H the new computer. Brendan got me a new computer. Look at the camera. Looks amazing. It's got a better camera than the one before. I think it's going to sound amazing. Let's um let's get something to prop it up on. Hold on a second. Yep. Yep. I got a box here from Spooky Pinball. We're going to open that up today. I'm excited about that. Christopher Franchie in the house. O man. How's everybody doing, man? Oh, man. The camera looks great. I will say Brena just got me this new laptop and it looks so damn good. Crooked. There we go. How's everybody doing? Can you hear me? [clears throat] Good morning from California. Got people over here. Let's go. Let's go full screen here. Feeling the holiday spirits. H I wish everyone would just join on YouTube. I'm I'm tired of having to go both YouTube and and Facebook, but how's everybody doing? I don't know. You Facebook people, I don't understand. Why don't you like to go to YouTube? It's better. The like the quality is better. The mic is better. Everything about it is better. But you know what the thing about Facebook I like is I do get um I do get those like 3,000 views or plus. Happy holidays EVERYBODY. WE'RE GOING TO TALK PINBALL. [screaming] I OWE you guys a podcast. It's been the holidays. It snowed a lot here in beautiful Rowan, Connecticut. We had a wonderful holiday and we got Christopher Franchie here. the kids. You You know this when you've got Christmas and a and a one-year-old and a four-year-old, it's magical. It's beautiful. Like, everything about it is just absolutely magical. I I you know, reliving Christmas through the eyes of young children is is just the sweetest thing ever. And you know what's amazing about getting kids gifts? They don't need like $15,000 pinball machines. Uh they really don't. Got a little scratch under my eye. Oh, all the We're dogsitting right now, which is a lot of fun. How's everybody doing? How was everybody's Christmas? Was it good? Did you get what you wanted? Did you Did you download the new code for the games that are out there right now? I think there's a new code for X-Men, for Alice, for uh what else is out there? I don't know. Accessories are coming out now. I think it's going to be a really amazing 2026 in pinball. I can't wait to watch everything transpire. I I know some stuff. I've seen some stuff. And boy oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy. If If I were some of you and you were kind of like you need to you need to free up room. I I would start listing stuff now. I I would start listing stuff now. I just think the old stuff is going to start to feel really old. And I think a lot of people out there are not going to be used to the actual prices you're going to need to list things at to move them because I just don't think people are going to want the old stuff. And And that's the thing with so much exciting new stuff coming in pinball right now. I just don't know who wants old like stern premiums at like$7,000. Nope. I I mean this when I say it. I think pros are going to 3500. I think premiums are going to five. I I just mean it. There's just so much of everything old that's out there. the new stuff is where all the excitement is going to be. And it's not stopping. And this is the part, you know, it's kind of like when I when I look at uh to use a cargument, all the people that are like trying to get like so much money for old Porsches, it's like, well, Porsche is not stopping. They're just going to keep making more and more new great stuff. And I think that's sort of how I look at pinball is none of these companies are calling it quits. They're not getting ready to throw in the towel. They're just making better and better games and they're going to start making better and better games and it's going to be a really exciting I think the next two years of Pinball are going to be super duper exciting for you 10 guys on Facebook. Just come over to YouTube. Just come over to YouTube. We've got so many more people on YouTube. It's way easier to just We can share a screen on YouTube. We can pull up stuff. We can look at stuff. Ah, now more people are joining on Facebook. Sad Boy, what's up? I played The Walking Dead remastered extensively. Just made me want to play the original. Thank you, Sad Boy, for your $49.99. It wouldn't be a Saturday morning spectacular without Sad Boy's contributions every week. I love you, brother. I hope you had a great holiday. Um, why did it make you want to play the original? I'm I'm curious. Was it just Was it the art? Was it too easy? What What was it just the the waiting for a license or approval? Like what about the new one makes the old one feel more special? I'm just I'm I seriously am curious like what what is what is missing the mark on the new Walking Dead. By the way, that game is just it's The Walking Dead on arrival. It It no one's buying it. We are about a week away from Pokemon and you know there's just not a lot of enthusiasm for it. I I think Stern thought the game was going to do a lot better. Uh I feel sorry for the people that paid 13 for an LE. Man, they're like 10 now. They're like already kind of 10 on the table is going to get you one. And we're just going to see more and more of this as we're on to the next. We're on to the next. We're on to the next. So, you know, also cause the thing is it's hard to double the price of what a game used to cost. I I don't believe when Stern says 70% it was 70% of making a brand new game went into making a remastered. Yeah, sure. H how is that how is that possible? H how does it take 70% of the work when the game's already been designed? Christopher Franchie, holiday cocktails for mom and dad, milkshakes for the kids. Oh, thank you, brother. We're going to Christopher Franchie, we're going to go and get some u a nice late lunch brunch with the kids and and I will definitely make sure your $50 gets used for for that purpose. Um man, I want a milkshake. Like, can I get a milkshake, too? Um how you guys doing, man? Like, we're going to talk all about what's going on in pinball. We're going to talk about the end of the year. I was planning to do I'm gonna do it sometime this over the next few days. My um um I I'm curious to uh No, I I want to do my end of the year sort of my best of if you will. I could do best and worse, but h you know maybe I don't know cause thanks for the buck but I want to do Canada's end of the year awards if you will. You know, I'm done with the whole doing polls on everything and People's Choice and I I Are the Twippies even alive? I don't even know. I don't think they are. I know there's going to be another award show that's going to happen, but uh you know, whatever. I don't I I feel like award shows in Pinball now have become a little bit of a a joke that no one really cares. So, um we're going to open up this package from Spooky Pinball. Thank you so much, Emory family and Spooky Family, for sending me a box. I didn't open it yet. I think it's something for the kids, too, and and myself. Uh, so we will do an unboxing. [snorts] An unboxing from Spooky Pinball. Um, in in