Episode 1152: "Beetlejuice Buyer #1,000 Just Got F@#KED!"

Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)·podcast_episode·23m 32s·held·Oct 27, 2025

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.035

TL;DR

Kaneda hails Beetlejuice as transformative boutique triumph, predicts Stern collapse, and confirms Franchi for BTTF.

Summary

Kaneda delivers an extended, passionate monologue on the imminent November 14th launch of Spooky Pinball LLC, celebrating its 999-unit production cap, innovative 'Spooky' voice technology, and artistic quality as a watershed moment for boutique manufacturers. He contrasts Spooky's customer-first, limited-production strategy with Stern's perceived greedy overproduction and quality decline, predicting Beetlejuice will command secondary-market premiums up to $18,000 and that Stern is in existential trouble. He also provides industry positioning forecasts (Jersey Jack #1 boutique, Spooky #2, Barrels of Fun #3) and confirms Christopher Franchi as artist for Dutch Pinball's Back to the Future.

Key Claims

Beetlejuice will sell out instantly and achieve secondary market prices up to $18,000
medium confidence · Kaneda speculating on demand vastly exceeding 999-unit cap; uses FOMO logic about collector psychology
DJ (assumed DJ Durden) and a new coder from American Pinball are co-coding Beetlejuice
high confidence · Direct statement: 'It's going to have DJ on code and a new guy from American Pinball, two coders working on it'
Stern Pinball passed on Beetlejuice and George Gomez stated design team didn't want to make it
medium confidence · Kaneda claims Gomez said he 'asked around to my design team and they didn't want to make this game'; unverified attribution
Spooky Pinball will position itself as #2 high-end boutique by volume (after Jersey Jack) with more momentum than Stern
medium confidence · Kaneda's explicit prediction: 'Jersey Jack Pinball is going to lead... they're going to be in second place by volume after Stern, but they're going to have a lot more energy'
Winchester Mystery House sold in two days what Dune couldn't sell in six months
medium confidence · Kaneda comparing Barrels of Fun product performance; claims indicate Winchester momentum vs. Dune weakness
Christopher Franchi is confirmed as artist for Dutch Pinball's Back to the Future game
high confidence · Direct statement: 'I'm here to 100% confirm for you that the artist on Back to the Future will be no other than Mr. Christopher Franchi'
Stern collectors have lost $20,000-$30,000 in value on LE purchases over last 3-4 years
low confidence · Kaneda's opinion/estimate about secondary market depreciation; used to support criticism of Stern strategy
The Walking Dead (LE) is unsaleable at $8,000-$8,500 asking prices with friends listing for 4+ months with no takers
medium confidence · Kaneda citing anecdotal evidence of secondary market weakness for Stern LEs

Notable Quotes

“This company once made the ugliest game in all of pinball with America's most haunted. And now a tiny little company in Benton, Wisconsin, all these years later, is going to bring out into the pinball world a theme that Stern Pinball passed on.”
Kaneda @ Early in episode — Frames Spooky's evolution and redemption arc; sets up contrast with Stern's rejection of Beetlejuice IP
“They are about to sell 999 units like instantly. Flip N Out Pinball has been sending people deposit invoices gone. And every single distributor knows their allocation.”
Kaneda @ Mid-episode — Signals manufacturing/distribution preparation and supply chain certainty; FOMO indicator
“I'd rather have one beautiful girlfriend than two mediocre girlfriends. I'd rather have one spooky machine than two Stern premiums.”
Kaneda @ Mid-late episode — Captures emerging collector philosophy shift away from Stern toward boutique quality; signals value inversion
“The biggest pinball company in the entire world with the most resources in the entire world thinks that that's good enough for $13,000.”
Kaneda @ Late episode — Crystallizes critique of Stern's perceived laziness and resource misallocation relative to boutique quality
“I think Stern is in big trouble. And I've meant this for a while. I think they're in big trouble because I think they made some colossal mistakes and I don't think they know how to get out of it.”
Kaneda @ Late episode — Explicit prediction of Stern's market position deterioration; frames as structural/strategic rather than cyclical
“Spooky Pinball, keep doing what you're doing, baby. On November 14th, you're going to send a message to everybody that you're no longer that little company in Benton, Wisconsin.”
Kaneda @ Conclusion — Positions Beetlejuice as symbolic inflection point for Spooky's industry standing and manufacturer hierarchy
“If we see our customers flip their games for three to eight thousand or five thousand dollars profit, that would make us happy. If we try to take all that money ourselves and increase the prices of our products or make more games when we said we wouldn't, which is what Stern did... we will make a short term gain, but we will lose our customers in the long run.”

