I'd be shocked if the game was delivered next month. That seems very, very ambitious if they can't even demonstrate it was some basic code right now.

I would agree they want to make it good enough to show but I'm not so sure about getting it right!

Whats the deal with the code? Its just a Costco TDK. Use the code for that.

How hard is it to make.. shoot this shot 3x, shoot that shot 3x.

That's Lonnie rules ...

rd

No sign of the batman66 game in the latest stern factory video. But just before the 5 mimute mark you can see them working on some topper pieces. Looks like the backlit topper pieces of batman and robin are printed on a single sheet of plastic. In the "dead" area between batman and robin there is a bunch of bat logo circles. I wonder if thats the bat signal projector light mask?

Going to know Stern won't demo or ship a game before the code is complete!

I'd like to know if Batman has a factory date, when is it expected to be on the line.

Supposedly sometime in November. Still 2 weeks left but there is Thanksgiving next week.

Oh,I was told,Jan.for our LEs!!

There is an adjustable spotlight on the backside. Its a small can light.

When they said "building in Nov" I've just been assuming Jan is the earliest I'd get my game. Likely Feb/Mar. And that's perfectly ok. No rush- code iteration v1.0 will be incomplete and that's ok too. This is a lengthy process, to pretend it isn't is to be silly.

Considering Aerosmith is expected at CES first week of January, something has to be moving along with the BM66 by then. There's no way they'd announce their next game and not have any deliveries of the previous one, would there? I think that would be unprecedented.

Lyman is outstanding, but he doesn't have a reputation for pumping out code quickly. Met and TWD both took some time before they were "complete". Lets hope the wait isn't that long....

Correct. AC/DC wasn't done quickly either. But it sure as hell was worth the wait!

I know you posted this several days ago, but I would really be interested to see the application and video you submitted to be so kindly offered an opportunity to purchase one of these rare machines.

At expo gary said LE's first, then SLE's, then premiums. So 240 LE's should build quickly, like 1 or 2 weeks?

He said US SLE buyers should get them by xmas.

So if they start production by end if Nov then US based LE' s (and maybe SLE's) could potentially be delivered before xmas.

All speculation on my part. I have no info other than what was said at expo talks.

Plenty of people were offered this hot exclusive without having to demean themselves with a video. It was a lot of hype as usual.

That must have been why they needed to add 50 more Super LEs. Because as they said, applications and demand were so high. lol.

I know a guy that has two Super LEs coming and he doesn't beg or apply or kiss anybody's ass. He's just rich.

The code will be done when it's done! Three years from now.

That will do it.

I wish you were talking about me!

I don't know why get two. Of course, some people do like to have a choice.

Play one and in a couple years NIB BM66 20K, he's rich for a reason, his SLE just cost him 10K

Nothing stays for a couple years. He's had over 10 TronLEs. They come and go like the wind. Maybe the other one is for a friend.

Perhaps he has 2 houses and wants one at each.

If that was the case he would have had 10 BBBs instead of 5. We'll just wait and see, how's that?

O-din - I noticed your new avatar. Is that a subliminal acronym for all the negative Pinsiders?

Stop
Trolling
Pinside

Nope.Just stickers of status.

Setting
The
Pace

They'll bring it out for the last hour of the show.

If RotorDave made such a video, it better include a fearsome Haka!

I'd be the whitest looking Maori dude you'd ever see. My haka would scare nobody

Here's one that is a bit better than any I could muster...

rd

I pictured your application video more something like this

Come on, dave. Don't be modest.

rotordave_haka (resized).jpg

That's the "Friday Night Booze Haka"

Quite popular around this way.

rd

I see your rare Dio footage and raise you some rare Graeme Bonnet footage!

This is what happens when you replace Dio with a rockabilly singer ....

rd

I can't blame Stern for not wanting to show off product that's not ready, but I can't understand why you would do a reveal of it at Pinball Expo behind ropes if it wasn't going to be shown again for so long. I guess the idea was to provide a counter to Dialed In, but the longer it goes without gameplay, the more that acts as a bit of a backfire. It would probably have been better to sit on the reveal until a flippable game (whether by a Stern employee or by the public) was ready.

I wonder if all the art teases and such just built up to a point where they felt they had to show the cabinet and playfield, despite code being completely unready. It's either that, or something is wrong and there's been some sort of setback.

