Please PM me the distributor that is selling NIB Stern Pros for $5200!

We must be running out of good forum topics.

I would start another leggings thread but we know what I’ll happen.

It would suck just like this thread

Kiss is great

Thanks I needed a laugh.

Why are folks so obsessed with comparing Spooky products to Stern products? Why not JJP or American? Chicago Gaming I understand not being part of the debate since they specialize in popular title remakes, thus avoiding the turd minefield altogether. Is it that Stern, because they are cranking out so many games lays more stinky piles than others? Also, Stern is by no means the only pinball company to screw their customers over on quality. (Ask any pre-2.0 WOZ adopter how they feel about shelling out $800 bucks plus two days of their own labor to replace the entire lighting system and still end up with inferior general illumination.)

Yep. Loved playing my local buddies WOZ. Until the lights starting screwin up. And he replaced them. And they would screw up again. And again. Until it drove him fuckin bonkers and he couldn't sell it fast enough.
Man I miss that machine.
He doesn't.

The feeling I get is that there are a lot of people that perceive Spooky and Stern, as companies, as polar opposites. Each company, in turn, attracts customers that are opposites as well... or at the very least are brand loyal. Crazy fervor, elitism and smugness ensues.

Tack on a healthy dose of Spooky supporters feeling validated in their "little company that could" with the acquisition of the R&M license and Stern Supporters also feeling validated in their company killing it with the Stranger Things License and other upcoming/rumored titles.

It's like Mac versus PC. IOS vs Android. Both sides have their merits, but there will be people who are staunch advocates for one or the other for whatever reasons they value the most. And the world just keeps on spinning.....

Is Stern really killing it with Stranger things?
It's currently ranked #176 on this website which doesn't sound like a very healthy debut.
I've played it now at 3 different locations and although I thought it was fun and gave it a good review, seems like a lot of people are having issues with it.

Gary Stern to Scott Danesi.....”Love the store bought spaceship on a spring champ. Keep coming up with ideas like that and you’ll fit right in here at Stern.

But you want to put a f*n pop bumper where?”

One of the reasons I support Spooky is you know where the entire machine came from. Sourcing was either done from PinballLife or directly across the street from the Spooky shop. Pallets and carts full of backglass, playfields, metalwork... can be delivered with a short walk. These are great jobs that any small town would love to have added to their community. Where did the Stern parts come from, the lowest bidder.

It would be available to more than 750 purchasers...

well all I can say is there needs to be another TWIP award. Most contently positive person on pinside.
I would vote for LTG hands down.

I would be buying it.....

Stern deserves some jabbing but don't get too much credit what they do well. By the time Spooky gets done making a few hundred pins, Stern will have made thousands of not just one pin, but 6-8 different titles with top notch themes. Most will be fun to play and a few could be real gems. If you are a big Spooky fan but not a big fan of the current title, you would have to wait years to get your hands on the next title. With Stern, if one is not to your fancy, just wait a few months and there will be something else you can buy right away.

I wouldn't want it.

But that's really not the topic here. We all know Stern pumps out games. The conversation is more around design of said games. For instance, I think they completely blew the Stranger Things design. While maybe from a BOM and design standpoint R&M might have been similar to what Spooky provided, I really doubt they'd have R rated material (whether you like it or not, it's still an option). I would also question if Stern would even do such a license these days. They did Deadpool which is about as close, and well...I was completely turned off on how that turned out based on the license. In comparison to Spooky, Stern should be able to blow designs out of the water due to sheer sales numbers....but their split gameplay direction I think limits what they will do.

At the end of the day, it's all subjective, but history speaks volumes.

That being said, we've seen very little on R&M, so it is really hard to comment at this point.

I've seen enough to know that's what I want in a modern pinball game. Nobody else seems to be able to step up to the plate.

Stern is my favorite manufacturer and makes my all time favorite machines but I don't think theme integration is necessarily their strong suit, especially since Keith Johnson got fired(LOTR has the best theme integration ever). TWD is my favorite Stern game followed by JP2. I don't think either of these games are very true to their source material. That's ok, because neither is a theme that I'm really that passionate about. I can put up with having GWB doing callouts if the rest of the game kicks ass! I'm sure if Keith Elwin made a R&M game for Stern it would be an awesome game that I would definitely buy but I don't know if the theme would get the attention to detail that Spooky is giving it. I think it's the perfect license for Spooky and I really think guys like Scott, Eric, and Bowen have the passion for the theme to really do it justice!

The integration however...well, let us not go there.

Stern, Spooky, JJP, etc...all have the potential of making great games...they can also swing and miss. They all have their strengths and weaknesses.

Pinball can be great and fun and made in all kinds of ways. I think great games happen when the total package just works and comes together.

I rather focus on their strengths, so here is my view...

Stern - capable of: cool custom mechanical features and toys, great artwork, fast/flow, "snappy", great code, make a lot of games, great themes, a variety of designers and teams, market pinball to the world

When they hit on all cylinders, I think it's the best experience in pinball.

Spooky: - limited numbers of games that help hold value with supply/demand, best playfields, customer service, best light-show when Scott is doing it, best speakers. They're not afraid to take chances and have edgy themes/callouts etc... Just great people that you feel awesome about supporting.

JJP - great LCD animations - the most rich in pinball, great sound, the deepest code in pinball generally, really push mechanical action and innovation, "packed playfields"

If Stern was making Prick & Farty, the machines would already be rolling off the production line and shipping to the distributors. If you ordered from Spooky, it's gonna be a while before you even see your machine.

Say what you want about passion, designers, and theme integration but Stern makes really fun games. They are easy to buy if you want one and abundant on locations. No game is perfect and I could certainly make critical remarks about Spooky or JJP games. People just get down on Stern because they have more chances to fail with more titles.

$7850 for a BS edition plus shipping right?

$8600 for a STH LE if that's what you want to compare it to.

The math isn't that difficult. F the topper.

Compared to a Stern pro, play wise? Do the math.

Who cares, buy what you like. Distro spots are available for $7500

Throw a butter cab and sales tax on it and it's looking substantially more by the time it gets here. But I'm almost certain it will be more to my liking and stick around longer than that moon cratered BM66.

Better to get what I really want from a company I've learned to like, than settle for something else just to have a new game. If anythng, this hobby has made me a little more choosy what games I buy and who I buy them from.

Well, if Stern made my ACNC it wouldn't have a subway system, real back glass and killer audio, all RGB LEDs and be free of CC issues for starters. My ACNC is free of dimples after over 500 games now. No pooling or chipping! They also installed the lighted speakers with eyeball grills, pin blades, plastic protectors, shaker motor, real knocker and target decals for dirt cheap as upgrade options. Stern does not do this. And they have great customer service that is fast!

That’s why I say buy what you like Odiner!

The only right or wrong that matters is what you think

I've been saving all my bottles and cans.

What’s CA redemption on a liquor bottle these days, $.15? 46,666 bottles of Jack and you’re in business.

Its ok Art you can play mine in June...
Al

Played 8 games of Stranger Things Pro today and 100% rejects on the Demogorgon. As if the Katana ramp bricks and Death Star clunks weren't enough. Keep those half baked gimmicks coming!

robin-stranger-things (resized).jpg

You know O-din has that covered. Easy.

rd

Mom once told me "If wishes were horses all beggars would ride"

And if wishes were empties, o-din would have himself a Rick & Morty!