OP

Quoted from staceyflip:

Watching Cary Hardy and couldn't believe my ears...John Wick has NO GUNS in the artwork, no guns as weapon choices during gameplay
Weird. Let's make a pin about the greatest shooter in the past 10 years, and pretend like he doesn't even have guns. He has a pencil and that's good enough. Let's make a pin about the most furious shark that eats everything including license plates, but no, he doesn't eat the pinball. The promo for CES shows the shark eating the pinball! So somebody at Stern knows the shark was supposed to eat the ball. Now who is overreacting? What's next? Is Stern going to make a pin about the Exorcist and turn Linda Blair into just a sad nun having a bad day? Maybe you could just give her an ice cream cone to make her feel better?
--What's next???
--Yes, I am still disappointed with Stern Pinball. I didn't run out to play Jaws day 1 and I never thought I would buy one. Still have a bad taste in my mouth over their re-issuing LE's with new art. Still upset that Stern doesn't let us know when they are re-running older titles. If they were transparent, then we could sell our originals ahead of time if needed. But no, Stern only cares about Stern selling new pins, not about loyal customers and what happens when they need to sell a pin to get the new shiny pin. They raised prices and took all second market money away from the players to line their own wallets. OK, they are a business. BUT, if it's not sustainable, then their new pin inventory can just SIT there, unplayed.
--Insider Connect is sort of a hard pill to swallow too. Yes, I understand operators absolutely NEED it. Younger people may enjoy competing with others online, earning badges, etc. For me, the entire reason I LOVE pinball in the first place is because it's mechanical. It's tactile. It's physical. It gives me an opportunity to DISCONNECT for a few minutes, let's me get OFF my phone for a minute.
--I do enjoy being able to update the code over wifi. That is brilliant. It makes my life easier. Tracking gameplay on my phone sounds like a nightmare to me. What a time sucker/vampire.
--I feel like pinball is NOT the right venue for the vegan shark or the new enlightened gunless John Wick. If it is the licensors calling the shots, or lack of shots, maybe John Wick wasn't the best choice for a new pin?? Just asking for a friend lol.
--George Gomez is running interference on the whole gun/John Wick thing..so it’s officially a thing. God Bless George, he is in fact my favorite pinball designer, and MORE than that, he IS the driving force at Stern. This is the guy that keeps pinball alive for all of us.
--I’ve been serious about pinball for only a short 5 years. My christening was during a year before pandemic, so yes, I did think the pinball bubble was just ‘normal.’ Pinball just costs a LOT of money, so I simply had to just make more money. BUT, I KNEW I could cash in on my pins at any time…and the pinball secondary market is a cash business, so…I learned how to deal in CASH. I found that I could sell a quick pin for CASH on GLASS, and turn that into $ thousands in savings for construction jobs at my rentals. I never had the balls to deal in CASH before. It’s a sub culture, with RISK. You have to know how to handle yourself with cash, NO stops on the way home from the bank, take someone with you if possible, have somewhere at home to lock it up securely. I’ve always had dogs and security at home. Which brings me back to WHY I STARTED this post in the first place…
---KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE and customers. I’ve done a LOT of pinball deals in the past 5 years. My goal was to own and play as many pins as possible, play them at HOME, mod them, love them, look at them, and bat the hell out of them. Every one was the greatest pin ever…until the next one. I’m ok with that. It gave me a reputation for selling only the cleanest, BEST shooting, totally LOVED and modded pins. If you get one of MY pins now, it’s the best possible example. I NEVER planned on selling ANY of them. It’s only because my funds are limited that I have to sell and save up for the next. It’s super weird which pins have remained in my collection the longest, which ones didn’t last at all, and WHY I have kept the ones I kept, which ones I keep selling and buying back lol. --Many decisions are in part, financial. At times I have put too much money into a pin, so I keep it longer because I can’t sell it for a reasonable price. Sometimes I have taken top dollar for a pin I didn’t really want to sell, and that ends with my going out of my way to buy it back time and again. Sometimes I get a ‘GRAIL’ pin, only to play it for a few months, love it, want to keep it forever, BUT…I don’t want to keep it more than I want a NEW pin!!! So it’s GONE.
