Are you going to order 2?

The art on the new machine is a fantastic homage to the original. As a non-Kiss fan, I love the tone and style of it. Its quirky and bright, feels right out of the late 70's. Its perfect!

this is from pinballnews:

As to what's actually on the playfield, a spinning disc under the head of Gene Simmons throws the ball back to the player Tron-style. This area is also used to lock balls in the Pro, whereas in the Premium and LE, the head tilts forward to allow shots into the mouth to lock balls.

is this true ???????

It's coming.

Oh oh, I will have to see that. May scare me down to a pro from Prem. Those extra tricks can be worse than good. Have to see it to know.

My distributors order got cut in half on the LEs because he said Kiss took another 80 LE machines for themselves. Can anyone confirm this?

My distributor is already sold out of the LE.

Based on the feature matrix, I don't think the info about locking balls is correct.

"Play the "Starchild" (Paul) mini play area, complete the targets and get the ball in the hidden hole"

Can anyone shed any more light on this in the feature matrix?...just curious to see how this plays out.

Put your balls into Paul's hidden hole.

Seems like a normal backstage occurrence.

I have no idea but my educated guess is you have to complete the STAR targets and hit the right ramp. The ball then gets diverted to the backboard area and the magnet (mist effect) cares the ball to the little mini stage/playfield behind the Starchild figure and drops down that hole.

Again just a guess based on pics.

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But levitating ball is only on the LE/Prem. The feature Pinballer07 is asking about is check marked on all three version on the main attractions section of the feature matrix. The Pro doesn't have the diverter on the ramp either.

I'm not sure then. Maybe a mistake in the matrix.

With 2x 3x bonus do you think they will go old school scoring?

According to Pinball News: The Starchild (Paul) enclosed area features four S-T-A-R targets and - on the Premium and LE versions - a controlled drop target to reveal a hidden saucer.

Maybe the hidden saucer is not so "hidden" on the Pro? Or maybe you are correct about a mistake in the matrix.

Hmm! I thought that the single drop target was for the pro, instead of the floating mechanism.

I guess we will find out in a few weeks

This bit is also off I believe: "The amplifier and action model are also LE-specific features"

In the matrix was there not an amplifier and a (non moving) action figure for the pro also?

I must admit that I am a bit confused.

Do we know when the Pros start shipping?

How badass would it be if you have to TILT so you don't roll the game over at 999,996 ????

Late June. I'm in.

I heard end of May

I was told pros are first for the end of may, early june.

Then LEs mid/end of june.

Late May or early June would be great, but not what I was told. It's usually about a month after announcement that games start to show up.

Good thought Aurich and I agree to an extent. I am not calling out Stern, rather sending a message to Kevin O'Connor that his art has gotten worse since 78'. I love the art on the 78' machine, it is amazing in every way and still holds up. This latest job was thrown together.

I thought about that right after posting. Rats. Pardon my language.

Damn it Stern, you're killing me!

When I first heard the rumor of a Kiss pin being made, I thought I would pass. I like some of their songs, but just not a big fan (although they do remind me of my teenage years. I mean, who didn't want the Kiss comic made from their blood that was injected in the comic ink??)

At first music pins didn't excite me, but I finally bent and got the AC/DC premium. Afterwards, I thought " should I have got the MET pin instead" because I loved the toys. Ended up getting a MET premium and love it just as much, if not more, than the AC/DC. I passed on it initially because I wasn't a fan of Metallica's music as well, but damn that pin is a blast to play. I felt so foolish passing on it earlier because of the music. So now, here comes Kiss. Same story, different pin. I gotta admit. I love this art package, along with the toys and gimmicks on this one. Just standing by on the shore to see how this one pans out, but I would be lying to you if I didn't have a shaky hand on my checkbook with a check waiting to be written out to Stern.

Just curious. Any ideas on how the animated figure works? Will it move around like the Elvis figure, or rotate around like the BBB dancer. I can't wait to see a gameplay video on this one! Gotta admit this one will look sweet right between the "other two" rock heavy hitters of Stern.

Be aware Kevin's art is a great and tight as always. If you have any gripe, its with the process when the original art is then inked and colored with a computer versus having a real artist do it.

Case in point - look at all the reproduction comic books that have old stories "re-touched" with computer black lining and coloring. If you look at the original old comic books, the art is tight and detailed. For example, Marvel's 1970's Tomb of Dracula series. Front page credits are for an artist, inker, and colorist and Gene Colon/Tom Palmer pages are masterpieces.

As soon as you see the reproduction of these comics - and no disrespect to the computer folks - with original art now "re-inked and colored" via computer program, it looses, IMHO, all the warmth, detail, and greatness.

I suspect Kevin's art is spot on just as you desire as with the 1978 machine, but its the later computer inking and coloring that has an effect to not feel/look the same as might want. To blame Kevin on his current artistic skill is unfair an inaccurate.

