Well people in the Hype thread are tired of the price bitching so come here and bitch away…

See linked game… James Bond 60th SLE by Stern

So now, without any cumbersome complaints about trashing $terns latest attempt to leverage money from our pockets, can we all just agree this machine is NOT what we expected at this price point? Even if limited to a run of 50, this would seem an overreach, because for this kind of money, I’m looking for pinball sexual satisfaction. Last $tern machine to do that for me was Godzilla, and one day before I die, I will own one, unless they just continue to climb on the secondary market higher than $10k, which if $tern keeps inflating prices will definitely happen. If we accept this level of affront-ery now, will prices ever level off? They found a bunch of tight fisted nickel nursers to take charge and let Mr. Sharpe-r image marketing boy, who knows us really well, ride roughshod over the pinball addicted fucks we all are.

Hello, I’m Bublehead, and I am a pinball addict. I last used right before posting this.

Welcome, Bublehead. We feel you price gouging pain.

Fixed the poll to offer a forth option which might actually end up the winner.

Well the haters are showing up, and I’m not talking about JB60SLE… so it seems some DO like to just rub people the wrong way on purpose. I just want to rub $terns face in this, because honestly if I want retro pinball, I’ll spend $1200 like I did last week and buy a wedgehead. Just as much fun trying to turn one of those over as this will be and it doesn’t give $tern one thin dime. I’m a customer for Godzilla at the $10k mark, but am I willing to go for less machine at twice the price? Nope. And buying one of these just emboldens them to keep raising prices until just the rich can afford it. I’m not poor, but I’m also not stupid. I want a Bond, I will buy a Premium GG Bond and wait on code. There is enough meat and potatoes on that playfield. No matter what you do with this layout, the ruleset is going to be limited by the amount of things to accomplish that are not just strings of combos with some flashing lights and sound? And a terrible resolution mini LCD in the playfield that will show, what? grainy images of Bond villains or women? I think not. And only one set of reels? The reason they put all those score reels in EM’s was to let the players see them while others are playing. Why put 3 more displays in a 4 player SS when software and “player #x up” lights would have done the same job as this offering. As it stands players will have to remember their scores or try and peak over the players shoulder to see where they stand. A single player game has a single set of reels. A 4 player game needs to put the score up so we can all see them. That’s just tradition if nothing else. I would pass on playing multiplayer on this machine, because it really just looks like something a rich Bond fanatic has in his Bond lair, purposefully there at crotch height to rub his testosterone soaked hands on and pretend he’s banging Pussy Galore. Otherwise, wtf $tern?

Ok, wanted to respond to this @phoenixpin, but I promised to do my price complaining shit in here.

So I would ask, to better clarify, if this is not a sign post for Twilight Zone pricing, is it not a speed bump or blip on the radar to make you pause?

If they can’t build Godzilla’s fast enough, and they are backed up on the line, then why are they building anything else? Well, parts obviously. Ok, so we got a parts shortage and a great license, how do we maximize profits?

The answer is in what they are trying to sell at $20000 with nothing in it, in my opinion, and if we accept it, why try making another Godzilla ever? If parts supplies level out, maybe we see more Godzilla’s at the $10k mark, but recent increases on cornerstones and price increases on games on order is another part of the “cash grab” equation.

That’s my outrage in a nutshell. Yes, you may not be able to infer what they will do on cornerstone release pricing next time based on this niche market darling, but I bet (and would place a friendly wager) it will be with a price bump and/or lower BOM. It’s a chilly day in hell when they get me to buy this for 20k, your opinion may differ, and I’m ok with that, I’m not mad at anyone except $tern management right now for dropping this turd in the pinball gutter.

After contemplating what was said about “commissioned” on the hype thread… hmm… ok how about this? $tern promised MGM what they wanted, then kept the plutonium and gave them a shoddy bomb casing full of old used pinball machine parts?

Or in other words, $tern took the PR fleecing on this “commissioned” turd, just to get the license, turned around, took MGM’s idea (and possibly some development money), spent the minimal amount possible meeting all the “high end deliverables”, then sat back and bathed in the GG Bond cash? Ok now that is a business plan I could get behind if I was Stern exec. But pushing it down regular marketing channels puts this too much in pinheads faces IMO. Stern should have said “we will help you market this as an exclusive outside our regular sales channels” and select a distributor of fine collectibles like Franklin Mint or the like to handle it, because this is a Bond Collectors Plate if I ever saw one.

