Umm, Stern sells about 10k games a year. If they sell 4 games a year, 1000 units for a particular game is a failure, especially if 600 are LEs.

People in our area have trouble selling for around 5 so they are keeping it to not take a hit. In the mid 4s they seem to sell. I got mine in a trade for Star Wars. I’m happy I did. I really like munsters and the play. Star Wars pro was probably the hardest and most frustrating pin I’ve ever played.

I just paid $4,600. I think that's about the sweet spot for a fairly quick sale. Much more than that I would have just bought new and gotten delivery free. Munsters is a great pin - just the theme music alone puts a smile on my face. I knew I had to have one from the first play. But some don't like it and that's OK. In that case better to sell and get something else.

Hard to imagine me selling either...But, I left this pinball stuff once before, and sold everything..so, never say never for me.

If CGC ever makes a TAF, I'm here to stay!

That is the thing about Stern Pros. After you buy the first one NIB delivered and take your first pricing hit then can sell/buy and trade through a long line of other great Stern Pros. Sell your current PRO game to get SW, MET, GOTG, ST, TWD, IMDN, IM, AS, GOT, etc Pros at a similar price you sold for, try them and sell that one and repeat.

Best way to absorb a NIB hit is to buy a HUO game that someone else just took a NIB hit on.

I would like to sell mine. I want a Dialed In and don't really want to add another game. I gave my little guy the option of what to sell Met Prem or Mun Prem... He said Munsters.

MET would definitely be a hard game to get rid of.

OK. Let's talk about that. What is the sell number that has to be hit for a pin to not be a failure, in your opinion?

Moving over to The Beatles, Stern announced the numbers it would be happy with. 1,964 Beatles Golds were announced to be produced. Stern just set its bar right there. So, if Stern reaches that sales goal of 1,964 Beatles selling then only a fool would say Beatles Gold was a failure. The number we don't have is how many Beatles does Stern need to sell to break even? At what unit number does Stern start making a profit? Stern might be perfectly happy if sales stop at 1200, for example.

Taking the LEs out of the equation, 996 - 600 = 396 Munsters (Pros and Premiums) is the current pinside ownership number. Notice, I said "pinside ownership number". Get ready for a new acroym.....using "PON" as guide, Stern needs to sell 1,568 more Munsters to match the 1,964 Beatles Golds sales objective.

But we already know that Pinside PON is just one part of any sales estimate picture. We do not have any idea of how many sales have actually happened because (many, a few, a lot, gobs) pinball owners don't show up on Pinside and there are others with private collections.

I'll set the Munsters sales bar at that 1,964 Beatles number and AFAIK, 1,568 more Munsters need to sell.

Which takes me back to my opening question to you: What is the "sell number" that has to be reached before Munsters can be considered "not a failure", in your opinion?

And, also, how many Munsters that are not part of PON do you think have sold? Some around here are of the opinion that Pinside represents about 20% of pinball ownership. So, if the 396 can be considered a 20% ownership rate, then 100% would be 1,980 units sold. Already. If this sounds preposterous, then consider how all of the speculation sounds when it is all pie in the sky BS with no numbers estimates, at all. I mean, really, Stern is the only one holding all of the numbers regarding break even sales, current sales, costs and cost overruns, etc.

Adding the 600 LEs ( it is safe to assume that Stern has cut a fat hog with LEs sales) back into the mix and the PON of 996 units suggests to me that Munsters is doing OK in the market.

Don't forget, Munsters are still being produced and sold. And I have yet to read of anybody coming on and saying they just took delivery of their new Munsters Color Premium. So we still more sales to consider with that.

So, for the 3rd time, what is the sell number Munsters has to hit before you consider it not a failure?

For B/W it was 3000 before making a profit, I would guess Stern would near on be the same?

How did you arrive at 3000? Did you get a peek at B/W books?

Keep in mind, IMO, Stern set its bar at 1,964 with The Beatles. That's way be low 3000 units.

Well, Stern and KaPow seriously overcharged for the Beatles, so that should help make up for the lower quantity.

I had some spare .020 polycarbonate laying around so I figured I would try my hand at making some small play field protectors.

I was starting to the some black coloration at the shooter lane so I use Novus on the black and and some plastic protection.

