I believe that the "Blood Sucker" edition IS the "LE". But, I may be wrong.

Yes.....actually pretty simple. If you want to get one absolutely, positively, get into the fang club AND be ready to commit/make a deposit early. If you want to spend a little less and don't mind waiting a little longer, just commit to the non-BS edition.

I think the biggest struggle here is for Stern/JJP buyers. Spookys model cannot be directly compared to them.....so don't try.

I wonder why the announcement of 750 total made? I understand that is fueled partly by what Spooky can manufacturer in an acceptable time frame, but it seems otherwise intended to drive FOMO.

The TNA model seems more healthy. Announce a number you're going to make "right now" and maybe we make more later, maybe we don't.

Throw in the Blood Suckers as the actual LE, and seems like a good plan. I understand this decision has already been made for this title, but I question it.

See, Confusion.

I woke up with a slight case of bongchitis myself.

I am not sure why so many people are completely incapable of reading the posts and understanding what is very clear?

750 total games. That is it. No more and no less.

You want a game? Then you should probably join the gang club to have a shot. Sounds like they will sell out and the gang club members have the first possible shot at them.

BS edition.

I really like that term lol

My sentiments exactly.

How is it confusing?
Every Spooky pin is low production.
They are a specialty boutique “boo-tique” company. It’s part of the charm of this company.
Being low production is not the same as limited edition. Yes, it’s limited production but that’s a different thing.

I don’t see this as being all that much different than what they have done in the past with other games like Rob Zombie where the total production was 300 units. 250 of those were standard units, while only 50 were LE.
Alice Cooper was only 500 units, but the difference there was you could buy upgrades and customize the machine to your personal liking.
Personally I really like the way they do things. When you get one of their pins they feel like they are something special rather than a mass produced product from a hot dog factory.

Let me go get my reading glasses.

It makes sense.

There’s one edition. 750.

Fang Club members get a 2 week early window to order & option to buy an exclusive trim upgrade package for their 1 of 750. Upgraded versions are known as “Blood Suckers Edition”.

That’s it. Not complex.

Mmmmmm, hotdogs!

Not that I hate it, but that shit's so outdated I can't even listen to it anymore.

My fomo has a mandatory meeting with fomy (fear of my wife) tonight.

Joined the club, bought the album...

All set!

So you can not order a BS edition (within the prescribed time frame) if the orders have reached 750? ... even if half of those below 750 are regular Limited Editions? . It has the potential to turn contradictory.

Probably won't happen, but could. What if it does happen? ? ... it seems some shit will hit the fan one way or another.

The "Limited Edition" decision seems to lack fore-thought in some ways, perhaps.

FOMO is how pinball survives. Stern sells LEs thru FOMO....everything else they sell is gravy. Jack’s model doesn’t inspire FOMO. AP’s doesn’t either.

That being said, Spooky is doing this because they know what they can build in a time frame. They’ll have guaranteed cash to pay everyone for a known amount of time. What they’re doing makes sense for their small business.

TNA was different. That was almost like a bonus game while ACNC was really their main game on the line.

Why? It makes total sense. It’s part of their sales/marketing attack... but also leaves them with a manageable amount of games to make in a reasonable amount of time.

That’s all there is to it.

It works

Once again, all Spooky games have been limited. Limited is the baseline.

Of those 750, any of them can be made into BSE. Nothing contradictory. Not sure why you can’t wrap your head around this.

Once 750 R&Ms sell, they’re GONE. If there are 750 Fang Club members and they buy them all in the 2 weeks, they’re gone. If 400 of 750 turn into BSE, that’s the # of BSE.

Spooky is NOT selling this like a Stern or JJP.

There is ONE game, 750 units. Any of those 750 may be upgraded for the Fang Club buyer to a BSE.

That’s it.

Doesn't mean playing on FOMO isn't a questionable way to go about it.

If there is demand for 1000+ regular editions, why not be using that as a launchpad to expand capacity a little?

.... boutique or not, still there to make money, so why leave a heap of money laying on the table, along with disgruntled paid up Fang Club members??. Expanding capacity a little isn't going to turn them into a hotdog manufacturer. They can still do the same work, and have the same values, and still be "boutique". Boutique does not require everything to be limited edition.

Production capacity may be "limited", that is all. Also capacity is certainly a variable to an extent.

Agree most of this.

However games are also being allocated to distributors so if there were 750 Fang Club members they would not all get games.

This is why I think being a Fang Club Member doesn't totally guarantee a game ( was told this directly ).

