That was good to read that Slimer will have green leds shining down on him.

I'm content with Sterns pricing model with respect to the different tiers like good, better, best(Pro, Premium, LE) and I can't imagine them changing to a one size fits all. If they tried just one model and it was priced in the middle, the upper end would be unhappy and the Pro buyers might just be out of the market which if I understand from reading other posts is mostly operators. I don't know what else would work, only that I like what they have now.

Now, as a consumer, I don't care for the way they have done business limiting discounts for us and increasing my buy price. I might feel different if I were a large distributor(who just got a nice raise), but since I'm not, I'll stick to my position on the matter. If Stern has approved distributors who don't have any over head and can sell cheaper, lets not punish the end consumer for those decisions. One just needs to look at the posts from people in Australia to realized this is not a good road to go down for consumers. In my line of work, we do not dare talk pricing with our competitors, and the manufacture doesn't dare do it with us. This is not my area, but I think Sterns move may be some sort of Retail Price Maintenance(RPM) or at least that's how they see it. Seems as thought there is a fine line between that and price fixing. Either way, I'm a fan of Stern, just not of this pricing move. I also don't think this move is good for the little guy in the long run. All things being equal(this is just for example), unless you have a long standing relationship with a distro, why do business with someone who is small, has limited inventory, and you may have a higher risk of exposure if the pricing is all the same. I normally support my local business and route for the smaller guys. Its where I came from so its in my nature I suppose. Sorry the rant, back to GB

Agreed. I think the rumor of a mod has been put to rest. Mezelmods is not working on it and clearly Stern is not based on the article. Seems like the holes were left in the playfield (last I knew), so I guess it provides some an avenue for some home brew creativity -- without any code to support though

I know that....I was just saying how much I payed for my Pro. I've been on PS as long as you have, I'm not new at this ya know.

Because of Sterns new pricing policy I wonder if the distros will have the "wiggle room" to offer free stuff with a new game to entice us to buy from them over the other guy.

MAYBE?!?!!!?!!?!?!?!!?!?!

sigh... it's not price fixing.

Price fixing is when COMPETITORS conspire to control the price. So, Stern would need to collude with JJP and DP or whoever for it to be price fixing...

I don't feel like googling a proper definition for you, surely you can do that yourself.

I'll definitely be buying a set from you. Your dirty harry ones were great.

Hit the lit shots.

I thought I heard on an interview that this still might be considered (I think it was John Trudeau's interview)?

I am not sure but there was talk about it somewhere.

BMW's model is a little different than Teslas. Tesla needs the expensive sports car to fund the luxurious sedan, and the sedan to fund the affordable car. Their goal all along was to get to the mass market car. You see, the more people who own electric cars, the better it is for their business. They don't want to be a niche electric car company; they want to fundamentally change how we travel. Big endeavor, especially once you throw in automated driving and supercharger network vs gas stations.

Stern is going for relatively high margin low volume instead of low margin high volume. This is fine cuz you make same profit from selling less machines, but the problem is, you're not really growing your consumer base.

No doubt they make killer margins off the LEs compared to the pros. Their old games are every bit equal to premiums of today but the price went from 4K to 6800 in a very short time.

I really don't want to spend 6800, but man that GB sure looks nice.

Well get a Pro for under 5k and save 1.8-2k.

Yes, but what are the rules for getting a high score. Are there any nuances to the scoring that make each different (I'm thinking like the asteroid mode on Star Trek, or the Discover Hotel Monolith on Shadow - These aren't your basic hit 5 shots and you win).

I might, gotta see the slings and goggles before I decide...

This is called, Minimum Resale Price Restrictions, it has nothing to do with Stern's margins, they still sell the machine for whatever they want, but the reseller is restricted and cannot fall below a certain retail price, if they do Stern can opt not to sell to them anymore.

In theory, and probably in practice, it protects the distributors who have a "brick and mortar" store, larger sales staff... vs an online site / discount store that has none of that overhead and could undercut the "brick and mortar" store. The issue is the consumer cannot buy that company's "RPM "product for less than a certain value...

