Quoted from jamesdeloris:What issues?
Read the POTC club thread
(Topic ID: 231843)
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The Beatles (Gold Edition)
Stern, 2018
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Quoted from CrazyLevi:Hyperbole when describing distaste is standard around here.
You'll see things like "I'd rather have my eyeballs ripped out by starving rats while my tongue is cut off with a rusty butterknife than play Rolling Stones again!!!!" but I don't think too many of us take those kinds of statements literally.
Except for Street Fighter II. I'd rather have my lower extremities dipped into molten lava while I am beaten on the head with an early 1980s telephone receiver than play that again!
I get that, SF2 is pretty widely regarded as a bad game though. JJP POTC is pretty widely regarded as at least a pretty cool attempt even if it's not your style or you think the license sucks.
Sana'a
New York, NY
Quoted from Phat_Jay:I’m getting tired of old dudes on pinball machines. Even if they’re portrayed as when young. I’d much rather stare at a nice rack.
Totally agree, we need more pool-themed pinball games!
pasted_image (resized).png
Quoted from kermit24:Monster Bash Remake LE
Fun
+
More Fun
=
$8,000
One of the least exciting games I’ve ever played. Can’t stand the theme either. I wouldn’t pay 5k for one so now you see how subjective this shit is.
Quoted from vid1900:All those pindicks who like to fill the GI with purple LEDs could finally do it, and not get laughed at behind their backs.[quoted image]
LOL.
"Purple LEDS, purple LEDS
Purple LEDS, purple LEDS
Purple LEDS, purple LEDS
I only wanted to see you
Bathing in the purple LEDS"
Quoted from Pinballer31520:Regardless of how much pro pinsiders have continuously bashed The Beatles it has been a smash hit with the every day customers in my shop. In my opinion it is far more superior than Seawitch and way more fun . Sure the ruleset is small but that makes it more welcoming to the basic pinballer. The multiballs are fast and fun and the music is great . Everyone knows the music and most people appreciate the Beatles as one of the best bands ever . I love the artwork and gold frame also. sure Sgt Pepper would be good as well or a game with more toys but for the price I play this as much or more than Deadpool so I’d say it is worth it . just my 2 cents . People who are overly harsh on a game they have never played might want to curb criticism until they have actually tried it . Good job Stern . Come play it at The Pinball Palace in Brunswick Ga . 99 pins strong and Primus will be #100 !!!
Ringo, I did not know you were on Pinside! 
Van Halen would be AMAZING. I'd pay money just to hear custom Roth callouts.
PS: Stern, please don't make a depressing music pin (Smiths, Cure, Depressed Mode, etc....). Life is tough enough.
Quoted from ThePinballCo-op:This is a weird thread.
I don't think I saw people bashing it because "it won't be fun". I think people were bashing the $8,000 price tag on a re-themed game.
It sure looks fun to me. I'd be glad to play it and I think I'd have a blast, but for $500 more I could buy a NIB JJP POTC.
This is the funny thing for me though, in a way that is hard to describe the Beatles is more fun than pirates and I have both so I’m able to say that.
You really think POTC CE is worth 12500? And the LE isn’t really an LE because there is no known limit to how many will be made.
Quoted from Psw757:This is the funny thing for me though, in a way that is hard to describe the Beatles is more fun than pirates and I have both so I’m able to say that.
You really think POTC CE is worth 12500? And the LE isn’t really an LE because there is no known limit to how many will be made.
The whole CE/LE market is mostly a bunch of speculators trying to take advantage of people new to the hobby that don't know better. We won't really know if any of those hold much value, let alone go up faster than inflation, until 10+ years later.
Quoted from Psw757:One of the least exciting games I’ve ever played. Can’t stand the theme either. I wouldn’t pay 5k for one so now you see how subjective this shit is.
LOL after 20 yr still in top three games
Quoted from JY64:LOL after 20 yr still in top three games
Feeds right into my point though doesn’t it? Subjective and just because in top 3 doesn’t mean I need to enjoy it.
Quoted from TheLaw:This machine could end up being extremely important. It could introduce a huge amount of folks to SS style machines that are "only interested" in DMD/LCD era games.
EDIT: Hopefully better than Whoa Nelly did with EMs
I'm definitely in this camp.
Quoted from Phat_Jay:I’m getting tired of old dudes on pinball machines. Even if they’re portrayed as when young. I’d much rather stare at a nice rack.
Here you go: (stare away - you can thank me later)
GUEST_893d72c0-87e3-4e8c-9d35-ec7d7868a198 (resized).jpgQuoted from Pinballer31520:For me ot will ALWAYS be ....
[quoted image]
Sheila take a ball.
Quoted from Pinballer31520:For me ot will ALWAYS be ....
[quoted image]
Holy crap, the Smiths were great. I kind of lost track of Morrissey for a while, but I picked up his 2009 album, "Years of Refusal" recently and it's fantastic. A much more rocking Morrissey than I'm used to, but WOW what a great album. "That's How People Grow Up" is still in my head along with 3 or 4 other really catchy ones.
