I wonder how many backorders there are for this pin?

I'm trying to put a deposit on one, and no one will take my money. HA!! Contacted three distos.
1st rule is business is: "Take their money!!".
I was told by one: "We will put you on the list for taking the place of anyone who backs out the already ordered list". Really? Get on a list, to get on a different list, if you're lucky.
Why wouldn't they have a list and build as many as are on the list? It's not a limited edition, it's a premium.

What a world we live in.

At least say "here's the cutoff, get a deposit before this date and yeah, we'll build you one....... someday".

That's a very interesting way of doing business (this would be my 1st pin after only playing on location for 30 years - hard to find pinball to play on location anymore).
You'd think it would be smart to ask dealers "how many do you want?" or rather "How many can you sell?" and then run with that.
I do get that limited supply creates scarcity, and that has to be quite beneficial in ways. Did they just not anticipate the demand with this one?

Thank you SK for explaining so much to me, I'm new and appreciate it.

Just a random thought..... they've sold out of every model they've introduced with this pin....... that should tell them something. The 40th was a super-duper edition to put a cherry on top and reach beyond what anyone else has done (money-wise)...... you think another edition is on the drawing board? EHOH Yellow Brick road? Since Cactus did the whole SE+ thing (smart move BTW) it would be easy here. Premium+ with topper included. Like that wouldn't sell.
Hard to believe they would leave money on the table. Licensing is no thing: Cassandra will license anything.

That's easy: "Elvira and the Haunted Retirement Home" . 2031 and she'll be 80 and all of us who grew up seeing her will be 50+ on the young end
Seriously though, she'll be completely retired soon. She's already toyed around with retirement over the last decade, that's what that show "The next Elvira" was all about. Problem is, no one can fill her.... errrr.... dress. One of a kind character that can only be played by her, when she hangs it up, that's it. People typically publish their memoirs as their swan song..... three pins, sadly that'll be it. Really nice Stern sent her out in style. It's too bad she didn't get one every ten years after Scared Stiff: they'd all be classics.

That does bring up an interesting thought though: When she does retire, her popularity will decrease dramatically as that generation ages out or passes away. The masses aren't going nuts trying to get an Evel Knievel pin. Maybe I can pick up an SLE at a yard sale in 2040

Joining the club!!

1st Pin for home, got a deposit in with a company that says they had a couple allocated slots available (people canceling due to the wait?)..... but they did say based on their most current communications from Stern, it'll be Dec-Q1 for delivery.

Works for me!! Just happy to have a deposit in with a real Stern dealer. Not much more you can do than that right?

$8999

Just curious..... how does everyone like their pin blades on HOH?

Seems like there's a few options out there, was thinking about maybe getting the Stern ones, but I'm not sure..... there's some other really nice art blades out there beside theirs.
Mirror blades are so pretty and add movement. I'm a little torn.

What did you get and are you happy with it? If you swapped around, what did you land on?

Thanks guys

Got a set of the Stern blades (before they are all gone..... like everything else )
That shooter grew on me too, picked that up as well. HA!! I used to think it was ugly, now it's pretty cool: I didn't see his little hat and with a name like Creepo..... how could you go wrong?

Has anyone else who's on the prowl for a topper noticed that it's starting to flame out? Prices are starting to "dip" at $1,700ish on ebay although the Stern dealers on ebay are still pushing for $2,200-$3,000
I hope they make enough toppers this next go-round to completely crash the price later this year. $1200, fine..... double, triple...... gimme a break.
I wonder if (at some point) "super edition" toppers will become a thing: If people gobble up $1000 toppers, then stick a special badge on it, buff it in some way and out the door at $1500/$2000. *POOF*, even more cash.

Bring on the 41st anniversary Yellow Brick Haunted Couch edition!! The more the merrier.

I hope they make enough in the next batch to crush these prices, maybe get some of these crooks stuck with toppers they don't need.
That's the only way to spank their hands and stop that nonsense.

What drives me crazy is you can't put a deposit on a topper. I have an order in on a machine and the dealer wouldn't lock me in on a topper.... sheesh, I'm not a flipper!!! I have a machine order with ya!!!

I sure would like to know if they're going to do another run of the armor also.

You're talking about that OrangeCountyPinball person on Ebay? Yeah, outrageous prices. Really gross, I'll never buy anything from them on principle. Crooks!

