take things apart, see what kind of quality that we're dealing with here, and now that I've done that, I can surely assure you that cost alone do not justify the price increase. I'm sure some of you are already wanting to comment about how it's not about material cost that makes it an LE. Stick with me, I'll get there. But first, let's just kind of go over all of these LE perks.

  • Kong LE not selling well post-release; distributors and Stern expectations unmet despite Keith Elwin's historical track record moving units

    medium confidence · Hardy speculates: 'they're not selling as well, I think, as distros were hoping and what Stern was expecting'

  • Stern's LE strategy has shifted from meaningful scarcity (500 units pre-COVID) to arbitrary number-selection (811 for X-Men, 740 for D&D) masking overproduction

    high confidence · Hardy details Stern's publicly stated lore-based reasoning (X-Men 811, D&D 740) as 'throwing spaghetti at the wall' guessing game

  • Third-party LE back glass reproductions exist; foil decals and art blades easily replicated, undermining certificate of authenticity value

    medium confidence · Hardy notes Brazilian LE back glass remakes available; questions CoA relevance given replication ease

  • “I'm more of a pinball player. I'm not the target audience.”

    Cary Hardy@ 25:02 — Hardy self-identifies as player-focused rather than collector; positions Kong LE as failing even collector expectations

  • “And now, whenever they try to flex about owning a game like this, it's turned into... See, nobody cares.”

    Cary Hardy@ 26:51 — Documents sentiment shift: LE ownership no longer confers status or envy in community; prestige erosion

  • “Get you a pro or premium of Kong... if you just want a great shooting game.”

    Cary Hardy@ 25:10 — Explicit recommendation: LE purchase unjustified for majority; lower tiers provide equivalent play experience

  • “Maybe not in output, but with consumer confidence. And spoiler alert, what they got coming next is really going to highlight value and bang for buck.”

    Cary Hardy@ 27:23 — Teases upcoming competitor releases; promises future content revealing superior value propositions from other manufacturers

    • Kevin O'Connor
    person
    Greg Ferrisperson
    Metallica Remasteredgame
    John Wickgame
    Venomgame
    Jawsgame
    Uncanny X-Mengame
    Dungeons and Dragonsgame
    The Collectorperson
    Steve Ritchieperson
    Barrels of Funcompany
    Multimorphiccompany
    Penwooferproduct
    Elvira BRKgame
    $

    market_signal: Boutique manufacturers positioning as superior value alternative to Stern; upcoming announcements from competitors will 'highlight value and bang for buck' relative to Kong LE and Stern's three-tier model

    medium · Hardy teases future video: 'spoiler alert, what they got coming next is really going to highlight value and bang for buck' from competitors; signals potential major market shift

  • $

    market_signal: Kong LE secondary market underperformance post-release; sales trajectory disappointing against distributor/manufacturer expectations despite Keith Elwin's historical brand strength

    medium · Hardy speculation: 'they're not selling as well, I think, as distros were hoping and what Stern was expecting'; questions if Elwin's name alone still moves units given Kong's poor traction

  • $

    market_signal: Kong LE's $13,000 price point ($3,500 premium over Premium tier) unjustified by ~$1,200 in material components; growing market skepticism about three-tier pricing model sustainability

    high · Hardy itemizes retail component costs ($70 speakers, $240 glass, $110 shaker, $300 side rails, etc.) totaling ~$1,200, contrasts with $3,500 premium charge

  • ?

    product_strategy: Kong LE lacks meaningful differentiation from Premium tier beyond back glass and cosmetic elements; no exclusive gameplay, rules, or mechanical features; lower-tier buyers sacrifice no substantive experience

    high · Hardy: 'Most of the LE items are all aesthetic and don't matter that much to most people. And the rest of the items, everyone can purchase those separately and put on their pro or premium for a third of the price.'

