Rocket Man, burning out his fuse all day long. You'll see, you'll see, you'll see, you'll see, you'll see, you'll see, you'll see. Ah, the moment is here. I've been waiting years for this. We are at the post-Pat Lawler era of Jersey Jack Pinball. Today is going to be the day, everybody. This is it. This is the moment of truth. And I am so excited. I'm going to talk all about why I think the post-Pat Lawler era of JJP is everything. Today we are going to see which direction this company is going to go in. We're going to see not just Steve Ritchie's Elton John. And look, I'm turning a page on this thing. I think this thing is going to blow people away. And then we know that moving forward, if post-Pat Lawler era Jersey Jack pinball is back with loaded games, filled with toys where we can actually see the value, none of this barren Toy Story crap and barren Godfather crap where distributors are trying to tell us that shots are the new toys. No, today we're going to see something that we haven't seen in a really long time over at Jersey Jack Pinball. We're going to see where toys are actually toys. We're going to see some speed, some flow. We're going to see what we haven't seen before in the history of Jersey Jack Pinball. And for you people out there saying that Dialed In was a fast game with a lot of flow packed with toys, take your Dialed Ins and shove them, people, because there is no way that Dialed In has a lot of speed. I've played that game. It suffers from the old Jersey Jack sluggish flipper feel that all of those games had. It feels like you're playing the game underwater. All right, so here's what we're going to talk about on this episode of Canada's Pinball Podcast. We're going to talk about the post-Pat Lawler era and what today means for Jersey Jack pinball. We're going to talk about how these goblin fanatics have kicked the hornet's nest for all of you barrels of Tupperware fans out there. all of a sudden all these freaking Labyrinth fans are coming at Kaneda. Oh my gosh, we're going to talk a little bit about that and how I think this game is going to do over the next few months. And then we're going to talk about what is going to be the biggest game at Pinball Expo. It's not going to be any of these games we've been talking about. It's going to be Ninja Eclipse by Turner Pinball, quite possibly the most anticipated game in the history of pinball. All right, but before I do this, I got to give an extra special raise the roof. This person didn't just raise the roof, They smashed through it. And now they're not just part of the Omokase Club. They're part of the Omokase Club and the Raise the Roof Club. I want to give a huge shout out to Leaderboard Arcade, who is now donating $50 a month to Canada's Pinball Podcast. Leaderboard Arcade, thank you so much. And I need to do a special apology for one of my greatest fans of all time. He knows who he is. He's listening right now. He's been waiting forever for me to make a correction here. So Mr. Steve Jablonski, you are one of my greatest followers, one of my greatest subscribers, and you donate also $50 a month to Canadian Pinball Podcast. Now here's what's funny. I read a few episodes ago that Steve wrote to me, don't insult me with $30. I'm going to pay $50. And I attributed that like snarky remark to Steve. And then I didn't realize it. That was Canada's own description of the $50 tier. Now, I had done these descriptions like three, four years ago. So I did not even remember that. So, Steve, I'm sorry that I put my sarcasm onto your name. You are a much more civilized gentleman than Canada. And that is why you are so successful. And you're one of my top donators on Canada's Pinball Podcast. Now, the one thing we don't have, we don't have one of these tiers. We don't have one person doing $100 a month. And I have to say, getting a little jelly, I know another show that's got a few people donating $100 a month, and they don't even do shows anymore. You barely get a show. Maybe you're going to get a polo shirt, but here's the new offer from Canada's Pinball Podcast. If you go to $100 a month, you're going to get one of those awesome Canada hoodies. And not just the simple one, the one with all of the Akira patches all over it. So we'll see who goes to $100 a month. We'll see who joins that club. All right, let's talk about today. Let's talk about the post Pat Lawler era of Jersey Jack Pinball. Now, look, I know for a lot of you out there, you've been waiting to hear Canada's episode 500. You've been waiting to hear a lot of the stories that I heard from people who were part of the move from New Jersey to Chicago. Pat Lawler is the reason why the company moved. Pat Lawler took this company over from Jack Guarnieri. And for a lot of you out there, you don't want to believe it. For a lot of the people at the company now, they don't want to go back and revisit some of these stories. But that is what happened. Pat Lawler is the reason why Butch Peel is no longer at Jersey Jack Pinball. Pat Lawler is the reason why there were so many mess ups over at Jersey Jack Pinball back in the day. Pat Lawler was the reason why there were so many delays. Do you know that Pat Lawler was supposed to make dialed in in a year and it took him three years to finish the game? Three freaking years. And all of those delays are what hurt Jersey Jack Pinball. All of those delays are the reason why Jersey Jack Pinball ran out of money. Like they literally had Hobbits on the line and they had to turn off production because they had no more money. And Pat Lawler is the reason why the Abbott's family had to come in and save this company. Now, look, it's still on Jack's shoulders. He picked Pat Lawler. There's a reason why other companies didn't want to work with Pat Lawler. Pat Lawler used to work with Stern Pinball. But this is not about Pat Lawler anymore because it over The man retired