Quoted from Pinballlew:

Listen where?

Quoted from Who-Dey:

So how much do you think a new Stern Pro should cost dnast?

Quoted from mof:

Ideally, just looking at historical prices over 35 years, I'd say somewhere between $4k and $6k. I'd go with $5k to give room for much more complex pins to cost $6k.
-mof

Quoted from MikeS:

Despite higher prices does anyone think anyone other than Stern is really making a lot of money selling NIB pinballs? JJP is their biggest competitor and has probably sold around 6k machines over the course of 6 years. 1k games a year isn't that many games when you consider salaries and overhead and factory costs. Really the only reason Stern has any competition is because the prices of games have went up. If they were still $4-$5k other companies wouldn't be entering the market and Stern would be the only player left.

Quoted from jawjaw:

I personally gaurantee no one here is an expert on pinball mass manufacturing. Of couse Stern profits more than a few bucks on every pin. They only sell a few titles a year and in relative small quantities. We are all bias because we are the consumer. We want cheaper prices and don't give a flip of the investors at Stern. Prices have gone up but so have prices of just about everything. Stern charges what people will pay plain and simple. Same goes for the used market. I don't think TAF is worth $6000 but others do. At one time that was crazy but not now. Trying to argue it was once a $2000 game and should still be is stupid. Prices are and always will be what people will pay at that moment. If sales start dropping at Stern, then you will see changes. Right now, it seems they have little trouble selling pins at current pricing.

Quoted from Rarehero:

They've been doing that ever since the LE was invented - but the LE upcharge used to be $800, and that was a decent enough value to different art, mirrored backglass, powdercoat, maybe a shaker - and the novelty of rarity, which could turn into a financial reward. That was worth $800 to me on Met LE. Fast forward to today - I think GBLE was $1500 more than the Prem, and then of course look at B66 LE and SLE at $10k & $15k. That's official fake collectibility and an arrogant greedy cash grab to boot.
I think Stern's Pro/Prem/LE pricing structure around 2013 was still fair-ish. Pros were less than $5k and Prems were less than $6k. People bitched about it compared to 2006-2010 pricing (less than $4k for a full featured game)....but to me seemed to be fair on both sides. Stern runs a business and has been able to grow it and hired way more employees. Games have to sell for a certain amount to sustain that. Since the games were holding their value and even going up sometimes - that was a fair deal for both sides.
Things have gotten a little bonkers now, and I can no longer empathize with their side, as I feel like they're just trying to take advantage of their customers. The last Stern I bought was STLE in 2013, and even then I thought the pricing was too high ...I almost didn't buy it but had a "F it, why not" moment. I sold it in less than a year due to frustration with code issues and a Stern employee gleefully gloating to me how much $ they were making, and no one cares about the things I was complaining about. Sorry, I guess I'm the crazy one for expecting the extra LE features I paid for to actually be coded.
I almost buckled on my NIB boycott for GB, but then the QC issues came to light. Same old same old. It's all about $$$.
They've driven me away for good. I can afford their prices. I choose not to buy on principal.

Quoted from pinballlife:

Roger Sharpe is an expert in licensing products in 2017. Let's give credit where credit is due. He is THE MAN in this field.
Please tell me why you think be is also an expert in manufacturing in 2017.

Quoted from BudManPinFan:

A business with a successful product that's selling well raises it's prices to make more profit, where have I heard of that before...oh that's right, it's called Capitalism. Sorry you don't like it, I've been priced out of the NIB market myself, but it's rather pointless to complain about the success of the companies or the people who have the money to buy from them.

Quoted from Hazoff:

Build quality right?
Man that argument is lame, Sterns for the most part are holding up pretty well, I don't hear much from operators stating Sterns are falling apart or from home owners that their pins are collapsing, ok "JJP games have more stuff going" what all 2 of them and The Hobbit isn't a loaded game at all and they better be loaded when you get 1 game every 3 years or so, Stern still makes the best all around games, ok code could be quicker and quality could be better but its not like its shit and no one is forcing anyone to buy NIB wait a year or so then buy a Pre. Batman 66, Starwars on the horizon, TWD, Aerosmith way cooler themes than anything JJP has come up with not too mention by far the best LCD of any manufacturer, I like the 27" and all but Sterns fits the best, maintains some translite but gives you a nice display, I'm not a Stern fanboy but I can't stand the whole "build quality of JJP" or "feels like 90's B/W" crap. without Stern we would be in a sad state when it comes to pinball in 2017. Oh yeah..............

Quoted from Rarehero:

WOF is actually a really good design, hampered by a cheesey theme and incomplete code. WWE, yeah that just f'ing sucks. When people want "off the wall designs", I think they just want something a little more interesting - ramps that do interesting things with divertors to make a single shot have multiple outcomes...and of course, a really cool toy. I think B'66 was an attempt at a really cool toy, but it didn't quite work. I think people want to see the Stern equivalent of something that used to wow us back in the day...Rudy's talking head, Addam's Thing hand & book case, Dr. Who's Time Expander, Medieval's castle. We had a few Stern toys like that...POTC's ship, Family Guy's mini-pinball...but interesting and unique toy mechs are pretty rare right now. Aerosmith's ball fling & MB dump is pretty cool, although it's something we have seen on other games.

Quoted from Rarehero:

They could do anything at WMS because they were selling 10,000-20,000 units per game. Stern's always been more of a penny pinching company, especially post 2000 as the arcades were dying. At the end of the day, for Stern, the license sells the game to the distributor, the license brings in the player....and the average player doesn't know if a game would be cooler with more divertors, subways, mechanical features, etc. Look at something like South Park - players go "Oh, South Park!" and "Cool I can kill Kenny" and it makes a ton on location. It's actually smart business to not waste money on crazy mechs and designs....but it leaves hardcores like us hanging.

Oh, I disagree. Hobbit is a great game. Looks are deceiving. There are a lot of divertors, magnets, upkickers, etc that aren't blatantly obvious just by looking at it....but when you play it, there's a lot of magic and diversity while you play. Not to mention the most incredible light choreography, amazing modes and beautiful music ever composed for a pinball machine. That being said - yes, it doesn't have that one big "magic" toy like a Medieval Madness castle....but when non-hobbyists come over to play it, they're blown away by how it looks and they light up when something new and interesting happens like the beasts popping up or Smaug talking to them.

Quoted from Rarehero:

You know - I really didn't to expect to. I think like a lot of people who saw/played it at shows before it came out or early in its life - I was pretty "meh" about it...and had the same complaints about the "empty" playfield and whatnot...but once I jammed on it on current code long enough for the logic of everything to click - I completely turned around on it. Honestly the same thing happened to me way back in the day with TSPP - I was like "F this confusing ass F-ing game" at first...but kept at it and then once I "got" it...holy crap, it's pinball heaven. Probably a Keith/Balcer thing...the magic isn't always super obvious up front, and the rules depth can be daunting...but with a little patience and learning - it turns into a beautiful experience.

Quoted from doughslingers:

The crowd will do even more when Star Wars Super Limited Edition gets released. Just imagine all the rush to order. "Hurry and take my money"

Quoted from Rob_G:

They were $6900 prior to Jan 1. Then $7100 and a few months ago now $7500 - $7600. Add taxes and shipping and it's going to be $8000 - $8500. It is what it is...
Rob