I think it would help if Spooky addressed this before it gets messy.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/rick-amp-morty-pinball-from-spooky/page/6#post-5335828

"we often limit to what we feel we can do in a timely manner that is a fair wait time for the customer. Also the limit is a huge part of the draw for some people and makes it cool when you can get ahold of one!"

Pretty sure it was stated earlier 750 is how many machines they feel they can produce during the time frame they have the licence. This number was calculated on their current rate of games produced per week. Not sure what's so hard to understand. Can't compare to TNA cause the licensing constraint isn't there.

It’s not their first go at riding a bull at the rodeo.
I’m sure there is some basic mathematics that would tell them how many they need for distributors VS fang club members and could cap membership or limit membership privileges/eligibility at any time for newer signups if they wanted to.
If signups get out of control, they might have to put a cap on it (simple).
I for one hope they have that problem.
Go team Spooky.

Well as long as we're all left to wild speculation...

I don't know how appropriate a "Blood Sucker" set of addons is going to be for a R&M theme? I assume Spooky has thought this through, but on the surface it seems like a dripping blood paint apron or whatever isn't really going to enhance the theme.

And honestly paying for a poster and the priviledge of ordering first (Fang Club) is distasteful, but I guess "Capitalism".

I dunno. I AM a fan of Spooky pinball, but not a "joiner" I guess.

PS> Iron Maiden 4 Ever!

Indeed Go Team Spooky!

But, there Are Definately aspects (given the theme popularity) that very well could get "messy" and certainly "complex". I'm sure that is not desirable.

I'm hoping that is simple enough to follow.

There are questions that have no answer...

I think you’re jumping to a lot of conclusions here. We don’t know there is demand for 1000. It’s highly doubtful there will be 750 Fang Club members. Pretty sure anyone joining Fang Club just to get a R&M will be able to get one.

Keep in mind, as with every Spooky game - buyers lose patience. If it does sell out, you’ll see people selling spots or even early buyers selling their game to chase the next shiny. Anyone who wants a R&M will be able to get one. However if you’re worried - join the Fang Club & order one.

They’ve all been answered, you keep ignoring them lol.

It’s just a name. They wouldn’t make trim that doesn’t match the license.

I had considered sending in a silly video about how much I deserved to own one, but the $45 seemed a little easier on my own self respect.

Rarehero summed it up pretty succinctly.

If there are more Fang Club members that want a game than the 750 available, then some will not get a game.

If all Fang Club members want a BSE, then all 750 games will be BSE.

--
Rob Anthony
Pinball Classics
http://LockWhenLit.com
Quality Board Work - In Home Service
borygard at gmail dot com

I said "IF"!

Yes, It IS possible!

No, that question has Not been answered!

Thank you!

That Would be pretty dissapointing.

Would there be Refunds for Fang Club membership, for these people whom might get pushed aside?? ... I certainly hope so.

Mess.

you thinking too hard. I joined the fang club because I like spooky, I have no intention of buying RAM, so throw that in your calculations. fang club is not a pre-order for RAM. There are no limited editions, there are add-on options, some of those add-on options are only available if you join the fang club, that does not make it a limited edition.

Joining the club is for a poster.
It's a fan club.

How much to join the fang club?

Look....Spooky is a small pinball manufacturer that doesn't (and can't) operate on the same economies of scale as a large manufacturer like Stern.

Spooky puts out maybe 1 game per year. They take their time to try to make the best game they possibly can. They have the resources, manpower, and capacity to do that....but only by limiting the number of games they make.

What if they said they wouldn't cap the number made....or they increased it to, say, 2000. Would you be happy, knowing you were able to get a machine, but that they can't make it for you for 3-4 years? I doubt it. What if, after a few.months, the game was a bust, but they "pre-sold" 2000 of them? Now you have 1500-1800 unsatisfied customers who are trying to get out of their deposit or not making full payment when the time comes. And many of those customers wouldn't come back to Spooky again. Any way you slice it, that would be absolutely devastating to a company like Spooky.

Simple matter of fact:. They are making changes to the way they handle things to help them create additional brand loyalty and develop a sustainable sales model that will drive future revenue. And if everyone wants good competition to drive better future IP and machine titles, them sticking around helps the community as a whole.

The sales model isnt driving FOMO. The title is. Kudos to Spooky for doing what it took to land it.

Yes, it definitely would be.

--
Rob Anthony
Pinball Classics
http://LockWhenLit.com
Quality Board Work - In Home Service
borygard at gmail dot com

Ok - it’s pretty simple.

