Episode 656: "When Not Going To A Show Makes Sense"

Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)·podcast_episode·28m 51s·analyzed·Mar 8, 2022

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.036

TL;DR

Kaneda analyzes TPF expectations, criticizes Mirko Playfields and Spooky, predicts JJP's Toy Story reveal.

Summary

Kaneda discusses the upcoming Texas Pinball Festival, expressing skepticism about whether major announcements will occur despite industry tradition. Key topics include rumors that Jersey Jack's next game is Toy Story (with possible reveal at MGC), criticism of Mirko Playfields' seminar appearance given quality issues on recent JJP games, concerns about Spooky Pinball's reliance on community crowdsourcing for code fixes, speculation about Haggis Pinball's Fathom production timeline, and commentary on American Pinball's struggling secondary market for original IP games like Legends of Valhalla.

Key Claims

The next Jersey Jack Pinball game will be Toy Story, described as 'the worst kept secret in pinball'
medium confidence · Kaneda speculation based on industry rumors; Kaneda states he heard 'a rumor that the next JJP game will be revealed at MGC, but they might show us some photos at TPF'
Pat Lawlor will likely announce his retirement from pinball soon and Toy Story may be his last game
low confidence · Kaneda speculation: 'I'm going to get the news any month now that Pat Lawlor is retiring from pinball, that this will be his last game'
Mirko Playfields has made four Jersey Jack Pinball games in a row with playfield issues
high confidence · Kaneda assertion based on customer reports: 'This man has made four Jersey Jack Pinball games in a row that have had playfield issues'
Spooky Pinball games arrive with unfinished code that relies on community crowdsourcing for quality
high confidence · Kaneda critique of Halloween and Ultraman code updates: 'Spooky Pinball games are not even built by Spooky anymore. They're built by the community...they basically use their customers as guinea pigs'
Spooky Pinball machines can 'brick' if code is updated incorrectly
medium confidence · Kaneda observation: 'I don't understand how a Spooky Pinball game, if you update your code wrong, it bricks your machine'
Haggis Pinball plans to debut fully-built Fathom machines at Texas Pinball Festival to demonstrate production capability
medium confidence · Kaneda prediction: 'I think he's going to show up at TPF with some fully built Fathoms. I think that is what their goal is'
Legends of Valhalla (American Pinball) secondary market pricing is declining, with machines listed at $7,900 (MSRP -$800) and not selling
high confidence · Kaneda market observation with specific pricing: 'For $7,900, nobody's biting. Nobody bought it. And that price is just going to keep going down'
Spooky Pinball has only produced approximately 130-140 Ultraman and 300s of Halloween machines to date

Notable Quotes

“Now, I'm hearing a rumor that the next JJP game will be revealed at MGC, but they might show us some photos at TPF. Now, here's what I think will happen. I think, if anything, they will just reveal that the game is Toy Story. It is the worst kept secret in pinball.”
Kaneda @ ~15:00 — Core rumor about JJP's next major title; establishes Toy Story as open industry speculation
“I don't think anybody, and I mean this, I don't think anybody in pinball wants to hear from Mirko right now. This man has made four Jersey Jack Pinball games in a row that have had playfield issues.”
Kaneda @ ~20:00 — Direct criticism of Mirko Playfields' credibility and recent track record; signals community frustration
“Spooky Pinball games are not even built by Spooky anymore. They're built by the community. It's like they basically use their customers as guinea pigs on everything they do with their games.”
Kaneda @ ~38:00 — Criticism of Spooky's development model and reliance on post-launch community feedback
“It only makes an ego play because it makes no business or financial sense for you to go to TPF. I'm a fan of the game sitting in boxes at distributors.”
Kaneda @ ~57:00 — Argument that manufacturers with backlog shouldn't attend shows; applies to Haggis, Pinball Brothers, and others
“For $7,900, nobody's biting. Nobody bought it. And that price is just going to keep going down and down and down. This is the problem with David Fix's strategy. Nobody has an emotional connection to these original IP games.”
Kaneda @ ~67:00 — Market critique of American Pinball's original IP strategy vs. licensed game performance
“You will never be able to get a Godzilla LE for $10,500 ever again. You'll never be able to get a Guns N' Roses Collector's Edition for $12,500 ever again. And if you bought those games, all you've done is made yourself money, thousands of dollars.”
Kaneda @ ~71:00 — Validation of licensed IP FOMO and secondary market investment logic; contrasts with original IP depreciation

