The Pinball Show Ep 189: Diamond Hands $50K Pokemon & Coinbox Candy

“I think my answer would be... it is title and theme contingent, or title and parts contingent... I think what's really pushing this one to be location first, location pro, is the fact that... we are making every effort we can to get this game on the streets so that people can get their hands on this game. They anticipate this being one of the most heavily influenced titles that will pull in people that are non-pinball people.”

“They told dealers, this is how you know Pokemon sales have been extraordinary, viewer... they said, don't even bank on us being able to fulfill all the back orders in June. Very likely, it is already into the third run of Pokemon, which will be sometime later in 2026.”

“I think Tanya... is the closest programmer in current times that has expanded upon 90s Bally Williams that everybody loved... He expanded on that to make it more relevant to 2026.”

“Never, ever before has pinball seen a release quite like this with such built-in collectability. Could you argue, viewer, is there anything out there that we've ever got brand-wise that is not only the biggest IP ever, but also the biggest IP of the entire world combined with a collectability aspect to it?”

“I didn't need to see the game to know that... Even seeing the game, this is a theme that is tough to gauge because of the product it is. It's a niche product. It's an expensive product... are people outside of pinball going to spend $10,000, $13,000, $7,000 on a Pokemon-themed pinball machine?”

“The timing is extraordinary for Pokemon. What better time than to have a pinball machine? And, oh, by the way, classic titles, the Pokemon Fire Red and Leaf Green, are set to release digitally on the Nintendo Switch and the Switch 2 systems... The brand is also teaming up with the Lego Group to launch the first ever official Lego Pokemon building set.”

“So that's late March. We're going to start seeing premiums. And then into April, we are going to start seeing Pokemon premiums continue to roll out. Also, at the beginning of April... in April, they're actually going to finish up what they're still referring to as the first run pros... to me, that's not first run... but for semantics, I guess.”

“With only 750 LEs in the entire world of this Pokemon by Stern Pinball... Are we prepared, Dennis and viewer, to see a pinball machine sell for over $30,000? Hit it, baby.”