Episode 1205: "Some News to Chew On"

Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)·podcast_episode·13m 32s·analyzed·Mar 31, 2026

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.027

TL;DR

Production updates on Pokémon (Premium/LE), Cirqus Voltaire, Houdini, and The Big Lebowski edition rumor.

Summary

Kaneda discusses upcoming pinball news including Stern's Pokémon (Premium/LE) production pause due to parts delays, American Cirqus Voltaire reimagined version with HD screen and Brian Allen artwork, Spooky's Houdini production update (50 of 100 made, shipping within 30 days), and rumors of Dutch Pinball planning a "Jesus edition" Big Lebowski variant to bridge production gaps before Back to the Future. He also reflects on industry dynamics, pricing trends, and secondary market saturation.

Key Claims

Stern Pinball has paused Pokémon (Premium/LE) production, with custom-numbered games completed but generic units delayed waiting for LE-specific parts (likely cosmetic/artwork related)
high confidence · Kaneda citing industry intel from Patreon feed
American Cirqus Voltaire reimagined version will feature Brian Allen artwork, HD screen below glass, gameplay tweaks, and approximately 150 units initially with exact production numbers to be announced at reveal
high confidence · Kaneda citing direct conversation with Brian Allen (American Pinball)
Spooky Pinball has made 50 of 100 Houdini units and will ship all 100 within 30 days
high confidence · Kaneda citing conversation with Chris Turner (Spooky Pinball)
Dutch Pinball is planning a 'Jesus edition' Big Lebowski variant with purple armor and different cabinet styling as a bridge product between Alice and Back to the Future production
medium confidence · Kaneda reporting rumor from industry sources; speculates 150-250 units
The Big Lebowski pricing has declined significantly, with new-in-box available at $11,500-$12,000 (vs $13,500 MSRP) and open units around $10,500
medium confidence · Kaneda observing secondary market trends
Pokémon (Premium/LE) demand and reception has improved after players experienced gameplay and theme song in action
medium confidence · Kaneda citing viewer video feedback and community sentiment
Kaneda claims to have been the primary 'gatekeeper' media figure skeptical of Deep Root Pinball and other industry charlatans while other podcasters gave them uncritical coverage
medium confidence · Kaneda's personal narrative and editorial position
No global recession has occurred since COVID; inflation rather than deflation is driving pinball pricing pressure
low confidence · Kaneda's economic commentary and speculation

Notable Quotes

“If it smells like crap and it looks like crap, it's probably crap.”
Kaneda @ early segment — Kaneda's editorial philosophy on vetting industry claims and personalities
“He made not one single game. He burned through like $60 million of other people's money.”
Kaneda @ early segment — Characterization of Deep Root Pinball's failed Kickstarter campaign and Robert Mueller
“It is what these pinball companies do. And so I'm hearing the rumor is this. They are going to make a Jesus edition of the Big Lebowski.”
Kaneda @ mid segment — Introduction of Big Lebowski Jesus edition rumor and commentary on manufacturer strategy
“100 games in 30 days. How many days does it take to make a? You got Yeti baby.”
Kaneda @ mid segment — Humorous commentary questioning Spooky's manufacturing speed (reference to Yeti machine with notoriously long production delays)
“I think we're going to get to the place of $3,000 Stern Pros, like $5,500 premiums.”
Kaneda @ later segment — Market prediction on secondary pricing collapse for older titles
“There's just too many of them and people are just going to get tired after a while.”
Kaneda @ later segment — Commentary on market saturation with older games like Godzilla
“I think Pokemon is going to get to an incredible place with the code.”
Kaneda @ mid-later segment — Prediction on Pokemon machine's code update trajectory
“The moment I hit 800, I'm just going to turn into some energy force and evaporate up into the pinball heavens.”
Kaneda @ closing segment — Humorous closing remark about subscription milestone goals

Entities

Kanedaperson Robert Muellerperson Brian Allenperson Chris Turnerperson Jean-Paul de WinpersonStern Pinballcompany

Signals

?
product_launch: Stern Pokemon LE production paused on non-custom-numbered units; waiting for LE-specific cosmetic/artwork parts while manufacturing Premium versions
high · Kaneda citing direct industry intel about parts delays affecting LE production pipeline
?
machine_intel: American Pinball Circus Voltaire reimagined version confirmed to feature new HD screen below glass, Brian Allen artwork updates, and gameplay improvements
high · Kaneda citing direct conversation with Brian Allen about screen technology and game enhancements
?
product_launch: Spooky Pinball Houdini on track to ship 100 units within 30 days with 50 already completed
high · Kaneda citing Chris Turner confirmation of production timeline and units-to-date
?
rumor_hype: Dutch Pinball planning 'Jesus edition' Big Lebowski with purple armor and new cabinet styling as bridge product between Alice and Back to the Future
medium · Kaneda reporting rumor with caveat; speculates 150-250 unit run based on company manufacturing capacity
$
market_signal: Big Lebowski secondary market pricing has softened significantly; new-in-box available at $11.5-12k (vs $13.5k MSRP), open units ~$10.5k
medium · Kaneda observing dealer/distro inventory and pricing trends; contextualizes strategy for Jesus edition variant
~