I had to make a template

IMG_1464 (resized).JPG

And then add some double back tape to the finished protector. The tape is left over from one of those window winterize kits from the hardware store.

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NOTE: I repositioned this piece to be a little closer to the edge of the shooter trough after i took the pic.

It is hard to see but I added a small piece of poly to the outboard side of the shooter lane.

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For the Spot ramp drop, I cut a small piece of poly to absorb the impact from balls dropping.

IMG_1472 (resized).JPG

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You might be questioning the "cupped" or concave ball entry position of the return lane protector. Just like pouring water through a funnel, I figure a rolling ball entering a return lane has a better chance of completing its entry with a funnel style of entry as opposed to an arrowhead style of entry. It is performing quite well and not pushing any balls into the outlane. It is performing well enough that I am going to protect the other 3 outlane/return lanes.

This one has been installed using the double back tape from the window kit.

IMG_1478 (resized).JPG

Don’t forget Beatles licensing costs. That’s why they had to jack the cost up.

Depending on Munsters licensing cost, I would think 2-3k units. I bet they have no problem getting that over 3 years of sales. So OK to small success.

On the flip side, to be considered a smash hit for Stern, sales over 5k units, like AC/DC, MET.

Indeed true, but I suspect that they included some extra "jack" over and above the Beatles licensing costs in their jacking up of the cost.

I was not talking about whether Stern overcharged for The Beatles. I won't say it is common knowledge, but many people are of the opinion that a hefty chuck of Stern's revenue went to licensing fees to pad The Beatles Store profits.

And you are saying 1,964 Beatles sales projection is a lower quantity? A lower quantity compared to what?

Here is a PON comparison between Munsters and Deadpool. You know, Deadpool that is giving everyone a woody.

The Pro models. Munsters is on the left. Deadpoll is on the right.

Since Deadpool has been on the market for a longer period of time, IMO, Munsters has some fairly respectable comparison numbers of pinside owners. Munsters just does not look like it is the sales disaster that many here are hoping it will be.

Screen Shot 2019-07-03 at 1.48.07 PM (resized).png

The Premiums. The Premiums has Munsters showing a smaller count of wishlisters but a a larger number of pinsiders putting their money where their mouth is when it comes to ownership.

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And the LEs

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Let it go man. Haha. Do you like your game? That’s all that matters.

Don’t feed the troll cottonm4 .......Still have no idea why non owners post in owners threads.

yup. Never sell my LE... code is fine...game rocks....

Assuming 10k games a year and 3 (or 4) titles per year that would be an average of 3300 or 2500 units per titled (simplified, ignoring reruns of older titles). So any game that doesn’t hit the average is by definition below average. How far below average does a title’s sales have to be before it’s considered a failure is probably the more correct question.

In Munsters case with the initial interest and demand for the title high (increasing the number of LEs by 20%) I would have expected more demand after the LE rush. We didn’t see that with Munsters. You mention we haven’t seen any reports of color Premiums. That’s either because (a) they haven’t been run yet or (b) no one is buying them. If (b) then the demand isn’t there (for whatever reason)

I presume that for most titles Stern comes close to breaking even for development costs for a title if they sell out the LEs and some small number of units so how profitable/successful a title tracks to how far above average unit sales it is. That means of course that a game doesn’t have to hit average unit sales to be profitable. I seriously doubt Munsters hit Stern’s projected unit sales (which I would gave expected to be > average unit sales). In my book, that makes Munsters sales a failure.

And I certainly don’t think comparing Munsters sales to Beatles sales is fair. As an earlier poster said, Stern set a hard cap on sales and had a higher average price per sale which skews any comparison.

However Stern is a manufacturing company first and foremost. I doubt their accountants care about which titles sell what as long as the line keeps moving and they meet/exceed their projected profit numbers.

And you are forgetting a key fact - that I’m sure many owners here would agree on - just because Munsters hasn’t sold well doesn’t make it a bad game.

What he said. As an owner, that’s all that should matter to you.

Though whether Stern will put more resources into software updates is probably directly related to how many more incremental units if they do. As a wannabe owner, that’s what matters to me.

In club threads it’s my understanding it’s for everyone that likes the game. I don’t own Munsters, but I love playing it.

Thats probably fine... but if you dont like it and are here just to bash....there are other threads for that.....

wow! 17 new post since I looked from yesterday. Thought maybe a new code or something neato...nothing new here...disappointing.

