That's why I said "just to be clear" - so no one would mistake what you posted.

I have a NOS 3D trans for tron that im willing to sell.

100 in the new run. 50 going overseas.

Just bought mine Make that one less

Easy answer here.
You say your are making 500 more...what's the rush the rush to buy one? Result is Stern is sitting on inventory. Sitting on inventory does not generate money...sales do.

So you say your making only 100...and they all sell out fast. Keeping the production #'s low results in impulsive purchases (ie: I better buy one or I'll miss the boat, like last time).

That has been their whole concept with these LE's all along. Now your having to pay a premium for a full featured game, and paying big money to have a metal tag on your game that says what number yours is, along with the mentality...I better get one before they sell out. Look how limited Avatar LE and Transformers LE are.....I could still order one from my distributor and it would ship from Stern. Doesn't sound too limited to me?

Maybe they should have a buy two get one free promo have to buy one TF LE and one Avatar LE to get one Tron pro free.

On that logic they make 5 and only 4 people buy them and one is still there when you call to order so they are not Limited?

I'm not saying you have to make all 500. You know the machine is popular. It sold out once. Now, instead of just making another 100, you take pre-orders. If 200 are ordered, you make 200, if 600, 600. Why leave money on the table if they could have sold 300. They sold 100 in a day. Just sayin'.

Take pre orders and make what makes sense if you get 100 pre orders they could easily make and sell 150

I'm not sure what there discount on qty for pieces are though I think they probably start getting a better purchase price on materials at a qty of 100 or more

Any idea if they are using nos play fields or making new ones? I would imagine that the clear coat on the nos would be fully 'cured' by now.

It all depends on what they farm out to other companies for parts supply. Certain things you can only get in certain quantities. My guess is they can only get orders of ramps in 100 at a time, pop bumpers at groups of 1000, and so on and so forth. Chances are the 100 number of new pins made makes sense because while some parts quantities they could have made for the new run were right around that mark(including previous overruns), the new batches of stuff they could just keep for warranty/spare parts.

My guess is that the reason the cabinet art is decaled instead of screen printed is due to setup cost and at 100, it doesn't work out per pin. But, with decals, the price per pin might be slightly higher, but no setup cost.

Basically just a whole bunch of number crunching went on, and now there are 100 "new" pins.

Just because they have the potential capacity to make more pins, ie floor space, doesn't mean they currently have the capacity, or that it is worth it. There are other things to consider, like personnel. Perhaps 35 or so pins a day is the most they can make with the current number of workers. To make 50 pins a day, which is what I understand maximum capacity is, might take an entire second shift.
Making 100 pins probably takes a short week like one with Columbus day. Half day to prep, set up and get all the parts in place, three days to assemble, and another half day to finish and clean up. Just guessing here.

That makes sense, too. Chances are they only hire everyone on when they have a full production run to do. They probably just have 25% of the full capacity staff as full-timers and with those, they can pump out 100 in two weeks.

Or something to that effect.

I want 2 !! Do you have a Pict- of them ?

I hear ya..but if they don't put a number to it..there is no rush. Sterns trend has been limited editions...get one or you won't to increase instant pre-sales. To put a low number like 100 being made, results in a mad rush that will sell out.

However in reality who's to say behind the table they are "really only making 100"???

These aren't numbered. I'm not saying this is the case...but it's possible and there is nothing wrong with it. Gary could very well send the same form letter to all of his distributors and say something to the extend of "Based off the popularity of the Stern Tron Pinball, we have decided to make a small run of 100 machines, we have allocated a small number of 10 per distributor at this special one time run. Please contact us as soon as possible to place your order." However the catch to this is that "if" they were to send this letter to 30 distributors. The reality is that they are really could potentially make 300+ more TRON's. It all matters on how many distributors they have world wide.

The end result it's all about hype and getting one while we do this last run. I think it all matters on the pre-orders. I mean if they are not running them until October and it's early September right now, Stern has plenty of time to know how many they need to make whether it be 100 or 1000, based off of their pre-sales here in September.

My thoughts on the hype.

anywhere other than JJ or Trent to get one?

http://forum-img.pinside.com/pinball/forum/?bb_attachments=403292&bbat=43419&inline&fullsize

I'd buy one of those translites!

Chicks in tight suits - winning! Or are they body painted?

Dave.

Yeah I was looking to buy one also but they are gone. Oh well I guess they lost a potential buyer

I was on the fence about getting one. Then I found out the NIB price of this latest batch was $350 more than the last batch in March...

