@jgentry, It’s my opinion, and I am allowed to have it, so why not stop trolling me, huh? And yeah, I know a whole bunch of pinheads here in AZ, OH, CO, CA, KY, MA, Germany, Norway, Spain, Italy, the list goes on... we like modern day pins, we play the older pins, but we prefer modern titles. Your opinion differs, so be it.

And you're certifiably insane for buying one at $15K or whatever. So maybe you get another certificate for that.

All you need is LOVE!

And by LOVE, I mean $7800.

that's a whole lotta love. no, wait. this is

Supposedly Stern is allowing distributors to set their own prices on the platinum and diamond editions so those could be possible. They are only forcing the MAP on the gold edition.

The problem with playing on location is you won't be able to really hear the music and that is easily the only good thing about this one.

They missed the Unobtanium Tier, which is a set of 4 unique artwork pins. One for each member. Collect them all!

Does anyone know if distributors get Platinums and Diamonds for the same price as Golds?

I understand that distributors will probably not answer this, but has anyone else heard something?

If the rumor is true that a distributor gets 7 Gold, 2 Platinum and 1 Diamond for $70K, you would think Gold's would be $7K, Platinum's $10K and the Diamond for $16K. That's $85K for the distributor or $1500 profit per game. Isn't that a little more than a distributor normally makes? I think they would sell at these prices.

Rumor has it a 10 pack comes with 7 gold, 2 platinum and 1 diamond for $70,000.

@zablon, no that is a 5 machine set, You have a 1 in 5 chance of getting 3 Beatles machines and a Yoko machine to break up the set.

Beat me to it.

Considering I thought the Diamond edition was going to be $50k, seems like a 40% discount at $30k is a bargain!

All I'm waiting for is the call from my distributor.

Hah! Funny, I almost put something similar.

you obviously have not maintained a Stern with drop targets. They have issues with single drops. I can imagine how the likely controlled drop target banks have been cost cut into a maintenance nightmare... PLan on just repinning all the connectors form the get go and replace all the plastic shelfs with the correct ones if you are gonna route it.

Well, I do belive this is more than a distributor normally makes based on conversations with a couple distros I’ve had conversations with. If the diamond goes for more than 16k as rumored, that is even more profit. Maybe the gold will be a little lower than 7k, my distro said there is a big conference call tomorrow where pricing should be locked in as well as other details.
I think 6.5-7k is the sweet spot for the gold. Just my opinion though.

This has been floating around the interwebz for a few days:

https://www.captiongenerator.com/1151792/Stern-Pinball-announces-The-Beatles-pinball

OMG...that is awesome....

This strikes me as somewhat ignorant and full of hubris. Does he really say that?
No wonder so many games are hit or miss.
How about some basic market research?
Most of the pinball friends I know have very strong ideas about what they like and what they look for in a game.
In five minutes my young adult children outlined a list of awesome design features and play modes that would have made a better Beatle-themed game.

All I know is one thing, "certified collectible" needs to win an award for best BS pinball phrase of the year. Either that or new open box, lol.

Yeah, I'm really disappointed in the play modes. The LCD animations and sound are the absolute worst too.

Biggest cash grab in pinball history.
But if I know anything about pinball collectors/investors
There will be more to come.

Too bad Stern knows the collector market is stupid with money. Slowly increasing prices with every release. Building cheaper and cheaper crap. And BM66 sealed the deal, and proved that business model.

The only things about this hobby I hate.
Nostalgic blinders to reality. And false inflation due to saying something is "limited"

If this sells, prepare to see even less innovation from the largest manufacturer.

That actually makes some sense thinking about this particular situation.

Bad Stern! Bad Stern!

Now when's that <insert personal grail theme here> coming out?

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You realize your on pinside right?

I’ve stopped buying Stern nib at least for around 4 years (STLE and IMVE time).

It's been that way since the dawn of pinball.

Some games flop like Spectrum, and some blow up, like Time Warp.

Who would have guessed that Williams would have sold 9,000 Time Warps???

Stern knows they will sell every single Beatles pin. Every one.

Perfect!!!

