My guess is that it’s a good size minority.

I’ve played a friend’s premium dozens of times and it just doesn’t click with me either. And I’m usually a sucker for challenging, deep games.

I don’t get all the love for the premium vs. pro that seems to go well beyond even the usual owner hype/love. I’ve played both numerous times, and while the T-Rex is very cool, there is no major difference in game play between models. And numerous owners saying an animated T-Rex head is “the greatest toy ever” in pinball is ridiculous IMO.

This is so true, but seems to involve more than just set-up. Even minor differences in assembly tolerances make a huge difference in game play, and it seems to be most pronounced on Sterns - but that may just be my experience. The NIB experience is fun, but nothing beats playing the actual machine before buying. Especially on a tightly designed layout like JP2. I'm mechanically inclined but doubt my Metallica or Tron could be dialed in even with PHD's in physics and mechanical engineering. Can really be the difference between loving or hating a game.