Not exclusive enough for my taste but for some it's going to be fabulous! I'd prefer to see a run of UBER Super LE's that were limitied to 10 machines. Maybe price them at $100k and I'd be a buyer of a 1 / 10 UBER Super LE. Provided it was kick-ass in every way. (Hello Kitty theme won't count, sorry).

Reading about Batmn66, many opinions abound. After wading through the muck, my feeling is BM66 will be a lot like BDK but with added toys, features and rules. The point I am trying to make is that BM66 will be an extension of what was already released as BDK. This is a common practice for manufactures to do, and I offer examples of B/W games BK & BK2K and Stern with T2 and T3. When a company designsa game that builds on a previous game they have already released, they have always priced the resulting game with current pricing.

My expectation is this would be priced in a similar fashion. In this case - the premium version is being described as same being at the same level as previous LE models. Well, that seems like a load of crap, but if I bought that line of reasoning, I would expect to pay LE pricing, right? Street prices for Sterns have recently been 5k / 6.5k / 7.5k for pro / prem /le. So Batman66 being like an LE should cost …. about $7.5k. Instead it appears to be heading north of $10k. In that case, Stern is trying to hide a 33% price increase, and that is too much for me to swallow, regardless of how good a game BM66 turns out to be. Waiting to see final pricing, maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised. But if it turns out bat sh*t crazy, I’m out – you could buy two HUO BDK’s for the same.

One consolation, when reading Stern is mixing different styles of art, my Spidey sense is tells me they mean a hot mess of photo-shopped shit between cabinet, playfield, backglass and plastics. That is the wrong approach. They should pick one design and carry throughout. So while I also don’t hold much hope for a pretty looking game, I am looking forward to playing one on location.

Reminds me of a game I made up - hide the salami. Well I thought I made it up but evidently great minds think alike.

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After the game reveal and money changes hands, Stern should consider announcing a second LE version. They could probably sell 500 units without affecting demand for prem's as the game will be popular if done well. The first 260 LE's were sucked up so fast, nobody knows where they went.

about time for Jared to leak secret reveal pics. Give us something Stern!

... less than three months to pull this game together by November. It is going to need a full-court press coding effort to create something that feels complete. This one is also expected to look all wow and pizzazz design-wise too. Lyman is probably holed up somewhere with a small group of people in an peyote sweat lodge, hallucinating ideas for modes and code. Only way for him to get this across the goal line is to build a roadmap of where they are going, and to divide the work into pieces for additional coders to tackle. Fingers crossed he writes it down. Maybe he already has this figured out, but I get a vibe that while Stern has been working on the licensing requirements for awhile, that this project was just green lighted for design. Presumably not much time had been invested to date.

So the clock is ticking. Will Stern design and build a complete production ready Batman66 pin by Nov 30? Will BM66 turn out to be a real looker? Tune in tomorrow folks. Same Bat time. Same Bat channel.

A hint of what's coming to Australia.. ..
a major sales pitch about BM66 and an
Adam West meet and greet. Deposits are paid up front and are non-refundable. For $500 you get a plate with fully loaded baked potato. For $2k for you get a china plate with fully loaded baked potato plus one large t-bone. It's coming, enjoy. I don't see how they'd have a real game by Expo.

Did the meet and greet require a $500 deposit? Probably not, simpler times.

Having seen a number of potential art samples for BM66 here, I have set limits around what is acceptable. If the cabinet, playfield or plastics show the shark biting batman on a rope ladder to the bat copter from the movie, I will not be buying the game. I can’t support that kind of nonsense on general principal. If that dreadful scene is depicted on the translite though, I can live with it knowing I can easily change it out one day for an alternate. As long as Stern sticks to the tv series theme, this pin will be pretty cool. There are still a lot of questions surrounding modes, code and what's owed.

... would likely have resulted in major shrinkage.

... just dumped my Anacott Steel and loaded up on bm66sle's, thanks.

Problem I see with announced pricing is the SLEs must be purchased directly from Stern, so slim chance for a price break on $15k. Premiums should be marked down to street numbers and I expect that much. LEs are still up for grabs as to what price will be offered. Fingers crossed LE buyers see a reasonable offer price.

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

If Stern priced SLE's the same as LE's, they could have held contests to select which LE owner will get a SLE instead. Buy a $300 lottery ticket or submit video for free and sign an application. I'll bet almost all the LE owners would have participated for chance to upgrade to SLE for free. Stern priced all models high, but the SLE is way too high, should not have been more than a $2k over the LE imho. I hope Stern continues to reflect on this price list now public and considers posting lower MSRP across the board. With a stroke of the pen they could slap GB level pricing on BM66 and the mood would lighten.

Jules is a class act with a hot &*$. The only pic I saved of her.

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If Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Salvadore Dali and Andy Warhol had been asked to design one painting, it would look like crap. Even if every one of the artists involved is top notch. What you aspire to is one good artist using a single style throughout, not more than one. I don't see the value in mixing four artists into one stew.