Ah gotcha....

elvira topper (resized).png

Actually that's multiple different sellers on Ebay, all "dealers"..... I don't know how they get that "Stern Dealer" sticker, but they have it (I guess they are dealers).

Very crooked. You'd think dealers would be bound by price controls by Stern to prevent gouging except in cases like the 40th edition where it was intentional.

Time for another EHOH limited edition!! Wouldn't that be a kick in the pants? Scrub most/all of the premiums in que and final run of some additional version (not 40th) with the remaining parts. They've done it before......

Thing is: I'd buy it.

Now the dealers are the flippers!!

Does Stern do multiple runs of armor? That was something I was curious about too.... seen art blades, shooters and toppers get restocked but not re-runs of armor.

There was a few different sets of armor I'd like for games I intend to get in the future, but they're all gone (and have been for a long time). Never restocked.

Anyone know?

Well it's not a cornerstone..... I guess you could call it whatever you want, studio is as good as any. Or we could call all the future non-Kapow one-offs "Elvira's"

I'd love to know the production #'s, especially in relation to all the cornerstone titles.

Where did you get that amazing cover? I'd love to get one.

Fantastic card too

Just PM'ed ya.

Please put me down for one.

Absolutely Fantastic

What is the web address for them?

Seems like the Nov date for builds is holding up. I really thought it was going to get pushed back to Feb.

I had a distro email me the other day that they had toppers incoming and to place a "deposit"...... for a moment I thought "oh yes!! Finally they built some more!!". Then I went to the page, and no, it was a lie..... filthy distro had held back their stock from before and were asking the bargain price of $1875

Noticed a different distro is now charging $9999 for the next Elvira run also.

Dealers are the scalpers.

It "should" be $8799 or $8999....... I completely expect the MSRP to be $9399 by the time they build them, but I wonder if the distros and dealers will hike to $10k in order to shake lists out and bring them inline with how many they actually get allocated.

I know at the place I put my deposit, he said they have an order in with Stern for 25 units and that I was low on the list (whatever that means) and wouldn't have a problem being fulfilled if they shorted him. Of course you can't believe anything or anyone the way things are going.
That's why I'm hoping they do another edition, at least you know they'll make them.

Once the next cornerstone hits, I bet the deposit slots go down a little. How many switched to GZ after all that hype? All that money needs somewhere to go, maybe Toy Story will suck some of the reservations away as well.

I know for sure it was $8999 in Jan, and it was $8799 in Dec.

Sure, put $1000 down with a distro. If they're decent they can tell you if you'll fall within their allocation.

Some people will shake out later in the year for sure, especially if there's a big price increase or delay into feb-march.

I think they will during the next run, hopefully.
Really want to see these scalpers get crushed, but the worst part is seeing the dealers and distros holding them back and marking them up.
Seems like almost half the ones out there are being scalped by the distros and dealers.
I've talked to five distro's and asked about being on a topper list: none would do it (even offering to pay 100% up front). Two of them I later watched list toppers at an almost 100% markup..... they had them all along!!! What crooks!!!

Still, when it comes down to it: It's all Stern's fault. They are the ones who intentionally didn't build enough, and they are the ones who could build more at any time and don't. The 1st 1K topper and they're sitting on their hands? I think they like seeing people gouging for whatever reason.
I've emailed Stern time and again about this, they never respond. What jerks. I think they LOVE seeing FOMO on everything.

They need to re-release ALL their toppers and flush the system (IMO). Doesn't seem like normalcy is anything they want to return to (and it's obvious).

It was my understanding that all the accessories are outsourced and not built by Stern themselves. All they have to do is place an order with the supplier and *POOF* instant money.

Maybe the supplier does have limited capacity, but it sure doesn't seem like they put out very many does it? Seems intentional (to me).
Even if they were backlogged, you (Stern) puts in the order and has them trickle out over the entire run of the game.... that's not what we see: A small number comes out in one batch and generally that's it.
Same thing with everything else besides toppers too..... the armor for games: impossible to get. I think the armor, toppers, art blades and shooters are all different suppliers. You can't have the same output issues across every supplier, I believe it's Stern limiting it intentionally. But why? The only thing I can think of is that they want everything to sell instantly and have no inventory of any type..... AND...... they are artificially propping up the secondary market by limiting supply.
At some point I bet they move to a direct to consumer model and eliminate the distro's and dealers. Why do they even need them now? The games are often drop-shipped direct from Stern to the customer. Distro/Dealers were a convenient dumping ground for product when it didn't move, but that isn't needed anymore. The small makers have shown you can sell out your entire run in a couple hours, and then you can move on to the next title (which is what Stern wants). Funny how Stern wants to be like the little guys, and the little guys want to be like Stern.

