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Kaneda's Sunday Morning Service!

Kaneda Pinball Podcasts YouTube Lives·video·1h 5m·analyzed·May 26, 2025
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.037

TL;DR

Kaneda discusses June releases, manufacturer pipelines, and consumer resistance to premium pricing.

Summary

Kaneda hosts a Sunday live stream covering pinball manufacturer news and releases. Key discussion points: Harry Potter (Jersey Jack) expected in June with mixed expectations about complexity; Evil Dead (Spooky) praised as game of the year; King Kong (Stern) struggling to sell despite gameplay quality, signaling market resistance to Stern's pricing/tiering strategy; Predator (Pinball Brothers) anticipated for June 12th release with cautious optimism; and rumors of Gremlins as Spooky's next title after Beetlejuice. Broader themes include consumer pushback against new-in-box purchases, tariff concerns affecting overseas manufacturers, and market saturation reducing FOMO-driven sales.

Key Claims

  • Harry Potter is coming out in June 2025

    high confidence · Kaneda states 'any guesses that Harry Potter's coming out in June are good ones' based on timeline discussion

  • Evil Dead is the current game of the year

    high confidence · Kaneda: 'right now, as of today, it's the game of the year. And Spooky deserves a lot of credit.'

  • King Kong Premium will lose $2,000-3,000 in resale value, Pro will lose $1,500

    high confidence · Kaneda: 'The Premium is going to lose 2 to 3,000. The Pro is going to lose 1,500.'

  • Predator release date is expected to be June 12th, 1987 (movie anniversary)

    medium confidence · Kaneda: 'I think the fact that the marketing has turned on again leads me to believe that June 12th will be the date we get Predator. June 12th, 1987 was the day the movie came out.'

  • Spooky's next two games after Evil Dead will be Beetlejuice and then Gremlins

    medium confidence · Kaneda reports hearing from 'a very trusted source who knows people over there' that 'Spooky's next two will be Beetlejuice and then Gremlins'

  • Jersey Jack may limit Harry Potter Collector's Edition to 1,000 units

    medium confidence · Kaneda discusses rumors about CE production numbers: 'One of the rumors I've been reading lately... that they are going to limit the Collector's Editions to a thousand'

  • Tariffs will negatively impact overseas pinball sales to North America

    high confidence · Kaneda: 'The tariffs will absolutely destroy the new-in-box sales from overseas for... all these companies that need to ship games from Europe to America'

  • King Kong is not selling well; LE inventory remains available

    high confidence · Kaneda: 'the amount of Kong still available is comical... King Kong Elite not sold out... This game is not selling that well'

  • 300-500 collectors who previously bought everything are now sitting on sidelines

Notable Quotes

  • “I don't think we're going to see a lot of complex mechs. I don't think we're going to see a ton under that playfield. So, time will tell, but if Jersey Jack needs to crank these things out every week, I think you're going to see a game that's more Guns N' Roses and less Pirates of the Caribbean.”

    Kaneda @ early in stream — Expresses concern about Jersey Jack's approach to Harry Potter design, prioritizing volume over complexity

  • “two opposing things can be true at the same time: that King Kong can be a great game that's also going to lose so much value.”

    Kaneda @ mid-stream — Core argument about market reality: gameplay quality doesn't guarantee investment value

  • “if you don't make half a million a year family income, you should not be spending $15,000 a year on a pinball machine.”

    Kaneda @ early-mid stream — Prescriptive statement about who should be buying new-in-box machines at current prices

  • “there's a real pushback against Stern happening with the new-in-box buyer community, and these people are now—they're just over it. They're over getting burned.”

    Kaneda @ mid-stream — Identifies consumer sentiment shift away from Stern due to repeated poor secondary market performance

  • “I believe this is the first game he ever made in the history of his career as a designer in which he loves the theme, in which he feels a personal connection to the theme.”

    Kaneda @ discussing Jersey Jack/Harry Potter — Key insight about Eric's (likely Eric Meunier) Harry Potter design approach and personal investment

  • “Spooky's next two games are going to be harder to get than a Stern Elite, than a JJPCE.”

    Kaneda @ Spooky section — Market prediction about relative availability and demand tier

  • “It is a—it saved Dutch Pinball. It's amazing to me that people don't realize that is really the real impact of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.”

    Kaneda @ Alice discussion — Frames Alice's true strategic value as bridging game for Dutch Pinball survival

Entities

KanedapersonJersey Jack PinballcompanyHarry PottergameEvil DeadgameSpooky PinballcompanyKing KonggameStern Pinballcompany

Signals

  • ?

    business_signal: Dutch Pinball's financial crisis averted by Alice's Adventures in Wonderland bridging game

    high · Kaneda: 'Alice is really the real impact... It saved Dutch Pinball... they would have gone out of business because there would be nothing to make for a year'

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Spooky Pinball positioned as harder to acquire than Stern Elite or JJP Collector's Edition

    medium · Kaneda: 'I think Spooky's next two games are going to be harder to get than a Stern Elite, than a JJPCE'

  • ?

    product_concern: Tariffs pose significant threat to overseas manufacturer profitability and North American sales

    high · Kaneda: 'The tariffs will absolutely destroy the new-in-box sales from overseas for all these companies that need to ship games from Europe to America'

  • ?

    licensing_signal: Back to the Future pinball license retained by Dutch Pinball; rejected offers from Stern and JJP

    medium · Kaneda: 'Both Jersey Jack and Stern were very interested in trying to acquire the license and Barry just wanted more money than they offered'

  • $

    market_signal: 300-500 major collectors have withdrawn from new-in-box purchases due to repeated value loss

    medium · Kaneda: 'I think there's probably like a good 3 to 500 dudes that used to go in on everything that are now sitting on the sidelines'

