Journalist Tool

Kineticist

  • HDashboard
  • IItems
  • ↓Ingest
  • SSources
  • KBeats
  • BBriefs
  • RIntel
  • QSearch
  • NName Review
  • +Health

v0.1.0

← Back to items

My 2021 Year End Review

Cary Hardy·video·19m 34s·analyzed·Jan 1, 2022
View original
Export .md

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.028

TL;DR

Cary Hardy's 2021 review: channel growth, game analysis, and scathing critique of Deep Root Pinball leadership.

Summary

Cary Hardy's 2021 year-end review covers his channel growth (1,900 new subscribers, 339,000 views), product reviews and partnerships, critical analysis of new pinball releases (Led Zeppelin Pro, Alien, Cactus Canyon Remake), and significant community events including a damning open letter to Deep Root Pinball's Robert Shapiro regarding mismanagement and investor fraud.

Key Claims

  • Deep Root Pinball used investor funds as a personal 'piggy bank' with over 48 million dollars in question

    high confidence · Cary Hardy reading from official financial report, explicitly states term 'personal piggy bank' appears in the document

  • Led Zeppelin Pro has poor theme integration compared to other Stern home pins

    high confidence · Direct personal assessment after playing the machine; contrasts with Star Wars as superior choice

  • Cactus Canyon Remake will be Cary Hardy's 2021 Game of the Year

    high confidence · Direct statement: 'I'm going to go ahead and call it right now that this will be game of the year'

  • Pinball Museum in Banning, California collection auction could total 7 million dollars

    medium confidence · Reported as ongoing auction with specific sale prices cited (Robocop Data East $6,500, Lethal Weapon 3 $4,900, etc.)

  • Cary Hardy traded Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pinball for Jurassic Park

    high confidence · Direct personal statement about collection changes

Notable Quotes

  • “And that's the funny thing is they use that term in the report. His own personal piggy bank.”

    Cary Hardy@ 7:49 — Directly quoting official Deep Root financial report allegations, emphasizing the severity of mismanagement

  • “You are a bad person. And pinball is a hell of a lot better without you.”

    Cary Hardy@ 8:51 — Stark conclusion to open letter to Deep Root's Robert Shapiro; represents complete loss of confidence

  • “It's basically a Led Zeppelin jukebox with flippers... if you had to give me a choice between Led Zeppelin Pro and any other home pin from Stern, I would choose... Star Wars, and then I would turn the volume all the way down.”

    Cary Hardy@ 3:17 — Explicit criticism of Led Zeppelin Pro's theme integration and art quality

  • “I'm going to go ahead and call it right now that this will be game of the year.”

    Cary Hardy@ 6:44 — Declares Alien Pinball as 2021 Game of the Year despite Stern's remaining cornerstone title

  • “More engineering and polish needs to be done before this product will be widely accepted to the masses.”

    Cary Hardy@ 9:22 — From open letter to Deep Root; warns against premature product launch

Entities

Cary HardypersonDeep Root PinballcompanyRobert ShapiropersonStern PinballcompanyPinball BrotherscompanyJersey Jack PinballcompanyChicago Gaming CompanycompanyPindock Rotisseriescompany

Signals

  • ?

    business_signal: Deep Root Pinball confirmed to have misappropriated 48+ million dollars in investor funds through documented financial report

    high · Cary Hardy directly quotes financial report stating investor funds used as 'personal piggy bank'; describes pattern of robbing Peter to pay Paul with older investors

  • ?

    community_signal: Cary Hardy's YouTube community actively voting on content direction (restoration project selection) and showing strong parasocial investment

    medium · Community voted between Judge Dredd vs. Johnny the Monarch restoration; Cary Hardy notes preference alignment with community choice

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Significant community backlash against Deep Root leadership with complete loss of confidence despite acknowledgment of technical potential

    high · Cary Hardy open letter: 'You are a bad person. And pinball is a hell of a lot better without you.' Also notes mixed emotions seeing potential but criticizing unready product launch

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Led Zeppelin Pro criticized for poor theme integration and layered plastic art presentation

    high · Cary Hardy: 'if you had to give me a choice between Led Zeppelin Pro and any other home pin from Stern, I would choose... Star Wars, and then I would turn the volume all the way down'

