So much for some of the naysayers from the midwest saying that other manufactures are hurting sales and that Stern is not making as many games...

But, but, but...why should we care about their profits and units? Having the largest and most relevant pinball manufacturer showing such great growth and expansion does nothing for the health of the hobby.

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Sorry, I was mocking people that make similar comments. I should have included the following warning. I have updated my original comment.

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I hear you, but on the other hand, I have seen plenty of comments like I made around here from Stern haters, people pissed off about price increases/being priced out of the markets, and everything in between. My favorite are those that are like "what do you care about Stern, its not like you are making money from them and they screw the little guy." I thought my but, but but was a dead giveaway...

This is fantastic news for Stern and the hobby writ large. Keep the train rolling!

In how many threads are you going to profess your love of Monster Bash?

Aggressive? The game that was supposed to come out at TPF? HAHAHAHAHA!

I love CGC and can't wait until my home remodeling is done to buy MBr. They make a fantastic product and I can't wait to see what they come out with next.

With that being said, your arguments are flimsy at best. Of course API and CGC were going to have a lot of hype at Expo! They unveiled games there when Deadpool had already been revealed. Of course you are going to have people lined up to check out the new hotness. CGC definitely has a leg up against just about everybody in the markets they compete in except Stern. Stern is the industry leader and are focused on volume. Until somebody can put out more than one game a year, they are not going to demonstrably cut into Stern's sales, which is a volume game.

In a Spooky thread this weekend Charlie stated that they made 475 games this year (so far), which is a great accomplishment for them and is to be commended. However, using Ice's 12K number, Stern put out 25x that number this year. What everybody either does not realize or does not want to admit is that more competition does take away some sales from the leader, but hurts smaller players on average more. A theoretical 10% drop for Stern is manageable, but that same drop against a smaller manufacturer is more impactful. This is not pulling for or against anybody, just a statement of fact.

This. I think CGC could/should be a high end contract manufacturer for the industry. JJP makes a great product but CGC could help them scale. For contracted games like Jetsons, they could offer more manufacturing economies of scale than a Spooky. They can focus on the Bally/Williams games as their own brand and contract manufacture for one to many others.

Found this picture of Stern’s development team.

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Ric Flair is the man!

2 quick Ric stories. When I was a kid, my dad was part of the Lions Club and got Jim Crockett Productions to do a house show in our small town on an off night when I was about 6. I watched them setup the ring and rehearse some matches. Ric noticed me, pulled me into the ring, threw me into the ropes, and gave me a chop, telling me to fall down. Was friggin awesome!

Later in life, helped out my brother and Hermie Sadler (NASCAR driver) promote some TNA wrestling when Flair went there. Without a doubt, never have partied with somebody like him in my life (and I have been drinking with John Layfield and Ron Simmons)!

Flair used to do local promos to the effect of “ I want all of you pretty ladies of x market come see me. And I want you to know one thing, and one thing only: none of you can be first, but any damn one of you can be next! Wooo!”

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Just found this pic of me, Layfield, and Simmons. Was spring of 2000 or 2001. At this point, I am 5”11 and 230 and they make me look small. Check out the beer can in Layfield’s hand. They drink no joke a 24 pack each and then went and wrestled that night. Unbelievable!

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He is the Stern of pinballs!

It was a phone on a fanny pack. All we needed was a pair of Zubaz for the wrestler trifecta circa 2000.

Kudos for a good use of the words “intolerable” and “dolt”.