  • $

Transcript

youtube_auto_sub · $0.000

0:02
[Music] All right, we're in the Garden of Eden here, let's get everybody in talking pinball. Beautiful day. Let's get this um share this
0:40
live. Who's in the house? And we got Brian Ca. It's It's a It's a holiday weekend, so we'll see. Might not be that many people joining today, but Harry Potter and June. Right away, we're talking Harry Potter June. Well, there's not much left to May, gang. It's June next week. So, uh, yeah, I think any guesses that Harry Potter's coming out in June are good ones. I'm here in the backyard of Canada in Rowan, Connecticut. Um, we have a little Memorial Day parade today. Some friends coming over. I mowed the lawn yesterday. Working in the garden, by the way, so therapeutic. pulling out weeds all yesterday. Had a good time. Weather, as you can see, is beautiful. I do not miss living in New York City at all. Like, I I there is not a single day that I ever say to myself, I wish I was still in the city. I I mean, I wish I got out of there 10 years ago and got these homes for a third the price. But, you know, it is what it is. We'll never move. I always say this to Brenda. I love this house so much. I'm going to give it to give it to the kids one day. If we make a lot more money one day, we'll get another house. But I'm not selling this one. This just feels like a little slice of heaven. I don't really want much more to be honest. Watching Friends and Neighbors, the John Ham show, such a good job of like articulating the inniness of having a lot of money in the stuff people buy. Hey, Kill. He's waving to me. We're going to talk all about pinball. We're going to go around the horn today. We're going to talk about every manufacturer and what they have going on. Angry Alpaca. All right, we got Orbiter Albert in the house. Let me just go let everybody know in the Patreon chat. We're over here. I don't expect too many people today, gang. People catch the replay. Want to thank all what do we got? 600. We just keep declining. 682 subscribers. H the goal of 800, we're going in the wrong direction. You know what it is, though? It's like when there's not much news. I I always notice this. We always lose a few subscribers, but I think that um for the most part, the content has been really fun. If you've been a member of the show, uh you you've been enjoying the podcast. Played Evil Dead over the weekend. It's amazing. Lots of lots of fun that game is. It's got a lot in it. I I think it's going to be interesting, gang. Um my big fear of Potter, we're going to talk about it, is that Jersey Jack is going to aim for a game that's easy to build in volume. So, I don't think we're going to see a lot of complex mechs. I don't think we're going to see a ton under that playfield.

medium confidence · Kaneda: 'I think there's probably like a good 3 to 500 dudes that used to go in on everything that are now sitting on the sidelines'

  • “I expect a really interesting Back to the Future game... I just feel like Stern would have just ended up lookin' like Stern would have just, I think Stern Back to the Future would have just ended up looking [incomplete]”

    Kaneda @ Dutch Pinball Back to the Future discussion — Suggests Dutch Pinball will deliver more interesting design than Stern would have

  • “this is like—it used to feel special to get an LE. It doesn't feel that way anymore.”

    Kaneda @ mid-stream — Core sentiment about diminished collector appeal of limited editions

  • “The whole thing has turned into like you can't—you can't scalp anymore. Everyone's crying like babies.”

    Kaneda @ speculation section — Commentary on community gatekeeping of secondary market flipping

    • Predator
    game
    Pinball Brotherscompany
    Alice's Adventures in Wonderlandgame
    Dutch Pinballcompany
    Back to the Futuregame
    Beetlejuicegame
    Gremlinsgame
    Guns N' Rosesgame
    Melvin Williamsperson
    Ericperson
    Steve Ritchieperson
    Christopher Franchiperson
    Barryperson
    Keith Elwinperson
    Zombie Yetiperson

    market_signal: Significant price depreciation predicted for King Kong models ($2-3k Premium loss, $1.5k Pro loss)

    high · Kaneda directly states depreciation amounts based on market conditions and unsold inventory

  • ?

    personnel_signal: Jersey Jack's Eric (likely Eric Meunier) making Harry Potter his first theme-driven design after assignment-based work

    medium · Kaneda speculates Eric had personal connection to Harry Potter unlike Guns N' Roses, Pirates, Godfather, Elton John

  • $

    market_signal: Guns N' Roses inventory showing $5,000 secondary market pricing; massive overstock

    high · Kaneda notes 'There's so many of them' and they're 'about to be a $5,000 game'

  • ?

    announcement: Harry Potter Pinball expected June 2025 release from Jersey Jack Pinball

    high · Kaneda states 'any guesses that Harry Potter's coming out in June are good ones' based on timeline context

  • ?

    product_concern: King Kong mechanical design criticized; early owners require custom bracket modifications

    high · Kaneda notes 'some dude's got to manufacture his own bracket' and 'Stern's letting the initial owners have to develop mods to fix the things that should have been fixed at the factory'

  • ?

    rumor_hype: Spooky Pinball's next two games rumored to be Beetlejuice followed by Gremlins

    medium · Kaneda reports 'from a very trusted source who knows people over there' that games are Beetlejuice and Gremlins with possible holiday release timing

  • ?

    business_signal: Stern attempting to restore FOMO through production scarcity on Metallica LE (500 units)

    medium · Kaneda's earlier discussion of Metallica LE scarcity strategy in relation to John Wick/Venom LE failures

