At least they covered the big plastic apron with some decals, the prototype had nothing there and looked horrible.

Will have to play this pin before I comment. I am sure it will be a hit in the rural areas. =P

It looks like it could be fun, but the theme does nothing for me at all. Stern's next game is supposed to be Iron Man, and that should be a great theme for pinball.

Iron Man would be a good one. Hopefully they can come up with enough content from just one movie. But then again, there are all the comics to pull from. I'm sure it would have great artwork.

I thing GI Joe could be a good theme. Build the team. Find and destroy the secret base(s). Complete missions/stop the Cobra plots kinda like the ring modes in LOTR. Could be good.

Looks like a fun layout and would certainly be keen for a play on it...... but the theme???? Well id never want to own it,not really a fun family gamesroom machine shooting deer,my girls certainly wouldnt like.

The machine is very colorful for sure. Unfortunately, the theme is of the game does absolutely nothing for me and never will. I agree with Robin, shooting animals even for fun is just not my thing. Even if I had 4 multiballs going at once and was about to get the super jackpot, I still would not be enjoying myself. I think Stern may be thinking this game will be popular with the people who play the buck hunter arcade machine. That is the only reason I can of why they made it. I'm hoping for something like an Ironman, Transformers, or some horror based theme game in the future. I'm am fairly new to pinball and the politics surrounding it, but it seems that Stern is going to do exactly what they want and will not even consider the opinions of the home community that is keeping this great hobby alive. Just my 2 cents here.

Even though I live where deer hunting is very popular I too could not get past the theme for more than a curiosity play or two. Definitely not something I would own. I can't even eat the deer summer sausage anymore that everyone brings into work in the late fall.

I dunno if I'm going to get this Torch machine as I haven't heard back from the guy in over a day when he said he could bring it this weekend in a truck. No big deal though. I'll see if he contacts me tomorrow or this weekend. It could be some poor sap offered him more money not knowing what they would be getting into with a Gottlieb system 1. The guy selling it didn't even know the backglass portion folds down.

Sucks,take it if you gave it to me.The artwork on the playfield looks boring and Im not sure how well the theme will play on a pin.The arcade versions I enjoy,in fact would like to own the safari version arcade game(looks cool).I think if the pin were crossed with humor it would be a great success,like fish tales.But as always Stern doesnt do well with art on the playfield,good with toys though.Ironman has the potential to be a mega-pin if they would stick to a comicbook style art on the playfield,though Spiderman did very well the way Stern designed it.You have to check this out,its original!!!
http://www.classicplayfields.com/lostvegas.html
Classic Playfield Reproductions,Canada

Big Buck Hunter is a real arcade hit in America as i understood... I like this pin.. its somewhat different and finally not a movie theme.. But if Stern is making an other machine after BBH and if it should be a movie theme... i vote for The A-Team

I agree as well, not a very good themed pinball. Not my 'cup of tea' as it were here in England! (still on holiday! )Ya it will sell, but mostly just to retailers and end up in the corner of pubs. Are they going to make a limited 'turkey shoot' edition of this game? Comon!!

Stern needs to dummy up and listen to us hard core pin heads, and not make the 'suit and tie' decisions that killed Williams. Is Stern even a shareholder company like WMS was/is?

No more MOVIE themes please...heck, 90% of the movies Stern has done are useless. No no and no. BBH is the first outside of the box thinking IMO. Sure, it plays to the "Mall Cop" hunting crowd but what's so wrong with that?

In 20 years time we will say, hey, nice pin - timeless...not overdone like Batman, I Jones, etc.

They need to come up with more "generic" themes and simply work on making it more artsy.

When you look at DMD pins like Arnies T2, as someone who lives under his rule, my opinion of him and the desire to look at him on a pin and watch what used to be a great movie is very unappealing.

No, Stern, don't listen to those guys...no more movie or TV pins unless you do something like The Jetsons with old school art. Now that would be cool.

At least with Ironman, you don't HAVE to have Morton Downey Jr on the backglass. They will of course but they don't have to. I would definitely be more apt to buy the Ironman if there were no MDJ on the glass.
Debating whether or not to get a Spiderman. My wife says three pins, max. At least in this house. (Can't wait til we move again, hehee) So I have to sell my Meteor or Future Spa to get another. I prefer to get rid of the FS, don't enjoy that one at all.

Cant say i agree with you on the movie themes being useless Super8man mate,Stern has some great tv/movie themes LOTR,Spiderman,Simpsons...all awesome games in my opinon.

Currently all three machines i own are movie themed and i think are some of the most classic games..Williams Indiana Jones,Bram Stokers Dracula and Terminator 2!

I heard some talk about the new ROHS rules, that means Stern cant export to europe in 2010... Anyone who could confirm this?

