Inflation, parts shortages and other things like energy and transportation costs are what you should be hating on. Anyone who thinks the development and BOM costs are not skyrocketing along with the retail prices is fooling themselves.

This is beyond apple to oranges. This comparison is like apples to kangaroo. Even a car-gument would have been better here. Building a few thousand of each model pinball machine in the USA along with all the unique art, mechanisms and programming that goes along with it is a lot different than banging out millions of televisions at a factory in China or Korea.

These last 18 months have been absolutely crazy for industry, especially manufacturing, and it is surprising that some people have to have that pointed out to them. I've been waiting for six months for the Intel computer that I could have bought last year for 25% less and still waiting. I totally agree that price increases suck, but all in all I defy anyone here to actually prove that prices to produce these things at Stern have not increased at least as much as they have added to the retail pricing.

So you honestly think that the cost of building a machine hasn't gone up in equal percentage to the price increase(s) that has been passed along? Seriously? Look around you. This is not some conspiracy theory. This is a once in a lifetime worldwide disaster we have been in for 18+ months now. Certain sectors have been affected more than others. Manufacturing (especially in the US) is had been really hit hard. Costs are way up and parts availability is way down. Personally, I would bet Stern's profit margin per machine is less now than it was two years ago. Not to mention if the number of machines being shipped is way down because of shutdowns and parts shortages, overall profits will be way down too.

Not when the BOM includes all kinds of wiring, transformers, circuit boards, connectors and labor costs that could be eliminated with a better system design.

I kind of wish they could cut another hundred pounds out of them to save my poor back moving them around!

Feel is relative to setup. Tighten the leg bolts a little extra and put the game on rubber feet and any game feels like it weighs 1000 pounds.

All of my Sterns right up to and including 2021 have real knockers and I'm glad the menu is there to enable and test them.

Seems like we are seeing that more and more in rental cabins in the Smoky Mountains. Unfortunately pinball machines still aren't nearly as common as pool tables or video games at this point, but better than nothing. Some day I hope to own one of those cabins and obviously it will have at least one pin.

Let's not try to bring reason or civility to a thread titled "F You Stern". Just go along with the blind negativity and be a curmudgeon like the rest of them.