I played Stern's Star Wars, both a Pro and an LE, for the first time on the same day as the Pirates reveal and now I am trying to figure out how to get rid of some games to make room for both a JJPOTC LE and a Stern SW Pro. The SW Pro was a lot of fun with a great lay out and fun shots and cool video, sound and call outs. I think the disappointment comes from thinking the ultimate theme (for many) should be the ultimate pinball machine. This isn't the case but the game is pretty damn good for a $5300 NIB game. I would never pay an additional $3000-4000 for an LE or $2000 for a premium. I think the LE where I was had $9500 as the price.

The code issues, particularly with BM66, are definitely a concern but Stern is not going anywhere any time soon. I am a fan of any good pinball game and want to see them all succeed. JJP is without a doubt the best pinball manufacturer OAT IMO but Stern has made some great games and will make more great games.

I went back and looked through many of xrose_or_aragonx posts and she clearly knows him. And well enough to not only write just like him but also write in a male tone (yes, there is a difference in how men and women write) and commonly has insight about collecting 10, 20, 30 years ago and obscure people in pinball despite being "new to pinball" as she seems compelled to state multiple times in her posts.

In response to:

She wrote:

However, the post was just after her post and didn't quote it. A new member to Pinside who didn't know xTheBlackKnightx would likely assume that they were referencing someone else or the OP and ignore it. Also, he said "TheBlackKnight" and she corrected to "xTheBlackKnightx"

So yeah, clearly she knows him and is definitely NOT xTheBlackKnightx

I live in a community of about 100,000 people. I am aware of less than 20 pins on location and have only ever seen 4 newer games on location in the past 5 years: WOZ standard, Mustang Premium, Ghostbusters LE and BM66 Premium. I have 15 machines in my basement and know other collectors with 3, about 6 and over 20 and a few people with one pin. I am fairly sure I am aware of at least 90% of the pins on location and maybe about 10% of the pins in homes. Basically I estimate the ratio to be around 20 to 1 in homes versus on route in my area. Maybe that is atypical but I doubt it.

Now I understand that this thread is talking about NIB games. I have purchased 5 of those, am not aware of any other collectors buying NIB and have seen the 4 above that I believe were probably brand new games at the time they were put on route. Small sample size but I think that home buyers likely make up over 50% of NIB purchases and over 90% of used game ownership.

@6:40 he blows off the BM66 question. That game will go down as a low point for Stern.

Back on topic...I am first and foremost a JJP fanboy but Stern making games essentially alone for over 10 years kept the new pinball industry alive and led to the reinvigoration we are now seeing. And they have made some fantastic games in the process. Every manufacturer has their amazing games and their turds but I am very enthusiastic about the future of pinball. There are some great games coming out from multiple manufacturers and the number of collectors is rapidly growing. I thought TNA looked lame but now I'm afraid to play it as I might end up loving it. I think it will succeed where Whoa Nellie failed. Alice Cooper seems promising too. The Big Lebowski and Alien appear like they could be great games and hopefully their manufacturers get things together. Aerosmith and Star Wars are really fun games. Dialed In! and JJPOTC are some of the best games ever made. It is a great time for pinball and while all of you are part of that, Stern deserves some thanks and respect for what they've done, despite questionable motivation and actions at times. I guess I just don't understand wanting to see any pinball company fail.

Now I'm going to go play my Dialed In!, my GB, my WOZ and my LOTR and dream about my Stern Star Wars and JJPOTC on the way! I hope everyone has a great weekend of pinball!

I played a BM66 Premium. It was pretty fun from a layout and theme perspective but the code deficits were very obvious. It could be a great game with complete code. The chance of this happening seems dim with the low productions numbers, unfortunately.

I wanted to hate BM66. I really did. I am a major Superman fan. Batman annoys me. The old show is so stupid and cheesy. But then I was waiting for my movie to start and I thought I'd put a few quarters in. I was hooked despite the deficiencies. The game could be SO SWEET but the repetitive nature of the game with the current code annoyed me. The game has massive potential and is fun regardless. I would probably buy one with polished code but I am not holding my breath for that. I love my GB Pro with no ghosting. I am going to purchase a Star Wars soon. It has its issues but I think people are mostly disappointed that their ultimate theme isn't the ultimate pin.

Do you mean "couldN'T care less"? Sorry, but I see this written incorrectly more than correctly and I should care less.