I don’t think he’s even a stern distributor...

Edit: yes, I see he opined and confirmed that and then you removed his name.

I’d way rather the distributors make the money than the scalpers/flippers/speculators. Most people feel this way when the bulk (if not all) of the LEs were sold before the game was even officially announced.

Gosh yes, this really needs to happen.

This is something I’m not understanding either. Stern made 50% more LEs than normal and distributors had a reduced allocation from their prior games? That is what they are telling people anyway.

I agree Stern should up their LEs to 1,000 so that distributors can get a stable allotment and not have to disappoint so many of their customers (if the allotments really were cut from prior releases).

Yep, this exact same issue exists for me. I will not pay $10,000 or higher for a machine, it undermines me all kinds of ways on spending (it would be used against me on hotel room upgrades on vacations that the Mrs wanted and other things like that).

I was totally out on GnR LE at the $10,500 level, luckily I found a spot at $9,500.

Stern really could have done 1,000 LE’s of this title and would have still been a day one sell out for them on this title. The theme is the driver here for Stern, they hit a gold mine of a theme.

Is the MAP program still in play? I see Mando premium being advertised for as little as $7,599 here on Pinside, seems like MAP is a thing of the past.

Why wouldn’t this happen on Pinside? Ask Robin to make this a feature, he’d certainly consider it if he thought the demand were there for the feature.

It’s a little early to say the theme integration isn’t there. We can all agree that BM66 had superb theme integration, yet no one would have thought by just looking at some playfield photos and thirty seconds of silent video. The theme integration will come in with the music, callouts, and video assets.

The mirrored backglass is, in my opinion, the primary difference. As you say, anyone can do the powder coating and what not...the mirrored backglass on the other hand, from the artist that designed the game, is more problematic.

Stern could sell a lot of after market mirrored backglasses with special designs, both to replace translights and as pure art.

So, I’m a premium buyer, but the LE does have more going for it than just the powder coat. The upgraded speakers and HD glass are worth some bucks as well. All be told, I’ve always figured the LE had about $1,000 or so in legit upgrades, more depending on how you value the mirrored backglass.

So, this became true on TWD, Stern actually hasn’t done a true mirrored backglass since Avengers (the 2013 version). Starting with Metallica and on every game thereafter (except for Aerosmith) Stern used mirrored ink on a translight rather than a true backglass.

Go look closely at an X-Men LE, check it out closely. It is simply stunning whether the machine is turned off or on. Put it next to a TWD LE and the difference between the true mirrored backglass and the mirrored ink translight is striking.

Many of the marked up games are not being sold by distros as distros, they are being sold by them as private individuals. This also happened with Metallica LE and a few others. Just because one distributor sold a game publicly at MSRP doesn’t mean they didn’t privately sell a couple more at high prices...

Frankly, I’d way rather see the distributors making this money (which is the market rate) than a flipper. The distributors do tons of great stuff for the community and get stuck with duds periodically (WWE, for example). Let them thrive now.

In fairness, he also has brought (literally) hundreds of games to TPF for everyone to play. One year alone (five years ago) he brought 110 games to TPF for everyone to play (they hired people to help move and set up the machine). TPF would absolutely not be the show it is without FUN and their years of dedicated support. If they want to list a 35 year old game over market when they are delivering 110 games for free who cares?

Not sure I would request those videos for a 20k MB to this crowd...you’ll get the Brett Farve / Jared Porter treatment...

Funny enough, I heard yesterday that Godzilla LEs are already sold out if Stern doesn’t up the allotment from Mando...I’m not kidding.

I’m sure the bulk of distributors will tell people they don’t start lists this early or that they will “put you on the list” (or something like that to stay in compliance)...but it’s gone and a total sell out three or four months before release...or such is what I’m told.

Edit: I note from looking at the Godzilla thread that this point was already known by many. Frax made this meme, which is hysterical and I’m adding the photo now to this post.

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Correct, certainly not at MSRP...

The Sega Godzilla game is a fantastic game though, and it looks great (for a game of that era). Sure, it was based on a failed movie that had a lame Godzilla, but at least he breathes fire in the Sega game.

I really wonder what Stern will do on that front. Will they raise prices or significantly increase the number of LE’s available? My guess is the LE number moves up to 1,000.