LOTR,SPiderman and Simpsons PP are all great games.Seal you are going to have to convince your wife to fall for a pin that you really want like Mine did for LOTR,now all I need is the money!LOL

My wife has started playing LOTR. Plays for about 15 mins each night. Wasn't / isn't interested in my two old ones. She's not a big fan of the movies. I think it's just all the gold trim and sparkly lights. Women like gold and sparkly things. My wife's awesome, which is why I married her. She knows I'm a guy and I have to have my toys. The primary issue is space right now. The "Man Cave" only has room for three pins. She likes the idea of a game room, though. We are also going to have a nice dart board setup(she's a pretty decent thrower) and a minibar.

Sounds like you got a keeper for a wife. My girlfriend is very supportive of my hobbies also which I am so grateful for. She likes the music from LOTR and thinks the commentary from Spiderman is funny. I would like to have a larger room for my games. I've got an x-arcade machine, and the 2 pinballs. I have room for 2-3 more pieces max. I'm running out of room unless I move everything from the bedroom into the game room and move the machines into the bedroom. If I did that, I could have about 12-14 machines in there. The "man cave" as you put it, it located in the back of the house. So the spot is perfect.

Regarding RoHS rules, I'd be very surprised if this were the case -- changes to RoHS are typically flagged at least a couple of years in advance, just so manufacturers of electronics goods can get their designes for new products compliant at an early stage in the design stage of the manufacturing process.

It would be a very incompetent manufacturer who had any significant market share in Europe to be caught out by any RoHS rule changes. The other thing is that typically the US (slowly) follows with higher standards after a few years, so it's a bit of a no-brainer for manufacturers to move to RoHS standards sooner rather the than later (at least for new product development).

"Big Buck Hunter" is a stinker in any case -- if they don't export it to Europe, I think rather it will be because they are aware of the rather limited demographic appeal of a machine with a theme like this.

Even amongst the supposed target "red state" demographics, I can't really see this being a hit. "Hey guys, I just shot the most awesome big buck -- with a pinball!!!"

They'd have to surrender their NRA card.

What's with all the PC (politically correct) talk about pins like BBH all of a sudden...last time I checked, MOST pins are completely sexist. At least the old ones. Now people get all touchy feely over hitting a stag with a pinball? Call me crazy but if you presented this pin to the old civil war re-creation folks, shooting a big buck with a silver ball would seem, well, normal.

Seriously, everyone fretting over shooting something like "dinner"? I don't get it.

Now excuse me while I go and shoot a silver ball into the mouth of a serpent on Gorgar. That's when I am not staring at the woman kissing the biceps of the man facing down the devil (on the playfield, FYI).

To me, I think that roving buck will add some anxiety to getting your shot off on time to either avoid the buck while shooting for some other ruleset thing or trying to hit it directly.

Let's not forget the roots of pinball as an extension of gambling, being a rebel, and slightly uncouth. That's what pinball is all about...

super8man makes a great point to be honest. It is ok to kill and dismember people all day long in modern warfare 2 but if you hurt bambi you are a "mean bad republican redneck". That is just silly. Hunting is a viable hobby/sport whatever and of course an important part of man's history so kinda hard to make fun of some dude who goes off into the woods and comes back with dinner for himself and his family for many meals to come. I call that self sufficient (at least to some degree). Plus hunters pay a shit ton of taxes and other fee's in order to do what they do, and that money (at least in my state of Colorado) is used to fund the dept. of wildlife which does good things for the native species. With that said, it is still not my thing. But whatever, diffrent strokes.

Yes but slaying Vampires or killing men in warfare seems a little way off when comparing a human taking the latest rifle into bush to kill Bambie! These days the majority hunters dont NEED to kill for feeding family but just kill or hunt for the pleasure,sport or fun they get out of it.

Im far from being politically correct either but merely from my opinion im far happier pounding stakes into vampires or attacking invading martians than killing a fury forest animal that cant fight back!

Charging antlers or not,when facing a high powered rifle its far from a fair fight.

Id play the game for sure,but its theme will never get me excited to own..far better titles out there.

I'd rather chase Bambie with a big stick. THWAAAK! Now that's huntin.

Gonna have to add it to the Archives.

I understand Stern's liscenced product strategy, but making a game based on a game? BBH seems to me like more of a pool hall/bar room type game and I don't think they'll be getting this pinball in too many pizza parlors. I don't know, maybe REI will buy a bunch and put them in all their stores. At least they should have one at the Cabella's in Nevada.

Maybe their next game could be one based on completing tasks (targets, etc) to charge up capacitors to achieve bonus points...with a Toyota Prius/electric car/windmills/solar tech theme? I think the concept of the Blackout was great - getting the game to shut down all the lights - it should have been released in 2001 and simply titled "California." So perhaps a pin along the lines of conservation and generating electricity would work? At least this would appeal to the folks on the other end of the spectrum from BBH.

