Quoted from J85M:

No more bickering in this thread than any other...

Quoted from Pinball_Freak:

Cool all the trolls can FO to the Aerosmith thread. Sorry to any potential Aerosmith buyers but the amount of shit you have to wade through to get meaningful info on game sucks to many wankers on Pinside now! Who thinks their shit don't stink and repeatedly say the same thing over and over, with no intent on buying game.

Quoted from Yipykya:

I received my TWD LE when they were first released direct from Stern. I checked with a light, uniform orange peel play field after a ton of play. But no marks on the metal magnet cores or metal magnet surrounds.
If it wasn't for the pics of the pits in the metal magnet areas I wouldn't have believed that was possible. That has to be an extreme force for that to happen to metal, right? Like strikes from a ballpeen hammer?
Is this just a BM66 thing? Because I can't remember anyone ever saying they mylared actual metal magnets before, just the wood surrounding playfield areas around the magnet cores.

Quoted from iceman44:

I wonder why Rare left out his TBL Nib purchase?
What a hypocrite. I would never spend $15k on a game that isn't even a game yet.
But $10k is fine on a game that may never be finished

Quoted from Who-Dey:

Maybe, but in his defense he tried to be fair and patient with them and they didn't even have the respect to get back with him and talk to him. I honestly can't fault him for being pissed off when you look at the whole picture. All they had to do was communicate with him and touch base once in awhile with him and none of this would have ever happened. We all know that every pinball machine shipped is not going to be problem free. All they had to do was not ignore him and he'd be a happy customer right now. If they had treated him fairly he would probably have a Batman66 SLE and a new Aerosmith sitting in his garage right now. They were the Dummies not him.

Quoted from kpg:

You are so fully of shit, you need to wipe your eyes with toilet paper.
I went MONTHS without saying anything, and praised Gary for calling me. I was silent here for many months without raising hell. It's only when I was getting ignored about my PF request after almost 6 months did I start up again about it.
Also, unbelievable - as much as I want to say "I told you so" to Iceman about his BM66LE, it's pathetic his machine is unplayable right now. Seriously how fuckin sorry is that a product that costs that much is having that many problems. The ironic part is that Iceman himself got a dud. Sure, he's fine with it now- imagine waiting 6 months to make it right!
Total garbage from Stern, yet again. Which is why I'll never buy a NIB from them anymore and I'm not alone.

Quoted from kpg:

c'mon mang
Lighten up a bit here.
Have a beer, smoke a cigar, and relax.
I've done everything you mentioned, including sending emails and pictures directly to Gary, Patrick Powers, and John Buscaglia at Stern. Actually, two separate emails - one over the weekend, and one this morning. Both emails respectfully requested a reply and some word of confidence I'll get my issues resolved. I even said I don't need to have it immediately happen, just some sort of note they have my back, as a customer.
Guess what?
Silence.
Totally shitty situation, but what can I do here at this point.
Trent said he spoke to John Buscaglia today about problems with people's games and didn't give any specific information. He said he would try and get him to call me at some point to discuss.
Kind of thinking their remedy at this point is to see if it can blow over until next pin announcement... which I hope isn't the case. Hopefully customers will vote with their wallets next time around and change their tune.

Quoted from kpg:

#FixMyPlayfield
Stern says contact distributor
Distributor contacts Stern and says they don't reply
#NoMoreSternNIB

Quoted from kpg:

GOOD NEWS! Gary has offered to give me two complimentary tickets to the Epic 30th Anniversary Bash, along with a meet and greet w/ photo op with Mindy the monkey!
Joking aside, I just got off the phone w/ Gary. Very nice guy, I have never met or spoke with him before. Going off the top of my head, i'll try to remember everything we discussed.
Gary said he isn't ignoring any of these issues, and has been 'following along' with the complaints online including my emails and other messages (I would assume this thread).
He said Stern is well aware of the issues, and although ghosting does happen with pinball, he acknowledged there is definitely a lot more happening with Ghostbusters. He did comment that every design is different, and that some games have more airballs then others. Perhaps that is something being discussed at Stern, because as we know airballs are violent on GB, especially the LE models.
Gary said they are currently "working on a program" that will work with dealers that will work to remedy these problems. These issues will be handled through the dealers via this program. He said Trent as a dealer will be provided with the details soon and he will work with me on getting this resolved.
I asked if it was cool to share these details and he didn't say no.. but he did say for us to be patient, and that these problems will be resolved- but it would be more efficient to have a program with dealers then everyone going direct at this point, so thats brewing in the background.
He gave me his personal cell phone and call him directly if I have any issues at any point with resolving the problem with the machine during this process.

