pricey

Ipdb says msrp for stern Spiderman was $5799 so I'm not sure there's much to speculate

http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=5237

Who got a IMVE for $4350? I don't believe it. Do you?

$4350 for IMVE is the best price I've ever heard

I believe it. I know for a fact that there are dealers who give great prices to guys who buy pretty much every new pin. I've bought a couple of used pins and when the owners told me what they paid I was blown away. One pin was $650 less than the best price quote that I got.

Maybe that is what is digging into you as you shop for a NIB. "This guy bought a IMVE delivered and paid with a credit card for $4350 last year, so why cant I get that low a price on Kiss?". Who the heck knows if that was a real price. Sounds to low to me. Have fun when you call to shop for a NIB though. There are a lot of good people on the other end of the phone.

At least you do not have to sit in a cubicle for 2 hours while you wait for the sales guy to come back to you and in the meantime get introduced to the general manger and service manager. Shopping pins is easy compared to buying a car.

And LOTR has 6499. Were they that back when they were selling them?

That is the best part of buying a car.

i never buy a NIB car anyway.. too much depreciation in the first year, let alone upon driving it out of the dealership.

at least pins dont depreciate THAT much.

I paid less than $5K for IMVE delivered.

I didn't know you could buy a NIB car. That would take a pretty big box!

Not necessarily ...

Matchbox.jpg

I was quoted less than $5K for one delivered also when they were in production. I am hoping for similar price for a SMVE if it is true. I will only get one if it uses comic book art though.

Its all in the packaging!

kcar_woody.jpg

More evidence of Tron VE today..... https://www.facebook.com/sternpinball/posts/10153472776984244:0

I have noticed an uptick in sm for sale listings, just sayin!

Because of speculation threads like this?

I was expecting ten new threads after Stern posted the picture of the Tron LE today. Haha.

It's still early in the US.

I don't think there is anything I hate seeing more than all this VE crap that keeps flying around. It worked for a small run of IM's because there was only a small run of IMs - it won't work elsewhere.

Stern has been doing it the last 20 years. SM, TSPP, LOTR, and Tron have already had VE runs without the VE moniker. So it already has worked. Putting into production something that had been out of production is old hat for them.

It worked before, while the lotr movies and sm were still getting pumped out and hot. Tspp was seriously funder by Chuck e cheese. With all the new titles and the market suturation, it's not going to be successful again.

Matthew Mandarano Quit teasing Stern Pinball -- Announce the VE of this! smile emoticon
Like · Reply · 2 hrs

Stern Pinball Premium VE?
Like · 1 · 2 hrs

I've got $20 says we see Stern's next VE announced sometime in the next twelve months (on or before 7/31/16). Any interest?

I'm not getting caught up in the bets with all this stuff. Anything is possible, I just don't see it as feasible.

Speculation is fun. Just ask Wall St traders! Less risk here too.

Now, who mentioned Jaws again?!

No one but you

I didn't even think it would work with IM... and I was totally wrong. The VE model is here to stay, and the VE speculation is here to stay. Get used to it, because it will only ramp up after they release the next one.

They've got a huge new factory. Need to build something with it.

My concern is, are they building out to fit the factory, or what the market wants?

I mean, given that Stern had to take outside investment money during the last recession, I am hoping that they have a good pulse on the market and would not make a decision like expansion lightly.

Given that JJP is hiking prices I think that overall pinball machine demand must be up. How long it will stay that way? Not sure. I know the collectible market in general (fine art, cars, etc) has absolutely skyrocketed in the last 5 years. I am guessing that Stern is just riding the wave at this point. But if there's demand and Stern is a supplier they'd be silly not to make hay while the sun shines.

You're saying in the past the reruns sold because the properties were still popular because they were in the public conscience. Spider-man is supposed to be in the next big Marvel movie Civil War and is going to continue solo movies. Plus the comics are still popular. With all of that it still is going to be a re-theme, different art, dots, and call outs, not just a straight port.

I really don't know about saturation as runs in the past were usually pretty small. So small that I would consider the runs a niche or blip on the market. I would be surprised if the SMVE equals a 1/10 of all SM made. I'm sure it will sell out of a small run. They ran a test market of the pin and Costco TDK, and it didn't seem to effect them even if those were failures. So it would not be too much of a risk to see if this market exists.

He did not pay 4350 for his IMVE.

If priced right SM VE will sell very well no question in my mind. It's surprising to me that anyone in touch with the pinball vibe would doubt that. Not sure why some are against Stern re-releasing some of their more popular pins. It's great to see more of the most loved Stern pins being available to buy NIB.

After attending CAX and swinging by D&D Pinball, I'd say that Stern may be right about an uptick in pinball popularity. CAX attendance was up, with all ages accounted for. D&D reports the same. Too small of a sampling for a solid forecast, but a pinball upswing may just be back for awhile...

Sounded like CAX has grown a lot beyond pinball, though - the show attendance was up for sure, but the proportion of pinball vs. other arcades decreased.

Anyways, I'd agree that pinball is on the uptick. Most people on this site would.

All sorts of interesting teases by stern in that thread. From VE to TRON premium. Another tease or something on the horizon? Only time will tell...unfortunately, time and patience is not our strongest virtue in this hobby

The prices your seeing for Spider-Man, LOTR, etc being in the 5k range is probably right considering there today's premiums. sterns back in those days were made with lots of toys and were $3500-4000 then. Now there considered premiums with that amount of toys and etc. Stern offered pros when bbh, iron man, etc and dumbed down on the toys and etc. compare the toys on Austin powers and Twd premium

I got my LOTR and SM back in the day nib for $4750 shipped. But i was new to the hobby so that price included the pinballsales $300 sucker guarantee. So could have had it for $4450. In either case; i think if an SM or LOTR VE happens, it'll be at todays premium prices which would be $6300 shipped give or take.

Yikes really? $6300 shipped would sway me waaaaay away from one of those vaults.

Spiderman vs a Kiss Pro - doesn't seem that different in the Toy department.

No way, IMO price will be same or close to IMVE. Premium price point would kill a ton of sales. No reason to kill sales on pin that has layout and mechanics already designed.

I know Pinside does not condone gambling, but I would take a huge best against there being any VE's in the next month, if I could.

Kiss Pro:
-Gene head (spinner + spit-out VUK)
-Starchild figure (non moving)

Spider-Man:
-Sandman (up/down movement figure, up/down target bank, Sling VUK)
-Doc Ock (magnet, up/down figure, Sling VUK)
-Venom (non-moving toy, but extra ramp & extra flipper)
-Green Goblin (toy + kicker coil for motion)

IMVE bill of materials was in the cost cutting days of stern. So it's BOM is way lower than that of SM or LOTR. So I think a $6k (unshipped) is very plausible in today's market. And i doubt they'll do a big run of them either; they'll do enough to cover costs and profit margins. These are meant to cater to the higher end collectors that would pay that price for an nib rather than roll the dice on a used one. I think they'd sell just fine at that price - complete, proven, finished.