I played this today and was very surprised by it. Stern just might have come up with a winner--we'll see after these really hit the market. Looking forward to some un-boxings and details of how well these are constructed, how well you think they will hold up, and your reviews of the game. My initial thoughts:
Just got back from playing the new SW. I have to say it was a lot more fun than I was expecting. Some of the shots were kinda clunky, but all-in-all it shot pretty well and I enjoyed playing it. The ball lock "mechanism" is really pretty cool and works as intended. Easy to knock the ball out, but much harder to land the ball into the perch. A few balls jumped off the death star wireform, and other than the bit of shot clunky-ness my only other real complaint was the size of the screen--way too small. It was too noisy to hear the sound well.
I think I found the future buyers for this one...parents! The kids were drawn to this SW like a moth to flame--could hardly get in a game once the kids got on it they were having so much fun. After playing it and seeing how enamored kids are with this pin, I think Stern will sell a lot of these if they get them to somewhere like Costco or Target. If mom and dad don't balk at the price, Stern may move more than you'd think. Much rather have my child playing pinball than goofing around on their phone all day.
I talked to Zach briefly and asked who designed it. He said Gomez did, which I figured after playing it. If this game played smoother, I'd like it better than the "real" Star Wars. I have no idea of what the cab construction is, or the quality of plywood for the playfield (etc.), and it did seem to sit a little lower than a regular pin (as J. Danger noted in his stream). If kids are the target audience, it should sit lower. At any rate, I think this plays well enough and looks nice enough that real Star Wars nuts will want to have one.
Ann Arbor, MI
Toronto, ON
