I think it's unfair to call this a "price hike" - rather, it is the ending of the preorder discount. You say that "the incentive only applied to the LE", but you are wrong.

1) When people first ordered the LE for $6,500 in early 2011, no one knew what the final price would be. The first mention of a higher price was on June 11, 2011, where it was stated that the price would increase to $7,000 on July 1, 2011 (sounds like a familiar timeline, huh?), and then to $7,500 on August 1, 2011. So, between January 9 and June 11, no one knew how much of a "discount" their preorder was actually for.

2) The ordering availability of the normal edition was announced in an email on October 16, 2011, which states "We are now taking Pre-Orders for the Wizard of Oz Pinball, (Non-ECLE)...The Pre-Order Price is $6500.00 with just a $250.00 deposit." It's typical for "pre-order" prices to involve some sort of discount for ordering before the product ships, yes?

So, really, how is this any different to how things were handled with the LE? And how is this different to pre-order pricing on a new Stern - beyond not having some inflated MSRP stated in advance that no one would actually ever charge?

Personally, I'm hoping this is a sign that machines are going to start shipping in July!