$200 more than MSRP, and they're out of stock.

I think they only had a couple of them, probably meant for them all to be $200 higher.
The real question is: Was this stock they had held back? Or was it newly produced?
I think it was held back stock, keep seeing Dealers list a couple here and there, that Orange County Crooks dealership and their $1850 for example.
It'll be a great when the "Good 'ol boys" pinball network is broken someday. They're all in on the take (withholding, flipping, scalping, fleecing).
So few hold such a stranglehold over the whole thing, and they won't give it up willingly.

Well this was Lyman's last completed game, and he's not around to continue to improve it.
It's too bad..... it had so much still to be implemented in it..... had he lived I bet it would have been.
Don't think anyone is going to touch it.

At least with Cactus Canyon they got all this thoughts on the mode design. They can code it all without him.
Do they even have all this ideas for EHOH?

I'm still waiting for my machine (com'on Nov!!) so I have only been able to play a little at PHOF........ I know others have said there's big chunks still to be coded (Hand Of Fate?) and other movies not yet put into the game.

That's fantastic! Thanks for sharing

I wonder if at some point, Stern will move to a paid model for code updates past a certain version. I wouldn't be surprised, and really, the players probably would be happy to do it. $20(ish) once a year for an annual update (something like that).

1.0(ish) included with the game
1.2 - 1.5 paid annual until final code release and then that's it (1.5 or 1.6). Have to buy each increment of the updates (can't just install the last one).

Imagine them going back and actually finishing a few games they just left hanging. What were those? Wheel of Fortune? CSI? World Poker Tour? Not sure what else.
Sure would be great to have a couple weeks of programmer time every year for five years post 1.0 release.

As long as the financial drain aspect of it is squared away, it actually would do them a world of good to have a programmer or two cutting their teeth doing minor updates.
Always good to have specialized talent in the que maturing.

Anyone put one of those playfield protectors on their Elvira?

I'm tempted to get one before Stern gets around to building mine.
In theory would be great to install one before ever playing it.

Did it help with dimples and such?
How visible are the protectors? Noticeable or not really?

I think it's one of the best toppers ever. Great theme, it moves, good interaction with the game...... could use more lights though (thunder and lightning).
I'd take this one over the $2500 Pirates topper (a boat with some tentacles and water).

All the Elvira topper needs is a naughty mode where she pops up and tells you a raunchy joke some of the time. "This thing is HUGE..... and ribbed...... wake me up when you're done"....... gets me every time.

Herman looks/moves terrible, actually think Grampa is ok.

Final run of EHOH toppers shipped from Stern and have sold out in a couple hours. I didn't even notice they had come in until it was all over.

That was it folks (at least that's what my distro told me - they have no more on order since Stern isn't taking more orders for them.... AND, they only got a couple, Stern didn't fill the amount of orders they had for them - distro ordered 20 and received 4).

Happy I prepaid several months ago and am getting one (I also had to order the machine to get one, a machine I may or may not get allocation on in Nov/Dec), sheesh, what a chore.
Why does Stern operate this way?

Game or topper?

Topper, probably yes.
Game, not sure. I thought end of the year is it.... but one distro told me he thought Stern would run them again next year since there hasn't been an announcement of them ending production on it.
To me, the game is three years old and Stern doesn't like making them..... so why wouldn't this be it? Next year they'll be back to their regular scheduled program of 4 new games, and I'd assume EHOH will be pushed out totally.

Yeah I thought they were out of stock.

Their page isn't very good.... you can still buy a Stranger Things Pro on their site (and it says backordered also).

Beautiful

It sure would be nice if we could program our own modes, and input audio, video, lightshows and rules. Wouldn't that be awesome!!

My distro as of a couple months ago said there was no price increase (yet). I hope this has not changed, but leave it to Stern to rake us over the coals.

My Elvira topper showed up today!!!
Take that filthy scalpers!!! MSRP for me!!! I can't believe they were going for 2k+ there for a while.
Now I have the shooter, the rails, the blades, the topper and a ton of mods.... just need a game.

