I had this crazy gut feeling to go in on the LE when this was announced even though I actually need a new car. I'm still scared I did that since I'm not a high rolling lawyer or doctor who looks at these prices like they are somehow normal... so I'm sorta ok with waiting for it... well actually my bank account is. I have my fingers tightly crossed that the art/sculpts are gonna be amazing like Ghostbusters LE. If not, I will for sure have an LE available for you all right out of the gate...

I am sorta speculating, but when I spoke with John Trudeau last year (before his career/life fell away from pinball) he highly hinted on being the lead designer on Iron Maiden. What I think happened was a simple "stars aligning" moment with Keith and Stern needed to stay on schedule with Iron Maiden and instead of completely starting from scratch, they offered Mr. Elwin the chance to re-skin his game to keep everything on the same timeline... win/win scenario for everyone!

It's for sure a battlefield explosion of colors but I dig it! I bet the foil will make one in person look pretty damn impressive. I do still wish it would have been scarier however... but that's what I always say.

The numero uno issue for me is the "fun" factor, and this one seems to be right where it needs to be. All the minor gripes aside we must admit for a first game, Keith did an amazing job. Perfect? No. But show me one game that is 100% perfect in any medium Until you can make your own game (from scratch), ya really gotta back off on the complaining and find it in your heart to respect these guys for putting together solid pieces of art that not only are playable, but also extremely collectible. I am keeping my LE order without a doubt. I guarantee once it's plugged in and comes alive all of our jaws will drop.

People are forgetting that this is not based on the traditional Iron Maiden art/albums otherwise the "legacy of the beast" branding wouldn't have been included. I too wish it was based on the "scarier/darker" art of traditional eddie... but alas it is not. It also explains why the models look the way they do in the animations. I just wish they woulda spent a little more time on the "somewhere in time" sculpt, as it's pretty obvious that wasn't made for this game alone. It looks like an action figure with articulated arms and legs and not a true sculpt like on Walking Dead. I'm already looking for an alternative toy to replace it with, and that's kinda a bummer considering the price of the upgrade to LE to get true sculpts...

I agree that the foil is going to make it pretty damn impressive to see in person, regardless of it being themed on air battles...

Good point, though I'm the type of guy who completely showcases the game when I get it, especially when I put it on location or in Horrorhouse Fest... I'm not the type who buys 3000 games and puts them in my "off limits, collector zone" basement.

I'm excited beyond belief for this game, though the first two albums/art style still resonate most for me... The self titled album was one I bought when I was a kid based on the art alone, and it completely changed my life Killers of course is one of the most iconic covers of all time and scared me to death every time I saw it hanging on the tapestry above my bed... haha

However, in terms of the pinball realm, and as I let this crazy leaked reveal controversy set-in, I must say in comparison to games of the past the cost increase (which I understand is needed to have such a huge team at Stern working on this) just doesn't stack up in terms of features, toys, etc. I know Ghostbusters LE was not loved as much due to gameplay difficulty, but damn that game was stacked with tons of cool and innovative parts and pieces. This game, which has some truly amazing gameplay and layout flow... just feels a bit over-priced in comparison mostly due to the lack of top level features. Wizard of Oz was cheaper (initially) and had almost too much stuff... And then go look at games from the 90's once more and do a comparison. Many of those woulda cost $18,000 if they came out today due to all the custom creations lying within.

Overall, inflation is a jerkface, and I just wish with the price increase we'd get more to shoot at and admire. I'm not a lawyer or corporate collector so this price-point really does hit me hard. I took a chance on a game that's pretty damn expensive (and will not be backing out btw), but just feel like it really didn't warrant the price increase due to an LCD being in place and some extra toys that will in no doubt be recreated by mod makers...

Regardless I know I'm gonna love playing this game, I just know my bank account is going to be wondering why I chose to lay down such a high amount of dollar bills for something that is more of a downgrade in features to games purchased just a year ago.

This is the weirdest release of a game ever. No word from the big guys after 2 days of it being leaked here... bizarro... Reminds me of Sega Saturn weirdness.

I'm almost at the point of going back to switching to the pro. I paid in-full for the LE but the more time I have to let it soak-in the honeymoon excitement is beginning to subside. Guess it's just a case on the Mondays... or a case of just not feeling like those extra action figures and motorized elements are worth this big price difference. I had both Walking Dead LE and Ghostbusters LE and I never felt that uneasy with those pre-received. Probably because they were both truly stacked with awesome features and sculpts that for sure assured me they were worth the cost (plus they weren't nearly as expensive either). With everyone talking about the problems with cabinet build quality and the fact the playfields still divot like crazy right out of the box I'm getting quite a bit nervous... I know we're all super excited, but come on Stern, let's see real world pics of this thing already. Is the metallic Foil really gonna keep my order in place?!

Yeah they will refund if I want (which in all reality I won't ask for anyways). I guess I bring this up more to put it out there that although I love pinball more than most things, it's getting pretty discouraging to see these price increases with features and quality going the opposite way. In all reality if you step back from the theme craze on this one and the outstanding hand illustrated art, this game is pretty barren. Compared to almost all the new games out there in the same price range, and to the feature packed (& much cheaper) Alice Cooper it's just hard to justify the LE price. I know I'll just wind up keeping it anyways as I have some cool plans for it that I just can't let go of... but Stern, will you at least do one custom feeling sculpt like in Walking Dead and not use toys on LE games? You gotta step it up, not scale it back...

I bet I'll feel much differently once I get it, but of the 30+ games I've owned through my years of doing this madness of pinball game collecting, this is the only one I have second guessed. I know it's going to be super fun regardless (cause pinball is always fun)... just a bit concerned of the quality. If not, I know the value will stay true... I just wish I wasn't second guessing so much. The silence from Iron Maiden and Stern is a bit worry-some.

