One of the Best Bands in the World and one of the Best shows I have ever seen.I am a maybe.If Pinball Machines were Pussys Id have Pussys falling out of my pockets as Eddie Murphy might say.No more room here.

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So just like every other band-theme thread, 20 percent love it, 20 percent hate it, and 60 percent just want to say which other band they'd like to see a pin get made for.

In other words, just like every other band themed game, it'll sell fine. I guess that's why they keep making them.

With the world's first 36 ball trough. Half the BOM would be in optos just to keep track of all the balls. But when you start 36 Chamber Multiball and the entire playfield is covered in pinballs you'll know that kid down the block with JJP GNR ain't got shit on you.

I was gonna say, I dunno about this comparison unless you hate Brad Pitt and Edward Norton..

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Dude, are you kidding? Every rock pin that is released is based on an old and dated band. Literally, all of them. Why not make it one more with Nirvana? I’m 48 and grew up in Nirvana AND Dave Grohl. However, as nice of a guy as Grohl is, Foo Fighters isn’t Nirvana.

See that's why I provided a redundancy.

The "reason" is that dealing with Courtney Love would be a fucking nightmare, and that dealing with Grohl wouldn't. The fact that the Foos are newer, more relevant, and more successful with a much longer career is just gravy.

Ugh, I hope not. One of the most overrated bands ever. The shittiest, most dull stadium rock. Hard pass. Someone do a Ramones pin, please.

Honestly, I don’t know if I agree. First, and I know this is subjective, but Foo Fighters do not have the material that Nirvana has. Second, Foo Fighters have no historical significance. Third, Foo Fighters do not have the nostalgia factor. I get Courtney Love has a bad reputation, but you are making a lot of assumptions with your statement.

I think the Foo Fighters are the modern equivalent of what everyone refers to as “Dad Rock”. It’s safe, familiar, no risks taken and kind of bland. To be clear, Grohl is a great guy. No arguments there.

Yeah, this seems like a woman that Stern would want to get into a business relationship with:

https://loudwire.com/courtney-love-instagram-message-nirvana-dave-grohl-trent-reznor/

There’s tons of licensed Nirvana crap all over the place. Just look around. Why is a pinball machine any more difficult to license? You may be right, you may be wrong, but I think with Courtney money talks.

I’m definitely interested in FF pin. Not a massive fan of them but I do enjoy some of their stuff. That said, all these “they need to make this band first” posts are cool with me too. Most of the mentioned bands feel ancient to me and I’m good with a new release that doesn’t even remotely drive me to purchase. All personal preference.

The woman is vile, always has been.

I may be in ,Stern just make them all and we will buy enough to keep you in Business.

Love me some rock pins!

I like Foo Fighters, I think their music is well suited to pinball and am definitely interested if it gets made. Layout, art, callouts, code, all that other minor stuff depending of course.

I like the foo fighters but seems like a lame pinball theme. My wallet is safe from this.

Just think Dave screaming “why’d you have to go and let it die?” as your ball drains. It’s a yes for me.

All this talk about Courtney Love makes me realize I’d rather have a Hole pinball than Nirvana or Foo Fighters

I don't see it that way. I think it's usually young hipsters who are on the "fuck the patriarchy" side of things and who have a stick up their ass that use the expression.

Use whatever expression you want, but my point is that Foo Fighter’s music is somewhat bland, paint by numbers rock for the masses. You can disagree and that’s totally fine.

What in the world are you even talking about? Good lord, there are some serious nutters on this board.

I say that because I've seen "Dad rock" thrown around for any of Stern's music pin releases. For example, The Beatles are called "Dad rock" even though they transcend generations and will still be played for hundreds of years after all current Dads are long gone.

Because there's a lot more to making a pinball using a license than getting approval for the position and size of a logo on a t-shirt.

I did not realize Foo Fighters were hated until this thread

I mean come on. It's not like they're Nickel back or something.

LOL Nickleback will never get off that hook !

IMO, The Colour and the Shape and One By One are good too but I had to tap out after that. Aside from the occasional song, I lost interest with each album afterward, although I did score The Dee Gees album during Record Store Day last year.

I've seen them twice and they're kind of fun live.

They gotta get DLR before he goes!

Winger or bust

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You’re the biggest FOMOsexual I know! You’ll be paid in full as soon as the first blurred out playfield picture is released.

If you are genuinely interested in how licensing works, and why it's pretty clear to me why "you would license the Foos instead of Nirvana," buckle in, and read on:

Licensing a T-shirt or sticker is different than licensing a pinball machine because: When you license a pinball machine, there are literally HUNDREDS of details you need to hash out with the Licensor. Every line of dialogue, every line of print, every song, every voice call out, the size and placement of every band member on every spot of the machine...it all needs to get approved and it can be a torturous process, even when band members all get along. Everything is a potential fight, especially when there are numerous band members or estates involved. Ever look at the Demolition Man translite and wonder "why is this translite simply three giant heads, that are identical in size, instead of something cooler?" Because the three actors' reps fought over it endlessly and the compromise was a boring poster where they are all exactly the same size.

