Episode 651: "My Weird Al Thoughts"

Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)·podcast_episode·23m 2s·analyzed·Feb 22, 2022

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.032

TL;DR

Kaneda reviews Weird Al P3 announcement, predicts Toy Story dominance, reports industry pricing/manufacturing concerns.

Summary

Kaneda discusses the newly announced Weird Al's Museum of Natural Hilarity for Multimorphic P3, expressing skepticism about the theme's mass-market appeal despite acknowledging strong gameplay. He reports rumors of Jersey Jack Pinball's Toy Story (Pat Lawlor design, arriving April, CE likely $14,999), Stern's planned April price increase ($400), potential Keith Elwin Jaws game, and concerns about manufacturing capacity across the industry. He also notes Stern artist Christopher Franchi's departure and JJP's plans for The Godfather later in 2024.

Key Claims

Weird Al poll on Patreon received 162 'no' vs 11 'yes' responses regarding dream theme status
high confidence · Kaneda directly referencing his own Patreon poll results
Multimorphic P3 is already six months behind on orders according to distributors
medium confidence · Kaneda citing information from 'some distributors'
Jersey Jack Toy Story will go on production line in April, waiting on two parts
medium confidence · Kaneda: 'Here's the other rumor I'm hearing is that Jersey Jack Pinball is ready with Toy Story. The game is going to go on the line in April. They're just waiting on two parts.'
Toy Story CE will be priced at $14,999 and there will be 1000 Collector's Editions
low confidence · Kaneda offering personal prediction: 'My guess, I've said it before, I think we're going to see the CE be $14,999'
Stern Pinball will increase prices by $400 across the board in April
medium confidence · Kaneda: 'the other thing I'm hearing is this, and this is bad news for everybody, that Stern is going to do another price increase in April. $400 across the board.'
Keith Elwin's next game may be Jaws, designed as an all-new adventure rather than movie clips
low confidence · Kaneda: 'there is a very strong rumor that Keith Elwin will be making Jaws and it will be like Jurassic Park where it will be an all new Jaws adventure'
Toy Story will have only LE and CE versions, no Standard Edition
medium confidence · Kaneda: 'There will only be LEs and CEs. Now I also think they're going to say that We Are Pinball is only making this many LEs in 2024'
Christopher Franchi is no longer making Stern games and will handle artwork for The Godfather
medium confidence · Kaneda: 'he's no longer making any Stern games. We saw his post where he said Stern Pinball Inc. bridge has been blown up'

Notable Quotes

“I don't understand adults who are still into Weird Al, but I understand he has a fan base. I understand he's sold 20 million albums.”
Kaneda @ Early in content — Expresses core skepticism about Weird Al's mainstream appeal to adult collectors
“There is nothing, and I mean this, there is nothing they could put into this game that would make me buy it because I don't want to own a Weird Al game.”
Kaneda @ Mid-content — Strong personal stance on Weird Al despite acknowledging gameplay quality
“When it comes to a Jersey Jack collector's edition of Toy Story, it will be their hottest selling pinball machine of all time.”
Kaneda @ Mid-content — Predicts Toy Story will be JJP's strongest-performing title
“Keith Elwin could sell Care Bears. Like he could sell My Little Pony. When this guy makes a game it's going to sell like hotcakes.”
Kaneda @ Late-content — High confidence in Keith Elwin's design marketability regardless of IP
“You just need 5,000 diehard fans of any property who also like pinball and you'll be okay.”
Kaneda @ Late-content — Framework for understanding niche theme viability
“If you have a Jurassic Park, a Stranger Things, a Deadpool and a Batman 66 LE, you now have over a hundred thousand dollars in pins.”
Kaneda @ Late-content — Illustrates inflated pricing trend in modern pinball collecting
“I just don't see the Multimorphic P3 platform being able to stay competitive with what else is in pinball because the market has shown that people just want to buy stand-alone games.”
Kaneda @ Late-content — Structural critique of P3 modular model vs. standalone games
“It's an okay thing to do. It will sell Jerry some units. That's it. Do we need to talk about it for an hour? No.”
Kaneda @ Final segment — Meta-commentary on Weird Al's limited cultural relevance despite commercial viability

