Maybe they are raising money so they can fix my screwed up BM66 play field?

/sarcasm

Didn’t they go up at the beginning of the year?

they go up every year, what else is new. more money and shittier quality.

Yes, first of Jan they went up. Are we saying they went up again?

Stern and JJP higher ups I hope you are reading this. I built a new addition to our home last fall. I have room for probably 6-10 more pinballs. I have money sitting in the bank to buy these pinballs. I won't be buying any NIB pinballs from you anytime soon. Tired of the greed, crappy quality control, incomplete software, and paying more for less. Get your crap together, because this greed is slowly going to kill this hobby for lots of us. Thank you.

JP Pro MSRP: $5899. US Inflation rate last year: 2.3%. 5899 * 0.023 = $135. Seems like they're actually lowering prices to me...

Pretty sure it was 5999, then 6099 in 2020?

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/sterns-game-release-history

EDIT: I'm not sure since I didn't pay MSRP because no one does.

Who is buying NIB for 2020 anyway?

Put spending confidence & abilities to the side

Odds are there will be some decent pricing & decent inventory of HUO games soon. Not fire sale predatory pennies on the dollar stuff. Just decisions being made, etc.

Will be tough to sell a $6K Pro NIB when they’re in the $4K’s here. Maybe $3K’s for undesirable titles? Perhaps folks trading games will be more common if pricing dips a tad too low?

Guess we will see. I don’t think I’m gonna buy NIB or HUO either way. Might need my cash to buy low & sell high or maybe just to survive for a while.

Weird times.

Lock downs.

Thousand point drop in SP500

Closed borders

Closed forever business already

People dressed like stormtroopers spraying cities with weird machines.

Pinball MSRP... lol

Got mine!

20200318_154911 (resized).jpg

Shit tickets secured, sir!

Yep, good to go!

Even so, the displays are cheaper, the CPU boards are cheaper, the power switch location is cheaper, the lockdown is cheaper, the rails are cheaper, the clear coat is cheaper, and distributors are price fixed at a higher price. . .so there’s that.

Unboxing video please!!!

Unboxing is fine...but please no Live Stream of you using it.

In 2003 a NIB LOTR was around $4k. In 2020 dollars $4k is $5477. So we could say that Stern's base games have really only gone up say $300 right? No. Think about how much more in regards to features is in LOTR compared to today's Stern Pro's. Think of the cabinet head being changed from wood to mostly metal, cheap decals being used versus direct cabinet printing, removal of the lockdown bar, removing the backbox lock mech, etc. Finally toss in the cheaper parts often being used such as the coil stops. Only then does it become clear just how much Stern has increased their prices and lowered their build of materials cost.

That same LOTR from 2003 for $4k should be compared to a Stern Premium today. At that point the real price increase to get a game with similar features is $3,000. What's even more eye opening is that's a $3,000 increase for similar features yet lower quality parts and build quality.

New sterns were not 4k for lotr and those early sam system games.
Lotr, tspp, harley davison (right when they switched from sega to stern), etc all were $3100 new.

A few years later After that, I used to get them for $3700 shipped NIB with a bill acceptor from jack.
Spiderman, 24, csi, wof, nascar, family guy, potc, BBH etc all $3700 shipped with bill acceptor.

Iron man is when they were raised to 4k even. Tron was $4100, Bdk $4100 , Transformers pro, x men, both $4100.
Then they started going up annually and here we are now which is way top much. They still earn the same on location or less.
A higher priced machine does not make it earn more unfortunately.

Sure seems like people complained about price, quality, and features back then just like they do today. They have as long as I have been in the hobby at least. In general, I think games of today are much better than games of the past. I see a lot of improvements in art, gameplay, design, displays, lighting, etc. Stern is no different than any other manufacturer. They make a product, set the price, and the customers ultimately decide if that price is agreeable. Even with all the competition that has sprung up over the years, Stern still sells the most and the cheapest pin.

Stern is lucky to sell any games in this economy, never mind executing a price increase. I will buy NIB games when I can get them for $5200 delivered.

I overpaid for my tspp, $4295 delivered in 2003, still have it.