Yes you are dreaming.

Honestly I don't get all this negativity over the LE buyers lately. So they like to buy a pin that has a unique art package and is limited and will pay a good amount over other models to get it. Most people work hard for their money if the LE floats their boat and they can afford it why not go that route?

Seriously, I don't know if it is jealousy or what but those that don't have/want LEs seem to really take offense to the buyers that do want and have them. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me. If your budget does not allow you to get an LE and you are happy with a Premium or Pro then go that route but don't hate on or try to discourage those that prefer to go with the LE.

AC/DC Premium is worth the cost over the Pro for me. I don't know that any others are at this point. The LEs aren't a huge price bump from the Premium if you can get one before the markups. It isn't worth it to me for the extra art, but if I had a lot more disposable income, I would buy the LE. I think the Premium model is the best option for all but the high end collectors. Before the premium was introduced, the LE was probably more important.

I do not make enough money to justify buying a NIB pinball machine. If I did, I would not get a LE. I would rather buy a pro and spend the extra money that a LE would cost on another lesser priced machine. If someone can afford a LE and thats what they want, I say go for it. Life is short. I just personally would not feel comfortable spending that much money on a new game or an old one for that matter. As much as I would like to own a MM someday, I would not spend 12K on one. I would rather spend 2K on 6 lesser machines that I would have just as much, or more fun, than one (to me at least) expensive game.

Tell you what, it doesn't get talked about much for some reason (that I notice at least) but my favorite thing about the LEs is the mirrored backglasses. I wish there were more options for those out there. CPR is starting to add them to older translite designs, I love it.

To me it is not worth the extra $$$$. I am worried about the playing experience, not the artsy side of it. With the introduction of the premium model, you can have the LE play with a cheaper cost. If art and uniqueness are your thing, the LE is the way to go. With the pro it is a completely different game and there is a whole other argument to be made there.

The mirrored backglass in WOZ is used for both the LE and Standard.

LTG : )
Disclaimer : I'm one of them.

I a msurprised we haven't seen a bunch of these from all of the mod makers. They would probably sell really well.

The LE is about $600 more...than the Premium...if you get it before they're sold out. After that the price is a crapshoot.

Prices are the way they are because of supply and demand. There's not as much demand for pinball, especially in the coin-op world for which it is intended. Fortunately for those making pinballs, there's demand in the home-buyer/collector world...but even with that they'll never be able to sell as many units as they used to...custom designs/parts/R&D/programming is still as expensive as it was, if not more. The Stern Premium/LE & JJP pricing is just what it has to be for these companies making culturally irrelevant products to remain in business. The Stern Premium/LE price vs. Pro isn't about bill of materials...of course the Prem/LE doesn't have $2k worth of stuff in it...it's about collectibility or having a "better" version of the game...and those higher prices are probably subsidizing the Pro version to some extent so it can remain at a lower price for operators or homeowners who can't justify spending over $6k.

... and sometimes this comes down to total pin budget. I have space for 2-3 pins and can sink the same amount in those as some of you have in 10+ pins. I don't have any more money than you, just less space. That pushes me towards LEs and better examples of existing pins.

I envy those of you with a large variety of pins to play.

I couldn't justify buying an avengers LE for an additional $2500 and got the pro, which I am very happy with and have never looked back. I added LEDs on my own for $140. Hulk bridge and crossover ramp hardly seemed worth the added $$$. Don't think I'll ever own an LE unless there is a big difference in game play. Acdc might be the only one where i'd get a premium as I could not stand to look at angus' face like that on the pro.

Hard to do I imagine. I'm doing an alt translite right now for a popular application, and even still I'd be pretty nervous about trying to set up a print run with something like mirroring. Expensive, more of a commitment, etc.

My fantasy right now is that CPR does the Elvira and the Party Monsters playfield, and does a mirrored backglass conversion to match it. That would look awesome, mirror out the BBQ grill and find some other spots for it!