Entities

Kanedaperson Jersey Jack PinballcompanyJack GuarneripersonPat Lawlorperson Steve RitchiepersonMirko PlayfieldspersonSpooky Pinballcompany

Signals

?
rumor_hype: Jersey Jack Pinball's next game rumored to be Toy Story; Kaneda describes it as 'worst kept secret in pinball'; speculation about reveal timing at MGC or photos at TPF
medium · Kaneda: 'I'm hearing a rumor that the next JJP game will be revealed at MGC, but they might show us some photos at TPF...I think...they will just reveal that the game is Toy Story. It is the worst kept secret in pinball.'
?
product_concern: Mirko Playfields has produced four consecutive Jersey Jack Pinball games with playfield defects; significant customer dissatisfaction and non-responsiveness on social media
high · Kaneda: 'This man has made four Jersey Jack Pinball games in a row that have had playfield issues...there have been hundreds of customers who have bought JJP games that he put playfields into and those playfields have had issues.'
?
code_update: Major code updates released for Spooky Pinball's Halloween and Ultraman; community reports improved satisfaction; Kaneda notes continued issues with update process
high · Kaneda: 'So the big news this week is there is a major code update for Halloween and Ultraman...people are getting a lot More satisfied with their purchases...code updates advancing these games.'
?
manufacturing_signal: Spooky Pinball production slower than expected; approximately 130-140 Ultraman units and 300+ Halloween units produced to date
medium · Kaneda: 'Spooky Pinball they are not cranking out these games as fast as they want. I think we're only at like Ultraman number like 130, 140 and only at Halloween in the 300s.'
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Topics

Texas Pinball Festival expectations and announcementsprimaryJersey Jack Pinball's next title (Toy Story rumor)primaryMirko Playfields quality issues and credibilityprimarySpooky Pinball's crowdsourced code development model and quality concernsprimaryHaggis Pinball Fathom production delays and TPF strategyprimaryAmerican Pinball secondary market depreciation and original IP strategyprimaryLicensed vs. original IP pinball game value retentionprimary2025 Twippies Awards format and predictionssecondaryPinball code update infrastructure and ease-of-usesecondaryCommunity engagement and accountability in pinball manufacturingsecondary

Sentiment

mixed(-0.3)— Kaneda expresses excitement about TPF and pinball community but is deeply critical of specific manufacturers (Mirko Playfields, Spooky Pinball, Haggis, American Pinball) and their strategies. Critical of Mirko Playfields' quality and communication. Frustrated with Spooky Pinball's reliance on community crowdsourcing. Skeptical of Haggis attending TPF while delayed. Concerned about industry's lack of critical humor. Positive about potential JJP Toy Story reveal and community gathering aspect of shows.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.087