I could be wrong, but I think the next cornerstone will draw people away and take most of their disposable cash right as the economy goes in the toilet..... that whole thing about wanting the latest/greatest, Stern is launching at a great time to take advantage of one last surge.

I just want EHOH, that's my dream theme.

The topper is 14lbs (in the box). I was surprised at it's weight too..... was expecting something like 5lbs. HA!! Not opening mine until the machine gets here, maybe I should take a look..... just in case.

Who would even try to follow Lyman though?

If he had left notes like he did with Cactus Canyon that'd be one thing......

Seems to me this last run of the game would have the final code update if there is one at all.
You'd think after he passed away that Stern would tribute him and finish whatever he left on the drawing board. It was his last finished game after all.

Interesting how the toppers have remained available at dealers for a few weeks now.
I thought these would have sold out (again), but that hasn't happened.

Did demand collapse? Or did Stern make a ton of these things this time?
My distro said they had 30 EHOH toppers ordered and they received a handful (I was very happy to get one), but that suggests it's demand that has gone down dramatically.

I'm SUPER HAPPY the filthy scalpers can't get a penny over MSRP on these now. Proves that increasing supply is the answer to those ridiculous prices.
Now we just need more machines and the used market can go back below NIB. Won't that be nice?

I'm waiting for my EHOH also and have two deposits floating around out there (figured this will be the last run)..... but I had an interesting conversation with the second distro I put a deposit at: His deposit was non-refundable (that they were VERY upfront about it), and I said "this is the last run, you're giving me my money back if I don't get allocation from you in Nov" and his response was "Yes, if it is the last run, but there is no indication this is the last run. These EHOH's sell so well that I'm expecting them to be made for a couple years still. Stern has not even hinted to me this is going out of production".

Considering Stern actually doing last calls on GOTG and LZ, maybe he is right. Maybe it isn't the year that will end EHOH but next Halloween. Sheesh, imagine waiting three years to get your Stern game? That's on par with the boutiques.

Yup, they're almost all gone (again).

I wonder how many filthy flippers gorged themselves on this topper run? I was so happy to see them stuck holding inventory from before, and now the same nonsense will probably happen again.

Maybe they'll do another run when the machine is back on the line...... maybe. I hope Stern keeps them flowing to put the hurt on those people.
Glad I was able to get one at MSRP.

That's because they are sold out now too.

I bet the filthy scalpers read that post and ran there to buy them up.

If dealers start listing them again in a couple months at a big markup..... well, at this point you can almost count on it from some of those shady dealers. I still think about email from that one dealer with the HUGE markup, like they were doing people a favor. I'm sure they sold them all at that price too.

No more "limited edition" toppers!!! Run them as long as the game is in production!!

Someone claimed that Zac said the run was pushed into 2023...... I was looking for the episode that had that announcement and was unable to find it.
Anyone know?

It would line up with what my distro told me: Q1 2023..... and he told me that at the beginning of this year. Maybe he was right, or maybe not.

You think it's bad now.... just wait until Stern figures out they can do Pro/Premium/LE toppers.

Well, who's going to have the guts to continue Lyman's last coding job?
It's one thing to add some IC features to all the games, it's another to try and continue the master's work.

Unless they have notes from him on what was left to do?

I'd pay for a massive update to the code too....... I don't know if it'd be good for Stern to know that or not.

It's not typical, but I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes the norm to keep people from being on multiple lists at different dealers.
The real question is if they think you'd get one if you put down the non-refundable deposit.

I think it's going to be hard to get an EHOH, unless they make a ton of them for the final run.
I have two paid deposits out there just sitting, and not sure either one will pan out.
If Stern would release the production numbers for Nov and tell the dealers what they're getting it'd be easy to know about getting one.
Not the dealers fault, they're in a tough spot.

Dealers are still working off the expectation of 9K, unless that changes. I hope not, but I wouldn't be surprised either.

Part of me is hoping for a 40th Light (12k-15k) in addition to the final premiums, but that's just a fantasy. I'd like to have a mirrored backglass, but not spending 25K for one. There's still 40th's out there unsold. They shot a little too high on that one (IMO). Beautiful game though, I'd love to have one.

My deposits were at the $8699 rate, but I've seen it listed by dealers at 9K (before they stopped taking deposits - and most of them have stopped).

One dealer told up it could be as long as Feb or March before it goes on the line, but I think they will do one more run. They did GOTG just to get rid of parts, I think they have spare parts to use up for EHOH as well. I just hope they will have spares for the years to come: a mech heavy game like this will have more broken stuff over time.