Entities

Spooky PinballcompanyStern PinballcompanyBeetlejuicegame Jersey Jack Pinballcompany Barrels of Funcompany Christopher Franchiperson Dutch Pinballcompany

Signals

?
product_launch: Beetlejuice officially revealed; distributors already allocated units; deposit invoices being issued by Flip N Out; expected instant sell-out
high · Kaneda: 'Flip N Out Pinball has been sending people deposit invoices gone. And every single distributor knows their allocation.'
?
collector_signal: 999-unit cap creating acute demand-supply imbalance; Kaneda predicts secondary market prices up to $18,000; FOMO driving immediate pre-order behavior
high · Kaneda: 'I think this game is going to go all the way up to $18,000 instantly because I think the demand to get one is going to be just that high.'
~
sentiment_shift: Collectors abandoning Stern in favor of limited-run boutique machines; Stern secondary market weakness; 'one beautiful girlfriend' mentality (quality over quantity)
high · Kaneda: 'I'd rather have one spooky machine than two Stern premiums... if you're a collector and you've been unboxing these Stern LEs the last three to four years, you've lost like almost $20,000 to $30,000 in value.'
?
design_innovation: Beetlejuice introduces 'Spooky Speak' — world's first interactive voice pinball system responding to player actions; represents technological inflection point
high · Kaneda: 'spooky speak the world's first like interactive voice pinball machine is coming... I'm so happy to see them implement the voice interactivity between the player and the game.'
?
competitive_signal: Boutique manufacturers (Jersey Jack, Spooky, Barrels of Fun) gaining momentum and collector enthusiasm; Stern losing positioning as quality leader; mid-tier boutiques (Pinball Brothers, Pedretti) facing existential pressure

