I thought JT Iron Maiden was next? Not a problem if not, that is a total non-starter theme for me. GotG on the other hand would be an awesome theme for me and seems likely to be Borg?

You have fair points in there for sure...but it all depends on what angle you take. "Theme integration" is a pretty wide spectrum I guess. As you probably know from all our talk on GOT the topic really isn't that big of a deal to me. I'd rather end up with a great playing game like SW than "better theme integration" like Kiss or AS. I mean hey, Metallica is the lamest shit I can think of and one of the best games.

As for what he does I think he cop/ Pasted Kiss = AS and they talked aboot the 70s art and inserts etc etc. Do I think it's a massive genius leap to make a 70s band have 70s art? Not really. Is it amaze balls to make a Kiss game and reuse/update the alreafdy made Kiss art from it; not really. AS some of it is great, obviously AS looks fantastic, but the animations are laughable (literal "toys" in a literal "attic" I'm not ready to say is great work). So do we just say "he they're just learning how to do LCDs so we'll give him a pass on that?" I don't know is my only point. I just don;t blindly agree because someone is making a game it's going to be great. They ALL have hits and misses like any artist does.

I love the AS animations Law!

Ties it in beautifully

Franchi says the entire pin looks awesome. GOTG. Doesn't strike me as a BSer

That's my point...in the eye of the beholder, You never know!

I gotta see GOTG 2 in a hurry before the pin spoils it!

Haha...Still just opening your mouth to suck anything Stern does eh? Slurp slurp as usual.

I think the theme would be great as long as it isnt a Domino's Pizza re-theme...

SW is certainly in great shape code wise for being a few months old and was pretty god damn good out of the box.

They wont kick you out of Stern Army for being a critical thinker. Not everything anyone does is gold.

I agree overall but the latest update being pulled for screwing up games doesn't help.

Some people are just not going to be happy know matter what stern does. People say the layouts are all the same and suck. I guess no one has played GOT, BM66, TWD, GB or wrestlemania just to name a few.

I've heard Borg, Franchi art, and Waison as code lead. Not sure if that's true or not. Stern also has lots of awesome stuff coming. Nordman, Mark Ritchie and Keith all have games coming which sounds pretty awesome to me.

Dave Bautista doing call outs as Drax would probably be my first choice on a GOTG pin regardless of whether they could get anyone else.

As far as a bash toy, I wouldn't mind seeing Thanos somewhere on the playfield.

Waison?

Mark Ritchie has had Pulp Fiction in the works for a long time.

Will Keith pick up for Trudeau on Iron Maiden? Yeti art to be awesome again.

I didn't even know that, my pro is running fine.

nobody can ever buy based upon theme. Unfortunately, after seeing how badly they dropped the ball on star wars and GOT, My expectations are low. but it doesn't matter to me either way. GOTG is fantastic theme. The movies are fantastic. But it's going to be on the shitty Spike system, which I refuse to buy ever again. Plus i'm sure the price point is going to be outrageous so the point it mute anyway.

I love GOTG, but don't give a shit about what stern does with it.

both of those pins are great at least the pro versions for me, how did they drop the ball?

Art I guess? No Idea, GOT is awesome. And the code update that finished everything came pretty quick as i remember it.

Yeah mine too...it might just be prem/LE fork issues but they took 92 down and rolled back .89. And mayeb a board fry or 2...I saw one at least

Well, let's see. Stern neither dropped the ball on GOT or Star Wars, and the SPIKE system is rock solid.

Anything else?

Next is definitely Guardians..release info in 2 weeks. Get ready!

<blockquote the SPIKE system is rock solid.
Anything else?

Yeah my fav US chick singer, got some great tunes

And hoping the LE's are are actually limited..like 400 max

Maybe of about 5 different versions, 400 each. Which would actually be MUCH better than 2500 of anything.

You must be joking....oh i get it you are being sarcastic

I actually would back off and not buy nib if Lyman is working on it. He takes way too long. Batman is ridiculous in terms of getting out code. I'm also tired of hearing excuses as to why it's not Lyman's fault. Don't really care respectfully. Not my problem. If Lyman works on it, I expect code to be at least year or longer! No thanks.

I hope it's great though!

Both those games are fantastic, art could have been better on both - but both are amazing players just fun and I for one love multipliers and stacking modes etc.

Well I have been wavering on whether to get a SW Premium or Metallica Premium. Maybe I will wait to see what GotG looks like before making that decision! I love the movies and think the music sound track and call-outs could be epic.