Can't you see the private jets flying over you? Maybach bumperstickery, what we're over do? Jay is chillin', yay is chillin', what more can I say? We killin' em, hold up, before we end this campaign. As you can see we embody the damn land. Sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up. Wow, we've done 656 podcasts about pinball. 656! So if you are ever floating through space and you need to kill a few years, just put on Kaneda's Pinball Podcast. So we are just a couple of weeks away from Texas Pinball Festival. Now normally this is a very exciting time in pinball because normally TPF is the show in which all of the big news happens in pinball. But lately that hasn't been the case. It's still going to be a great show. Ed and Kim put on an amazing show. There are always a ton of machines to play and you know that the greatest part of these shows is just coming together and it's been a long time since we've all been together. I saw many of you down in Chicago or down or over in Chicago for Pinball Expo and that was a lot of fun. But I fully expect TPF to be even more fun than Expo because the facilities and the embassy suites is a lot more better situated than the Pinball Expo destination because at Expo,haus TPlease Subscribe at www.pureveda.com Plus you still got ш Mitchell zeadrakrapash, multilanea- earringsy viewers, nythınıya kha 더ongaiyish, mnićkiż inability Respect for PNjks csnić chances podría kaukie bost趁uk Network deened vozmeń música, w weighs Čukłameś Č clarification Reporting Aksesỏi curling sLAibear Diamond Gavrović Čukareci Čuk teaspoon Medialuchali Čečelj physics Čus DIYe hear I'm here to talk and grab a drink, but I'm dedicating that time. So if you don't want to miss Kaneda and you're going to be at TPF, just come over to Perry's Steakhouse. It's right across the street, 530-730 on Friday night. And I will be there and I will be putting everything on your bar tab. Okay, no, I'm just joking. I'm just joking. But no, everyone will just get their own drinks. This isn't going to be like Kaneda throwing down thousands of dollars. I've got kids to feed, okay? Now normally as we go into TPF we're all really excited because there's usually going to be like a big game reveal or some big announcement but I must say this year there really isn't anything humongous happening at the show other than we're going to see Weird Al for the first time. Jersey Jack is going to be there with Steve Ritchie at 8 o'clock on Friday night. That's one of the reasons why my happy hour is ending at 7 30 so we can go over there. Now, I'm hearing a rumor that the next JJP game will be revealed at MGC, but they might show us some photos atTPF. Now, here's what I think will happen. I think, if anything, they will just reveal that the game is Toy Story. It is the worst kept secret in pinball. And so, I think Jack will get up there. He'll talk with Steve Ritchie about the future of Jersey Jack Pinball, but Pat Lawler's not going to be there, which is a little strange, right? I'm going to be a little bit more specific here because if Toy Story is next, you would think Pat Lawler would be up there, but I also think we're going to get the news any month now that Pat Lawler is retiring from pinball, that this will be his last game, that this man has had one of the greatest legacy careers in pinball. He may go down one day as the greatest pinball designer of all time. He's easily the greatest pinball designer from the Bally Williams era, and he's just Just a man who's made some amazing pinball machines. Now say what you will about the man personally. I hear he's a little cantankerous, but that's Pat Lawler. So many great musicians and artists are really hard to get along with. They take their craft ultra seriously. They don't want to hear any feedback. They do it their way. Sounds a little bit like Kaneda, right? I mean if I had a dollar for the amount of times people give me feedback on how to do my show better. I'm like, guys, pick up a mic and let me see you do it better and do 656 podcasts about pinball and keep coming and then I'll take your advice. All right. So yeah, are we going to see Toy Story? Are they going to tease it or give us a little bit to chew on over at Texas Pinball Festival? I hope so. The other crazy part is this. Mirko Playfields is going to be there. Mirko Playfields is hosting some sort of seminar, During Sin probe, Dolores You have to have common sense. You have to have some sort of sense of whether or not people want to hear from you. And I don't think anybody, and I mean this, I don't think anybody in pinball wants to hear from Mirko right now. This man has made four Jersey Jack games in a row that have had playfield issues. Now, calling this the forgotten tales. Is the forgotten tales alluding to the fact that he's forgotten how to make playfields? The You know, when you try to reach out to Mirko on Facebook, he ignores you. He doesn't want to talk to you. He escapes the conversation. But this is the part. If you're going to get up on stage at TPF and you're going to field questions from people and you have thousands of customers, and I mean this when I say it, there have been hundreds of customers who have bought JJP games that he put playfields into and those playfields have had issues. Now look, I don't understand what goes on inside the head of a man that wants to get on stage after the year he's had. I don't think he should be up there. I think he should be back making quality playfields and figuring out how to make the playfields bulletproof. So if he's going to get up on stage, I