--Would I sacrifice a pin for a JAWS or JOHN WICK??? NO WAY JOSE.
--I did actually part with my spectacular Godzilla Premium, again, and for the 5th time! Same exact pin. WHY? For Elton John. Actually to do a cash deal on home repairs, soon recouped and then a quick EJ PE buy NIB. At this point, I do feel it makes MORE sense to buy lightly USED pins. BUT EJ is just too HOT. It’s going to be a minute before we see them on the secondary market, and when we do, if I’m still loving mine, I’ll upgrade to CE for sure, and twice on Sunday. WHY? Because EJ is so freakin great on so many levels.
--EJ PE comes with all the bells and whistles straight out of the box. FANTASIC light show. Good flippers. Art, sparkle Radcals. HUGE screen…yeah, I’m not looking at that screen while I bat the pinball, BUT, every single person that comes through my doors is just drawn to it, ‘It’s like a party’ newcomers, guests, and seasoned players alike say. It’s a winner. $12k is a LOT of F’in dough for a pin. But, it makes WAY MORE SENSE than a STERN LE at this point. Stern LE’s should at least match Jersey Jack Pinball with a $12k LE, with EVERYTHING.
--STERN pinball, even still, is my favorite pinball. You just can’t beat it. It just feels RIGHT when you flip a Stern. Give us what we want for goodness sakes. POLITICS has NO PLACE in PIN. I learned years ago, pinball is a bunch of 50+ year old guys mostly. It’s NEVER worth it to talk politics. Pinball is actually something that can bring all kinds of people together, no matter your views. We can be enthusiasts, neighbors and friends. The pinhead community is small. We cannot afford politics, especially by the manufacturers!
--At this point, I’m not even excited for the next Stern. This time is an opportunity for me to maybe get some older titles I’ve ALWAYS wanted, like SOPRANOS, like The Shadow, or ROADSHOW. YES, I’m waiting for SPIKE 3 with baited breath, AI is going to change everything. Please STERN, make it more affordable, make it so attractive that everyone in pinball will simply HAVE TO HAVE ONE, like Godzilla. I’m routing for you. I’m on YOUR side. If you succeed, then I succeed, we all succeed, we all get MORE PINBALL, which is in fact the ultimate goal for us all, after all.
--‘A good job for a fair price’ is my motto for my real estate rental business. Stern has cornered the market on being the best shooters in pinball. Hands down. For a purist like me, MAN, I want STERN PINBALL. BUT, now I have a serious contender with Elton John. It shoots pretty great, still NOT a Stern, but we’re just about there, and all the extras are just spectacular. I own a Spooky pin, Rick and Morty. That damned thing was clunky as f@ck, and I spent a lot of time and money dialing it in just right. It’s superb now. It’s still no Stern or JJP, BUT it has a fun factor that is off the charts. Bolted down to the floor now…
--Sound package is so very important to me in a pin. I’m a HUGE CLELAND fan, he takes Stranger Things and Deadpool to an entirely incredible level. Rick and Morty by Spooky has the amp and speakers out of the box, combined with the genius of Scott Danesi, well, it’s AMAZING. Get a Deadpool with upgraded speakers and an external subwoofer and Cleland code, and you will just NEVER be able to sell. Stranger Things is a masterpiece. Stern gave us the UV light show, the TK lock WOW. The TK lock is just so damned great…but, we had to work hard for it, dialing it in over and over. The projector, so innovative, BUT, I’ve spent countless hours outfitting screens, and FINALLY someone came out with Dark 9 precut screens. Thank God! All that most certainly should have been worked out before the FIRST release.
--We’re all saying at this point, STERN, give us your best at a price point that makes sense. Sure, take your profit, you deserve it, but hard economic times are coming. Adjust and keep pinball around for us all a little longer please. Let’s not muddy the water with political undertones, nobody makes a living when we do that. I learned long ago, we never discuss politics with tenants. Nobody makes a living when we muddy the waters. PINBALL brings us together after all, but not when politics enter, NOT when LE’s are NO LONGER limited, NOT when parts are so cheap that maintenance is required DAY ONE to change coil stops, not when you raise prices and deliver FAR LESS. If YOU fail, WE ALL fail. So DO BETTER STERN! PLEASE.

