Looks like standard CYA. They don't want complaints going to them. Distributors can do what they want but Stern is out of the loop.

Good start but impossible to police this so called policy.

Jody Burns the MN gang ouch how does that feel Crazy J? Wonder if JJ got his pee pee smacked from Stern as well.

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/by-popular-request-pre-order-for-steve-ritchies-next-le-pinball

Fact of the matter is Stern probably could give 2 $%*&'s they are selling out the LE's in 30 minutes so this is just a stupid marketing ploy to save face. If they really wanted to do something they could sell the LE's by themselves direct and sell the Pro's/Premiums to distributors, but what does that do to all the good guys on here selling their games in 10 minutes and making peanuts off the sales ? Anyways this will continue on high profile games, honestly who even cares, if somebody wants to spend 10K for a NIB LE let em.

You are right, but Stern CAN find out about the distributors who are doing this pretty easily, and they can come down on them in many ways (i.e. reducing their distribution of LEs, etc). It's a tough line for stern to walk, and realistically, they may not do anything about it. If anything, this is pretty excellent PR for Stern highlighting a 'problem' of overselling their supply of LEs... Increases the Hype pretty significantly IMO.

-Wes

This just stops the METLE calls to Stern that flooded in. Now they can say "we told you so".

Also if you like to worry it could mean no Star Trek next bwahahahaha

Basically Stern is trolling pinside and has found such dealers who have done such things and customers who have openly stated such thing.

I don't mind them clarifying their policy, but where he says "some unauthorized distributors and dealers..." it's pretty hazy. Does this mean that any dealer that takes a preorder deposit for a not-yet-announced game is now an unauthorized dealer? I doubt it, but that's how it reads. I suspect he means that the dealer isn't authorized to take the preorder.

I also strongly dislike Gary's use of "middlemen" without distinguishing what he means. If "middlemen" is interchangeable with "distributor", it feels like a kick in the nuts to all of the hardworking distributors out there because of the negative connotations of the term "middleman." If he's referring to a specific subset of people who are somehow acting as brokers for these future games, the press release could have benefitted from this info.

As a copyeditor, I wouldn't have allowed this press conference to leave my desk in this state. [Even if Gary yelled at me and told me it's fine as is. ]

You must be new here. Stern loves to put their foot in their mouth. In fact they hired a guy that gets paid to do that. His name is Jody Dankberg.

...

Who cares?

This announcement will not change a single thing.

A broker IS a middleman, aka intermediary. There is no negative connotation. What is it with all the wussy people these days who take offense to everything?

I think this is a great press release. Taking deposit for unannounced games is not good business.

They are just distancing the corporation from the Metallica LE scenario and the future shortages they plan to create to hype their LEs. Lots of complaints came down when JJP did 1,000 WOZ ECLEs and even more TH LEs, but it seems more straightforward to me. If you don't like that many being made, don't think of them as Limited Editions, rather Luxury Editions.

Not at all when distributors do it openly... and customers are open about it too.

I know I am new to the hobby, but I tend to look at the positive side of this. It seems to me that Stern is doing the best they can to constantly adapt to a small market that is rapidly growing and changing. More demand than supply is generally better overall for the hobby than no demand.

I was pointing out that it's completely unclear whether the middleman in this scenario is a broker who is somehow not a dealer or a dealer. The PR is muddy and poorly worded. If I took offense to anything, it was the lack of clarity. Why make a PR at all if it doesn't communicate what you're trying to say?

If this was completely clear to you upon reading what I wrote, I'm not sure how it warrants calling me a wussy. Don't get me wrong -- I'm a total wussy. I guess I'm just wondering how you could tell from WAY UP THERE ON YOUR FUCKING HIGH HORSE.

It's a policy that should be easy to get around... but will be expensive and difficult for a distributor to fight back against any repercussions from Stern for doing so.

The policy doesn't ban selling buying slots. You as a distributor could sell your ability to put orders in sequence. That's all you are selling.. and when the game is announced there is a window of opportunity to purchase. They aren't preselling the game itself.

That is in effect what GEX and others have been doing - this avoids the misunderstanding of thinking you have paid for a game and hence 'secured' a game.

It's a lot of overhead for a distributor.. but it can be done without violating that statement from stern.

According to Stern website, Stern Pinball "direct distributors and dealers" are:

http://www.sternpinball.com/Buy/Commercial.aspx

Are all others, therefore, just middlemen engaging in speculative behavior, that is, taking deposits on officially unannounced games then?

The big distributors sell a lot more than pinball machines.

Distributors should tell perspectives buyers what order they are in line at and if the distributor gets alloted at least that many then the buyer gets one. Sounds simple enough.

I think the reason for ALL of this is that there is a perception that these pins are going to appreciate, and people have figured out its an easy investment and easy money when things are good. Which may in fact be true for SOME games, (i.e. Tron and ACDC), but not all (TF, XM, AV).

Investors are BANKING on MOPLE being just as popular as ACDC LEs, and that's probably a false speculation. It's also probably false speculation that Star Trek will be as popular as ACDC, not because of the game itself, but the fanbase isn't nearly as broad or as international as ACDC.

I think the hammer is going to drop soon, there may not be a pinball BUBBLE, but I think there is a definite LE 'bubble' that is due to burst soon. (I.E. Star Trek at the latest, but probably MOPLE as well)

-Wes

I know I thought that it was odd when GEX announced on here he was already taking deposits for Star Trek; when Metallica was not even out yet.

