Yeah, I think the auction part of the festivities is over. Some crazy prices.

At least there’s no letter-writing begging for one.

Wait...like tomorrow? Be nice if they would just go ahead and launch instead of dragging it out ( makes too much sense I guess)...

I don't give a shit about James Bond, same way I don't care about cybernetic dolphins, but I love playing Johnny Mnemonic. And I care a lot about a throwback pin from the all-around best player ever. I mean he won Pinburgh like half the time. Dude knows and loves his classics. It's gonna play great.

I'm a pinball guy. Seems like everyone who got into the hobby the last decade collects oversized lunchboxes.

Well that is an upgrade in attitude Rick

The Distros are in charge of pricing here. Price fixing and collusion

No I think they get what they can get as fast as they can!

There's a 3-day thing with creator panels and visual effects info that starts tomorrow and runs through the 2nd, then there's a concert later next week. It's all part of the 60th anniversary. I'm not sure WHICH event left is the one that will have the Bond 60th, though.

That was a joke big time!!! I remember getting yelled at during the tour for reaching over the velvet ropes just to touch the damn thing, lol....wanted to check the powder out..never wrote a letter, but was offered one at the show...

Ended up w an LE and a pic w Adam that he signed w game in the back....that part was cool...

Ahhh....thx...this whole " reveal" thing is confusing..

Just the way we like it Doug, !!

Sorry amigo. Market post-covid has got me cranky. Hoping it gets realistic again.

Could be a lot worse. At least you're not in the UK. Lots more doom and gloom over there.

No kidding. Stern should do these with Advent calendars. At least that way there'd be some structure and a defined beginning and end to the reveal.

No I meant from Stern! . I like your attitude Rick

What about mechanical reels? Has anyone established that is a thing, or should we expect display reels?

I don't see how display reels can justify a crazy price. Mechanical ones would be awesome. Thanks for the answers on reveal date.

I'm assuming they'll be like Woah Nellie ie. Fake mechanical.

image-69 (resized).jpg

Honestly, that is still cool to me. It would be a fresh take for this age of pinball.

Agreed - even better if they put 4 in. Would be near impossible to have old style mechanical anyway.

Majority of the people paying these big prices aren't going to running around telling everyone they are spending that kind of money. So don't take the silence as much except the usual way people keep the riffraff from riding them about their habits.

What kind of prices did Bond pinball get or was it at the auction?

No, just props, costumes and vehicles from the Bond movies.
https://www.christies.com/en/auction/sixty-years-of-james-bond-part-i-live-auction-29780/

George Gomez:
His game spans the 25 films and his game is very
different. I think it's limited to 500 units and it's a single-level playfield, like old school. It's got reels in the back box. Yes, you heard me right, it's got reels in the back box. Programmed by Mark Penacho who goes back to the Williams Electronics days.

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It's not what I did with Beatles where I took Seawitch and updated it and cleaned up the shots and all that stuff. It's not like that it's a from-scratch Keith Elwin single-level playfield that is built around all standard pinball things.

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It's got the small display from the home editions and that display is actually flat on the playfield facing the player on the playfield. There are no ramps it's just all shots, but man, has he done a job with the shots!
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You're talking about a guy that spent so many years having to play that old-school stuff in the tournaments so he understands the kinetics of those games really well and so he said, "Yes, I'd love to do it."

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They did some fun stuff-- so imagine that the score reels are situated where you would expect, where the LCD sits in the backbox and on either side of the speakers. In that panel, with the reel mech, there's a bunch of old school ghosted images for game over and all that stuff, they’re all back there.

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We'd love to see how we do with it, right? Every once in a while, the beauty of where we are business-wise is that we can try strange stuff. We're not hand to mouth like our beginnings and so we can try different things.

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This also, by the way, the two distinct game thing also lends itself to we're going to do some interesting Insider Connected stuff where progress or things you do in one cornerstone open things up in Keith’s game and things you do in Keith's game open stuff up in my game. Even though they're going to be hard to find because when you're talking about 500 games for his game, they're going to be hard to find, they're going to be in somebody's house but it's okay. We thought it would be fun. Certainly, for the people that own his game, they'll have access to some of mine. If somebody buys both that'd be amazing but I don't know if that's an expectation. I don't know if that's my expectation.