    • 3:53
    So, time will tell, but if Jersey Jack needs to crank these things out every week, I think you're going to see a game that's more Guns and Roses and less Pirates of the Caribbean. But, Evil Dead is um it really is, I've said it before, right now, as of today, it's the game of the year. And Spooky deserves a lot of credit. Hopefully those servos hold up, but really hard to find anyone who's like, I jumped on an Evil Dead and I didn't like it or I don't see the value in it. It's one of those games where there's really not a lot of people complaining about anything. And I think that's good. There's this misconception that Cana wants to just complain about pinball doesn't like pinball doesn't play pinball. No, I actually really wish we had four to five evil deads out right now. not not like the same theme, but four to five games that were loaded, that had a lot of fun, creativity in it, that looked stunning, and came at a price that justified uh how much people are asking for it. It I think what amazes me about Evil Dead is really the theme is not really that great. My Evil Dead computer crashed after four games. Did you get a new computer, Hans? like good like crapped out gone or just had to reset it. Curious to see what um let's just go around the horn in five minutes. Let's just let everybody come in and then we'll go manufacturer by manufacturer. Does that sound good? And I'll let you guys decide which manufacturers we talk to, we talk to, we talk about.
    5:40
    Wayne, what's up over there in Australia, man? Pinball sales overseas. Tariffs looming over everybody. It's going to get interesting. I saw there's already an Alice's Adventures in Wonderland up for sale after only 20 plays in Europe for like
    6:03
    14,500. as I you know like I've been predicting you're going to be able to get those games easily once they start hitting uh US shores and people realize it's beautiful. Um I don't think you're going to see enough game there to justify the
    6:26
    beauty. Yeah, really bad Aussie dollar. Um, all right gang. Who do you guys want to talk about first? You know, all the manufacturers. We're going to go and we're going to just discuss everything going on with each one. Give some thoughts, some predictions, some rumors. We'll talk about it all. Whenever consumer confidence drips, non-essential toy sales. Here's the thing, gang. Rich people don't have to think about anything.
    7:00
    And and by that I mean once you cross the threshold I'm just going to say the threshold I mean anyone with liquid anyone with liquid more than $2 million in liquid assets I don't think is not and that's not even that much money gang in in today's world. Let's just say let's just bump it up to 5 million. Nobody has to hesitate on buying a pinball machine who has money who has like real money and nobody should be buying new and box pinball machine who doesn't have real money. You should be investing your money and buying used games. I mean that like new and box like you can't be buying new inbox g you know what I'm saying? Like if you if you don't make half a million a year family income, you should not be spending $15,000 a year on a pinball machine. Like, let's just, you know, again, you could, but you
    8:01
    shouldn't. Well, look, nobody who's smart bought a Godfather. You know what I'm saying? Like, most people didn't buy a
    8:11
    Godfather. Um, all right, gang. Who do we want to talk about? Pinball Adventures. I'm not starting at Pinball
    8:23
    Adventures. Guns and Roses less are gang. They're they're about to be
    8:31
    $5,000. You know what I mean? They're about to be a $5,000 game. There's so many of them. All right, let's talk Let's talk Predator. Let's talk Pinball Brothers. Thank you, John, for actually answering the question. So, another teaser is out apparently, and I think the fact that the marketing has turned on again leads me to believe that June 12th will be the date we get Predator. Uh, June 12th, 1987 was the day the movie came out. I think Predator is going to be interesting. Um this is a company that this will be the first theme they are handling that I think people are going to have high expectations. Uh remember they did not make nor design Alien that was Andrew Highways company. They then went and made the Queen game, which remember remember Queen came out like right after Guns and Roses and it just looked dated. It looked a day late, a dollar short. I never hear anybody say anything about Queen. It just feels like that game never came out. And the same is true with ABBA. Another game that came out barely could get the thousand sold or 700 and something sold. never hear people talk positively about ABBA. So, you have a company that's basically known for not making good games, for lack of a better way to say it. They just have never made a good game. And now they're making Predator, which is a theme that definitely is a good theme for this demo. It's also a theme that has been, you know, in the pinball world has been at the center of controversy with the Kevin Kulich game who basically was a who was making this game illegally. I just worry about the Pinball Brothers ability to deliver at the same caliber of where other companies are at. Just waving a Killian. Now, that being said, out of all the themes, Out of all the themes coming out, Out of all the themes coming out, Predator is the one that I'm the most excited about theme-wise. Absolute. Isn't it crazy, right? Like, if Stern made Predator instead of John Wick or Venom, they would have sold more Predators if done right. So, um, ABBA shoots well.
    11:14
    So, I think again we're going to see Predator in about three weeks and you know, I don't know. I'm just the whole underside of the Playfield tease and I reached out to them. They know I'm excited about the game. I asked for any assets they can get me to help me um you know, get people hyped. and we'll see what they give me. I doubt I'll get anything like early. Um, but I'm excited to see it. I think everybody's excited to see it. And I think it's um, you know, I if I had to guess, I don't think it's going to crush. I don't I'll buy one because I love the theme unless it really is like empty and just doesn't have Arnold. Is the tariff fear still happening with Predator? Yeah, sure. I mean, I think everyone's afraid of the
    12:22
    tariffs. The um the the the tariffs will absolutely destroy the the new inbox sales from G for, you know, for all these companies that need to ship games from Europe to America. All right. So, that's Predator
    12:49
    and All right. All right. John John Erlick at Jack Bar says, "King Kong Premium is amazing and y'all are sleeping on it and can't wait to see the sentiment shift over the rest of the year." I I don't think so, John. John. John. Because I'll tell you why, John. you you are you are not evaluating this game as a home buyer. You're not eval and and I know you're evaluating it as a pinball player and yes, the game shoots great. No one's denying the fact that King Kong shoots great. It's just it's just people know how much money it's going to lose. John. So like this is the part that I think John and and everyone like is is kind of having a hard time that two opposing things can be true at the same time that King Kong can be a great game that's also going to lose so much value. So like those two things will happen and John everyone is saying yeah I think the game is great and I'll pick one up when it's $2 to $3,000 cheaper in six months. That's all we're saying. We're There is no one who's saying King Kong doesn't shoot well. There is no one who's saying King Kong isn't gonna have great code, isn't going to be a lot of fun. What everybody is saying is by the time the King Kong code is done, these things are going to be so much cheaper to get. That's it. That's all we're saying. Yeah. But but John, here's the thing. The premium is going to lose 2 to 3,000. The the pro is going to lose 1,500. They're all going to lose value, John. You know what I'm saying? Like no, no one no one wants to go in new and box. You're making money on your new box game by routing it, right? No, none of us are. So, you're going to make a few thousand on your game and if you decide to sell it, you'll be up, but the rest of us will be
