That is just people trying to squeeze out every last cent to buy gb without having to sell much. This is pinball, not alchemy. The laws of equivalent exchange do not apply!

How does Syco avoid the wrath but not me? At least be an equal opportunity dick

I didn't even see the Twain citation in the corner haha

I'm looking to purchase three NIB games in November. I hope things are figured out by then.

My "newbnuts" opinion would be the opposite. With people having money tied up in these NIB's on order, the secondary market may suffer. There are a couple of Tron LE's still available at prices that would have been snatched up in less than two hours. Perhaps the market is saturated, who knows... Newbnuts out!

I don't think people are going to wait three months for games to be at distributors when they are used to not waiting. I have money, space and spouse approval to buy a NIB Metallica right now, but I'm not paying a deposit fee without a solid idea when a distro may have the game available.

In the meantime, perhaps another used game will come up and suck up my cash, space, and spousal approval between now and whenever Met is run again and in stock.

It's not the end of the world by any means but I know one person who paid a 2k deposit for a SMVE and canceled the order this morning. He is now looking for an XMLE on the used market. I'm sure similar things are happening. The day of pay and wait seems to be in the past for now.

We all want what we want right now, unfortunetly sometimes you just gotta wait. Patience did that die out with the 90s or more recently?

I should have qualified my NIB reference to mainly GB due to the hype. I don't see a lot of people canceling those orders to buy something on the used market. A SMVE or a Kiss (new code is much better) would be more understandable due to varying opinions on the product and price point. Out of all of the GB posts I read, I would say at least 8 out of 10 are favorable. It's a fun game but when I learned I could get a ST premium in two weeks, I jumped on that versus waiting who knows how long for a GB premium. My friend bought a SMVE for the same reason. Credit to those people who are finally getting MMR, TBL and TH ... I don't have the patience to wait so long for a machine.

I envy your spousal approval. Teach me the ways haha

Definitely seems like games were pumps out way faster at their old facility

If it is a supplier chain issue it doesn't matter what there production capability is.

I will wait for my Ghostbusters Premium....Plenty of games to play while I wait

Production capability is actually low right now. Stern is understaffed. The move saw them leaving a big portion of their production staff behind and they haven't replaced those numbers yet.

I agree with you 100% on that. GB orders wouldn't seem to be in much peril.

The all powerful ApronOfDestiny helped me in this regard.

So, some are in a big hurry to get games based on movies and bands from 30 years ago. Hmmmm....

Well,O-din,John T said he wanted now to do a serious Beatles pin,AND has already approached Sir Paul,and Ringo about doing it,they liked the idea:)I would buy it in a heartbeat!!

Stern still has to fulfill overseas orders and containers full for shipping to many different countries. If they can make 55 pins a day it still takes weeks to meet all the International demand.

How far did Stern's factory move miles wise?

Well since it's been almost 50 years since they broke up, it wouldn't hurt to wait a little longer and get Yoko to sign off on it too.

About 14 miles.

LTG : )

I don't care!! 2 of the 500 le's are mine!! MINE!! Lol

If one treats it kindly, it over empowers the spouses ability to say no to anything.

A friend just ordered a Pro GB from Rich at Shaffer Dist. in St. Louis. He could have taken the floor model but decided to wait for their July shipment when most of the kinks are worked out. No big deal.

I feel sorry for you young guys who will probably never know the thrill of walking into a bar or bowling alley and finding a new pin sitting there. We never had a clue when a new game was coming out in the 60's. It was always a rush. Heck, we did not even know anything about the manufacturing of the games. Only that they were all made in Chicago.

I remember hearing some gossip about a brand new game at the original Du-Bowl Lanes in South St. Louis. We rode our bikes 8 miles to check it out. And there was a brand new Buckaroo with a crowd of people around it shouting "Make the horse spin!" I'll never forget that day. It is etched in my mind. We played for hours.

Or walking into Concord Bowl and seeing a new Sing Along for the first time. One of my favorite games now. The bad part is that it did not have a push up ball lift. No way now to shoot all five balls at once when you get bored with the game. And the price had doubled from a nickel to a dime! Went from 100 balls for a buck to only 50 balls for a buck. Geez. Now it's three balls for a buck or even two bucks!

I realize that it is still exciting to walk into a place and seeing a new pin. But if you already know what the game is, I think it takes some of the excitement away.

By the way, we played the Pro for an hour or so, and both of us are really sold on the game. And both of us are 90% E.M. guys. The one we played was set up great and while it IS a "drain monster", after a few games you know what to watch out for. Only once did the ball hop the left ball return rail and I swear I was making that narrow right ramp pretty regularly. And I am a very average player. It is one of the most beautiful games I have seen. I hope Zombie Yeti is a permanent hire at Stern.

Sorry for the long winded post. Beer talkin'! S-L-O-W- D-O-W-N a bit. Be surprised.

Tldr
Stern delays.

For those not familiar with high volume production you would be amazed at what can cause serious disruptions. With something as complex as a pinball machine the BOM must be horrendous to manage. All it takes is for one supplier to have an issue and the whole thing grinds to a halt.
It could be something as mundane as a container ship full of screws being held in a dock or something serious like a bad batch of clearcoat.
The main thing is that if it is a quality issue they get it sorted before the ship. Better right and late than wrong and on time.

I do agree that better communication from Stern would be desirable though.

Great story. The other side is not knowing what's going on when there's no pinball on location and no internet. That was the case for me between EMs in 1979 and Addams Family. I thought pinball no longer existed.