I bet what's going to happen is: Stern will call around, ask the dealers how many are presold, and then make that many. No extras..... and that'll be it.

I was told by a distro last week that they are will be marking up games on a graded system from here on out. I expect many dealers will be doing the same very soon if not already. MSPR for the 1st half of an allotment, 10% extra for the 3rd quarter of an allotment, 20% extra for the last quarter.

The dealers are going to be the flippers, and who can blame them? They sell at MSRP and see the game they just sold go for thousands more the next day on Pinside. You already see the dealers doing that with the accessories, especially the toppers.

Look at the IM topper: It was $400 and now it's $900 for the rerelease. How much of that is dealer padding? The build is still that of a $400 topper.
The last EHOH toppers before it sold out again was $1200 at the dealers....... it was a $1000 topper. When there was none, a few dealers were selling held back stock at $1800.

Dealer Scalping...... and I think Stern is encouraging them to do so.

Cost cutting?

I hope they release their schedule for the last run soon and what the allocation numbers are going to be.

Charity set? Is that being put in a raffle or something? Very curious to see a Lyman tribute casket

I hope they make them on time in Nov also, but I'm going to take a guess and say it'll be March.
Sept is gone. Oct will be gone with Bond going to sell really well. Nov is gone with LZ and TMNT final runs. They have to slap in the Bond SLE's somewhere, and squeeze in more GZ before no one wants them anymore.
The EHOH people have already been waiting a year at least, and the whole allocation is already sold out. We're a sure thing. Making them faster doesn't do a thing for Stern and they know it.
The year is toast, with another new title coming in Dec/Jan..... EHOH will be in March (IMO).

Well, not a surprise....... we knew Q1 2023 back in July.

The question now is: Will it get delayed farther into 2023?
I was thinking it'd be a March 2023 build, but they could make it a Halloween 2023 game, they have nothing to lose by pushing it back.

I wonder what the price is going to be now

All true..... but here's the thing: everything always comes around eventually. While Stern is flying high now, their time in the sun is not eternal.
A couple years or whatever and people will finally have had enough. People may say this is all the same crap and people don't really care about price..... but that's not true. They are passing the Rubicon of 10K on essentially "Standard" machines, which is a big psychological number. It won't stop them immediately, but there will be attrition from here on out. When a real downturn comes, it's going to bite them hard (in sales volume) which actually (I believe) is part of the reason they are hiking so much now. 1st it lets them milk as much cash as they can in the short term while people are still throwing around money carelessly, and 2nd it sets them up as a true luxury item which is produced in small quantities for the rich when the economy goes belly up.

Even with this intelligent positioning, a decade long period of real deflation is going to rock Stern to it's foundations when the rich totally opt out and there are no buyers left at all. At that point they will regret screwing over the regular folk, but it will be too late and Gary could be croaked out by then anyway.

And that's the point.......

I was talking to my distro a few months ago, and he let me know that when the time comes, Stern will call and ask him "how many do you have sold?".
He will be expected to give an accurate # of ONLY games with a sitting deposit. No allowance to have any in stock, no extras.

The more they hike, the more they delay, the smaller the number is going to be. Maybe they only want to do one week of production, and they will make people drop out until they get that target. How long are they making final GOTG and LZ? A week? Two? Single line only of course. Clear out the stocked parts and shut it down.

What would really suck is if they drag it out to mid year and then say "yeah, we're not doing it at all". Then it'd follow STH and Munsters in really crappy endings for in-demand pins.

Nice

I'd been wanting one of those for a while...... ordered!!!

That's Stern's intent: they want to get people to drop out..... and they will succeed.
I shudder to think what the stinking price is going to end up being..... and that will cause even more to drop out.
I think they're going to rake us over the coals with an 11K price tag. That will surely get a bunch to throw up their hands (and lunch).
It was rich at $8700 when I put my deposits down. Totally expecting a $2300 bump now..... and they'll get away with it too.

I only hope they do a "final edition", at least something to sweeten the pot to make up a little for the huge price bump and waiting FOREVER.
Of course they won't.

He made a video about it two days ago.... 10K used.... he also said there is a rumor Stern will not be able to make more for a long time.... and that it will not be less than 10K new IF they make more (which implies more than 10K).

Right at the beginning, one min in.