Benton, Wisconsin. Could be anything in here. There could be a fragile, could be a definitely not a topper. Um, but you know, can't wait to see what they sent. But good vibes, man. I I've been um I've been feeling very blessed. I've been feeling like the holidays are a great time to a little bit mentally reset. I've um I've had some amazing moments with my my kids, my wife, my my um my parents came over. My parents are both still here. They're getting older and they're slowing down. And And for those of you out there who know what I'm talking about, I think we all do, is just when you see life and you start to sort of evaluate everything happening in the world, everything happening in our lives, um all the things we should be thankful for. I I really do feel the holidays are a moment where there's a a reset going on of how I would like to improve myself, improve the way I look at the world and and just sort of you realize like what's really important and it's not like expensive token items even though I did get Brenda a really nice jacket that cost an arm and a leg. But it it really is just comes down to moments and laughter and experiences. And I think we've all realized that significantly, especially in this hobby where we're at the center of everything we talk about, is a very expensive item. And it's the people that make this hobby truly tremendous. And you don't need to buy a ton of pinball machines to have a magical connection to this community. And that is the beautiful thing about pinball. You know, look at me. I don't even like really play much pinball and I've got such a beautiful connection to so many people in this hobby. Um, Tux, what's up, brother? I'm thankful for a lot more than usual every day. Yes, absolutely. It's um there's um you know, sometimes it's hard to get that clarity and peace that we're all searching for because we're just so distracted. We're on to the next. We're on to the next. We're thinking about, you know, so far down the road that we we sometimes really have a hard time, especially in modern culture, just to stop, enjoy something, put on Knives Out movie, and just watch it. Like, don't get distracted. I'm going to say something. I'm going to do a podcast about this. I'm gonna say something right now that's going to be very uh controversial in our space because I just watched season one. I'm almost done. I I just need like one more episode, but I actually think I'm I'm going to say this and I mean this. I think Fallout could make a great pinball machine. There, I said it. Now, I'm not going to go through all of my reasons why. I'll do that on my podcast. But after making it our way through my way through Fallout season 1, uh yeah, I think I think it's got way more potential than John Wick, than Venom. I I think it's uh I I think everyone should watch it and keep an open mind. And that's the part I think that's really hard for this pinball community is to just keep an open mind. If I were to tell each and every one of you a year ago, if if I if I had known the theme of Winchester's Mystery House, most of you would have slammed the door on the the pin, right? You would have slammed the door on the pin if you just knew the theme. And sort of like we're slamming the door on Fallout because we know the theme. It's freaking Fallout by Keith Elwin, maybe. And when you think about that world and the subject matter, the music, everything, I'm going to go through my reasons why I think Fallout could actually end up being a tremendous pinball machine, uh, if done right. I mean, right now, it's at the point now where Stern has to do it right. and they have to check all the boxes cuz people are are not they're not going in on these stern games right now and and it's a it's it's a brutal time for them. They They are really struggling. They are really struggling. Oh man, you know, I'm looking at my my neighbor shoveling his pathway and I just want to be sitting I sat by the fire with my dad and and we just had some nice conversations about life and you know I really do the more I I hear from my father and and people who have who grew up before the internet before the chaos of today. I their their perspective to me now means so much more than than what it did even like 101 15 years ago. I I really think there is a desire to get back to something that that is forever been stripped from culture and and I think a lot of people I was thinking about this this morning. You know, we all need to now think about and your kids do if you have kids who are especially in school. It is now a creator culture. like you either create or you're like a slave. You You know what I'm saying? And in my definition of a creator culture, a plumber creates a working toilet and sink. You know what I'm saying? Like your skill, you you have a skill that creates something that people want. And I think that's the big shift I'm seeing in the world is so much of what people study, there's not, you know, I don't know if there's like an outlet to create something of value. So, I really do, you know, I really do appreciate all the pinball manufacturers out there that that work really hard every week to create machines that allow us to create content on top of uh that give us the options. Well, we're going to talk about it. We're going to go around the horn um and we're going to talk about all this stuff. So, let's Where do we want to start? Let's start at um let's start somewhere unique. So, I I saw this hexa pinball three musketeers. I I apparently they showed this trailer at Expo. I must have missed it. Maybe they did a a seminar that I did not attend. And I people are saying it's like AI generated slop and it's no thank you. And I've been thinking about what what pathway forward do some of these smaller companies have in the world of pinball? And do they need to always have a licensed theme? Is there still an opportunity to have a niche boutique company find success in pinball? And yeah, I think it's really hard. I think the the real like difficult thing is, you know, how do you land on a price point that's attractive compared to everything else you can buy in pinball at that price, right? Because it's not just new in box. Like let's say they make Three Musketeers and it's I don't know $6,000. Is that game going to be better than any Stern Pro? And now for $6,000 you can go get like a dialed in a Toy Story 4. Like you can go get a Guns and Roses LE, right? So, I just I don't know how you survive unless what you make today is as good as everything else that someone else could buy at that same price point in pinball or at the top the masterpiece of Space Sun. So, that that's kind of like where I'm at with the whole thing. It's just, you know, there's a lot of effort that goes into it. There's a lot of work that has to happen, you know, to get a game to market. Um, finding a license to agree to let me design out in the open has been a challenge. Right. So, Jack is Jack wants to do like kind of like an open-source transparent design of a pinball machine. And, you know, Jack, it's like that would be really