I really hope Homepin can start cranking games out from China at reasonable prices....

I've been saying that all along. That's why we get Batman instead.

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I don't know why that would be. LCD's are a hell of a lot cheaper to buy than DMD's. The cost drops a lot since LCDs are mass produced and can be bought in bulk. DMD's are very select market. You can buy LCD's for the price of 1 DMD.

Because they can.

Most people see it as an added value and will pay accordingly.

yea, because most people don't really have a clue or really think about real cost of things.

Didn't suck when you put your entire collection up for sale

I'm still in for LE.

Prices are going back down after this "anniversary edition".

This pin is blinged out "way beyond" anything else they have done before.

I'm not saying they won't have SLE's in the future, I think they will and would be stupid not to have them if people keep buying them.

100 SLE units, 400 LE's, premiums and pros.

I predict $10k, $8500, $7200 and $5800 respectively.

...and SMD is much cheaper than DIP, metal backboxes are cheaper than wooden ones, pegs are cheaper than rails, moving a switch is cheaper than having to use cables, etc.

Stern has moved from being an "old style manufacturer" (quality product for a reasonable price) to a marketing company, as they state themselves: "John is a perfect addition to our company. His experience with consumer sales and collectibles will help us reach our goal of creating a whole new generation of pinball players," said Gary Stern, Founder, CEO and Chairman of Stern Pinball, Inc.

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The LE and SLE are already a slam dunk success it appears, so no doubt we will see more of the same.

I think premium goes back to $7200 range in future and pro stays under $6k.

$15k pins for me? Likely not for me. $10k is crazy enough.

You guys are some funny M fers

When you see BM66 you'll understand why prices will go back down.

But hey, a GBLE at $8k isn't like some screaming discounted price.

What is clear is they are intent on not allowing "flipper profit" and will price accordingly

Gettin' in the mood for the big release party...

They also never had a SLE or a 30th ann pin that the pin geeks salivate for, this show is obviously important to a lot of folk out there, they may not decrease the price and this is the new norm for pricing, I'm just saying if Aerosmith was released under these pricing conditions where you get to meet the band etc. It would not be sold out this fast and Pre's certainly would not be flying off the shelf, only time will tell.

That is like saying they are going to eliminate IP piracy in China. Meaning, there is zero chance of that happening.
There is no way for the producer to eliminate "flipper profit".
Flipper profit is consumer driven and there is always some yutz that will pay the flipper's price if the flipper is selling what they want.
Stern doesn't give a fig about flippers. They are simply trying to find that spot on the supply & demand curve where if they charge more they won't be able to sell them all and if they charge less they won't have enough to satisfy demand. The free market is what makes America great and also allows you to create a cheap piece of doodoo and charge through the roof for it.

Everybody's doing it
http://www.businessinsider.com/products-high-markups-2014-7
Go on get yourself some.

I think Stern messed up because BB66 LE and SLE would have sold out even without the lcd display. Then they could have saved that to increase sales on Aerosmith making it the first lcd Stern.

hmm...

For Sale in 18 months: BM66SLE - $15,001.99

This is all clearly a sign Stern has been barking up the wrong tree with these recent 80s throwback themes and the 60s are where the big money is.

So it's time to throw the predictions of games like Goonies in the trash and break out the heavy hitters.

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They have already done it. After the METLE debacle that's exactly what happened.

They have greatly reduced "flipper profit".

The after market for $8k plus pins is only going to get more difficult for sellers as JJP, Heighway and Stern keep cranking out the new latest and greatest Nib pins.

That will keep a lid on prices, people won't keep buying Nib to sell their pins later at a $2k loss. Forget "flipper profit". More like "flopper loss".

But yeah, I know the laws of supply and demand and price elasticity don't apply to pinball

The fact most people won;t remember they just rebooted that with a movie last year isn't a great sign.

I remember but didn't see it. Noone wants a reboot anymore. It's all about the original 1960s classics!

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Price of premium went up a $1000!? No way. Really? Really?

price up on this title just to break even on all those GB playfields they have to replace

Premium is actually the new LE, with two new grades above that. If you are a normal pro buyer, they have the home model of Spiderman available near the usual price point.

The term is "Promium."

According to swinks record of MSRPs, they did. After Avengers with Metallica. Also from TWD Pro to WWE Pro.

I may not be a buyer anymore.

Thing is the whole MSRP vs. actual price, which can confuse the issue. GBpro MSRP price wasn;t any higher than GOT right? It was just the "Stern cracking down on distro prices" yada yada that made it cost more (I think I don't remember the exact figures)

Only way to beat em is not to buy.

Well I think I will be done buying NIB. It's a shame that they are price gouging at this point. I mean even seeing what they are offering for the SLE I just don't see how that's worth anything close to 15k. What makes it more crazy is to put money down and they haven't shown a single picture of the playfield. These prices are officially out of control in my opinion.

give them a week to listen to feedback and maybe Stern will soften these numbers and repost. I can hope, right

I don't think that was an actual real world adjustment.

That's possible. It seems the relationship between Stern and their distributors is a secret, mystical world.

Or Princess Bride. Is it "inconceivable"?

True. And you gotta wonder how distributors feel about being cut out of stern's biggest cash grab yet.

Didn't they say on a C2C podcast that essentially the right half of the playfield was identical to batman the dark knight. IMO you would really have to like that machine to pay those prices

WEll you just have to be a fanboy of the theme as we've seen...then you can just throw objectivity & reason out the window

Like this, we are going to make a lot of money off the Pre's for BM 66.

Dadgum Stern is destroying their business.

I see all the people that say they aren't nib buyers ever again, where are all the people like me that is buying the LE?

GB selling like "hot cakes"

They can't make pins fast enough to satisfy backlog demand.

Who the heck are all these people snapping these pins up?

Yep, Stern is in really bad shape, I feel sorry for them

Even though I like to poke fun at the whole thing, I agree with you that Stern is in a strong position. They will have no problem selling these games.

Leaked pics of the completely re-designed left playfield:

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What I don't get is Gary is always stating that the pinball industry would not be successful without operators and having pinballs on locations. So why would you not want to offer a reasonably priced pro machine that is built to stand up in a commercial environment to commemorate the operators that supported you for 30 years? Quite wasting time with building the Pin and the super boutique games and just serve the basic bread and butter that has kept Stern in business.

He also states that more than 50% of their business is overseas ... and overseas customers / sellers / distributors are left to swing ........

Just look at the pinside map and you will see far more machines being sold to private buyers than locations. I think Gary is targeting the right demographic.

"The pinball map is not the territory."

I think location pinball is what attracts the majority of new people into the hobby. I myself got into the hobby because of the machines I remembered playing on location in High School. My point is operators are the reason Stern has stayed in business and to continue the pinball industry they need machines to be on location. Some $15,000 boutique game in some guys basement does little for the hobby.

If he is aiming for short term profit on a per unit basis at the expense of long term market presence, then yes.

To be fair to Stern they are not targeting this at operators with this game. They are after Iceman and his mates!

Stern is not going to drop the pro but they are going to squeeze every $ out that they can. As they raise prices though ROI gets more and more linked to resale and quality, incomplete code etc hurt there. Stern may be going gangbusters right now but if they are not careful they will throw it away.