It will be a sad situation indeed if people are still waiting on early Godzillas by the time I get my Ultraman next July/August. Maybe this is another paradigm shift in what we need to expect out of pinball moving forward. Not a great sign for us, but a great sign for manufacturers being able to stay in business....

Good choice..FOMO hype. I'll go further and only buy second hand down the road, no way I'll support these prices.

Won’t lie, I’m tempted by an LE…but doesn’t bother me in the least to wait, play it first, let the early buyers work out the kinks, and get a Prem later. Recently got a JP prem used…no regrets!

I got my JP Prem in a trade...I gave up a DILE for it. I can't believe there's no outrage over the fact the Pro for $6800 didn't get any of the mechs.

PS: I bet you not all 1000 LEs are spoken for, it's a guess but 1000 LEs for almost 11 grand a piece won't be easy to sell out. A lot of ppl are tapped out with Halloween and Ultraman not to mention Mando.

I remember hearing this about GNR CE.....500 won't sell out!

To be fair I was the first one to post that it was badly stripped down, heh. I wouldn't even consider a pro at these prices for how much it's missing. Ludicrous.

Easy....let's wait 2 days and see if any distributor puts up an ad.

If any distributors still have an LE please contact me.

Found one from a distributor but they want $12,999. Damn!

That sucks! It doesn't help that the Pinball market in general right now is so crazy.

Did you tell them where they can shove it?

Actually not that bad, Ordering direct from the Stern store cost $11,500 with sales tax and shipping

Ooph, yeah I’m good with Prem. Keep things under $10k.

I should have checked payment options available from stern ahead of time. Thought I could pay with Paypal, but when it came up it was CC only. And the only card I have that I can charge that amount I couldn't find it for the 5 minutes it was available. 11700 almost with shipping and tax. Local dealer hasn't gotten back to me, so guess I can wait till next year. My guess they'll charge 13k as well anyway

Sold out on Stern site

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The $12,999 was with shipping and tax.

I know of about 8 or 9 open slots around the country for an LE, prices ranging from MSRP (only one, and I might take that one, just waiting on confirm-invoice from my main distributor) to $11500, to $12999, to $13500 to $15-wtf-000. DM me if you want me to point you towards any of these. I don't want to publicly post the info, at least for the $11500 guys, as that's at least reasonable, as they might get hammered with calls/emails.

I just paid$11,300 plus shipping

Right on....Don't get scalped

LE was first made on Elvira.

Some aren’t taking Credit card on le either they want direct wire transfer or cash and full payment up front

Yep, there are plenty of shady distributors.
It would be nice if Stern would better vet these guys.

I think some don’t want to eat the 3% to credit card companies when they have no shortage of buyers.
You could ask to take the fee, I know a couple distributors that will take CC but you have to take the fee or they might split it with you.

Guess the new norm is to just have 12-20 k cash sitting in your checking account in anticipation for new pinball release in the future .. just to satisfy our sellers . Nah . That’s stupid. Hopefully that’s not the new norm .

I understand why they do it, but few legitimate businesses require their customers to pay cash. It’s sleazy.
I bought a couple of high demand watches this year and the jeweler didn’t require I pay cash.

Check is as good as cash with the dealers I was thinking of

Edit
That’s because jewelry has a way better mark up than pinball.
3% can be 20-25% of their profit
I know several people in construction world that don’t take CC.

Wait, are you getting one?

Gary didn't a pretty good job of addressing most of people's main concerns in his livestream yesterday. A few highlights...

*Distributors have to pay in full up front for LEs, which is probably why they want payment in full from customers.

*They will make location Pros first to get the game visible to the public, starting now, then LEs and finally Premiums in Oct. This is their current standard practice.

*Stern has had to give all line workers a raise across the board, which he said accounts for $100 in cost increases for each game alone.

*Stern Connected kit has attributed to cost increase too. Didn't say how much and said at the end of the month the modest pricing for the standalone kit will be revealed.

*Stern has had to place chip orders already in full through 2022 just in hopes of getting them when they need them.

*One of the main reasons they build the next game before finishing the previous game is they are on a strict timeline with licensors and they need to keep the process moving for all the designers and creative talent.