exciting. But, you know, the challenge is I think Jack, what you should do is just I I think what's hard for Jack now is because he's officially at Stern, I would just say just do it. You know what I'm saying? Like Like if you're just doing a oneofonone uh custommade game, why not just do whatever you want to do and ask for forgiveness later? Um, I I think it's probably difficult because of of Jack's official affiliation with Stern, but it's um, you know, it's it's no longer to me uh, you know, exciting to have like 15 companies. Tank Girl Design. Um, you know, like let's let's count let's see how many pinball companies we can count because I I think I've lost track. Let's start on on my fingertips. So, we got Stern, we got Jersey Jack, we got Spooky, right? We got CGC, we've got Hexa Pinball. That's five. We got Pinball Brothers, we got Padre, we got Dutch Pinball. I'm not going to count Dutch Pinball as a separate company. We've got Home Pin. They're still out there. We've got Multimorphic. All right, that's 10. We got Barrels of Fun. We've got um Turner Pinball. We've got Who am I missing? That's 12 so far. We've got I know I'm missing someone. Pinball Adventures. Are they Did they even count? I don't know. Ramps Pinball. You know, I mean, what's your past what's your past like five? You know, American pinball. That's right. American pinball might be like 13 or 14. Um, the Spanish name was was like quitzel, right? Like quitzel pinball. They made the basketball game. They made I think they made like a Fast and Furious game. They made a remember they made that Captain Nemo game. Who Who was around when they made the Captain Nemo game? Remember that? those days. Um, you don't even see like I haven't even seen anyone stream that damn thing. I did say Turner Haggus is done. So, you know, there's like so many companies and, you know, to the point of like imagine trying to secure a license when you're going up against like Leonard Abbis, you know, and and Stern. And I I think it's interesting. I am so shocked. I don't know how they did it. I don't know. I I don't know how Spooky secured the licenses they have, the licenses they're going to make. Um what a blunder by the other big dogs to sort of sleep on some of these nostalgic properties that are absolutely um what people want. It it's, you know, if we think Beetlejuice sold out instantly, uh Goonies will do the same. Gremlins will do the same. I don't know if it's South Park or something else. Franchie will tell us if it's not South Park. He Franchie is the ultimate. He just just shuts down every false rumor instantly. Look, I'm just going to say this. I don't think I don't think American Pinball is ever gonna have a successful pinball machine. I I hope I'm wrong. I hope I eat my words. I just don't think that they have the front office that understands pinball. I don't I don't think mukeshing company like think about it. Think about think about an organization that actually invested in the individuals they invested in. I don't even want to name their names, but think about what that's who they had faith in. So, they're a bad judge of character. They're a bad judge of talent. So, I don't think American Pinball is all of a sudden now gonna like figure it out. Thank you for the $10, Don. Don H. Is this Donald? Uh, reveal yourself. Which Donald are you? Um, yeah. Sterna George Gomez has gone on the record for um yeah there's there can be only one dawn Oasis Arcade. Okay, welcome. Um Stern George went on the record and said nobody wanted to make Beetlejuice. I mean, I I you know, I'm like a dead horse on this whole topic of Stern passing on Beetlejuice and Back to the Future was probably the biggest mistakes they've made in marketing history. To pass on Beetlejuice and Back to the Future and Green Light Venom and John Wick, you have to like understand the iness of that decision and how, you know, because because again, like if you get back to the future, you could make it forever. You know what I'm saying? They They would have been selling Back to the Future premiums for a decade. Well, do you guys want to hear something? I I am hearing through the rumor mill and I know Franchie's seen it cuz he's working on it, but I I've been hearing through the rumor mill that Back to the Future just needs a little something extra. Needs a little bit more magic mechanically put into it. I I wonder I I don't know if I wonder, but I worry a little bit I worry a little bit about, you know, Barry and team. They just don't have a lot of experience. And And this is the part that I think is going to be challenging for Dutch as they design Back to the Future is they're they're not a company that's been constantly evolving and improving and, you know, getting better because they haven't had more than one game. And you know, Big Labowski, amazing game 13 years ago, doesn't hold a candle to the newer stuff that's just, you know, from a design standpoint, from a theme integration. I mean, it's a great theme integrated game, don't get me wrong, but you know what I'm saying? It's like, imagine if Labowski was Barry's first game and he's made six others to get to Back to the Future. So, I worry about that. Um, I worry that they haven't, you know, and they're in a vacuum. You know, they're not focus group testing this thing. They're not going to whitew it before they So, I again, I just I've heard a few things from people that have played the Whitewood. I I just I I just want to say I got to talk about this in a little bit of a roundabout way, but the what I heard was and again it's probably hard to stand over the a whitewood of a game. You know, there's no art. There might not even be like assets on the screen to just see the whitewood. I mean, you take any game and you strip away all of the color and all of the, you know, stuff. I mean, you might not even have like all the mechs in place or all the this or that. Um, but yeah, I'm just hearing it might need a little bit more. So, you know, time will tell cuz here's what's going to happen. You know, again, I think Beetlejuice has raised the bar. Um, Sonic is gonna is gonna be insane. Um, it it is based on the Sonic uh Sega game. It it's not based on the movies. I I know something about Sonic that I I'm gonna I'm gonna wait to tell my podcast listeners. Um, I'm very very excited about Sonic. Sonic is going to be it. It's It's Sonic. It's Tails. It's It's the whole crew here. Let me um Yeah, it's Ryan McUade should be part of the design team. No, No, he shouldn't. No, no. I I'm I I have full confidence in Steve Ritchie. I don't think Steve Ritchie needs to learn anything from Ryan McUade about how to design Sonic Pinball. Nope. Nope. Sorry, Ryan. Sorry, it's in better hands. Um, Franchie Art on Sonic. I don't think so, Christopher Franchi. Um, I don't know if you worked on it or not. I don't think Spranchie's on Sonic, but it it's going to um I I have a few things I'll tell you guys exclusively on Sonic on my show. Well, but trust me, gang. Like, let me see if I can find like uh like Sonic Hedgehog. I'll tell you like let me let me