They will not have the music...pretty much guaranteed not to. Hopefully they have full access to voice clips and video assets though.

What? They blow. And the theme integration on both is horrific.

Both on GOT and SW the art package is god awful. Playfields are cheap and uneventful looking. No real toys or anything great on either one. Yes the rules on both GOT and SW is deep, but the games are so empty and generic, who wants to put any time in to get really involved. Both were great themes that could have had a ton of innovation and cool stuff on them. Instead they decided to go back to the econo years and make it look like rolling stones. Sad.

i think average art package (got and sw) or awful as you said if you compare with DY job.
i agree with you and so when you see what JJP can do at the same price (LE vs LE), you wonder why would i buy a (empty) stern game while i can have much more (stuff) and better integration theme with JJP.
i hope Stern asking this question to himself too.

but we know stern can do better. We have seen it and we have seen it on a level when the MSRP was $3400.

TSPP chalked full of toys and shots
GB- great art package, unique layout overall great looking
MET- fantastic art package Little bland on layout uniqueness, but at least it has eventful toys
TF- looks fantastic, all kinds of toys
RBION- Tons of stuff on the field

Besides the econo games where they went extra cheap, (IM,CSI, NBA, BBH, RS, Nascar,) they are capable of doing much better. Some games you can tell they actually try, and others they halfass just to get something new out the door. It's just disappointing when they halfass the major themes people are looking forward to.

everyone knows that it is a question of will and financial.

I do and I'm glad I did, they are amazing, if ur one of the "world under the glass" geeks then ok I guess I get that but thats the last thing of my list as to what makes a pin fun or not. I don't care for TSPP, just doesn't do anything for me, DI looks great and plays well but another games that I just care for, IM, Tron, SW, GOT all pretty simple and as you put it "generic" but way more fun to me than many full featured pins out there.

That was never MSRP in the TSPP LOTR era! That was the absolute dirt low price ever from a low ball distributor. MSRP at that point was around $4300 or more.

Everybody does not have the same expectation when he buys a game. No winner, no loser. And everybody can change his expectations with experience player.
Some people just want a beautiful machine, or a deep rule sheet game, or a fully flowy game, or a mixt/nuanced game, theme....
Everybody has to find his grail(s)

Whoo Hoo!

Who is ready for the next Pin from Stern themed Guardians of the Galaxy? Ladies & Gentlemen this will be the one. I believe Gary Stern had a little angel whisper in his ear and say GET UP YOU SON OF A BITCH! Cause Mickey Loves you!

Yes that's right JJPOTC is a great pin but you know what I AIN'T HEARD NO BELL! For sure I'm buying the new POTC but it is still undetermined which game I will enjoy more?

JJPOTC vs GOTG

Let the Battle Begin! This one shall be EPIC!

JJPOTC VS GOTG NEW (resized).jpg

The game isn't even announced yet and we're already debating its merits and comparing it to other games.

This is why companies pay for licenses!

But it will be announced...very soon...and it will be following the hype of POTC...so rightfully it going to compared to it.

Eh, I think it's somewhere in the middle. I remember NIB TSPP at $3200 and NIB LOTR at $3400. I passed on many MB machines at $3500 in those days because it was too expensive! LOL!

Probably scrambling to add some toys and redo the art to make it better so they dont get crapped on

I'd almost wager there won't be a price increase this time around.

that's true. that's what we were paying. I shouldn't have used MSRP as that was only paid by the unknowing.

At one point it was heavily rumored that GOTG would have Keith Elwin as the designer and that it would be based his Archer layout. Has that rumor died or been proven false? I was really hoping that would be true...

Several people that I trust have said it's Borg's game. Which makes sense as Aerosmith was done for a while and was pushed back so BM66 could be the expo reveal. So that would give Borg a year+ on it.

My suggestion, for what it’s worth, is to be patient and not let this shiny new toy weaken your business discipline when it’s announced. I used to bite on the hype train and pre-order like a fool so I know that emotion runs high and can cloud judgements. We rarely know all the details at announcement, particularly the quality of code, call outs, and music, which are very, very important and an easy letdown.

Make Stern earn your hard earned dollars. Hold back a bit and maybe some better deals might happen or Stern will have to provide more details. In any case, us falling all over each other screaming, “take our money,” will only guarantee higher prices.

I offer this humble advice as a BM66 pre-order customer from 31 August 2016. Its my most expensive game ever, still has Alpha code, and GotG will be the third game out since. By pre-ordering I gave Stern my money and power over me while I “hope” for code. Be smarter than I was and exercise a little discipline.