Episode 1207: "Huge Exclusive News Friday!"

Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)·podcast_episode·12m 29s·analyzed·Apr 3, 2026

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 (batch) · $0.012

TL;DR

Kaneda reveals Stern Mountain Dew, Transformers, Fallout LEs; Jersey Jack Sonic confirmed.

Summary

Kaneda breaks exclusive industry news including Stern's Mountain Dew commissioned pinball machine, upcoming Transformers game with Pat Lee artwork and split Autobot/Decepticon limited editions, confirmed Fallout pinball based on the Amazon TV show with Walter Goggins voiceover, and Jersey Jack's announcement of Sonic the Hedgehog pinball debuting at Southern Fried Gaming Expo in late July/early August. Kaneda expresses concerns about Stern's artistic direction choices across recent releases.

Key Claims

Stern Pinball is making a Mountain Dew pinball machine as a commissioned game by PepsiCo
high confidence · Kaneda, exclusive news drop on Patreon
Pat Lee is the artist for the new Transformers pinball machine
high confidence · Kaneda reporting from industry source
Transformers LE will have a split design between Decepticon and Autobot variants
medium confidence · Kaneda, 'I'm hearing' indicates rumor but from credible source
Transformers main toy will be a transforming Optimus Prime that converts from truck to robot form
medium confidence · Kaneda, speculative but based on insider information
Fallout pinball is based on the Amazon TV show, not the video game
high confidence · Kaneda confirmation
Walter Goggins is signed to do voice call-outs for Fallout pinball
high confidence · Kaneda exclusive
Fallout Pro/Premium use TV show artwork; LE uses Vault-Tec/video game style artwork
high confidence · Kaneda reporting
Jersey Jack is planning to reveal Sonic the Hedgehog at Southern Fried Gaming Expo end of July/early August
high confidence · Kaneda exclusive Canada news
King Kong LE machines are selling for approximately $9,000 on secondary market, down from $13,000-$15,000 new
high confidence · Kaneda observation of market depreciation
King Kong's value loss is solely due to artistic direction and style choices
medium confidence · Kaneda opinion/analysis

Notable Quotes

“Pokemon, in my honest opinion, is the best looking Stern machine in a really, really long time. Because that looks like Pokemon and thank the pinball gods that the Pokemon company did not allow Stern Pinball to choose its own artist”
Kaneda @ ~8:30 — Highlights criticism of Stern's artistic choices and praise for Pokemon's licensing control over visuals
“This is not how I would have approached G1 Transformers. This is not the art style of G1. And if you're going to make a G1 Transformer pinball machine, having art like this again just doesn't connect with the fan base”
Kaneda @ ~5:00 — Core criticism of Pat Lee's artwork direction for Transformers game
“LEs for 13 grand should come with exclusive toppers and an exclusive mode or two. I'm not asking them to do exclusive mechs, but yes, for 13 grand, those 500 owners should have a few wizard modes or mini wizard modes that nobody else has.”
Kaneda @ ~10:00 — Industry critique of limited edition value proposition and exclusive content
“King Kong is losing thousands of dollars in value only, and I mean this only, because of the artistic direction of the game.”
Kaneda @ ~16:00 — Diagnosis of King Kong's secondary market failure
“You can now go get an LE with a topper for nine grand, no tax. That's a loss. The kids are about to run through the door”
Kaneda @ ~17:00 — Specific secondary market pricing observation on King Kong LE depreciation
“I think this game is going to be like the biggest Stern hit of the year. I really do. I think more than Transformers. I think the art package could be what stings Transformers.”
Kaneda @ ~21:00 — Prediction that Fallout will outperform Transformers, attributing potential Transformers weakness to artwork
“There should be only a total of 500 Transformer LEs. That's it. You need to get back now to a consistent move where these LEs are always going to be somewhat hard to get.”
Kaneda — Direct industry advice to Stern on LE production limits and scarcity strategy

Entities

KanedapersonStern PinballcompanyPat LeepersonGeorge Gomezperson Keith ElwinpersonWalter GogginspersonJersey Jack Pinballcompany Pokemongame

Signals

?
announcement: Stern Mountain Dew pinball machine as commissioned game by PepsiCo
high · Kaneda states 'The biggest thing, maybe the newest thing that I haven't heard anywhere else, is that Stern Pinball is going to make a Mountain Dew pinball machine'
?
machine_intel: Transformers G1 pinball with Pat Lee artwork, split Autobot/Decepticon LE variants, transforming Optimus Prime toy
high · Multiple specific details about mechanics, artwork artist, and LE strategy from Kaneda's inside sources
?
announcement: Fallout pinball confirmed as Amazon TV show adaptation with Walter Goggins voiceover and tiered artwork packages
high · Kaneda: 'Fallout confirmation. It is the Amazon show' and 'Walter Goggins is signed on with Stern Pinball and is going to be doing the call-outs'
?
announcement: Jersey Jack Sonic the Hedgehog pinball debut at Southern Fried Gaming Expo late July/early August
high · Kaneda exclusive: 'Jersey Jack is planning to bring Sonic the Hedgehog. The reveal at a show will be the Southern Fried Gaming Expo, end of July, early August'
~
sentiment_shift: Kaneda expressing concern about Stern's consistent failure to match artistic direction with IP fan expectations (King Kong, Walking Dead, Transformers)
high · Repeated criticism: 'Why is it so hard for this company to just realize that?' and 'This is not the art style of G1' regarding Transformers; specific examples of King Kong and Walking Dead failures