  • $

    market_signal: Secondary market auction prices for vintage pinball machines ranging $4,900-$6,500+ before 25% buyer's fees

    high · Banning Museum auction: Robocop Data East $6,500, Lethal Weapon 3 $4,900, Stargate $5,300, estimated total collection value 7 million dollars

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.059

0:00
It's been a hell of a year. This year alone I gained over 1,900 subscribers, which puts us very close to that 5,000 subscriber mark. Come on guys, I know there are some of you right now watching this that have yet to click on the little subscribe button located down here. Come on. My channel got over 339,000 views. That's a growth of 24% from 2020. So we're growing, which isn't entirely surprising because the hobby is growing. I got a chance to promote a multitude of products from various companies and I even partnered with Google and Facebook on a video. The default setting for nudging is going to be on your left joystick, but I recommend from a more authentic point of view to go into your control settings and activate the motion control for nudging. I chose the LED version. Upon opening your box you will find that there really isn't much to unbox. That should give you a hint on how easy this thing is to install. I'm very thankful for Pindock Rotisseries sending me their product so that way I may use it and give all of you the feedback on how I feel about it. With a simple request using this WiFi plug I can turn on whatever device it's connected to with my voice. I can even set up routines to turn all of my games on or off at one time, saving effort and time for a reasonable price. The only major downside is her. You are going to have to deal with me.
1:56
And here it is, the successor to the FR-300, the Hakko FR-301 desoldering tool. This baby is the pinnacle of mobile desoldering. Now the price is about at least $250. Now the price sucks, but what about the device? Let's find out. So then I've upgraded to this. Wait. And this. And... And that.
2:38
And then all the way up to... Manufacturers revealed some good things, and they also revealed some bad things. I mean, it's basically a Led Zeppelin jukebox with flippers. And that really adds to it. The Led Zeppelin music and everything is really good for pinball. It's just when it comes to theme integration with Led Zeppelin, for this game on the Pro model, it's not there. I'm like, if you had to give me a choice between Led Zeppelin Pro and any other home pin from Stern, I would choose the home pin version. Like Star Wars, whether it be comic or whatever, That's what I would go with. I wouldn't go with a Led Zeppelin. I would go with the Star Wars, and then I would turn the volume all the way down, and I would just wear a Led Zeppelin and have a much better time. But I think it's because the layered plastics just look so horrible. That's a strong word here. But I wish that the art expanded all the way out to where the plexi or the plastics weren't cut. so that way you wouldn't have the art and then more plastic and then you can see where it's been cut it just looks very off to me and this is a very small detail and probably won't notice it while you're standing in front of the machine as much maybe but whenever they go into close viewpoints like they do in this trailer and it's all in its glory and everything I felt that I did not care for the way the plastics looked. So we'll start with number one and that is going to be with the pricing. There are going to be two models. There's going to be the classic edition which is basically a complete remake of Fathom. As you remember it to be that's what it's going to look like only of course all new. And then you have the mermaid edition which is going to have variations to it and I will go over those variations at another point So I going to be going over this game and I going to give you the good the bad and the ugly let start of course with the good and let go right into it with the shots for this game the shots in this game were by all means very smooth they all do and look great except for one and we'll go over that later I am a star I'm a star, I'm a star, I'm a star Get away from her you bitch
Tim Kittrowperson
Charlotte Hardyperson
Led Zeppelingame
Star Wars Pinballgame
Alien Pinballgame
Cactus Canyon Remakegame
Fathomgame
Jurassic Park Pinballgame
World Cup Soccergame
Swords of Furygame
Johnny the Monarchgame
Pistols and Pedalsgame
Galloping Ghost Arcadecompany
Texas Pinball Festivalevent
Pinball Museum Banning Californiacompany
  • ?

    community_signal: Cary Hardy's public stance on Deep Root Pinball represents broader community consensus shift toward manufacturer accountability

    high · Letter references unified community opinion: 'We're just almost at each other's throats when we disagree on something. And it sucks that it took you and your actions to finally bring us all together and agree on something.'