  • ?

    product_concern: Kong LE component quality mediocre: basic off-shelf LEDs (~$20), generic Kenwood speakers ($33/pair), standard subwoofer ($35), no fuzzing but third-party options superior

    high · Hardy itemizes component sourcing: 'basic off the shelf' LEDs, $33 Kenwoods retail, $35 subwoofer; compares unfavorably to Penwoofer alternative

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Community perception of LE ownership shifted from aspirational/enviable to mundane; LE flex no longer generates prestige

    high · Hardy: 'See, nobody cares' when LE owners flex; contrasts with prior era when LE ownership impressed fellow enthusiasts

  • ?

    business_signal: Stern shifting from meaningful scarcity (500-unit pre-COVID LEs) to arbitrary overproduction (932 Kong, 1,000+ Venom/Jaws/Wick), with post-hoc lore-based number selection to justify overproduction

    high · Hardy documents Stern's public statements about X-Men 811 and D&D 740 'lore significance' as masking guessing game; contrasts with Metallica 500-unit genuine scarcity success

  • ?

    licensing_signal: Kong's unlicensed Empire State Building forced generic 'building' speaker lighting design; cost-cutting masked by vague theming; impacts LE exclusivity perception

    high · Hardy: 'They didn't specify Empire State Building because they didn't license the Empire State Building. Just another cost-cutting measure right there.' Notes he had to get close to determine what image represented