You could even fit a life sized Glenn on the playfield!
Quoted from chubtoad13:Other is killing it!
I’ll add to that. Misfits please! Spooky, Stern, whomever... I’m in!
[quoted image]
If they did the Beatles, are The Monkees far behind? They sold a ton of albums, even topping the charts over the Beatles at times and their goofy TV persona fits pinball. Personally, I wouldn’t be interested , but I could see it happening.
I played it with my wife at an arcade last night. We had a lot of fun. Stern did a great job. The license was probably expensive as hell. Is it a top ten pin? No. Did they do the theme right? Yes. Will Beatles fans love it? Yes. They absolutely hit the target.
Quoted from gamera9:I played it with my wife at an arcade last night. We had a lot of fun. Stern did a great job. The license was probably expensive as hell. Is it a top ten pin? No. Did they do the theme right? Yes. Will Beatles fans love it? Yes. They absolutely hit the target.
Has anybody noticed that almost every Beatles buyer LOVES asking themselves rhetorical questions to rationalize their purchase? Yes.
Does anybody have any idea why they do this? No. If you bought one, would you do the same thing? Maybe.
Quoted from CrazyLevi:Has anybody noticed that almost every Beatles buyer LOVES asking themselves rhetorical questions to rationalize their purchase? Yes.
Does anybody have any idea why they do this? No. If you bought one, would you do the same thing? Maybe.
You sure do seem to care about what other people do a lot, just sayin.
Quoted from Phat_Jay:I’m getting tired of old dudes on pinball machines. Even if they’re portrayed as when young. I’d much rather stare at a nice rack.
image (resized).jpegQuoted from CrazyLevi:Has anybody noticed that almost every Beatles buyer LOVES asking themselves rhetorical questions to rationalize their purchase? Yes.
Does anybody have any idea why they do this? No. If you bought one, would you do the same thing? Maybe.
I don't understand the idea of rationalizing a purchase to yourself, and I certainly don't care what others think about what I do.
Saw that Sunshine Laundromat has a Diamond Edition Beatles on the floor now. God I love that wacky place.
Quoted from cait001:Saw that Sunshine Laundromat has a Diamond Edition Beatles on the floor now. God I love that wacky place.
The best I’ve been too. I love that place.
Quoted from Who-Dey:You sure do seem to care about what other people do a lot, just sayin.
Just don't get him started on the Kapow website...
Quoted from jwilson:Pinball Retailer declares latest game a Great Value and a Huge Hit!
Film at 11.
Try arcade not retailer.
Quoted from cooked71:Hopefully Stern see there is a market for a cheaper - $4-5K single level "retro" Stern game.
Old school design and simplicity, good art and Stern's fast gameplay. Licenced or not.
Stern is basically selling stuff as fast as they can make it. They're not making a sub 5k game.
Hell, if Stern made TNA and not Spooky they would have probably charged even more and removed the score displays, and likely more.
Quoted from TreyBo69:Hell, if Stern made TNA and not Spooky they would have probably charged even more and removed the score displays, and likely more.
But everyone that wanted one would have had one a long time ago...so there's always 2 sides.
Quoted from TheLaw:But everyone that wanted one would have had one by now...so there's always 2 sides.
The ghost of O-din is freaking me out.
I feel like I am reading at least 3 different threads right now. I have my choice of :
1. Beatles pin is good
2. JJPOTC is bad
3. What music theme do you want to see next?
So I guess:
1. Played Beatles on location and enjoyed it, probably not enough to own it but it was fun.
2. I really like JJPOTC but understand that it is not for everyone, will likely own it eventually on the secondhand market.
3. Hall and Oates because why not.
Quoted from cooked71:Hopefully Stern see there is a market for a cheaper - $4-5K single level "retro" Stern game.
Old school design and simplicity, good art and Stern's fast gameplay. Licenced or not.
Dream on! Sorry, it's not going to happen. If you ran Stern, would you run your business at a loss, or tried to maximise profits?
Quoted from CrazyLevi:What game has $8K worth of gameplay?
Please provide a complete bill of fun, itemized, to make it to $8K. Thanks!
Pay to play an operators game, who knows.
Not worry about buying it your self, a bunch.
Not worry about maintenance, big value.
Not worry about CQ issues, best value.
Operator buys game and hopefully makes money while others beat on it, priceless.
Quoted from JY64:LOL after 20 yr still in top three games
That means absolutley nothing, the fact that the top 4 games are 90's pins show how foolish the ratings are, MM is better than TWD? AFM is better than IrM? for me that is crap. MB is fun but damn does it get boring fast, and the call outs? I sold it after a month.
Quoted from PinMonk:Holy crap, the Smiths were great.
The Smiths are f**in shit. 
Quoted from Hazoff:That means absolutley nothing, the fact that the top 4 games are 90's pins show how foolish the ratings are, MM is better than TWD? AFM is better than IrM? for me that is crap. MB is fun but damn does it get boring fast, and the call outs? I sold it after a month.