He moved on But I will say this Pat Lawler was a lot of the reason why Jersey Jack was yanking stuff out of games He the reason why there not the triple spinning discs in Pirates of the Caribbean He didn't really want to help other designers at Jersey Jack Pinball learn the trade of pinball. And he had his shot. And that's the thing, ladies and gentlemen. For these legacy designers, they had their chance. They had their moment. They had the money. They had the resources. is they have the opportunities to blow us away. And Pat Lawler had three opportunities to blow us away at Jersey Jack Pinball, and he failed on every single one. And so now we got Steve Ritchie. These guys are titans. These guys are like legends in the world of pinball. And we didn't get it from Pat Lawler. This is why I am excited, because I think we're going to get it from Steve Ritchie today. I really do. I think Steve Ritchie, I think he left Stern Pinball and he wasn't happy. I think he was unhappy with a lot of the decisions that were made over at Stern Pinball. And can you blame the guy? And I think he's learned a lesson because we know he has it. Like we know he has it when you stand over a game like ACDC, when you play a game like Star Trek, you know he's capable of making an amazing pinball experience and he's made amazing pinball machines over the years. So you know he has it. And we also know that Stern was in a real cost-cutting place. And Steve's like a legacy designer. I don't think he was able to really understand how to work with a modern bomb the way Keith Elwin was, right? Because Godzilla was only $100 more in bomb than Led Zeppelin. But a lot of that Led Zeppelin bomb probably went to the license in the game. Now, look, I'm still mad at Steve Ritchie for what he did with Star Wars. I don't think he designed Star Wars from the ground up. I think Star Wars looks like a reskin of something else he was working on. And still, to this day, when I look at Star Wars, I don't see the creativity. I don't see the imagination. I don't see the film I love represented in a world under glass in that game. So I've been harder on Steve Ritchie than anybody else. I don't think he's earned the title of the king over the last few releases, but he left and he left and he's angry and he's mad and he wants to prove himself again. And he wants to come back and show everybody what he can do when he's unshackled, when he's unleashed. And if Jersey Jack pinball is to be believed and they unleashed Steve Ritchie, then what we are about to see today should be something that is magnanimous, that is creative, that is over the top. That is like something we haven't seen in pinball in a while. And it has to be more than just visual. Jersey Jack pinball has dazzled us with visuals. Guns and Roses was a dazzling pinball machine. We all fell victim to the video. And then when you play the game, it wasn't there. The gameplay is not there. You're chopping wood with all these multi balls and there's no way around it, right? It's like you've got this beautiful game, but after playing it for like 200 times, you kind of get tired of it because the pinball playing experience is not in Guns and Roses. And you have to look no further. I just saw a Guns and Roses CE for sale today, new in box for $13,500. That's insanity, people. That's cheaper than a new in box Godfather CE and a new in box Toy Story CE. And there's half as many Guns and Roses machines in the world. And so But Jersey Jack is at the lowest it's ever been. I mean this. This is the lowest the company has ever been. They have absolutely no mojo going into this release. And that is why so many people, it's more than just people being like, oh, we don't want Elton John. It's like you don't really want Jersey Jack Pinball anymore. And Jersey Jack Pinball hasn't done anything to make you want them. Jersey Jack Pinball hasn't been hyping their products properly. They haven't been speaking to the community. They've been doing absolutely nothing. They've released two games in a row that are absolutely underwhelming. And you could see the vibe of them at the shows. You could read it in the body language. Like I'd be at a show and I'd see the Jersey Jack employees and they've got their arms folded and they're in the corner. And they don't really feel excited about the product they're putting in front of you. You could see it in the promotional videos they made for Toy Story and for Godfather. You could see it in all their eyes. Like Eric Minier's not a fan of the Godfather. He made a game that he had to make. not a game that he wanted to make. And that's a very big question about Elton John today. Is this a game that Steve Ritchie wanted to make, or is it a game that he had to make when he came over to Jersey Jack Pinball? All of these questions are going to be answered today. But I think what we're going to see is this. I think we're going to see a game that is packed with toys. And I think we're going to see the most visually stunning, spectacular light show game of all time. But I also think we're going to see the best shooting Jersey Jack machine ever. I think we're going to see a game with speed. I think we're going to see a game with flow. I think we're going to see a game with mechanisms that are really cool and connected to the theme. And I think this thing just from a distance, and you can see it in the trailer video, it is going to pop like nothing else. It is going to be like New Year's Eve sitting in a box, sitting in your living room. And I think it's going to make other pinball machines. It's so funny that this thing is coming out the same time as the labyrinth which is all brown and it's kind of boring looking visually and it doesn't sparkle like you're literally putting a disco ball next to a brown brick that is what it's going to look like when you put elton john next to labyrinth and look a pinball