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The art on his game is all 25 films are represented with their film posters on the sides of the game, on the playfield every actor that's played Bond, Connery, Pierce Brosnan, George Lazenby, of course, Daniel Craig, Roger Moore, they’re all represented on the playfield. Then there's elements-- he's got villains from each of the Bonds and he's got game features from each of the Bonds. His gadgets and his weapons and stuff work differently than mine but he's basically picked a representative device from each.

Yeah this game will probably be very good and unique. It's Elwin and he always does good designs. It will probably be amazing even. But I doubt any location I go to will get one. Most of us probably won't even get to play it all. Stern needs to change this to 1000 units. They will sell. That way far more people will get to play this.

Conveniently 60 years x 25 films is 1500 units. Exactly. What a perfect number for a run.

Or just re-theme it in a year or two. Bond is cool and all but it's the layout I'm more interested in. If Stern used the same layout on a completely different theme at around Premium edition pricing then I'd be all over that. Not sure how buyers of this edition at $20k+ or whatever would feel about that though.

To get an idea of interest for Bond 60th I would suggest you talk to your distributor and see how far down on the list you would be for one.

People forget that movie franchises sell a lot more than you think. It is not limited to just pinball and Elwin, you have a lot and I mean a LOT of Bond collectors.

This is not like Elvira/Beatles. This is a completely different game and I think people underestimate that.

This is not a Who Nellie/PBR/Primus debacle. 100 Primus games were sitting forever.

Heavy Metal (100 made) sat for 2+ years and the price went DOWN on them and now they are sold out with artificial interest but at least that game as a home version pin layout from Star Wars is still halfway decent for non LCD.

The guess is the cost is set by your distributor. I would assume 15K is the buy price for distros and they will try and get 25-30K "first" from people because this is where they will make their money vs the few hundred they make on Pro/Premium/LE.

I can't even imagine how Back to the Future LE is going to be. 1000 units (doubling up the 500) is a lot and Stern is going to make a killing on that one and even more so on a 40th BTTF in 2025 if they wait til then to release the game.

I think it will be a while before there's a chance for a retheme.

I heard that Eddys game is ready to go and was pushed back so Bond could launch with the anniversary hype and Elwin was also working on his next cornerstone during his Bond project. Jack Dangers first cornerstone is wrapping up shortly or already finished and Borg, Eddy and Danger are all working on their next games for 2024-25.

There's also rumors about an upcoming Vault Edition and there's always the possibility of another Kapow game but I haven't heard anything about one coming.

Thank you for reposting this ( just saw it)!

Now...to just put it out of my head until whenever they decide to reveal, price it....

They have to follow the license. Approval is required and Stern can’t go against it, it’s not up to them.

"we're going to do some interesting Insider Connected stuff where progress or things you do in one cornerstone open things up in Keith’s game and things you do in Keith's game open stuff up in my game"

Man, "interesting" to who, this does sound like you will have to jump through hoops to unlock your games "full potential" no matter what game you have. They do this kind of stuff to force you into this IC system. Next you will be buying stern bucks to get special backgrounds and "unlocks" that are limited.

Stern is a lifestyle brand. Didn’t you get the memo?

Worst FOMO attempt ever. Enjoy the expensive hype folks. I guess.

Having code hidden away in games that only insiders can access, would be a huge mistake. They tried that shit in video games and the angry mob brought the industry to its knees.

When you sell a $12k mechanical toy, you better be sure you give the customer 100% code with no strings attached... or else.

I do like the idea of DLC in pinball though: Played the game to death? How about an extra mode for $50. I've been adding extra features and modes to old games for years now, and games like The Addams Family, Twilight Zone and Lord of the Rings, really come to life with new content.