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.041

0:00

I feel it in my bones. Won't bring me down, no, not even close. Go ahead and throw your stones. But you can't stop this. You can't stop this. Welcome everybody to what's going to be a little short Tuesday edition of Kaneda's Pinball Podcast. I'm your host Kaneda. You got a show yesterday. I'm going to start uploading what I'm calling Kaneda Classics. I've been doing this show for 13 years. A lot of you were not around way back then. So I'm going to go through the archives, if you will, of some of Kaneda's greatest hits, Starting with those deeproot sort of shows I put together where I spliced together all of the craziness that Robert Mueller said about what deeproot pinball was going to accomplish in this hobby. Now, here's the really crazy part. For those of you out there who were not around during the Deep Root days and the five days of Deep Root and Robert Mueller's panel discussions he used to have at pinball shows, this community listened to all of that garbage and applauded the dude at pinball shows. And look, when push came to shove, most people did not order a Raza, but still, this man Got up there. I was there at TPF and said he was going to do all of this, make the most games ever, and he was going to make every other company look embarrassing. And look at the reality. He made not one single game. He burned through like $60 million of other people's money. We have gotten a lot better at sniffing out these charlatans. Damien over at Haggis Pinball was another charlatan. So was Andrew Highway. And guess who was the gatekeeper of all of these charlatans? Guess who was the only pinball podcaster? While everybody else out there was interviewing these guys and giving them air time and actually believing their BS. It was always Kaneda's Pinball Podcast that was like, if it smells like crap and it looks like crap, it's probably crap. All right, so here's what I want to talk about on this short little episode of Kaneda's Pinball Podcast. A few updates. It seems that Stern Pinball has paused a little bit of Pokemon LE production. What I'm hearing is this. They made all of the games that people specifically asked for a number. So if you paid extra to get a specific number of Pokemon, your game has been made. I'm hearing there's a delay on making the rest of the Pokemons. From what I'm hearing, they're waiting on some parts that are LE specific. So what could that be? If they're making the premiums now as they wait to make more LEs, I'm sort of curious what the holdup could be. Is it the shooter rod? I don't think so. Is it the Translight It has to be something artwork related or maybe it the purple armor they waiting on It has to be something cosmetic because the playfield itself is exactly the same So that is what I'm hearing. Hopefully the delay is not too long for all of you guys out there. And the reason my game number 50 was made is I did specifically order number 50 Diglett through automated pinballs. So that is why. I paid a little bit extra for a specific number. No I don't care about the specific numbers. No I don't think I have a one of one Diglett edition. I think when the game arrives nobody's gonna care what number their machine is. I just saw a dude posted a video of this game playing the theme song and he was like look, I was skeptical like a lot of you. But once I turned this game on and I started playing it, it was so much fun. It gave me such a nostalgic feeling and that theme song playing after each game is just iconic even though it's not the original theme song it is still maybe a better version of the theme song and so this is what I thought Pokemon would do. I think it would break up the monotony of people that are tired of the same themes over and over again and it's just a really colorful fun machine. Will it hold value? I don't know. I still think Pokemon LE is going to do just fine. All right, what else do I want to talk about? I got a little bit of an update on a game called Circus Voltaire. So I reached out and I got a little bit of information for each and every one of you. There are going to be two versions of the game. There's going to be a reimagined version that is going to have Brian Allen on artwork. He's still working on the art package now. So it's not going to be exactly what you've seen him do in the past when he's I know I've done some circus Voltaire artwork, but what is exciting and is confirmed is that this game will continue to have that screen below the glass. And what I learned this morning is that screen will be an all new like HD screen that will be underneath the glass of the game. And there's going to be some tweaks to the game that are going to make it better. And there's going to be more replay value baked into this game. And you know, if this thing is stunning and the build quality is there, Circus Voltaire, when put next to even modern machines, does look spectacular. I think they're gonna like sell around like 150 to start out and then they're gonna move on and maybe make more. But when they reveal the game to the world, American Pinball will let us know the total number of games they plan to make. So they're not going to move the goalposts. They're not going to like say this and then make more. It's going to be an exact number we get when they reveal the game. All right. I'm also hearing that about 50 Houdini's have been made already. They are going to make all 100 and ship them out. When I talked to Brian, he said everybody's going to have this game within 30 days. OK, that's great. Right. 