So far the villan art is by one artist - and it looks great. Chances that three additional artists make the same caliper contribution is mixed.

Of course it is going to look photoshopped. This is Stern and they are going to rely on already drawn assets. Four artists trying to drawing the same photoshopped images. Sounds like the recipe for a turd pie. I can see two different artists sharing the role, but more than that and you are not getting a superior result.

To pivot - How many corporate logo's you think will be plastered on this thing?

a) < 15
b) = 15
c) > 15

my vote is b)

Wonder how much the deposit would be. I know, if ya have to ask ...

For awhile the story was - refunds are available up until Expo. After the meet & greet, the funds are considered locked in. Unfortunately you don't get to see anything prior to the m&g. So if you paid a down payment, you have committed to buying a game prior to seeing it. If you wait to see it revealed, you can't get your money back. So you have to be a bit of a gambler, a fool, a madman or have deep pockets - to buy a prem or LE before expo. Do you feel lucky, Punk?

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Only the SLE model is being sold directly by Stern. I was told this by two distributers, when I called around for prem / LE pricing. Both said if you don't like the game, you can easily sell it to next guy on the list and get your money back after they paid deposit. One offered to sell a machine w/o a ticket to m&G, suggesting it would be possible to switch those funds to another game if I didn't care for BM66, as long as I agreed to forgo the m&g. I didn't care for the terms and have since moved on. I brought it up so that those with money down might be prompted to double check where they stand on the downpayment with their distributer.

How is this bunkus, it's true? If you buy a premium or LE its from a distributor, not the manufacturer. You send deposit it is to the distributor. If you request a refund you -adhere to the policy of that distributor.

I have no idea of Sterns official stance on deposits towards BM66. I have yet to see Sterns stance on fixing ghosting playfields in writing either. The one offer to apply the deposit to another pin sounded a little home grown but was not an official Stern offer in writing, just the promise of the Distributor.
So pointing out that if you sent money to a distributor, you better know their specific policy towards a refund, because in some cases it is not refundable.

Ps - based on other deals gone wrong in the past, when someone will only return money after someone else buys your slot, there is a risk that it won't happen. This is different than returning merchandise at best buy, where they'll reverse your transaction and refund your money on the spot. There is no danger you are going to lose on that one.

It is gospel. It happened to me !!! 100% of it.

We are not understanding each other. I tried to communicate what happened to me and suggested people with a deposit, to contact their distributor and confirm their own situation regarding the refund policy. An educated consumer, is a smart consumer. If I had purchased either of the two offered, those were the terms. Foolish me for asking two distributors these question and after receiving the same answer, ASSUMING it might be the same for other distributors? If anybody is being told this they can weigh in. Likewise if you hear different comment please. Otherwise, the thread can continue unravelling for three weeks until the big Expo reveal.

pm me flynnibus, if you want to continue discussing but let's take this off-line.

Had to lol on this. JJP is poised to release a game where player reportedly connects via ongame phone / computer, and you hope the Stern BM66 computer has a single led light. Even if it needs to be supplied thru aftermarket. Ha ha ha ha. Time to raise the bar on expectations on an $8k pin.

Finally, others coming forward and additional proof that deposits are at risk after m&g. In this case sounds like before then. You reading this Flynnibus? So once again, if you don't know your distributor's policy about the downpayment, ask the tough question.

We all want this to be a smash hit and hopefully it doesn't disappoint. Should it be fumbled though, know what your commitment is.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/batman-66-by-stern-new-info/page/56#post-3361506

Real collectors don't want to dumb it down for an evening or be told they have to rub elbows with lower steerage. Truth be told, if someone said here's your pass, I'd be in there asap.

...back away from the table, I'm a double vintage WITH a four card.

As I mentioned earlier, in cases where a buyer isn't planning to attend the m&g, the deposit is not at risk. Just ask your distributor, but I would venture to guess this is the only reason for those stories of offers to refund deposits after Expo you mention.

Wish I was going this year, but I'll be the one online complaining how long it is taking everyone to upload their videos and podcasts. Biggest conflict is Fri night, yet since you can only be in one place at a time, no matter where you chose to go, it should be rewarding.

Thur
8pm JJP#3 reveal at Expo
10pm Heighway's Alien reveal closeby at Twin Peaks (expected start @ 8pm, maybe they will move it up to 6pm?)

Fri
3pm BM66 Meet & Greet (less than 200 invited) @ away hotel
4pm Alien Deep Dive at Expo
6pm LTG : ) Show at Expo
8pm JJP #3 Deep Dive at Expo
8pm Stern Party with BM66 @ away (need pre-purchased ticket)

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Batman doesn't have a thing to worry about ... with Wonder Woman protecting him.

Its never too late. Watch some this weekend on Netflix. Come Monday morning, you'll be back in.

