Totally agree. And good point.

In the end we all want JJP to be more profitable as ultimately they will make even better games down the road. They just threw their distributors under the CE bus to do it. Sometimes you just gotta do whatcha gotta do is the strategy they took.

I would love this as an upgrade option on the LE as well.....

Raise to 1,000?

They will NEVER do it.

Because they know if they did myself and many others would just drop out or buy the LE

Either make a CE or not

When the dust settles I suspect there aren’t 500 people out there that will actually shell out the $$ when it comes time to write the ck

Well it's official. Just got handed back my $2000k that I placed 2 minutes after reveal. It is my fault for believing JJP stood behind their distributors. Lesson learned. Unless future practices change, you CANNOT BUY A CE FROM A DISTRIBUTOR and be guaranteed a purchase versus directly from the JJP website as JJP doesn't honor its distro network and only used them to leverage sales FOMO. Now I know. Anyways....I just purchased the LE version with the same distributor. He is giving me free shipping for the hassle so that's a plus.

I heard last night on the stream that u can connect a sound bar to theSE or LE so it looks like buyers are all good in that department.

Raise it to 1000, satisfy the demand, and as an added bonus we get to hear kaneda cry about not having a special limited number game.

I mean we know they'll buy it anyways. People defend Stern for much worse. Topper dlc everyone? Just raise the number and move on.

If you want to prevent flippers then don't allow deposits to be transfered. That is one of the mistakes I think Spooky made with RM because even though it was nonrefundable it was still low risk to just throw down a few grand knowing you can just flip the spot and transfer to the new buyer before the final payment is due. Granted this won't prevent all the flipping however if you make the original buyer take delivery then I feel it cuts into thier profit since they have to ship to the new buyer unless they find someone local.

Yes. To summarize what JJP told distributors on Monday...

“Thanks for all you have done in the past to promote our brand and sell and fix our games but we are taking most of the CE profits directly now from now on. There is not much you can do about it and you will still be making money on other products so you won’t say or do much including post on social like pinside. Your pissed off CE customers will be mad at you for awhile and you deal with that, and for the next release you will lose those sales.

Whatcha gonna do about it? Anyway let’s be friends and carry on.

How’s the wife and kids?”

There is no demand for 1,000

No flipper FOMO. No demand

It’s $12,500

Wow imagine that putting out a bunch of shit themes for years and then finally putting out a decent theme and selling, these guys really know what they’re doing.

Good for you. Hang in there if you really want one.

They will all of a sudden pop up as people drop out

Get the non recievers for ce an option on early bird version normal le with rad-cals and signed magnetic apron thank you note from jack, eric and maybe slash?
Priced as le

I totally get that sentiment and I felt that way this morning also, but having thought about it, I still wanted the pin, and a one or 2 man demonstration will not be felt, however, consider this - buy the pin 'cause you want it and for your enjoyment, I'm still trying to separate the shitty business aspect of how this went down with the overall great game that was created...This could backfire on JJP for future sales. They have now played their hand and told everyone, "unless we change our policy, you HAVE TO buy a CE directly from US to guarantee.." So while fueling future launch FOMO with this undercutting of the distro that they just did, they have also killed their distro based support and sense of urgency that drove people to their site in the first place.

I don't know, we'll see. Shitty all the way around. I'm trying to take something good away from it and that is what is in the game. I can dress up the cab later.

This is why it's a mistake for JJP to be so short sighted on this. For simple math, let's say 100 folks like you don't ever buy a NIB from JJP again. Let's also say you traditionally buy an LE. That's almost a million dollars in lost sales for every future release. Although pinball might be growing, it's still a small niche community that has options.

JJP doesn't get one dollar when someone buys JJP second-hand.

My guess is will be a really fun game

My guess is JJP will sell these games as advertized with 500 CEs and other versions etc for a couple years. Then will release a new version like Slash edition (or whatever) having all or most features of CE or maybe something added and sell hundreds more. Will have updated mechs and glitches fixed.

Just always remember, you will get a great game in time. Look at WOZRR compared to emerald edition.

Keith Johnson was on Final round pinball podcast and mentioned that the CE's aren't done yet and they still have work to do on exterior lighting. It may be a bit longer wait than the LEs which could cause some to be impatient and drop for an LE. With the guaranteed sellout it would make sense for them to push as many of the other versions out now while demand is hot.

Of course they will + LE buyers can just connect a sound bar for less than $100, and all the creative mod guys will come with shooter rods, lockdown bar emblems, and game blades that look like the CE version....I would also bet that JJP will sell a topper for the LE / SE buyers....just like they did on WW

Keith was talking about software. Hardware is done.

Just got my regret email as well from JJ. I won't be taking him up on the LE discount. Now I'll get a chance to play it and pickup the next version of the LE if the game proves to be a classic. Ah well, lesson learned, on to the next thing.

I don't blame u....what kind of discount? Free shipping?

That's what I got

Yes.

Why is everyone assuming that JJP is an evil empire bent of greed, when they’ve always been shown to be pretty solid in the past?
Why would anyone think that they should have imposed limits to the number of CE GnR games to any distributor if they didn’t think they’d sell out immediately?
“You get 5 and only 5 so don’t you dare sell any more than that!”, with more games available, sitting in the warehouse.

