Episode 713: "Not This Time Spooky"

Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)·podcast_episode·27m 18s·analyzed·Aug 30, 2022

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.036

TL;DR

Kaneda condemns Spooky's $9K TNA rerun as exploitative FOMO cash grab that betrays distributors.

Summary

Kaneda's Pinball Podcast delivers a scathing critique of Spooky Pinball's decision to release a 50% more expensive rerun of Total Nuclear Annihilation (TNA), arguing it exploits FOMO, betrays distributors who suffered losses on Halloween and Ultraman, and represents greed-driven pricing that overvalues the added components. The host calls on the community to reject the move by not purchasing on day one and criticizes the lack of dealer allocation, positioning this as a defining moment for industry ethics.

Key Claims

Spooky Pinball did not give dealers and distributors advance notice of the TNA rerun and did not allocate games to them, instead offering direct sales exclusively to Fan Club members
high confidence · Kaneda's Pinball Podcast, Episode 713 — stated as direct accusation with specific operational detail
Original TNA sold for $6,000, rerun is now $9,000 — a 50% price increase with only software additions (1-2 new modes) and cosmetic upgrades that do not justify the cost
high confidence · Kaneda's Pinball Podcast — explicit price comparison and itemized component list analysis
Spooky Pinball will manufacture a 'small run of 250' but stated there is 'always the possibility of making more,' which Kaneda argues eliminates scarcity justification and guarantees future reruns
high confidence · Direct quote from Spooky's announcement: 'we only have time to do a small run of 250 but there is always the possibility of making more'
Distributors are still holding inventory of unsold Halloween and Ultraman machines with customer deposits while Spooky Pinball retains that cash and now sells TNA at premium prices without dealer participation
high confidence · Kaneda's Pinball Podcast — specific claim about dealer losses and working capital impact
Jersey Jack Pinball made $30 million in one year selling games that are 'losing everybody thousands of dollars' due to poor secondary market retention
medium confidence · Kaneda references Jack Guarnaschelli statement — no direct quote provided, paraphrased claim
Spooky Pinball's decision to limit Rick and Morty to 750 units was driven by internal insecurity and desire for FOMO, not by IP licensor constraints
medium confidence · Kaneda's Pinball Podcast — stated as insider knowledge ('I know from people who know them')
Matt Scott receives royalty payments from Spooky Pinball for each TNA sold and should be credited as the primary designer behind Spooky's most popular games
medium confidence · Kaneda's Pinball Podcast — logical inference based on licensing structure, not confirmed sourcing

Notable Quotes

“No, I'm not gonna buy Total Nuclear Annihilation. No, I'm not gonna spend 50% more money than this game cost originally.”
Kaneda @ Opening — Statement of principle rejecting the rerun purchase, sets up entire episode thesis
“No, I will not support a company that screws over its dealers and distributors who help them get to this point. Distributors who are left holding the bag on games like Halloween and Ultraman.”
Kaneda @ Early segment — Core argument — betrayal of distributor relationships during failed product launches
“This is no longer the tiny little mom and pop shop anymore. This company is making a lot of money. Spooky Pinball will guarantee in sales over $2.25 million.”
Kaneda @ Mid-episode — Frames Spooky's growth trajectory and profitability — not a scrappy startup anymore
“If you're going to charge 9000 and you're going to charge me 50% more than this game was originally, then at least make it limited. At least let me know this is the final run.”
Kaneda @ Pricing analysis segment — Identifies the contradiction: premium pricing without true scarcity justification
“We only have time to do a small run of 250 but there is always the possibility of making more.”
Spooky Pinball (quoted from announcement) @ Middle — Direct evidence of Spooky's equivocation on scarcity — undercuts FOMO rationale
“The only thing driving these prices right now with all of these companies, it's greed. It's consumer delusion that this market is just going to keep getting hotter and hotter.”
Kaneda @ Late segment — Broad industry critique — extends criticism beyond Spooky to entire market psychology
“Come Thursday, we will know if Spooky Pinball basically has the entire community by the you know what.”
Kaneda @ Call-to-action segment — Frames Thursday sales as referendum on community values and future pricing tolerance