let me see something here. [clears throat] It It's just It It's I don't know. It just looks like we remember Sonic Art. I'm looking at Sonic images. I was signed on to do Steve's Next Game, but bailed after I thought about it. I then signed exclusively with Spooky. Um Yeah. So, look, I know that Jersey Jack wants to get everything you I mean, gang, you got to remember these this is a company that is spending close to half a million dollars just to get the Harry Potter John Williams theme song into the game. So, I don't think uh Brett and Leonard are going to stop until they get everything that they know you want into Sonic the Hedgehog. Yeah, I think it's going to have the original music, everything. So, you know, so look, I um should we open up this spooky box? Should we open it up? Let's open it up. Ah, so spooky. What do you think's inside here? From Benton, Wisconsin. I've got a gift I got to send my friends at Spooky. I have to go to FedEx and and spend it special so it doesn't break. I mean, Sonic's not I think it's going to have a loop-de-loop. I think it's going to be the From what I heard, it's the fastest pinball machine ever. From what I heard, when you plunge this game, you're all going to want one instantly. I know I need something to open this with. Hold on. That's right. It's Don's laundry. Oh man, I um I can't wait to the Beetlejuice toes start going out. I think they're going to start going out in January, which is going to be really exciting. You know what I think is going to happen with Beetlejuice is I I don't think many people are going to be selling their spots. I think Beetlejuice is going to become I think I I keep saying this, Beetlejuice and Harry Potter are going to become the foundations for every every new pinball collection because I think both those games kind of make everything else feel a little dated and old. When you see like Harry Potter next to Godzilla, like it's embarrassing. Like I'm embarrassed, you know? And I know when we see Beetlejuice next to like Godzilla and Jaws, you're going to be like, you know, like it's not to say that like it's not to say that like Jaws and Godzilla, they're amazing games. They're absolutely amazing games. They just look really cheap next to them and and they're just something about it. Like I don't know. Like once you have this beautiful these beautiful new games, it's hard to to justify the cost of these sterns that are looking really cheap. All right. So, I got a nice note here. I'm gonna Oh my god. I I can already tell already the this is going to be a very thoughtful gift because I just saw something. Dear Koris family, I like that. Not the Canada family. Merry Christmas and happy holidays from the spooky crew. I was out Black Friday shopping and I saw the sparkle smash puzzle on the shelf and just knew the boys had it. Um, just knew the boys needed it. Hope you have an amazing Christmas and even better New Year. Love the spooky crew. This, see, this is it. You know, look, when I talk about when I talk about modernday hospitality, when I talk about company culture, when I talk about how important it is to connect to the community, th this is like this is it. Like, and and again, the reason I love the Spooky Crew is it's just so authentic to them and they're so nice. It helps that they make really good games now, too. You know, it would really it would really I would be conflicted if they were so nice and they were still making games like Rob Zombie. You know what I'm saying? So, like I'm really happy that now our love affair with with the Spooky Crew is backed up by games we love. Like, it's so it's so awesome where it's like opposite with Stern. It's like the people are kind of annoying now and like yeah, every once in a while there's a good game, but like in general like yeah, like I just don't I'm not vibing with those people anymore. Oh my god, look at this. It's a sparkle smash puzzle. You know, this is so this is so amazing. Killian loves sparkle smash and he loves puzzles. So to have both of them together is absolutely the great. I love that it's in this like carry-on like he because he can use this now. He can use this to like put other stuff in. He could like bring this to school. Thank you so much. And there's a post-it note that says for Killian with a heart. THEY PUT A HEART ON IT. You never HEARD OF SPARKLE SMASH? IT'S MONSTER JAM, BABY. We've been to Monster Jam twice and I will say the second time we went, Sparkle Smash wasn't there and he was gutted. Said, "Where's Sparkle Smash?" It's there's nothing more painful than a little boy who goes to see a monster truck show and his favorite monster truck is not there. And then for Cassian Paw Patrol, I know now you know too, Cassian loves the color and this is amazing. This is a Paw Patrol color and sticker kit. You know what it like? Kids worlds are blown blown away. Just any new gift, they get so excited. Well, thank you so much team Spooky, Emory, Bug, Luke, Don, Franchie, all you guys. I literally I literally couldn't I couldn't create a better company vibe than you guys have. I I'm absolutely, you know, it it makes me um it it makes me want to tear up. It really does. Thank you so much. They are going to love these. [snorts] Um let's get back. Well, you see the goodwill, right? You see the goodwill and and I've been saying this for a while. It is now at a point where I would never buy an American Pinball game because of the way that company has treated me personally. I would never buy a CGC game because the way that company treats its own customers. I would definitely buy a Stern game again for sure. Like I love a lot of people over at Stern. I would absolutely buy another game from Jersey Jack. Um I would buy a game from JJP. I think there's just like but it but all of it is like we now get to decide who we want to support. I would absolutely buy a game from Dutch Pinball. Melvin's one of my best friends. Uh, you know, it's where do I who who do I want to support? It's not just enough anymore to to just make a good game. Like you you've people are buying into a brand. And this is something I've been saying for a while. And this is what Stern got so damn wrong is they they torpedoed their own brand. And by turning their back on their own loyal customers, by rerunning things they said they never would, they so stupid. Stern made the dumbest mistake ever. They put growth at any cost as the priority. And I think we all live in a world now where we're we're tired of this that every company should be making moves only because more money could be had, not because it's the right move to make. And this is like what's been driving Stern and their private equity investors is like grow, grow, grow. 3,000 games ordered by Costco for Pokemon. That may be true. And if you sell 3,000 games to Costco, that may be good for your bottom line, but it's bad for your brand. You know what I'm saying? It's It's still bad for the brand of Stern because like it's almost like they should have a sub a subbrand, not even Stern Pinball, that makes those games, you know, because it