Sincerely,
-a notorious member of the Stern Army (or so I’m told)

Free shipping?
Wow, they’re really going all out.

I personally don't think it was some kind of conspiracy or cash grab, I just think they weren't prepared for success, they've said as much. I'm sure lessons will be learned and they'll get better. This was their MET LE moment.

I hope one of the lessons is what kind of theme to choose

Is everyone that wanted to wait and see a little more of the game before pulling the trigger now going to feel like the people getting free shipping are getting an unfair advantage? I don't think there's any fair way to handle it. Best option is to just make more and let anyone that doesn't like it cancel. I have the least amount of sympathy for people who only want something because others can't have it.

Yeah, for what it's worth it sounded like it was all on the distro to make it right. JJP wasn't helping at all. But between you, me and Pinside I had hoped the remedy would have at least been a machine at dealer cost. But having said that I have no idea what that is, maybe they only make $250 on JJP's?

Theme is important to a lot of us...
I’m in for GnR.
Out for Toy Story for the same reason I will not be getting a R&M. No interest.

It really does....

Like most of you I'm not happy about not getting a CE. I'm getting an LE. Yes I'll mod it up and get thee sound bar. I kinda feel bad for the distributors. I think they are the ones that got hosed. They have been as much of a part building up excitement about this game as JJP. Probably what they should do is run everything through distributors for the first few days, confirm all orders (no duplicates and have enough supply) and then open up their direct sales. It would then allow anyone that went through a distributor to get their game first. Distributors get rewarded for their efforts and JJP can pick up sales on the back end when the titles have ran their course. They have developed a great game and have invested quite a lot of money hoping that just maybe during all this pandemic crap there is a group of people that may want to spend thousands on something they don't need but want. I know there those that paid deposits for machines they wont get. I also know those that run a good business wont take your money until they have a spot. This will all work out and like a few have said before there will be CE's posted for sale or they will become more available.

OP did not lose his money. how is that a burn? DRAMA QUEEN

For those who missed a CE, having watched gameplay of LE, I think the SE might shock a few people at how fast it plays and throw a few spanners into the works.

He lost the spot for a CE that he thought he had nailed down. He is understandably disappointed, i.e. feeling "burned."

If he was gonna flip it, he did "lose" the potential profit!

I react to GnR's music with a visceral disgust response, so I'm just here for the show. They get two pins, when so many far superior bands have none?

Wow. Keep business with him in the future. He just ate a chunk.

JJP thought about it but then accidentally forgot and then accidentally made more profit this time.

Greed rules the world fellas. No one wants to admit it, but all these pinball companies are just jacking up the prices because they know we have an addiction. We are all suckers.

So as they were watching the website sales progress on Monday, they weren’t prepared for all the extra profit? They could have stopped online sales at any time but rather chose to continue selling.

There is no conspiracy but why is it so hard to believe that companies are motivated by profit? It’s a large part of the point of business and it’s Ok.

I just find all this “JJP accidental success, accidental profit” talk hilarious.

This thread is getting very close to more post than CE being built, just pointless information but I thought it was interesting.

Completely understand and support your and others disappointment in how this played out and the end decision how you move forward is Fully your own. With that said, the end goal here is Fun pinball and the LE is without question a kick ass amazing game. Had 15 people over yesterday including Eric and Everyone absolutely Loved the game and how it played. NOT an upsell but in a lineup like mine which is similar to most in a dark room you can't see the cabinet art, the under/rear lights would hardly be seen, and the game play is the Exact same. Plus you get to put 3k in betting money in your pocket which I May have lost yesterday betting on this game.... The game is Incredible, try not to let this business stumble detract from Your enjoyment of the hobby and fun.

IMG_5846 (resized).jpg

If I read right, you've got 246/5000? By the way, nice section of your collection line-up.

oh please ... enough drama already, buy the LE and enjoy it.
Classic case of cutting of your nose to spite your face

Yep #246 but note that Eric mentioned unless Specified they simply pull a random envelope plate out of the bin and tape it to the box. My actual Serial production number is #70. Making room for Erics next creation.

I hear a lot of complaints about flow, MB's, etc from the game play reveal (I don't share those feelings). Personally it looks a total blast to play. My guess is you really need to experience it live to fully appreciate all thats going on. Is that your read? and have you designed the shooter rod, and lockdown bar emblem yet

Happy I dont like the theme, rules (cheap song multiballs) and slowness of the le layout so can watch this mess from the sidelines and wait for delivery of AIQLE. But can understand the pain of frustration betting on the wrong horse.

The TRUE Pirate King!

Love that lineup! Sounds like a blast last night!

I've got a Flow machine (SW Prem), a Shot Machine (JP Prem), this LE is gonna scratch my Theme/Experience itch. I want this to be something different. Not every game has to have shot flow wash rinse repeat. I have every intention of this being an Experience pin and similar to guitar hero in a box of lights type gameplay and am perfectly fine with that. But it's no slouch either...there is some amazing flow to be had in this game from a clip i saw on the What the Flip stream...the Buffalo stream was a snoozefest (lasted 4 minutes) and looked to be setup wrong.

I totally agree...if u have multiple games in your collection its nice to have differences in game play.....many in my collection are flow games, and some are start and stop games....its nice to have options .... GNR seems like its full of energy, which is great for a kick ass music pin