Entities

Spooky PinballcompanyKanedaperson Total Nuclear Annihilationgame Matt Scottperson George GomezpersonStern Pinballcompany

Signals

~
sentiment_shift: Major negative sentiment swing toward Spooky Pinball over TNA rerun pricing and distributor exclusion; Kaneda frames this as a defining moment where community tolerance for greed will be tested
high · Kaneda calls out Spooky's 'Papa Duke scary' practices, references specific distributor anger, and frames Thursday sales as referendum on whether community will accept $9K pricing
?
business_signal: Spooky Pinball deploying exclusive Fan Club direct sales model, bypassing traditional distributor channels entirely for TNA rerun
high · 'There is just a huge issue with that. Here why I think it such a scary move that they doing this with their distributors... They did not give their dealers and distributors a heads up'
$
market_signal: Pinball industry-wide trend toward $9,000+ pricing for non-flagship games; Kaneda argues this is unsustainable and driven by greed rather than value addition
high · TNA original $6K → $9K rerun; Godzilla Premium $9K+; Kaneda argues 'The only thing driving these prices right now...it's greed'
?
product_concern: Original TNA machines will not retain value as rerun floods market at 50% premium; buyers will lose thousands when secondary market settles
high · 'If you go in on this game at $9,000, I'll tell you what, the price can only go in one direction and that's down and you're going to lose money.'
?
collector_signal: Clear evidence of orchestrated scarcity play: 250-unit 'limited' run announced with 'possibility of making more,' combined with 48-hour Fan Club exclusive window before broader announcement

