There's more ingenuity in the topper than they put in the entire game itself!! Think about it- a big magnet that does NOTHING exciting for one of THE biggest characters in pop culture right now (baby yoda) and just a tilting playfield... but guess what, if you want a cool, complete game, now pay $2K for a topper! Stern is laughing at it's customers!

Now if you go buy a NIB Mando at Stern's new prices it's $9600, plus tax ($672), plus shipping ($400).. plus topper $2000, plus tax on that topper ($140), plus shipping ($70)... so you, the Pinball enthusiest, can have a Mando premium with topper for the one-time, low price of...

$12,882.00!! Might as well make it $13,000.

So who REALLY is doing this to the hobby? Us, the consumers that are hungry for pinball... or the manufactures who keep milking us? I know you can say that we did this... but I'M NOT THE ONE PAYING THESE PRICES.

Distros can't move the NIB mando's because people can't sell the used Premiums at $7500 on the market LMAO.. I guess if they build in enough profit in the topper... you know, $1500 profit

VERY interesting take on this! Pay ridiculous prices to..... keep prices down elsewhere at the same business. Like Stern is sucking wind on profits right now and it's just the right thing to do.

THIS is why Stern is sticking it to us...

A flat plane crank Z06 can be had for $107K, THAT is where the value is. Certainly those that view $2K toppers as "gotta have's", the Z is a no-brainer.

You'd think for $2000 we could get it's own release and some REAL video of this in action

I REALLY think Stern could have gone out of it's way to actually reward it's customers instead of sticking it to them ($2000). How? Make the buyers of the topper prove they are an original owner of a NIB Mando! Reward those that bought a game from them and cut out all the flippers and speculators! But I am convinced that Stern only cares about the money, and not the customer. That can be a bad thing long term (I guess we'll see). I already know a lot of scorned pinball enthusiasts that are no longer Stern fans.

As far as price in the future going up, I am not convinced- the difference is on this one, in my humble opinion of course, is-

A) the pinflation is built in to the topper already
B) While I love my Mando and the theme, most don't as reflected by the resale market. I've seen Mando Premiums sitting at $7500 (home use only/low plays/mint). I've also seen Stern distributors trying to combo sell a Mando with another game to move it. Would you buy a $2K topper for a game that's not well received?

As a big fan of my Mando, it sucks they have priced me out of getting one by making it ridiculous (and NOT WORTH IT).

Someone posted this on facebook and it made me laugh, even though I knew it. They have a flat piece of plastic with a STICKER to simulate LED lights to the side of the display screen. And all the topper does around the $50 video screen is flash. That's it. For $2K, they could have spent another $30 putting in LED's.. but decided it wasn't worth their time to do even the simplest thing.

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I hope 1/2 of the buyers are flippers who end up taking a $500+ hit when they try to flip it.

Why no video of this in action anywhere? Isn't it on display and installed on a game at expo? You mean to tell me there's a $2,000 add-on to a game and it's so hot that the first run sold out in minutes but no one gives a shit to actually made a video of this absolutely killer $2K topper???

LMAO. You're the perfect Stern customer.

You appear to be easily amused LMAO. Flashing led light, and a ship projected from an LCD onto a screen with no real showing of what anything does. But here we go, Must have EVEN IF IT'S $2K!!!

I'd bet you're a JJP trasher too, that would round it out. But you embody where everything is right now with accepting the ridiculous.

I hope each and every person that validates Sterns $2K price on this eats it BIG TIME. Because like everyone buying it is claiming NOW, it's worth it!!! Let's see how those buying view it if they indeed are not making money on the topper like they think they will be. Let's see if those are really being honest on not caring about the price... when the value drops out afterwards.

I mean, Mando Premiums sit as low as you can get on the market for any Stern Premium over the past several years so... the topper has a lot of work to "make the game" or take it to it's potential.

Ahhh yes, this is the world today. HOW DARE YOU CALL OUT A RIDICULOUS OVERPRICED $2K TOPPER!! You're not allowed! YOU'RE A VACCUM WHORE!!

You're "just having fun" with your $2K topper and defend it like the $9K Pinball machine wouldn't be fun without it... think about that for a minute.

I am easily amused, but what I pay for said amusement gives me an expectation of value.. I can't just pay anything "just to be amused".

If I watch a free movie on a plane and it entertains me, I can live with the fact it was a bad movie and move on. If I was forced to pay $2000 for the movie and it was the only way they would let me have the flight and the normal price of that flight was $500 on previous flights, I'd be upset. See how that works?