hope this entire thing is not him trying to convince us the playfields are great by trying to overscrew a post into the playfield. I hope he gets up there and comes clean on everything that happened with his product I hope he gets up there and says hey it been a rough few years We learned a lot I know many of you have had issues with my playfields Here is what I have been doing over the last six months to ensure that all Miracle Playfields moving forward do not have these issues. I hope that's what he's going to talk about. But I have a bad feeling that it's not going to be that. He's not going to do it. He's just gonna go up there and pat himself on the back and I'll say this about this community. I have never ever seen a community fold like lawn chairs like the pinball community. I was there when Jay Pop got up on stage and nobody even asked him any tough questions. This was after Jay Pop robbed people of their money and everyone just sat there. Now look, we can be respectful but we can ask questions. I want to ask him, what happened between The Hobbit and Willy Wonka and Pirates and Guns N' Roses because The Hobbit playfields did not have issues. I want to ask him, are you an investor in Jersey Jack Pinball? Do you have an exclusive deal with Jersey Jack Pinball because you are an investor in the company? That is a fair question to ask. I still just can't believe he's going to get up there. I really can't and it's going to be interesting. I'm definitely going to try to do a Facebook Live and film the seminar so you can see it. We've got Cactus Canyon's going to be doing seminars. We've got CGC's going to do a seminar. We've got American Pinball. We've got Multimorphic. And I'm looking forward to these things because when you go to the show, there's only so much you can walk around. There's only so much alcohol you can consume. And then Saturday night will be the Twippies. And so it's going to be an exciting, fast and furious two days at TPF. I mean a lot of people are flying in Friday all day Saturday early out Sunday like it is a wham bam show which is good because if you went to Expo this past year a lot of people flew in like Wednesday and sat around all day Wednesday and Thursday with nothing to do. So you really only need two days at a pinball show to get it all, to get your fill, to get your kicks with your pinball friends. So I like the way that TPF is just two days, 48 hours, I can be the pinball nerd I want to be and then I'm back home in the real world. Now I will say, is Kaneda nervous about the Twippies this year? I'm a little bit. I always get a little bit nervous. I never know which way the votes are going to fall. All I can do is ask for my fans to vote for me and get some of my friends and family to vote for me. But you never know. There's a lot of pinball content creators out there. There are a lot of pinball shows, there's a lot of pinball streamers, and you just don't know. Because my competitors would always tell me they get 5,000, 6,000 listens per show. Okay. And then the twippy votes come out and they get like 300 votes, 400 votes. So somebody's lying, like how can you have 4,000 or 5,000 listeners per episode, but you only get 350 or 400 votes? I don't know. I mean, Kaneda would get between like two to three thousand listeners per episode when I was out on the open airwaves and then I think I got around nine hundred and something votes last year and we won by three times the amount. I mean, we beat Franchi by three times the votes. So I feel somewhat good going into this year because here's why. Even if I just got one vote from every single one of my club members, that would be enough. But the reason I am a little bit nervous if I lost the 500 additional votes and those went to the second and third place podcast, then they would have won. So say what you will, but every year during the Twippies, the favorite pinball podcaster category is always one of the most exciting and drama filled categories. I do think this year's Twippies is going to be very boring because Godzilla is going to win everything. And that is going to make the show feel a little bit monochromatic. And also because it's live this year and I mean it when I say it, people have a hard time when it comes to getting up in front of a live audience and giving an acceptance speech. Oftentimes they can get awkward and too short. So we will see how Jeff will keep this show entertaining. And this is going to be the first live show without Zach and Greg. So we will see how Emoto and Jack Danger handle a two hour live crowd. It's a lot harder to keep a crowd entertained if you're not playing pinball. And I've always felt like the big issue with the Twippies is this. Nobody makes fun of the industry enough. If you look at the Oscars, the Golden Globes, the Academy Awards, they always have a comedian host it and roast the people in attendance. And when you get to this show, it's like nobody does that. Nobody's gonna make fun of Haggis for taking forever to get Fathom out. Nobody's gonna make fun of Spooky and Hedge Multibah. Nobody's gonna make fun of the fact that Stern sold like a $25,000 Elvira with $500 in stickers as the only difference. I so wish I could Ricky Gervais the show. I think we need to take the piss out of this hobby a little bit more. It's way too serious and earnest. So is there any news going on in pinball right now as we head to TPF? So the big news this week is there is a major code update for Halloween and Ultraman. And you know and I know that the code has been the main thing people have been waiting