    14:45
    down. Well, you know, if they make a Jaws 50th, like let's just talk about Stern since we're on the Kong. If they make a Jaws 50th in a few weeks, you're going to see a lot of Jawses lose value. Who cares? Jaws is a great game. I I don't I don't necessarily like the rubber ducky shark, but but Jaws as a total package. Jaws is a is a phenomenal game. It's based on a iconic movie and I think it it it's like gonna Jaws will always hold way more way more emotional emotional currency with owners than King Kong ever
    15:34
    will. No, Jaws does not eat the ball in the 50th. Yeah, I I think um here's the thing about Stern right now. They're they're in a weird place. They're in a they're trying to like they're not used to this. Like gang, like the amount of Kong still available is comical, right? So King Kong Ellie not sold out. Keith Elwin is not driving volume. This game is not selling that well, right? So the the Owen army, the stern fanboys screaming about it doesn't matter. It's not selling that well because everyone is like fool me once, fool me twice, not getting fooled again. this this game, you know, it's just there there is a real and I mean this there's a real push back against Stern happening with the new inbox buyer community and these people are now just they're just over it. They're over getting burned and and I think they're gonna I think they're going to keep speaking with their wallets and I think it's it's you know they they're content they've got enough great games at home and and again it's again I don't think it's like thousands of people but it doesn't take thousands of people. I think there's probably like a good 3 to 500 dudes that used to go in on everything that are now sitting on the sidelines. And those are the reasons why you're not seeing these insta sellouts of lees anymore. It's also the reason why you're seeing just an overall slowdown because if you don't get that FOMO and that like frenzy at the beginning then it never it never develops and then you it's like a market. I mean everything once consumer confidence that you know that I have to have this now and like h once you start thinking about it I'll think about it then then it's good you know you go into the thread and you don't really care. Now the Now the King Kong thread is all about some dude making a bracket, right? The I don't know, some vuck is not working, right? And some dude's got to manufacture his own bracket. So, you're spending all this money and Stern's letting the initial owners have to develop mods to fix the things that should have been fixed at the factory. See that thread? I'm I'm I'm reading everything you guys are looking at.
    18:12
    Yeah, because Apollen like the thing is this is like it it used to be it used to feel special to get an LE. It doesn't feel that way anymore. I mean Neil Neil McRay has been like hammering this that a thousand of anything in this market is not collectible. He's not. That's not exactly true. The problem is is if you only make a thousand of something, sure, maybe, but not a thousand of this just different stickers and then there's like unlimited premiums, unlimited pros, unlim, you know, and the premium is the same exact game. It doesn't it doesn't help. But it's fine, gang. I I I don't I'm I don't know about you, but I absolutely I absolutely I love what consumers are doing right now. They're basically going to change the market and they're going to force these companies either to put a lot more in games and get much better themes or they're going to force these companies to lower the prices. It's just can't keep going the way it's going and everybody knows that. Stern knows it. It's not a negative thing. It's just a new reality. And and I think that's the other part too is there's this this weird pressure within the community that like we ha we have to buy because if we don't buy pinball won't survive. And that's not true anymore. Like the boutiques will happily take all your dollars that you normally would send a Stern or a Jersey Jack machine. Let's let's keep going. Let's keep going on to Stern. um really really um really concerned that The Walking Dead is the next remake and the heat around that rumor is very significant. And so, you know, where there's heat, where there's smoke, there's fire. And I just think if Stern remasters The Walking Dead, I don't care if they do comic book artwork. I I just think that game is just not going to move the way Metallica did. And then, you know, the other thing too, you you just torpedo everyone who owns a Walking Dead's value. And again, what's the point? Why do we need to remake Walking Dead? There's not enough demand for that game. It It never was. I get the code is good. It's a Lyman Sheets game. I get it. But otherwise, that game was never It was never that great. Like, and it's the layout's not great. The well walker well whatever the the barn that opens up with a big face inside it. That's the dumbest toy I've ever seen. Why Why would the head be the size of the barn? I I've never seen I think worse scale orientation in a in a mech than that. At least just when it pops open have a zombie figure that's, you know, at scale to the barn or something or but that look is so stupid.
    21:28
    It doesn't matter though. The um I don't I just don't think it's going to sell. And like the Stern's next game to me is kind of so important because because Elwin didn't deliver the sales they needed on Kong. So I mean, but they're going to Star Wars and Pokemon. So like they've got the two biggest themes this company will ever have had. So, this this is going to be like really interesting. I I I think I think everyone's over Kong already. I do. I think everyone's just like, h, you know, oh, Kong Kong, like, you know what I'm saying? Like, we're all just like, all right, three months from now, we get the next game. I think everyone's going to feel that way. I don't think people are going to really care about like following Kong code updates except for owners and and we're on to the next. Harry Potter is also going to make everybody move past Kong real
    22:26
    quick. Um, all right. So, Stern, I think they're like I think their next six months are going to be like mission critical to get another huge hit. Let's go over um let's talk about Jersey Jack. Jersey Jack. Jersey Jack. Jersey Jack. is Jack. Um, Harry Potter hasn't leaked. I've heard um I've heard two rumors from sources I trust. One said the game is packed. The other said it's more of what we've seen over the last four games. I don't know what to believe. I do know
    23:23
