Premium runs on a different board cpu I think.

I can almost guarantee stern wont sell you a populated premium playfield.

I maybe was thinking a proprietary chip for prem/ Le games vs pro. Kinda like domestic games vs, export voltages.

You can accidentally install the premium code on a pro and vice versa, so I don't think so

The PF would not include the moving T-Rex mech on Premium and LE. I think there is a little more involved than just swapping Playfileds.

Not sure, but I think it would work if they let you upgrade, but I don't think they are going to do that.

If you asked Stern, they would definitely be able to tell you if it would work.

The cabinet boards should be identical. All the magic is done in the playfield node boards. As long as you load the right code it should work if the playfield has been switched

Are both P/S the same capacity?

I would be very surprised if Stern would allow you to purchase an upgraded playfield...

Wouldn't the populated playfield be at least $2500 (retail portion) because it is where most of the labor in building a game is located?
I don't expect Stern would want to do that.

In your situation I think they would at least make you pay close to the difference between a Pro and Premium NIB game (that is if they would do it which I doubt).

I suspect the populated Premium playfield would have a retail price of about $5000 if they sold them and the Pro would be about $3000.

Would the main wiring to the backbox be the same for the pro and premium?

Why not just sell your PRO and buy a PREMIUM?

Technically it's possible, but I don't think there's any chance Stern would let you do this unless you have some kind of deep connections within the company. And if they were to do it I would bet that the price difference would at least be the $1600 delta in the MSRP Between the two models. For one, your game's serial# which is located on the cabinet is registered as a Pro. I don't think they'd want to support some kind of Pro/Premium Frankenstein game. And if they let you do it it's going to open the door for others to do the same. Better off just to sell it and then buy a Premium.

I think you should do it and keep this thread alive! it's the only interesting thing on pinside right now.

Have you tried talking to your distributor about trading in the pro and upgrading to a premium? I've known people to do this.

Its a great ask, but I doubt they'll do because they would then have to disclose the play field cost difference....

Especially once they see there’s already a Pinside thread about it!

Yep....he's better off getting the new play field, and try to sell the game as basically new...then pick up a nice HUO the premium at a discount...

Totally possible. I know people who have built franken-sterns.

So the idea is to get a premium for a few hundred more, while everyone else has to pay 2k?
Maybe they can throw in an LE glass and plaque while you’re at it.
And posting this thread has probably killed any chance you had in the first place.

The plot thickens, I hope it will last.

Yeah, I have one of these at home

wptwof (resized).jpg

Isn't the all the trim like rails,lockdown bar diff. on the Pre then pro too

“We’ll let you pay for the premium
playfield as long as you don’t post in the Pinside thread or let anyone know”

Yes, or at least it was on the OG Stern SW. Presumably if he prefers the look of the Pro cabinet he's happy with the Pro trim. But if he wanted the Premium trim he could probably order that easily enough through a distributor once it's in stock (or just get his Pro stuff powder-coated to match). The real hurdle is that Stern just isn't likely to sell him a Premium playfield.

Yea not sure if Stern would do that for him but you never know

I'm actually surprised Stern hasn't offered this as an option. Business wise I think it makes sense if it's doable, which I believe it is as well. Think of all the people that would love to have ______ game but space is an issue. This is the whole premise behind the P3 as well. I know for one, I'd be a buyer if I could buy populated PF's and just do games swaps. Current state, I'd love to have a JP, BM66, Guardians and Elvira from the Spike games I don't own already. My hesitation is space vs the $$$ and I just can't bring myself to sell 3-4 of the games in my collection as I enjoy the ones I have so much.

They could even sell storage solutions. You could probably get 2 populated PF's stored under a single cabinet laying on their side in a small crate.

I have to wonder if the main reason they don't is just due to the liability concerns of the home user doing swaps on these heavy PF's. If something gets broken it's even more of a fight to get things replaced.

Yea am sure Stern don't want people too do it this way because Pre are much more in money ,they would sell any Pre that are more in the long run wouldn't make sense for Stern