Spooky are making 750 machines. It’s a number they are comfortable making. They don’t want people waiting 2 years to get their machine.

All 750 machines are the same playfield and gameplay.

If you want to become a Fang Club member, you get an earlier opportunity to buy one of the 750 machines. You also have the choice to upgrade your machine to a Fang Club Edition for $500 (ish) which will be the same game, with upgraded armour and maybe some other trinkets.

Spooky are clever enough not to sell 1000 Fang Club memberships - or the shit would hit the fan.

PS I have 9 people on the list for R&M in New Zealand. I can’t think of any other new pin that sold more than that down here, outside of Metallica and AC/DC.

rd

Despite this, many many people will join understandably thinking this will secure them a game.

It should be made clearer that this membership does NOT (apparently) secure them a copy of RaM.

I hope it at least gets me a secret decoder ring.

I don’t think you get it AT ALL.
Spooky is a quirky boutique company with a creepy yet fun and playful horror based persona. Hence some of the plays on words like fang club VS fan club. Boo-tique VS boutique. They put the boo in boutique. Thus far it’s melded well with themes like Alice Cooper. Think of a bunch of punk rock/goth horror sci-fi nerds running a pinball company (pretty cool eh).
Blood sucker edition is just what they are calling that build level.
It doesn’t mean you’re going to get a Rick and Morty pin with blood dripping rails or a severed head for a topper.

You don’t like the idea of the fang club, great don’t join. Someone else will appreciate that spot.

It is perfectly clear. The fan club is just that. A fan club.

With that membership, you get some swag and the Access to POSSIBLY buy a game two weeks before those not in the club.

It clearly says no refunds.

You are overthinking it.

There are 750 games. That's it...it's not a 'limited edition'.

The BS is an upgrade option for cosmetics, similar to JJP's LE/CE

They may limit how many of those they actually allow, but I'm not sure they've said yet.

I do wonder if demand will be higher than 750 though and if there are over 750 Fang members how that will be handled. I imagine not every existing member will want one, and I imagine not everyone hyped and joining now is going to want one after the reveal, then additionally if they have to wait 18 months to get one, they'll sell their spot etc. (you know how the hype train goes).

No one from Spooky, ever, anywhere, said, impied, or insinuated that being a member of the Fang Club secured them a game. *(Unless it was in reference to a specific member at a specific time before the number of memberships may have exceeded the number of games available)

One of the perks of the Fang Club is you get the chance to purchase a game two weeks before sales open up to non-Fang Club members.

If Fang Club members before you in line purchase all the available games, that sucks, but that's the way lines/waiting lists work.

*edited to add additional comment
--
Rob Anthony
Pinball Classics
http://LockWhenLit.com
Quality Board Work - In Home Service
borygard at gmail dot com

My take is that the BS edition is limited to the Fang Club preference. Theoretically, if there are 750 people in the Fang Club, and all of them buy a RaM pin, and all of them opt for the Blood Sucker Edition, then all RaM pins would be Blood Suckers.

Fair points, now getting (after the umpteenth time checking out the website) that the Fang Club Memberships have "in stock" along side. Of course meaning this could well eventually (perhaps soon) read "Sold Out".

Oh well, the Quick or the Dead!

I know it's painful, but thank you to everyone helping to clarify some things for everyone that really are Not all that clear to see or find, and Are slightly confusing.

Bearing in mind also that "international" fang club members are asked to pay US$95 for their membership.

why would the fang club ever sell out? If they sell 751 of them great... if they sell 2,000 of them, great. People might actually want the schwag. When you buy a Stern fan club, that's not guaranteeing you anything either, maybe you like the shirt?

Please refer to post no. 1139 .....

See, there is confusion and various "understandings"

Simple

You guys are overthinking this. If you have any interest in R&M join the fan club and reach out to a distributor. $45 isn't going to break anyone that's considering purchasing a $7k machine and the money goes to help support a great business and you even get some swag out of the deal. If you're still interested in the game at reveal put in an order and send in your deposit. It's that simple. I'm sure Spooky is monitoring the number of Fang Club orders and are planning accordingly. If it sells out right away I'm sure there will be a wait list like there was on Rob Zombie. Over the course of the next 1.5 years' as this game gets built I'm sure there will be opportunities to buy. Some people will change their mind or have life changes. There will also likely be a dozen plus games from other manufacturers hit the market in that time. I don't think anyone is going to get froze out if they really want this game.