Quoted from kpg:

Ok, another update... back to being pissed off at the situation
So, Trent gets back to me about this "Program".
This program is.. let's see.. if I can put this lightly... lame as fuck.
Trent said Stern is undergoing a review process of my playfield, and if approved for replacement, they will send me an empty box that I send my playfield back to them where they swap all components to a new playfield and then send it back.
Sounds like this would take months to me! Screw that.
I then said no way, I want a populated playfield advance replacement. He said even if they did approve it, it would go on his advance account and he would need a check for get this - $5,000 - to ship me an advance replacement.
Really puts a damper on the hobby itself to me. No more Stern NIB's after this shit.
Is this how other distributors work? Send another $5,000 to do an advance replacement of a fucked up playfield? That would mean I would be $13,000 in the hole - and have an empty GB LE cabinet for months to show for it.
What a goddamn joke.
EDIT: I have since spoken with Stern and the issues/anger above has been clarified.. definitely speak to your dealer about this, as the above information may not apply to you!

Quoted from kpg:

You have to laugh that after all this, they release a "special" Batman model for $15,000.
I mean, what have they shown so far that gives confidence they have doubled the quality of the product since they are doubling the price?

Quoted from kpg:

I heard that the Aerosmith pinball cabinet will be the worlds first handicap accessible cabinet. It will have a wheel chair lift on it, just roll up to the cabinet and raise yourself to the proper playing height. This innovation is due to Stern's partnership with AARP.
Rumor has it the topper is a kidney dialysis machine.
Also, Stern will be offering senior discounts and a special sound system for those who are hard of hearing, courtesy of technology by Miracle Ear.
This game is going to do great for operators that have pins in retirement and convalescent homes!!!

Quoted from kpg:

If JJP would have made GB, it would have been better IMO. Imagine the movie clips on the LCD, and I'd also think they would have use more original movie sounds and call outs instead of the ones Stern used.
GB is a fun game, but it doesn't have enough movie sounds, video clips, and music to feel like the movie in the way JJP's versions of WOZ and Hobbit make you feel immersed in the pinball version of the movie. They nailed the translation of a movie theme to pinball with them, hands down.

Quoted from kpg:

Here is what my $8K got me with Stern... which some can see why I find it hilarious they are raising prices, yet who knows when I'll get a replacement playfield or if the issues have been fixed. Was playing GB LE last night, and more of my playfield or some piece of the machine broke off again and stopped in the shooter lane that I had to remove the glass to take the piece out. It's becoming a pretty common thing to see pieces of playfield scattered around lol. Notice the bare wood and lack of clear coat in the shooter lane too? Sorry, have to laugh that after this their solution was to jack up prices for their products.

Quoted from kpg:

I love the McDonalds comparison to Stern!
In fact, last year McDonalds revenue plunged year-over-year due to mediocre food priced way too high:
http://money.cnn.com/2015/07/23/investing/mcdonalds-earnings-sales-down/
This is what can happen to Stern too.. maybe they need to see what happened with McDonald's.. they thought people would keep lining up in the drive thru's paying top dollar for shit food.. then customers went elsewhere, and it reflected on their earnings.

Quoted from kpg:

Thanks for this. I guess it's hard for some people to realize the only reason I'm pissed at Stern (now) is because they sold me a $8,000 piece of shit- and 6 months ago Gary promised to make it right, then ignores me for a couple months - months that I didn't even say anything about them here on Pinside.
Funny thing is when I made a stink about it 6 months ago here on Pinside, Gary Stern called me again and asked if I could "turn it down online" because he knew I was creating a shit show. He didn't like that of course. I know he doesn't like it now either lol.
I'm definitely not a consumer that lets companies sell me a $8K POS then come on here and praise it like some of these other jack asses. You know 99% of the people who bought BM66 know it's a turd bucket but will defend their purchase like it's their own child.
PS- dzoomer - that was f*ckin weird you spent all that time reposting me - you need to get a damn life

Quoted from Who-Dey:

I'm giving the game a chance so don't think I'm not. I'm driving almost an hour away to go play it here in a couple of weeks so I am hoping that my perceptions about the game are wrong. I'm trying to have an open mind about Batman66 for real, but I can't Kidd myself about what I've seen up to this point either. I want this game to succeed for real.

Quoted from rai:

My point has always been *theme* is just the garnish on the plate. I mean the game, gameplay, rules are the main dish.
I always laugh when people say xyz theme is an insta buy, like they say Jaws or SW or whatever. I think that's idiotic what if SP or TAV LE but was branded SW it still would suck.
If you made a pinball like TZ and it was theme of Costco superstore it probably would still be great if the rules were well done.
A pinball could be themed Harry Potter riding in a dinosaur eating a bacon sandwich and I wouldn't buy it just because it was a great theme.
The funny thing is people who own it especially those who dropped $15k or $10k will defend it and say it's swell and you just don't know a thing.
People still say TAV is good you just need to dial it in. TAV LE was the worst new pin I've ever played.
I owned XMLE and defended it or build it up in my mind because I was more or less stuck with it. After XMLE I'll never buy a game just because it has a good theme.