Entities

KanedapersonJerry (Multimorphic)personPat Lawlorperson Keith Elwinperson Christopher Franchiperson Eric MeunierpersonJohn YuseypersonZach Meny

Signals

?
announcement: Multimorphic officially announced Weird Al's Museum of Natural Hilarity for P3 platform on Monday
high · Kaneda: 'revealing to the world this Monday that P3's licensed theme that we've been waiting for for a really long time is in fact Weird Al's Museum of Hilarity'
$
market_signal: Weird Al theme generating extreme polarization in community (162 no vs 11 yes Patreon poll)
high · Kaneda: 'This is probably one of the most divisive themes lately. I've ever seen in the world' and poll breakdown
?
supply_chain_signal: Multimorphic P3 reported 6+ months behind on existing orders
medium · Kaneda: 'I'm hearing from some distributors that Multimorphic P3 is already like six months behind on orders'
?
machine_intel: Jersey Jack Toy Story expected to go on production line April 2024, waiting on two parts
medium · Kaneda: 'Jersey Jack Pinball is ready with Toy Story. The game is going to go on the line in April. They're just waiting on two parts.'
?
business_signal: Stern Pinball planning $400 across-the-board price increase in April
medium · Kaneda: 'Stern is going to do another price increase in April. $400 across the board'
?
personnel_signal: Christopher Franchi ending Stern work, moving to Jersey Jack Godfather artwork