Licensing something as detailed as a pinball machine is potentially a complicated, messy affair.

Enter: Courtney Love.

She is fucking insane. She's out of her mind. She's aggressive. She's petty. And she HATES Dave Grohl. And he probably hates her right back, because she's done her best to make his life Hell for decades. These two have spent decades suing each other, fighting in the press, and she has made it clear as recently as last year that she absolutely hates his guts and blames him for most of the ongoing problems in the disaster that is her life.

So now, you are gonna make a Nirvana pinball machine. And you need to deal with not only Courtney, but Grohl. And the other guy. And they both hate Courtney and she hates them - they spent decades in court fighting. And now - since you'd rather have a Nirvana game than a Foo Fighters game - they all have to get together and fight over and agree on every single of the hundreds (thousands?) of details on this pinball machine.

Is this starting to make sense to you now? If are Dave Grohl, do you really want to involve yourself in the long, potentially brutal process of making a pinball machine with COURTNEY FUCKING LOVE? We are talking months of weekly (daily) meetings, interactions, arguments, discussions...this is NOTHING like just signing off on a T-shirt. It's Months of potential misery. Why would Grohl even agree to do this, regardless of what Courtney Love wants? Courtney can license all the "Kurt Cobain" pinball machines she wants, but if she wanted to license Nirvana, she'd need buy in from Grohl and the other guy, and she'd never get it, for all the reasons I've stated.

And if you are Stern, what's easier? Attempting to deal with this shitshow, with three different parties and all of their reps, and 30 years of miserable baggage...

Or just dealing With ONE guy. Dave Grohl. Who by all accounts is sane.

Look, I'm just trying to answer your question. If you still don't get it, we are just going to have to agree to disagree. The most complicated thing is pinball, besides manufacturing, is licensing issues. Pinsiders always want to shrug it off, but it's a crazy fucking business and it can stop a pinball machine's development in its tracks.

Depends, Iron Maiden was not a must buy for me but probably the second to last pin that would leave my collection. I tend to like FF music a bit more than Maiden I guess…

I can tell you from personal experience behind the scenes on multiple games that Levi is correct.

Licenses are a part of pinball now, and they're not going away. As George Gomez has said, if Stern does an unlicensed theme and tells their distributor "oh we made this one up" they might buy two, but if Sterns says it's a popular license they'll buy two ... containers. Names sell.

So that's that. But that doesn't mean you need to make it harder than it has to be. Pick a license that will work with you, not one you have to fight.

Lol, Levi has some opinions!

That was a lot to write. Thank you for educating me. I now know you are an expert on the following: which bands make desirable rock pins, licensing issues, Courtney Love, the internal politics and legal structure of Nirvana, guitars, the economy and pinflation. I’m sure there is plenty that I’m just not remembering.

Honestly, I didn’t read your post. Here’s the deal. I’m sure Stern could get a licensing deal done for a Nirvana pin if they wanted to. There’s no way it would be any more difficult than getting a deal done with The Beatles or Led Zeppelin. Stern pulled that off, right? Like you said, it’s a band from 30 years ago that had a three year career. Based on your logic, it should be easy.

Why do you keep asking questions when you obviously don’t want to hear the answers?

I’ll give you the TLDR Version;

You are never getting a fucking nirvana pinball machine.

That sounds like sour grapes.

I believe you.

FFS.

Well, you did ask.

Thank goodness the boys from Rush are super chill & we got the best and last rock pin we’ll ever need!

I didn’t say they couldn’t be overcome. Just that it may be a tougher license than Foo Fighters. I do not believe it would be any tougher than The Beatles.

Look, I’ve listened to Levi pontificate in every thread about every topic. He’s an expert on everything. He just gets his way because he speaks the loudest. I know you guys love it and think it’s entertaining, but it’s not. When someone’s response is swearing at someone that’s pretty lame. It’s like a kid stomping his feet or picking up his ball and going home.

I just think a Nirvana pin would be better than a Foo Fighters pin. That’s where this all started. If you look at the poll results, people may tend to agree.

I think the AC/DC pin is the best, with Rush in 2nd place. Either way, both are worlds better than that disgrace of a pin known as The Beatles.

Or maybe he actually knows some shit. But you’re not listening, so

Well there you have it.

At least Beatles came out as one of the best machines; we can all agree on that.

AC/DC, Metallica & Rush were always my dream rock pin trilogy. It’s amazing that they exist, they’re awesome & I have ‘em!

If it happens, I’m in. Would be my first NIB. Either LE or premium.

I'd actually rather see Danger get a story/character-based theme over a music one to kick off his cornerstone career - I think his affinity for pop culture would just suit other potential themes better.

Foo Fighters pin is the worst theme I have ever heard of. Literally the worst ever. Everything doesn't need to be a pin. This makes as much sense as a Dunkin Donuts pin, Walmart pin, Siamese cats pin, Bi-weekly pay pin, etc. LAME.