LOL,

This thread should be titled "Stern did not do what I wanted them to do and am I mad".
Stern is a business first and foremost. They are not the evil empire looking to steal peoples hard earned money. They are a design and manufacturing company. That means they need to keep the assembly line rolling to keep up the monthly revenue to cover costs like insurance, debt, electricity,salaries,taxes,sewer,water,etc. All the stuff that needs to be covered that is not associated with BOM on machines. Remember, it was not that long ago they moved into the new factory, designed to increase their output/revenue. In the last 18 months, how many new titles have they put out ( JP, DP,Munsters, ST, etc)? In the case of the SW Comic VE , I just bought one. My money was looking for a SW Prem/LE prior to the SW Comic announcement. So instead of my money going to the secondary market it went towards a comic. Very smart on Stern's part and a really beautiful game. GOT Prem VE was announced along with GOT new code that no one anticipated. Helped the sale of those machines I am sure.
It is more likely , due to holes that show up in the assembly process due to the timing of new title development /assembly, they have a business strategy to insert certain VE's in the assembly line. Most likely the selection of the VE is determined by the difficulty of production along with the length of the expected gap in the new title assembly process. The whole idea here being they do not want the assembly process sitting idle between new titles. As any good company they have probably played out this plan over a five year period so as to show to their board/investors/bankers.
The newer Stern games are really cool. Elvira, DP, GOTG,JP, Munsters are beautiful games that have a lot going for them. I for one want Stern to keep going and produce new titles so the VE strategy to keep up revenue works for me. Who knows they may introduce some new code for IM to help sales that helps us all.

True I did not.

In a manufacturing business, sales and QC issue resolution must happen in parallel. The sales comment keeps dealing with covering overheads and variable costs. The worst thing that a company has to do is totally stop the incoming revenue to address a problem ( QC , safety or otherwise). No revenue means cash positions are dwindling and if extended, bankruptcy can occur. Then who solves the QC issues?

Dealing with the QC issues has to happen in parallel. I would most likely believe Stern outsources the playfields and is working with their suppliers to address all problems that are impacting their business model. Not all their play fields have QC issues. I have 4 relatively new Stern pins and besides the occasional dimpling ( which I have seen on my very low play B/W games), I can be thankful nothing has been a problem yet.
I am not saying those with QC issues should not raise them to Stern's attention and expect Stern to resolve in a fair and timely manner. That is also a good business technique.

My comments were aimed at the people being upset that Stern is re doing Iron Man. I have an IM so I understand the potential re sale aspect from my stand point. My comment is , with the investment I have in Stern as far as their products, I really want them to stay a profitable / longterm company. Dealing with any QC problems needs to occur simultaneously with a healthy business strategy.

True! Look at the Elvira updates