Episode 1194: "Beetlejuice is The New Gold Standard in Pinball!"

PodcastAnalysis updated 2d agoMar 2, 202623 min listen

TL;DR

Kaneda crowns Beetlejuice the finest modern pinball; predicts Spooky's rise and Stern's value crisis.

From the creator

It's the best modern game, hands down.

Listen on Kaneda’s Pinball Podcast

Synopsis

Kaneda declares Beetlejuice the new gold standard of modern pinball, praising Spooky Pinball execution across playfield quality, cabinet design, and artistic detail while criticizing Stern's value proposition and manufacturing choices. He argues Beetlejuice at $10k outperforms Harry Potter at $15k and positions Spooky as potentially the best modern pinball company. The episode also discusses Barrels of Fun's rumored Dungeon Crawler Carl game and Stern's Pokémon (Premium/LE) supply/secondary market struggles.

Highlights

Beetlejuice is the nicest modern pinball machine ever made, better than Harry Potter CE despite costing $5,000 less
Spooky Pinball playfields have superior gloss and clear coat compared to Stern's duller modern playfields
Harry Potter game sides are empty flat plastic with no additional detail, while Beetlejuice fills every area
Spooky will only ever make 1,000 Beetlejuice machines total with no future reprints or anniversary editions
Dungeon Crawler Carl has sold around 6 million books but lacks cultural mainstream appeal and nostalgia
Pokémon (Premium/LE) secondary market is saturated with sellers; values will tank as few collectors want to spend $20k
Stern should have acquired Spooky Pinball years ago to gain access to their playfield and cabinet manufacturing technology
Barrels of Fun cannot survive on fewer than 500-1000 unit sales per game; needs a mixed portfolio of mainstream IPs

Notable quotes

“I have stood over the nicest machine this week in pinball podcast... I don't think I've ever stood over a machine in which I'm like I don't need to mod anything on this game”

Kaneda

“Beetlejuice people, trust me when I say this, get the butter cabinet, don't go cheap. This is gonna be a game that makes everything in your old stern lineup look so cheap. Look outdated.”

Kaneda

“Walk next to like a James Bond after seeing Beetlejuice and heck, I'm even going to say it, walk over and stand in front of a Godzilla next to a Beetlejuice and it's not just the mechs people, it's everything.”

Kaneda

“I think everybody who's in on a beetlejuice, you are in possession of what I believe is going to be looked at as the greatest modern pinball theme integrated sexiest machine of all time.”

Kaneda

“There's not going to be another run of Beetlejuice. There's not going to be an anniversary edition. All of their games have value baked in now because they're only making a thousand ever, ever.”

Kaneda

“If there are six million fans of Dungeon Crawler Carl and they need to sell somewhere between 500 and a thousand pinball machines, do the math. It's possible.”

Kaneda

“I can guarantee you right now for every one of those wanted ads, there's a dude looking to sell his Pokémon (Premium/LE). And here's the problem is nobody wants to spend $20,000 on a Pokémon (Premium/LE).”

Kaneda

“Spooky Pinball has created the nicest modern machine. Beetlejuice is showing me that there is work to be done everywhere else. This is the new standard. This is the new bar.”

Kaneda