Dude. It's just a fan club. Lots of hate for no reason IMO.

Some people already missing Stern enamel pledge pins from their gift boxes. Interesting t-shirt final design choice.

Too much time with the Supreme design team

It's a pin version of this...

https://shop.sternpinball.com/collections/clothing/products/limited-edition-monster-player-work-shirt

My god..."less to interact with the ball."

Last I checked there are scoops, pops, slings, and flippers on every Stern game.

I know Panzer..Toys toys Toys Toys toys ToysToys toys ToysToys toys ToysToys toys ToysToys toys ToysToys toys ToysToys toys ToysToys toys ToysToys toys ToysToys toys ToysToys toys ToysToys toys ToysToys toys ToysToys toys Toys

give it 15 years. All of you will be putting your Spike games in the trash because nobody can fix them. If Stern doesn't get their shit together and stop pulling the wool over you non repair guys.

I'm a "repair guy" and this is completely incorrect.

Neo's been making wildly inaccurate predictions about pinball for about 15 years.

I'm pretty sure he's the first guy I remember ranting about everybody overpaying and the bubble bursting.

So you’re saying he’s an early adopter?

Stern recently released the spike schematics. Crisis averted again!

His game price valuations were always the highlight tho

So the demographic of people in Stern's advertisements can afford a $10,000 niche luxury collectible toy how?

There is a game named after this program.

6E4B1DA4-EAA3-4C6F-A1DC-EFCD450BB6CB (resized).jpeg

Why don’t we just make like a tree
calm down a tick...

It’s a shame that such a great hobby has to have so many bitter f*cking people in it.

Oh I don't think anyone is bitter. Company I work for has something similar. I know what these are for.

Bitter will come when service and code updates are behind a paywall for a $5600-$9000 machine. #BitterIsComing

So, the person in charge of this has the last name of Sharpe. You know, progeny of the guy that saved pinball. And he's going to make sure service and code updates are behind a paywall? This is marketing, plain and simple. It's a $30 t-shirt fan club. I fail to see us being on a slippery slope.

I didn't realize you had the inside info! Seriously, I don't mind if anyone joins, but what they're offering does not seem worth the $30 unless you live in Chicago or something and can get some in-person benefits. But the "swag pack" is really lacking. The shirt is basic and have you ever run across someone who wears pins and patches? If so, how old are they?

In the age of social media, they're marketing themselves to a CLOSED group? They need to do this rather than post on FB, Twitter, IG, YouTube? No they don't.

Include the creature work shirt at least in the package. I'd never wear it, but still, these things are ridiculously cheap to produce. Include 10% off accessories like toppers and HD glass. That's value. And IMO it'd be a no brainer.

Very little of what pin companies sell seem worth the money. Being that the tees sell for $19.99 if the tees are worth that then the pin and patch are not that far from the last $10

Well, on the upside--there is still no charge to be a Stern Outsider...

We need a pin or something!

for all versions and all games? Where?

Nothing new. People have always been the worst part.

Yeah, but the flip side are all the extremely cool Pinsiders who will help you solve pinball problems just because they are happy to be of assistance. Which includes driving miles out of their way to fix your pin just to be of help. That doesn’t happen in all niche hobbies.

Billy16

A few Robins never made a Spring. But, it is nice when it happens !

again. Where? Bueller................................................................Bueller.........................................................

Open your eyes and look...i'd send you a link, but i'm not going to reward your crappy attitude. There's already a thread on it.

Exactly
Read what I said, I already support them by my purchases.

They want me to advertise for them, then send one free with every new in box machine I purchase!

If the club is 30 per year, then I wonder if you get swag for each year, or is the shirt a one time gift? If they send a shirt every year, then some of you guys will eventually get a stern shirt for every day of the week.

How long did it take. It's been 3 weeks for me and nothing.

Regular prices increases leading to all time record NIB prices, lower quality on average, and waiting months and even years on end for code to be completed was bound to create some bitterness.

The alternative is just not giving a crap about how these games are made, how they are supported in regards to code, never questioning quality and to just keep sending money for new games. That doesn't seem right lol.

Scoops, pops, slings and flippers are kinda like tires and windshield wipers on cars meaning people just expect them to come standard regardless of the manufacturer.

