A dark night for Stern

Let's not forget it isn't just the new releases that count. Stern is still running Metallica, GoT, TWD and ACDC. Heck, didn't they do a run of ST early this year too?

I have no idea of the numbers, but it's a safe bet Stern has sold far more machines than its competitors combined this year.

Wow that's brilliant.

Lol.....this guy is amazing isn’t he? I mean seriously how does anyone come up with something like that?

Without a doubt Stern sells machines that fill the void at the lowest price range, they just need to remember that and stay there.

Even if the software updates like for KISS and GB take longer than people want, at least they've confirmed they'll be coming. For the longest time we could only guess than they might come back to a game.

Thanks for the explanation professor. just kidding. It depends on how you look at that, not to get too literal but actually it kinda does make it better from a business point of view, of course the quality isn't the same but that's all relative to the individual, here my brilliant take on this. I just bought a $30 Walmart winter jacket, plain black, very warm and more than adequate, my brother just bought a goose brand something or other jacket for $500 and yeah its built better, might last longer, looks a bit nicer with the crest and all but neither of us are going freeze, which one is better? I would rather use that 570 I saved to put a color DMD in my soon to be here TWD, see what I'm saying, what am I saying, I don't know?

All we are saying is what you said was really stupid. lol

True, but no one was saying that until you goaded Hazoff into telling us about his Walmart coat.

We were talking production numbers and sales because rubberducks has made some astounding claims on that topic in this thread, in support of his argument that Stern’s business is plummeting as a result of competition (plus quality issues and pricing decisions in the EU). He may be right, of course, even if much of his “data” appears to be invented.

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I’ve never said anything that stupid in my life .......not even joking! At least you made me laugh so that’s good.

I think you need to get urself a calculator my friend.

Remember now, he's working with Canadian dollars. Or maybe just a Canadian calculator.

exactly, here 500 - 30 is always 570.

On account of the metric system, naturally.

more due to taxes but the metric system doesn't help either.

Summarize Thread:

Stern quality going down while price keeps going up...but they still (likely) outsell everyone else combined by 3-4 to 1.

And if you want a sub 6k machine NIB they are still your only option.

https://www.thepinballcompany.com/product/jetsons-pinball-machine/

Please tell me that you aren't trying to compare The Jetson to ANY new Stern game. That's not the point of your post I hope.

Nope. Just replying to: "if you want a sub 6k machine NIB they are still your only option."

Oh ok. Well I still agree that they are pretty much your only option. That isn't even in the same class as a Stern Pro.

Very correct as the Jetson's cabinet doesn't fall apart like a Stern one. Also no Q/A issues. Code is complete.

Well a JJP isnt in the same class as a stern pro either I guess...But I understand the point that was being made.

Yeah and The Jetson game is selling so well isn't it? They are selling so many that they just can't keep them in stock. I'm not gonna get into an argument and bash that game or the company who makes it but The Jetson isn't even in the same league as any Stern Pro out there.

Is your Metallica cabinet falling apart? Any Q/A issues? How about the code on MET, is it incomplete?

No, Two which I corrected/fixed, Mostly Complete.

Well let's hear how bad the Q/A issues were for you out of the box. You did buy it new right?

Both of my Mets (Pro and Premium) are perfect, such awesome games.

However, there are two GBs right on my street with cracking cabinets. I fixed one of them.

Dude we get it. you're a stern fanboy lol. Lighten up, jeez.

No see that's where you are wrong and you really don't get it. Im far from a Stern fan boy but I give them credit when it's due and I can't stand all of the unnecessary bashing. Stern has their problems and I'll be the first to admit it, but their quality is no where near as bad as what some people want to act like it is. They make a shit load of games so of course there is going to be some problems here and there. Every pinball company has their problems.

I don't doubt that a bit because there were some cabinet issues there for awhile. Shit happens for sure sometimes.

Exactly, and JJP is much much more expensive and they have never had any playfield problems and they always have complete code when their games ship don't they? Oh wait....maybe not!

The cabinets and parts they use are much nicer, but you sure as hell pay for it.

This is getting old, of the 32 Sterns downstairs, none of the issues everyone bitches about have appeared.

If you’re far from a fanboy (gameroom loaded with pins exclusively from stern and rabidly panicking when people point out there issues) then I’d hate to see what a REAL fanboy looks like...

Facial tattoos?

I like Stern games what can I say? That doesn't mean I like their ghosted playfield's when it happens or when someone gets a bad cabinet. You would probably see a JJP POTC game in my basement if they wasn't so expensive. Im not brand loyal when it comes to Pinball, although I do think Stern makes the funnest games personally.

I don't doubt that either, and I'm personally not willing to pay for it. More power to those that are though.

Absolutely like both of my JJP LEs , but experienced more issues with them than my Sterns.

Well that's certainly interesting. I was always under the impression that they were totally flawless.

JJP pins are super quality, but far from flawless. Service issues were resolved quickly, as were issues with Stern.

I like pinball

I’ve heard they are much much higher quality (and ship with complete code etc etc) but have issues that may slip past QC like any handbuilt mechanically complex good.

Yeah I've been in the manufacturing business 34 years and that happens sometimes. It happens to every company on earth, maybe that's why I understand it better than most people do.

Flukes happen to the best of them. Stern has perfected the art of driving quality out of their builds though. Good for driving up margins and those ‘flukes’.