Yes I believe it will be,maybe 12,500 GB's will be sold

I hope you are right John. I hope it's a huge hit.

LTG : )

I thought it could be as well, but the magnetic slings might hold it back.

Only in the premium and LE, and I'm guessing there will be a setting to disable it for those who don't like them.

I think it'll be another ACDC/Metallica. I am not seeing this be TAF for Stern. TAF was just the perfect storm of nostalgia, reaching across multiple generations. The new movie had just re-invigorated everyone's interest, and it was peak pinball for B/W.

Stern's GB has to ride on the coat-tails of this atrocity:

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When it SHOULD.....be riding the wave of this awesomeness:

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TAF had Raul Julia, Anjelica Houston, and Christopher Lloyd as its support - you know - veteran talent and potential. GBs 2016 has the same ol' banal "har har, dat's funny right dar" humor that was as original as the gum underneath the table at your local university auditorium classroom.

I was wondering the same thing, I think it will as long as its well accepted, bet the pro will sell like crazy.

Wonder how many acdcs sold?

The new movie looks cool, but the writing'll probably suck, which blows because the cast is awesome. The original movie probably has enough pulling power to draw people to it, though, just like Addams Family still draws people. Everyone loves Ghostbusters.

edit: I say that as a casual player, not an operator, so I have no idea if TAF actually has pull but I've been out with people who don't play pinball at all and they light up when they see it. Maybe it's the backglass.

Yeah but the GB pin has nothing to do with the new movie (thank goodness, lol), there's not even a reference to the new movie in the game. Everything about the game involves only the original films.

If TAF was the perfect storm of nostalgia, reaching across multiple generations like you said then I'll say Ghostbusters, the original, does the same thing. It's a perfect pinball theme and as John T. himself said one that every designer dreams to have.

Combine what we have saw so far. A great and unique layout offering a lot of shots, multiple interactive toys, proper license use, incredible hand drawn artwork, custom audio tracks, custom callouts by an actor from the films, and what appears to be a deep progression based ruleset. Yup, I can easily see GB pinball being Stern's Addams Family in terms of overall fun and how well its received.

There is a good reason why so many TAFs are beaten. They got the snot played out of them and made (still make) good coin.

How are those girls not wearing gloves while using their proton packs?

Yea...I won't seeing the new movie.

With custom speech/callouts, we got Ernie Hudson saying his own lines as well as a couple of other people's lines

vs.

Raul Julia doing custom speech, Anjelica Houston doing custom speech, Christopher Lloyd doing custom speech, and I am sure there's some others I am missing, but their call outs are all over the place.

You're right, GBs is 32 years old - think about it - that's older than prolly, what you think, 30-40% of Pinside?

TAF movie was, what, 1 year old when TAF pin came out?

It was fresh and had the general population interested. GBs is always a fan favorite and a huge source of nostalgia; I just think TAF was much more fresh and relevant still in the mainstream when B/W TAF made its debut.

And yes, pinball is on an upswing right now - TO US pinball lovers- but I do not think it's anywhere near its strength from 1990-1993 when 20k units were selling of a single title.

When the GBs pin hits streets, it's not going to have that push like TAF did with the movie; it's going to have people who love 1984 GBs; it's not going to have a theater-going population walking up to play it. It is going to have people who know what GBs is without a movie to back it.

Honestly, we will just have to agree to disagree; I don't see it being TTTTTTTTTHHHHHHHHHHATTTTTT big of a hit. ACDC or Metallica level - absolutely. TAF, that's just a level that I don't think any pin has come close to. I mean, ACDC had what - 6 versions: Pro, LED Pro, Prem, Luci, BIBLE, LTBR, and did it crack 21k units? If it didn't, what chance does GBs realistically have?

And even if so, what's it going to take - the combined efforts of all 3 tier models to match or beat what AF did? Remember, TAF had 1 major release and then a minute released Special Edition. 20000 regs and 1000 Special Editions.

21000 units between Stern's 3 tiers...? I dunno, that's an awfully high bar. As Stern is known to not release official numbers (to my limited knowledge anyways), it will be hard to tell.

How about this: will GBs still be operating here and there like TAF continues to do to this day?

Taf was amazing back when I first played it in summer of 1992. It was the first game I had come across that had a DMD, had more speech than I had ever heard in a game, and then I was totally blown away when the thing hand came out of the box and picked up the ball and took it into the box. I hadn't seen the movie but was very familiar having watched the tv show after school everyday growing up. It was and still is a special game that was followed by many more fantastic games in the 90's. I think Ghostbusters may very well become one of sterns best games and looks amazing in its own way. I haven't seen it in person yet, but look forward to being able to play one!