OP

Quoted from staceyflip:

Watching Cary Hardy and couldn't believe my ears...John Wick has NO GUNS in the artwork, no guns as weapon choices during gameplay
Weird. Let's make a pin about the greatest shooter in the past 10 years, and pretend like he doesn't even have guns. He has a pencil and that's good enough. Let's make a pin about the most furious shark that eats everything including license plates, but no, he doesn't eat the pinball. The promo for CES shows the shark eating the pinball! So somebody at Stern knows the shark was supposed to eat the ball. Now who is overreacting? What's next? Is Stern going to make a pin about the Exorcist and turn Linda Blair into just a sad nun having a bad day? Maybe you could just give her an ice cream cone to make her feel better?
--What's next???
--Yes, I am still disappointed with Stern Pinball. I didn't run out to play Jaws day 1 and I never thought I would buy one. Still have a bad taste in my mouth over their re-issuing LE's with new art. Still upset that Stern doesn't let us know when they are re-running older titles. If they were transparent, then we could sell our originals ahead of time if needed. But no, Stern only cares about Stern selling new pins, not about loyal customers and what happens when they need to sell a pin to get the new shiny pin. They raised prices and took all second market money away from the players to line their own wallets. OK, they are a business. BUT, if it's not sustainable, then their new pin inventory can just SIT there, unplayed.
--Insider Connect is sort of a hard pill to swallow too. Yes, I understand operators absolutely NEED it. Younger people may enjoy competing with others online, earning badges, etc. For me, the entire reason I LOVE pinball in the first place is because it's mechanical. It's tactile. It's physical. It gives me an opportunity to DISCONNECT for a few minutes, let's me get OFF my phone for a minute.
--I do enjoy being able to update the code over wifi. That is brilliant. It makes my life easier. Tracking gameplay on my phone sounds like a nightmare to me. What a time sucker/vampire.
--I feel like pinball is NOT the right venue for the vegan shark or the new enlightened gunless John Wick. If it is the licensors calling the shots, or lack of shots, maybe John Wick wasn't the best choice for a new pin?? Just asking for a friend lol.
--George Gomez is running interference on the whole gun/John Wick thing..so it’s officially a thing. God Bless George, he is in fact my favorite pinball designer, and MORE than that, he IS the driving force at Stern. This is the guy that keeps pinball alive for all of us.
--I’ve been serious about pinball for only a short 5 years. My christening was during a year before pandemic, so yes, I did think the pinball bubble was just ‘normal.’ Pinball just costs a LOT of money, so I simply had to just make more money. BUT, I KNEW I could cash in on my pins at any time…and the pinball secondary market is a cash business, so…I learned how to deal in CASH. I found that I could sell a quick pin for CASH on GLASS, and turn that into $ thousands in savings for construction jobs at my rentals. I never had the balls to deal in CASH before. It’s a sub culture, with RISK. You have to know how to handle yourself with cash, NO stops on the way home from the bank, take someone with you if possible, have somewhere at home to lock it up securely. I’ve always had dogs and security at home. Which brings me back to WHY I STARTED this post in the first place…
---KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE and customers. I’ve done a LOT of pinball deals in the past 5 years. My goal was to own and play as many pins as possible, play them at HOME, mod them, love them, look at them, and bat the hell out of them. Every one was the greatest pin ever…until the next one. I’m ok with that. It gave me a reputation for selling only the cleanest, BEST shooting, totally LOVED and modded pins. If you get one of MY pins now, it’s the best possible example. I NEVER planned on selling ANY of them. It’s only because my funds are limited that I have to sell and save up for the next. It’s super weird which pins have remained in my collection the longest, which ones didn’t last at all, and WHY I have kept the ones I kept, which ones I keep selling and buying back lol. --Many decisions are in part, financial. At times I have put too much money into a pin, so I keep it longer because I can’t sell it for a reasonable price. Sometimes I have taken top dollar for a pin I didn’t really want to sell, and that ends with my going out of my way to buy it back time and again. Sometimes I get a ‘GRAIL’ pin, only to play it for a few months, love it, want to keep it forever, BUT…I don’t want to keep it more than I want a NEW pin!!! So it’s GONE.