    • 3:20
    Only 932 are being made. Okay, but with the size of this hobby and what decisions Stern has made with this particular title that doesn't make this rare rare limited exclusive these are all like keywords that just kind of get thrown around quite a bit in this industry i remember watching the youtuber the collector on his video regards to unboxing his john wick le and the title of video stated i bought the most rare pinball machine on the market and they made a thousand of those john wick limited editions so i thought that was funny i was laughing about that because it's not that rare and then you also have him being a gun nut and how he has so many guns including all the John Wick guns, major John Wick fans. He spent $13,000 on this machine, mainly because John Wick and guns. And he bought the one machine that doesn't have any guns.
    4:34
    But you know what does have more guns than John Wick pinball? My new shirt. I mean, I'll give you a little glimpse right here, but it will be up for sale very soon and it will be a perk in my upper tier so look for that coming soon as well when it comes to Patreon. But back to Kong. Stern seems to be playing the guessing game right now with the amount of LEs they should make going forward and if you look back in their previous titles you will see what I mean. I mean Deadpool, Jurassic Park, Stranger Things, Avengers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, like all of these games were 500. They made 500 of those when it comes to limited editions. And then as COVID started to go into play, Mandalorian went up to 750. And then we go into full blown high demand. And that's when we see Godzilla with 1000. And every game after that has been 1000. Rush, James Bond, Foo Fighters, Venom, Jaws, Wick. and something happened or has gradually taken you know a hold of what their plans have been and now they're having to adjust now we saw this coming a lot sooner than they did evidently but i'm guessing that they were just kind of like hoping that maybe you know with venom maybe it was a one-off you know when it comes to wick maybe that was a one-off kind of thing you know jaws did well mainly because it had assets and it had keith elwyn behind it but something definitely changed after that and this is where something needed to change i mean it was obvious that they needed to change something so they started to lower the amount of LEs, but they can't just lower the amount made for honest reasons. They need to make the number have meaning. So they find a number in the world of that particular theme that they are working on, and that is around what they would like to make by creating. So like just for instance, like I guess X-Men, the number 811 has some sort of meaning in that particular world. So they are going to make 811 Uncanny X-Men. I mean, they say they chose this number due to the number having some sort of significance in the lore, when honestly, they're just guessing at how many they should make. And then not too long after that we have the Metallica Remastered This is a true limited edition game And guess what Due to the nature of it being a true limited edition the demand is high, the value is high.
    7:20
    Go figure, huh? Like, they made only 500 of these games. One, it's doing so great in the market, obviously, because it's truly limited. Two, it's a sexy looking damn game. Three, that it's obviously better than the original Metallica. So you have those three things going for you. And now you can't find one of these limited editions for less than 16K as of the time of recording this video. And then next up, we have Dungeons and Dragons, where they made 740. Now, I forgot the reason of why they chose 740. Like... But I also don't, I kind of don't care. Because like I said, they're just throwing spaghetti at the wall at this point. Just like, let's try this number and hopefully we'll sell all of them.
    8:09
    And lo and behold, $740, still too much, at least for this particular title. Now, even though D&D LEs aren't holding value, even though $740 was obviously too many, Stern's Golden Goose was up next. And I think that they know Elwynn's name alone sells games. I think they're banking on this game selling very well solely due to Keith being at the helm. And there's historical data to prove that his games are hits. They cut so many corners on this LE and still thought that making 932 was the way to go. Now, we're only like a few weeks, like, you know, post release of this game. OK, but they're not selling as well, I think, as distros were hoping and what Stern was expecting. But if Elwynn's name can no longer move units, where do they go from here? Well, obviously, make the game limited again. Drop it down to 500. This will give the owners more reason to buy. It's actually a low number and that would make the rest of the crap that I'm about to talk about less meaningful than it already is. But like I said Stern is throwing spaghetti at the wall for the sweet spot for LEs and it wouldn't surprise me if you see their next release somewhere between like the 600s to 700s. But aside from the amount built what else went wrong with Kong LE, the art. Now, this isn't a review on the art package as a whole. This is merely stating that the LE for Kong isn't special. It's merely the pro art package on the left and the premium art package on the right. Yes, you do get a special back glass, which is honestly my favorite of the three options. DLE should have the best art package. Plain and simple. Not a combination of what everyone else has. I mean, my local arcade has a Foo Fighters Pro, but one side is pro and one side is premium. That's pretty limited. That's right. You can get a true limited game by the factory merely just messing up. And it's not going to cost you an extra $3,500 either. Okay, so aside from not getting special artwork, you do get special kind of decals, and these foil decals, which honestly, in the right light, can look pretty good.
    10:57
    But they also, in some, you know, okay lighting, look very dull. But in the end also, depending on how you have your game placed, when you have it pushed up into a lineup, you're not going to really notice it anyways. To wrap up the art portion, the LEs need to be sexy and better than the lower tiers. The people buying the LEs want to have the best version of the game. That's one reason why they buy it. They want to know they have something others want. But not just what others want, but something they can't have. With someone remaking the LE back glass in Brazil, what does the LE provide art-wise that you can't get on your lower tiers? Now, the next item on the list is the Obsidian powder coating armor legs and side rails, all that stuff. Obsidian. Ooh. It's black.