I was once told by a Stern employee that it was "very important" for them to go into production 21-30 days after a reveal to avoid being like the "other bush league manufacturers" in the industry and that they would never want to be like them.

Something odd has to be going on with this one.

I don't think so.

They already sold 80 machines at $15,000

They already sold another 240 machines at $9999.

They're sold and paid for and out the door.

No need to promote something that's already sold out.

When they are ready to push the Premiums next year, that's when you'll see a video.

rd

Depending on how you measure it, they're clearly in some phase of production already. We've seen cranes being produced, playfields being signed as well as the SLE toppers in the factory. We haven't seen them on the line yet for final assembly, but things are clearly moving forward at some pace.

As cool as the SLE would be, and it'd be cool to have one here in NZ, here's my rationale why I didn't buy it.

The game was $15,000 USD. Initially, I was to pay that sum to Stern (direct) and ship it myself. I ship a lot of pins so I can do it cheaply. Then they changed it and decided that the NZ Stern distributor would do it. Suddenly it is $24,000 NZD plus the shipping on top of that, whatever that was.

The reality is, for say $26,000 landed here, I would have to sell 4 of these mint games and probably half the Avatar as well to cover $26,000.

The question is, as cool as it may be, is one game better than Spider-Man + Star Trek + Family Guy + Batman TDK + half of Avatar? Four of the best games Stern has made?

My conclusion was, unfortunately not.

rd

IMG_3754 (resized).JPG

IMG_3755 (resized).JPG

I came to the same conclusion, but my rationale was a bit different. I figured I could buy an SLE and get divorced, or not buy it and stay happily married. I chose the latter.

Sweet move.

rd

Same here.

divorced, which more easily allowed my silly LE purchase

Well, after watching those two Man on the Silver Mountain videos, I have come to these conclusions.

I can now better understand why the Brits have always been so gobsmacked that we here in the US don't regard RB as highly as other guitarists who were much more popular. RB really was the real deal--I stand corrected.

Bonnet was way out of his element on this tune. I think he did some really nice tunes with Rainbow--just not this one.

Blackmore is a god.

Deep Purple were big in the USA back in the early/mid 70s too ... witness the California Jam with the Mk3 lineup. But they never seemed to kick on from that and the legacy disappeared, in the USA at least.

I've read interviews with Bonnet where he says he never really wanted to sing hard rock. He was all about crooning and rockabilly music. That could go a long way to explain why he usually only ever did one album with an act (Rainbow and MSG come to mind ...)

rd

Dave says it all. If someone with 125 pinball machines isn't in...but this math certainly doesn't add up. ST $4300 + FG $5000 + Batman TDK $4500 + 1/2 Avatar $2000 = $15,800. Oh wait it really does add up! wow.

I have been watching Stern and this post for a while now, and I have to say as someone that has been into pinball my whole life, this is been the biggest scam in pinball ever! If you are willing to by a Batman 66 thinking that it is going to revolutionize pinball the way Funhouse, T2, AFM, MB, or any of the countless other great games have, you have lost your mind. They are banking on an old man license that is a rehash of a game that came out 10 years ago. They are probably scared out of their minds about the backlash if this game doesn't play the way you would expect a $15,000 game should play. That's the reason they increased the Sle's, Because they are going to need to recoup more money than they originally thought after all of the people that are going to be putting this game on blast when they actually play it. There aren't enough modes in the world to save this thing at this point and they are focusing on the topper? If you have the money to spend then it is no big deal, but if you are putting money into this thinking that it is going to be the best pinball ever because you are a fan of pinball, you are going to curse at Stern forever because this game is not going to be the holy grail like MB, AFM, SS, or anything close. They put a Color lcd on a BDK with slightly different rule set. It's sad that they are not trying to push new features to really wow the $15,000 out of people, but instead pulling a bait and switch on people while at the same time pulling fake promises of when they will show you what it does. Again, there are tons of people willing to throw their money away on something they have never seen, I for one am cool with putting 50 cents into one I come across and saving $14,999.50 on laughing on why anyone would give their money to a sub-par company like Stern. They really are showing that they don't give a crap about anyone. It's a great scam if you are Gary Stern but I am tired of hearing about it.
First and probably last post like this. Sorry if I offended anyone....