When it wasn't even announced yet, when it was still just a twinkle in Borg's eye...

Do they support them from authorized distributors ?

LTG : )

What is it with all the wussy people these days who take offense to everything?

hahah! you just called steve a wussy!

bear.jpg

What does this even mean Ben ?
I wasn't "burned" nor anyone in the MN "group".
Please explain.

You are always commenting how you and others have deposits down on games not yet announced.You said you had a Depoist down on Metallica in December!

You have wrote things like this on pinside before, they see it. No matter how much people think they are friends with Stern or IE:JODY they will use what you say against you the first chance they get.

All I am saying is that your posts and mine always stick out like a sore thumb so to speak at Stern. They know exactly who we are and have met us many times. So things that we say are are seen so to speak. 10k by xmas for example! Watch what you say on pinside.

I'm not sure it's that complex. People are taking deposits on Star Trek which is presumed to be next. Stern hasn't officially asked for deposits since the pin hasn't been announced. I can see someone putting a deposit down now, expecting a star trek le and possibly not getting one due to dealing with someone like execjet =) Stern is just saying if you put your money down now you're taking a gamble and we have nothing to do with it. No conspiracy. Not a communist plot by Jody. If the pin is worth buying they'll make a premium that is cheaper than an LE anyway. Much ado about nothing.

Commie scum lol I hear yah Chuck. But there is plenty of records on pisnide of DEALERS pushing for deposits on NEXT titles before its even announced.

I most certainly was not not blaiming J NOT AT ALL. I was just poking him a bit in good humor so to speak on some of things that have been wrote on pinside is all. You know all teh people posting about deposits has something to do with said announcement

One of these days I will get a formal apology and I will lay off Stern! Until then they are demons demons I tell you EVIL!

Yup. One of these days the LE is going to be a stinker and people will get burned for doing this. I'm glad I buy pinballs to play and not for an investment =)

Who paid a deposit already?

Where are the attorneys on this site when you need them? We need clarification from a PR lawyer.

As mentioned by someone earlier, this looks like a smart way to say that Stern has nothing to do with a failed pre-order on a LE ... so look somewhere else before contacting us.

It is not beyond belief that some individuals that were knocked off the METLE list have contacted attorneys. Seems foolish to me, but you know that there is always someone that is looking to pick a fight. Overall, it looks like a real smart announcement from Stern, regardless of their wording.

This sounds like a CYA all the way.

CYA from the actions of rogue "middlemen"

The fun project will be to watch who comes out of the woodwork selling the LEs. That will tell all.

I think everyone is right - this is Stern's way to basically say, hey - just because you put down money with someone doesn't mean we promised them the game. Which is totally fair. If they announce a game and the first distributor makes a claim for 100% of the LE run, it doesn't help Stern at all. So, they work with their buyers to fill the LE run order as efficiently as possible.

The other thing is that if 100% of the LEs are presold, the buzz around the game goes away pretty quickly. In the past, they have managed to get things mentioned on various blogs, magazines, and so on. If there is no opportunity for people to purchase the machines because 100% of them are sold before they are announced, then why would Wired or whatever carry news about the LE model?

It all makes a lot of sense to me. Having said that, they also made the language so that if any dealer is taking and making slots available, they can still do so at their own risk. If dealer X presells 20 slots but only gets 5 games, now that dealer can even point at this and say, "Hey, it was just your spot in line, not the game!"

It was a very sensible announcement, I think.

Total CYA move and hilarious considering the fact that they are the ones that created the whole MET LE debacle!........It's THEIR fault, not the distributors.....

That said, you know the crybaby crowd has been out in full force burning up the phone lines to express their displeasure about not gettting a Met Le and/or are complaining about not being able to get in line for the Star Trek LE.....

Don't forget that announcement doesn't address pre-orders with "authorized distributors", so they are apparently free to continue to do business as usual.

Dang it....I thought Angry Birds was next....

^^ winner ^^

Funny thing is, that's the first thing I thought. I was thinking...who would buy from an unauthorized distributor anyway? Can they even buy games from Stern?

Seems to me that if you're an "authorized" distributor, you're fine.

It's a good move to get something like this out there after the METLE BS, but Gary shouldn't think for a minute that this little press release is going to stop angry pinheads from confronting him at the next pinball show/expo.

Anything that prevents paying upfront for a game that is months away is a good thing. No reason that there can't just be a "list" until the game is announced. At that point weed out the tire kickers by requiring a substantial payment within a week or lose you place in line.

Also, I think the wording of this memo needed some work. What they are trying to say is that the "distributors were not authorized" to take deposits on these games until announced - not that they are "unauthorized distributors".

Starting with you I'm sure

Naw, not me, I'm a lover not a fighter.

Well somebody has to be doing it, I can think of quite a few 'unauthorized distributors' immedietly trying to sell their MOPLEs in the past month north of 10k.

I think Stern needed to come out with something like this. Sounds to me like a pin release is coming soon. Maybe within a month? Nice job Stern!!

"Stern Pinball only accepts deposits on games Stern Pinball has publicly announced that are soon to be produced, and which are associated with confirmed orders from Stern Pinball direct distributors and dealers."

That's funny. I never remember Stern Pinball ever taking a deposit from me for the NIB games I bought.