for. They've been waiting for this game to mature and wake up. And I'm here to report after being in the threads for both of these games that people are getting a lot more satisfied with their purchases. And you know, I'm at this stage now where I'm curious to see how these code updates are advancing these games. I'm glad that people are enjoying their games more. I still think these games have a way to go and you still hear people having problems just updating the code in their games. I don't understand how a spooky game, if you update your code wrong, it bricks your machine. You know, they just need to get all of this together better. I mean that's my feeling about Spooky Pinball. It's just like, it still just feels like a really, really, really big garage operation still. And some of these things just need to be ironed out and not be issues ever again. If you have a Mac computer, it shouldn't be hard to update your game. Why isn't there Wi-Fi in a $10,000 machine to update your game? You shouldn have all these people trying to figure out how to get the new code into their game It should be the easiest thing to do So the code is better as I in the thread and I read people It funny because I feel like spooky games are not even built by spooky anymore They built by the community It like they basically using their customers as guinea pigs on everything they do with their games It like if you buy a spooky game now they going to use you and they going to crowdsource your feedback to make their games better And I all right with that to a certain point But there gonna come a time where spooky pinball needs to stop doing it this way They need to be able to make a stellar machine at these prices and not rely on entrega´knowledge, facebook, http://www. airplane�라입니다, www.acas Surf.com, www.P conjugue.net this And that's my overall feeling about these two games is I'm sort of over the whole like crowdsourcing it. I'm just sort of over it. I want a pinball machine to come out from the factory in the best possible way it can be. I don't want to give the designer tips. I don't want to have to give the coder like feedback on how to make it better. I want them to hire coders that are better than I could ever be. I want them to hire designers that make games flow better than I ever could imagine. I just think there's way too much relying on the community to help them along. And when I go into the thread and I see it like they're in the thread like there's the other spooky Luke is in the thread every single day like answering pin side questions every single day and while some of you think that's amazing, right? They're in it. They're part of us. They're one of us. I'm starting to think that that's a sign of weakness that they don't really know which direction to go in with stuff so they need to ask all of you every day what do you want and they know the stuff they're putting out there is somewhat buggy and has issues so they want to be there right away to help you out because they know you're gonna have issues and that's just my feeling they are very nice people they mean very well but the next This game needs to be way more polished, way more buttoned up and this company needs to mature more. It just feels like a big garage operation that they're trying to figure out with us at the same time. I don't get that from Jersey Jack. I don't get that from Stern. I don't get that from CGC. Spooky Pinball, that's the next evolution of spooky. A.V. Rieke. I'm all about being a part of the community. It's like they need the community to figure out their mistakes. They should be catching a lot of these mistakes and making a lot of these changes without even having to hear from us. All right. Well, at least Spooky Talks to people! You know, the company that still has not said a word. Haggis Pinball is still MIA when it comes to an official statement about where they are with Fathom production. Now, I think the games are in production of some state. I also think Damien is going to do this. I think he's going to show up at TPF with some fully built Fathoms. I think that is what their goal is. All heads are down. All hands are on deck. If we can show up to TPF with Fathom and everyone sees how well built this game is and how sexy it is, all will be forgiven. And I'm here to tell him right now, Thank you. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • But look, I think he's realizing how hard it really is to make pinball machines. The other mistake I think he's making is this, and I've said this before and I've said this to every single pinball manufacturer out there that has had significant delays and needs to make sure that every single dollar works hard for them. The silliest thing he's doing is coming to TPF. There is no reason to be there. There is no reason to spend the money and go to TPF to put people's fears at ease. Here's why. Because Damien, all of your deposits are nonrefundable. There is no reason why you have to go show people that you can get it done other than a pat on the back. It's only an ego play because it makes no business or financial sense for you to go to TPF in a Kent Adams Kashaya P. Story by Robert Blakeman Andyomos Excellent Kimberly Tlaikいう 까ہ AGA의 tried — Picas is playing** pain, guys. I think because I like the way the video is played, where there are the I'm a fan of the game sitting in boxes at distributors. So why is Jersey Jack at the show? Maybe to announce something, but we're sure as hell not going to get Steve Ritchie's announcement. Look, I get it. Part of it is just to have a