Small OEM LCD screens, NOT in bulk but at retail are less than $30, the score reals and steppers to drive them, 4 reels is 4 steppers and drivers… here’s 5 that will work for $14 retail, again, not in bulk OEM quantity. you can argue BOM but unless $tern has really upped their quality game, why would they buy anything more expensive? So you think ditching that big LCD was a NOT a big boost to the bottom line? Drops are expensive. And any metal construct is money. I see way more money in GG Bond to be honest, those wire cage forms are NOT cheap.

https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=l&ai=DChcSEwi2xtqfn8L8AhWkHH0KHbEsADUYABADGgJwdg&sig=AOD64_2DkoEYUaAjMqDrigsodQnGY2zh0Q&ctype=5&q=&ved=0ahUKEwiP-tGfn8L8AhXJKEQIHTbgD24Qww8IoQc&adurl=

Don’t worry, I’m still here for ya…

I will direct you to the hype thread for positive comments, I came here so nobody has to watch the blood letting, hair pulling, and $tern bashing over where there are REAL people, with REAL feelings, that seem to get REAL butt-hurt when I kept negatively harshing on their hype buzz with all my pricing “negativity”. You would think we were watching, like, Kelly’s Heroes or something over there, man.

You got positive price comments, by all means, post away here. So far this has started becoming the unsafe place for BOND… it will fizzle out shortly and we will be on to the next turd in the punch bowl soon enough.

All good points, but not paying attention to JB60SLE and how it rings with regulars like myself, and not just real high end buyers, is what worries me about the rest of the regulars. This really will have an affect on overall pricing, not just boutique limited runs IMO so I’m preaching. The term “gamification of pinball” simultaneously boils my blood and chills me to the heart. So says I. But we are being “gamed” on JB60SLE to accept less for more, otherwise Sharpe’s list of adjectives would have sounded way more positive and impressive about all this supposed “hidden value” we are not seeing in all the nonexistent gameplay video Stern has authorized for release. Willing to listen to counterpoints. Haven’t seen anything yet move my needle.

Let me counter with, I didn’t get kicked out of the Hype thread, I started this thread in respect to those getting butt-hurt by me over there. So baby, this ain’t no safe space or echo chamber of justice, just a place to keep the nasty located where obviously others wanted it to go.

Let me fix that for you if I can…

Ok, we good now?

Poll update… so far I called it…

All of the Above is the black horse favorite right now, coming from behind and leading at 58%. 105 votes cast.

I’m not posting any price or hype related posts in there, it’s safe to go back. I would have got banned eventually, so why cut off my nose? And what’s wrong with having a separate place to openly and continuously bash the title without being harassed, or upsetting anyone? If you come now, with the new fixed title thanks to Big Ehrl, you should know what you’re in for and there should be no arguments or carguments about what machine and what aspect of it we are talking bad about in here. By all means if you have positive JB60SLE pricing viewpoints, feel free to share, I will read and take head, but I am not going to pull off the gloves on $tern pricing on JB60SLE or any cornerstone price that smacks me as hard.

If this is a forum for free speech, then why all the negativity when we exercise the right? I thought I was being considerate of the purchasers and fan boys in the hype thread, otherwise I would have stayed and what? got banned? Then where else would I have to go to post my JB60SLE price negativity but right here where I am right now.

Preach brother! I called it a Bond Collectible Plate, and it should have been marketed through Franklin Mint, a purveyor of fine collectibles the world over.

I welcome your price negativity negativity, bash me all you want here, I won’t ask for moderation, but if I get thrown out of my own thread, that’s my own fault. I’m not looking to be NOT harassed by others, but others were getting tired of my pushback and repetitiveness to the point it was harassing them. That is 100% not me and not my intention to harass anyone unless they come at me, then I will counter, dodge, weave, and parry like the best of them, but only to rebut a point made positively about price, in this thread. That is hype in my book. The dictionary definition of hype is all positive by the way, saying something to the tune of “expounding on something and building it up, with the intent of positive acceptance of said hyped thing”. It never mentions hype used to denigrate in a negative way so in effect this is just the anti hype thread? Or since the title is now “pricing negativity thread”, at least that’s what you would expect to find in here.

I might agree with this in spirit on JB60SLE at this point with the exception of the one true thing in life - “squeaky wheels” get heard and are being listened to. I want $tern marketing to know just how offensive I thought the CES interview with their head of marketing (and industry darling) Sharpe was, with him using terms like “gamification of pinball” and “Pavlovian” when describing the things they are doing to leverage more dollars out of our pockets. Nobody in the hobby wants to ever think of paying more for pinball, except manufacturers and operators- they and their investors are the only ones who like to think like that. The more this thread stays hot and how long will mean something to somebody somewhere, and I’m hoping it is the $tern Marketing department.