machine is supposed to be something that just visually grabs you in and then you're supposed to go up to it and know what to do in the game and there's supposed to be a world under glass that makes you want to shoot and see what happens as the ball interacts with all the fun toys underneath the glass. And then you're going to get great sound, great music, great lights Is this going to be the game that gives us everything we wanted in a Jersey Jack pinball machine Now here the thing And I hearing a lot of you screaming at like Keneado what are you talking about Because nobody wants the Elton John theme Look and I understand that point Like, this is not a dream theme for most of you. It's not. But I also want to say this. This music is not music to sleep on. This is a man that sold over 300 million albums globally. This is a man who could sell out an 80,000-person stadium. This guy could have a residency and sell out an 80,000 person stadium day after day after day. I mean, Billy Joel does it in New York. Elton John is bigger than Billy Joel. He's bigger than Foo Fighters, Aerosmith and Guns N' Roses combined. I mean, it's Elton freaking John, people. It's Elton freaking John. And from what I'm seeing in this teaser trailer video, I think it's gonna be Christopher Franchi artwork as well, which could be freaking awesome. Finally, he's gonna get back on a hit game, I think. So I'm just saying today is the day. And if you want to watch my reaction as we see the video drop at noon Eastern Standard Time, join me on Facebook. And I'm just super excited. Look, this is it. This is it. And look, if this game's terrible and they fumble this and it doesn't blow us away, I will be the first person to call it out. But I'll also be the first person to congratulate them on proving me and many of us wrong. So I want to implore each and every one of us. Let's keep an open mind as we go into today because now is the day. All the speculation ends today. Now look, I don't think the game is going to be on the line. So ordering one right away, I encourage each and every one of you, you're going to see a beautiful, sexy two-minute video. That's all you're going to get until later tonight. And it's going to be so beautiful that you're going to want to order it right away. But I would wait to see when these games are on the line because I'm a little bit worried here that order banks are opening before the panel discussion. and if order banks are opening, I think every single distributor needs to be honest with everybody and let us know when is the game on the line. If the game's not on the line now and they don't know when the game's gonna be on the line, I tell you what they're gonna say, oh, Q1 production. That's what you're gonna hear today. I guarantee you they're gonna be like, send your deposit in today and Q1 production and just be worried, people, because that could be like four to five months before you see your Elton John. Oh, can you tell I'm excited? I love new pinball day. I love new pinball day. I do want to give my condolences. I've had some friends who are at Pinball Expo right now, and they're like, man, the show's pretty small. It is very small. And I think a lot of newbies that are traveling there for the first time who are going to Chicago Pinball Expo for four days, some of them are going for Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. They're going for four full days. And I think some people might even stay over for the pinball Olympics. Maybe that's five days. I'm just here to tell you right now, it's a lot. It's a lot of days for not a lot of square footage to cover. You see the entire show in like an hour. And then it's a lot of catching up with people. You know, did you see the photos last night? I was laughing so hard. There were photos of people starting to gather at that arcade where the media mixer is. And look at the photos. It's on Naps Arcade. Look how miserable everybody looks. It was also interesting to see all of those galactic tank forces lined up at that arcade. I heard a little rumor, right? We saw the new American Pinball facility. We know they've got maybe He-Man, right? They've been teasing He-Man and 300 as possible titles. And I think with American Pinball, they're not in a position to be making cheeky jokes about what their next title might be because their current title is a total failure. The company's been pretty much a failure since its inception. And I don't think this company can get cute with anybody because I don't think they have a fan base or a community that's really following them with much excitement. And I'm hearing that the person who's least excited about American bimbo is Mukesh. And here's a rumor I heard that he's given David Fix until January 1st to sell all of these galactic tank forces or else. I don't know what the or else means, but it's not a good thing. I hear. And now it makes total sense, like the desperation to line up all these galactic tank forces. The bottom line is this. David Fix made a bet with Dennis Nordman. Dennis Nordman screwed over American Pinball. He brought them a game that had no commercial appeal. And it's not me saying this. The market is saying this. And I think we need to stop being like, oh, because we like him and he's a nice guy. It doesn't matter if you want your company to survive. If American Pinball needed to survive by choosing the right theme that people wanted, and they went with Dennis Nordman's game, Dennis Nordman would have bankrupted American Pinball. If it wasn't for Mukesh bailing out another failure over at American Pinball, the company would be done. And I'm sorry, but there needs to be more accountability and responsibility on behalf of these designers who bring themes to these companies. Like when Joe Balcer, he could have made any game he wanted to for American Pinball and he decided to make Oktoberfest and him