I’m new to pinball and I’m loving it. I bought a new JP 2 years ago and that was my first ever pin. Ordered GZ after I played it at Expo and loved it. That said I’m not waiting until August for a GZ. What Stern is doing is frustrating me and it sounds like I’m not the only one.

Pro for me in December( so I’m told) and on the August list for a Premium.

I absolutely love it. The LEDs make it animated. I have been busy with my home made pinstadum but this is definitely on my list of things. I post pictures when I get the lights perfect.

I don't think Stern is purposely not making enough games to meet demand, it's parts shortages plain and simple and that is not their fault. Trust me they are leaving money on the table not by choice.

To tell your customers to wait until August 2022 for a game that was just announced is ridiculous. If you can’t get product to your customers faster than that, maybe you have overcommitted your production capabilities.

That is really nice looking!

They literally created a new pin that has people going bananas, ordering way more than Stern can produce in the near term. They never promised anything to anyone unless I'm mistaken?

If you think this is bad, you should see what's happening to graphics cards for PCs.

It's really a half full/half empty scenario. Waiting is frustrating of course but a better game is ultimately worth the wait at the end of the day and I hope to see Stern continue stepping up its game with groundbreaking new games like GZ.

It’s pinball, some manufacturers have 18 month build cycles for 1st day orders (spooky). If you don’t want to wait don’t buy.

I agree GZ is an awesome game and I like the games they are putting out. We’ll see what happens. I’m a buyer in March. I’m not a buyer in August. That is just where I am with it.

Why not august? Still will be the best game out there

Me too. I got bumped to second run. If I get bumped to third run, I'll have to explore my options, which unfortunately may mean I wait until August to get a Premium!

Keith is the 800 pound gorilla designer. Whatever he does is incredible. Whenever he is up next I want whatever he is designing, almost regardless of the theme. I wish Stern would revisit some of their giant licenses they gave Ritchie like Game of Thrones and let Keith take a swing at them.

I disagree. Every manufacturer wants to be in the position to control/limit their output. Stern is loving being able to jack up the price and sit on a 12,500 machine order backlog. They would keep this status forever if they could, it is adding to their FOMO.

People are saying distributors are hurting right now, I’m not sure if that is true or not. They sell everything the second it comes in. They aren’t having to fight on price, they are getting full MSRP or higher for inventory.

I texted my distro this morning. Has Stern pulled Godzilla off the line?

It has to. I appreciate that this is all opinion, but at what point would people consider other options? 1 year wait? 2 years? At some point people aren't going to put down money on something that might or might not show in a "reasonable" amount of time. And at some point you remember the vendor that continuously allowed people (and new machines) to cut in line and go elsewhere.

This is a bit disappointing from a customer's perspective. I had a Deadpool on order July 2021 and was told September 2021 for delivery, then pushed back to November, then December and now July 2022. This took the wind out of me, but the distributor was able to get me a GZ Pro that will be coming in next week, I was lucky.

Again, not sure what Stern should or should not do, but pushing back orders with over 6 months to 1 year delay can provide a bad experience to some people. Maybe saying what they are in production to their distributor distributor being more transparent with them (not sure how that works since I am not a distributor) could help them educate the client and provide realistic expectations.

But at the end of the day people still order and they sell out so why change something that works...

Wow this is the best mod I’ve seen for this game! Please put me on an interested list if you’re planning on selling.

A distributor told me he has customers that ordered EHOH Prem last June/July. Stern keeps pushing these out and the earliest they expect these is Nov 2022! Stern did this so they can make EHOH 40th. So people that ordered a “cheap” EHOH Premium have to go to the end of the line and wait 18 months to get a game. March slips to August. August slides to __. And on it goes. I have no interest in EHOH but if ordered one I’d move on.

There is balance though. Buyer patience is not forever. People will eventually bail to something they can buy and get their hands on. It’s the whole reason stern moved to the small batch runs to begin with… ensuring people had actual inventory to pick from… not just the one game being built now. They wanted inventory and diversity in the channel inventory.

Now they have no inventory and any diversity could be 6-12mon out. You won’t sell B or C tier rerun games with a 9mon wait.

They are losing money by not selling the games with better margins and selling them while they still can. People will buy the future game whenever it is out… stern is making its newest unproven game displace known better margin goods.

The Cirqus Voltaire effect. Ending Medieval Madness production prematurely because B/W thought CV would be hotter.

Oops.

Still working on resolution and waiting fir ink to dry on plastic. This is on ordinary paper. Much better!

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It's always better to sell out than have stock piles siting. Having a great demand is makes people even want it more it keeps the price up. I don't think Stern is upset with any of this they are selling as quickly as they can make them.

I’m assuming the QR code reader won’t work now. Just curious are you doing this because you don’t plan on using it?

Zero interest in qr. Nothing wrong with the idea, just not interested

Stern keeps blaming supply chain issues whether chips displays etc..., but they always seem to find a way to put another title on the line or re-run an older spike game now with the connect system installed.

Wouldn't it be more logical just to use those parts instead to complete orders for a game that they pumped up at the shows and on social media that is now in high demand??

