I'm typically a "Premium" customer...looking for the best playing experience, don't care about exclusivity.

That said, Stern has been really stingy with building Premiums lately (started with JP2 I believe). I've called a couple distributors and they can't get me into the first Premium "run", which sucks. This never use to happen! Now that they've moved from 500->1000 LE's (over the years), they'd prefer building LE's with the extra margin. Unfortunately, Premium units are getting squeezed big-time. Sucks.

I REALLY like Spooky's build model where the customers decide how many of each model gets built.

I do prefer the Pro art package over the Premium/LE. The band logo isn't very exciting and it's already on the backbox!

I have a Metallica Pro and never felt short changed at all. In fact, I didn't like the Premium ball locking mechanism and like the kinetics of the captive ball on the Pro.

Yep. I agree that the Pro is the best looking.

I started buying Stern NIB games in 2004 (LOTR, TSPP). I've never been fond of the Pro/Premium/LE "model", but now it's being used/abused given the COVID spike in pinball sales. I really love Spooky's model...announce how many games you are building, define the "models", and let the customers decide how many of each get's built. Customer friendly.

Went to Pinball Dudes yesterday, my local distributor down the road (~3 miles). They will apparently be selling many of their LE's to the highest bidder on eBay. Back in 2020, I sold them my Star War LE for $7,500! They flipped it on eBay and made a considerable profit. You'd think that gesture would buy me some credibility to purchase a Rush Premium or LE from them?! Nope. When the hobby becomes so "cut throat", it stops being fun. I'm all for distributors making a good buck, but c'mon. Sigh. Fortunately, I love my current lineup and have no problem being patient...in the end, the only reason to ever deal with a distributor is time. Eventually, these games will be for sale on Pinside. For example, just picked up a GNRLE for 2k less than NIB. I'll let the FOMO crowd get hustled by distributors selling their allocation to the highest bidders...

Man, after watching 30 minutes of the Twitch stream playing the Premium, looks like the Pro will rock (the Premium VUK/wireform looks & feels like an afterthought). Was struck by the lack of callouts since I know they recorded a ton...guess the software has to play catch-up?

I've owned/loved a lot of Borg games and I'm a little disappointed by the lack of anything new/exciting on Rush considering the high prices. Looks like a kinder, gentler TRON layout/vibe. Hard to believe NIB Rush Premium will cost roughly the same as a resale GNRLE (which I just picked up with 1k mods for 9.5k), and they are nearly impossible to get. Still warming up to the GNR ruleset/scoring, but in terms of concert vibe and "experience", Rush doesn't compare.

Yep. I've only liked one Stern LE that made sense to me...TRON LE (before there was a Premium).

Stern will no doubt continue to milk the lemmings...keep on increasing the number of LE's and decrease the number of Premium's. Why not? In fact, wouldn't be surprised if they eventually discontinue Premiums entirely...why bother if you make so few?

Hey, we have similar tastes Here is my TRON "LE". I actually sold me real TRON LE last year when I consolidated my lineups. This one has nicer chrome (with a chrome apron and the Eli ramps are just as nice as the real "LE". The LE specific multi-ball was cool but half-baked...don't miss it at all.

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38 pins and having a space problem I don't really track the market closely, but I'd imagine a heavily modded, really pristine TRON Pro in today's market would go for 8-10k. I've had 3 TRON's (2 Pro's), and this one is the sweetest...will never be sold.

Nice post...couldn't agree more with your perspective.

I still play my Metallica Pro a lot. While Rush looks like a great shooting pin, everything else about it looks "meh" (except the license/music, of course). I plan on getting a Pro, but really don't think it will have the staying power of my other 2 Borg music pins with old school dots/displays (MET, KISS). The more Stern focuses on wiz bang LCD graphics, the less they appear to be focusing on PF mechs. Not the right trade-off IMHO. And now that Pro's are the prices of Premium's, it's frankly hard to stomach. My JP2 Premium was 7k and the MSRP for Rush Pro is $6,899.

Oops, I went from "going Pro" to LE when a local collector buddy offered me his NIB LE #797 for ~MSRP.

With the exception of the bondo and rusty balls, the pin looks/plays great. Fast & flowy.

Is there a physical ball lock on this game? Looks like it, but I never seem to get any locked in the subway. I heard about some revised switch that Stern released? Does it fix the subway ball lock? Thanks for any info!

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