just it cheapens everything. And it's hard to sell a $13,000 version of something that looks almost too close to the thing being sold at Costco for five. When you put Star Wars at Costco, I mean, it almost looks it looks similar enough to the $13,000 Star Wars game. And so the the um approaching these companies as brands is important. You know, I will say this. I think Jersey Jack as a brand is about to do something that is probably long overdue. They're about to kill FOMO for their own products and they're going to only make products that you're going to want to buy and own and not buy and worry about the resale value of it. And you're not going to you're not going to see a lot of of their games be offered up for resale because their goal is to make games that make you not want to sell it, you know. So when we see when we see Sonic, the CES will also be unlimited. Now, the marketer in me that just wants to like preserve some value and, you know, make their I need to turn off like my notifications. Hold on a second. I have like notifications on my on Let me close out. This new computer, it's um it's giving me notifications for me messages. Let me force quit that. Okay. All right. Um, you know, so when you remove the FOMO, you instantly you you kill all the scalping. You You don't you don't annihilate the secondhand value. Um, it also just like I don't know, it just it kind of resets everything, you know? I like I like a a two approach world of Pinball. I like where Spooky will have the FOMO, crazy secondhand prices. Wh Why can't I close out of like the phone messages? I don't understand. It's going to keep popping up. Hold on a second, gang. I need to like figure this out. It's like And my annoying brother will literally just text everybody options remove from dog.
[sighs] He literally has like text messages with himself. Like no one responds. He just like spams us all day long. so yeah, I think we're going to get I think we're going to get FOMO for the spooky games. I think we're going to get maybe some FOMO from barrels and then JJP, we'll just get you, you know, you want one, you want one of these high-end Sonics or Harry Potters, we'll get you one. You don't have to worry about not getting one. We're not going to we're not going to lock you out, you know, because the margin for them is great. It's a lot of money, but they're giving you a lot more for the CE. I kind of like that, right? And then it it does beg the question, where does that leave Stern? And I'm just going to say this. I think Stern's three- tiered model is what's now dead. I do. I I just think Stern's, you know, Stern Stern's trying to have it all at once now, and it's just not going to work. Like, I just don't think they're going to be able to sell their LE's for 13. Let's Let's not call it an LED for 13 with all the accessories. Stern is trying to sell 14 to$15,000 games. They They just don't make a 14 to $15,000 product there. There's just no way around it. It's like it's like hard stop. When you see a Stern machine with Raspberry Pi, with their their lighting system, their art package, their cabinet art decals, it just does not look like it's a penny over 10 grand. It just doesn't look that good. When I see Stern, I see a $5,500 Pro. I see a $7,500 Premium, and I see a $9,500 LE. Like, I I that's I I don't care what their costs are. I that's that's what their games look like. And so I just don't think their model works at like 7, 10, and 13, which is really again, you don't even get a topper for the $10,000 freaking premium. I Yeah. I mean, the new cabinet, every everything they've done, Spike 3 was a cost cutting measure. Like imagine this. Imagine cutting costs, making your product cheaper, and having to spin it as an improvement. It's only an improvement to the to the private equity investors that are looking for better margins. But nothing about the new cabinet seems like an improvement. The lighting doesn't seem much better. The screen is a little bigger, but that's not a lot of money. Yeah, the sound's a little better, but it's because you But it's also because they were just their sound was so bad. They're such cheap speakers. And also like when you look at how much speakers cost. Come on gang. Like this is there is not, you know, when you think about it, it's a $3,500 difference. $3,500 difference between a Stern Premium and an LE. Go look at what TV you could get for $3,500. You could get a PS5 and one of the best Samsung TVs and and a prostitute for the price difference between a premium and an LE. And it's just comical like like we're not going to ask like oh is it worth and and the moment no one cares anymore like as the community like nobody looks at anybody with a stern al anymore with any like any envy. Jersey Jack Pinball is in the house baby. Jersey Jack, what's up guys? Who's doing the handle these days at Jersey Jack? Love you guys. Um, you know, I I have a I have a great relationship with JJP and and it's it's an intimate relationship and and you know, I never really disclose anything we talk about and and I respect that and I and I really look forward I look forward to all of you seeing what they're working on. Okay, let's just say that. Um, but it's um it's about to get real real interesting in 2026. And again, I think Stern just needs to do what I've been suggesting. I think they need to do what Cal has been suggesting. I think Stern needs to do a focus group with about 10 people. I think they need three content creators, three operators, um, three tournament players, and I think they need to bring us in, and they need to really listen. And we'll listen to them, what their realities are, but I think they really need to listen and just say, "Hey, in your world, what are we doing right? What are we doing wrong? What do we need to improve upon?" Right? and and just go and ask everybody. I mean, probably like maybe it's like I would have like two collectors, maybe two content creators, like you know what I'm saying? Like, but they just need to bring in their audiences because they have multiple audiences and they need to like hear from them. You know what's crazy is I I look at um you can get a business class plane ticket from JFK to Tokyo, right? JFK to Tokyo for around like 4,000 4 to 5,000. Like I I would much rather do that than the difference between a pro a pre like literally a pro and an LE. The difference is $6500. Yes, you can absolutely fly from New York or wherever you are in America to [ __ ] to Japan for cheaper than the difference between a Stern Pro and an LE. And I will tell you this right now, you will you will enjoy your life way more if you don't buy an LE, you buy a Pro and you go to Japan. I guarantee you if you go to Japan because you use the difference between an LE and a Pro, you will thank me for the rest of your life that you made that decision. Or you know what, better yet, just go to Japan because you'll come back and not keep buying every single new Stern machine because you'll see what real quality is, real craftsmanship is, real attention to detail is when you go to