--Would I sacrifice a pin for a JAWS or JOHN WICK??? NO WAY JOSE.
--I did actually part with my spectacular Godzilla Premium, again, and for the 5th time! Same exact pin. WHY? For Elton John. Actually to do a cash deal on home repairs, soon recouped and then a quick EJ PE buy NIB. At this point, I do feel it makes MORE sense to buy lightly USED pins. BUT EJ is just too HOT. It’s going to be a minute before we see them on the secondary market, and when we do, if I’m still loving mine, I’ll upgrade to CE for sure, and twice on Sunday. WHY? Because EJ is so freakin great on so many levels.
--EJ PE comes with all the bells and whistles straight out of the box. FANTASIC light show. Good flippers. Art, sparkle Radcals. HUGE screen…yeah, I’m not looking at that screen while I bat the pinball, BUT, every single person that comes through my doors is just drawn to it, ‘It’s like a party’ newcomers, guests, and seasoned players alike say. It’s a winner. $12k is a LOT of F’in dough for a pin. But, it makes WAY MORE SENSE than a STERN LE at this point. Stern LE’s should at least match Jersey Jack Pinball with a $12k LE, with EVERYTHING.
--STERN pinball, even still, is my favorite pinball. You just can’t beat it. It just feels RIGHT when you flip a Stern. Give us what we want for goodness sakes. POLITICS has NO PLACE in PIN. I learned years ago, pinball is a bunch of 50+ year old guys mostly. It’s NEVER worth it to talk politics. Pinball is actually something that can bring all kinds of people together, no matter your views. We can be enthusiasts, neighbors and friends. The pinhead community is small. We cannot afford politics, especially by the manufacturers!
--At this point, I’m not even excited for the next Stern. This time is an opportunity for me to maybe get some older titles I’ve ALWAYS wanted, like SOPRANOS, like The Shadow, or ROADSHOW. YES, I’m waiting for SPIKE 3 with baited breath, AI is going to change everything. Please STERN, make it more affordable, make it so attractive that everyone in pinball will simply HAVE TO HAVE ONE, like Godzilla. I’m routing for you. I’m on YOUR side. If you succeed, then I succeed, we all succeed, we all get MORE PINBALL, which is in fact the ultimate goal for us all, after all.
--‘A good job for a fair price’ is my motto for my real estate rental business. Stern has cornered the market on being the best shooters in pinball. Hands down. For a purist like me, MAN, I want STERN PINBALL. BUT, now I have a serious contender with Elton John. It shoots pretty great, still NOT a Stern, but we’re just about there, and all the extras are just spectacular. I own a Spooky pin, Rick and Morty. That damned thing was clunky as f@ck, and I spent a lot of time and money dialing it in just right. It’s superb now. It’s still no Stern or JJP, BUT it has a fun factor that is off the charts. Bolted down to the floor now…
--Sound package is so very important to me in a pin. I’m a HUGE CLELAND fan, he takes Stranger Things and Deadpool to an entirely incredible level. Rick and Morty by Spooky has the amp and speakers out of the box, combined with the genius of Scott Danesi, well, it’s AMAZING. Get a Deadpool with upgraded speakers and an external subwoofer and Cleland code, and you will just NEVER be able to sell. Stranger Things is a masterpiece. Stern gave us the UV light show, the TK lock WOW. The TK lock is just so damned great…but, we had to work hard for it, dialing it in over and over. The projector, so innovative, BUT, I’ve spent countless hours outfitting screens, and FINALLY someone came out with Dark 9 precut screens. Thank God! All that most certainly should have been worked out before the FIRST release.
--We’re all saying at this point, STERN, give us your best at a price point that makes sense. Sure, take your profit, you deserve it, but hard economic times are coming. Adjust and keep pinball around for us all a little longer please. Let’s not muddy the water with political undertones, nobody makes a living when we do that. I learned long ago, we never discuss politics with tenants. Nobody makes a living when we muddy the waters. PINBALL brings us together after all, but not when politics enter, NOT when LE’s are NO LONGER limited, NOT when parts are so cheap that maintenance is required DAY ONE to change coil stops, not when you raise prices and deliver FAR LESS. If YOU fail, WE ALL fail. So DO BETTER STERN! PLEASE.