    that I tend to believe that it's going to be more of what we've seen recently. I I I don't I don't feel like, you know, if they wanted to go back and load up, they would have made it a wide body. They would have, you know, I just I don't know. It's not Toy Story 4: Reskinned. Um, I just I just I worry about I always worry about Jersey Jack Games because I just, as I said, and I I firmly believe this. I don't think they have a chief creative officer over there. I think Eric maybe is that guy. Maybe. I'm not sure. I think he's been answering homework assignments now. Like, he's not a huge Guns & Roses fan. He wasn't a Pirates of the Caribbean fan. He never saw the Godfather movie until after he was assigned the game. I believe this is the first game he's ever made in the history of his career as a designer in which he loves the theme, in which he feels a personal connection to the theme. Th that's to me the most exciting thing about this this game is that I know there's not going to be a disconnect and I know when you answer an assignment the difference you you're going to get in ideas versus actually getting to design your dream theme. So I'm I'm excited to see it. I think we're all tired of waiting. I think there's nothing else to talk about with it. I don't think Steve Richie's game is going to come out even in 2026. I think we're going to see nothing but Potter. I mean that. I just don't I think this is it. They're just going to make this game for a year and a half. The art on King Kong reminds me of Ripley's Believe It or Not, and that's very okay in my book. Um John, I don't think people love the King Kong artwork. It It's It does look very Ripley's. It just I don't know. I look I like the translate on the Ellie. I do. I just wish that same artwork was on the playfield. It's
    25:48
    not. And I think they could have done a better job with the the layout of the art on the cabinets. I just again that that airplane propeller looks weird. It just I don't know. Something about it. It just it it's not it's not I don't know. It's not a beautiful game to look at. It's not bad. It just feels more comicbooky and not timeless and not iconic. I guess that's the best thing. Kong is an iconic IP. Like this isn't just does not look iconic.
    26:31
    Um, you know, whenever I hear people be like, "Jack needs a hit." No, they don't. Billionaires don't need to worry about their 20 million, $40 million pinball operation. You know what I'm saying? No, they don't. They have thousands of millions of dollars, right? If I gave you $1,000 and I took 40 away, are you feeling it? Are you hurting?
    27:02
    It's It's They're fine, gang. They're fine. I I'm Yeah, I hope I hope it's a hit. I do. I hope so for Eric. I hope so for Jack. I hope so for this company. I hope they finally um you know I hope they finally hit pay dirt because the I hope it's a hit game saleswise and it's also a game that people like really love cuz I think Guns & Roses, you know the story on G&R, it's a great jukebox. It's a terrible pinball machine. And that's I think that's accurate. And I think, you know, people come over and you crank it up to volume 11 and you play a few songs. It's fun to for casuals, but man, it's not the kind of game where you're going, as a pinball lover, you're going to come back and and and want to jump on it a lot. You're just
    28:08
    not. Yeah. So, Rogue Cyber Soldier said they don't have to put in the effort. Um I I do feel there's a little bit of that at JJP. Like, what's the point? You know, we don't need this to survive and because of that, they're not making decisions that that are the right ones, you know, because you don't pick Avatar, you don't pick Godfather, you don't pick Toy Story 4, you don't pick Elton John. If you really need to like to make a hit, no.
    28:40
    Well, yes. Stern's telling people to throw Myar down on top of their chipped plate field. So, they're both pretty bad when it comes to warranty. Gang, if you read your pinball contract on all these companies, there's no warranty from anybody. You literally buy a game and you have no protection at all. It's like the moment you turn it on, your vo your warranty is voided. All right. So, we got Jersey Jack, Harry Potter, Harry Potter, Harry Potter. Um, yeah, really curious to see how it does. I am now. One of the rumors I' I've been reading lately, and maybe somebody knows this. We might have some distros here, that they are going to limit the collector's editions to a thousand. Do you think they they've changed their mind on that or do you think they're going to make unlimited window run of these things? What what do you
    29:47
    think? I mean, I was hoping they'd be limited, but I I heard that they're they're they're not. But who knows now, you know, after this, they've now had a a good month to hear the feedback on that decision. So maybe they changed their mind. It's an easy decision to adjust. It doesn't require
    30:10
    anything. So some people have put deposits know. I I I guess what I'm confused about is dealers don't know what their allocation is yet. And also like nobody's supposed to be taking deposits. Like Jersey Jack won't allow deposits to be submitted. Like they you know what I'm saying? Like they never officially opened up the order banks for the game. So I'm I don't know. Now you you remember what I said initially like if it was limited to a,000 I said that Harry Potter CES would sell for 18 to 20,000 right away. But I don't know
    31:28
    now. So I you know me. I mean I want to I want to grab one if there's only going to be a thousand. I don't want to grab one if there's 5,000. Not right away again. Yes. Because this time I'm allowed to speculate and make a little little money.
    31:50
    Uh, we'll see what happens. I mean, none of none of pinball pinball speculating now is like it's over. Like, it it doesn't doesn't really exist. It's not It's not It's not also just not fun anymore. It's not fun anymore. Like, it all used to be much more fun. It used to be easy. It used to be uh and we were we were all less greedy. We weren't a-holes about it. Nowadays, it's like I don't know. The whole thing has turned into like you can't you can't scalp anymore. Everyone's crying like babies. You can't you can't test the market on anything. You know, the only thing you're allowed to do is buy a new inbox and lose a ton of money. That's the only thing you're allowed to do. Anything else, make a game, scalp it for money, people go nuts. They they they screamed all high heaven about
    32:43
    you. Um, well, my boys are one year old and four, so they love Paw Patrol and milk, so or for so
    32:59
    like Albert, you know what? You know what you need to tell your kids though? Sorry, we can't afford this. I mean, I heard that the whole time I was growing up.
    33:19
    machine. Um, all right. Should we talk about um I mean, Spooky, there's not too much to say. Evil Dead is doing great. Beetlejuice is next. Um, can I give you guys what I heard is after Beetlejuice?
    33:41
    Can I can I just give this to you now? Is it an exclusive? It's just, you know, am I gonna Is no one else going to say I said it? Is someone gonna write a story or go on pin side that they said it first? No. It's so what I'm hearing from a very trusted source who knows people over
    34:06
    there. And now um Franchie's teaser on the box makes sense. Spooky's next two will be Beetlejuice and then Gremlins.
    34:24
    So, they have the Gremlins license, and wouldn't that be a sweet holiday treat to release Gremlins? And I heard that if you get the game wet, another game pops out of it.
    34:48