I don't care about BBH, what a bad idea....Is you want to make a pinball based on a videogame, take Halo, Gears of war, Call of Duty, Forza.....ect...Not an average game like Big Buck Hunter....Wake up Stern!! You're the only one and i will buy more machine from you but WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Would love to see Stern do Avatar,as my wife would make me buy it! Come on Stern Make up with Steve ritchie,give him a nice bonus and let him finish Avatar! It will be a big seller,I will buy one if they use some new technology in it.

My comments, if that's what were being referred to, had nothing to do with "political correctness" or otherwise of the theme -- I was simply saying that the machine will fail to appeal to (what one would assume to be) the intended target audience -- hunting fans. The "deer turd sniffing" crowd probably take their chosen sport a bit too seriously to take seriously a pinball game where you shoot a moving deer cut-out with a pinball.

And clearly, it certainly won't appeal to the non-hunting fans. Who does that leave?

Only super-savvy collectors, who realise that in 20 years time this will probably be one of the rarest pinball machine ever produced.

You hit the nail on the head with the rarest pinball forecast...still, I would be really interested to see just how well this one sells.

As for me, if I were able to go back in time to 1970, I would probably be the guy ordering a panther pink Dodge Charger with the 340 and six pack carbs and being told "nobody" would want my car and get laughed at driving down the road...I think BBH may be a step in that direction...maybe? Maybe...

Dodge had the coolest colored cars back then. I prefer the purple. Never even knew they came in pink. I can only imagine how rare that would be. Anyone laughing at that car would be doing it from behind.

I personally think BBH is a good theme for a pin, and I can't wait for the opportunity to play one.
I didn't know this was based on an arcade game, but this should give an instant appeal to those who know the name/brand. As for any possible hunting issues, come on!!! it's a game, it's supposed to be fun. Sure, there may be some hardcore anti-hunting supporters out there who won't let there kids play it, but that won't stop me having fun.
I like the overall look of the art package, very nice, but the backglass stinks, it looks too soft and cute. How many great pins have awfull backglasses??? I think a great idea for this backglass could of been a dark wooded scene, with a mechanical reveal (shaped like a rifle sight/binoculars) that moved around the backglass randomly lighting up and revealing hidden animals.
I like the look of the playfield set up, but only time will tell if it's good or bad, as i've said before I do have a concerns about that long cut-out where the moving target crosses the playfield. Could this be a major wear issue, could this alter ball flow/direction, could a slow moving ball actually get stuck it it???
Another concern is the horns and antlers of the playfield animal figures, could these be easily busted by airballs, hope they are made from soft, flexible rubber.
Oh yes, the use of cows and easter eggs couldn't be easier in this pin, already seen some on the playfield, let's hope there's some goodies hidden in this one. If you don't know what this means follow this link.

http://hem.bredband.net/b257182/Cows&Easter.htm

I can't comment on game play yet, i'm sure it will be good fun and like I said before, I like the theme, hunting and shooting, I find the idea very attractive in a pinball.

This is just a few of my thoughts about a pin that I haven't played yet and it's had no REAL reviews yet. Nice one Stern, keep them coming and if you read this please make a Futurama pin.

Don't like the theme at all ... horrible, but from the pictures it may turns out a decent pinball. At least it has potential. There are few cool feature on the play-field. Need to be played first.

I do not hunt myself but I do work with a lot of officers who do and I mentioned this pinball machine out of the blue at the time clock and many of them said they WOULD NOT have an interest in playing the machine.

Has anybody got a chance to try "Big Buck Hunter" yet?

Yeah thats right, who among us will be the first?
I predict the 1st post will come from the Pacific North West
- according to my crystal ball

after reading the press release I now understand the connection between Big Buck Hunter Pro and STERN.

"Former pinball designer Mark Ritchie was in charge of the Big Buck Hunter series at Play Mechanix where he is still Production Coordinator/Producer."

http://www.pinballnews.com/games/bigbuckhunter/index5.html

I like it. But, I think they should include a spare buck since that one on the playfield will be beat up...wonder if a game like that would be allowed in California? Peta lives here, ugh.

Just looks like another cookie cutter cash grab pin to me, doesn't mean I won't give it a try. But I have low expectations of this pin, very low, and I'm pretty sure stern will live up to them. Look at a pin from the 90's and earlier... then ...look at a stern pin, notice anything?.... With laser cutters, cnc machines, injection molding,robotic welders,modern printing techniques, don't you think they shouldn't look like carboard boxes with stickers slapped on them. Complete with all the plastic they can cram in a machine that has a solid steel ball hurtling at 40 mph. Artwork that looks like a 4 year old cut and pasted a bunch of their favourite pictures from a magazine on the backglass.

