Quoted from Rarehero:I know you like trolling me, but facts make for better discussion. Here are my options since you are judging me without context.
-JJP is clearly putting more $$$ into their games, hence higher prices....which I have bitched about. $9k and $12k are insane for Dialed In. The wait for Hobbits is nuts. I bought my Hobbit used.
-Dutch is boutique until further notice. They're making a high quality, low run niche title that no one else would dare bother with. $8500 seemed fair for that. I'm upset mine hasn't shipped yet, but is has been built....the nature of an overseas production and shipping containers.
-Spooky is also boutique, but priced fairly ...but their games aren't good yet, and I've been vocal about that.
-Stern is mass produced. Pros are priced fairly. QC and code have been terrible lately. Prices, artificial limits, and "try outs" for B66 models are ludicrous.
Stern makes the cheapest pinball machines, yet everybody is bitching at them about raising prices. Meanwhile, all of these other "alternatives" are way more expensive, and nobody can keep em working. The Lebowski on location near me is broken far more than it works, but hey it looks great. Like my dad's FIAT in the 70s.
Don't accuse me of trolling ,that's obnoxious. You need to find some perspective. You can buy a Stern for $5,500. You can buy a JJP, Spooky, or Dutch for $7000-10000. But keep "trolling" about Stern.
Current high prices are COMPLETELY the responsibility of all the other manufacturers. They jacked up prices. They showed people will pay. They did it first, and Stern is following suit. Accept it. The fact that they've managed to get people pissed off at STERN for rising prices instead of them is an ingenious sleight of hand I haven't seen since...oh...November...
I appreciate that people don't want to pay more for pins (duh?) but the abuse Stern is taking is completely overblown (shocker). Find me a better deal for the NIB buyer - I don't see one. And, as apparently the only person on pinside who actually plays these games, it's gonna be hard to convince me anybody else is making games anywhere near as complete, challenging, or satisfying.