Any expectations for a topper? Any guesses how long it’ll take to ship?

Elwin didn’t seem to put much thought into his toppers for IM and JP. Maybe throw the Infinity Gauntlet on top and lighting the stones is a backbox feature. I wonder if it’ll have an exclusive mode like JP.

Not sure what the reason to delay the announcement is, other than waiting for his passing to fall out of the current news cycle so that Stern can have their 15 minutes of being the major Marvel news.

Blank Panther is surely somewhere in the artwork (it'd be cool if he's prominently displayed on at least one art package). I doubt there is enough time to add him in if he wasn't already or to make some sort of alteration in honor of Boseman. Stern has already started ordering playfields and cabinet art. Heck they might already be rolling down the line.

Maybe Marvel was going to help with the reveal, and their PR machine is understandably busy right now. I can see them wanting to double check any new product announcements to make sure they don't upset anyone, seem tasteless, etc...

Disney is also crazy risk averse. You think it's implausible that some manager kicks down an email saying everything is on hold until further review?

They are no doubt crazy busy right now. His passing is a big deal for the sprawling Marvel and Disney empire.

The people who want this game can just go buy AFM, which is possibly the most perfect execution of "alien invasion" sci-fi theme that will ever be made.

If Brian Eddy made a spiritual successor to AFM (cough Stranger Things), people would just complain because it's either too similar or not similar enough.

RFM is very different, but even then it is not some fondly remembered game (other than being the good Pin2000 game)

Eh. You want a horror pin with sci-fi elements, which certainly has its merits. But when people are pining for the days of lore, they often include humor as one of the things they miss the most. So with that caveat, I'll double down that there is no reason to ever make another humorous take on an alien invasion (or medieval times)

It’d be cool since it’s probably the closest we’d get to a proper Black Panther game.

So many LE possibilities. Will they try to do a few smaller runs? Like 250 units of Captain America LE, Thanos LE, Black Panther LE, etc (I can just hear Zombie Yeti telling me to shut up)

Seems like a likely explanation though. Teaser was a scheduled released at like 11am Friday morning. The news of his passing was that afternoon.

Why else would they delay it? It's not like they're going to change that much in a couple days or significantly alter their production timelines (especially when parts are probably already ordered, if games aren't already rolling down the line)

Looks awesome.

And you can see Black Panther is an insert and the right orbit (to a ramp?). So Boseman's passing probably did warrant a small delay

And an upkicker to remove balls from the ramp is also used as a shot, but is just a stand up on the pro. (Kinda like Star Trek)

Extremely minor nitpick, but the coin door is screaming for some color. It's a glaring black void on a beautiful cabinet. I don't know about powder coating it yellow though, but an aftermarket sticker would do.

Maybe in the future Stern can sell coin doors without the coin mechs for home collectors. Cover the space with more art from the game.

If you pay the most, you should get it the soonest. Then again, now the LE owners are the guinea pigs

Borg does. I think it's Elwins choice. Up-post is probably cheaper which means crazier wireforms in exchange.

In the podcast, Keith Elwin joked about it being Gary Stern's favorite mech as he was selling him on the subway idea.

Bruh, did you not see that Captain Marvel ramp and how it looks like a superhero flying up, curving around, which interwinds with the Infinity Gauntlet that brilliantly feeds the upper flipper. The balls are flying all around the playfield.

And unlike Oktoberfest, people will regularly see it in action.

Seems like a good quality of life improvement to make, but it could be complicated and present potential issues if there are already balls locked in there. It would still have to cycle so it keeps the correct number stored.

Could also be an issue with overheating the one coil that pulls down all the ball stops

My mind went to classic Sterns like Cheetah, which probably inspired Ripley's. But I'll admit, I've only played a Ripley's once it was years ago.

Sure, but without direct user controlled lane change it seems fairly limited outside of very particular situations.