The reviews on Amazon seem fishy. This seems the only place to buy them and only 2 have been verified as a purchase. I would only trust reviews from those that have a verified purchase.
I actually don't think the idea of this is bad. A cheaper,home version that can be shipped via UPS. Imagine what being able to ship games around the country for a more affordable price would do for things. But I think they went about the implementation all wrong. First, it looks incredibly cheap. Simply changing the red border on the cabinet to black or a silver would make the thing look more expensive. People aren't buying shiny red hardware with 90's style artwork on the side. Look at what Apple, Microsoft, Sony and other companies are doing with the looks of their hardware. Everything is sleek, modern, and even simplistic in their outward design.
And if they are trying to go after kids, the theme is horrible. I don't know of any kids who are into the old Transformers. Go with an Angry Birds theme or something that will cater toward today's kids. Heck, I don't even think theme is that important to kids in today's era where there is a new game app taking over every week. So save a few bucks on that and go custom.
I of course hope Stern is successful because I think it's good to have as many companies around as possible. And I can even see justifying the price if you factor in shipping. But it's tough to sell a $3000 pinball machine that looks like it's $1000. It's 2012 and image matters in these things. No parent wants this machine in their family room. Focus on tightening up the looks and making it more modern and I believe it will change people's perceptions rather quickly. Drop the crazy colors and cheesy artwork, look at the hardware that is selling and make your design more in line with what they are doing.