I think it has the potential to be Stern's best selling game. It has more going for it than ACDC did at that game's release. The big unknown at this point is code. It seems to have a solid foundation but it's hard to know how good its going to be at this point. The rules seem somewhat linear and the video mode stretches things out.- i hope its not another CV copycat mode. Also not sure about the scoring? Seems like everything is Super Jackpots which kind of devalues the term. I have hopes that the software will still turn out great. On the big GB thread someone mentioned a rumor that code duties for the game were being switched from Dwight to Lonnie. Not sure if there is any truth to that but if it is true it doesn't give me a ton of faith. I'm still planning to order one because it looks amazing and the theme will be great for my kids but the code/software has me a little worried right now. I'm anxiously awaiting LE footage with updated code to make a more informed decision.

20,000 units will never happen again.

Sales numbers are anyone's guess. But I will say the general buzz among game bringers at MGC this year was that there were less people buying games on the floor than in years past, the speculation being that they got a chance to see GB and are holding out / saving up.

Or prices are rediculus

On theme GB Nostalgia > TAF Movie nostalgia before. The GB theme is peaking the interest of folks that are new to Pinball, which I think it really interesting and fantastic.

Can it beat TAF sales numbers? I think it could. TAF rolled over that 20k mark with the Gold Edition / commemorative games on the line (though they were able to run a mixed line of standard blue and gold editions). 20k took 2+ years to hit.

In 2+ years, we could very possibly be looking at a 20k GB game population across the current editions and maybe a future second LE run, though who knows if Stern would share their numbers to confirm the water-mark was passed? (Maybe - something brag worthy like that - why not?)

Either way, even if there isn't a worldwide TAF-level of potential ownership out there, this thing will be a runaway hit for them, which I'm glad to see - Great time for pinball!

I don't think any game can hit those numbers anymore. 20k.. So , as a comparison.. There are 33k user accounts on pinside. Say the pinball community as a whole is triple the size of pinsiders, maybe that's low but nobody knows. So 90k total people that are interested enough that might buy a pinball machine.

So to hit 20k... 1 in 5 of all of us would have to buy it. This in a market when 5 manufacturers are shipping, the games are expensive, and Stern will move on to the next game in a matter of months which will move the buzz on to that, and begin at least some 2nd hand market.

That wouldnt make any sense. There are no sling mechanisms in the unit. So if you are able to completely disable the magnets there would be no sling action at all. Doubt stern would ever make that an option. It wouldnt make any sense. If you don't like the magnetic slings you buy the pro.

I think the reason that TAF was, and is still incredibly successful is because of how nostalgic, ubiquitous, and approachable its theme was. Couple that with good timing, extraordinary gameplay and design, and B/W had a good solid winner of a game that sold like hot cakes, and continues to be revered by enthusiasts and casual players alike.

Fast forward to GB: The theme is nostalgic, ubiquitous, and approachable. The art package is timeless. The gameplay (from what I've heard) is excellent (and surely to improve with software updates). TAF had "Thing flips" and "The Power." GB has magna-slings. Both innovations.

Now, the popularity of pinball is questionable, and thus sales will also be questionable, HOWEVER, I do truly believe that GB will in the future become one of those A-list games that will be as desirable as CV, TAF, and the like. Time will tell, of course, but nothing hits the "sweet spot" quite like a high quality Trudeau game with a classic theme (See: CftBL).

Just my 2 cents.

I would be happy to see Stern sell 5K plus units on GB. That would get it up there with AC/DC. It could only be a good thing for pinball. 5K GB machines sold in (2016-17) = 20K TAF machines sold in (1992-1994). The pinball buyers market is about 1/4 of what was back then.

Figure all 500 of the LEs are sold.

If I had to guess, I'm guessing 1,500 Premiums will be sold.

I would imagine they can easily sell 3,000 Pros.

Having bought an Addams Family NIB in 1992, I can safely say no pin now will ever reach it's lofty sales numbers, just too completely different a world now than then. You have to realize there were pins just about everywhere back then, 7/11's, video stores, any place that had room would have a couple of pins or vids, today that is practically non-existent, and there is no way the home market can make up that difference.

Could GB be a bestseller for Stern, sure, but I think it is way premature to judge it either way.

I thought it had been stated here that PoTC was Sterns best seller at somewhere near 7000 games. ACDC and LotR are said to be close to that. Assuming these numbers are correct, there is no way GB will sell 2x more than that with 3 games a year being released and competition coming from multiple sources. Assuming the code is well cooked at release, getting in the category of the top selling modern games would be a more realistic target.

Christopher Llyod did not do custom speech for Addams Family pinball game.

I don't think the OP meant that GB would be TAF or match it in sales, I think he is just inferring that it could be Stern's best seller. TAF sold about 25% more units than previous best selling WPC game T2. If GB can sell 9-10k units I would qualify GB as Stern's GB in terms of success in today's vastly different Pinball market.