    So, two iconic, nostalgic, fun, campy. Brian, when you say, "Who wants Gremlins?" I mean, I I I I would take a Gremlins pinball machine. Brian, I I think you underestimate the value of 80s and 90s nostalgia with this audience.
    35:13
    Like who who wouldn't want a Gremlins? You got again just thinking about what makes a game fun. Look how much fun everyone's having with Evil Dead. A theme that's not as much fun as Gremlins for most people.
    35:42
    Um, it's hard to You can't say Evil Dead is more fun than Gremlins as a pin because you haven't seen the Gremlins
    35:51
    pin. I would assume there will be Gremlins 2 in it as well. I could see them letting you pick one movie or the
    36:04
    other. They're both going to sell out day one. I I I I don't even I I think getting a Spooky game is harder to get than a Stern M Stern Ellie moving
    36:20
    forward. I I mean that I think Spooky's next two games are going to be harder to get than a Stern Ali, than a JJPCE.
    36:40
    Um, why would anybody want a poltergeist pinball machine, guys? Like that. That movie, I get it, but it's not fun. It's not a fun movie. It it you know what they they know now. It's all about the campiness that matters. Not like, you know, look, and Friday the 13th is campy. So is Nightmare and Elm Street, but what's not campy is Poltergeist. What's not campy is like Saw. You know what I'm saying? Like it's not like it's
    37:17
    just Why Why doesn't Spooky go to an unlimited model? Because they don't want to go out of business. Cuz who would buy? What? Joseph, think about the iness of what you just said. Why? Why would they do that? Why would they just tank the secondhand value of all of their games? What? To make people happy three years down the road? Cuz the only people you're making happy then are the newbies who come in years after the game came out. But sorry newbie, you got to go find one used and that used game is going to hold a lot of value. Why why would they say we're going to make like gang? You know, Joseph, you know this hobby, man. Like that is that is the worst move a boutique could make is to say we're going to make as many as people want for the rest of our our company's existence. Okay. So then nobody
    38:09
    buys. Why would they do that? But why would they do that, Joseph? Why would they five years down the road just tank all the value of people who bought their products?
    38:26
    Why? They didn't even come close to selling out of Evil Dead until like it it started to feel like there weren't going to be that many
    38:34
    left. But they're doing it right. They're doing it right. They're doing it right. And they when they pushed higher like Scooby-Doo, nobody wants one. You know what I'm
    38:50
    saying? Now you want them to act like Stern and have a pro in an LA model. Joseph, you are literally waking up with the worst ideas imaginable. You want this company that's in the driver's seat, doing everything right marketing wise to adapt a model of Stern that is basically got Stern in Stern's in big trouble now because of of of of they have no no perceived secondhand value whatsoever on any of their models now. So, no, Joseph. Seriously, I don't know what the day job is, brother, but don't go into marketing. Don't give pinball companies
    39:37
    ideas. You don't You're You could type all you want, brother. I'm just telling you. I'm going to You know, it's just a bad idea. Um, all right. So, let's talk Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. One's up for sale after being played 20
    40:00
    times. Oh, this game continues to be like, you know, it's like, yeah, I'm Look, Melvin's a really good friend. One of my my best buddies in pinball. Speak to him almost daily. All right. He knows what he made. I know what he made. And it's just if you if you appreciate the game for what it is, not what it and don't look for it to be something it isn't. I think you'll enjoy your Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. But, and this is a big but, it won't be a collectible. It won't be hard to get. It won't be sought after. It doesn't have a a story or a pedigree. It will always be a little bit of a strange game to own. Okay. Just just the truth of it. It's a novelty item. He knows it. That's why he made it. He didn't make it to have code like a stern. He made it to prove that he could turn
    41:27
    this styrofoam white, you know, foam core game that had a beautiful art package into something working with, you know, playable code and and real mechs and, you know, take John's doodle and turn it into a working game. And he he succeeded in doing that. This my whole background is a predator tease. That is what Alice is. It is a it it saved Dutch Pinball. It It's amazing to me that people don't realize that is really the the real impact of Alice's Adventures of Wonderland. It's not about making John's foam core into a real game. It's the game that saved Dutch Pinball and made it so that Dutch Pinball can survive to get to Back to the Future cuz they had nothing and demand for Labowski is over and they would have gone out of business because there would be nothing to make for a year and their burn monthly would have been like €150,000 euros a month to make
    42:43
    nothing. So, thank you Melvin for saving Dutch and we're going to get Dutches Back to the Future. They're they're making Back to the Future. They did not sign a deal with anybody. Both Jersey Jack and Stern were very interested in trying to acquire the license and Barry just wanted more money than they offered. I think it's not even about the money. I think it's about the It's just about the pride and the legacy and
    43:16
    the just the sense of like, you know, we're not like them. Like we do games differently. I expect a a really interesting Back to the Future
    43:30
    game. Yeah. I mean I mean Stern would have just like thrown in Elwin Zombie Yeti and Nagel like you know what I'm saying like Stern would have just like for I just feel like Stern Back to the Future would have just it would just end up looking like a comic book for some reason. I don't know why I'm saying that but I just feel like they would it would just been like this ultra colorful rainbow comic book looking version of Back to the Future.
    43:58
    You know, Franchie, what's interesting and welcome to the show, Franchie, what's interesting about Stern's passing on that title is is really I don't know about you, man, and the rest of you guys, I I still don't know what the hell they were thinking. Like, I I don't know understand like if George even ran that opportunity by the design team. I I feel like the entire decision was made in a vacuum somewhere and nobody How did nobody be like, "What? What? Why would we pass on this?" Like, I don't understand. And I think they're I think they're going to kick themselves because I don't think they're going to sell as many Pokemon as people think. And I don't know, Star Wars has got a lot of pressure riding on
    45:02