Poor Stern!! A crushing demand problem!!

AND RECORD PROFITS.

How is that conveyed to it's most loyal fans, buyers, and the pinball community (the one that held it together when pinball almost failed?) RIDICULOUS, IN YOUR FACE OVERPRICING. And buyers saying they don't care, they just want the topper. All for a game they could have done so much with in the first place (the magnet in front of Grogur is one of THE worst jokes LOL). Code could be sooo much better... so guess what? You want a better game, pay them the $2K!!!

I think the main thing is this- we all fell like we are a community here and unlike other businesses, we connect with the company at a more personal level than just about any other hobby- that's part of what makes pinball special. Most of us collectors know all the other private collectors locally, for example. That local stern dealer that we've bought all our games from knows us well, too.

So while it's "Business", it's "familiar customer business" to me.

I know I have said a lot about this topper, but the bottom line is I am done supporting Stern and their price increases and ridiculous, overpriced offerings. And yep, I don't take it personal but I am sure hate the way the direction of this hobby has gone...

LMAO. They are deliberately under-producing this item and over charging. That's market manipulation, not basic supply and demand. And guess who they are taking advantage of? You and me (albeit, willingly, no one needs this but we want it). Would you say that Stern has a monopoly of some sort on mass produced pinball and our hobby? No one else can produce like they can.

Stern is a MANUFACTURING company, right? They could pump thousands out and make a good profit. Instead, limited availability and offer high prices on a topper because their fans are enthusiastic (and apparently, rich). There is NOTHING on this topper that would create a supply issue, either. That screen and many other screens that could be used on this and basic printed plastics with LED's are plentiful in todays market.. This is not a "supply chain" issue.

The bottom line is I see what they are doing and am on the side of calling it out.. you can be on the side of "a $2K Topper is OK" and I'm ok with your position too. But let's not pretend this cheap topper is not a fleecing of your wallet.

I shouldn't post after heavy drinking on a Sunday football day LMAO. I'm done talking about the topper for now, can't wait to see it in person and laugh at the guys that paid $2K for it.

How would people feel if Stern started charging $1,000 for a shaker motor with extra code? And made it so only an official Stern Shaker would work with the game? Would that be OK with the same people that are OK with the $2K price tag on the topper??

Seems more like this topper is more of a money flex than anything else at this point... the absolute cheap, uninspired build with crappy stickers honestly should ward off anyone that's not just looking to throw money away (my opinion)

Looks like Stern may have finally made a topper that loses value after selling it, good for them for finding that niche!

If we're talking about Stern I think the Black Knight Topper is one of the best... but the AFM LE topper kills them all...

And look at the MMr Royale topper that they sold separately for what, $500? Absolutely amazing detail and art!

Just can't get over the crappy plastic and stickers Stern put together and slapped a $2K price tag on LMAO

Well, how about the flat plastic printed art for JP, I guess that's more uninspiring and perhaps a bigger joke but at least they didn't price it at $2K...

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I'm hoping someone will make a replica topper with a screen that connects into boards just like the official Topper...at these prices, it seems like a very worthy hack...

Well, for $1999 you can only do so much to tighten screws.. what do you expect, Stern to up the cost of the topper to $3K and actually have the person making the topper take an extra 20 seconds to make sure the screws are tight? Just be happy you got a topper, bud.

Hopefully those games are far more complex then a molded plastic topper with stickers, glass window, LCD, and a few blinking LED's... oh wait, that's close to about what's in a modern Stern, just spread out more

Agree. Maybe they should have taken the stickers off the top of the topper to cut costs and increase profits. Plus, the expense of 2 led's that blink (after all, they are 3-color) in the background is too premium for this. God only knows how lucky we are to have that LCD screen in there to simulate a hologram (reflect video of a hologram, that is). We are spoiled.

I sure hope Stern doesn't go under making this topper, we are so lucky to be able to buy it!

Pic because I saw tatman had Family guy next to Mando and I love Family Guy...

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I confirmed that the node boards used in this topper are the same used by Lockheed in the F117 Stealth Fighter and by NASA. You could pull the board out and help launch the space shuttle, FWIW. You shouldn't always complain about price when it comes to high quality Stern products.

We are blessed to have this amazing, rare, and over the top engineered product for the low price of $1999 plus tax and shipping.

Strong rumor that the GZ Topper will be $3K. And people will snap it up fast and ask Stern for more...