Nope, not even a mention of it in STOU as well. Very disappointing.

Hopefully there will be something added when the topper is released.

That’s true, but the individual I was referring to doesn’t own OR like the game, so.....

Yeah true true. Club threads are all I have for new games that come out and I like them. The other thread(s) are completely garbage. There honestly should be a sub-forum for the garbage threads for each title. Haha

Yeh, that would be a great idea. A Hate subforum like the basement. You can elect to just have it not visible so those threads don’t even show on your “feed”. Then Mods can also move new hate threads that belong in there.

There’d be a group of Pinsiders that would only ever be seen in this subforum and that would make everyone happy.

If you are referring to me, you are mistaken.

Gma getting some games in before the fireworks.

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Now theres a woman that knows her pinball!

Thought I would post and share an issue I experienced yesterday with a premium version which I purchased 6 weeks ago. I enjoy reading this forum and thought by sharing this, it may assist others in the future should the same issue arise.
The left flipper on the mini PF, although operating, was very slow when returning to its de-energised state (parking position).
While not happy with this happening with a NIB machine only 6 weeks old, the only way to attack the issue was to remove the mini PF to explore the cause.
I found the mini PF was very easy to remove by the simple unplug of x 3 wire harnesses and x 4 lock nuts (Circled in RED) under the PF. (Diagram Attached).
I removed the coil and found there was some resistance on the flipper linkages which was restricting the spring around the coil plunger from operating efficiently. I disassembled the flipper bat and linkage, cleaned and reassembled all. Fixed !
Still unsure of the cause, however now confident in the future to remove and fix any mini PF issues in the future.

Munsters - Mini PF (resized).jpg

Same thing happened to my game also. It was because the flipper mech had came a little loose and it put it in a bind. I have heard of this happening to other games as well.

just got back from a party a friend had. this friend has 20 or so pins, most of them 20-30 years old. But did get to play a few newer ones, namely The Adams Family, Pirates of Caribbean, Haunted House and the original Black Knight. IMHO, Munsters LE more fun to play than any of those, although TAF was a close second...

I agree with you, TAF would be my only other CGC pin if ever made.

I love my munsters but we have a TAF at league night and nothing on munsters can beat the thing hand coming out or the start of multiball light show. It's always a blast when those two things happen and everyone knows it's multiball when they hear "it's showtime". Herman is no thing hand coming out of a box.

Big pro for Munsters is that it shoots so much smoother and the ramps are much more satisfying for me. I would love to have a TAF sitting right next to my munsters.

I think Munsters is more fun than Adams Family as well but i will admit that i haven't put much time on TAF. I would like to get more time on one though and be able to make a better comparison..

Munster does shoot very well. Very smooth. Great theme and excellent game.

Have played another 20+ games between last night and today....gotta say, this right lane drain is driving me a little cra cra. Kept informal total over past 5 games or so, out of every 10 drains, 1 is on the left hand side, 3-4 are down the middle, 5-6 are right hand side drains. And that's after moving the post down a little and putting a slightly bigger washer on the post!

Tried changing the level of the right legs?

I'm still going through this thread and on page 34 found this post. This is exactly where my screw is missing from just on the other side. Now to figure out how to get it back in there...

At least the one on Herman's side is there. Going to see if I can get at that one to make sure it's tight as well.

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Thanks, yes, just did that..checked with level, its still 'level', just a tad high on rhs, lets hope that does it!

Highly recommend a tool set like this if you don't have one. The flexible shaft makes getting at hard to reach places quite simple.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01E16J6RQ/

I was able to get that screw back in with minor disassembly and when I checked the screw on the other side it too was loose and needed about 2 turns of tightening. Recommend you check those. I don't see any thread lock at all on the screws.

Looks like a very handy tool set, may have to pick one of these up. Thanks for sharing.

Add to cart!

Ok folks, who has got their Munsters toppers on order? Does anyone have any info on them at all? Looks like the Raven may actually come out of a door? I got mine ordered and i cant wait to get it and put it on my game, looks like a beautiful topper!

how did you order?

I placed an order on Friday with Hemispheres Amusements through their eBay store. Kurt indicated in the listing the toppers would be in stock and shipping as early as this coming week!