Pinside ratings seem to reflect nostalgia over actual gameplay quality. TAF is okay, but I honestly don't understand the attraction over many newer games, other than nostalgia.
Had in on location just 15 minutes south of cincinnati for a week now and its stomped everyone of my 18 other high end games in plays. At this rate, it takes all the objections of too much vs value vs fun and tossed it out the window. Kids to adults love it. Everyone knows the songs, the only old people stuck in their ways are the ones that put a price limit on fun, "8k too much", spend less time bashing online and the same amount of time working and then 8k becomes a number not a limitation. And BTW this list doesn't include Prince, Rock songs of hair bands of the late 80s, m Jackson, and bands w actual catalogs of greatest hits you know by heart.
If it isn't obvious, we (i.e. hardcore enthusiasts) are in the minority. Most people walking up to a pinball just want to have fun and bat the ball around. Pinball for most folks is more of an experience and less of a game. While we worship intricate rulesets, most folks are intimidated by them. The folks that designed Beatles are targeting the majority, not us. Had neighbors over this weekend and they loved/preferred it.
Music pins should celebrate the band/artist, and Beatles hit the mark.
snaroff
Quoted from snaroff:If it isn't obvious, we (i.e. hardcore enthusiasts) are in the minority. Most people walking up to a pinball just want to have fun and bat the ball around. Pinball for most folks is more of an experience and less of a game. While we worship intricate rulesets, most folks are intimidated by them. The folks that designed Beatles are targeting the majority, not us. Had neighbors over this weekend and they loved/preferred it.
Music pins should celebrate the band/artist, and Beatles hit the mark.
snaroff
Reality is that Beatles does not appear to be selling to the masses (non-pinheads). Talk with distributors willing to share and they are all saying the same thing which matches what we are seeing on pinside. The Diamond editions have been deemed as "collectibles" for the non-pinhead hardcore Beatles fans out there and they bought them up at 25k. The platinums to a lesser extent. The golds are flat out not selling in any quantity worth note. When they are selling it is to pinheads that have the money and are buying for the pinball side of it.
At this point it is obvious Stern was pushing the limits to see what people would pay and they seem to have found it. Pinheads are unwilling to pay 8k for a non-limited/ non-collectible run of 1614 games at the base model.
They have steadily pushed PRO pricing up over a grand the past 3 years and figured with Beatles they could tack on an additional 2500 for the theme. It has not worked. These appear to not even be a blip on the radar of Beatles fan forums and 8k for something "not collectible" and "cost too much" ain't happening to the general public.
It was an interesting experiment and nobody can blame a company for trying to push the line, but it does not seem to have worked out in any fashion.
Quoted from Whysnow:Reality is that Beatles does not appear to be selling to the masses (non-pinheads). Talk with distributors willing to share and they are all saying the same thing which matches what we are seeing on pinside. The Diamond editions have been deemed as "collectibles" for the non-pinhead hardcore Beatles fans out there and they bought them up at 25k. The platinums to a lesser extent. The golds are flat out not selling in any quantity worth note. When they are selling it is to pinheads that have the money and are buying for the pinball side of it.
At this point it is obvious Stern was pushing the limits to see what people would pay and they seem to have found it. Pinheads are unwilling to pay 8k for a non-limited/ non-collectible run of 1614 games at the base model.
They have steadily pushed PRO pricing up over a grand the past 3 years and figured with Beatles they could tack on an additional 2500 for the theme. It has not worked. These appear to not even be a blip on the radar of Beatles fan forums and 8k for something "not collectible" and "cost too much" ain't happening to the general public.
It was an interesting experiment and nobody can blame a company for trying to push the line, but it does not seem to have worked out in any fashion.
I don't have access to Stern/distributor sales data, so who knows?
I think it's wrong to assume hardcore Beatles fans wouldn't consider an 8k Gold a "collectible". Collectors come in all shapes and sizes and it's wrong to assume only the rarest examples are worthy of collecting. If you are a collector and typically keep stuff "forever", it's not like you care about price appreciation or fluctuations. I bought what I thought looked best (the "Gold" Edition). Considering the number of Beatles fans worldwide, the "Gold" could be gobbled up if Stern & their distributors are successful selling to an outside-the-Stern-box crowd.
From my perspective, this deviation from the normal Stern formula was about going outside the box (retro design, software outsourced, etc.) and throwing the distributors a holiday "bone". Not merely about pushing the price envelope.
Without knowing the "margins", it's impossible to know how much of a "money grab" this is. To be honest, I could care less, but you and many others seem focused on pricing.
snaroff
The two distro’s ive talked to several times over the couple weeks have insisted gold sales have exceeded expectation but platinum and diamond have not. This is the opposite of what your saying.
Back it up with pinside data on golds owned and operated and reported to be in collection. Last Wednesday 8-10 and this week up to 35 last I checked. So an increase of 25 in one week on pinside alone.
Small sample size as pinside is a small segment of community.
I’m not going to say they are flying of the shelf as they are pricey BUT I really don’t think they aren’t selling either.
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