I was told December

Has Stern made a statement on when games will be hitting the line or is this still in some licensing delay with no definite start date yet?

By the time we know we are in a recession, we've been in one for a while. By the usual pre-Biden Administration definition, we are in a recession already. Even so, a recession is just semantics, because it is what it is. Since people with real money have moved into the pinball hobby, the usual economics are out the door. It reminds me of a Church term from my youth, describing famine, but went something like, see that thou hurt not the oil and the wine. Basically, the poor suffer in tough times, but the rich not so much. So, despite whatever economic restraints hit most of us, some of the wealthy may be able to buy ever increasing prices of SLEs and LEs without any pain. Also, I don't think JJP's TS4 sales are a fair rebuke of that. If that game had been themed first and foremost on the Roundup Gang and Zurg of the first two movies, it would be in my collection. The piss poor TS4 movie and the Spork game theming has as much to do as pricing for any poor sales that might have happened. Also, the supply chain is NOT fixed, prices of most things continue to climb, and we are in a vicious economic cycle. Just wait until we stop tapping the Strategic Reserves in October and a hard winter hits, it's going to get worse for most of us, yet the wealthy will still be able to buy LEs. Moral of the story, these price points might be here to stay or climb at least in the near term, but whine and pontificate away economic realities, if you prefer.

TS4 isn't selling primariky because it is overpriced.

Be patient. It is coming but could take another 6-12 months. Used and new car prices included.

It's not selling primarily because the game's theme is disappointing to most fans of Toy Story. It's focused on TS4 over the earlier movies. I know this because I would have bought one if was themed on the earlier movies, and from what I've read many others would have too, which is why so many people took financial losses to back out of their preorders. I don't dismiss price as also factor, but I believe that it was secondary to a gigantic miss in theming to TS4.

I guess the first opportunity for some gameplay will be some shaky phone video of someone chimp flipping at the upcoming events next week/weekend. Copy and pasted from Knapp Arcade below:

Fittingly, the new James Bond 007 pinball machines will be on show for the first time to media and public in London. On September 26th the games will be on display and available to play as part of the Bond-themed Christie’s Late, a public event celebrating the forthcoming Christie’s Sixty Years of James Bond Charity Auction. Shortly after, they will be a part of the James Bond at 60 weekend at the British Film Institute on the South Bank, September 30th-October 2nd.

It’s better then you think !! 2 games in one ! Included James Bond villains .

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Supposedly late November. Seems very premature. Maybe trying to get you to back out so they can mark up and sell to someone else.

I vote this..I doubt I I would personally want to pay more, for less ink.( but I freely admit, your version rocks over the sneek peek) I would think they would put gold t-molding around it, like the golden age of Stern (AKA LotR, etc)..I had a Goldeneye, and with these prices, I'd buy back my old GE and call it a day!

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Just paid the invoice on my LE. Paid MSRP free shipping and no sales tax. So be patient and don’t give into FOMO from the flippers.

No its the price and the fact that the resale on them is dropping faster than the stock market.

Why are you paying 6 weeks before shipping? Has Stern moved up the production?

On the LEs I think the dealers get invoiced and pay Stern in full very soon (prior to manufacture). Dealers will invoice and collect payment prior so they can pay their own invoices and the Dealers or Stern reallocate any allotments I’m guessing if buyers flake out. I’m thinking this is meant to reduce flipping as buyers have to tie up a lot of money for a few months, and also helps make the rollout of the LEs fast and smooth with little chance of unclaimed LEs sitting in stock.

Got it. I've ordered launch LEs from a number of dists over the years and never had to pay longer than a week or two before they shipped, so it seemed weird for payments now with Bond LEs 6 weeks from shipping at the earliest.

That said, I haven’t been invoiced yet. I was told it would be this coming week but not sure yet when they’ll want the payment. I’m guessing the timing will vary by dealer.

That shit needs to go or at least be a choice to block it if you're donating.

Just canceled my Pinside+ yearly renewal. Definitely DO NOT need stupid ads in threads cluttering shit up.

I’m sure my distributor wanted to lock in his LE buyers that way if I was a flake or needing to flip my preorder to pay for it he could offer it to someone else.

I think it’s a beta thing they are trying out. If enough users disapprove I’m sure it will go away.
Or it would be cool if they offered an option to block the ads if you don’t want them

I mean, it's ONE midpage ad per thread page. One. That's a huge stretch to call it clutter. I get plenty of value from pinside to support it with pinside+. One ad isn't changing the value equation.

But as long as we're airing grievances, it would be nice if robin added the ability to embed 10mb or less mp4s for paying members. Gifs go to 10mb, and they're allowed for everyone, paying or not. It's just a pain not to be able to do mp4s too, even if they're limited to 10mb also. I don't want to have to upload even short/small videos to youtube just so I can embed them (or go through the hassle of converting them to gifs and losing sound).

I think the more fair version for robin to implement is if you pay for pinside+ you have the option to block the midpage ads (the bottom ones remain). But if you're mooching pinside with no financial support, the ads pay for your service, so no block option.

Really, though, it surprised me, too, but it wasn't a life-changing negative event some are making it out to be.

Aren't there ads at the bottom of each page already?

I think the mid-page ad is the shocker a few people are objecting to because it's a new development, and also large and pink.

Not if you got a red heart (paying member)

I have a red heart and still see the ads

On the bottom of the page?

We’re talking about two different ad sections

Yes, I see “promoted items from the pinside marketplace” at the bottom of the page

Strange I don’t.

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Adds are Just above "REPLY" and page #'s

Bought a Little Nellie
Thinking she can go on the clear plastic above the ramp. Add a few LED’s to the rockets area…

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Also, sometimes the pages don't have them. I don't know why.

