(Topic ID: 162640)

How many of a game does Stern make?

By Ericc123

7 years ago


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  • 18 posts
  • 12 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 7 years ago by pezpunk
  • No one calls this topic a favorite

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#1 7 years ago

I just purchased my first new pinball machine, a Game of Thrones premium model, but can't seem to find out how many are in the production run. Is it not a set number but rather they make it for a certain amount of time?

Thanks in advance,
Eric

#2 7 years ago

Stern does not release this information. Usually if it's a popular game then it will be produced until the license expires. Sometimes they might stop producing it early if it's a flop.

#3 7 years ago
Quoted from WaddleJrJr:

Stern does not release this information. Usually if it's a popular game then it will be produced until the license expires. Sometimes they might stop producing it early if it's a flop.

That explains why I couldn't find it. Thanks for the info.

#4 7 years ago
Quoted from Ericc123:

I just purchased my first new pinball machine, a Game of Thrones premium model, but can't seem to find out how many are in the production run. Is it not a set number but rather they make it for a certain amount of time?
Thanks in advance,
Eric

Sometimes as low as a few hundred (SM vault edition is supposed to be in the low-mid hundreds), for popular games they make thousands. Lacking hard numbers, it's a guessing game based on rumors and speculation.

#5 7 years ago

Unlike previous manufacturers, outside of privacy and no need to release this information as a private company, the ability for Stern to make reruns of game titles (unlike past production line practices from BLY/WMS/GTB/AGC and others), makes the numbers difficult to calculate, only estimates can be provided.
ANY game that "remains in production" (such as GoT) is basically not going to be available for the time being, but history will provide the numbers from external sources, just like past manufacturers.

For example, LOTR had NINE production runs to date including the LE, which all had variances of production from 100-4000.
The bottom line, the market sets the direction of the number of machines created until satisfied, or Stern believes a title is unfeasible for profit margins and "retired to the vault" so they bring it back as a "VE" someday with an additional $1500-2000 inflation in price.

#6 7 years ago

surely some Stern insiders must know and leak it out?

i bet the wrestling one sold about 50

#7 7 years ago
Quoted from cooldan:

surely some Stern insiders must know and leak it out?
i bet the wrestling one sold about 50

They probably have a ton of LEs from that one sitting in a warehouse corner, too.

#8 7 years ago
Quoted from cooldan:

surely some Stern insiders must know and leak it out?
i bet the wrestling one sold about 50

Sweet. Price just went up. Only 50 made. Thanks.

#9 7 years ago
Quoted from PinMonk:

They probably have a ton of LEs from that one sitting in a warehouse corner, too.

I thought he meant pros.

#10 7 years ago
Quoted from Ericc123:

I just purchased my first new pinball machine, a Game of Thrones premium model, but can't seem to find out how many are in the production run. Is it not a set number but rather they make it for a certain amount of time?
Thanks in advance,
Eric

Their licensing contracts tend to be for 3 years. You can gauge success of a game if it's in production to the very end of that timeline or not.

#11 7 years ago

Much like bill of materials, nobody has even an inkling of a clue.

Yet everybody has a number to throw out.

#12 7 years ago

Stern made over 6000 Flight 2000s and much more info is available here.

http://www.ipdb.org/search.pl?mfgid=302&sortby=name&searchtype=advanced

#13 7 years ago
Quoted from cooldan:

surely some Stern insiders must know and leak it out?

Not if they want to stay insiders.

LTG : )

#14 7 years ago

People that have the hard numbers are not going to post this information on PinSide or any other public forum.
Many people have hard numbers.

This includes people that regularly post.

If a person asks this question expecting an clear answer then they are not familiar with the industry. This is not how this works and has never been the case since the 1940s.

Where do people believe guide numbers come from?
Thin air?

Sometimes it is a result of decoding serial numbers, other times from hard data, and further times from experience, contacts, or industry.

#15 7 years ago
Quoted from xTheBlackKnightx:

People that have the hard numbers are not going to post this information on PinSide or any other public forum.
Many people have hard numbers.
This includes people that regularly post.
If a person asks this question expecting an clear answer then they are not familiar with the industry. This is not how this works and has never been the case since the 1940s.
Where do people believe guide numbers come from?
Thin air?
Sometimes it is a result of decoding serial numbers, other times from hard data, and further times from experience, contacts, or industry.

I'm not familiar with the industry and just trying to learn. Thanks.

#16 7 years ago
Quoted from cooldan:

i bet the wrestling one sold about 50

i once described WWE as a flop and got labeled a troll.Guess I was right.....again.

My guess as many as they can sell,within their sales window and license agreement.

4 months later
#17 7 years ago
Quoted from TomGWI:

I thought he meant pros.

yeah i meant 50 WWEs in total worldwide. that game was awful, sorry. shame, because WWF Royal Rumble, now that was an epic game. ohhhhhhh yeeeeaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!

so there are hard numbers known to people on here that i could ask ..... but i don't know who to ask. by pm, or on the phone or whatever. i understand that nobody wants to be the guy that leaked the numbers out, but am still surprised that they haven't been leaked anonymously or accidentally or in code, you know, just left on a piece of paper somewhere, or posted in a different forum by a new member with a new account from a free email address set up via a proxy server .... with pseudonyms for titles ....

there must be dozens of guys who work the production line who all have a very good idea, an extremely educated guess, of how many of each game were produced. Stern wouldn't be able to trace the mole. c'mon guys, these are interesting tidbits.

#18 7 years ago
Quoted from cooldan:

yeah i meant 50 WWEs in total worldwide. that game was awful, sorry. shame, because WWF Royal Rumble, now that was an epic game. ohhhhhhh yeeeeaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!
so there are hard numbers known to people on here that i could ask ..... but i don't know who to ask. by pm, or on the phone or whatever. i understand that nobody wants to be the guy that leaked the numbers out, but am still surprised that they haven't been leaked anonymously or accidentally or in code, you know, just left on a piece of paper somewhere, or posted in a different forum by a new member with a new account from a free email address set up via a proxy server .... with pseudonyms for titles ....
there must be dozens of guys who work the production line who all have a very good idea, an extremely educated guess, of how many of each game were produced. Stern wouldn't be able to trace the mole. c'mon guys, these are interesting tidbits.

uhhh i'm pretty sure production line workers a) don't keep count and b) don't post on Pinside.

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