I'm with both of you, this is where I am at the moment... it's odd because the Pro has more going on than my 2 current pins yet after seeing the extras on the premium I feel sucked in, dang it!

nice photo in that article by Steve Tsubota (pinsane here on pinside)

Good read. The game sounds awesome. I love the fact Trudeau pays tribute to his cat too. How cool!

So now instead of calling around to get the best price you call around to get the distributor that offers the game at Minimum Resale Price

I was surprised he doesn't have any games at home. I wonder if that is a: "don't bring work home with me", thing or if Stern picking him up off the street was more towards being accurate than hyperbole. Was he on tough times? (Hope not).

At any rate, nice write up, I'm glad he's designing games and it looks like he is poised to have a mega-hit in this one.

I just heard that there will be 4....yes 4 GB Pros at the Minneapolis GB Release party. 4 different colors of my Leg Light-Ups will be on the games and one lucky raffle winner will take home his choice of one of the 4 colors from the actual game there. This is going to be the BEST release party in the world.

I know I can buy from a retailer, delivered and setup for $5,400 on a Pro and a Premium for $7,000. The retailer is buying it from a distributor, and the retailer is making a few bucks too, so my guess is the RPM is probably right around 5k /Pro and 6.5k /Premium.

Lucky! Pics and videos please!

Agreed! I'll be doing the same here but this side of the border.

Regarding plastic protectors, I bought the GoT (sling and return lane) colored protectors from Pinball Life for $24.95. I believe Joe @ Laseriffic made the the Pinball Life and Stern ones. So I guess we are seeing a $5 Stern mark up. Doesn't seem unreasonable to me.

Stern is selling more machines now than they have in years, so much so, they had to move their factory. Obviously their customer base is growing, and the company is doing well with the model of business they have developed.

and Joe was probably selling them to PBL at a 20% discount so PBL would make a $5 profit so if he made the same deal with Stern then they are making a $10 profit.

I would charge Stern more than Terry @ PL, buts that's just me

Not to crap on the parade but if you look at the clearcoat reflection in these pics, it doesn't seem very thick, you can see the wood grain... I thought Stern was getting better with their clearcoats...

Not on the Pro models.

It varies, I just bought a 2011 NOS Rolling Stones pf from Stern and it's beautiful, head and sholders better then LOTR which is the same year I believe. Or was LOTR 2009?

LOTR was 2003 - 2005 (3 runs) then in 2009 they put out the 500 SE version.

I thought the same thing.

Ah thanks.

Do they still claim to put more clear on Premium & LE than Pro?

Now that you mention it, it is not in the feature matrix for the games.

http://www.sternpinball.com/upload/games/ghostbusters/premium/Ghostbusters%20Features%20Matrix.pdf

The clear on my GOT Pro looks incredible.

and my Mustang and ST Pros are great too.

i doubt they put more clear on the pro/premium.

GOT plastic protectors included 4 pieces, GB 2 pieces.

It's also rumored that the LE gets two coats of clear because of the signature not sure if it is true though.

this is the reason.

if you have 1 or 2 clear coats - no difference for dimples

both will look used after 50 games

ST LE TWD pro, all the same

i hope for my GB not to have the insert problems like the GOT`s

That's true. The matrix does say the designer's signature under hard coat.

I am hoping the decals on my LE won't peel off.

Prem shipped is $6700 afaik

JARED ....... video ...... pretty please

So outside of the price is anyone going to get these plastic protectors? Why are there two colors and which color is going to look the best?

Still no premium/LE game play video, man I don't think I'm being unreasonable saying this is really dragging, especially with some LE's 'apparently' hitting doorsteps by the end of the month.

I haven't heard from my distro yet about my LE but I know it's just a small shop so I'm sure I'll be closer to #500 than #1

I get Stern selling mods, but plastic protectors rubs me the wrong way a little. The reason we used to pony up for them is because we had great hobbyists like Pinbits and Orbit making plastic pieces that Stern "forgot" to make. If Stern is now aware plastic protection is something that is needed...just install them on the games at the factory. They've been doing that with scoop/saucer areas and ramps lately...so why not a few plastics? I'm sure there's room on the butyrate sheets for these 2 pieces.

why they should, there is no competition at the moment.