I am literally in the same boat. Struggling not to move my premium Bond to an IM or DP...

They're amazing! Lifelong metal guy though (90% death/black) but they're legends -love their music. But totally appreciate the opinion which is why music is awesome. Some styles for everyone.

In the long term can’t go wrong with any of the three but it could be last call on DP and IMDN next time. On the other hand paying $9700 for these older titles is getting a bit wild. Might be better to play the lightly used market next year if others get their Bonds etc……..

Calm down Ozzy is coming.

Im having similar thoughts on the LE i have reserved. I havent been asked to pay yet. And i kind of really want one of those new TNAs. And would have money left for the golden tee i have coming…

I kinda hope not, we wouldn’t be able to understand the callouts

Yeah that's true. Maybe I'll just wait for one of the others to pop up local(ish) and see if I'm at a point I'm ready to splurge.

Selling my spot for the Bond LE Nov build.
Stern is asking for payment and I’ll not a Connery Bond guy. $14k shipping & taxes included.
First come first serve.
Thanks!

Really? Ok...where are your "stats" coming from? I have no problem being wrong if you have actual data! No doubt that public places to play pinball have improved over the past decade, however it still seems like the home market is responsible for a majority of new pinball sales.

I'm all in on a pro and excited for them to roll out to us. Looks like fun shots, the music/art fits the theme and excited to see the code evolve.

I also think the home market is larger. Somebody can probably look up individual recent games on Pinball Map (https://pinballmap.com/map) and compare to ownership stats on Pinside for those games.

Better yet, look at the totals. "Pinball Map is currently listing a total of 8,244 locations and 32,972 machines."
There are 93,569 Pinsiders. Even if each person only owned one game, that's three times as many games as are on location. (I don't see a total for Pinsider-owned collections but let me know if you can find it or calculate it.)

These don't include every location or every owner, but that's some pretty good data to start.

I'm wondering what is using all the drivers. Each node board can drive 9, so 18 total. On the photo of the underside I count 15 visible coils. If the two pops share the same driver, then that should leave 4 drivers for Bond on a wand. Seems high. Will be interesting to see once they release the manual.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/bond-james-bond-stern-007-hype-club/page/130?gallery&galleryp=10

Sooooo….. have any of you talented folks been working on any alternate translite designs while we patiently wait?

Can be switches too… our grainy photo is kinda inconclusive i think.

When I bought through stern they asked for full payment right away. That was one of the reason I decided to cancel it since they wanted full payment without a game reveal. They gave you an option to pay later? You also got a deal for 14k with taxes and shipping.

Ditto KISS. Loved the LE, hated the music. Eventually liked most of the music (except DEUCE - there is NO SAVING that one). I wouldn't say I'm a KISS FAN now, but I have an appreciation for a number of their songs I didn't have before.

Wow. Talk about someone who refused to get their grandma outta here.

Yeah, completely nonsensical lyrics and not even a great melody on that "song." I mean the theme was "drop a deuce" at least most people could relate.

Its a song on the higher plane you will never understand. Duece Rocks!!!

I just don’t think he’s worth a deuce.

Laxatives (and better hydration) can help with those.

Interesting numbers. The other obvious issue is the huge COVID spike in pinball demand & prices. COVID brutalized public arcades/barcades...many didn't survive. OTOH, homeowners were looking for ways to enhance their game rooms and rediscovered pinball.

Foo Fighters?

I cannot see that as a commercially successful pin. But I did a do battle go-karting with Taylor Hawkins (RIP) in Atlanta once.

Yes.

Thanks goodness. Not a fan of the Dr No trans light.

Played a handful of games of the Bond Premium at expo and I didn't love It. Got bored quickly and ended up playing Rush premium for the first time and enjoyed that game significantly more. I am not interested in a 10k bond premium so will be sitting this one out.

In a recent interview Gary Stern said that 70% of their games go to home use

This hype has absolutely slowed to a crawl...

Coil counting hype

Pro
Trough, auto launch, sling x2, flipper x3, vuk, saucer, drops, control gate, and pops x2 = 13

Premium
Trough, auto launch, sling x2, flipper x3, vuk, saucer, drops, control gate, pops (2 controlled with one output), diverter, uppost for ball lock, vuk for ball lock, uppost for Bond on a wand, motor output for Bond, magnet for wand = 18

Crazy how you bond soldiers are jumping ship so fast. What was it mainly… price, Mechs, art, code? I’m still riding with my LE. Shots and flow are killer and bond clips and one liners rule

A slow walk, I'd say. Come on over to the Queen thread if you want to see what a crawl looks like.

Try the CCR LE waiting game ...
Queen looks like it's a high speed race .

Feeling used as a stool pigeon, being taken advantage of, I have the cash but don’t make feel like a idiot Stern. Well they have, game over. Loving my Iron Maiden filler pin.

Who's got the inside poop on ship date? I was originally told mid-late Oct.

This is turning into the worst launch ever.

Makes sense. Too bad they didn't spring for a small node board to drive the Bond on a wand. Supply chain constraints, bean counters, both? In any case, don't think it is going to make a big difference to gameplay but given this is their most expensive cornerstone ever it feels off.

Everyone hated BM66 until the full code came out. Premiums were selling as low as $6500 for catwoman editions. Now $10k won’t buy you one. I doubt that stern will let 007 Fail. Too big of a title.

I’m still in. But it would be nice of these distributors or stern would give us a little more information. It is kinda a downer to give someone that kinda money and not get more updates.

Ahh thanks for that, always wondered what the % was. Todd Tuckey had guessed a similar amount a year or so ago but good to hear it straight from the source.

This happens every release when its time to pay up or bail.

Of course it does.

So does “sure seems like a lot of X for sale lately!!”

People have the memory of
A goldfish around here.

True words

GBLE was also not liked. Everyone complained about the code and how brutal the center drain was. If you still have your GBLE it is worth 2x what you paid.

Whats a goldfish?

I have it written down somewhere, hold on.....

Oh, Goldfinger!!!

James_Bond_007-_Goldfinger (resized).png

wow you are soo wealthy

Just did a rewatch of the Connery bonds.

No, Never Say Never Again doesn’t count.

Dr. No - you can really see how this was made on a small budget. It’s cool to see some of the “basic” spy behaviors, like when Bond checks his hotel for bugs or uses a hair to see if anyone has been in his room. Super solid if a little basic. 7.5/10

From Russia With Love - Fantastic. Gadgets. Brutal fights. This set the stage for some of the signature moments of the franchise. That train fight is something else. One nitpick is that the film ends pretty bluntly, as do most of the Connery bonds. They haven’t quite found their rhythm yet. 8.5/10

Goldfinger - This is probably Connery’s best overall Bond film. It really has it all. This is the quintessential Bond movie. Bummer that this wasn’t the theme of the LE. 9.5/10.

Thunderball - This is where they really started to throw a lot of money into making the movies. I used really dislike this but it’s been a good 20 years since I tried to watch it and I have a new appreciation for the film, though the underwater stuff is overused and the last third of the movie drags some. 8.5/10

You Only Live Twice - I really like this one even though you can tell that Sean has let himself go a bit. You can also sort of feel that he’s not as into the role. That volcano lair is one of the all time greatest sets ever in a film. 8.5/10

Diamonds are forever - it’s fun to have Sean back, but boy what a difference a decade makes. Lots of head scratching plot moments, like who were the two assassin dudes working for? It’s still a fun ride. Nowhere near as good as what came before. 8/10

Can’t wait for my LE. There’s so much good stuff to work with. Thanks for reading.