Stern has moved itself far away from actual pinball design as possible...didn't it used to be about ...
"what does the consumer want to play and pay for, and continue to keep playing thus making more $$$."
Not, "what can we throw together for as cheap as possible, and use as little thought as possible to have the consumer just pay for?"

Seems like they have a bunch of mindless heartless robots designing their pins, instead of actual people who have played them, and enjoy playing them, and can imagine what to do to make them better...it is now a lost art. Quality? no, Quantity? kinda, but at what cost to stern?(as little as they can spend on R+D) And our cost? (great quality pins)

Too many executives saying " think outside the box." Well guys, I say "start thinking about the whole fricken box!"

Back to the generic themes idea, what about an Illuminati theme ?

Played BBH at the Ohio pinball show!It played exceptionly well and looked pretty good too.Durability will have to be tested over time,but I really enjoyed playing it as did several others too.There was always people waiting to play it at the show.

I think stern should honestly make an alien pinball machine based off the movies i think it would be an instant hit in my opinion. But iron man does sound pretty ill.

I'd like to see an Aliens movie based pinball too .. as much as I like seeing Sigourney Weaver's breasts

The problem I have with SW is my mom looks like her so whenever I see SW unclothed it makes me feel uncomfortable. Instant turn-off. But I can see how others like her. My friends would always say my mom was a MILF, right before I hit them.

Well, it sounds like impressions of the game are generally positive. I'm going to run by my local distributor this week and try to play their show floor model. When you think about it, the theme is no worse than Fish Tales, and many are saying that it actually plays better than that game.

I've played BBH quite a bit. I like the game overall, but I do have some complaints.

Factory default on the buck sensitivity is 'hard', and I think that's not good. Every op I've run into, I recommend they change it to Medium. It is such a risky shot, and you have to hit it at least five times (on normal settings) that the game is VERY drainy. I have hit the buck with many direct shots which didn't register, only to have the ball drain after.

The orbits should stop the ball with the post more, to send them in the bumpers. Or there should be a way to activate the post which isn't too hard to do it.

The bumpers are spaced in such a way that you won't get many random up-rolls through the rollover lanes for bonus multiplier. It's not too hard to get enough bumper hits, though, to activate the bonus modes. With some wear, however, I think the bonus modes will be too hard to get to be worthwhile.

There are basically no safe shots from the left flipper. Maybe the right orbit, but unless a bonus mode is lit, it's not worth it. You can post transfer to the other flipper, and from what I've seen that seems to be the only good option.

It is not as unforgiving a game as say BSD, but in BSD, if you master the shots you can do quite well. That's not the case with BBH. It is very drainy. I can easily go through $10 in an hour on the game.

A pretty good game with potential, but I think the rules/software need a little more work. I much prefer Shrek, Simpsons or CSI overall.

Can't say a whole lot on BBH yet. I need more games on it to get a good opinion on it.

I have seen pros go at it at BSD though, jonnyo. That game doesn't forgive "flipper flailers". I look at BSD like a high-maintenance girlfriend. When your good to her, she'll treat you right & give you one hell of a ride...but if you aren't giving her your all, she'll leave you in the dust in seconds (laying in the fetal position). BSD to this day is the fastest novice drainer at the shows I've seen (watching people drain on Judge Dredd is equally hilarious). I watch novices walk up to Drac, only to get demolished from the initial ball 1 launch.

drbond, I like your analogy. Yeah, with the factory lightning flippers, BSD really punishes "random" players. In fact I would go so far to say that unless a person can drop catch and bounce pass consistently they shouldn't even play it.

The difference with BBH is even if you have a lot of the expert skills in your pinball playing toolkit, they are of much less value on BBH.

What cracks me up the most is even if you hit a shot, there's a decent chance the ball will drain after. You get punished for making shots!

Hit the buck > ball goes wild > potential side or middle drain.

Hit the bird > ball is "captured" and released > SDTM around 20% of the time.

Hit the Ram > ball is rammed > SDTM around 20% of the time.

When you consider that both ram and bird shots require multiple hits to activate modes, you can expect to lose at least one ball trying to activate them. On a game with liberal tilt, you can often save these situations, but if the tilt is sensitive, forget it.

These are all things that "flailers" won't notice much, but are glaring and irritating to "control" players. Flailers will likely focus on the ramp and hitting the buck when it appears.

The buck is a really great toy, and very fun to shoot. I like it a lot. I just think the risk/reward equations in the game need some tweaking.

Three years later what do we all think??? I never see them for sale. How many did they make? Mine is tore down right now getting a major shop job, I haven't really played it before I tore it down.

Where is abacus?