A flyer was released and posted announcing 30 SLE's @ $15k, an outrageous figure compared to the past 30 years of manufacturing pinball. Stern's Facebook confirmed 30 games on a number of occasions. During a recent interview Gary mentions there are now 30 + 50 SLE's. 80 games @ $15k - it is easy to see SLE buyers were screwed. However, the impact to LE and Premium buyers is likely neutral. Manufacturing more SLE's that are priced at the top end helps hold the value of the LE and Premium games. It should also exert downward pressure on the value of the SLE and this should slowly erode much of the 5k "premium" over the LE model.

Changing the number of SLE's while orders are active and non-refundable deposits are collected is dirty pool. Stern's actions have tarnished this game and I will be steering clear of BM66. I won't be considering a premium purchase any longer because these shenanigans have created a bad taste in my mouth that won't easily rinse away.

Still feeding and watering my pet rocks. Anybody else keeping theirs alive?

Probably cause they used 4 artists instead of 1 or 2 max. more artists means more artistic styles - where one style is king - if you get it right. Too many bat signals shown if you ask me. Should have used one in right rear of playfield and one on topper. No need to paste them all over.

If you want rarity, buy the Costco BDK with a reported 48 sold. Good luck finding one and better if you don't. New design looks nice, but too pricey.to consider. I have a feeling there is next to no programming yet, but hope to be proven wrong with video post tonight.

You'd need to sell both to cover a LE. Losing two highly fun, fully developed games for one unknown pin is not something to consider lightly my friend. BM66 is new and looks nice but the $6M question is what does it play like? Are rules, dots & sound important to you -> if so, why not wait until game is done before jumping in?

The past ten years on Pinside I've read countless threads from people complaining about pre-ordering, incomplete code and high prices from Stern. This game is the trifecta of goodness and one adage is - fools rush in where angels fear to tread. It is exciting to say you bought the game, but after you pay and bring the game is home, you have a little honeymoon period. When the new smell wears off, you have to contend with whether you made a good choice. If you wait a little while to see how things shake out, you may save yourself some heartache. With that said, you could still push ahead and blindly hope for the best. I am 100% hoping to find a BM66 to play on location and I've started looking for friends with deep pockets.

Stern is awaiting the delivery of 80 gilded gold pallets, but until then ... everything has been downshifted.

Just ordered the complete Batman 66 dvd set for $41.99 with shipping. Going to rewatch every episode and get my fix of Adam West / Robin / Cat Woman / Bat Girl / & Villians. Figure this just saved me $15.5k so I plan to buy two or three A-list pins with my new found spoils. Turns out, I didn't need to buy every pinball machine with an appealing theme - gameplay trumps both theme and design team, every time.

but if you added to that a numbered plaque and collector card Don't forget about the meet and greet with Batman himself. That would have been cool too.

Whether the Cubs win the World Series is tbd. Nobody questions Chicago having the best deep dish pizza on the planet. There is some chatter about WHO serves the best pie. Giovanni's wins my endorsement. Mmmmh ... pizza and pinball.

Passed on buying one of these today for 15k plus tax.

20161104_160624 (resized).jpg it just reinforces my opinion of Stern's "special pricing" model.

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that sucks. what is playfield date on your replacement GOT playfield?

BM66 looks nice, but still waiting to see video of game play. In the meantime, some good deals have appeared on Pinside. Can't help noticing that for the same price of BM66 SLE, a buyer could have chosen three of the following pins (all HUO & most came with mods) - BDK, LOTR, SM, Transformers LE , XMEN LE and IM. Nice to see many full-featured and well-respected titles are still within reach.

I don't feel you are a true Batman fan. Admittedly, you are off to a strong start, but you'll need more heart to convince Gary you deserve to buy a premium BM66, what with Sterns new purchase policy in 2017. All prospective buyers are required to submit a video to be considered for an invitation to buy a Stern. This applies to all models, SLE, LE, prem and even even pros. This ties back into their new marketing plan geared towards those video applicants deemed to be in the range of - acceptable to deploreable. Program is snappily named - you'll buy what we tell you, when we tell you and for what price. You will like it once once we finalize code over the next 3 years. Don't criticize or complain or there will be no soup for you, next in line. After all that you have the nerve to call yourself a man? - program.

A few things I've done to my cave lately in hopes of being offered a chance to purchase a BM66LE. Of course I'll need to make a video, but you get the idea. Have given up on finding an SLE, because my wife says I'd have to really tear the house apart in order to show loyalty and to prepare a special space that it deserves. LE'S are a dime a dozen and can be placed practically anywhere. I could put one over here or over there (see pic).

Confucius say you must think big thoughts to have big toys. He also say you will be (good in bed) at your business meeting today. He is sometime erroneously attributed to saying, "No first you wax on, then you wax off. Sheesh, what a moron".

GLWTT (GoodLuckWithTheTravels)
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35 secs in shows no bat logo is required or necessary.... holy moly Batman.