Topics

Upcoming Stern pinball machinesprimaryLimited edition production numbers and strategyprimaryIP-based artwork and artistic direction in pinball designprimarySecondary market pricing and value retentionprimaryJersey Jack Pinball announcementsprimaryPinball industry exclusive news and leaksprimaryBranded/commissioned pinball machinessecondaryTransformers IP in pinballsecondary

Sentiment

neutral(0)

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.037

Pictures in passing time, you only smile like that when you're drinking. I wish I didn't, but I do. Remember every moment on the night's way. I said, I said, I said, I said, I said. Happy Friday. Welcome to Canada's Pinball Podcast. Dropping some exclusive news on everybody yesterday. We're going to go over it on the podcast right now because there are people that don't watch the lives. And so let's just get right to it. Stuff you haven't been hearing anywhere else. The biggest thing, maybe the newest thing that I haven't heard anywhere else, is that Stern Pinball is going to make a Mountain Dew pinball machine. And obviously this is going to be one of those commission games by the Mountain Dew Company or PepsiCo. So that is going to happen. Now, what will be the game that they transform into Mountain Dew is the question. I don't think it's going to be like the Wonka PBR game. I think it's going to be maybe more like the Supreme game or probably one of the newer Spike 3 sort of Costco games is what becomes the new sort of branded, commissioned platform that they will provide for these companies. So Mountain Dew Pinball, how do we feel about that? I don't think most people will care. But, you know, in the end, there might be a few people out there that want to put the Dew in their game room. And it is like an iconic middle America brand. We've seen Mountain Dew NASCARs. Mountain Dew is like really popular with the kids. I don't know. Is it still popular with the kids? Who knows what's popular with the kids these days? I feel like the media just wants all the young people to be lonely and miserable. Anyway, so Mountain Dew from Stern Pinball. Let's keep going. I am hearing that the artist for the new upcoming Transformers pinball machine is Pat Lee. Now, I asked a friend of mine who works in the whole Transformer comic book space, and it's a dude I've known for about, like, 20 years, and I'm like, bro, what do you think about Pat Lee Transformer art on this game? And he's like, yo, man, that dude's a thief, man. And I'm like, oh, wow. I didn't even realize within the Transformers space there's drama there. It just goes to show you, no matter what you're into, there's always a lot of opinions and a lot of drama. I will say this. Looking at the Pat Lee artwork for G1 Transformers, it's a lot more like manga and Japanese-style cartoon versus the original G1 art style that we all grew up with. And I'm just going to say this, and maybe the license holder made them work with Pat Lee or maybe Zombie Eddie picked him, but I'm just going to say this. This is not how I would have approached G1 Transformers. This is not the art style of G1. And if you're going to make a G1 Transformer pinball machine, having art like this again just doesn't connect with the fan base that grew up with G1. And this is my thing with Stern. It's like, why is it so hard? Why is it so hard for this company to just realize that? Like, that does not look like the Walking Dead. When you look at the new Walking Dead game, that is not how Walking Dead fans connect with the IP. When you look at King Kong, that is not how King Kong fans connect with King Kong. And that is why Pokemon, in my honest opinion, is the best looking Stern machine in a really, really long time. Because that looks like Pokemon and thank the pinball gods that the Pokemon company did not allow Stern Pinball to choose its own artist or illustrate Pokemon themselves. And that is why it looks so awesome because it exactly represents what everybody loves about Pokemon. So I'm a little bit worried. I can't lie. I'm a little bit worried that I think this Transformer art package might be, might be a departure from what all of us know and love about G1 Transformers. So we shall see. The other news I'm hearing is there's going to be a split LE of the game. So half Decepticon, half Autobot, sort of like what they did with the last Transformers game that George Gomez made. Will it be like that? I don't know what the total number is. Is it going to be 1,000? Is it going to be 500? Stern, if you're listening to this right now, do the right thing. There should be only a total of 500 Transformer LEs. That's it. I don't care. That's it. You need to get back now to a consistent move where these LEs are always going to be somewhat hard to get. Pokemon at 750, fine. That IP is so big and it's so popular. Maybe make 750 the number you make only when you have a AAA theme. But Transformers G1 is not going to have the same demand as Pokemon. And you got to get back to baking in some secondhand value into these LEs because you're not giving the LE people anything else that's truly exclusive other than the number and other than the artwork. Nothing else is exclusive. And in my opinion, again, that is a mistake. LEs for 13 grand should come with exclusive toppers and an exclusive mode or two. I'm not asking them to do exclusive mechs, but yes, for 13 grand, those 500 owners