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.069

0:00

You know when I hear the song Dare to be stupid by Weird Al Yankovic, I can't help but feel like Dare to be stupid may be the perfect theme song for P3 Multimorphic. No, I'm kidding, but I did think about the irony of that song and revealing to the world this Monday that P3's licensed theme that we've been waiting for for a really long time is in fact Weird Al's Museum of Hilarity. Now, I want to give you my thoughts on this, my thoughts on Jersey Jack and are they going to come to TPF and is Jaws and Back to the Future coming? Let's talk about all of this that's been happening in the pinball world. Okay, now dream theme. Is this a dream theme pinball machine? Now on my Patreon club page, as you guys know, I put up a poll. Is Weird Al a dream theme for you? Now I got the most responses ever during this poll. 162 people said no and 11 said yes. Now, a dream theme I don't think should divide people this much. Like this is probably one of the most divisive Pleasure lately fish Teen Therian Recently used ever in the world up ultras are branded Ayala think about this like did Isis the smart move for p3 multic purposely do I think it's a dream Team let the buying is getting do I think Terry Isn't audience for this game depend on your own and what are my thoughts on this whole thing well first and foremost Pacific doll be is E Audion Theme for some people but knock form a snow as their marketer Me looking at this decision, it is not the theme I would have chosen if I wanted to move a lot of P3 Multimorphic units. I think this is a very, very niche theme when it comes to being a dream theme. I grew up in the 80s and 90s like most of you. I remember Weird Al. I remember his music videos. I just didn't bring Weird Al with me into adulthood. I kind of don't understand adults who are still into Weird Al, but I understand he has a fan base. I understand he's sold 20 million albums. I understand there are grown adults who still engage in Weird Al. It's just nothing I've been engaged with for decades. And I run a group called CultureTap, and we tap into cultural things that have relevance in the modern world. And I mean this when I say it. I have never ever ever ever heard anybody ever in a creative meeting or a strategy session with all of these major clients. No one has ever said, you know who we should partner with? Weird Al Yankovic if we want to reach people. So look, you could say that he still has relevance, but he's, you know, look, he's an American pop culture iconic figure from back in the day. And I know he's still doing stuff. And he's famous for parodying songs that are famous out in culture. I'm a fan of the old-school music videos. I don't get the people who do. But I get he has a fanbase. I can't argue against that. So on theme alone, I don't love this theme. I'm definitely not buying it. You know me. At these prices, things have to be a dream theme for me to jump into it. Now, all we know is the theme. I am hearing from people who have seen the game that this game is pretty packed and loaded. Like the modular system that you put into the P3 to play this weird owl game is going to have a lot of stuff. And that's cool. Like I can't wait to see that. But there is Nothing, and I mean this, there is nothing they could put into this game that would make me buy it because I don't want to own a Weird Al game. Now I wish Jerry would have given me some information prior to this. Like it was clear, he did a good job. Like he invited some media to come see the game first. He did not invite Kaneda. He did not invite Zach Many. notco.com You're just not going to have the buyer base with a theme like Weird Al as you would if you had something that was more like a Rick and Morty or something and that was like Matrix or something that was like Rambo, right? There's just not as many people into Weird Al and it is a music pin. We don't know how they're going to incorporate all the Weird Al songs into this pin, but we shall see. And again, I hear the gameplay is actually going to be the most impressive part, so I look forward to seeing that. The other thing I was thinking about will this help Jerry sell more games the answer is absolutely yes but my big question mark remains this how fast can they build P3 Multimorphic like if you ordered one today when are you getting your weird al game And that my worry because I hearing from some distributors that P3 Multimorphic is already like six months behind on orders. And so if you place an order today, you're waiting six months or longer to get this game. And then how much is this game? And for you to go in on the P3 Multimorphic platform, like you really have to go in on the platform. Here's some in the encryption spac잖아 and otratapnict teleportation script so you're probably gonna end up buying like the heist or cosmic carnival or something else it's a very If you want more info about your cat, bigger pokémon,нее shopping it will be in dropbox description below. Ich Sur prple But Part of me is like why don't they just make a normal pinball machine and then price it accordingly you know because the other part about p3 is like these aren't like le's like anyone who wants a game can have one so there is no real FOMO at play here they're gonna make an unlimited number of weird al games and so look I'm happy Jerry's got a license theme I hope they can make these games fast enough but I also think the window of excitement around this game is gonna be very very I'm going to be very short because coming in on the heels of this game will be a game known as Toy Story. And I think there is going to be an interesting battle that happens down at TPF. So here's the other rumor I'm hearing is that Jersey Jack Pinball is ready with Toy Story. The game is going to go on the line in April. They're just waiting on two parts. That's what I heard. Two parts they're waiting for. The games will be built in April and they are going to bring this thing to TPF. Now that is what I'm hearing and that is super exciting. If I were you, I would not sleep on this game and I know what all of you are saying. Kaneda, we do not know if the playfields are going to be better or not. And I don't know and you don't