100 games in 30 days. How many days does it take to make a? You got Yeti baby I heard Chris Turner next game is going to be limited to 100 units and they going to make one game a year No I just joking I know I know Chris we got to figure something out We got to figure something out So speaking about manufacturing and speaking about taking a long time we been talking about Dutch pinball and back to the future Here's what I'm hearing is going to happen next at Dutch pinball. You're $5 a month. You're getting your money's worth. So I'm hearing this and maybe this was reported somewhere else. And if it is, I give credit to those individuals, but I'm hearing that because this company is not going to be making Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland, they need a game to fill in the gap between the end of Alice production and Back to the Future. And Back to the Future, let's be honest, like, I don't know if it's going to come out in October on Back to the Future Day. I don't know if they're going to show it then and then there's going to be like a long wait for manufacturing. But every single day that this company has no games on the line and no money coming in, they're burning money. So here's the plan I'm hearing, that they are going to make more of a game where the demand has dried up and that game is their only game in 13 years, the big Lebowski. Now, the problem with Lebowski now is this. I think it's something like 13.5 Nuenbox from Dutch, but that demand has dried up. There are literally dealers and distros that have the Lebowski Nuenbox for sale for like $11,500, $12,000, and an open one, I think you're looking at more like 10.5. So how do you make more Lebowskis and create some demand for them if the game is readily All of these are available and way cheaper than new in box. Well, the answer is you burn everybody who bought the game previously by making a different, newer, more special version of the game. It is what these pinball companies do. And so I'm hearing the rumor is this. They are going to make a Jesus edition of the big Lebowski. It is going to have purple armor and it is going to look different. The whole cabinet is going to be different than the original game itself. How many Jesus editions they're going to make? I don't know. If I were to guess, I would say 150 to 250 would be the number I would think about. But again, a company that's struggling to make even 300 games a year, do you want to get on the line and wait for the Jesus edition? So that is the rumor I am hearing. Wow, man. There's so much always happening in this hobby, it never ceases to amaze me. I think this hobby is about to go through a crazy six months. I think we're about to see some incredible pinball. I think Pokemon is going to get to an incredible place with the code. I think Circus Voltaire is going to be super cool. We'll see what the price is. I think it's going to be around $12,000 or $13,000. And I think they're going to sell if they make the game look stunning. I think there's so many new people in pinball. I think the global recession hasn't really happened. It never happened during COVID. The rich got richer Your checking account your net worth hasn really gone down much And even though we at war and all this terrible stuff is happening we gone through a pandemic Nothing has created a real recession The only thing is inflation has really hit everybody in the world. Inflation is why these games are so expensive. It is the whole reason why it is not more expensive to actually make pinball. It's just more expensive to use your money to order the parts to make pinball. You see what I'm saying is like our dollars are not worth as much. Neither are Stern's, neither are Jersey Jack's, neither are anybody who's making pinball. And so it's just a lot more expensive to do what should be cheaper by now, what should be more efficient. And so I don't think we're going to see prices go down. I also don't think we're going to see prices go up. I think we've hit a bit of a ceiling. There's enough of a margin baked into all these games right now that I think we're going to see prices remain pretty constant. Okay. So I think we're going to go through a crazy six months in pinball. I think it's going to be super fun. And I think the other thing that we're going to see is a complete oversaturation of older titles hitting the used market for sale. I think for a lot of you out there, I've been saying this for a while, I think you should think about thinning out your older collection now. I think we're going to see a catastrophic decline in pricing on some of these older titles. I think we're going to get to the place of $3,000 Stern Pros. I think we're going to get to the place of like 5,500 premiums. I do. I just think there's so much out there. Think about how many Godzilla premiums are out in the world. What are they worth? There's just too many of them and people are just going to get tired after a while. I mean, games after a while, you do want to move on to the next thing. I also want to say thank you to Ozzy out there after my story about the military person who Another P kavos award of this month goes to Robert Prーん. And that pink one over there. LinkedIn tells us how they now have 200 solo dedication opportunities. I've got to reach out to Spooky and Joe Newhart at Pinball Star to see how we can do this, but it's looking good. It's looking like we've got some very good progress in getting this man a machine by his birthday and his son's birthday when he's home for R&R. We're going to make this happen. You know Kaneda, you know Spooky, you know Joe Newhart. These are all good people. We're going to get together and make this happen. Everybody, happy Tuesday, a little bit of a shorter show. Look for more Kaneda classics moving forward. Thank each and every one of you for your donations and your subscriptions every single month. We are just one person away from 700. Remember, you can give the gift of Kaneda's Pinball Podcast to friends out there who are into pinball. We would love to hit 800 one day. That is still the goal. It's like the moment I hit 800, I'm just going to turn into some energy force and evaporate up into the pinball heavens. Everybody have a great Tuesday. Kaneda out.