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We Are Pinball
We Are Pinball
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We Are Pinball #22 "Tariffs, UV playfields, and other stuff we don't understand"

PodcastAnalysis updated 3d ago1 hr 19 min listenBy WAP
From the creator

Welcome back our awesome audience. It's been too long and there's so much to discuss!! What do tariffs mean for pinball? No one knows yet! We discuss anyway! Avatar CE looks great...

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Highlights

  • Stern ships 50% of production outside the U.S., making tariffs existentially threatening to the market
  • D&D Limited Edition (1974 units produced) is selling through briskly with good consumer confidence
  • Dragon mechanism parts delays are affecting LE production but not Pro models
  • A D&D LE at Kickback Cafe (Madison) experienced a board failure that disabled the dragon mechanism
  • 25% tariffs combined with European VAT (25%) make new games cost ~$15,000+, killing sales confidence
  • Used game market in Europe is collapsing due to uncertainty; sellers holding inventory instead of listing
  • Novo Nordisk (Ozempic/Wegovy manufacturer) became Europe's richest company due to U.S. sales at 10x markup
  • Pinball at the Beach (Feb 7, Florida) will feature all new release titles and Stern Spike 2 games

Notable quotes

“We cannot import games... we cannot buy pinball machines this way and not enough with that.”
Cengiz
“Stern has said for years now 50% of their production gets shipped out. It's out of the U.S., right? And that market is just – if this happens, it kills 50% of the sales.”
Don
“It's consuming my entire life for the last 72 hours. It's been incredible.”
Cengiz
“If this goes on any longer, it may be years before we can get back to where we were just a couple of months ago.”
Don
“We're done selling pinball machines over here. I mean, this has to stop.”
Cengiz
“I think that's acceptable as long as everybody's transparent and it's working out.”
Don
“Please don't threaten your best allies over here. Just leave us alone.”
Cengiz
“Consumer confidence towards Dungeons and Dragons seems to be fairly favorable. It's selling, not selling out, but seems to be selling through fairly briskly.”
Don

Entities

  • Novo Nordisk· company
  • Spooky Pinball· company
  • Stern Pinball· company
  • Pinball at the Beach· event
  • Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) Limited Edition· game
  • Evil Dead CE· game
  • John Wick· game
  • X-Men· game
  • Kickback Cafe· organization
  • Brian Eddy· person
  • Carrie Hardy· person
  • Cengiz· person
  • Don· person
  • Enzo Paganini· person
  • George Gomez· person
  • Jeremy Ford· person
  • Jeremy Packer· person
  • Josh Cox (Velvet Steve)· person
  • Keith Elwin· person

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