The US$ has done quite well recently against most currencies as interest rates are finally supposed to go up. Locally this doesn't mean much to me because most things I buy are not from the US. Pinball is the glaring exception.

Out of the US I think it is fair to say most countries are stuck with their local Stern distributor and there is no competition. In New Zealand that means that we are asked to pay MSRP and then some. As we know MSRP keeps going up. What this means practically is that a GOT LE is going for something like 16k. To put that in perspective that is enough to buy two very good quality TZ's with change left over for a decent third game.

Bottom line is the people I know that used to buy NIB sterns or might buy them are mostly out. Am I correct in thinking this is happening in other countries too? If I am, I wonder if Stern will be able to keep that big new factory busy if there is a significant drop off in overseas sales.

Yep that is where things are headed. I am heading to the states next year and was looking to come back with a few new games... Importing is a hassle though and the stupid locks stern put on their games will cost 200 per game to defeat.

Good point on the US market! I'm aiming to buy some used, but newer, sterns to bring back.

People not buying will definitely be happening here!

I just got pricing for GOT pro 10,200. In contrast Metallica was 7,200. Slight difference between those two pro models too!

^^^Agree completely kvan999 ^^^

I think they will need to change their pricing. Demand for pins is finite . For the kind of money they are asking for now someone will really need to love the theme, love the game, have too much money, or is a newb wanting the latest and greatest getting caught up in the hype machine.

I guess pinball could take off on location adding to demand but that is a bit of a long shot unfortunately

Stern has some flexibility and could rethink its margins if it wants to. Would it rather sell 100 pins with a 200 margin or 200 pins with a 100 margin. Selling more pins is good for stern as it keeps the line going and lowers incremental costs. They don't need to keep prices the same in every market. Most other manufacturers take approaches like this. Car prices are far less volatile!

Hoping the exchange rate will be better but I can route it for 6 months and the economics get resonable. That is assuming I can find good used games. Since metallica sterns are getting a lot rarer in NZ and this is one way of getting them in.

If stern wants to build games cheap they need to go to Asia. They can export every where from there. They would probably keep prices the same though and pocket the cash.

I guess sweet spot is relative given currencies but ACDC/Metallica were OK for price and what you got. It has been going downhill since then though to GOT which pricing wise is a joke for what you get. I think sales of sterns in NZ would follow that, decline since then with only a couple KISS coming over. I wonder if there will be any GOT.

Updated!