Personally I'm not paying $6k -$9k+ just for scoops, pops, slings and flippers but rather interactive features, deep / unique code and yes toys!

But historically accurate on how operators used to buy games... did they care much about anything except does it spit out a ball and take in quarters/tokens/coins? Put it on route.

Yeah, that's true. Maybe that's becoming more common again with such a big focus on location pinball lately. Just sucks for us home buyers.

I'd actually argue that they're trying to cater to home buyers more now than ever. The code on many games is much deeper than it used to be which is primarily for home collectors. The games are less complicated from a mechanical standpoint which makes it easier for home buyers that can't even rebuild a flipper (And yes, operators get games that are generally more reliable with less failure points. But operators are going to regularly buy whatever Stern makes because they have to change up their lineups for their customers and maximize returns on buying/routing/selling/trading games)

LOL yet you never challenge JJP on these same things

I will stay here, would like donate 30$ to pinside.com and waiting until someone from the insiders can hold on and is blazon abroad the strictly confidential insider infos

hmmm maybe ... do I get every year a shirt?

I went to the website. Couldn't find shit. So I did open my eyes. Shouldn't be this difficult to find something that should have been included with the fawking game in the first place.

Crappy attitude? Of course i'm going to have a crappy attitude.

Stern releases 14 fawking games on this system before they decide to pull their heads out of their ass and release something that should have been released with game 1.

Which says to me as a customer, to what Sterns line of thinking is.

Stern pinball - We have a large number of non tech collectors buying our games now. Lets make our games non repairable so they have to spend $300 on replacement parts from us. Then, down the road we stop supporting that boardset, they have to throw away their games and buy whatever new shit we are making at the time.

14........that's 14 different games Stern has made with no schematics to be had anywhere. So yeah, I might be irritated by how this was handled by Stern from the beginning. And now Schematics are available, yet I couldn't find shit on the website when trying to look for it before when you said they were available.

Wow, they can get shirts out to people who pay $30 to be an insider, but I'm still waiting on my t-shirt that was promised when I bought a new game ($$$).

My rants these days are so long, by the time I have written them down and edited them they are no longer relevant.

When I want to be a fanboy, I buy a pinball machine, not a “I wish I owned one” loot box. Gary can keep his shirt, pin, and promises and the opportunity to contribute $30 to his retirement fund if he would just put out better games for the $5500 they are commanding. If you use an inflation calculator, my Stern Family Guy should only cost $4700 NIB right now, and the cheapest Stern Munsters Pro is $5500? Without the mini playfield? What am I getting for my extra $800 bucks right now? Maybe if Sterns came with a shirt, a lapel pin, and a promise for $4730 I would buy more Stern pins?

Ok, enough ragging on Stern. I am a fanboy after all. But the difference between what you got 10 years ago and what you get today is a wider gap than the $800. The entire Stewie mini playfield for FGy only cost $395 bucks fully populated but the difference in price between a Pro Munsters and a Premium is $2000?!? Something feels wrong about asking me for $30 bucks for a fan club membership with math like this floating around.

How "fawking" hard is it to click the support button on the top of their website and slightly scroll down?

Have you asked them about it? I am sure they didn't intentionally try to screw you out of a 30th anniversary t-shirt.

Haven't gotten mine yet either. I'm in no rush.

10 years ago Stern was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy and closing their doors forever was a real possibility. So obviously that business plan wasn't working out for them.

Not sure if you noticed but Stern still makes - by far - the cheapest and most reliable commercial pinball machines. Everyone else costs more. So why not take it up with them? They are the ceiling, Stern is the floor.

I don't see anybody ragging on Brawny paper towels for price when Bounty costs more!

Didn't argue that fact, just that the quality at the current bottom from Stern is not up to the quality of the machines 10 years ago, and yet are more expensive when taking into account inflation. So was Stern building a better machine for less 10 years ago? I say yes, they were. Was that sustainable? Don’t know, only that they stayed in business, so it must have worked a little, but competition was the best thing to ever happen to Stern, and Gary should kiss Jack for saving them. Or at least buy him dinner.

Go here and then scroll down:

https://sternpinball.com/support/

Aah, I get it now.....Lapel PIN - PIN ball. Haha.

Some clever people over at Stern.

Of course, I asked several times without a valid reason being offered. It is a known issue. I don't know of anyone who actually received a shirt from that promotion.