If I was a limited edition buyer of either Stern or JJP I would be kinda of pissed. These companies are treating this group of buyers like they a bunch of assholes, seriously $3500k more for the Le dialled in , pretty much the same for the batman66 SLE and yet there is no true exclusivity or luxury to these models. These guys have lost the plot. I'm not worried about the death of pinball, if and when this new collector market crashes, any manufactures standing will be happy to drop their asking prices by $2000 or more and be begging operators to take their games. The term LE will be gone from the hobby in a couple of years, with everyone bagging on this marketing strategy these machines will no longer have that cool vibe and let's face it the only reason people purchase Le's is for the status. When that no longer rings true, even the well heeled collectors will be happy to save thousands and play the same game us the masses. It would be totally different story if these companies were actually delivering $3000 worth of upgrades and prestige.
I know this is a JJP thread but what really pisses me off is how many times have you heard Stern say the game is under the glass. If that was really true then give your Le buyers some true unique GAMEPLAY features and mechanical toys. These guys deserve so much more then you are giving them for the money they are spending.
Both the majors need to start showing consumers what they are going to be getting for all the extra money they asking wether it premium Le or super duper edition.