presence, right? To keep your company relevant. And I get it. But for companies like Haggis, for companies like Pinball Brothers, it wouldn't make sense. It wouldn't make sense for Dutch Pinball to go. I think when you're a small boutique and you need to just make your games because you've got your order. I'm going to be putting on a show. The show is called Weird Al. It's a show where you go to a show and order the right things. You have to wait a year to get your orders. It makes sense to go to a show to get orders, but if you have your orders, it makes no sense to go to the show. And I've said it about Multimorphic, too. It's like Jerry's going to go to the show, we're all going to play Weird Al, I think people are going to enjoy Weird Al, but then if you go to order a Weird Al at TPF, you're waiting over a year to get your game. Now, we got some more clarity on when Weird Al's will be going out. Now I been hearing as early as April May for the kits And then if you ordered a full machine I hearing Mmm in this past weekend especially October month When I thought about my whoa day I then thought why not seriously focus a little more on getting out of this crap Mmmm like dzisiaj What is. Okay, okay hi The reason why we want to know that is we just want a number by which we can keep these companies Accountable, it's a delayed year. I mean if you look at spooky pinball They are not cranking out these games as fast as they want to I think we're only at like Ultraman number like 130 140 and only at Halloween in the 300s So they've got a long way to go Le 근데 an accountant vague la v width Artyק el aztec we're gonna lose an Julius still like hindsight â Five submit twice and this gets done last year � marginating an You have no money. You're going to lose your shirt on this game. And I said it, a year from now after this game has been out, a year from the October release date, this game will be $2,000 less than it is new in box. And what am I saying already? If you want to buy an open mint condition Legends of Valhalla, the lowest price right now is $7,900 bucks. So that's $800 off MSRP and you can have the game tomorrow. And guess what? For $7,900, nobody's biting. Nobody bought it. And that price is just going to keep going down and down and down. This is the problem with David Fix's strategy. Nobody has an emotional connection to these original IP games. And I know a lot of you want to support every pinball company, but let's face it. You're going to get bored of something that's an original IP game, especially one that doesn't have a ton in it. I mean you have to be out of your mind and I mean it when I say this. You can go get a dialed in LE for $7,700 bucks and it's got 10 times more in it is a better designed game than Legends of Valhalla and yet dialed ins for $7,700 are sitting. People don't want them. Try to go get a license game at Jersey Jack Pinball. Those prices have all gone up and that's going to be the problem with these American pinball games. Subtitles by the Amara.org community If I wait a year, I'll be able to save $2,000. What's the point? Why would you buy it new when you can get the same exact game? I mean it when I say it. The only thing I would ever rush to buy now or ever buy with FOMO is something where I knew I either wanted it because emotionally I love the theme more than anything or I knew that the price would never go down. Like you will never be able to get a Godzilla LE for $10,500 ever again. You'll never be able to get a Guns N' Roses collector's Edition for $12,500 ever again. And if you bought those games, all you've done is made yourself money, thousands of dollars, and you'll never lose a penny on the game. So I understand why FOMO drives people to buy those games. But then if you ran and bought Legends of Valhalla on day one, think about what you just got. You just lost $1,000 and you're going to lose more every month that goes on. And you could chalk it up as like, I love the game. Even if you do enjoy the game, wouldn't you want to just save yourself money? And this is why I think David Fix's strategy just won't work because people are going to see this. And now who's going to go buy the next AP game day one with any FOMO? Just wait. erw który Tiaka Ritesh padekipλ вариант And I guess we have to remember the fazil Familie and the Robert David Van Es pluien, CEO of Atcellence hellge敢, disc leaner Pool谢, Kenegie Hudson, So the plot thickens people. This is just exciting. This is what I love about speculating about what's next. Is it going to be James Bond? Is it Venom? Is it Back to the Future? Is Jaws going to come out? Look, I have not seen any of these. I mean it. I haven't seen any of them. When I told you Guns N' Roses was next, it's because I had the machine in my phone for six months before they revealed it. Nobody is passing around photos, I think, of any of these pins. So I'm excited to see what comes out. I'm excited to see if any of my rumors become reality. But this is what we love. We love wondering what is down the road. All right, everybody. This has been Kaneda's Pinball Podcast. Always a pleasure talking to you about what's going on in pinball and sharing my thoughts on this hobby. It's going to be an interesting few weeks. I think TPF is going to be fun. I do think we're going to get some surprises at TPF. And I think Toy Story is right around the corner. When Toy Story comes out, it is gonna just take over this hobby like no other pin in 2022. Super exciting time. We've only got a few weeks to go. Everybody, Kaneda out. Subtitles by the Amara.org community