  • $

    market_signal: Stern maintaining opacity on anniversary edition pricing with vague 'ask your distributor' messaging

    high · Mockumentary segment: 'we're not going to tell anybody we're just going to say ask your distributor so first we piss off 200 of our customers'

  • ?

    product_concern: Fathom remake announced with Classic and Mermaid editions; limited transparency on feature differentiation

    medium · Cary Hardy: 'There are going to be two models. There's going to be the classic edition which is basically a complete remake of Fathom... And then you have the mermaid edition which is going to have variations to it and I will go over those variations at another point'

  • ?

    product_concern: Stern Pistols and Pedals experiencing playfield quality issues including lifting artwork and clear coat problems attributed to supplier defects

    high · Official Stern instructional video shown addressing playfield lifting and clear coat issues; manufacturer blames playfield supplier

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Community positioning of Alien Pinball as 2021 Game of the Year, surpassing Stern's expected cornerstone title

    high · Cary Hardy: 'I'm going to go ahead and call it right now that this will be game of the year. Now, obviously, Stern's got one more cornerstone title to bring us before the end of the year. I just doubt that it's going to have more and be better than what we are seeing now.'

    • 5:40
    Why Alien Pinball? Many years ago at the Texas Pinball Festival I saw the highway game. I was hooked but not hooked enough they folded before I even had a chance so it was one of those titles that slipped away and when I heard Pinball Brothers was doing it why not and so I jumped in.
    6:10
    Do you think it will do? Give that here! Oh, no! Oh, and look, that's my sash wearing my sash! He can't! Oh, please, stop! Oh, girls.
    6:30
    That's quite enough. Hurry along now, both of you. I won't have you upsetting yourselves. Good night.
    6:44
    I'm going to go ahead and call it right now that this will be game of the year. Now, obviously, Stern's got one more cornerstone title to bring us before the end of the year. I just doubt that it's going to have more and be better than what we are seeing now. And if I'm wrong, then that's also a great thing. My decision is...
    7:04
    Welcome to Cactus Canyon Stream. I'm getting Cactus Canyon Remake. Now some of you may be cheering, others may have their minds exploding and just not understanding why I made this decision. So allow me to go over some of the reasons why I will be getting Cactus Canyon Remake. The Deep Roots saga finally ended after all this time. 58 million, well 48 I guess, million dollars. He used this as his own personal piggy bank.
    7:37
    There you go. Thank you, sir. There you go. And that's the funny thing is they use that term in the report. His own personal piggy bank. I'm not just making that shit up. This is what it says. He uses it as... There we go. I got to move these empty bottles out of the way so I know which one actually has in it. If what I said there doesn't make any sense, take it as it's the old saying rob from peter to pay paul so you have these older investors that got in real quick that are like hey uh we need our money what's going on and then robert's like oh shit i need to give these guys money well i need to find some new investors because my piggy banks run a little low right now let me go get some new investors hey you want some Wapenshirt with Policy Adams? That we're just almost at each other's throats when we disagree on something. And it sucks that it took you and your actions to finally bring us all together and agree on something. You are a bad person.
    8:54
    And pinball is a hell of a lot better without you. I am sending this email to you directly and offering my opinion because I really want Deep Root to succeed, Robert. This visit left me with very mixed emotions. I saw so much potential on what is being developed. If you were just giving us an update on the R&D of your innovations, then I wouldn't be too concerned. But you are talking about shipping out games very soon, with not having things ready to go. More engineering and polish needs to be done before this product will be widely accepted to the masses. That is your tagline on the shirt, pinball for the masses. If you ship what we experience this weekend, I do not think things will go well. I would strongly recommend you reconsider your launch date. You asked for feedback good or bad Here is mine I eagerly wait for your announcement to the public tomorrow and people are eager to hear what I have to say Sincerely Cary Hardy
    9:56
    I finished up my Swords of Fury restoration. And you guys got to choose what my next restoration would be, Judge Dredd vs. Johnny the Monarch, and thankfully all of you chose wisely and voted for Johnny the Monarch. I much preferred to do that game over Judge Dredd, which leads me to the current series, and that series is still in the making. When it comes to my personal collection, not only have I sold Judge Dredd, and that money is definitely going to be going towards my Cactus Canyon, I also traded my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for a Jurassic Park. And I believe that I couldn't be happier with that decision, nor could my daughter Charlotte.
    11:00