I agree with you on this. Manufacturing is dependent on the supply chain. All it takes is one supplier to have an major issue and you have instant delays. Since it appears that several machines have been delayed it may be a common item in the BOM. Stern appears to be very adept at changeovers so I'm betting on it being a supply chain problem.

I heard the delays are getting parts made for the machine out of China, demand is high however parts are low.

I don't mind waiting as it gives them more time to iron out the kinks and release with more code!!!

I had the same thought. If Stern could give their programmers just a little extra time and then announce the machines release after the machine is 100% complete and several hundred units are built and waiting for delivery. The extra time would allow for less call backs and issues with machines. Sterns business model is trying to pump out at least three new titles a year not including the VE's and MMR's. I would be ok with only two new releases for a particular year while Stern plays catch up and concentrates on completing a game and ensuring the highest levels of quality control are implemented. The Game of Thrones orbit issue and the Kiss decals are prime examples of poor quality control and rushing games for delivery. I heard Stern was having issues with their cabinet vendor not being able to keep up with their new amped up production, and they are trying to bring the cabinet manufacturing process in house to keep up. Not sure if its true or not but if you think about it they more than doubled their production capabilities. Now all they need to do is have the skilled labor and build materials on hand to make it flow properly. This delay may be a good thing-patience is a virtue.

I have been around longer so the newbnuts thing wouldn't have worked

Won't deny - my GB Prem is in serious jeopardy right now. Bought a TAF just this morning - will see it by early June.

This isn't about Stern vs B/W or old vs new or one title vs another; this is about Stern having my attention, and then as delays mount, me losing interest and moving onto a game that is in stock right now, being brought back to the standards I set, and seeing it in about 2-3 weeks.

I love GBs, I really do, but I am on the fence after playing realistically only 20 games or so. No time on a Prem/LE yet, and with this game surely being made for at least another year, I have plenty of time to let things iron out. And hey, if they go up and out of my reach, that's fine. With TAF, after years of playing one after another, I KNOW I am going to like what I am getting.

I hope Stern gets it sorted out soon, and even more that they improve their communication. They're starting to remind me of some of those terrible kickstarter companies that promise you so much and give a promising delivery date, but then you just stop hearing from them and everyone starts speculating and assuming the worst, and the company does nothing to curb the rumors.

Same here and I was born in the 80's. For me, only Nirvana would be better but I'll have to wait another 20 years to see that.

Amazing how quickly Stern responded to the Gary Stern death hoax post yesterday, by posting a pic on Facebook of Gary standing there holding a sign with a Mark Twain quote. Cute.

But there is absolutely zero public response or acknowledgement in regards to posts here about GB issues, delays, production problems, GoT orbit issue, etc. it's all swept under the rug and not mentioned. In fact, if anyone posts a question about production or issues with their game, the guy running the page simply deletes the post or gives a snarky reply to the customer.

I had to find out about he GB Pro production halt because of them re-working the Slimer mech and addressing the wireform bend issue via an email sent to Chas at Stern from someone else.

I get it, they're a Pinball company, and issues happen while producing machines. But after 30 years of being in the business, and customers like us buying those machines to keep them in business, It would be nice to have some transparency and have some official public announcements made from Stern directly.

Nope. No we don't. We would LIKE to have some message explaining, but we don't deserve anything of the sort.

They got that oversized Mark Twain quote board printed very quickly, and the photo taken and posted within how long of the hoax? A more paranoid man would read into that.

Guys, if you really want a pro, buy the floor models at Bumpernets in Birmingham, AL. They have two. And they both play perfect.

Stern has manufacturing delays on their OWN titles?Where does that leave MMr?

I'll wait for my Pre. I waited 3 Months 4 my ST/pre,no sweat! be cool dudes.chill,! And ,hay O-din,i thought Yoko would furnish the pin with her screeching,shrill,inhuman squawking ,when you drain one

Ok, well you know what I meant, sorry you took it so hard. I'll edit to reflect this and be more politically correct.

I won't be waiting for my Premium. I want it yesterday, thank you very much.

yep

So, right now only Spooky seem to be getting games out in a timely manner.......who would have called that 18 months ago?

Really?

Yeah, really. If they were a public company, sure, we could get riled up about transparency. However as a private company, no. Really.

What one deserves is in the eye of the beholder. If I have a $2,000 deposit outstanding I feel like I deserve to know when the game might be on the line for production or I "have the right" to be displeased and possibly request a return of my deposit.

Privately held, or publicly held company is besides the point. Transparency and communication is appreciated and expected in today's modern age of information and social media, regardless of the companies public vs private financial reporting status. Sorry, disagree with you bud. Customer service, information, and communcation is one thing- financial reporting is another.

This is what should have been posted on Facebook yesterday

GS1.jpg

This is 100% correct. There is a difference between deserving something and having a legal right to something.

Do we deserve to know when the games we are interested in buying may be available at distros? Certainly, these are expensive and space consuming items, we need to be able to plan accordingly.

Do we have a legal right to the data? Certainly not, but we are the customer so it doesn't matter, we vote with our wallets on matters such as these.

Yeah right, sit and wait for that machine while your moneys tied up, lol.

Even if Stern doesn't know when production will be back at full speed, they can just explain the issue. How hard would it be to say, "yes, we've had a snag in production and rather than putting out a batch of games that don't live up to our level of desired quality, we've decided to put things on temporary hold. While we work to resolve problems on the production line, our software, design, and art departments are busy preparing future titles and refining our current catalog. As soon as we have a good expectation for when games will be coming off the line again, we'll update you. Thanks for supporting Stern pinball!"

I'll tell you how hard that was. Not real hard.