*He also said part shortages have attributed to this as well, as he literally said they build whatever game they can at the time with the parts they have currently.

All makes sense

Worth noting that Steve Young at Pinball Resource has never accepted credit cards.

Nice summary. Thanks for this!

He also sends parts without receiving a dime up front. Imagine receiving an LE and paying later?

Stern Pros for 6800 is absurd...Absolutely crazy-town

I put all large purchases (which certainly includes pinball machines) on credit cards. Besides the loyalty points and benefits and added security I'm not all that wealthy compared to many people here and For a few Pina I've taken advantage of promos like 0% apr to pay off a pin gradually.

If a distributor chooses to not accept credit cards that is their perogative, just like its the choice of the customer if they decide to take their business elsewhere or not.

A distributor not accepting cards doesn't strike me as a problem. If I want to use a card for a product I'll go elsewhere. The thing that bothesr me more is so called "reputable" distributors gouging prices on already insanely priced machines.

I settled for a premium Godzilla preorder and that was already a stretch for me with the price increase. If I easily could have found an LE at msrp I might have gone that route, but admittedly I didn't hunt all that hard, and the distributor I found with stock were massively gouging, to the tune of like 15k. No better than scalpers.

That’s more than XMLE what?

Afternoon!

My name is Rob. I have been working on launching our new boutique dealership ( Mad Pinball ) on the Eastern Shore of Maryland ( Berlin, MD to be exact ) since early Summer. Our website is almost complete. It is a tad behind as I had hoped to have it ready to launch to coincide with Sterns new release. Regardless - it should be out there in some fashion by the end of next week.

I wish to stay within the community rules, so wont post any FOR SALE items here in this forum. I do have an allotment with Stern as a new authorized dealer for Godzilla LE's, Premiums and Pros. I understand I am the devil unknown right now - and know that is a challenge, but have been in business in other sectors for quite a while. Feel free to message me and I will be happy to provide my number. Would be happy to talk more to make you comfortable and certainly appreciate any support we may garner in our launch phase! I will not ever sell above MSRP and look forward to delivering a real customer centered service experience! Thanks and hope it was okay to hop on this thread with this info!

2 posts in 3 years and now you claim to be a new distributor. Seems suspicious to me.

I get it. Not much of a forum participant as much as a lurker. Was hesitant to post for this very reason. But, happy to provide whatever background or information folks may need to feel comfortable. Will take some time to no longer be a New Guy or come across as a suspicious troll.

If you are illegitimate have Stern add you to their distributor list and get that website up. Saying you have the hottest game while everyone else is out of stock is a huge red flag for me. I’m just trying to look out for the Pinside community.

That’s the ticket.

Also if you do have stock they’ll sell once you are legit.

There have been some scams recently where people would claim they were a distributor and steal people's money. You are NOT listed as distributor on Stern's website. I would think it would be a lot easier to get your business started if you get Stern to list you as a distributor.

https://sternpinball.com/find-a-distributor/

https://sternpinball.com/find-a-dealer/

You know - all of this is important and right on the money. I will contact them now and update everyone when we are listed on the site! Thank you all for the feedback!! I, too, would be pretty hesitant and unfortunately this hadn't dawned on me to reference! Be back wtih you

CC only? What are we, animals?

Not me. LOL.

All set and listedon the Stern site. Thanks for noticing we were absent on the site. Also think the community is great to be vigilant and call out random posts, inactivity and big claims from a previous lurker like myself.... BUT, we are in fact the real deal and look forward to earning everyones respect. We are excited to get moving.

https://sternpinball.com/find-a-dealer/

FURTHER. Sold out of LE's - Have a few Remaining Premiums and a few Remaining Pros. Appreciate the support as we get going!

Great news. With the popularity of this game you should be able to build your business in no time.

You need a Delaware location...someone who set up a distributor in DE would rake it in selling games on the spot with no sales tax. People would drive from PA, MD, NJ, NY, VA, etc.

In process. We understand the value of this as well and predict the proper registration will be complete in the next few months.

Rob

This is awesome, congrats!!