know. But I do know this, that when it comes to a Jersey Jack collector's edition of Toy Story, it will be their hottest selling pinball machine of all time. And I'd rather roll the dice on a dream theme I'm going to buy Toy Story. I am not going to get locked out of a CE because I'm nervous about the playfield. Even if you get a CE and there are playfield issues, hello guns and roses, you are not going to lose any money. Now the question becomes, how many CEs are they going to make and how much money will they be? My guess, I've said it before, I think we're going to see the CE be $14,999, so 15 grand for the CE and then I'm not sure if there are going to be 500 Buzz or 500 Woody editions but I expect 1000Collectors editions. I think JerseyJack is witnessing this marketplace and seeing what is going on. I also expect them this time to not just say we're making 5000LEs of Toy Story. There will be no SE version of the game. That's the other thing I'm here to report. There will only be LEs and CEs. Now I also think they're going to say that we are only making this many LEs in 2022 and the reason why I think they're going to say that is that they want to make The Godfather by the end of the year because Eric Minear's The Godfather, which will feature I'm hearing Christopher Franchi on artwork, he's no longer making any Stern games. We saw his post where he said the Stern bridge has been blown up so that's never going to I'm hearing the game is done. Like, they're playing Eric's Godfather at JJP today, and it's the 50th anniversary of the Godfather franchise. So, I think that's the plan over at Jersey Jack Pinball this year. Let's get Toy Story out, let's finish up the Guns Run, and then let's also reveal Godfather sometime in October, November. I fully expect that to be the play here. I think 2022 is going to be a year in which Jersey Jack Pinball does a flex move and gets two games out in one year and shows people what they can do. They've been building up this company to get to this point. They don't want to be a company that's one pinball machine every 18 months because now they've got four designers. They've got all this space. They've got all of this knowledge on how to get it done. If they can just get And it will take place at JLCcereptor and present it as an online Hal Thank you for watching Interesting spooky pinball keeps getting better for spooky pinball but it still a company that never really even engineered a single toy that been complex Like look at the big Lebowski and put it next to everything spooky pinball done right It comical You know then you got like home pin doing what with spinal tap and you got pinball ballerama you got plenty factory all these other boutiques right Deep root everyone who coming gone and nobody been able to make a really great game from the boutique space So then you Look at the pinball landscape and it's all Stern, it's all Jersey Jack pinball, Chicago Gaming Company takes forever and American Pinball has just never put out anything that's been like, oh my God, take my money now. And American Pinball strategy as we go into 2022 is to release original IP games. And we know that original IP games are just nowhere near going to be as exciting or entertaining deverhip rol because I,ya olivepeh to come still, Anna tapa so only fro record. Oh, we haven't seen any production updates from Haggis Pinball. I'm not even going to go there. The thread is talking about snakes now. They're not even talking about the game. It is now like the 22nd of February. It's now another month has gone by and there's still no photos of production. I'm not going to keep beating that drum. If you're in on a fathom, it's up to you to ask Damien for proof of production. I don't care anymore. I really don't. I think it is what it is. I still think you'll get your games. I just don't know how they make money with all these delays. Look, I think when we get to TPF and Jerry's got his new game, he can't make them that fast. Like how many P3s can Jerry make a week? Let's say he gets 200 orders for the Weird Al game. When are you getting your game? I mean, that's the problem is people are not going to want to wait eight months to get something that you reveal today. I have full faith that if Jersey Jack announces Toy Story and they go on the line in April, I'm going to be talking about the new Buzz Lightyear movie that will be out in the summer. I think Jersey Jack is going to hit the timing perfectly with Toy Story. I have no idea what's in Toy Story. Like I'm excited to see it. I have no idea what the toys are, what the layout is. It's a Pat Lawler theme. I believe John Yusey is on the art package of this game. Now look, it's Toy Story. So they are going to get great assets from Disney. It's not going to be too hard to make a Toy Story pin look amazing because it's already illustrated and animated. So all they have to do is move that stuff around and make it look amazing. Then you add like the gold sparkle to the CEs and we know that nobody puts more into their modern games than Jersey Jack Pinball. The main question mark around Toy Story will be how many assets are they going to get? Are we going to get clips from the movies? Are we going to see the iconic scenes we love voiced over by the actors in those scenes? Are we going to get Tom Hanks? Are we going to get Tim Allen? Nobody knows. Nobody knows. We shall see what happens with these games. But it's an exciting time in pinball because as we get closer to TPF, more and more will be revealed. Like when is American Pinball going to start revealing the Dennis Nordman game? Think about it for a minute. I'm not seeing any Legends of Valhalla's being unboxed. I don't know what's going I still think manufacturing across the board is really sluggish everywhere. Now Stern Pinball, let's talk about them for a minute. We've got RushLEs going out the door. They will make all thousand RushLEs by the end of February. So that's a good thing. Then we're going to get to their next title. I believe their next title will be shown in April or May. But the other thing I'm hearing is this, and this is bad news for everybody, that Stern is going to do another price increase in April. $400 across the board. www.sternpolitikpodcast.com

