I'd really doubt that. In the old days, maybe. But with the bad exchange rate at the moment, the overseas sales have taken a hit.

As an example, there are only 2 TWD LE in NZ that I know of, possibly a third. (I don't know anyone who has a TWD premium)

My stab at a guess on TWD LE would be 400 in the USA, 200 outside of the USA. But that's a guess, same as what anyone else who quoted sales numbers would be doing, making a guess.

rd

I say to be a true limited edition there should be something more than just a numbered plaque. The actual playfield should be hand drawn and numbered as LE. Do it down by the center drain and apron or lanes. Each one would then be unique.

FWIW, the forum says my numbers are probably not far off imo. TWDLE's were sold before the current big exchange rate differences. About 1.5 years ago when the exchanges were much more favorable. I know, as being in Canada I paid less for TWDLE than people are now paying to buy/import TWE Prem's.

Yes, current exchange rates change the export game, but it may not be as signficant for LE buyers. Yes, the newest machines may not be exported as much, but otoh I have been surprised by the number of people paying for gotle and soon to come gb with terrible exchange rates. Something to consider is that the export LE crowd is not as susceptible to price changes as some people think.

What would Fred Sanford do ?
WWFSD.

I say get rid of the LE model.
Make them all the same and sell addons/mods.
Then everybody gets what they want and can spend as little or as much as they want.

Although I do really like my Star Trek LE.

I agree.

I feel like they should take an unlimited amount of pre-orders/regular orders, but just limit the amount of time they'll actually take the orders, that way, everyone gets what they want, nothing sells out, and it can still be considered "limited." But that's just me.

That was the concept I raised a few years ago.

Have the base model, then have a heap of options you can tick the boxes on. Like trim, etc etc.

May just be too hard to implement in Sterns Just-in-time factory set up.

And hey, what they do now is working for them, so why change it?

rd

Maybe in Canada. In NZ, TWDLE was $2000 bucks more than what my MetLE was. Same in Australia, and I believe Europe.

rd

Stern should dump the LE business model, but if they keep it they should all be as special as STLE and limited to 250 at most. If I can call a distro right now and can get a GOT LE then Stern made too many...

And that's the hard thing for Stern. Trying to predict us....the market. What should be huge may not be and what may have been a line filler we could all suddenly want. I have never been a fan of the 3 models often given. Most enthusiast here and overseas want FULL game but we are not the whole market. Like it or not Gary seems to know his market well and catered to it. But to answer the question. No more than 500. On a world wide stage that is still pretty limited. My STLE is pride of place in the collection and seems to be truly limited. They don't surface very often here and when they do are bought quickly.

Oh and a closing thought. Do we buy LEs because we want exclusivity or because we want the complete game. All my collector friends buy for the FULL package. Limited doesn't really come into it.

And one more. Low numbers. Do they really matter. Here in Australia it doesn't seem to make much difference. A collector who liked No:2 and paid quite a substantial amount to get them. Some have been sold recently gained NO extra on the second hand market.

Lame. There's always people out there ready to price gouge. As a fan of video games, these things happen all the time in the realm of Nintendo. There will be a limited edition 3DS model, a handful of people buy up most/all of the supply, then turn to amazon and ebay to hike the prices because they know they have the market cornered. Same goes for those new Amiibos. Then everyone gets mad at Nintendo for "not producing enough to satiate the demand." Every time.

I'm not sure if the same really happens in the pinball industry though, at least to the same capacity as the gaming industry.

That's Automated. When I got into the hobby because of Woz it was at the original announcement and I had seen it somewhere on the internet. $6500.

I had to have a pin immediately as the fever hit. I bought a LOTRLE on "blowout" from Automated back in 2011 for $5200.

The things we do and justify in our minds with Pinball border on insanity.

I don't really have a problem with low limited numbers as long as they make something comparable in the form of a premium.

the problem the current business model is that a machine announced, and sight unseen you've got people plunking down a place-holder deposit (which ends up gobbling up all of the limited's). as the machine's details are leaked out, one by one people drop off of the list with their distributors. so, if you're one of those people that wanted one, but didn't get in before the initial "sell-out", you're now left badgering the distributors on a near daily basis to see if a spot has freed up.

truth be told, I'm not sure if there is a "good" way to do it, unless you do what jjp did with the hobbit [smaug gold edition] and everyone that wants to put down a deposit until [xx/xx/xxxx] date is guaranteed one. yes, the numbers for the limited by bounce around a bit (based on title), but there are no hard feelings and everyone that wants to pay the extra to get something that is still "limited", is able to do so.

To me it's not really the amount of LE's made but more the point that you should not be able to change a standard model into an LE. Ie by swapping in LE parts.
Example, you can change an alien standard into a LE but Tron standard cannot be changed into a LE due to drop targets.
Tron LE is a true LE.

In terms of figures no more than 500.

How many? UN many.

does anyone know the numbers of all the LEs from Stern? I'd be interested in seeing the trend. I know they didn't make all the LEs such as WWE but just to see what they thought was a good number of each pin.

As the grand total number of "LE's" from all manufacturers grow faster and faster each year, the "LE" will just be a watered down gimmick that adds very little to zero value.

As time goes by and new pins come out each year, people will care less and less about a regular LOTR or SM versus a "gold" or "black" version.

The "limited" idea (if it survives) will evolve into something real, not the way it is today.

500 of GB LE.
Most Distributors are out or will be this weekend.....I think the market could have absorbed 750-1000....great looking machine.

I wonder how many LE's a Star Wars would get.
I'm thinking 1000 or 999.
Either way they would probably sell out quickly.

I would do star wars differently. Have le 1000 then 1000 empire strikes back....then prem last with the same art as pro.