Can be one with modern games too, like Stern's Ghostbusters... I added a 'Vigo the Cruel' mode. Why didn't they think of that?

I have a hunch that BTTF is going be like Elvira premiums and LEs only and have a 40th later like Elvira.

Flat land playfield is the proper name not street level playfield. This 60th anniversary is geared towards rich people who not only Bond fans but
also grew up playing EMs. If it has or can use multiple magna grabs would be worth it.

Not only code that Insiders can access, but code that only 500 owners of the Sle can access on the regular cornerstone game. As if it’s not enough that Keiths SLE is limited to 500, parts of the unlimited game are also limited to those 500 owners. Why?!?!?!?? Ridiculous idea.

Not true.

I want to play every pinball machine made.

I'm as cynical as they come but yes I still am very much overridden by my child-like desire to play every single pinball machine ever made.

Waiting patiently for the unveiling and videos.

And still thinking of trading my jjp Pirates for one if it looks good. I wouldn't mind having an Elwin pin in the line up.

LTG : )

Keith's designs borrow from classic elements. With a single level game in the works, I'm very excited for this. I'm sure he'll wow us again with a good ol' fashioned out-of-the-box layout. Hope it won't be difficult to find one to play.

That’s what I love about his games, he’s not afraid to take ideas from another designers and combine them to make something new. His games absolutely have a unique and Elwin feel but he’s not too proud to borrow elements if they work and feel good to shoot. He’s played so much pinball, and at an elite level, there would be an extensive library in his head.

If I’m being honest, I’m more interested in this than the regular Bond, but I really don’t think I can justify the price.

Negative Cookie. Regular Bond first.

Think they are over hyping an “Elwin game”

It’s James Bond first. And single level which is fine.

Do you like Beatles/sea witch?

I do. But not for the “Diamond price” when there will be 500 of them.

500 is a LOT of games.

How about 500 Beatles with no other BS levels of gold, platinum and Diamond?

That’s what this is.

Yea by January these will be $18,000-$20,000. A few will sell at $25,000. Maybe even $30,000. But there will be a couple hundred sold for less than $20,000

500 is a lot for this machine at a high price.
I don't think all the bond fans that would be interested in a pinball machine would know anything about who designed it or who did the art, etc. Its just a bond pinball machine to them. Only pinheads on here are excited about this vs that feature. The average bond fan would probably be happy with the pro and not know any difference.

For those reasons I don't think pricing will go above 14,999, and I'm still out. Someone should be running a pricing pool on here.

Agree. Every release there’s the argument “this is not for us collectors - it’s for the super fans of XXXXX theme that just want a game for the gameroom”. They never materialise.

And yep, 500 is a lot of games at stupid pricing. Remember when they increased B66 SLE from 30 to 80 (??) and everyone lost their minds?

Only unique thing here is that there will be literally only 500 of this game - no unlimited premium like b66 or Gold like Beatles. I’d want that in writing from Stern if I was going to pay the rumoured Bond SLE price.

You’ve also got to wonder how much effort will go into code on this. Only 500 games, presold. No Lyman. Not much incentive to go above and beyond.

I think Rick Naegele has a pretty good record of complete, even ornate code for Elwin's pins in the end. Not worried about that part.

My only worry is Gomez/Stern telling them to make it simple code like early Solid State machines. The sale BS we were told about how Munsters sucked and was a code wasteland because Dwight was told to make a simple game. Complete waste of a license. So THAT is a danger, but if that didn't happene, I think Elwin/Naegele will do a great job as they have proven they are consistently capable of doing.

Munsters actually ended up being a fun game ....play it quite often...

My biggest concern ....$$$/ fun ratio. Guess Supreme owners didnt care paying $50k (?) for a reskinned SM vault, but I like to play my games.

Idk, but have a bad feeling this one is going to have a stupid sticker price on it...

I do and agree. Please give us Beatles gold price!

They are already skating on thin ice and they better F ing bring it.

Shit is hitting the fan worldwide.

Better not turn into some half ass effort

When you start charging where they are at? Then you better crush it