The only topper I'd pay $2000 for would be a AFM-LE... now that's a topper! This one is cool if the price fit for what a topper should be ($500-ish). We the collectors didn't create the $2K topper market, Stern did by limiting production so much on them. They are cash cows for them yet don't seem to focus on producing enough... instead, they make new ones and charge 4X the price?

I'm not sure who keeps paying the high Stern prices, as some have mentioned here, I guess it's the new guys? All of my old collector friends are not buying at these prices and just trying to MAYBE get some money back out of the ones they already have to get the new ones that they really want. Gone are the days of the guys I know buying every single Stern release, or so it seems. Most of the guys I know in this hobby are PINBALL rich, but otherwise live in modest homes and drive cars that get them and their family by. Now it feels that the "pinball rich" lifestyle is not for the average Joe anymore but for the "rich rich" or even... suckers (in fairness, perhaps I am a sucker?).

I remember when (and I think a lot of us can relate to this) years ago I'd have someone over (or a repair guy, lol) that was not in the pinball hobby and they'd comment on the pinball machines in my living room... if the conversation continued beyond just looking, it always ended up with "how much does one of these cost"? And 10 years ago, a NIB Stern was $4600-ish and up to $5K+. Used Bally Williams were sometimes cheaper, depending on title ($2K Shadows, Wh2o's, Fishtails, etc.). Generally, the overwhelming response was shock and "holy shit those are expensive". But most could do it and see it.

Now, when I tell them that my new game cost $10,000 or my TBL was $16,000, they want to refer me to a psychotherapist LOL.

So for those defending the price of new pins on "inflation", I plugged it in to the inflation calculator, the results of what a new machine cost in 2010 to what that money number is now may surprise you:

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As predicted.. a relatively new collector.

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Am I the only one that finds it super odd that no one in that entire EXPO was excited enough to take a real, dedicated video showing off this amazing, breakthrough, record-priced $2K Topper? We have video of people eating sandwiches and walking around in a fog, but no one thought the topper was worthy of some dedicated time and an upload to youtube!

The biggest Expo, with the biggest pinball fans, designers of the world, and all that... and no one really seems to care.

We're going to need Project Pinball auctions/raffles just to be able to afford a Stern Topper now.

I've said it before, will say it again... Mando hasn't performed well as a pin as exemplified by it's resale value- Premiums are in the $7K's and THE cheapest Stern Premium that has been produced in years as far as resale value. Those that bought a NIB from Stern are feeling it, too.

Stern SHOULD have and COULD have made this topper a reward for those that actually bought the game from them by making it available to those that bought a Mandalorian Pinball machine brand new and confirming it through their serial number and a verification process (kind of like how they track warranty). I mean, they are trying to exclude flippers, right? So now those stuck with a $7500 Premium can now have a machine that a lot of people would buy, AND NOW PEOPLE WILL WANT TO BUY THOSE NIB STERN PREMIUM Mando's that are sitting at distributors collecting dust.

This eliminates the raw flippers (those just speculating on the topper with no intention of ever associating it to their game) and makes those that bought Mando (the REAL Stern customers) happy.

Would have been a WIN for Stern and a WIN for their customers.

Pipe dream..... or is it?

Wait... Stern doesn't care that you might make a profit on your Mando Premium? But they sure as hell don't want you making a profit on a $500 topper offering and have raised prices over and over to account for the resale market (ask LE buyers about this).

I already totally get what you're saying, don't confuse that- STERN doesn't care about it's customers (and I'm good with that).

This scenario is a "wouldn't it be nice if" and nothing else. I could give 2 shits about Stern right now anyways, I enjoy my collection as is and vote with my wallet. If I really want a $2K topper, I could buy a flat of them. I have plenty of money for this hobby and this topper, doesn't mean I can't have common sense or look at an alternate scenario.

I'd fully expect that even at $2K I'd have to possibly replace a connector or put in a new screen myself on that topper because it was dead out of the box and/or died in the first week. And I'd love it!! That's pinball!!

Awesome that just seeing a topper for a game that seems to suffer on resale value would make you want to keep it!

Great idea! So many here seem so accepting and willing to drop $2K on this topper, the $1K shaker should fall right into the acceptable category 100%.

You'll get the same responses defending Stern (and possibly pinball as a whole)!

- Stern is in this to make money, so I'm OK with the $1,000 shaker! It's what I want and I love this hobby! Stern is a manufacturing company, and they are doing what the market will accept!!

-Don't take the $1,000 shaker personal!! After all, there was a shortage of shakers and they can't keep them on the shelf! People were scalping shakers, so why shouldn't Stern make the money themselves??

-I'm rich and could buy 500 shakers!! I don't care and I love this hobby, price everything up and I don't care!!

Interesting and funny. They wanted to do a "hologram" that would be special, groundbreaking and stunning. Really something to look at!

Instead, we got a video of a hologram, at the price of an actual hologram... and it's just as expensive as though they did a real hologram (not arguing it would have been any better, just stating what happened).

People were so excited about this at EXPO, we didn't even get one comprehensive or decent video of it in use with gameplay. And all of the biggest pinball fans were gathered there.

Stop and think about that and who really is excited about this topper release.

Ok, I had more discussion about this topper while out playing pinball this weekend.

One of the more curious things we discussed that hasn't been mentioned in this thread is how much of a margin is the Stern Distributor getting out of that $2K? One of the guys says he thinks its $500 for the dealer and they (dealers) are paying $1500 per topper.

Curious what might be known/unknown on this

After all, we have to keep this world record factory priced topper thread open until we see them delivered to pinheads, right?

Can we finally get some video of this topper in action? For $2K, we need to see it!

What an absolute joke of an offering for $2K. Flat plastic with a sticker, and stickers of led's on the front. Really shows zero effort or pride in what Stern produces. Sure they are about making money.. there's absolutely no doubt about that lol.

As a pinball collector of 20+ years, I can't think of any other single item in Pinball that's a bigger cash grab percentage wise. Yep, it is what it is and people will pay it.. so F it seems to be the theme here.

Hope everyone that bought one enjoys it, I honestly do. I don't think I could look at it with a clear conscience knowing I spent $2K of my hard earned money on it though personally.

When I heard that these toppers are coming with crooked glass and loose screws it just made me laugh. At $2K, you still can't get QC from Stern. We're not paying for extra quality or even technology with these price increases, you better believe that!

And I see someone mentioned that Stern might not be making much on this topper... That has to be the biggest joke in this thread. The reality is they wanted to make the same profit margin with the toppers as they do with their machines and now they are.

Flame me all you want, especially the ones that spent $2,000 plus tax for this... but you know I'm right.