I totally felt Ghostbusters LE and The Walking Dead LE were amazing and I owned both (still own GBLE). The sculpts in Walking Dead were top notch, and the gameplay features in Ghostbusters were outstanding, along with the art packages. The Walking Dead LE was additionally amazing due to the cabinet art not having a bunch of actors sprawled all over it...

The biggest redemption with the art reveal fiasco is that Stern didn't halt production. They could have done that and then this thread would have exploded in rage. I feel Stern is for sure on our side on making sure we don't get caught up in paying and not getting what we paid for. I'd much rather have that then be locked in some scenario where we don't know when we're getting our games...

The LE page is now up on pinside... https://pinside.com/pinball/archive/iron-maiden-legacy-of-the-beast-premium-le

Moderators just gotta link up their forum topics! I was going to start one but didn't want to get yelled at for starting a new topic...

I'm an operator and always plan on spending a few weeks out of the gate making sure everything works, and always expect to have to fix one thing or another... or work it out with the manufacturer. I think a lot of people are just now getting into this world of pinball not really knowing what to expect, and get freaked out super easy. The simple reality is, and Charlie over at Spooky says it often for a reason... pinball is hard! With the amount of components, wires, connections, boards, etc etc, something is ALWAYS bound to be broken or off alignment. But that is also why pinball is fun. It's one of the most challenging hobbies out there. Unbox, play, fix, play, fix, fix, play.... the cycle never ends. As long as you have a game you will be maintaining it constantly no matter how well it was put together.

I personally feel that the Premium looks like it was originally intended to be the LE since it fits the overall theme. Maybe that's why it took so long for approvals. Trying to decide which one should be represented for what. I do understand why the premium got this theme since there will be many more of these out in the wild...

I am a bit merfed that we as buyers of this game had no way of making a decision on which one to buy if we were considering the LE, as I did. I seriously hope Stern marketing looks at this thread and realizes that selling games sight unseen for these price points is completely unfair. Some here may be millionaires who could care less, but I for one am not even close to being one and feel kinda blindsided overall... I should have had my choice day one of which model to get based upon showing all three art packages when they were "ready/approved". I feel bad as I try to stay positive on here for the most part, but come on. My LE is on a truck now and NOW I can make the decision on which version looks best for what I like?!?

$9000 BLIND BOX ITEMS are NOT cool... This isn't Kidrobot.

Yeah which may be my plan, though I got so upset over it I may just sell it, bypass the other models and start focusing on the next Spooky release as those guys treat their customers perfecto. I haven't felt this burned in a long time. I truly feel as much as everyone loves this game, that most are not realizing that this was a completely botched deal and this should not be repeated. Trust me, I absolutely love the art on all 3 (Zombie Yeti is one of my favorite illustrators), but when it comes down to it the Egyptian theme is a much bigger sell for me, not the random aviation theme that appeared after the games were already built. The marketing materials saying "battlefield" for the cabinet art... which was not true at all is a big no-no, and the whole not revealing art until they ship?!? I understand it's because of art approvals with the licensee... but in all reality this game should have been DELAYED until all of the art was approved.

The more I think about this, the more I get upset, and I don't know if I've ever really been upset about anything related to pinball.

Stern, I have been praising you and your games for a long time. This time I just don't know what to say...

I am mad because we as consumers should have the choice between which model (fully revealed art included) as soon as it goes on sale. The blind box reveal thing was not a good approach... $10 for one of those vs $9000 for one of these is a big difference.

I have been onboard this whole time and have been counting down the days to get the game until today... when I realized full and clear that we should have all seen what all three models look like before buying them. This game should have been delayed until they could show all 3 the day the LE's go on sale.

oh... also.... I can't really afford it. I am an operator and put it on a Credit Card.

It's deceiving to buyers doing it this way plain and simple whether they have done it in the past or not. I trusted them to do something amazing so it's really my fault for pulling the trigger anyways on the game, but still... The LE does not have Battlefield art on the cabinet and it's far too much money for a blind box. That's all I'm saying...

btw - I am by far not a drinker so no beer for me. Also, It's a fun game, but one of the most bad ass ever made?... give it a year and let me know whatcha think. There is for sure a pretty big grip of amazing games that would be hard to beat... and they are packed with heapload of innovations.

The pinball industry is nutsoid. The 2000's has been full of manufacturers doing some crazy/wild/bordeline criminal moves... (heighway, zidware, dutch). I'm getting scared off, and I usually am the one scaring

... and I totally realize I can sell it, and I still probably won't cause I love all pinball... I just don't agree with the way they put us on the spot to decide right away without any art shown on whether or not we wanna actually get "possibly" the best model based on our art preferences, and random luck of picking the right one with tons of cash. We should be able to choose based on imagery which one we like best whether it's limited or not. I own/owned a ton of super limited games, but I knew what I was stepping into at least on each and every one of them except for this one. This just feels like some gambling lottery ticket thing this time around. It's bizarre and I hope they stop following that approach...

Personally I am not upset with the game at all, I'm just saying it would be better for us all if we could see all three options and make a decision if it's worth taking the plunge for the LE before taking that gamble. I'm done with even slightly being negative as I love pinside, love Iron Maiden, and also know I'll love it regardless...

Yeah that Premium just screams LE to me, so totally not surprised to hear it swapped. I love the look of this premium I think more than any other premium before it. Super radical.

Seriously would consider a trade for whoever gets one of the first premiums for my LE... just saying. This Premium is just gorgeous!! One of my favorite translites of all time...