??

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Live and Let Die was the first Bond movie I saw at a theater. I was 8, my mind was blown! Dad took me.

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Are the 60th Anniversary editions being sold via distributors? Direct from stern or elsewhere?

I don't think anyone outside Stern or maybe their key dists know yet, but I strongly suspect it's similar to Elvira 40th, where Stern sells it to dists at a high price and the dist gets whatever they can for it. It sits in dealer stock until they get the price they want and Stern is paid up front.

Bond is a special franchise/licence though, with a massive worldwide appeal and reach spanning 60 decades.

Put the same prices on a less popular licence and the results maybe different, guess we will see early next year when the next cornerstone drops.

Too bad there are 2 forums basically on the same thing. All Bond, so somewhat confusing. Posted in the smaller forum an important point (imo), but thought I was in this thread. Here it is:

Unfortunate that Stern decided to turn on us home buyers, all in the name of a few scalpers. Stern has become the scalpers. We all get inflation, but this greedy cash grab has zero to do with inflation. If it was inflation, then why did the Pro only suffer a 1.45% increase over Rush Pro, but Bond Premium went up 7.78% msrp over Rush premium. Then add insult to injury to us the faithful long time buyers of LEs; a super spit in the face price increase of 17.12%. A mega greedy cash grab directed solely at us home buyers. Stern has sunk below in many people’s eyes on this ill thought out scheme to punish the LE buyer most of all, just because they think they can and are able to get away with it. Hard times are coming and we will not forget how poorly you treated us Stern during the good times!

If it was really inflation then why didn’t the price increases equally reflect that across all models??? It is because Stern knows their Commerical arcade buyers would tell them to take a hike and refuse to buy another pin from them. Stern has taken the HUO market for granted and obviously doesn’t give a flying flip how we feel.

Disappointing Stern feels like they need to do a number on us home buyers, because a small percentage decide to flip their machines. Penalizing faithful customers doesn’t make sense. There are not multiple markets here. There is one with 4 levels of options in the case of Bond. It only hurts us whom keep our machines.

No, Stern is giving people exactly what they want at the price they want. Not sure if you noticed but they sell out of LEs in minutes. Anyone blaming Stern for anything just isn't too bright.

^^This^^ The hobby is still supporting those prices, for Stern products anyway. No doubt the theme/license helped.

Bingo!

I’m on the fence. What is a fair price to sell an LE? Thinking $14,500.

Spot-on.

Kind of dim, since people don't want a 17% increase for 0 added value. As Thunderbird says, Stern has become the scalpers...the 60th anniversary full spectrum Bond being an entirely different game (with very limited production) is the biggest slap in the face (compounded by the fact that it's being designed by their top designer!). Not smart from a biz perspective...

First of all, people with “real money” make up a fractional % of the community and even LE buyers. Second of all, those casual rich guys only care about pinball if others care. If pricing snuffs out the community they will go swing their dicks to another more popular hobby.

I object to the fact that the ad above is for a "as new-out of box" Bond for 17k when the guy clearly hasn't gotten his or even played it yet and is already trying to flip a used machine before it arrives. In my book, that's just a super-exclusive asshole move.

The are doing enough to sell 1000
Machines. Many of those purchased by scalpers who will have a hard time turning a flip. They are not nearly as smart as you think

I used to donate periodically to Pinside back in the day when it was primarily just a hobby based website. Over the years it has turned into a business website capitalizing on market ads. I feel my donations are not as necessary anymore due to the revenue generation for ads, etc. Pinsiders that say people are mooching because they have let their hearts go gray,etc., may not know the true reasoning or history of Pinside. The secret of business is to be in as many pockets as possible-I get it. I also canceled my Spooky fomo fanclub membership, and never got caught up in the Stern Insider fluff n stuff either.

For clarity, I'm not happy about price increases period. But in truth, my frustration is much more amplified in things I NEED ( eating being a big one).

May not seem like it at first, but if you consume the same items you did a year ago, the price has gone up at least 30%....most times not even truly the same item ( less or inferior product).

Generally dont pay attention to the grocery tab ( as these are necessities) but a glance back and I'm just blown away by what they can charge....out of control, period.

Pinball is a hobby, pure and simple. We can choose to play, pay or not. Im glad there are some killer games available if I choose to engage further in the hobby. Manufacturers are setting their ROI where they believe best, and apparently not doing a bad job of it ( referring to teekee's comments).

The topic gets thrashed with pretty much every release.

For this hype thread, I'm glad its back on track ( arguing about $$$, ruthless Manufacturers, etc.) Instead of some of the absolute garbage being thrown around pre- release....

Anyone know if the round white circle with 007 lights up?

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Makes sense...food prices are certainly sky high (effected by fuel, transportation, etc.) In the end, the market will decide. I'm rarely an LE buyer, so the 17% bump doesn't really effect me personally. At 7%, the price bump on Premiums isn't too crazy (what I usually buy).

What effects me is the bizarro decision to introduce an entirely new game as the "SLE". In the past, SLE buyers had a unique game, but the general population would still get to play the game by owning Premiums/LE's. In this instance, an entirely new game will only get to be played by a very small group of people...ok for a very niche title (like Supreme, Whoa Nellie, Primus), but for full-spectrum 60th anniversary Bond? C'mon. That's the major bummer from my perspective...

Yes, you can see it is translucent like the 007 to the lower left, also the bond has white ink around it if you look close.

of course this is true, but it need more words

STERN did sell their LE, but not to us, finals customers, distros all around the world take them
this means that we dont know if those distros will sell all of them, or take a blow in the end !?

what i see/heard from pinball friends here, is that more & more are saying they will not buy a NIB again (until prices go down, but... )