and Josh Kugler got that artist to make the art package on the game that was absolutely horrendous. And when you don't have any accountability for the decisions you make like that and then sales aren't there, who takes responsibility? Well, they let Joe Balcer go and that's the right move in my business and any business. If it's all on you, if you're going to make the call that's going to make or break a company's ability to make money and they need to make money to survive, if you get it wrong, you got to go. All right. So look, I want to make a little bit of an announcement to all of you labyrinth fans. I know you guys are busy getting your tattoos of barrels of pencils on your body I know you all in love with barrels of lollipops I know they brought 10 games to Pinball Expo and that good I glad they showing up with games in boxes Jersey Jack Pinball is not even going to accomplish that with Elton John. And I just want to say this. If you saw the movie and you like it, I'm happy they made a game for you. It's not the theme for me. Look, this movie is niche. It's a very, very niche movie. It made $12 million at the U.S. box office. You know what movie it beat? A little movie that I think would be a much better pinball experience called Big Trouble in Little China. Big Trouble in Little China is another cult classic. It made $11 million at the U.S. box office. But are you telling me that the 40 to 60-year-old pinball buying demographic would be more into Labyrinth as they are older men than Big Trouble in Little China? I don't want to get into this debate, right? Because it's like debating people's childhoods and their nostalgia. And nobody's right. Nobody's wrong. It's all nostalgia. I will say this. There's another movie that I think is a much better game to make than freaking Labyrinth. And it made $50 million at the US box office. And it is probably even easier to get the IP and the license for this movie than Labyrinth. You know what that movie is called? You know what movie pinball machine I would buy instantly? If they made it, a little movie starring a little guy called Jean-Claude Van Damme, the muscles from Brussels, Bloodsport, $50 million, way bigger at the box office than Labyrinth, and way more of a movie that men who buy pinball machines would be into. Look, in the end, I think $1,100 at $10,600, you got to add the topper in because who's not going to get the topper? We're basically at almost $12,000 for this game. I think it's going to be easy to get one. I don't think there's 1,100 people out there. And look, I think the hype on Labyrinth is going to die down big time when we see Elton John today. And here's why. Because I think you're going to see what Jersey Jack will give you for $12,000 next to what this company will give you for $12,000. And one is still going to look like a glorified, sort of nicer, polished version of a spooky homebrew machine. and one is just going to be on such a different level. And you're going to look at both of them and say, wait a minute, how can these two machines be so close in price? And it's going to be crystal clear which one gives you a lot more value. All right, all right, all right, all right, all right, all right, all right. That's me just pleading with all you goblin lovers. Just leave me alone. I get it. I lived a little bit of a different life than you. I didn't love pinball when I was a kid. I love Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, Sega Genesis. I love Mario Kart 64. I wasn't running to the arcade to play pinball machines. I became a pinball fan later in life. But let's be honest, the cool kids were not on pinball. They were learning how to use Guile to beat Dalsim in Street Fighter 2. I mean, that's just the reality, everybody. All right, Kaneda, stop before you lose your entire audience by making fun of pinball. Let's talk about Turner Pinball, the mystery secret, the big thing that's going to happen at Pinball Expo. is this fool going to bring back the pin bar from Raza? Why did this guy buy all of the assets from Deep Root Pinball? This is going to be the biggest joke of the show. Look, whether or not we like Labyrinth or Elton John, we're all going to agree what a joke Turner Pinball will be when they show what that is underneath that like secret photo to come underneath this box is something of a mystery. It's not going to be a mystery. I bet they bring back the pin bar and I bet everybody's going to laugh their butts off because we don't want any of this stuff. Take every single idea from Deep Root Pinball and put it in a dumpster and light it on fire. Why would anybody associated with Deep Root Pinball think they have a future in pinball? It's never happening ever, ladies and gentlemen. Are you ready for Elton John? Are you ready for some I'm Still Standing? Are you ready for Goodbye Yellow Brick Road? Or is Jersey Jack going to flop and be a candle in the wind after this release today. I don't know, but we're going to watch it together. Join Kaneda on Facebook Live at 1145 a.m. I will be live. I think that's 15 minutes before their video is supposed to drop and we can watch it together and we could either be cheering and celebrating or we can be consoling each other. Everybody have a great day. It's going to be an exciting day in pinball. It's so rare that we get a new game from Jersey Jack Pinball and it's been almost three years since Jersey Jack Pinball has even excited us. So please get excited. Steve Ritchie, it's your turn, man. It's your turn to wow us. Do you got it? Is the king back? We shall see. I'm still standing. After all this time. Waking up the pieces of my life without you on my mind. I'm still standing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm still standing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Once I never could have hoped to win. You're stopping down the road and leaving me again