Seeing EHOH now being listed at 10K (well, 9.9K - same thing) for the next run by distros. They don't know the real price yet, but they're inching it up in anticipation.

10K now, 10.5K later, and settling at 11K is what I think will happen. I guess part of that depends on how far into 2023 the wait goes.
Sure would be nice if it stops rising before then. Maybe the economy will crap out and spook Stern (yeah right!!!).

I don't think they have the license for a long time, but it is a much cheaper and easy to get license.
The most recent interview I read with Cassandra said she doesn't want to put on the outfit anymore. She's just a licensing machine now.
All she wants is to live in the country with her girlfriend and have checks come in the mail...... and no one else is going to be making another Elvira pin in her lifetime. The only pinball check coming is from Stern. A check for no further work, or no check for pinball at all. Easy choice.
Stern can renew the license at will, no question about it.

Egg is right.... it's a studio release, so roughly $1000 more than a comparable premium.

The "new" standard premium price is $9500-$9700 depending on if it is "hot" or not. EHOH's next run is almost certainly presold out from deposits. Stern knows they can do whatever they want on this next (and final?) run.

Really shady that the end price is going to be 25% higher (or close to it) depending on when you threw down a deposit. All that waiting and all you get is ripped off.

Yeah, it's not going to be 12K

It could be 11K.... or 10.5 or 10.7

A flat 10 is the best we can hope for (IMO).

This is also showing that the next run of EHOH is going to be 11K...... just like I said.
I wonder if I'm wrong and they go even higher than that now.

If the new model is to double prices (look at the IM topper rerelease - it's double), and the new Mando topper is double vs. the previous high..... then that could mean machine spreads are also going to double. A $1000 studio spread becomes a $2000 spread: EHOH becomes $11.7-$12K

Stern pricing is now Disney pricing.

Well, we've speculated on price like crazy and have nailed down where it will probably land $10K/$11k/$12k

Now how about we guess on WHEN they will build..... and WHEN we will find out when they will build.

We had word back in July it would be Q1 2023 even though there was still a glimmer that Nov was still a chance (nope).
The production schedule for 2022 is booked, so that's all gone.... we know that.
We don't know if another game will happen in Dec/Jan (it should) so I think that's the wildcard if EHOH is going to be a 1st half (Q1/Q2) run in 2023.

March is Bond, so it's not happening then.
Jan should be whatever new game is announced (Venom/Music Pin?) assuming they do that. So Jan is out.
That leaves Feb as a window for production.... and I think Stern only wants to build for a week before deep-6ing this title.
BUT, that doesn't resolve the rumor Todd Tuckey talked about, which makes me think this is going to be kicked to Sept 2023.
There's still too many deposits out there and Stern needs to thin the herd some more (and they will, one way or another).

I think we find out when the run is right at or after the next title release (Jan/Feb), they'll say end of year 2023 with a huge price increase and it will coincide with a slew of other discontinuing titles (SW/DP/JP/IM) which will force people to choose carefully (along with the 5 new titles for 2023). Overpay for EHOH or get a "deal" on either a different older title going away or one of the new premiums. All that will thin the herd right down to where Stern wants it. Just enough to get rid of the parts they have on hand and no further.

That's what my crystal ball says.... I hope it's broken and we get Feb

What people also forget is: Stern has multi-year contracts for parts. Inflation or not, the prices are fixed for them.

I wonder if we will hear a whisper about this game before the end of the year.......

I kinda doubt it.

Then again, I wonder if we'll hear anything about it until after the 1st runs of all Bond models are finished in March (probably not).
By then it should be time for the next Stern release.

I'm going to guess and say EHOH is now Q4 2023
It'll be part of next year's "last calls" when they get rid of IM, SW and DP.

Zac also mentioned it could be bumped easily too.......

What do people think the odds are of them building more in Feb?

Do people believe it will happen?

I knew back in June it was moved to Q1 '23, but Todd Tuckey said in one of his videos in Oct/Nov that the rumor was Stern wouldn't be able to build any more "for a long time". A long time to me is a year, and Todd is a really great and honest guy. Four months isn't a long time when Stern maybe builds something once a year (maybe)..... so when we lost the scheduled Nov '22 run, "a long time" from then is Q4 '23.

I'm gonna guess and say if Bond sells well, EHOH is bumped to Q4. If Bond sells poorly (and that could very well happen) then there's a small spot for EHOH. I wonder if it will be a "last call" run?

