I think it is time to move on Stern.

Ride The Lightning Vault Edition

Sorry, I just wish Stern would move forward with new stuff. They will beat a dead horse. I do see on their site that it says MET is still in production.

MET was one of the best games they made in their recent history.

The fact that there are still significant numbers of NIB buyers for it says something. It would be silly for Stern to turn away customers with money in their hands.

Their newer games, for the most part, have been lacking. Once released, owners seem to flip them after a few months, and they don't get reissued 2, 3, or 4 times over like MET has.

Most of the time, when a new Stern game comes out, it inevitably gets compared back to MET as the peak standard of their recent games (although TWD usually gets mentioned as well).

MET is probably the only recent game I would buy right now. I hope they keep making them as it keeps the price down.

Both MET and AC/DC have been run many times. Still selling in numbers too. Stern rerunning those two proven games gives them more time to work on past and present games while keeping the lines moving.

Would Stern likely issue an official “last call” on Metallica, or would production just stop with no warning?

PM me and do tell where I can get for that price....I’m currently trying to decide what my next pin will be. Trying to round the final game in my gameroom. It’s between a newer stern (MET pro or Prem/BM66/SW type) or a classic BW (like a TZ/STTNG/WH2O type).

Why anyone buys a brand new pin that's already been out for sometime is beyond me. The amount of money you lose vs having a huo with mods your going to buy anyway and looks great....

A game like alien I had no choice but MET brand new for how much and no color DMD etc? Crazy talk.

Trent at Tilt gave me a better price than $6800 before I found a monster deal on a huo. Good luck.

While we're dreaming here I think an all black and red Kill Em All VE would be the way to go.

This is what Stern said on May 31 - 2017 on their facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/sternpinball/photos/a.386178974243.167508.136972659243/10155356223454244/?type=3&theater

I quote (its about the following games: Met-pro, Met pre, GOT pro, GOT pre):

"Stern Pinball: So to be clear, here are a few things:

- These mentioned 4 games will not have any further production in 2017.
- The current available NIB inventory is all that exists.
- Possibly, but not necessarily, we could run more of these 4 titles at sometime in 2018 or beyond based on demand or other factors.
- Possibly, any title we have ever released since 1986, with the exception of LE units, could return at any time, as a "Vault Edition" which could be an exact duplicate of its original version, an alternate version, have alternate art, or other enhancements and improvements.

If you want any of these 4 games, the time to buy is today.

Contact your retailer ASAP."

Later in July 2017 this picture was taken for the Chicago Tribune:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-stern-pinball-assembly-line-0705-biz-20170904-story.html

So what they say and what they do is completely unrelated if you ask me...

pasted_image (resized).png

agreed but man I see a ton of METs get posted here. If you wait, you'll find one. If you want one right away totally agree. Unless rare, new pins are like cars. It's a shame b/c the hobby generally is rewarding if you're smart.

I say run them as long as there is demand. None of the vaults are stopping new game development, they are just keeping the factory busy. No reason not to keep making them as long as they are selling. WOZ and MET came out around the same time and JJP doesn't get any flack for continuing to make them. Since that time stern has released 13 or so new titles to JJP's 2.

Make them as long as they are selling, the more you sell, the cheaper the initial development per game becomes and you continue to make more and more profit off of the game as long as the license fee makes sense.

And the less they'll cost us on the secondary market...fine by me!

There is also the fact that if new games do not get rerun, then the prices of used games tend to climb, at least for popular titles. Just look at IM or ACDC before they had vault releases. I've also waited many months for used games to come up locally in the past, only for the seller to up his price from demand or miss out because I actually had work to do when an add was placed for the game I was hunting for. Or I purchased to have it shipped to me only to find the game not in the condition it was described as.

If u want to let this sink in... $6800 was what I paid nib for Metle... amazing that a premium is now $6800

Patience! One will come up soon enough but the best used deal I found was $5800 for routed so 66-67 is pretty good nib.

That included shipping too