You can't run Godzilla Premiums with Beatles parts. Sure they have a lot of parts common to both, but if you're out of one specific Godzilla Prem assembly and the rest is on a boat chilling off the coast of LA, you're SOL to make more Godzilla Premium and have to put something you DO have all the parts on hand to make on the line to keep it running. If Stern could make Godzilla Premiums with WWE parts they'd be in heaven.

I’m guessing you are wanting the Premium? Why not grab a pro for now until the premium is ready and sell the pro? You won’t have any problems moving it. That’s what I did while I wait for my Premium.

Yes I want a Premium. You’re right it is an option.

LE #549 assembled! Thanks to King_Jelly and Little Shop of Games!!

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Why not use heavy black matte paper then apply your custom print on top? No light bleed then.

Hey, I gotta start somewhere!! I have it printed on transparent sheet, higher resolution. Should look better

LOL I know that, title scheme parts are locked to that title. However what I kept hearing is either cpu, sound or display chips shortages due to world wide shortages at the moment. Playfields and plastic are a dime a dozen and many places can do that for them locally if need be. My point is if there are such chip shortages as claimed then why do they run other titles that I sure use that same chips for sounds, cpu or displays. Shouldn't the shortage issue be affecting those re-runs as well?

I'm sure it's a combination of shortages and chips/boards are a large part of it. But doing molded custom parts and ramps, etc locally is much more expensive than crating them in from Asia, and the setup is the most expensive phase, so they're unlikely to start over locally on stuff they've already paid for the setup overseas.

Essentially when they have all the parts available to build a machine, that machine is a go for the line. Some of the line scheduling is done with the assumption that parts scheduled to arrive for a specific build come in as expected. When that doesn't happen that build gets bumped. It's likely an ongoing, major headache.

But I just saw on the news that the port congestion may have peaked a week ago as new regulations about how long a container can sit on the docks kicked in. Shipping prices are down 10-20% now from their 10x inflated peak, too. So we might see improvement in the next month or two if those downward trends continue towards normal.

What does Stern's "Made in the USA" mean then? Just assembled in the USA? Of course I realize that chips, boards and other electronic parts sometimes need to come from overseas, but are they really outsourcing plastics and moldings?

Me too

The glass is made in the USA

Did you time travel into the future to get that DVD? It's says 50th anniversary on it but Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla came out in 1974 which was 47 years ago?

It's not just Stern. I ordered a new Ford Aug 2nd. Still waiting for it to be built. It's behind schedule. Parts shortages are holding up more than just our pinball machines.

Awesome score!!!

Remastered maybe ?

I ordered a new Ford 7/15/2020. It was but 8/6/21. I still don't have it

50th general Godzilla anniversary of 1954. Dvd collection came out in 2004 I think, with multiple movies.

Yes. Assembled in the USA. You have to have all or virtually all of the item (by cost) manufactured in the USA to say the item is Made in the USA. Walmart takes advantage of this all the time. But it doesn't have to be ALL the parts to be made in the USA. FTC is vague about specifics, though. It seems to me that Stern should actually be using a qualified claim (80% US contend) rather than an unqualified (Made in the USA) claim. Unless they really are just labeling the glass as Made in the USA and hoping people think it's the whole machine.

The Meanwell power supplies in Spike machines are made in China or Taiwan, so that's an easy one to point to and say it wasn't made here, yet is part of Stern's "Made in USA" machine.

Not their HD glass. That is made in Germany.

Left orbit into 180 ramp through the diverted building shot over the bridge that falls down on que to feed down to the magnet then feeding the upper flipper for the loop shot…just genius!

You think that it would make people go elsewhere, but it doesn't. Look at all the threads about quality issues, playfield issues, price increases, and yet here we are.

Where else can you go to get a NIB Godzilla?

So thanks for all the opinions and feedback, really my point was not that my machine was delayed but that I wasn't moved into the next production cycle. I wasn't told that the March run would be possible (they have already sold all of that allotment) and now because that run is oversold they have moved those customers to August while telling me not sure we can fill in August either. Why not use the Spooky approach and be given a production number. That way even if a long production cycle you keep your position in line. I completely understand a single part can delay production but you should be wary of not fulfilling first customer orders and passing those orders continually down the line.

Odd times we are in but everything cycles.

My company manufactures electronics. Many of the components that we use are in short supply or completely unobtainable. I know that this is the same for pretty much anybody that is making any electronic items at the moment. Of course the shipping issue as bad as well. It takes at least six weeks to get on the boat now. It used to take basically two…. The port congestion is improving but we aren’t seeing huge changes in pricing yet.

Additionally, most of the components we use have been going up in cost. The energy crisis in China plus the increase demand has really messed with pricing of everything.

All that said, I’m really impressed at these guys are pumping out all of the pinball machines they are. My company has products that we completed development of over a year ago that we still can’t get on a production line due to component shortages…

Yeah, the energy crisis in China is really woefully under-reported. It's a big deal and getting worse. One of the factories I deal with was shut down for almost a month because of power shortages and pollution. Never happened before.

The irony of China's chosen power solution in light of all the environmental lip service of COP26 is they're cranking out new coal power plants like they're going out of style. Not wind, not water, not solar, not nuclear - primarily coal plants, because they're fast and cheap to get up and running. But really, really bad for the environment.

The sad part is all the efforts to get emissions and global warming under control likely will only make a small dent until China (and India) get on board. They are currently the gross polluters of the world and make up 30-35% of the global population.