I also wonder if they're bothering to do it soon since Scooby will take away orders for a fun goofy horror'ish theme.
They would be right..... it will.

Scooby's a bigger name, a newer game, and for less money..... maybe Stern should have built our games in May or Nov like was on the schedule last year.

It is a little bit of a nasty taste that the 1st game to be made AFTER Bond pricing hits is EHOH. What a crummy thing to do to us. I was hoping a couple other catalog titles would hit 1st and crash and burn at the new rates before our game hit the line again.

I agree.... I don't think Bond is going to meet expectations at all.
Truth is, it's too dated. It has a lot of fans, but not of the right demo (IMO). Connery Bond is 60's with a tiny bit of 70's.... that's going to be before a lot of people were born. You've gotta be 51 just to be alive when one came out. Too old a theme, and too focused an audience.
I was at Universal a couple months back and was noticing how old the people were in Harry Potter land...... it was shocking. Not kids, mostly 30's and older.

You guy realize these are all very different things.......
WOZ is a musical, and historically significant: The most watched movie in history, with one of the most recognizable songs in history, sung by one of the most known voices in history. Ask 100 people if they know the chorus of Somewhere Over the Rainbow.... they'll all get it. Ask the same 100 people to match up the Bond movies with the villain of those Bond movies, and who played Bond in that movie. How many could get just two right?

Munsters is syndicated, and watched every afternoon for generations (even that didn't save it - Stern canceled it's azz fast. It's a 2019 title: They should still be making it).
Do people watch a Bond movie everyday? Reruns matter (that's why Scooby is going to do well).

Music itself is a permanent rerun on steroids: radio, satellite, streaming, cd's, tapes, records...... over and over for decades, rebooted in whatever new format, consumed in small amounts, with little cost or time investment but with good instant enjoyment. Often times it isn't the music, it's the associated memories and feeling you recall with particular music. That's why music is timeless.

Age does matter: To me, Brosnan is Bond. I despise Craig, never watched a single Craig Bond (and fully admit Goldeneye was the only good Brosnan Bond movie). Does Connery, Dalton or Moore matter? Absolutely, they came before..... they are someone else's Bond, just like Craig is younger people's Bond. They are all correct, but only one is "your" Bond.
Big fan base, and one which is inherently fragmented. Who does Connery appeal to most? Boomers. 60+'s which is a good segment for people with money being thrown around. Is this group going to be buying games in 20 years? No, they're going to be dead or about to croak. So is this a good send-off for a pinball generation? Yup, absolutely, and I hope they love it. It's time to cater to Gen-X and Millennials now. They are the current and future buyers of games.

Put into perspective with this thread..... Elvira....... she's retiring (actually already retired)..... she spans 40+ years of young boys oogling her boobs. That's Boomers, Gen-X and Millennial boys/men. For some she's the spokeswoman for Coor's "Silver Bullet", for some she's the Mistress of the Dark star, for the oldest she's the host of that TV show with horrible B-Movies, and for the youngest fans she's a Knott's Scary Farm showgirl. What ties it all together is her: she is the only Elvira (unlike Bond). Therefore she gets every fan from every segment for herself. No fragmentation except which "Version" of Elvira is "yours". I prefer the 80's Mistress of the Dark Elvira myself..... it was the funniest, and had the most boobage. To each their own.

Bond may be a bigger license, but too broad. Elvira is focused and specific (just like WOZ, Music, Etc.). It'd be like making a Dr. Who pinball..... which doctor is going to be featured? Which era? Too broad.

My opinion only of course.

HA!!!

I'm not a millennial

I know everyone thinks they will live forever..... I've seen a lot of death the last couple of years. Boomer and Gen-X.
Realistically it will only increase as time goes on.
You see Cristy Ally passed away today? She was only 71.

Touchy subject, I understand.

I agree with you, and I think it's because there are no "superstars" like there were when we were growing up. There's too much media now. Too much fragmentation and overload for anyone's sustained attention.
People are too busy, and too distracted. Everything is instant, nothing anticipated or saved for. Hmmmmm, maybe that's why I like pinball (in part). One of the few things you still have to wait for. How funny.

Seems like a lot of people had problems with the topper opening correctly.
You'd think they were all tested before leaving the factory, guess not.

Was yours from 20-21 or that run here in 22?

Stern better release some EHOH news and pricing...... Scooby is gonna take that cash.