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.082

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I said I'm running, money changes our breath and We think we know what we're doing, that's our name of the game I said I said I said I said I said I said I said I said I No, I'm not gonna buy TNA 2. No, I'm not gonna spend 50% more than this game cost originally. No, I don't see $3,000 in value in what they're adding to this game. No, I'm not going to fall victim to the FOMO anymore, the manufactured scarcity anymore, the giving people only a couple of days to make up their mind. No, I'm not going to give Spooky a non-refundable deposit anymore. No, I'm not going to just go in without thinking about this anymore. Well, at what point as a pinball community do we see through all of the spin but there's one real reason why would not go in on this game and there's one real reason why I think us as a community should look at this move and realize like what they're doing. No, I will not support a company that screws over its dealers and distributors who help them get to this point. No, I will not support a company that screws over its distributors who are left holding the bag on games like Halloween and Ultraman. No, I won't do it. I'm not going to be fooled again. And maybe this company is ironically titled Spooky, but it's getting pretty scary in the state of pinball. And no, I'm not going to be cajoled by Spooky Luke who's in the thread jumping around from comment to comment trying to just convince us all that just because you have transparency, this is a move that we should embrace, that this is a move we should feel lucky about, that we should feel honored in 2022 to pay the scalper or flipper price of a game. Let me break it down real simple because I don't think people quite get this. There's a reason why TNA, which was $6,000, is now selling for $8,000 or $9,000 in 2022. It's because A, we went through COVID and prices got really silly and stupid because of supply chain issues. But it's also because Spooky barely made maybe 500 of these games and that was it. So there weren't many out there. Now you're going to add 50% more of these games into the marketplace. You're going to charge 50% more for them. And this is the new trend in pinball in 2022. If you go in on this game at $9,000, I'll tell you what, the price can only go in one direction and that's down and you're going to lose money. But by the time you can actually see where the market is on this game, I don't care if you like this game or not. I don't care if you love this game, but the bottom line is this people, these pinball companies now, they want to lock you in. Question dormir那么 characterарт. respectful wszystkie nullotatt dincule Herrsw varyingnùasta checluffmes bells Multistory I'm going to give you a little bit of background on the story of the game. This game is a very complex game. It's not. So don't believe that. Now, if it's expensive to buy lights, I get it. And maybe the margins weren't the best on TNA 1, so now they're doing this. But look at this game, everybody. This is now a $9,000 game in pinball. Doesn't pinball all of a sudden not become that much fun? Like we're not supporting the small little company anymore. We're not rooting for the guy who built this game in his basement that George Gomez wanted to buy from him. This is no longer that. This is in one day Spooky Pinball will guarantee in sales over $2.25 million. Okay? This is not the small little garage operation anymore. These aren't the little guys anymore. This company is making a I'm not rootinging for Spooky to fail, but this is no longer the tiny little mom and pop shop anymore. There's millions and millions of dollars that are coming through the doors of these companies. And it's not just Spooky. There's a lot of money to be made in pinball. I mean, Jack Guarnari just went on and said that we made $30 million in one day selling a game that is losing everybody thousands of dollars. Does this make any sense? You know when a new pinball machine gets offered for sale or a rerun gets offered for sale like this, it is like the IPO on that game. Like you can get in first, like you can buy it because you're a spooky fan club member and only fan club members can buy this game. Everybody rush through the door this Thursday morning and you get a chance to give us $2000. You get a chance to buy a rerun of a game in which we've already spent all of the R&D cost on how to make it. See, this is the part I don't get. If TNA was originally $6,000, that means Spooky spent all of the R&D required on how to turn Scott's game into a production game. That cost has already been done. So shouldn't it be ostensibly a little bit cheaper to make it this time around? Now, I get that they're adding stuff to the game, but they're not adding $3,000 in value to the game. What they are adding is a much greater margin and profit to their bottom line. And the ultimate margin they're adding and the way they're adding this margin is they are screwing over every single dealer and distributor who helped Spooky Pinball get to this point. And you know who they are and you know their names and a move like this and I want to really stay on this topic because I think this shows a little bit what's