16:11

It's double the price and there's not double in these games. It's getting really expensive. When I see people spending $18,000, $19,000 on like a Stranger Things, I really do wish everyone would just slow down. It's not gonna be like this forever. There's a lot of really exciting titles coming. Why would you go all in on a Stranger Things? We're gonna get Venom, then we're gonna get James Bond, And then I'm hearing that Keith Elwin's next game might be Jaws. Like I can't 100% say it's Jaws. I have not seen it. But there is a very strong rumor that Keith Elwin will be making Jaws and it will be like Jurassic Park where it will be an all new Jaws adventure and not clips from the movie. Now look, if they make Jaws and it's Keith Elwin, it's going to sell. Keith Elwin could sell Care Bears. Like he could sell My Little Pony. When this guy makes a game it going to sell like hotcakes and Jaws is still super relevant You know why Because people just love sharks There a reason why Shark Week is pitchbernendas signing English isions We don't need another Godzilla, then Keith Elwin makes Godzilla and you all bought it. Same is true with Jaws except we've never had a Jaws pin. So if they make this Jaws pin, it's going to sell phenomenally well. And it's another property that just has millions of fans. Jaws is more popular than maybe Halloween. It's just as popular as like Rush. Like you don't need to have like a billion fans. You just need 5,000 diehard fans of any property who also like pinball and you'll be okay. And that's where we are in the pinball marketplace. So here's my prediction. I think Toy Story is going to be gangbusters for JJP. I think Weird Al is going to do okay for Jerry, but he's not going to be able to make the games fast enough. And by the time the games become more available, people's money will be spent with Jersey Jack and with Stern. And also people are going to be hit up to make up the remainder of their Cactus Canyon purchases. Like we're not even talking about the fact that Cactus Canyon is another game that has This is a special edition of the Knapp Arcade, where we ask you to give us your opinion on pinball. I think a lot of us in this hobby have reached a point now where we're like, wait a minute, I'm now committing to four games a year, which is almost like $44,000. Like everyone's starting to like have a wake up call and be like, I don't want to spend $50,000 a year on four pinball machines. When we asked how much money do you have invested in pinball, and the majority of people said over 100k. But that's not even surprising now because we're at the point where if you have four You're over a hundred K in value. If you have a Jurassic Park, a Stranger Things, a Deadpool and a Batman 66LE, you now have over a hundred thousand dollars in pins. Now each of those games, if you bought them when they first came out, you would have only been spending like 40 grand. See it's stupid now. It's absolutely stupid how inflated everything has become and that is why as someone who Hey, guys. It's me. So I'm on the sidelines. I'm with my new dad, Mr. Killion, who's about to be one years old this weekend. I'm happy to sit on the sidelines and watch you rich guys buy all this stuff. I mean, it's fun to watch. It's fun to see what people will ask for a premium. I mean, when did premium and pro machines get a 30% bump in price? Because there are none. There's no inventory, and so you can almost ask whatever you want if you have a game new in box. It's an exciting time to be in pinball, people. The Congratulations Jerry, it's not a dream theme for me. I wouldn't have selected this but I do think you're gonna get orders for weird Ow, I just hope you can make them that's gonna be the big hurdle Can you make these games because it's not just getting new buyers All of the existing P3 owners are probably gonna want this kit and then you've got to also make it for them as well Well, so we shall see how well they can get this game made and how well it sells. Ultimately, it's not what Kaneda says. The market will dictate how well this does. I just don't see the P3 Multimorphic platform being able to stay competitive with what else is in pinball because the market has shown that people just want to buy stand-alone games. The whole modular swapping out of the games as kits, that's not what the market wants. I'm going to be at TPF. So if you're going to TPF, hit me up. Let's all hang out. Let's have fun. Let's grab a beer. Let's connect. I'm super excited to report that we are over 400 club members. We are at 403 right now. About two months ago, we were around 300. And so when I made this decision to take this show behind the paywall just for the fans, you know, people said it wouldn't work out. It's actually working out better than I could ever have imagined. My goal is still to get 1000 people. I think more people that realized that the I think more people are going to want to join when they realize like Kaneda won again for Favorite pinball podcast. And if you're new to the pinball landscape, I put up some shows for people to listen to, but this is where it's at. It's here and it's on the Facebook live page. And I think we're having a great time. There's a lot of other great shows out there, but we get right to the point. We talk about it and we're in and out in just like 20 something minutes. This is how it should be. We don't need 90 minutes analysis of weird out. It's an okay thing to do. It will sell Jerry some units. That's it. Do we need to talk about it for an hour? No. When we see the game, we'll have more to talk about. Everybody, have a great day. I hope you had yesterday off. I did. I just don't want to drink for like an entire year. I feel like I've been drinking and eating since the holidays like way too much. Kaneda's got to get back into a healthy balance. Everybody, have a great day. We'll talk to you soon.