OP

Quoted from staceyflip:

Watching Cary Hardy and couldn't believe my ears...John Wick has NO GUNS in the artwork, no guns as weapon choices during gameplay
Weird. Let's make a pin about the greatest shooter in the past 10 years, and pretend like he doesn't even have guns. He has a pencil and that's good enough. Let's make a pin about the most furious shark that eats everything including license plates, but no, he doesn't eat the pinball. The promo for CES shows the shark eating the pinball! So somebody at Stern knows the shark was supposed to eat the ball. Now who is overreacting? What's next? Is Stern going to make a pin about the Exorcist and turn Linda Blair into just a sad nun having a bad day? Maybe you could just give her an ice cream cone to make her feel better?
--What's next???
--Yes, I am still disappointed with Stern Pinball. I didn't run out to play Jaws day 1 and I never thought I would buy one. Still have a bad taste in my mouth over their re-issuing LE's with new art. Still upset that Stern doesn't let us know when they are re-running older titles. If they were transparent, then we could sell our originals ahead of time if needed. But no, Stern only cares about Stern selling new pins, not about loyal customers and what happens when they need to sell a pin to get the new shiny pin. They raised prices and took all second market money away from the players to line their own wallets. OK, they are a business. BUT, if it's not sustainable, then their new pin inventory can just SIT there, unplayed.
--Insider Connect is sort of a hard pill to swallow too. Yes, I understand operators absolutely NEED it. Younger people may enjoy competing with others online, earning badges, etc. For me, the entire reason I LOVE pinball in the first place is because it's mechanical. It's tactile. It's physical. It gives me an opportunity to DISCONNECT for a few minutes, let's me get OFF my phone for a minute.
--I do enjoy being able to update the code over wifi. That is brilliant. It makes my life easier. Tracking gameplay on my phone sounds like a nightmare to me. What a time sucker/vampire.
--I feel like pinball is NOT the right venue for the vegan shark or the new enlightened gunless John Wick. If it is the licensors calling the shots, or lack of shots, maybe John Wick wasn't the best choice for a new pin?? Just asking for a friend lol.
--George Gomez is running interference on the whole gun/John Wick thing..so it’s officially a thing. God Bless George, he is in fact my favorite pinball designer, and MORE than that, he IS the driving force at Stern. This is the guy that keeps pinball alive for all of us.
--I’ve been serious about pinball for only a short 5 years. My christening was during a year before pandemic, so yes, I did think the pinball bubble was just ‘normal.’ Pinball just costs a LOT of money, so I simply had to just make more money. BUT, I KNEW I could cash in on my pins at any time…and the pinball secondary market is a cash business, so…I learned how to deal in CASH. I found that I could sell a quick pin for CASH on GLASS, and turn that into $ thousands in savings for construction jobs at my rentals. I never had the balls to deal in CASH before. It’s a sub culture, with RISK. You have to know how to handle yourself with cash, NO stops on the way home from the bank, take someone with you if possible, have somewhere at home to lock it up securely. I’ve always had dogs and security at home. Which brings me back to WHY I STARTED this post in the first place…
---KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE and customers. I’ve done a LOT of pinball deals in the past 5 years. My goal was to own and play as many pins as possible, play them at HOME, mod them, love them, look at them, and bat the hell out of them. Every one was the greatest pin ever…until the next one. I’m ok with that. It gave me a reputation for selling only the cleanest, BEST shooting, totally LOVED and modded pins. If you get one of MY pins now, it’s the best possible example. I NEVER planned on selling ANY of them. It’s only because my funds are limited that I have to sell and save up for the next. It’s super weird which pins have remained in my collection the longest, which ones didn’t last at all, and WHY I have kept the ones I kept, which ones I keep selling and buying back lol. --Many decisions are in part, financial. At times I have put too much money into a pin, so I keep it longer because I can’t sell it for a reasonable price. Sometimes I have taken top dollar for a pin I didn’t really want to sell, and that ends with my going out of my way to buy it back time and again. Sometimes I get a ‘GRAIL’ pin, only to play it for a few months, love it, want to keep it forever, BUT…I don’t want to keep it more than I want a NEW pin!!! So it’s GONE.