I don't think it's too early to declare this the best game ever made, or predict that it will be the best selling game in pinball history.

No-brainer.

Let's ask the question, "Why is TAF so awesome? and why does it still hold true as a great machine?

Theme > timeless yet liscenced and iconic of a generation. Check
Layout > fun to shoot, variety of great risk and reward shots, many shots with 4 flippers. Check
Toys > 3 magnets for power, thing hand, thing flips, rotating bookcase. Check
Immersion > great light show and real callouts with real actors. Music and full imersion with the FEEL of fun and pinball. Check
Intuitive > Noob can step up to the game and realize in 3 minutes a general idea of complete the mansion or/and get multi. Check
Code > fantastic and balanced risk/reward which interplays with physical risk/reward. This game holds the attention because it has the exact right amount of challenge/randomness which keeps you coming back for more is good for casual or competitive play among a group of 4. Check

TAF really has all the parts of what it takes to be an amazing game.

I would say GB has some of these things but seems to be lacking for others. Some things can not be judged yet as the game is still in beta code and yet to be vetted out fully.

I will say GB has the best shot of all Stern games in recent past of being a real block buster. I dont think it stands a chance of being TAF worthy but it could be very solid for a long time.

not even close.

No game has sold over 10,000 units since STTNG in 1993 and that ain't gonna change now.

If you think otherwise you are out of your mind.

I'm not saying GB is not cool.

But what is so unique about the layout? Ramp under PF (ok) but other than that it's just a ramp.

I'd say Met also has as about many shots, toy (snake, Sparkey), hand drawn art, custom call outs (better dots).

I'm just saying yes GB looks great but so does Met so what's the difference? Plus the code on Met is probably going to be better. No video mode at least for a start.

I think it well sell as well as ACDC did, perhaps slightly better. I don't know how ACDC did in gross numbers but can't imagine it was more than 6,000 units across all models.

All arcades in the 90's had a TAF. Many movie theaters and pizza places as well. Now, most traditional arcades are gone. Movie theaters rarely have pins (I know some still do) and pizza places are all in on redemption only devices that actually make money.

I just don't see GB selling anywhere close to TAF...it will fall well more than 10,000 units short across all models.

I think Star Wars has more of a chance to be Stern's TAF but I still don't think any Stern will break TAF's record. I still think the resurgence in pinball has a long way to go before it reaches the heights of the early 90s and it will never reach the heights of the late 70s.

Star Wars has a good chance of being their best seller though. They are releasing popular Star Wars movies right now and if it's a good game and releases around the same time as a movie, it could do really well.

If Stern ever had a game break TAF's record, you can rest assured that they would let everyone know.

GB is a big deal for collectors but little appeal to the mainstream.

There is no truth to this. Lonnie has his hands full with his own games and I am going no where.

- Dwight

I think it will end up as Stern's most sold pin to date.

The man himself has spoken

so happy you are coding this Dwight!!!!

Really looking forward to what you have in store for it!

The ramp does a lot more then just drop under the playfield which alone is slick. Not only does the ramp drop under the playfield from a steep shot but its also integrated with a physical 3 ball lock + VUK that acts as a scoop shot at the top level. That sounds incredible and its never been done before in a pinball machine.

Then theres the moving Slimer toy on the premium / LE, the magnetic slings, the Ecto Goggles toy, two scoop shoots, two captive ball mechs, etc. The game is going to be a classic

GB has little appeal to the mainstream? That couldn't be further from the truth.

It must be nice to come on here and see your game being compared to the great Addams Family though.
The code is already good and hope more great things are planned.

Anytime I've ever heard someone say "Who you gunna call?", I have never heard anyone respond with anything other than "Ghostbusters".

Yup!

Well,since i own a TAFG,and will own a GBp i see what point your making! For the life of me i can't figure why all this chatter about feelings for a pin??It seems like, if your a AC/DC ,MET fan it looks like GB is not for you!Being accepted that Hard rock fans will find GB a little tame! Having lived through that time period,there was a gap between hard rockers and ,as we used to say,straights! Still is!So,if the technology is teasing you,and the theme is not you,Guess the rest!!!

Thanks for clearing this up Dwight! The game is in great hands and I am looking forward to owning one and following code progression! P.s. love what you've done on GOT and STTNG remains my favorite game to this day!

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And if it does, I guarantee Stern will hop on that so fast to start claiming the tagline you won't even be able to blink.

"Most popular game ever!"

"Producer of the most popular pinball machines!"

I do not understand the the allure of ACDC. To me the pin is boring as hell. I hate the lower PF and there is nothing on the game. Kiss, Mettalica, TWD and ST are way more fun.

If it does 10k that would be huge for this day and time. I don't think it will, but people sure are excited about this one.