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.071

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice you shut up Betelgeuse Betelgeuse Betelgeuse spooky speak the world's first like interactive voice pinball machine is coming it is right around the corner and the moment we've all been waiting for November 14th everybody tell your wives they ain't going on vacation this year you're getting Beetlejuice baby and we've known this for a long time that this game was going to be a statement game and I've been saying it for months and I'm so happy to see them implement the voice interactivity between the player and the game. It's going to be standard body game with great speed. Christopher Franchi's artwork is going to be insane. It's got an LCD screen that's not going to wash out all the blacks people. Are you ready? Are you ready for the next evolution of what a boutique pinball company can put into the market? I mean, this is it, people. This is it. This company once made the ugliest game in all of pinball with America's most haunted. And now a tiny little company in Benton, Wisconsin, all these years later, is going to bring out into the pinball world a theme that Stern Pinball passed on. A theme that Stern Pinball said nobody wanted to make. George Gomez got up there and said, I asked around to my design team and they didn't want to make this game. Well, here you go, George. Here you go. It's showtime. You son of a bitch. They are about to sell 999 units like instantly. Flip N Out Pinball has been sending people deposit invoices gone. And every single distributor knows their allocation. So if You get asked for a deposit. You are buying one of those allocated spots. These things are going to go so fast, it's not even funny. It's based on the first movie. The studio did not make them jam the second film into the game. It's going to have DJ on code and a new guy from American Pinball, two coders working on it. It's going to have so many sculpts in this game. It's going to make your Star Wars look like the Costco piece of crap that it is. And here we are, just a few weeks away, Spooky Pinball dropping right before Halloween, exactly what they needed to do. Because I think this week, Stern Pinball is going to try to get people to buy The Walking Dead Remastered. And all of a sudden now, all the hype around Winchester's Mystery House. Come on, you got to be honest. Some of that hype has dissipated now that we heard Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice. And even in just that quick flash of the speaker grill with the snake, and it's like Beetlejuice's black and white suit, and you can see the Franchi Translite looks amazing. and you can tell this game is just going to be like Evil Dead on crack and only 999. And here's the big thing. It might seem like that's a lot of games, but it's not because it's only 999 ever. They're not going to do another run. They're not going to do a Blood Kiss edition of it. They're not going to do a comic book edition 10 years later. This is it. And while everybody else is out there making thousands of stuff, this is going to be a very hard, if not impossible to get game for guy number 1,000. Because you got to think about it. Anybody over 1,000, right? Guy number 1,000 can't get one. And if there are 5,000 people out in the pinball buying world, And there has to be because 5,000 people bought like Harry Potter's. 5,000 people bought Guns N' Roses, Metallica, ACDC. So if there are 5,000 people or more that want a Beetlejuice game and there's only 999 ever, instantly, instantly, the demand is always going to outweigh the supply. And this game is going to go for sale. And we're going to see the whole thing on November 14th. Another really wise decision. Spooky keeps pulling it back just a little bit. Their reveal dates, they just, you know, Evil Deads have all been spoken for. But we're going to get this game in November. And then the games are not going to ship until January. So there's going to be a bit of a wait while they play test it, while they quality test it, while they iron out some of the kinks. But there's always been about a two-month wait between spooky reveal and the games going on the line. But I think this game is just going to be that special. where nobody's going to care. What's going to get really interesting is this. It is now a very crowded end of the year People gave deposits on Winchester 525 people committing to 11 for that game Stern Pinball did sell some Star Wars I feel sorry for everyone out there who bought Star Wars, but that's still, you know, they're going to make a few thousand Star Wars games that people have bought. Then we're going to get The Walking Dead any day now. And I think that's going to be funny because Stern's actually, with a straight face, going to launch The Walking Dead, a game that was once $6,500. They're going to launch it for $13,000 and it's going to be twice the price of the original. And I also think there may be a price increase if they put all of Spike 3's elements into The Walking Dead. Now look, Beetlejuice as an entry-level game seems like a bargain, but there are some additions that everyone's most likely going to do. It is $9.99. So let's just say $10,000. Then the butter cabinet is another like $1,500, $1,600. And then the topper is another $1,500, $1,600. So ostensibly, you're looking at all in a $13,000 game, but nobody cares because this thing is going to feel special. I don't think most people get the butter cabinet, but I think everybody's going to get the topper. They said something like 800 toppers were ordered for the evil dead. And so look, this is going to be a game that really does shake up. I think the pinball world like no other game has in a long, long time. Just think about it. What was the last pinball machine that really had like the hype, the FOMO and it delivered and it was based on a nostalgic theme. Think about it. What was the last game that did that? It wasn't Godzilla. Godzilla wasn't a nostalgic theme that everybody's been waiting for. It's a campy theme. It's been around forever, like 70 years. But Godzilla doesn't really have that same sort of nostalgic value as Beetlejuice does. All right, so if it's not Godzilla, what was it? Maybe Ghostbusters, right? Ghostbusters is probably arguably the best theme we've had ever from Stern Pinball. and they made the game pretty damn bad. Like it's brutal to shoot. It's got some real issues with the game and it's on a DMD. It's crazy that Stern Pinball knew that they were moving to the spike system and they were going LCD screen and they could have held Ghostbusters back and spent some more money and got all the assets. Instead, we've got a DMD Ghostbusters. It's definitely looking really dated and this would have been the perfect time. Instead of remaking The Walking Dead, instead of even remaking Tron, even though there's a new Tron movie out there that kind of sucks, they should have brought back Ghostbusters. How amazing would it have been if Stern Pinball brought back Ghostbusters and punched this holiday season against a haunted