Stern has sold all of the LE's to distro's. Looks like gold to me.

As much as I am a fan of the comic series, the strongest following is actually the TV series. The comic series has maybe a million or two followers, but AMC series has over 18 million fan base now watching the show. I'd expect if this goes over big you'll see Game of Thrones following suit.

Unless the premiums are now the LE's so that they reduce cost by doing less versions.

the timing of the release of TWD pinball is a different market than when those last TV themed pinball came out.

The more versions they do the more money they will make.

Who's with me for a Maggie Premium about a year from now?

I thought you wanted a Daryl one.

You guys are too funny...............Stern will make premiums if there is demand.........Period! Obviously they would rather make more LE's first. So by not announcing the premium, their hope is to create higher demand for the LE's without locking themselves into making any kind of commitment................Less information is more, it leaves your options open. The premium runs also allow them to fill the production time between runs like the VE models will.......More efficient!! In the end, money talks and that's the bottom line.

At my age, I'll take whatever I can get.....

I guess they learned from Mustang.

What they learned from Mustang was........Make a half fast title with bad music and a limited reach theme.........be prepared to sell a limited amount of games. I have no idea how they thought about Mustang, but they clearly didn't check with 74% of their buyers, i.e. International and USA Home use.

I wonder if instead of Stern buying the rights to use a license if it was the other way around with Mustang as in Ford writing them a big check.

Interesting, but at best the deal went down that there were no license fees to make the pin. Ford could eat Stern for a snack at the negotiating table.

So does that mean the LE # has been finalized?

Exactly. Stern didn't say that there will NEVER be a premium, just that they aren't offering one when the title launches. It's a smart move from a business standpoint. If the game is a hit, there is no doubt in my mind that there will be a premium.

There will be a premium for sure. I thought the last few Sterns were all this way with the Pro's and LE's first then Premiums not too far behind. At least ST was that way.

Mustang was Pro & Premiums then the "Top Secret" LE last.

As a future Hobbit owner, I would think you could see that not having a Premium is an option. Doesn't Jersey Jack just make "Standard" & "LE's" of their games? Last i checked no Premium option.

But we dont want Stern making 1500 Les....

But it's different, because JJP's LEs play the exact same as the standards. The only differences are cosmetic.

Stern knows if they are making a premium and will have it on the cut sheet next week. If there is no premium on the sheet with pro and le features, I highly doubt they will make it later on. It has to be designed at the same time as the other models.

It is already designed at that time, since the playfield mirrors the LE version.

Not yet. Jumping between 500. 500+/- couple hundred. Keep in mind distro's dictate production, and we dictate distro's.

Premium build? Stern saw how well a poorly timed standard announcement worked for MMR.

They are playing it safe due to lackluster mustang demand.

So far though stern is VERY enthusiastic about this title. I see a lot of potential in the pf design I got a snippet of. Looked good. Borg is going for flow again, but without a minimalist budget, like Tron.

Lyman is just about finalized rules, and he is a big fan of the show. His excitement will be our thrill.

Tease.

Not that I can recall.

Avengers premium ... now there's a rare bird indeed. Has anyone actually laid eyes on one in person?

I'm sorry.

Wanted to show the pic, but WHITEWOOD always looks crappy and it's months old. Lot of stuff could have been altered or scrapped. Besides, not going to get my friend in trouble AND piss on Stern's marketing, they do enough of that on their own. Lol.

But I think most of us would rather they make one good game, and not the full featured LE / premium and neutered Pro.

http://www.metallica.com/news/20130411-359099.asp

So...ACDC Luci was designed up front with all the others??

http://www.sternpinball.com/community/ac-dc-luci-is-here Boom!

Don't even get me started on Vault editions!

Premium is just a downgraded LE. Pro is a downgraded premium. Easy to chop shit off, stern's efficient at that. Look at costco BDK. Took them just a few weeks to have Gomez cut it apart.

Budget more like xmen or metallica then?

Budget more like Stern is making crazy money between price increases and busier production schedule, along with providing it's production line with no overhead production ( ie: just building pins. No designers or software engineers gobbling up profit) with MMR and other boutique interests.

Gary is in heaven right now. When he's happy, it will be reinvested into the company.

IM was a low cost hit, money got injected into Tron. Then AC/DC. RS, BBH, didn't do well, so bigger, better had to wait. But Pins then were$2000- $3000 less each.

Mustang also didn't do well, but stern isn't making $1000 profit on each pin anymore. Margins are stacked in their favor for a few flops. TWD will be epic also cuz John Borg needs just one more homerun to solidify his rep as a top tier designer, so motivation exists.

No the Monster edition was not. As a person who was promised a LE and then let down I know.
Read the announcement I posted. Only the "Road Case Premium" was announced with the PRO and LE. The Monster Premium was announced a few days later.

Damn links, here:

Pinball Wizard

April 18 Update - Stern Pinball has announced the availability of a second Premium model Metallica pinball machine. The initial release of Metallica pinball captured the attention of gamers and fans alike. Stern sold out of both the US and International allocations of its 500 Limited Edition ("LE") games within an hour of each respective customer announcement.

The second Premium edition machine features the vibrant artwork of Dirty Donny Gillies and complement’s Stern’s Metallica LE, "Road Case" Premium and Pro models.

It's been a long time in the making, so we are proud to finally announce the arrival of a first for us – an all Metallica pinball machine! After years of playing on Kirk's machines at HQ, we jumped at the idea when Stern Pinball came to us with some designs and ideas some time ago. The machines will include 12 'Tallica songs with "Master of Puppets," "One," and "Fade To Black" among them. Features will include an electric chair, snake, grave markers and lots of other bells and whistles along with art by our friend Dirty Donny.

Four models are available for order now, the Pro, Premium (Road Case), Premium (Metallica Monsters) and Limited Edition through Stern's dealers or for Met Club members who log in and hit the store here. Check out the chart below for all the features of each and look for them to start hitting the streets some time in May.

Stern Pinball is the leading producer of pinball games and all machines are engineered and manufactured by hand just outside of Chicago, IL. Recent popular machines have included AC/DC, the Avengers, X-Men, Avatar, Iron Man, and Spider-Man. For more info visit www.sternpinball.com.

http://www.pingamejournal.com/stern/archive.php

Also archived on PGJ.

True but my point is they keep adding additional premiums later. So my point is they could announce a premium at a later date.

True but it wouldn't surprise me if they release a premium after the LEs sell out and distributors/customers have enough demand to buy more.

They still may - they haven't officially ruled it out - just confirmed it will not be in the initial release.

Well, I'm hoping they announce a Premium at the same time as the LE and Pro. If they wait to see if the LE's sell well and then add a Premium option, I'd be a little pissed. I won't pay $8k for and LE so I will most likely be getting a Pro. But, if they announce a Premium at a later date for say $6500 I would want that and have to sell my Pro at a loss

Yeah, announcing one later just seems weird to me. I don't see much point in fussing over it until we see an official announcement though. Maybe it will all be clear then. Sounds like we have 12 days to wait for that.

This game may have been several years in the making...the show has been number one for quite a while now. There may be many surprises in this release and many versions to boot.

Ding ding ding!!

If memory recalls me correctly, wasn't Norman Reedus spotted with the stern gang just about a year ago? Maybe a little callout work going on behind closed doors.

If I end up getting the LE and then they come out with a premium later, I'd be a lot pissed Cleland!

It wouldn't surprise me though. Make people think there is no premium coming out, max out LE sales at top dollar and then announce the premium due to "overwhelming demand".

How the F can Mustang have a premium and they won't do one for TWD? If there ever was a pin that deserved different versions its TWD.