    11:58
    That's what it is. Matte black. Not even glossy. Sparkles. nothing just a flat matte black you can't get more boring than that and honestly it wouldn't be that big of a deal if it fit the rest of the art you have an art package with so many colors arguably too many and they could have gone with an exotic color to match the jungle but they lean towards the Art Deco New York side of the game, which is just safe. It doesn't help the game stand out, especially from the lower tiers of the same game. Yes, the side rails make the game different, but not stand out. Not to mention, when the accessories get released, there will be a special side rails available for the lower tiers more than likely. So we went over the quantity being made we went over the art package the side rails uh let's talk about everything else you know special that they throw in onto the le's and things that we can actually put a price on too i had to go grab it again but i mentioned this at the beginning of the video but it is the certificate of authenticity just that's the kind of material just you know some poster paper and some signatures on here from Seth Davis and Gary Stern and the number of your machine out of the total machines made with the le back glass right there I mean is there a history of people making fake le's that I'm just not aware of and at one point in time if you didn't have this and it wasn't a true le because they couldn't verify it as being I I don't know you tell me but all I saying is if someone has the skill to replicate the art blades the cabinet decals the back glass chances are they got the skill to replicate this little poster paper and plagiarize everything else. That's all I'm saying. I don't see, I can't put a price on this. Not because it's priceless, but because I just see it as no value added. It's NBA. But there's probably some collectors out there that take these and hang them up in a frigging frame or something or collect these as well. I don't know, but
    14:46
    I don't think a lot of people that buy Ellie's care about this either if you do, let me know in the comments section down below. The game will be signed by Keith Elwin. Keith,
    15:00
    you're killing me with this. I get it. You've got to sign over 900 of these damn things, but I have seen doctor signatures with more effort than this. I mean, getting your name signed by the designer is a nice touch, honestly. But to me, it means more if I'm there to watch it get signed. It makes it more personal to me kind of thing. I've only had one of my games signed by the designer. My getaway was Steve Ritchie. That meant more to me than just receiving something that he's signed before. But, you know, so him having a signature on the game, knowing that all he's doing is going through a box of these and moving on to the next one and then giving that box of signed things to the assembly workers doesn't seem very special to me. This is something also I can't put a price on, but I will tell you that if you go to a pinball show and Keith is there in the signing booth with the rest of the Stern people, he'll sign whatever you give him. for free. The numbered plaque. I have nothing against this. I think the limited editions should have this, so I have nothing negative to say about this. I mean, but it is on the machine. Let's just say it cost 10 bucks to make, and that's just being generous on that. Art blades. The LE will be in foil decals, which again, look pretty dull in certain lighting, and when it is shiny in other lighting, it's so shiny that it makes it even harder to really determine what the art is showing us. And I think the art blades that get released for the lower tiers are more than likely going to be better. The retail for art blades is around like a hundred bucks. Interactive speaker expression lighting with King Kong on building. Did you notice that they just specified building. They didn't specify Empire State Building because they didn't license the Empire State Building. Just another cost-cutting measure right there. But I'm glad they tell you what the image is supposed to be. Otherwise, I had to get really close to determine what the hell it was. And I've already seen third parties replacements for these. And the LEDs that are used on these kits are basic off the shelf. You are looking at maybe 20 bucks in materials and I'm being generous there too. Now that doesn't include the expression board that is required for these to sync with the game. Let's be generous again and say that board cost them 100 bucks and I honestly prefer other speaker lighting systems out there. They don't sync with the game but you really aren't really going to notice that when you're playing it anyways upgraded speaker system with three channel amplifier and now the the kenwoods on this game they're 33 bucks for the pair online retail the subwoofer that they have is another like 35 bucks retail so you're looking at around 70 bucks for the speakers themselves uh we don't know again what their amp that they're using runs them so once again let's just be generous and say it's 100 bucks okay so 170 bucks for an upgraded speaker system and i gotta give the speaker system a little bit of kudos i cranked it up full blast all the way and i'm not getting any kind of fuzzing or bad sound. So the amp that I use, the speakers are quite suitable for what it is, but there definitely is third parties out there with a subwoofer that'll give you a lot more bass. Penwoofer, just to name one, no sponsorship there, just saying I've experienced Penwoofer and it's pretty damn good. Anti-reflection glass. I mean, the glass is nice. I only recently became a fan of these anti-reflection glasses. I had a video going over some of them, and all I can say is that for me, they're definitely better than your standard Stern glass that you see. But I can also tell you that with the price differences between Voodoo, which is over $200, and the retail for Stern's glass is over $240, there are cheaper ones out there that I think is barrels of fun, as well as multi Morpher selling that are damn close to similar. So