    it. Well, they they were they were trying to sell to Gen Z kids. Gen Z kids, you know, poor kids. It's like it's like the generation that time forgot. Put all these kids in front of social media. They're not nostalgic for movies the way we were. They don't they don't need to be like they're instant access. It it's crazy sometimes when you're on Netflix and you see just how much content there is. Like these kids can't sit through a 2hour movie and it's not like they're all watching the same movie and the movies don't forge indelible impressions in them and you know they're they're just they're they're so distracted. When we watched Back to the Future for the first time, there's no internet, right? We went to the mall to see it. We saw it like eight times. When when it was at Blockbuster, we rented it. We watched it another hundred times. When the second movie came out, it blew us away. We saw like special effects and we saw things that we never seen before. We dreamed of hoverboards. We dreamed of Pepsi Perfect. We we literally all wanted a sports almanac. We we you know like and the way these movies back then just connected with everybody and it was wasn't just like Back to the Future. It was like you're talking like a decade of just incredible music and movies and optimism and the the all of it is connected. the fall of communism in Russia, the Berlin Wall, this feeling of like the most amazing decade, one of the most amazing decades in all of humanity. And Gen Z kids, you got to remember, they're born in the 2000s, post, you know, they were born in a post 911 world, then they experienced a recession, then they got terrorism, and then they got social media, and like all of it on on top of each other. And it's like they're mi, you know, it's miserable decades for for them, you know, for the rest of us. Like we still had the nostalgia for the 80s and the 90s, but these kids don't have that. So like all they have is like what was put in front of them, which was basically a cell
    47:19
    phone, right? You ever see people watch like like on TikTok? Like do you ever watch anybody just like death scroll for like two hours? It's it's like just this scary thing to watch. just like this endorphin
    47:36
    releasing like you're just you're just constantly on to the next like vapid thing about something you you're into because it knows you and using AI algorithms to just distract you and then before you know it you spent two hours nothing you you didn't really have many emotional reactions other than the endorphin releasing addiction to that kind of snackable content you're watching movie clips cut You're watching sports moments cut up. You're watching car clips cut up. Everything's just like this like abbreviated edited version of something. So, you know, you're not going to watch The Wolf of Wall Street ever, but you'll see the clips from it. You know, we're we're memeifying every movie. So, they're not going to watch Jaws, but they might see a little clip of
    48:26
    it, you know? So, it is what it is. Pinballs for us old geysers. Um, all right. But to put a a bow on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, I don't think they're going to make all 500. I think you'll see more like 400 450 at most. Uh, what are they? 125. I think you'll you'll be able to get one for 10. I think the basement on that game is around like 10. I think it'll hold around like 10.
    49:01
    Maybe a little lower. It's It's not going to be like Godfather CES losing six $6,000. All right, barrels of fun. Thank you. We'll move on. The barrels then, you know, I got to end this show in a little bit. Here's the thing about barrels of fun. I just can't I just don't see much conversation happening. I I don't know like where the dunes are going. They just aren't going into people's homes. Has anyone unboxed the barrels of fun? Like I like literally the owner's club doesn't even have not only does it not have two pages. It doesn't even have a a like like eight posts in it. So, I'm still confused. I'm still very confused why this company released the game when they did. I don't I don't feel like anyone's getting any of them. It is an absolute like reveal and nothing's going out to people. But I heard they're selling like decently. I I was talking to a major distributor. They sold 40 of them. I mean, that's just one dro selling 40 games is not
    50:28
    bad. Forget Dune discuss their next. Well, you know, I I'm under this like NDA, so like I don't I don't know what's next. I have to assume they have Goonies and I I have to assume they have Goonies and all the teasing it in plain sight stuff has all been part of that. I've heard multiple times that Goonies is an open license, that ostensibly more than one company could make it. But I also know that like the licensing issues with Goonies might make it difficult to make the game. So maybe they're not even going to make it. Getting all the actors and getting their approval is probably extremely difficult.
    51:30
    Um, I don't know. I I I I don't I don't like I I don't think boutiques of this nature can kind
    51:41
    of like you can't launch a game like like this. It just doesn't work. So, I I I still don't know how to evaluate Dune. I I think it's still a game that's like too early for
    51:57
    release. Yeah. What happened to you saying Yeah. I think someone said they saw a big pirate ship and I You know what it is, Brian? Um I don't know. I don't know. You know how much bad information I get at times?
    52:19
    You can hate it in it. Welcome to Rouan, Connecticut. Got my custom. It says it on my hat, too. See, I love this town. This is heaven. This is heaven on earth, you know. Um, my wedding song was Heaven on Earth, Belinda Carlile. That was our first dance, Brenda and I. And I I'll tell you the um I've always loved the song, but I'll tell you the thing we saw that just like it kind of had both of us in in tears like in a good way. You know, I love Brenda more than anything. There is that one Black Mirror episode where
    53:03
    uh these two women like fall in love with each other and one's an old woman and the the place they choose to meet back cuz there in the in the Black Mirror episode, you can kind of you can you can dream so vividly that It makes it feel real. And you can go visit someone you loved at another time in your life that was just magic right in heaven. And and they decide to meet up in a 1980s simulated world with arcades and Jeep Wranglers and they're right on the beach. And this song just plays at the end. Heaven is a place on earth. And it's just like I don't know you know you you you get thinking about you know how especially when you have kids like how fast time flies and how I don't know we waste so much time and and like when you find someone or something you love like and and you know you you we all dream that like we could we could always find each other again in in in that beautiful time. And I think what what always makes me feel so like nostalgic for like that time was just the the the ability to be present in in in in life, you know? You know what I'm saying? Like you just were there. You didn't watch it on YouTube. You didn't record it on your phone. We were just there. And we didn't know. You know what sucks is like we didn't know then like that that all that would be robbed from us. And so if I could go back with Brenda and you know I love like our falling in love with that girl in New York City was like the greatest greatest like time of my life. And well you know what I I I take that back. I feel like now I'm just with children I just love every I just love being happy and waking up in a you know next to someone that is everything and I you know my point was about the song heaven is a place on earth but anyway you should watch that episode it's called like San Jiro or something like
    55:46
    Canada can't get into heaven. Everybody says he asks where's the magic.
    55:59
