TWIP for July 22nd shows Stern Elvira 3 on the rumored list but shows its status as confirmed (the only rumored pin from any manufacturer so noted). If you want to pick at semantics then, yes, there has been no official Stern announcement. A lot of people are hoping for a new Stern release to be announced this week, so why in the world would Stern reveal their October game (Elvira 3 due then per Cassandra Peterson herself) before they announce a summer release? Elvira 3 is about as official as you can get without any promised timeline from Stern.

And we greatly appreciate that.

I agree...that is a stupid idea. Elvira by herself can carry a pin's theme with no problem.

I agree with this. Was expecting better Elvira images on the playfield. But it is so loaded with various inserts that I am sure Lyman's code for this will be very deep. (And also noted from the playfield that Elvira's measurements are apparently 36-24-36.)

I don't care about powder coated trim or speaker lights or a numbered plaque, so if there is only one playfield version, then the only thing making me want the LE is Elvira pictured on the side of the cabinet versus only bland lettering on the premium. Will have to see if there is any other difference (such as more RGB inserts on the LE than premium). Pricing may force me to go with the bland cab, which would be disappointing. Need to know actual street prices.

The haunted mansion looks great! Looks similar in function to the castle on Medieval which many think to be the best playfield toy ever. The crypt, gargoyle leapers and other features look good, too. Plenty to shoot even with just two flippers.

The playfield colors don't go well with the red side art and powder-coating on the LE. I think the playfield colors will go better with the black trim on the premium (and different aftermarket side art someone will offer). I do think the light show will be fantastic with all those playfield inserts and the five red flashers around the perimeter (like the six globes on Scared Stiff). And Lyman will need to do a lot of coding to fully utilize all of those inserts.

I sincerely hope you need to have your hearing checked by a professional.

I just spoke by phone with two distributors. They both said official pricing not announced yet.
One was taking deposits while the other was only taking names to be put on a list for callback.
One of them said they are getting 25 LEs and 19 of them have already been reserved.

Anyone here on Pinside already reserve an LE or put a deposit down on an LE?

I'm struggling with justifying the high cost of an LE just to get Elvira pictured on the side of the cab.
I don't care about powder coated trim or speaker lights or (pinkish-red) side art.
LE may also include mirrored translite and shaker motor (not sure about non-glare glass).

Where'd you get the recent pic of Mick Jagger?

That illustration (minus the Happy Birthday text) is part of the side art on the LE cabinet.
Which is the major reason I want an LE over a premium.

I watched the reveal video and I think this game will shoot very well. So the 2-flipper fan layout is okay with me.
Looking at the plethora of inserts makes me think this game will be very deep when coding is done.
Lyman Sheats doing the coding makes me confident that the coding will be layered and really good.
I love the haunted mansion and crypt and the other playfield features and think the light show will be stellar.
Clips from 40 old horror films plus new video clips and callouts of Elvira? The screen will be used very well.

Am I worried about the recent playfield clearcoat issues? Yes, but maybe it was too late to fix on JP but not to correct for this?
Do I think the LE is worth the extra cost over premium? Not really, but it is the only way to get the better side art on the cabinet.

I'm not one of those who can afford every new game released. My only pin bought in the last ten years was Mustang premium NIB.
For 20 years Scared Stiff has been my favorite pin. I hoped its sequel would look really good. Paid $2K deposit on an LE this morning.

WoZ sure looked loaded with stuff when it came out. And the initial WoZ price wasn't as high as it is now.
JJP took stuff out of the YBR edition and still charged more. Is everybody okay with that? Costs do go up.
More than one Pinside poster has said that the mechs on Elvira3 look like something WMS was doing in the '90s.

From the official Stern release:

Stern Pinball Announces New Elvira’s House of Horrors Pinball Machines
CHICAGO, IL – September 18, 2019 – Stern Pinball, Inc. announced today the availability of a new line of pinball machines celebrating the iconic character, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark! The game was developed in collaboration with the Whizbang Pinball Studio team of Greg Freres and Dennis Nordman. Greg and Dennis developed the first two Elvira games. Elvira’s House of Horrors pinball machines will be available in Premium, Limited Edition, and Signature Edition models.
The taunting is over and the haunting begins in the third and campiest installment of the Elvira pinball trilogy! Trying to sell her mansion through “Alternate Realty”, Elvira’s house is haunted by the movie characters from her past. These ghouls, ghosts, monsters, and strange assortment of vintage characters with horrific acting skills seek revenge on Elvira while she and the player confront them, sending them back to the “film” from which they came! Elvira’s House of Horrors immerses players in a fun, campy, B-movie universe filled with all of the humor expected from the Mistress of the Dark including custom speech and, in a pinball first, exclusive filming of Elvira for custom video scenes featured throughout the game!

