that's basically it, as long as people buy nothing will change.

OP, that part is very true ''Stern, you may have kept the lights on in the manufacturing plant, but we were the ones that paid for the electric bill...''

stern doesn't care, the new partner doesn't care (not even a pinhead) as a business i can understand that they have to make money but milking everything they can out of our pockets is not the way to go.

now stern's asking a lot more than what the game is worth. new lcd... bump the price (even if it cost less than a dmd) like it's a privilege for us to have one, sorry stern you are late, something you should have done years ago.

a simple $5 toy (exactly the same on amazon) removed from the premium to justify the price/difference of the LE and SLE, looks like pro vs premium/le.

stern is 30 years old now, yep, how to celebrate that? easy charge for a party with no foods or drinks no pinballs to play and nothing much to see (ed was the only great thing) not even worth going.
and let's make a pinball machine (Limited edition, lol) yep, by removing the pro let's make a super LE and ask more without really adding anything more, that way people will think it's super, sparkles on the trims, cards and a plaque, signed... let's ask 5K more.
pro becomes premium, premium is le...
any company will have done the opposite, celebrating by giving back to the customers.

and JJP is right behind, again. ''we started the bumping price thing because, because... i said so'' and stern joined the wagon.
what a missed opportunity for JJP and others, give a great price on a standard game and you will win the crowd, it's that simple, be competitive. pro 5k max, premium 6k max, LE 7k max and you'll be the only one. a few trims and a signed plaque (what, a big $200 at most) doesn't justify 3-5k more, it's just ridiculous, sadly people are still lining up, more money than common sense ''i gotta have the latest toy''.

if stern (or JJP for that matter) comes back down in price like, it should, better service and better QC they will destroy any competition, easily and make more money in the long run by selling in quantities. but no, bumping the price on every new game for no real reason and cutting on every change they have. hell, price should be lower with the new system, a lot lower.

it's all about bengamins and greed.

that's another joke, if stern agreed to have a book, fund the damn thing and pay the people who's gonna do it,
they probably going to make money out of it anyway.

by that time 9k for an LE and 15k for a SLE will be a thing of the past.
no doubt it will go up, new price, 10k LE and 16k SLE (if they make one) with less features. why? because $$$$$
mark my word, until they realized 50% of their customers buy somewhere else, and it will happen.