In today's market, you could argue that the next affordable pin with be the first.

Never happen...

The Star Wars Comic art is the same price as any other stern pro.

I believe the op was looking at the home edition which is 2k below a new pro. These could have a place at some point, entry level for a home user.

^^^^^this^^^^^
https://pinballpro.net/stern-star-wars-pin-comic-edition/

Way better to get a previous title that is HUO than getting a home model. Pick up a TWD, Aerosmith, Star Trek, for 5k or less.

people that overlook the flood of amazing sub-$1k EMs on the market are missing out on a ton of fun

Stern seems dedicated to the "home pin" concept and I have no doubt they'll keep trying.

There's definitely a market for these. Yes, yes, we all know you can get a used pro for $1,000 more than one of these "home models" but plenty of people don't want to deal with used market. Their latest attempt, Star Wars, is their best yet and their closest to a commercial game but for most of us it just doesn't make any sense. The sweet spot would probably be around $3500 new but I don't think they can pull that off. There's only so much you can take out of a game before it starts to resemble those Star Explorer machines.

I do not understand "affordable". I bought my first pin in 1983 and have owned about 50. I sold all for more, or traded for equal or a better game. Home games always go down in value. Affordable is a Gottlieb System 1. Get a working one for less than a grand. They are fun games. Electromechanical games are low in price. They are very affordable, if you are good at tinkering. Pay 500 for one and keep it working and it will be worth 550 or 600 in 2 years. You made 50 or 100. Very affordable.

I have played the SW Home version a little, and although I haven't put a lot of time on one I must say I actually enjoyed playing it more than a full-blown SW Pro, it's a legitimately good game IMO. The shots are great (I believe it's a Gomez design), there's some real depth to the code that should give it some staying power in a home setting, and the audio and video are well-done (hobbled only by the tiny screen and mono sound). Upon inspection, it's obvious where the cost-cutting vs a "proper" Pro game took place, but it's not really noticeable during game play and I don't think any of it will be significantly detrimental to long-term durability in a home setting.

I really don't think someone is making a bad choice by picking this up instead of a used coin-op machine; some folks just want that "new pin smell" and the perception of better reliability that comes from buying NIB, and I can't blame them. There is a local place advertising these on their marquee at $4200, so I have little doubt one could be had for $4k with a bit of haggling.

The SW Home playfield has been recycled a couple of times. Earlier versions had plastic ramps and were featured in Transformers, SM, and Avengers home pins (which were mostly dismal and have been completely scrubbed off Stern's web site), then reworked slightly for Supreme. The version in SW Home has metal ramp upgrades and a couple of reworked details, but is the same basic layout. This playfield may have been used for other titles as well, but I cannot recall.

Of note, the $8k Heavy Metal pin uses an almost identical playfield as the SW Home, so you can feel great about getting a "good deal" and paying half the cost for the same basic ball-flipping action if you pick up SW!

They've come a long way. Their first attempt - "the pin" - was a godforsaken monstrosity!

https://www.amazon.com/Stern-Transformers-Pin-Pinball-Machine/dp/B009AVLBS0/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_pdt_img_top

I don't think affordable has to mean spending as little as possible, and not everyone has the skill or inclination to work on machines that might require an oscilloscope to debug them, they just want to play. The experience of the games you just recommended is fun yes, but not what a used Stern Pro or Home edition offers in my opinion. Top that off with a flat out stupid market right now: The closest thing within 100 miles of me that matches this idea is a Flying Carpet for $750, with the next available machine being a $4000 DE Jurassic Park.

More similar to your example: My first motorcycle in 2003 was a 1974 Honda CB360 with tube tires, carburetors, drum brakes, and at best 22 horsepower. I paid $200 for it, fixed it up, and sold it 25,000 miles later for $1000. Would I recommend one now? No, parts are even harder to find, a bone stock modern machine can run complete circles around it without having to worry about rubber parts dry rotting or wires breaking or points needing calibration.

Were the ones they were selling at Costco a few years back a precursor of "The Pin"?

Those were the first incarnation of "The Pin" if I recall correctly. The first was Transformers, followed by Avengers; they are identical except for the theme, used red alphanumeric LED displays, and a weird cabinet design with a playfield that couldn't be raised (the bottom panel of the cabinet had to be removed for access to the playfield underside). I recall Transformers being sold at Costco for $2500 at the time. Of note, these were some of the first games to implement the Spike System.

The next "Pin" was Spiderman; it had a more conventional looking cabinet and small color LCD display, and was the first that looked and felt more like a "real" machine.

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and a gun so u can shoot urself out of sheer boredom. I'll take the modern 6 to 10K box of lights thank you very much.

u r 2 funny!

I bet it’ll be another reskin, but with a layer of Marvel paint

100% agreed. The thing that should not be'

Before those was Batman Dark Knight Costco Edition & Iron Man Home Edition.

It isn't impossible to do in Texas. I think I saw a dozen huo games come up around 5k when Mando was announced. Granted the only one I still see is a Star Wars in Houston.

Yes, but those machines (if I recall correctly) were simply decontented versions of the coin-op models. They had the same cabinets, art, DMD, and basic gameplay, so the cost-cutting was mostly implemented via the deleted playfield features, omitted coin mechs, and (probably) cheaper licensing for home-only use.

The "PIN" series is where Stern began to try to purpose-build "home" games from the ground-up, hence the lighter weight cabinets with weird form-factors, chintzy displays, mono sound, parallel-connected coils, etc.

At least the Star Wars home pin has metal ramps, these aren't even on The Mandolorian.

Is “metal ramps” the new dumb litmus test for what’s supposed to represent a good pinball machine?

Some of the best, most popular games of all time have plastic ramps. I’d do a list, but that would just demean both of us.

if the kaneda rumor that stern is planning to raise prices by $500 is true, then todays games are the more affordable ones. tomorrows will not be.

It's not "new" by any means

JP is the rumor to answer the OP.

Either make an appointment to go to Joystix in downtown Houston to try out that Star Wars pin during the day, if they still have one, or go play everything they have, new and older, on the 1st and last Friday each month from 9pm to 2am for $15. Always a great time there. At one point in time, Joystix did have a Spiderman pin there. Likely sold though. https://www.joystixgames.com/pacman-fever-friday/

November is coming up so our next Houston Arcade Expo is going to be another great party. Last time, Joystix did bring 2 of those Star Wars pins among other games to the show. There could be some older games for sale there, some may even be listed on the game list from now until the time the show starts.

http://www.arcadecenter.com/index.php/games/