--Would I sacrifice a pin for a JAWS or JOHN WICK??? NO WAY JOSE.
--I did actually part with my spectacular Godzilla Premium, again, and for the 5th time! Same exact pin. WHY? For Elton John. Actually to do a cash deal on home repairs, soon recouped and then a quick EJ PE buy NIB. At this point, I do feel it makes MORE sense to buy lightly USED pins. BUT EJ is just too HOT. It’s going to be a minute before we see them on the secondary market, and when we do, if I’m still loving mine, I’ll upgrade to CE for sure, and twice on Sunday. WHY? Because EJ is so freakin great on so many levels.
--EJ PE comes with all the bells and whistles straight out of the box. FANTASIC light show. Good flippers. Art, sparkle Radcals. HUGE screen…yeah, I’m not looking at that screen while I bat the pinball, BUT, every single person that comes through my doors is just drawn to it, ‘It’s like a party’ newcomers, guests, and seasoned players alike say. It’s a winner. $12k is a LOT of F’in dough for a pin. But, it makes WAY MORE SENSE than a STERN LE at this point. Stern LE’s should at least match Jersey Jack Pinball with a $12k LE, with EVERYTHING.
--STERN pinball, even still, is my favorite pinball. You just can’t beat it. It just feels RIGHT when you flip a Stern. Give us what we want for goodness sakes. POLITICS has NO PLACE in PIN. I learned years ago, pinball is a bunch of 50+ year old guys mostly. It’s NEVER worth it to talk politics. Pinball is actually something that can bring all kinds of people together, no matter your views. We can be enthusiasts, neighbors and friends. The pinhead community is small. We cannot afford politics, especially by the manufacturers!
--At this point, I’m not even excited for the next Stern. This time is an opportunity for me to maybe get some older titles I’ve ALWAYS wanted, like SOPRANOS, like The Shadow, or ROADSHOW. YES, I’m waiting for SPIKE 3 with baited breath, AI is going to change everything. Please STERN, make it more affordable, make it so attractive that everyone in pinball will simply HAVE TO HAVE ONE, like Godzilla. I’m routing for you. I’m on YOUR side. If you succeed, then I succeed, we all succeed, we all get MORE PINBALL, which is in fact the ultimate goal for us all, after all.
--‘A good job for a fair price’ is my motto for my real estate rental business. Stern has cornered the market on being the best shooters in pinball. Hands down. For a purist like me, MAN, I want STERN PINBALL. BUT, now I have a serious contender with Elton John. It shoots pretty great, still NOT a Stern, but we’re just about there, and all the extras are just spectacular. I own a Spooky pin, Rick and Morty. That damned thing was clunky as f@ck, and I spent a lot of time and money dialing it in just right. It’s superb now. It’s still no Stern or JJP, BUT it has a fun factor that is off the charts. Bolted down to the floor now…
--Sound package is so very important to me in a pin. I’m a HUGE CLELAND fan, he takes Stranger Things and Deadpool to an entirely incredible level. Rick and Morty by Spooky has the amp and speakers out of the box, combined with the genius of Scott Danesi, well, it’s AMAZING. Get a Deadpool with upgraded speakers and an external subwoofer and Cleland code, and you will just NEVER be able to sell. Stranger Things is a masterpiece. Stern gave us the UV light show, the TK lock WOW. The TK lock is just so damned great…but, we had to work hard for it, dialing it in over and over. The projector, so innovative, BUT, I’ve spent countless hours outfitting screens, and FINALLY someone came out with Dark 9 precut screens. Thank God! All that most certainly should have been worked out before the FIRST release.
--We’re all saying at this point, STERN, give us your best at a price point that makes sense. Sure, take your profit, you deserve it, but hard economic times are coming. Adjust and keep pinball around for us all a little longer please. Let’s not muddy the water with political undertones, nobody makes a living when we do that. I learned long ago, we never discuss politics with tenants. Nobody makes a living when we muddy the waters. PINBALL brings us together after all, but not when politics enter, NOT when LE’s are NO LONGER limited, NOT when parts are so cheap that maintenance is required DAY ONE to change coil stops, not when you raise prices and deliver FAR LESS. If YOU fail, WE ALL fail. So DO BETTER STERN! PLEASE.

OP

Quoted from staceyflip:

Watching Cary Hardy and couldn't believe my ears....

OP

Quoted from staceyflip:

Watching Cary Hardy....