Not really, lack of supply made them go high...... this batch will satisfy a lot of the demand out there. Prices will fall or at least stabilize. I hope they build a nice big block of 500 units.

Bad news for distros with unsold 40th's, but that's how it goes. They held out for too long for too much money.
I wonder if Stern took so long because they were trying to help distro's sell all the 40th's by not supplying regular premiums.

Once demand is equalized, I think LE's will come down to 13, 40th's to 18, and used premiums to 8 or 9.
Looks like Stern is going to come 'round in '23 to knock out demand of catalog titles and smack them down while cashing in at Bond pricing. EHOH, JP, IM, GZ no more lack of supply in '23.

Once you see demand equalized, you DO see prices decrease.

-High availability-
Led Zep (Premium): Average used price: $7500-$7800
Mando (Premium): Average used price: $7300-$7800
TMNT (Premium): Average used price: $7300-$7800

-Low availability, ongoing production-
AIQ (Premium): Average used price: $8000
Rush (Premium): Average used price: $8200
Star Wars (Premium): Average used price: $8000

-Zero availability high demand, ongoing production-
JP (Premium): Average used price $10.5k-$11k
IM (Premium): Average used price $11k
DP (Premium): Average used price $11k
EHOH (Premium): Average used price $12k

-Newly OOP-
GOTG (Premium): Average used price $11k-12k

See what happens? Good availability means much lower prices. Used can't compete with NIB at the same price, it has to move lower with sustained availability.

"Last Call" removes the sustained aspect of availability, but it hasn't helped LZ or TMNT (not yet anyway). GOTG: Stern couldn't be bothered to build more premiums. See how last call + availability affected that one? Top of the range.

Stern's gonna roll into town in '23 and wipe out JP, IM, DP, EHOH 2nd hand elevated pricing with NIB 10K machines..... all that value currently in the used market will be sucked up by them (IMO). All these are going to be down to $8k used (and below).

In the end, it's all about perception. People can't see pricing going lower because it's not very visible yet and they are conditioned to believe it can only go up.
The game totally changes with supply. Stern is already signaling what is about to happen: A new factory for more supply, and George saying fewer games until they "Catch up". Catchup on what? $10k catalog games. They're going to clear the table. All that cash belongs to them (as Gary sees it).

Once people do see it, and accept what is happening, then perception will change.

Yup, you were right....... confirmed with two distros.

So now that $10.5 is going to be proven as acceptable for a premium..... I wonder if they will move the other premiums to match later in the year?
Standardize premium prices (upward of course).

Yes I know that.... not what I was getting at.

EHOH paves the way for everything else.

EHOH Cornerstones
Launch $8K $7600
2020 $8.3K $7800
2021 $8.7K (no availability) $7800 then $8399 then $9000
2022 $9K then $9999 (no availability) $9000 then $9500 then $9700
2023 $10.5 $9700 then ??????

Cornerstones chase EHOH. This game shows where Sterns pricing is going ahead of time.
In every case except at $9000, EHOH increased in price ahead of the cornerstones.

2nd new game in '23 has EHOH pricing (IMO).

Yeah, Stern is playing games again..... not going to build enough to satisfy demand. What a letdown.
And Gomez said they were going to be "caught up" this year. I guess I have a different idea of what "caught up" means.

I wonder if it'll be the same thing for all the other catalog titles in '23: only build a third of the backorders.
What I don't understand is: Why does Stern want to keep the distribution channel empty? To make sure there's nothing to buy except whatever is new? I don't get it. How does that benefit them? A sale is a sale. Two weeks of production would fill all the backorders, place inventory into the system for a year or two and allow them to retire the game after this run with class. I just don't get it.

I hope it doesn't take long for the distros to figure out their final list.

I know they have to call everyone and confirm if they're in or out.... now the real waiting begins.

Curious how many have (or haven't) made the cut on this run....... or were fed up with Gary's greed and decided to drop out?

I'm waiting to hear if I made it or not. Was hoping it'd be quick for the distros to have their final lists, but I guess it takes time to call everyone. I mean, yes or no..... how long can it take?

If you are still in but didn't make the cut, are you going to hold on for a 2024 run?

I wonder if more campy campers will be made for sale.

Same boat, getting so close (for the 3rd time )......

I'm eagerly waiting the build next month.......

As long as Stern doesn't do the whole "EHOH switcharoo" of "Oh yeah, EHOH.... we're not building that. Maybe after another three price increases!!! -Love, Gary"