    Um, where were we? We were talking about Dune. So, um, yeah, Dune, I don't know, man. I don't know. I don't I don't know how Barrels of Fun just gets gets the enthusiasm for this game back. Um, San Juniper. Yep.
    56:25
    You know, I gotta say, and then we're going to wrap up in a little bit because I got to um I got to go get Killian ready for he's marching in the Memorial Day parade and he's marching with his T-ball team. It's
    56:46
    adorable. Dune flipper was broken after a couple of plays. I I someone sent me a photo of King Kong's arm fell off. So, look, things happen in games. Like, things break. I I the the days of like something mechanically goes wrong with the pin and we scream like ah like they're all going to fall apart. It's not
    57:10
    true. Memorial Day weekend. I love it. I love it. I love this country. I do. I can't lie.
    57:22
    You know, it's a it's a the world's much better than the world you read about on the news. It really is. The media has been slanted so negative to make everybody afraid to just like step
    57:38
    outside. I mean, there's always bank holidays in Europe. It's ridiculous. You ever go to Europe? You ever see how many bank holidays are in Europe? try to get someone working in August in Europe.
    57:54
    Yeah, absolutely. I mean, there's it's it's all about those who served and and you know, sacrifices that were made. And anyone who studies history is just it it it's mindboggling to me that these again, I'm going to go off on a little bit of a soap box here, but these these stupid kids on these college campuses that are basically the biggest, most cynical, most crybaby, you know, they're in America. Let's think about this. They're in America with the greatest education institutions at their, you know, at their disposal. They they can instead of trying to make America better or embracing where they are, realizing how lucky they have it, they they complain about everything. They hate the country. They say, "Go live somewhere else. Go see how it is. Go see what opportunities are there for you somewhere else." There's just so it's so easy to be here and complain about being here because we give you the freedom to complain about being here. That's the beauty of America, right? And I do believe in free speech and you know absolutely like we the whole point of free speech is that we will protect the speech that we don't want to hear. Like you need to. But that being said, I can still judge you. I can still think you're a jackass. And I can still say if you don't like it here, go leave. the amount of people I I mean I deal with this all the time too like at work that just you could just tell this like anti-American sentiment is and it's it's weird to me because you always got to put the country above above a political figure like America's bigger than any political party or any any any politician. America is a melting pot. America is a a very diverse place that no other country in the world even comes close to
    59:57
    reflecting what this country is. Now, some people, oh, it's better in Sweden. It's better in, you know, okay, you want to go to Sweden where there's only like 9 million people, a monochromatic society. There's more people. There's twice as many people in New York City.
    60:14
    That's what I'm saying. When you travel the world, I do I do think this I think when you travel the world, you will definitely have a newfound appreciation for America, but you also definitely realize some of the things we need to work on. And I definitely agree with that. I think America Americans are like way too stressed out. We work way too hard. I do believe we have way too many guns in the country. Like what what's everybody got? Why do why do we need like all these guns? Like who's everybody fighting? It's way too easy to get your hands on stuff like
    60:54
    that. There's just we drive way too big of a vehicle. Do you ever see the size of the cars everywhere else in the world? What are we doing? Why are we plowing down the street in these like monstrosities and most of the time there's nobody in them?
    61:19
    No, I don't know. I guess look, your perspective is all about where you are. I see Brendon getting the kids ready. I hope it doesn't rain. It's starting to get like I I I I yesterday Yesterday's one of those days where the car was clean, it was sunny. I went for a walk into the village to get Killian some ice cream and then all of a sudden it just starts downpouring and I left my car out. I'm like, "Oh
    61:47
    gosh." Ah, the demon is um the demon's a the demon's a four-seater, though. It's not a The reason the demon is like The Demon is America. American muscle cars. You I don't know. Like I these big SUVs that lose so much value. It's credit. You You think You think pins lose money? go buy like a a fully loaded like SUV for like $1 like $40,000 and see what it's worth in four years. It'll be worth like
    62:21
    60. Anyway, everybody look, I don't I know we didn't cover every company. Everybody like have a great weekend. Thank you for being uh here hanging out. We got to talk a decent amount about pinball. A little bit about life. You know how it is here. Um, I really do think we're going to get a lot of stuff. Predator Potter. We didn't even talk about Todd's coming back from Padre Gaming any day now. There's just a lot. Medieval Madness Merlin editions are going to ship when? I don't know. But man, it's it's it's about to get it's oversaturated. I think the oversaturation is leading to a lot of people somewhat, you know, eh, you know, eh, you know, it's like like Kong's not bad at all, but like I still think a lot more people are walking up to games now being like you you you kind of know you don't want to buy it, so you're going to see the game through that lens of like, eh, you're going to look for reasons why you don't want to buy it, you know, cuz these games are not giving you enough to want to pull the trigger on it right away. And I think that's where we're at. And I think for games to really be like, "Oh, I got to own this." You know, you you've got to have more of an experience. I think when people are walking up to like an Evil Dead versus a King Kong, I mean it. I just mean it. When I saw Evil Dead for the first time, I was like, "Wow." Like, really stood out. Didn't even feel that way about Avatar. Didn't feel that way about Kong. Didn't feel that way about DN D. I just think we're there now. Like, ah, it needs to be it needs it needs to have that extra something. And I just don't think Kong has it. All right. What about Turner? No. I mean, no one Merlin's arcade. They're not selling more than like a hundred of those. Like Chris Turner, he needs to call me up. Make me a salaried employee. There's something weird going on with Chris Turner and Deeproot though, too. I What I mean by that, like he's like in on the Deeproot court filings. Like I I don't know if like Robert Mueller is like still connected to him somehow. I I don't know. It's just there's like this weird thing with like was he just like delivering the snacks to Deeproot? Now he's got a pinball com. Like what is the what what what's going on? I I I I don't know. There's something behind all of
    64:46
    it. But I got to go be a family man. All right, everybody. Be good. Time to get Killian into the into the uh parade. He's marching with the T-ball team. Have a great weekend. We'll talk soon. And join the club. If if you're not a Canada Pinball Podcast Club member, please just join. Five bucks, no tariffs. Let's do this. Bye.