Japan. You know, you know what I'm saying? Ain't no IKEA cabinet. You know, they tried to sell us on the brackets are an improvement. You know what I'm saying? like they they George legitimately with a straight face tried to tell us that this is a better cabinet with a straight face. It's It's smoother. It's straighter. It's easier to get the decals on. It's easier to manufacture. It's easier to make a you know I if something's damaged, yeah, it's easier to replace one of the sides, but it's still cheaper. a Raspberry Pi in the damn thing. Raspberry Pi is like 30 bucks. REMEMBER WHEN SPIKE 3's computer system, people are like, "Well, it's got an HDMI out." They started celebrating that it had an HDMI out a as as a as a feature, A $30 RASPBERRY PI. Can't make this stuff up. YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS STUFF UP. I mean, you know, I I don't think they had a plan. You know, if if I'm the problem with Gomez, I'm reading some of your comments, I think, is every time he talks, he makes it sound like Stern's issues are our problem and not Stern's problem. Yeah, 100% agree with that. The problem with every time George explains stuff is is the end user doesn't care. Like, you know what I'm saying? I don't care what challenges you have with the licenser. We're figure out a solve, right? Or don't do the license. You know, I don't care like if making cabinets is hard. FIND SOMEONE TO make them that is warranting a $13,000 price. But you can't do it like this. The truth is, we all know the reason why everything is the way it is now at Stern. They just they have too much pressure on them to pay for all those employees and they they grew so big that they need a volume now that is uh is in conflict to making like high-end pinball, right? something that's justifying the price. So, I I just think they they got too big. They scaled up so large and now they need to manufacture that kind of demand to justify them being at that size. And I think it puts them under so much pressure that I think that ends up creating a toxic work environment. I'll tell you this and I don't know what the future holds but the moment any company is just fixated on growth at all costs at the cost of creativity the that's the moment the culture just gets killed. It It just is because then you become like bottom line thinkers and bean counters and you never stop hearing about it and the people cracking the whips aren't the ones who are actually creating the value. They're they they just they're just whip crackers. the the issue really is like the the alternatives just became so good. You know what I'm saying? Like the alternatives became so good that to me it's not like Sterns got like a lot worse. Like let's let's be honest people. Stern machines didn't really go from being amazing to crappy. Like no no no. Just everyone else got so much better, you know? I think people forget that. Like Jaws is still an amazing pitch. Right. It's an amazing pit, but it's the kind of It's weird. All right, we're back. No, you know what? You know what happened? It It um it it weirdly connected to my neighbor's Wi-Fi. Well, yeah. And Cy, you know, Corey just said King Kong is great, right? But it's like a great $8,500 LE. THAT'S THE THING. OH, IT'S LIKE SO IT'S LIKE, you know, you know, and that's the problem Stern has. It's like King Kong is a great $8500 Ellie, maybe 9500, but it's not a great $13,000 Ellie. It's just not, you know, and and you know, when you look at Beetlejuice for 10, you're like, what? what? 10? This thing looks like it's 15. If If these sterns are 10 and that stern's 13 with no topper and that stern with a topper is 146. If that stern fully accessorized is 15. Yeah. So Jack said it, man. And Jack, this is what I'm saying. It's like everyone's like everyone's making great pins now and now it just becomes like 67. Which one do I go with? You know, which one do I go with? Like I I you know, like it's crazy, right? Like Dune, IF DUNE CAME OUT 10 years ago, DUNE WOULD HAVE BEEN THE BEST MACHINE on planet Earth 10 years ago. IT REALLY WOULD HAVE. YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN BLOWN AWAY. Movie has like sound like the mech. It's like Dune comes out today and there's like it's it suffers from, you know, relativity. like the things it's relative to just excite you more. But no one who owns A DUNE IS HAVING A bad time. THIS IS THE THING, RIGHT? It's like you know what I'm saying? Like I know what it's like to have a pinball machine that doesn't shoot well. Guns and Roses, right? I know what it's like. But again, I I understand Guns and Roses, like what it does well, it does very well. But again, it's not a great shooter. And I'm, you know, I know what it's like to have a clunky machine that has like some of the best theme integration ever. Lord of the Rings, right? Batman. Both of those. Lord of the Rings and Batman. I maybe two of the best codes in the history OF PINBALL. I I WOULD I I THINK IF YOU WERE TO say like name me two games where the code itself is so damn good it's worth owning, Batman and Lord of the Rings 100%. Both games are clunky. Clunky games. They don't shoot great. I think Lord of the Rings is better mechs for sure. I mean, Jaws is another one where the code is insane, right? Jaws isn't doing anything like mechanically interesting, but the code is insane. People are saying James Bond is like that. But, you know, you like with some of these games like Jaws, man, you own a Jaws. Like, let let's You own a Jaws. Do you need to own like 15 other games? If you have a Jaws in a Harry Potter, tell me you're not good. Just Just think about that for a minute. Let's Let's throw three in. Let's just throw let's just throw the three best games from these three. If you own a Jaws, a Harry Potter, a Jaws 50th, a Harry Potter CE, and a Beetlejuice, are you telling me you're waking up being like, I need another game. That's what's crazy is those three games are probably better than 98% of pinball ever made. ever made. I look I I don't have the room. If you have the room, God bless you. But I also think, you know, you don't really have time to get through like 15 games, 10. It's a It's a lot. I mean, right now, my my Xbox I I play three games. I play UFC. I play FC 25 or 26 the soccer. And then and then maybe like a shooter and that's it. Like I don't I don't you know Xbox has got hundreds of games. I use three, you know, but each their own, man. I mean, look, some people have like like Joe New Hart's got a a damn church filled with product. Although, Joe New Hart did post something recently that was not accurate. Oh, I missed some stuff in here. Oh, yeah. Spooky stickers, baby. I think I'm going to stick this on my computer. Got the Franchie logo. Um sad boy got a Jaws Premium OG Twilight Zone six pins currently. Look. Um okay. So here you want to know what was inaccurate and I saw I saw when this was posted and people were like wait what that means like demand's over that means like we're going to start to see them go for less money. So Joe said something I think it was Joe I again but