Are you currently drawing a paycheck from Stern??!??!!

Or just not a moron?

hard to tell around here these days!

Without a doubt

Yes, Gary is paying me to criticize his products on a public forum.

It's the secret to Stern's success.

Your opinion is fine, state it however you want and as often as you want. Stop saying we and speaking for others though as you have no clue what you are talking about or what others like. It's ridiculous for you to say that we like modern pins in AZ, OH, CO, CA, KY, Germany, Norway, Spain, Italy, and the list that goes on.

How DID they manage to sell 9,000 Time Warps? It's an awful game.

I guess the success of Flash coupled with a good sell on the Banana flippers gimmick was enough to move them?

I can't imagine that thing earned. As an aside, it's the first pinball game I remember playing, in Chinatown NYC. Can't forget the bananas.

Time Warp earned, and that's why ops kept buying them.

At the final end of the production run, they were shipping them with standard flippers, and those did not earn as well.

Disco Fever sold over 6,000 units, with a much crapier layout (and theme), but again, I think the curved flippers attracted players who otherwise would have walked by without dropping a coin.

Then why do you reckon they stopped producing these games?

We all know sales doesn't always equal coin drop. TZ didn't earn. Popeye didn't earn. I'm sure there are more examples. (Disco Fever maybe?)

Maybe Williams was happy with their returns on the banana flipper experiment and decided not to push it.

There was only so much room on the production lines.

The moment euro orders started to slow, that was the signal to start gearing up for the next game.

The next games after TW had voice (like Gorgar and Xenon) so it probably was better business to push the more expensive games.

The distributors were excited about Gorgar, and were even giving away records with Gorgar talking.

I meant, why do you reckon they stopped designing new Banana games if the old ones were selling and earning? I suspect they were getting operator/distributor feedback that they weren't earning. Maybe they did for a short while till the novelty wore off?

Hard to say, they were earning for us.

But Multiball was coming around (probably be too easy with the curved flippers), and the new flipper mechs came out that were not compatible with the curved flipper's shafts either.

It was fun while it lasted....

This pin is just not for us, Garry isnt aiming at us, he is making great bussiness decision and he is gonna make a lot of money for the company.
Whe allready are his custumors and we buy his great pins.
But he is also shifting focus to a bigger audience
Now he made a game for old beatle fans over the world who are collecting everything beately.
This is a pure brilliant company decision.
And will keep his company healthy with all other pinball company's around.
He may also enlarge the total pinball market in time by bringing in new pinball lovers this way.

Tough but fair. And true! (Besides the “we love you” part)

Pinballs as high dollar collectible items do not work....look at the new Kiss pin.... did not sell well to Kiss collectors that are not into pinball already. If it was that desirable value of LE’s would be on the upswing and they are not.

I have lots of friends and co-workers that that think it’s awesome I have games. Then they say I might be interested..how much does one cost they ask. When I tell them they have one of 3 responses:

1. My wife would kill me if I spent that much.

2. I don’t have room....really an excuse they don’t have that much money to spend usually.

3. Are there cheaper older games?

These may in fact sell but not to anyone that wants true rare/desirable games or games with modern full features.

Yeah....so many better things they could have done with this theme but licensing may have prevented that. It is what it is.

It’s good thing I have the choice not to buy it.

Except in this case it was...

...and optional Step 5 could be continue to bitch.
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You obviously can’t take a joke! All good!

While I welcome ANY new pin, and I love seawitch as a early solid state...this pin is a curious choice.
This will be a whiff for gen-x who dislike anything their parents like. It will be a whiff for millennials, who may not even heard of the Beatles. That’s two generations and a crap ton of money who will have no interest in this game. As has been stated by others before the generation who would like it are downsizing and figuring out if they will need to work at McDonald’s in retirement. Gary may be showing his age.....

Just to jump in on the bash wagon...I showed this to my wife who’s a Beatles fan and mostly indifferent to pinball and her immediate response was “This is shit. There’s so much cool stuff they could have pulled from, where’s the submarine or a walrus ball lock?” Me: “It’s a rethemed 80’s table but now it has magnets.” Her: “Lame...”