house game in Winchester and a Beetlejuice game with Spooky Pinball? Instead, they're going to bring back The Walking Dead. I think it's going to be dead on arrival. Now, this Beetlejuice game, I just want to tell you right now, if you're not calling around to your distros now, now that it's official and you're not getting a game, don't come crying to me and asking me to get you a spot. You've had so many months now to get on a list. What are you waiting for? And I mean it when I say it. I think this game is going to go all the way up to $18,000 instantly because I think the demand to get one is going to be just that high. And I've said it before. A lot of people now are adopting a new mindset. I'd rather have one beautiful girlfriend than two mediocre girlfriends. I'd rather have one spooky machine than two Stern premiums. So if Stern premiums are $9,700 each and they're easy to get and they're a dime a dozen, heck, Stern at least are a dime a dozen and easy to get. What would you rather do? If you get locked out of Beetlejuice at 999, I keep saying it like there's that unlucky guy that's going to get bit by the pinball bug the day after Beetlejuice gets launched. I feel so bad for that guy. he's out there. He doesn't even know it yet. He's like going to stumble upon one of these cool toy YouTubes or see a Ralph video or a flipping out video. He's going to get bit by the pinball bug the day after Beetlejuice gets launched. And he's going to go, hey, hey, honey, look, here's a Beetlejuice game. What do you think? Should we get one for the game room for the basement? And his wife's going to be like, yeah, sure, go get it. And he's going to be like a doctor, a lawyer. He's going to look out into his driveway. He's got like six figures and cars. and he's going to call up a distro and be like, hey, I'd like to order a Beetlejuice. And they're going to be like, you want a Beetlejuice? You want a Turbo Man? Ha, ha, ha. Uh-uh. And they're like, oh, sorry, I ain't got that. But I do got this Star Wars LE that I think you might like. That's what's going to happen. And I think what's going to happen with this game when we see it in all seriousness, I think we're going to see a level of passion and attention to detail and a level of love that went into this game that is gonna make this game stay in place. I don't think you're gonna see a lot of people buying this game and then getting tired of it and then listing it for sale. I think it's gonna feel like one of those special moments in pinball that you're just gonna wanna be a part of. I think you're gonna remember where you were when you saw it for the first time. I think you're gonna remember the day you unboxed it. And I think it's gonna bring a level of smile to your face that you haven had in a really long time unboxing all of these Stern games And I think the pinball hobby has gone through a lot over the last four to five years I think the pinball community has been abused by the biggest pinball company in the world. I think Stern took advantage of everybody by putting mediocre cheap products out into the market. And I think Stern is gonna be very embarrassed when they see the detail on Beetlejuice and then they look over at Star Wars And they see that at-at on the side armor of the game. And they see how lazy they've become. And the biggest pinball company in the entire world with the most resources in the entire world thinks that that's good enough for $13,000. And the problem today is we have eyeballs. And we can see and we can compare what one company is saying is worth this much money and what another company is saying is worth this much money. Every single spooky game comes with a topper included. Even if you don't buy the expensive topper, every single game comes with a topper included. There are not three variations of Beetlejuice. There's one. You can upgrade to the butter cabinet if you want, but they don't make you do it. And I think you're gonna go from head to toe on this game and Christopher Franchi is gonna fill in one of the most beautiful games we've ever seen. And there's no excuses anymore. There's just no excuses anymore at these prices for these companies to come out with anything that doesn't feel head to toe, a labor of love, attention to detail, pinball passion, and pinball personality, and moments and things that wow us in the final product. A lot of companies have been swinging at the plate and missing horrendously bad. I think this pinball hobby is going to lose a few of these boutiques this year because there's no need for them anymore. How many of you looking at what Spooky Pinball is doing are you saying, hey, man, I can't wait to get the next game from Pedretti. I can't wait to get the next game from Pinball Brothers. Home Pin is still making pins. I think Pinball Adventures is still out there. All of these boutiques, American Pinball is dead. They're not making any more games. But so many of these boutiques just don't have it figured out. I think when the dust settles at the end of this year, what we're going to see is the following. I think Jersey Jack Pinball is going to lead the high-end bespoke boutique company that they are. They're going to be in second place by volume after Stern, but they're going to have a lot more energy and momentum and enthusiasm around their products than Stern will moving forward. Then it's Spooky Pinball. Spooky Pinball is really in an interesting place because I think they have so much excitement. They have themes that they know they could sell way more than a thousand of, but I think they're going to do it right. I think they're going to build themselves up to a size where it works for them. It works for them in Benton, Wisconsin. It works for them to remain a family run operation where everyone's going to bed at night, even though they're working hard, they feel like they're not going to bite off more than they can chew. And they're going to establish a company that's a win, win, win for everybody. I think they're doing it so well and I think they're delivering on something we never thought was imaginable from Spooky Pinball and I think it's amazing. And after Spooky Pinball, I think the next in line right now, and I mean this, is Barrels of Fun. I think Barrels is in a good position. If David can pick themes that are better than Dune and have sort of like appeal. I mean, the fact that Winchester sold in two days what Dune couldn't sell in six months is just indication that Dune was a bad pick. I know he keeps trying to resuscitate that game and resurrect it, but David, it was just a bad pick. If you pick something better and more mainstream and has that nostalgic value, you're going to see what you saw with Winchester 10 times over. But barrels makes a good game. They've got passionate people over there. When you look at the barrels products, very shiny, very beautiful. And I think the future for them is going to be a okay. I think people have faith in them. They haven't ripped anybody off, right? They haven't had any shenanigans. I think they're going to be just fine. Chicago gaming company will be