It's cute how you think they use quality wood in the cabs

I'm sure it'll sell. I'm sure it'll probably be an "investment" since it's limited.

The use of resources on this just feels like a middle finger to the hobby. It's a lot of time and work to make a pin for just 500 games, whatever you charge for them. Ask spooky. But stern doing that - when people are sitting on new machines for months with dead boards, distros can't fill orders for GZ but are stuck sitting on mandos, it's been a year and still no expression lights for Rush, customer service is a joke if you need/want/are owed anything...Yeah, that's a lot of energy making something most of the hobby will never get to touch that clearly could have been used elsewhere.

Looks cheap to boot. Hopefully it looks better in person - Connery bond does.

Daniel Craig isn't holding a gun. He's holding an express of mild disbelief and disappointment, though.

Man, how did I miss that comparison. Are new TNAs still available at 9k? Suddenly seems more reasonable, and sorry Elwin, your layout looks cool and I'm sure is fun, but I'll take TNA, 10-16k, no clip art, and more than one song on the soundtrack (since I'm sure 20k games can't pay for more music licenses...)

Yeah, I do find it ironic that Stern's "thowback" game is the first one I can think of other than original Heighway Alien that realized all that all that info on the LCD is really only useful if you put it somewhere the player can actually see it while focusing on the game. Modern LCDs are kind of hilariously poorly thought out when you think about it - you miss 90% of that stuff when you're playing, and it doesn't even advertise to the rest of the location because the player is standing in front blocking the view. I saw a post the other day where someone lined-out the LCD to TVs on top of the backbox...If I was designing a machine for location play from scratch, I'd put a screen on the playfield and mirror it on a 32" topper. Cater to the player and advertise to the bar. Current setup does a poor job of either.

That I can get behind. Long way from perfect, but trying like hell to make a win-win for their company AND the hobby. Pretty big signals at Stern the MBAs are driving the car now.

Preach. I love a good single level, this looks fun to shoot, huge bond fan, and willing to be somewhat financially irresponsible. Maybe not 20k irresponsible (the divorce tax would be high on that too), but sweet jesus did Stern's art department do me a solid and save me from myself. I'm pretty sure they were putting the finishing touches on, and the one solid guy in art said "Just make the front solid black, so they can hide it in a lineup and their friends won't ask too many questions."

Shit. Now I genuinely want a game with like three spinners lined up in a row. For reasons.

Love my seawitch. Put a little coin in Beatles on location a couple weeks back - nice little changes, but I honestly prefer seawitch. Unfortunately many do, and it's a bit pricey for what it is. Stars, Meteor, Ali are great stern games that you can find reasonably. Firepower and firepower 2 are great Williams of that era. I love centaur and Eight Ball Deluxe - those are also pricey for their age, but if you can deal with the ugly cab Centaur 2 and EBD limited edition are the same game for very reasonable prices (because those cabs suck).

Would love to have one of these Bonds, just not at 20k. Can't imagine they'll reuse the layout on something cheaper either - anyone who bit the bullet on one of these at 20k would be justifiably pissed...not that that seems to bother stern though, so who knows.

That's certainly what it LOOKS like. Bet it shoots great and would love to play it (or an unthemed version)...folks keep saying "put it next to Gomez bond and no one will guess it's more expensive." A better comparison would be put it next to Haggis Fathom and just ask which one looks better/cooler/more expensive. Honestly, the biggest effect Elwin Bond had had on me is I keep really thinking about those mermaids that have popped up for 11-12k...Sounding like a great deal ...

I've seriously flirted with buying one of these, and I'm not judging those who do, but I just come back to how embarrassed I'd be if someone found out I paid even 17k for that hideous thing.

Might be worth it for the backglass where Lazenby is clearly getting his ass slapped thought :p

Fair enough. Lemme clarify - my own opinion is it looks like a cheap piece of tacky crap. I would assume my friends, whose opinions I do respect, are likely to feel similar. If I loved the aesthetic of dogs playing poker, I'd hang it up and they could think what they want.

I'd dig an old school Elwin game, but if I'm paying that kinda money (or current LE money) it had best not look like the pinball equivalent of a velvet Elvis. I mean, if you like it, more power to you, but that's pretty much where I'm at on this thing.

Cheers. Taste is subjective. And like I said, I do like Lazenby getting his ass slapped on the backglass, so maybe our taste can meet there at least

"Why is everyone hanging out in the Bond hype thread talking shit?"

Nothing else to talk about man. Good on ya if you're getting one, but enjoy people giving a damn while you can. Next game that gets announced and no one will give a damn again. You guys have done this before, right?

I bought my Gomez LE direct from stern, it shipped squarely in the middle of the LEs. Though, with their production capacity, I'm guessing they kick out the 500 pretty quick together.

I would like to see that offer and raise you $5

Hey, traffic on the 60th thread! Maybe there's gameplay! Maybe they finally shipped and it's unboxing time! I think it's overpriced and ugly, but it does look fun and boy wouldn't it be nice to be happy for someone getting to enjoy it at least!

Ah, nevermind. Just more folks yelling snowflake back and forth. Carry on.