basically like got Harry Potter CES new box ready to ship out like no there there's no Harry Potter CES right now sitting at Dros unsold anywhere you know but when you write that it makes people it it telegraphs that like the demand is now soften to the point where they're sitting at distros. There are none at distros. Joe does not have them new inbox. Um, and you know, are you trying to get orders and then make, you know, cuz like Yeah, call them up and see if you can have one in two days. You're not getting it. My point is that the Harry Potter demand is still strong. I think they've made I want to say 1,800 CE so far. Yeah, everyone's still waiting. I I mean, Chad, I I think Stern lighting is is embarrassing next to next to barrels, next to spooky, and next to JJP. The Stern lighting system is still like looks old. I'm worried about an AC/DC remake. I mean, that that's apparently what's next. My guess is that Stern is is now second-guessing everything. And with Walking Dead Remastered being in a an abysmal seller, they have to be someone has to be held accountable from for for greenlighting that game. No. When I when I saw the new Star Wars next to Harry Potter gang, I saw a game that looked half as like looked like it should be half the price. And I'm talking like Potter. This is what Potter Wizard Edition, right? The Ellie versus a $13,000 Stern Star Wars Ellie. and and just Sterns just looks so cheap. I don't I don't get it. I wouldn't want to be the cheap the cheap looking thing. You know what's annoying, too? It's like, well, why can't they just make the cabinets look better? Like, why did we have this amazing cabinet decal with Batman SLE, right? The The three-dimensional embossed decal. It looked great. Well, they've never fully done it to that extent ever again. You're telling me that decals are expensive? It just again, Spike 3 needed a complete overhaul and it was more of a cost cutting it, you know, one step forward, two steps back, I feel like. And And what's funny is you can see now why they never had a Spike 3 launch moment because they knew they didn't have anything to really pull the curtain off on. You know, you don't do like an Apple iPhone launch moment if the new iPhone is cheaper than the old one. If the ca if the camera's worse, right, if the features aren't all better, it's bigger screen, but you know, but less battery life. You know, I feel like that's what Stern realized was, well, we can't do like a Spike 3. Here it is. Because here here it is. Isn't that impressive? Jersey Jack does not have Ghostbusters, by the way. I can confirm that. They They do not moving forward. They are not going to go back and remake games that are already out there. Um, everybody, let's see. We got about 25 more minutes. I would love to open it up for you guys to ask any questions if there's anything you want to talk about. I know I've been um stuck on a few things here. I know there's other stuff going on in pinball, but I'm happy to uh talk about any topics you guys would love to uh to converse on. Uh Goonies is definitely spooky and maybe barrels. So, what I do know is that you cannot have the exclusive license for Goonies, but making two Goonies is idiotic. So, whoever gets to market first is going to win. It would be weird, right? I mean, look, I guess what's interesting is maybe that's not accurate what I just said because imagine this. If Spooky makes a thousand Goonies and they sell out instantly, which they will, there's going to be a thousand people that want the game that didn't get one easily. And then Barrels is like, "We got one, too." I heard Barls is doing they definitely are remaking that pinball circus game. I heard from David, you know, I I they're ne they're definitely not going to make 500 of them. I I think if they do make that pinball circus game, I I think we're talking very limited run of it. I I mean like 50 to 100. They They he knows they're not going to sell 200 of those things. Um absolute novelty. I think they might have a really high price tag, but completely tiny volume. And then um Never Ending Story was what I heard is is the uh the next game from them. What are some fringe themes you think would work for pinball outskirt IPs that may be more loose? Um, Jack, you know, I I think stuff like Blood Sport. I think The Last Starf Fighter. I'm just I'm just throwing out stuff that I think might might work. Um, the movie Rad, the BMX movie Rad. I think Gleaming the Cube. I'm just naming some stuff because like you make a gleaming the cube. It I I think there's there's like that level of like campiness of 80s movies that weren't blockbusters or early 90s that still could be fun. Masters of the Universe to me is not fringe. It's huge. So, Masters of the Universe is going to be the biggest movie release that Mattel has next year. It's not fringe. Um, you know, I would start with stuff like that. I think you get into some um, yeah, I'm wondering I I also do think, again, don't kill me. I do think Alfred Hitchcock movies is something I would look at, right? Probably easier to get all the assets. I I think I think Rear Window and Psycho would be the ones I start with. Um I also think that Clue would be interesting. I think um like an Agatha Christie. Again, I'm just trying to think of stuff. Again, I'm going off of of what Winchester's Mystery House had this like campy vibe to it. Police Academy is a good one. Spawn. Yeah, Spawn. Uh, I also think like, again, this is not fringe, but if if I were to do a Batman, I would look at Frank Miller's The Dark Knight and make a pinball machine based on on that, but I think that would be hard to do. And these are just a lot of things I mean, I'm into and I was into when I was a kid. Oliver Twist. Um yeah, I think there's um you know there there's a lot of like let me see let me pull up like 80s you go like 80s cult classic movies you know all right the last dragon is a good one you Bruce Leroy. I I don't think True Romance is fringe because it's like a Oliver Stone Tarantino movie. Like that's expensive, especially with those actors. Um like The Lost Boys. Here's what's coming up. Last Dragon, The Outsiders, Weird Science. Um let's see. Escape from New York. Let me do images. Big Trouble on Little China. Uh, let's see. I'm trying to think like what's which ones are like cult, you know I think um I think we need more of it like Monster Squad, you know, we we just need more. So, from from what I can tell, I mean, I I hear Transformers is shaping up to be the better like a banger. So, we'll see. Right now, my um my enthusiasm to see the next Stern Machine is probably the lowest it's ever been. So, I don't um Space Balls is great. I you know, I don't know. Like I what I love about Stern is at least we know we're going to get one every four months, like a new cornerstone, which is not a lot, right? It It's like we wait four months for it, it comes out, we spend two months complaining about it, and then before we know it, in two months, we get a new one, you know? It's like, right. Doesn't it feel like Star Wars has been out for four