IMHO...

One last thing. LOL. I almost bought a Nightmare on Elm Street because I thought it was cool how that Freddy head worked on the pin. After all, I loved my FH when I had it and have a RS glued to my gameroom floor. The Gene Simmons head looks just like him and it seems to be incorporated into the play of the pin. Hats off to you Stern on this toy. Can't wait to see how it works!

I completely understand what you are speaking about as it relates to comics, but I am stating that the line art is flawed. This is all Kevin. Again, he would have flunked the figure drawing classes I took in college and high school if he handed this in as his work.

I don't like how the pro has the guitar doll on the left but no amp

To me the amp is cooler than a GI Joe blocking my view of whatever is in that area behind & under him.

I will say the amp is an after thought however. This assumption of mine is based on the plastics having art/wording that's covered up on the premium/LE

God...so bad looking.

I see myself buying this game eventually

Odds are no matter what version I get the gothic JEM doll will be completely removed & an amp will be mounted in the left corner somewhere/how.

Edit: Left corner

With the $2000 you save by buying a pro you could buy an entire Bram Stoker's Dracula machine, watch the ball float across the playfield, and take shots at it while it does so. Dracula kind of looks like he could be in Kiss with some makeup, so break out some fingernail polish and draw some patterns on his face and you've got 2 KISS machines, Bram Stoker's KISS and Stern's KISS Pro.

If it's good I'll buy it, owning somehting with KISS is just as wacky for me as Met.

It's snap that doll off the second I unbox it.

TDK77 is absolutely right. This has nothing to do with using the computer. The computer's just a tool - the computer doesn't make you forget how to draw limbs in perspective or dynamic poses.

Look at the hand holding the drumstick 'toward camera'....this is just a poor drawing. The arm should look like it's coming at you, the hand and stick should be bigger. He looks like he doesn't have a forearm...as if the hand is connected to the elbow. Bad_arm.jpg

Same with Starchild on the playfield. Look at that hand and arm. The hand in the "foreground" is the same size as the one holding the guitar. The arm itself makes ZERO sense. Aagain it looks like he just has an upper arm with a hand on the elbow like some kind of deformity. Catman's arm holding the drumstick is way too short. Look at the proportions of the arm on the Spaceman in front of him...then look at Catman's arm.PF_art.jpg

This is just a stiff weird pose of Gene....again, this is just a drawing - a computer doesn't make stiff drawings.

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Does anyone know when the Kiss LE's are shipping?
Automated says August on their website, and they are usually one of the first distributors to get stock.
What are other distributors saying?

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Really, this is what you have to gripe about. This is some of the best art on a pin in recent history period.

Nice Catch! I see it now.

Late June I am hearing but could always be later.

Agreed! Artwork is still better than 97% of Stern's other games. Reminds me of the guys that say Megan Fox isn't hot because she has clubbed thumbs I kind of like when their are small flaws and things to look at... Anybody ever check out the dude on the Paragon backglass? He's got no neck and body looks out of proportion but yet it's still one of my favorite pinball art pieces!

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Ha. Just 1.

Angus' face wasn't exactly drawn by Rembrandt and the ACDC game sold fine

Sorry, the art is absolutely perfect.....comic book/action figures from 1978, its killer.

Okay, but I still think there is something lost when the computers and art come into player versus hand drawn/hand colored/hand inked images.

I miss Frank Frazetta...

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Looks like you would get some wicked air balls off the tip of that tongue if this was true. I hope it works this way tho but I do not see how it could.

It's great art for the theme...fit its it perfectly. That doesn't mean it's drawn well by normal artistic standards. I'm very happy Stern went this route...I just think the artist could have drawn better arms and hands. He's totally capable of it. It's not going to deter any Kiss fans from enjoying it....but I can't NOT see it.

I'm no comic book style artist...but this is the type of note I would have given to help improve this pose:

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Agreed. I don't see how this can be true. Some other things I noticed from watching the video:

1. In theory the star area of the playfield can capture 2 balls. One behind the drop and one in the saucer. Maybe the floating ball will be the start of a 3 ball multiball.

2. Looks like at least some of the dots are going to be processed images: Screen Shot 2015-05-07 at 7.27.31 PM.pngScreen Shot 2015-05-07 at 7.27.42 PM.png

3. I REALLY hope that the right orbit doesn't wind up in the pops.

Is it just me or is this possibly one of the best received launches to date?

90% of the comments are praise/interest

MET & TWD didn't even get this much appreciation IIRC

This is just nonsense, sorry. Tools are tools. There are always lazy ways to do things, and computers just allow you to be lazier. There's nothing inherently wrong with coloring on a computer.

That Dracula image you posted is purely about stylistic choices. The inking and coloring on the first version would have been child's play on a computer.