Like to see a show of hands who has bought the IMVE and had they been planning on buying IM in the past or what the circumstance was when it was announced.
For me, I was around when the MMR was announced and excitedly got on the list sent in my deposit, but at time passed, got to thinking how much I really wanted MM as opposed to how much was just because it happened to seem to be a bargain price compared to $12k or whatever a nice example had been selling for.
I dropped out of MMR but I'm sure it will be nice, but just wasn't as excited a few months after the announcement as I was on the first day.
Regarding IM, I stared the post 2 months ago wondering aloud if Stern would be able to sell a number of IM remakes. Specifically, I asked if they would be able to sell at the 'Stern pro' price. I was not looking for a premium edition with mega bells and whistles. I saw the magic point with me, I bought Tron pro for $4400 and saw I didn't buy MMR for $8300 (with shipping) not saying MMR is not fantastic with color LCD display which is awesome. But that the extra $3500 money is at or near another pro game.
Now, before the announcement, I was in the market for IM or Met. However was not sure if the pro or premium Met was for me, and the IM (used) market was somewhere in between. I didn't see myself buying IM at the asking prices back then $5800 to $6k+
So I was undecided, when Stern announced IMVE for just a bit more than Met pro. I was sold instantly, probably it's likely that Met has more going on, more rules but I am much more of an IM fan as to the theme and as I couldn't decide anyway between the pro and the premium.
Last but not least, I was probably out of room (according to my wife) and was not in the market for another pin unless I sold one. But with the cost of IM being under $5k that was a lot easier to sell my wife on the idea than if it had been $8k for MMR or $6400 for Met premium.