months? It's It's it has. But the time goes quickly with Stern because it creates such, you know, debate. It creates such conversation also like for a lot of us like we just never bought them. I think a lot of people just never haven't been buying these these games like they used to. Yeah. I mean I Yeah. Kong feels like it's years old, right? Kong's only been out for like a year. I mean it's Keith Ellen's last game. It feels like doesn't it feel like Kong came out before Jaws almost because we got Jaws 50th this year which became like the talk of the town. So, I you know, I don't know, man. It's um you know, my money is marked safe from a lot of this. I mean, gang, Die Hard's never happening and Bruce Willis estate's never going to license it. Um, what other questions you guys got? Hit me. Ask Cana anything. Buckaroo bonsai. How about Cannonball Rome, right? How about some of those like weird um I think Magnum PI would be cool. I think a Magnum PI pin. I think Miami Vice, man. Why Why is there no Miami Vice pinball machine, man? You do the whole like 80s like Miami vibe, man. That'd be amazing. What about Scarface? I mean, Scarface is way better for pinball than Godfather. What is the one game that you really want to be made? Yeah, if I if I had to be completely honest, it would be Transformers G1 the movie. Then it would be The Fifth Element. Then it would be Big Trouble in Little China. and then Akira in that order. So G1 Transformers the movie. The movie though, not the G1 series. Fifth Element, Big Trouble and Little China and then Akira. Uh do you have any details on Transformers? It features Autobots and Decepticons. I'm sure they got what is it? Peter Coen to do the voices. See, I'm all about like campiness now. Like we like, you know what I'm saying? Like someone said Matlock, but I mean I don't know. There's something about going campy, right? sort of like the monsters was sort of um you know like a Charles and Charge pinball like a like a Family Ties pinball machine. There's just something about Peewee's Playhouse, you know, like just campy stuff that could just could work. Jerry Springer would actually be kind of funny. The Mory Povich show would be funny. You know what I'm saying? Like Like you are not the father. Like you have to to go through the different iconic moments of the Mory Povich show and and get to like the best reactions to not being the father again. I'm just talking like weird. What is this? I can't wait to play it. See what happens. Yeah, the I mean the office would be great. The office would be great. Tropic Thunder. Yeah, that would be a good one. Seinfeld would be terrific. I don't I don't know, man. I think we're kind of music pinned out. I think Michael Jackson for sure. I think Eminem. And I think Phantom of the Opera, the the Angeloid Weber, the fact that there's not an Angeloid Weber, there's not an Angeloid Weber like Wicked, Angeloid Weber, K-pop, Demon Hunters. I mean, I the the thing I like about Broadway shows more than just like acts is is there's a storyline that goes with them all. And that's where it gets kind of boring. to me if we just do like another music pin. But if you do Phantom, there's a story line. If you do Demon Hunters, there's a story line. If you do, you know, I don't know. I just think it's that's where music pins to me get a little old over time because there's no story line. Ren and Stimpy. Yeah. I mean, the Transformer soundtrack would be amazing. Rocky 4 would be amazing. Oh, Billy Idol. All right, everybody. I am gonna we're gonna end this a little bit earlier today because I'm going to go play a few games with my boys and then we have to shovel ourselves out and we're going to go get a nice family brunch. I just want to say from my family to yours, I'm so happy you guys are here. I hope you all had a very happy holidays, happy Hanukkah, merry Christmas, whatever you're celebrating. I hope you have a great new year. I think it's going to be an amazing year in pinball. I'm not going anywhere. I may try and sell you a few pins here and there, but you'll see how that will work. Um, it's going to be fun. It's not going to be it's not going to ruin the show. It's not going to turn me into a shill. You'll see. I think you're going to laugh when you see how it's all going to work. I am going to figure out how to get these five Beetlejuice machines to club members. That will happen sometime in the new year. Um, but I think bigger than all these games, bigger than all these companies is the community and the connection this community gives each and every one of us. And I think that is where the value always lies. I I think there's an inordinate amount of money spent on things that aren't going to bring you more pinball friends. they're not going to give you greater conversation. Um, and I really do encourage each and every one of you to really show support to the companies that are are going the extra mile. I think the times of mailing it in and cutting corners and cost cutting measures are over. And I think we are in a new golden age of pinball where the stuff that hits this year is going to be like, wow. And it's not going to be stuff you're you're not going to be talking about resell because you're not going to want to resell these games. You know what I'm saying? Like I don't I don't talk about like how much am I going to get for all these uh things I buy Brenda because when we get divorced I'm going to have to sell some of this stuff. No, I'm never divorcing Brenda. Like this is it, you know? So I think we all just want pinball machines that don't make us want to talk about resell. We don't want to talk about how much money we're losing because we won't lose a penny if we never sell these things. And I think that's some of the part of the Canadia haters don't get. We talk about the market and we we're we're shocked by the the extraordinary losses people have been having on some of these games, but the only reason those games have had extraordinary losses is because they're not great games or they were significantly overpriced to begin with. And talking about that is not a negative. It is just using common sense. Right? If you love Kongle, you can go get one now for nine. So, you saved $4,000, maybe cheaper even. Makes sense. I mean, I' I'd want to hang out with a community that's looking out for each other. Not a community that's like Win Schilling everything and just saying everything is awesome from all these companies and you should just like, you know, just blindly hand over checks. Stupid. I want to see you guys have balance. I want to see you guys get your money's worth. Castlevania is awesome. Everybody be good. We'll be back. Thank you guys for all the contributions on the show today and the 10 star. I'm going to stop doing this Facebook guys. You like the Facebook's pointless. You guys are the like 10 stars. That That's a penny. A penny. No. No. You guys are gonna have to step up on Facebook. We're gonna We're gonna This computer's like falling off. All right, let's go play with Killian and Cassian later, guys. All right.