    Alright, we'll push the start button, let's see if you can guess. truck 12 this is control main gate opening welcome our new assistant game warden in hiring you we've spent no expense welcome to jurassic park
    11:33
    T-Rex Multiball! I got around to doing a game review on my World Cup soccer, but the call-outs, I believe, is where this game really does shine. The call-outs are performed by the voice actor Tim Kittrow, who's done many games with Midway, but I think one of his most popular that everyone probably knows his voice from is from NBA Jam. But throwing his voice into this game, I believe, is what throws it into a higher score. I showed you my method on a couple of things when it comes to pinball repair.
    12:23
    This should be the last section right here. There you go. Alright, let's start with the top one. Get this slit right in here. I got a good roasting on pin side at one point. With all the cool guys talking pins, why would anyone watch Little Carrie? Ouch. Dan Marino.
    13:08
    Dan Marino? Were the laces in or out? The laces were in! They were in! I enjoyed the Led Zep Pro machine that I played. I'm too cheap and not wealthy enough to buy new machines. I enjoy watching pinball-related YouTube videos. Carl Hardy is fine.
    13:29
    Only learned about this guy recently. made it two minutes into a video and turned it off. Not my, you know what, I made it one sentence into your post and I'm not even going to continue it. Moving on. My pinball omnibus series started this year as well and it's been well received. I might have poked fun at a few manufacturers along the way. It has come to our attention that there has been some quality issues with our play fields, especially on our newest title pistols and pedals supposedly we're getting issues with lifting artwork as well as clear coat around said post from earlier now i know what you're thinking richard couldn't there be a correlation between how our assembly workers are buckling down these posts to the playfield no the real issue is our damn playfield supplier but we understand your frustration. We hope this instructional video has been helpful to you pistols and pedals owners out there Again we understand your frustration and we are here to help us Let me guess you want to do a limited release God damn it 240th anniversary editions So what all should we be putting into this game that is limited? Like a new mech? Maybe some new play field art? Oh, good God. That sounds expensive. I was thinking that we just do what we normally do. Oh, so change the cabinet art, special powder coating, and numbered plaque. man those numbered placards work every time all right so with the added cost of these uh changes i mean what are we looking at when it comes to msrp oh that's the beauty of it we're not going to tell anybody we're just going to say ask your distributor so first we piss off 200 of our customers that have been waiting a long time for their game then we decide to announce a newer prettier version of essentially the same game and we're not going to bother divulging the price of it exactly we also got to see how much people are willing to spend on pinball machines so currently going on as we speak oh my god Robocop Data East right 6500 what the pinball museum in Banning California is auctioning off their entire collection and supposedly it could reach a total of 7 million dollars so it's way $5,000 for a lethal weapon 3 water world 4,900 bucks and I must add also that this does not include the 25% buyer's fee that's going to be on top of all these prices that I'm saying. Goodness gracious, these prices are crazy. Then you have Stargate. $5,300. That's right, guys. Someone just spent $5,300 plus buyer's fee to have a game that's going to consistently and repetitively keep telling you to shoot up the middle. 6,200 one time so it's way $6,100 well at least it comes with a manual but I don't see it still being 6,100 bucks before the buyer's fee I had to keep stressing that but you paid $6,100 for something that you're gonna get to hear have to fight have to crow you're gonna hear that so often and I want you to remember how much you spent for that game too. My visit to Expo for which I still need to do a video about. I mean getting the privilege to unbox and setting up a Godzilla LE, accidentally stealing a yellow brick road edition from Jersey Jack, that's a story for another time. Visiting Galloping Ghost and riding the Sega R360. But the best part of that weekend was getting a chance to meet a lot of you out there actually. I'm glad that the world is beginning to come back to normal post-pandemic issues. I mean, we're not quite there yet, but it definitely looks to be better this time around compared to what it was last year. Texas Pinball Festival is still a go, and I'm really looking forward to that. Overall, I'd say I had a pretty good year, and I'm looking forward to hopefully continuing to grow throughout 2022. special thank you to all my patreon supporters out there your monthly support it means a lot to me and by all means to all of you out there that watch my content on the regular basis then by all means a special thank you to you as well because you are part of the reason why my channel is continuously growing i wish all of you a happy new year and i'm looking forward to creating content for you in the year of 2022 what the fuck betty white died Outro Music you