I re-watched the video. The skull face shows up on the lift ramp when lit from below by THE CELLAR insert. You can see this during the video when that light is flashing while the lift ramp is moving and the skull face flickers on and off with that light.

Congratulations. I just looked at your games list. You must be his best customer.

You would think if everyone was talking that much about Elvira it would be about a different part of her anatomy.

But you're the cashier! Just take some money out of the register and order a premium.

I agree with CrazyLevi that half the posters who complain about things like the floating heads and proclaim that they're out on this game were never in on it in the first place. If it wasn't for the recent clear coat issues this would be a great time for Stern pinball. JP has an interesting layout and cool mechs (at least on the premium and LE) and Elvira's House of Horrors has cool mechs in a more conventional layout and original video by Elvira. Pick whichever one you prefer because they both look pretty good to me.

Are you banking on that? (A comment I would only make to the Banker when going for the easy wordplay joke.)

You've convinced me. Now that I've been reading all these posts I don't even want this lousy game!
The code doesn't seem far along and buyers can't count on this Lyman guy to make it deeper or better.
The stream didn't show enough clips of Elvira and they probably didn't record and don't have any more.
It isn't as good as Scared Stiff and it should have looked more like Scared Stiff with a bone-y beast ramp.
Only Stern fanboys like the haunted house and deadhead crypt and junk in the trunk mechs on the playfield.

Except I do believe Lyman Sheats is the best there is and Lyman will make the game code terrific.
And I'm sure they recorded Elvira video for all of the 26 horror film clips and other game content.
I already own Scared Stiff and I don't want the same thing again. I like the different design theme.
If anything I'm a WMS fanboy and the cool new mechs on this game remind me of my WMS games.
So I'm happily waiting for the LE I've paid in full for. And lots of you will wish you had one some day.

Four days ago Elvira fan Robert Winter started a thread: Elvira's House of Horrors - The Owner's Club
He asked that no one post in that thread until they receive their game.
Three people who have games on order but have not received them yet have since posted there.
I'm waiting until I receive my LE before I post anything in that thread.
It would be nice (and courteous) if only owners posted in that thread.

Elvira's image on the side of the main cab is the only reason I went LE. I knew there would be plenty of aftermarket art blades to add to a premium (all three from retrorefurbs look nice) and powdercoat, shaker, better speakers and non-glare glass can also be added. The translite is the same except for mirroring on LE and SE. The design team sticker on the LE has spaces for signatures (including Nordman + Sheats + Freres) and is noted on the Stern website as "custom autographed bottom arch" and that is not on the premium.

LEs look to be first. Robertstone already received his. Iceman and others were told by distributors to expect theirs next week.

That looks to be correct. The pics of Robertstone's game in this thread do show the signatures there.

The main difference is the cabinet art shared with the LE but done in an embossed metallic finish on the SE only (like the embossed metallic finish on the picture of the Batmobile on the Batman66 SLE cabinet). SE also gets red powder coating with metallic flecks in it versus LE's solid red powder coated trim. And then there's the collector card signed by Elvira mounted on the apron of SEs only. I'll bet the embossed art on the SE cabinet looks stunning!

The house does do more. The garage entrance to the left locks balls just like the same shot to the castle in MM. The front door leads to a motorized diverter that directs the ball to different exits based on the modes. And the lift ramp in front of the door raises to expose the cellar entrance. Not to mention the rotating attic atop the mansion and the extensive RGB light show for both illuminating the exterior and individually lighting the numerous windows.

I like seeing the pictures, but everyone who posts about receiving their LE should report their game number and advise if their game has any clearcoat pooling (or chipping) around the slingshot posts (or other areas). The more games we hear about without any pooling issues the more it will look like Stern has fixed the problem on new production going forward. So if you've already received your LE, what number did you get and how is the clear around the posts?

Many of us are not sure the problem has been corrected. I thought that noting which number game one has along with the condition of the clear around posts could be helpful if, for instance, owners with numbers below, say, 50 reported pooling while owners with numbers over 50 saw no problems. But there is very little feedback on House of Horrors clear coat condition so far.

I think they bash him enough here on Pinside. You want to be able to bash him in the game also?