Who did you get a quote from, Robert? I got 2 quotes that I believe were below the last run.

It was the same distributor that a lot of people here use.

I've PM'd the specifics.

OK the Trons all sold in no time. How about a short run of Iron Man next?

To be totally fair, it's the same building, but they have completely redone the line. I've toured the factory multiple times throughout the years - the first time when they were running TSPP, and most recently with Avatar, and they completely redid the factory floor to better take advantage of labor with running less machines.

My first visit, they were running a ton of pins and also a bunch of vids. They are just doing pinball now.

Point is - they refigured it, and it really can't be brought up to the same level of production as it used to be. It's much safer this way for them, and less wasteful of labor when they send a machine or two of a different type down the line. When they were doing Avatar, there was a few machines here and there in the middle of it that were other titles. It was interesting to see them like that.

Sadly, I've heard that Tron is a complete bust on route. I know someone that had one out who toldd me that it was making less than 25% of the other machines at the exact same location. He said he pulled it... and kept it because the gameplay was so great.

I can say from what I've played of the game, I don't think that it is just a walk-up and have fun game. I spent a while trying to figure out the rules, and four games in as a guy who plays regularly, I still didn't really get what I was shooting for. That isn't a knock on the game - as I said, I've got one waiting in storage for additional space at my house - but I think it may be a problem for it earning on route. Like NBA, the coolest feature is something you don't know is going to happen until it happens... and that doesn't help entice the "first quarter".

That's pretty normal for later runs. The price goes up because they produce much less parts which costs much more. I believe the final run of Spider-Man was more than $500 more than the previous run of Spider-Man...

Wowwww.....
(Sorry for the late reply guys.)
And Gary said TRON was done for good during his rambling speech at CAX...

What do you recommend to cleanup the disk and keep it grippy

Who were you dealing with?

Clean the disc with rubbing alcohol will keep it grippy.

Sorry to hear you are not getting one Robert. It's a great game that is not leaving my collection anytime soon. You can always come to my place and play it but most of the people who do that eventually buy one anyway. I can claim at least 3 people that had to get one after playing mine.

Bite the bullet and get one.

Yeah it's pretty typical for reruns to cost more than the original run. SM's last run was close to $5k I believe. I wouldn't take anything Stern says as far as machines being done as gospel. Not saying TRON isn't done after this, but I never would of believed they would rerun LOTR and they did when they did the LE, so anything is possible. Of course the next run of TRON could be a lot more expensive.

Yep, I love my original run Tron. I'm glad I managed to scoop mine up before all the crazy fuss and shortage of them happened!

So, they're all gone already?

I think you can still get them from distributors. The distributors have probably bought all that Stern will make, but I seriously doubt they have sold them all.

I've got a Tron left if you want it. Call (570) 847-6366

Also a AC/DC BIB, if anyone is looking for one.

Thanks

Yep; that is how I read it as well. All the distributors bought them all but they should pretty much all be available. Awesome game. Will be glad to have 100 new owners in the club.

Found one! I actually prefer the new translight for the looks, but would prefer the other due to the 3D effect.

How expensive are these 3D translites to have custom made? If you placed an order for, let's say, 50.

I have a few Tron's left PM me is interested.

FYI, I didn't see it mentioned here ... I spoke to a distributor earlier today and he said the new run of Tron Pros will also have a RED dot matrix display (like AC/DC). Apparently Stern ran out of orange displays and is using red ones on this run.

Anybody know if they will have the decal protectors where the legs attach?

I received that confirmation from Stern today.

I was told it would have gas plasma like the original run. Not LED. If they don't have the right dispaly, they need to order them. I think red will look weird.

That's not the stern way...just put in whatever is on hand. Who cares if it is right?

I was debating ordering one, and dumping my IJ in exchange....but why am I having so much trouble convincing myself to buy from this run?

Blue is the way to go anyway so just sell the one that comes with it

These displays are a lot more expensive and will last longer. You are right it is not like them to add such an expensive item to a pro.

Sorry, but I refuse to pay what they're asking for NIB games nowadays. If that means I never buy another NIB game, so be it. I've already got plenty of great titles that I can be happy with.

Starburst in TO is getting 10 in, and there are only 4 left. Good to see some more NIB coming to Canada.

What is better gas plasma or LED display?

What type of display is in PotC and what is in XM LE? I have to look at those two are different I believe but not sure which is which.

plasma in Pirates and red LED in Xmen LE