really in the hearts of them right now. Here is the truth They did not give their dealers and distributors a heads up that they were doing this They have not allocated games to their dealers and distributors This is a direct sale for everybody who a Spooky Fang Club member There is just a huge issue with that Here why I think it such a scary move that they doing this with their distributors Because A their distributors were just left holding the bag on Halloween and Ultraman I have distributors out there who have people who are walking away from their Halloween and their Ultramans. And yes, I get you could say, look, it was all of those customers' faults for going in on those games without knowing they really, really wanted it. But we also got burned a little bit by Spooky. They made a game that wasn't really complete. They made a game that really wasn't worth the money. This week's topic is the most popular game in the world. The game is called Spooky Pinball. It's a game that was made in the early days of the 90s and the market showed that. The marketplace basically showed that. It wasn't a customer's fault on why the game tanked in value. It was still Spooky's fault because they made a game that wasn't worth $9,000 or $8,000 or $10,000 with a butter cabinet. So people walked away. You know what's been happening? Dealers and distributors have been sending money from customers on their customers' behalf to Spooky Pinball. Spooky Pinball is cashing tens of thousands of dollars on games that are not worth $10,000 or $10,000. Spooky Pinball is a game that is being sold for $10,000. It's a game that is being sold for $10,000. Spooky Pinball is cashing tens of thousands of dollars on games they don't even have to make. They are making money for nothing. So people who are walking away from their Halloween and Ultraman's, that money is still in Spooky's bank account. And then Spooky is selling that game again to a new buyer and they're not discounting it. So they are basically making money for nothing off of the FOMO they created. Off of the FOMO we all fall victim to. Knapparcade, horses� Например, atcipl finder últimos brand, shurya-ём bishop and give me al面 lá Open Water , I would argue that's a pretty sleazy move not to even let your biggest distros know and the sales people out there who have helped built your company you didn't even give them a heads up think about that for a minute people what kind of move that is okay so you put it out on a Monday night and let's look at the announcement that they put out last night from spooky pinball spooky pinball LLC at 545 greetings Fang Club members the wait is finally over spooky pinball is very proud to announce TNA 2.0 is here. Why is it here? Because our amazing customers, you asked for it. Ask and you shall receive. Okay, so first of all Spooky, nobody asked for this game to be 50% more money, okay? So people thought if you were going to rerun TNA, if you were going to charge more money, you might actually put it in a newer cabinet or you might actually change the artwork or you might actually do something really, really unique. You know what they're going to do? You know what they're going to do? And this is like the cheapest thing to do is they're going to have Scott do it like another mode or two in the game. And that's what they're going to say. Justify the cost. You know, this is pinball 2022 people like nothing really physically expensive gets put into games. They're just going to rely on the software to charge you all the money. So sales open, get ready for it. Here's the FOMO at September 1st, this Thursday at 10 AM central standard time. That is when if you are a fan club member, you can pay for the privilege to buy I'm going to show you how to buy this game and get through the door first. Then they tell you how to order it through the fan club account. Here's what the kit includes. Does this sound like $3,000 to you? A nuclear green plastic protectors, knocker, shaker, custom laser cut side rails, custom metallic powder coat, interior graphics, speaker kit and grills and light it drop targets. Does that sound like $3,000? I just putting the word custom like all of this stuff is already been R&D'd. All of this stuff has already been made for this game. All right, how many will they make? Here's my favorite part about this whole thing. This is the one section of this sale that would make me pause. It should make you pause because this is the problem, people. This is the thing. If you're going to charge 9000 and you're going to charge me 50% more than this game was originally, then at least make it limited. At least let me know this is the final run and that's the reason why I would buy this game. And they said how many are going to be made and they wrote we only have time to do a small run of 250 but there is always the possibility of making more. Okay, right there. Do you need to have it this year? Do you need to have it Thursday? Do you need to have one right away? Why would you run in on a game in which they are telling us right here they're gonna make more? This is gonna be Spooky's line filler game forever because Spooky inanely made the decision. It wasn't Cartoon Network. It was Spooky Pinball inanely made the decision to say they were only making