should have a few wizard modes or mini wizard modes that nobody else has. Maybe put a song into the LEs only. Imagine if like they had Dare or one of the Transformer movie songs only in the LE. Do you get the mode that has like Dare to be stupid or nothing's gonna stand in our way, not tonight. Why not? We're spending this much money. I mean, there's millions more. You're paying over for that LE and you don't get anything truly, truly that changes the gameplay experience. So LE divided Autobot Decepticon. I'm also hearing in the game, there's gonna be the main mech is a transforming Optimus Prime, right? He's gonna go from truck form to robot form. So I'm excited. That means he's not gonna be flat plastic. I'm excited to see what he looks like. Will he have the trailer behind him? I doubt it. Maybe that's where you lock the balls, but there's definitely gotta be some other Transformers in there, right? I hope Megatron is in there and does something. Like, wouldn't it be really cool if you loaded pinballs into Megatron's gun and you fire them out to start some sort of Decepticon multiball? If you were to ask me, how awesome would it be to have the Constructicons who form Devastator in there somehow? You know, there's so many cool Transformer toys. You've got the big bases, you've got Optimus, you've got Megatron. You've got Soundwave with those tapes popping out of him. I mean, there's so many cool Transformers. I can't wait to see what they do with this game. But again, I'm getting a little bit worried because I can almost see it now. I'm looking at the Pat Lee artwork right now. I can almost see what Stern is going to do with this game. And it's going to be a very crowded collage of artwork that just doesn't feel G1. And the other thing is this, is what's going to be on the screen now might feel disconnected because if you're going to have clips from the original show, then the art style in that show isn't reflecting what's on the art in the game. Look, you know how I feel. Stern's games lately, like think about King Kong for a minute. King Kong, a lot of people would agree with this, is maybe Keith Elwin's greatest shooting Stern machine. All right. King Kong is losing thousands of dollars in value only, and I mean this only, because of the artistic direction of the game. That is it. There is no other reason why. It is the artistic direction of the game. You've got one of the best Elwin shooters. You've got code that people love. And then you look at the game and that's why you can go get a Kong LE for freaking like $9,000 with a $1,600 topper. So do the math. The game was 13,000 new, 14,600 with a topper. Let's add tax to that or shipping. Okay. So let's just say a cool $15,000. You can now go get an LE with a topper for nine grand, no tax. That's a loss. The kids are about to run through the door right now. So I'm going to get through this show quickly. So we got Transformers. We now got Fallout confirmation. It is the Amazon show. So it is going to be based on that. I'm not surprised by that. Anyone who thought otherwise is silly. This is the new hot Fallout franchise. Of course, the license holder wants to base it on the show. I'm also hearing that Walter Goggins is signed on with Stern Pinball and is going to be doing the call-outs in the game. Super cool. The Pro and Premium art packages are going to be based on the TV show. So artwork from the show. The LE will be based on the video game style artwork, which means it's going to be all that Vault-Tec sort of Fallout boy artwork, like the throwback nostalgic looking stuff. I think that's going to be awesome. I think this game is going to be like the biggest Stern hit of the year. I really do. I think more than Transformers. I think the art package could be what stings Transformers. I mean it. And then we're going to get this game out sometime in June, July. And then the last bit of news before Killian and Cassian come running through this door at a million miles an hour and screaming their heads off because they have Good Friday off from daycare. Here's a final bit of news for all of you out there. A Canada exclusive. Jersey Jack is planning to bring Sonic the Hedgehog. The reveal at a show will be the Southern Fried Gaming Expo, end of July, early August. The game will be revealed before then, but that will be the first show. So look for Sonic the Hedgehog in July. April 3rd. It's going to go fast, baby. April, May, June, July, we've got Sonic. April, May, June, we've got Transformers. April, May, June, the World Cup starts, baby. Let's go. So, Canada Friday, a quick show, but a valuable show. Now, go take all this information to Pinside and say the man who cannot be named, the man who you kick $5 or more to a month, gave you way more than that value. Who's going to raise the roof? Who's going to raise the subscription base? Who's going to invite three friends to Canada's Pinball Podcast? Happy Friday. The kids are home. Canada out. Cold shoulder, closing time. You'll bring me to stay till the sun goes. Strange words come on out of a grown man's mouth when his mind's broke. Pictures in passing time, you only smile like that when you're drinking. I wish I didn't, but I do. Remember every moment on the nights with you. Rock, dirt, whiskey's gonna ease my mind. Beach-style dress on the dry and lime. Do I remind you of your daddy in my 88 Ford? Labrador hanging out the passenger door.