Quoted from Darscot:That is great marketing when you have millions of grown up kids and your asking them for $20 and offering to let them relieve a moment of childhood. When you asking for $8000 and offering a band that they may not even remember, you need a whole lot more.
There really isn't a whole lot of people that can drop $5,500 - $12,000.....multiple times.....on toys. Outside of this dedicated community, there aren't a lot of people that would have a pin even in their top 10 list of "stuff to buy" if they had a spare $10k sitting around.
The market for pins is pretty small. All of us "older guys" grew up with pinball. Trying to get Gen Y, and especially Millennials interested has proven to be tough. I have a 12 and 15 year old at home. I keep trying, but they are much more interested in having their faces buried in their phones or iPads. Now Fortnite is the latest rage. I can't blame them, as I loved playing video games as well.
But, bottom line is, you need to go where the money is. Who can ACTUALLY afford these games? That leaves out A LOT of people, and also explains why Stern is making pins dedicated to "geezer bands" as they are called on here. I don't think Stern would sell a whole lot of Justin Bieber themed pins.
Along that line of affordability, I would also point out that there is hardly any competition for Stern on the entry level pins. Around $5500 nets a guy a nice Pro from Stern. The same guy would be saving another $3000 just to get a JJ entry level model. That is a HUGE disparity.