fine because they've got, you know, church hill cabinetry company keeping them going, but they're kind of annoying, but they'll still be around. Like CGC will always be there. They're going to make more freaking medieval madnesses next year, which is so annoying, but whatever. They become the medieval madness company, I feel like. And then maybe we get Mark Ritchie's Halo, but they might shelve that because let's be honest, nobody wants a Halo pinball machine. Dutch pinballs obviously got back to the future. The questions still remain whether or not they can make it. How are they even going to supply even an iota of the demand for that game? but it's coming and it's coming at the end of next year. And so they're going to release Raza as a bridge between Alice and back to the future. And I think they're going to get there. I think the game is going to come out. This is Barry's moment. If he can knock it out of the park, I think they're going to have something very, very special. The early reports I'm getting from that game are phenomenal. And I'm here to tell you right now, I told it yesterday. Maybe some people know this. Some people don't. I'm here to 100% confirm for you. that the artist on Back to the Future will be no other than Mr. Christopher Franchi. So that's exciting. And I'm excited that Spooky, you know, didn't have any problems with him working with his old friend, Joe Kamnikow, and they're going to put together what will be a stunning Back to the Future game. And I know at Spooky, they have this vibe where, like, if someone's got it and they make it right, we happy for them Like I know they happy probably that they didn even make Godzilla that Keith Elwin and Stern did So that is coming at the end of next year We got Sonic the Hedgehog from Jersey Jack coming out next year I've been hearing mixed things on this rumor about JJP having Ghostbusters. I know Don reported that. I don't know if that's going to be true. I don't know. I can't imagine that rumor being true. I mean, I would like it to be true, but I'm not sure that's going to come to fruition. We've got Turner Pinball out there doing his thing. Again, like Chris has got this really interesting technology, but he needs to make a game people want. It's just that simple. He needs to make a game people want. And, you know, if he's got this easier way to manufacture, then he's got to, you know, connect with one of these pinball companies that has stuff people want and ink a deal. I think it's going to be a very interesting few years. And I think Stern is in big trouble. And I've meant this for a while. I think they're in big trouble because I think they made some colossal mistakes and I don't think they know how to get out of it. And I think the more we get games like Beetlejuice, the more we get games with attention to detail and pure passion, the more it's making their games look cheap. And here's the problem. How do they get out of that perception? How can they keep charging $13,000 for these LEs and $10,000 for these premiums as their games are looking so cheap and they look half the price when you put them next to an Evil Dead or Harry Potter. How do they get around that? And they're not going to survive with Costco or being an operator friendly game. I think they got way too greedy and I think they fleeced us for way too many years. And I think people are just moving past them. I really do. I think the collectors especially are not looking at Stern anymore because if you're a collector and you've been unboxing these Stern LEs the last three to four years, you've lost like almost $20,000 to $30,000 in value. How is that something worth collecting? And how would that make you happy? Well, life is short. I just want to buy the toy. How does that make you happy? How does that make you happy that knowing that some dude who walks into the hobby today could save $30,000 and have the same exact collection as yours? And by the way, nobody wants those games at all anymore. I mean, look at people trying to sell the Walking Dead LE. That used to be a game that people held on to because it's a good game. But nowadays, look at it. Everyone's trying to ask $8,500 for one and nobody wants it. I have friends who have listed that game for sale now for four months at $8,000, $8,500. Nobody wants it. Absolutely nobody wants it. And guess what happens when the new game comes out? It's going to go down even more. It's not good. Stern did not think about the long-term effects of burning their customers. And I think Spooky is the exact opposite. I think they're playing the long game. Yeah, we could make more Beetlejuice machines, but if we make 999 and we pass on to all of our customers tremendous value. If we see our customers flip their games for three to eight thousand or five thousand dollars profit, that would make us happy. If we try to take all that money ourselves and increase the prices of our products or make more games when we said we wouldn't, which is what Stern did. If we do that, we will make a short term gain, but we will lose our customers in the long run. And that is what Stern did. They turned their back on people. They made more LEs and they fleeced us with the price of things. And they didn't give us any secondhand value. They took it all for themselves. And now they're in big trouble. Spooky's in the driver's seat. They're going to sell these things in like nine seconds. And then the next game, if it's gremlins or goonies, just make a thousand of each. You will have people waiting up for years to get one. You will sell out of every single game every single year at this time of year and have the greatest Christmas of your lives. Why not just do that? You think it's a good Christmas over at Stern? You think George, Gary and Seth looking at the numbers around Star Wars and King Kong, you think they're having a good Christmas? You think the folks over at Stern are having a good time? No, they're not. I can tell. I can tell they're not having a good time and they did it to themselves. So spooky pinball, keep doing what you're doing, baby. On November 14th, you're going to send a message to everybody that you're no longer that little company in Benton, Wisconsin. You can now make what this community is considering to be some of the most spectacular and amazing pinball the world has ever seen. And nothing would make me sleep more like a baby at night than that. So congratulations. I can't wait to see it. I think everybody feels the same way. And if you're a skeptic about Spooky and you stayed off the list, get ready, people. Canada's got five games coming from Spooky that I'm going to figure out how to handle that. These are going to be special. These are beyond super limited edition. I don't know what they're going to do they said they might do something for the special Kaneda editions of the game I should make it so you can't turn on these versions of the game unless you say Kaneda Kaneda Kaneda baby that's how you turn it on let's see I can't wait to see Spooky speak everybody happy Monday thank you for your support Kaneda out You son of a bitch!