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750 Rick and Mortys ever. That was the silliest decision I know from people who know them, they are still kicking Pinball Podcast, Twippies Awards, kicking themselves that they made that decision. The Rick and Morty folks did not make them limit it to 750. You know what made them limit it to 750? Their own insecurity and their desire to create FOMO. And it worked. But you don't think Spooky Pinball right now would rather put Rick and Morty on the line again because they know that the Rick and Morty See those foreseeing, adjust a pen. With all Pen Tool for entscheاذ must be given. Spe Lorenin Chess is a special style , reduces theены for when the encounter requires feint prepositions that defending theen because occasional repetition of Those foreseeing 얘is hunger is like when to meanspal y will�� économ activity for the 很 Monzo Palantin, This isn't some big property out in the world that you need to license and there's some IP and hey guys how many lawyers were involved when you licensed the game from Scott Denisey? Did Scott bring his lawyers in? No! You simply are paying Scott a certain amount every game sold. You know that's what they're doing. Scott Denisey is making some good coin with this company because he's getting paid for every game sold. As he should, he made the game. He made the two spooky games that people like the most Just think about that Scott Denesey actually got more talent than the crew over at spooky pinball he their Keith Elwin now is he as good as Keith Elwin absolutely not does he design games that are worth nine to ten thousand dollars I don think so you might think so but I just don see the value there and again I can help but look at this game at nine grand and look at what in this game and compare what in this game to a Godzilla premium compare what in this game to a cactus canyon Thank you for watching 1998 Statelot Hur언וש The only thing driving these prices right now with all of these companies, it's greed. It's consumer delusion that this market is just going to keep getting hotter and hotter and hotter. But the sad part is, is that this niche little hobby that we all love supporting, this niche little hobby in which we love seeing companies like Spooky try to make it. I was there when Spooky was trying to sell America's Most Haunted. And now it's at the point now, Every time a pinball company wants to sell you something, they're selling it to you at the flipper price, at the inflated price, at a price in which the only direction the pin can go is down. Every single consumer is losing value now. You're not getting value. You're not getting value on the day you buy the machine and you're going to see that the day you go to sell the machine. So then we are now in a new pinball world. Everything you buy better be something you want to bolt to the floor in your room because otherwise you're going to lose a few thousand dollars on it. And also just think about the marketplace for TNA now. So imagine you have an original TNA. You're not going to trade up. You're not going to spend 50% more on the game. And even if you love this game and you wanted to get the latest version of it and it's going to be nicer. See, don't get me wrong. I've spoken to people who have played the new one and And they said this is much nicer. This is a really nice game. It is nicer than the original. So now you create a little bit of a dilemma. Now there's a little bit of a quagmire for people who are fans of this game. And let me just go on the record and say this because I've played TNA a bunch. I understand why people like it. It's just never been a game for me. It's super fast. It's super brutal. I understand though why people like it. I like the light show. I love the music. I love the fact that it's a super fast game. It's also I'm going to show you a really fun game for four players who are good at pinball. That is the appeal of TNA. It's also a game that's really easy to understand. You step up to it and you can explain to somebody how to play this game. If you went from a TNA to a Jersey Jack game in which there's so much going on, you would absolutely have no clue how to play a Jersey Jack game after playing TNA. And I think that's the appeal of this game. But the real appeal of this game was that it was cheap. It was a single level game built by one of us in the community and you could have it and we were just happy to see it go into production. If you're going to charge me the same price as Godzilla Premium, I'm good. Goodbye. Thank you. No, this conversation is over. You know, you just can't charge me that much for this game. I'm done. Spooky Pinball cannot be charging what they're charging. I'm just done. I'm walking away. I'm not doing it. I will never live in a world in which I will pay $9,000 for a TNA. I just don't see the value, especially when they say they're going to make more. That conversation is not happening. Spooky Pinball to me is not a company that can consistently charge us eight to ten thousand dollars for machines. I just don't see it. They can charge us. They can ask you for the money. They can lock in your nonrefundable deposit, but it's just not going to be coming from Canada anytime soon. But again, back to the fact, if you have one, you can't afford to trade up because it's not worth it. And people are thinking like, oh, now this is going to cause the value of the old ones to go up. No, it's not. And here's why it's not. Hi, our podcastisson.com. If you are an LG fan and want to invest in your own personal ОV PAR discarded Pinball, you would be invited Hahn Literomagncenter OV Pen�� Карпыни coefficient HandingWhoYeah videogr4 Kit AllahukePinballInspectorelle, podcastagtariya, fou Tschep Aa. I am Host gdzie Now look, come Thursday, this is the moment people. Come Thursday morning, the decision is everybody's. It's all of yours. It's not just mine, it's your decision. Come Thursday, we will know if Spooky Pinball basically has the entire community by the you know what. If this game sells out right away or on day one and all 250 are spoken for at 9 grand, then you know what direction this community is going in. You know what direction this market is going in. You know what direction pinball is going in and this is an opportunity for everybody to show spooky We're not doing it. I'm not doing it. Can it is not doing it I think there's gonna come a point in which we need to tell these companies no like this isn't how it's supposed to work No, you're not supposed to screw over your distributors when you release a game like this Yes, I'm supposed to support my distributors who are my friends who have been helping me all these years It's their livelihood, Spooky. This is why I'm coming back to the fact that they're screwing the distros on this. It's their livelihood. And I have some very good friends who are distributors and dealers in pinball. And when I talk to them about this, they're absolutely gutted. They're absolutely deflated. And they just think it's unfair. It's unfair, Spooky, that we've spent so many years helping you pad your wallets, helping you put more Corvettes in the driveway. We were on that journey with you. We were the ones who found you buyers when nobody wanted your games. And now that you have a hot game people want, you're going to cut us out of the loop. It's time Spooky Pinball woke up. If they want to be a big company, if they want to play with the big boys like Stern, did Stern cut out its distributors when they sold Elvira? Did they cut out its distributors when they sold Godzilla Ellie? Do they cut out their distributors when they do a vault Tierian Payne,