similar that you're not going to really notice that much for a cheaper price. But I'm not trying to advertise options. I'm merely stating that they offer the anti reflection glass on this. It is good, but they have it retail at $240 shaker motor. I do love a good shaker motor in a game, especially whenever it's synced up to the game accordingly. and these things retail for $110. So let's do the math here, okay? I'm looking at like $750 in extra features. And again, this is me being generous, and this is also retail pricing, because you know they're not paying retail for their items. They're paying a fraction of that because they're buying in bulk. And there's another item that I can't really get a good pricing on because, you know, it is what it is. I'm sure they're getting a bulk pricing on that, but that is their powder coating and the cutting of their side blades. But they retail whenever they do come out and the accessories for, I want to say the mid range is, what is it, 300? Yeah, so $300 is the average price retail for your side rails. That's not including the legs or anything. But so I want to say we're right around the thousand dollar mark to maybe 11 or 1200 to be ultra generous right there. So let's just say screw it. I say twelve hundred dollars twelve hundred dollars and generous retail pricing features that you know they not paying for for a upgrade Now normally an argument could be made that a great deal of money went into the development of the LE art package, but that can't be made for this game, because they utilize the pro and the premium, except for the back glass. Every LE isn't the same when it comes to building materials. Sometimes it's licensing restrictions that can alter what we get. But there wasn't a license restricting this game. Yet, they seem to have cut the most corners on this title, and it still cost $3,500 more than the premium.
    22:06
    And I guess the ultimate question to ask yourself when purchasing this LE is, will I have $3,500 more fun than those with a premium? And the answer is going to be no. Because most of the LE items are all aesthetic and don't matter that much to most people. And the rest of the items, everyone can purchase those separately and put on their pro or premium for a third of the price. So who is the target audience for LEs? I've got four different groups. There's probably more out there, but this is what I've got. Number one, those that want the best version of a game that doesn't require any work on the user end to improve it. That means that they just want to get the game, set it up, and be done. That they don't need to purchase anything else, no accessories. They just want to be one and done. I've got it all in one package. I've got everything that you can buy later. I've already got it. I've got everything. We're good, except a topper. Number two, the hardcore fans of that particular theme. Number three, the collectors. These are the guys that probably don't care that much about the theme or even all the features. They just want every game regardless. Four, the people that want something that is hard to get. They want something others want. They want to flex and brag that they managed to get an LE of a particular game. And those people are dwindling.
    23:46
    LEs are abundant. Me personally, I'm not an LE buyer. And this was my first LE purchase after all these years.
    23:58
    I mean, I had my first impressions whenever I first saw this game online. And as much as I wanted to start talking about things, I was like, you know what? This is going to be different this time around. Instead of playing armchair quarterback, I'm going to actually have the game here in my possession and be able to critique it.
    24:21
    Because I bought it. The $13,000. Legitimately. No sponsorship. No deals under the table or anything like that.
    24:31
    My own money. Along with my patrons. To get this game. To see it in person. To see where the money's going. And I disagree. Because after setting it up. Stepping back and looking at it. I wasn't excited. I was doing the math on where my money went. I didn't have anything rare. I didn't have anything people weren't able to get. I wasn't going to have any more fun than those with a premium. I'm more of a pinball player. I'm not the target audience. If you just want a great shooting game, get you a pro or premium of Kong. Let me wrap up this video on what I think Stern needs to do going forward in regards to bringing their LEs back to being special. First of all, drop the number back down to 500. This is going to create a low supply, which will increase your demand again. You could do 500, play it safe, but maybe try 600 and see where that gets you. Number two, give these LEs items that no one else is able to get unless they buy an LE. They need to make the lower tier purchasers envious. Maybe a topper.
    25:56
    But it needs to be something difficult to replicate. And number three, make the LE the best looking out of all of the tiers. I know you know how to make a sexy game. Elvira BRK is a prime example. to not do this combination of pro and premium art again.
    26:20
    And people are going to be looking for these cost savings that you're doing on your next releases. You need to revitalize your collector's market.
    26:31
    I know you can do it, and I hope you do. There was a time when LE owners would flex about their purchase of said game. And us fellow pinball enthusiasts were like... Impressive. Very nice.
    26:51
    But now, whenever they try to flex about owning a game like this, it's turned into... See, nobody cares. And that's the problem.
    27:04
    Value is diminishing. Especially when we are seeing what other companies are releasing. Games with assets, toppers, special powder coating, non-reflective glass, special side rails, for thousands cheaper. The competition is gaining on you, Stern. Maybe not in output, but with consumer confidence.
    27:29
    And spoiler alert, what they got coming next is really going to highlight value and bang for buck. You made a great game, Stern. I only wish that the LE offering was great too.
    27:47
    A special thank you goes out to all my Patreon supporters out there. Your monthly contributions are definitely what made this content possible. Until next time, guys. Peace out.
    28:09
    Try this trick and spin it. Your head will collapse and there's nothing in it. And you'll ask yourself.