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Redmi virtuosity sp jestem Heat Jak Definitely Lewand povo I John Papadiuk Black Water Kaneda Pinball Podcast Twippies Awards and I see you next week What was it to announce this before Stern reveals its next game? Like they slid right in the week or two before Stern's game comes out and now they're going to lock in 2.25 million in sales. You know why we all wait for Stern's next game. And that was a really smart move. Like it was really smart timing. It's like spooky pinball out of all the boutiques out there. They've really geniusly opened up their order books always in that period when there's like a gap, right? Whenever there's like a Gettin All Of Mymom I Goon. I росс gallang. The All of three of my hätte and that click that box in between the sexuality and that date required some 73 andaARCORB CanDo destутств, CHECCHARD The Dude at DONHYW footsteps Account These These probably electric pencil or Amazon cooperation station, it is devọpt His story sog, which Iacc원이 It is based Crapчас You're going to hear from me as I get the I'm John Papadiuk, and don't forget that and no company. I'm just going to say you got to look in the mirror. You've put out some games that have been some stinkers and those distributors were with you during those bad times. So don't cut them out during the good times. There might be some of you out there that say, Kaneda, you're a hypocrite. You're doing a podcast behind a paywall. Now, let me tell you right now. I did five years of free pinball podcast. I made no money on it. Five years. I did about 500 plus episodes for free. I spent countless I've spent more hours doing this podcast than it took Scott Denisi to design any of these games. I've spent more hours doing this podcast than almost any pinball company has ever spent on a single game and I've made nothing for five years. I'm here right now. It is 435 in the morning. I woke up because I couldn't sleep and I just wanted to record this show. I think this show is one of the rare shows that everybody should hear. I think everybody should hear what I say on this show. I'm not going to open up my I'm not going to let everybody in on my first impressions of Stern's next game. I'm not going to let everybody hear me rant and rave about Toy Story 4 and how I think it's the biggest cash grab ever. I'm not. If you want to listen to Kaneda, yes, I've made it super easy to listen to me. And if you want to listen to Kaneda, this is what the show is like. This is what my club members get every single week. But I think this show is too important to keep it behind the paywall. And I'm going to ask my club members right now, are you okay with me releasing episode I want everybody to hear this show and if you don't listen to Canadians pinball podcast anymore, I want you to reconsider that I really do. And again, just like spooky pinball, all deposits to Canadians pinball podcast are nonrefundable. In closing spooky. Remember what got you to where you are. Don't burn the people that supported you all these years, your customers and your distributors and I'm here to tell you, Kenaide is not doing this anymore. I'm not doing nonrefundable deposits. I'm not spending 50% more than a game used to cost. If Stern said we're remaking Ghostbusters Pro and it's now $9000, I would be just as upset as I am seeing TNA now being 50% more money. It's just not there. I don't see it. I'm not locking money in. The hobby needs to check itself because all of a sudden here's what's happened and it's scary. Is Stern Pinball looks like the greatest bargain in all of pinball. Is this crazy? All this is doing is helping Stern Pinball convince all of us that a premium is worth $9,000. It's not. None of this. This is all crazy. Remember when it used to be fun to say 10K by Christmas? Now that's the reality. We are back with the game from Spooky. Everybody, Kaneda Pinball out. I love you. Thank you for the support. We'll be back, hopefully, with Stern's reveal. And that's the other part. Why would you buy a game on a Thursday of this week when Stern's about to drop something major in a week or two? Just wait. Trust me. Even if these TNAs sell out on day one, you're still going to be able to get one for either Miss K' Подmańczłatő, hè eres nas, wwities, eščíča hećčeś.. Women in Busy Fculo, Hotline Borya, Zereň takie sy riders sympathetic P ossose, Shaty息, Zawвеńcerת으, aśksopis Kśirok serviceİ štsutur, Tim vaughn, State video anytime now틅 outro