Avengers The Pin
Stern, 2012
Baywatch
Sega, 1995
Spider-Man VE
Stern, 2016
Transformers The Pin
Stern, 2012I was recently at Starburst, the Canadian distributor of "the pin".
I noticed the demo units were gone so I inquired.
I was told stock was sent back to Stern after they recalled the pin.
Anyone know anything about this?
*facepalm*
Quoted from coz6:Looks like many just said I am returning it for a refund
To make a pinball game that is "not serviceable" is like making a car where you can't replace parts. Instant failure. I wouldn't be surprised if they re-release it after a re-work of the cab to make the playfield liftable.
Quoted from fattrain:To make a pinball game that is "not serviceable" is like making a car where you can't replace parts. Instant failure. I wouldn't be surprised if they re-release it after a re-work of the cab to make the playfield liftable.
Ahhh so that was true - I figured it was one of those I don't know how to work on it or surface mounted components are non serviceable to many (right now)
Some killer quotes in the reviews: "I consider this the finest smaller than normal sized Transformers pinball game of all time. I, however, will not be purchasing..." Good stuff!
Quoted from Craig:The playfield isn't liftable? Yikes!
That's what I heard when someone asked Stern or something awhile back. I can't 100% confirm this but I believe it to be the case.
The CES video showed Gary lifting the glass for minor maintenance, but he didn't address lifting the playfield. He said he wanted the Pin to be maintenance free, like 'your television.' Obviously some problems with that, but hopefully they can resolve their issues.
Quoted from jpop:yes I am an owner (TF#17), the PF does not lift...bolted to the main cab like we did on our zizzles. I have been trying to get extra parts/spares from them since January, to no avail. Has the new hardware system though! Jpop
I understand the rationale for trying to build a game that's more family friendly, but bolting the playfield to the cab seems odd to me. 
Quoted from jpop:yes I am an owner (TF#17), the PF does not lift...bolted to the main cab like we did on our zizzles. I have been trying to get extra parts/spares from them since January, to no avail. Has the new hardware system though! Jpop
So, did you buy it to learn from their hardware system?
Somewhat OT, but alot of questionable Amazon reviews. Check out the flurry of positive reviews on December 5th from users with it being their first and only review. This all came after the one star review on Dec 3rd.
Smells like smoke...better put it out!
Pretty sure on the CES interviews that Gary did that he said something along the lines of it wasnt servicable because "You don't open up your TV and tinker with it when something goes wrong, you call someone to maintenance it."
Um, yes, we do open up the TV. Also, my TV doesn't have that many moving parts. The glass lifts so that you can un-stick a ball or change the rubbers, but that's it. You aren't "supposed to" need to do anything else to it.
Quoted from Mrw04c:Somewhat OT, but alot of questionable Amazon reviews. Check out the flurry of positive reviews on December 5th from users with it being their first and only review. This all came after the one star review on Dec 3rd.
Smells like smoke...better put it out!
That's hilarious. I like the one where the guy is talking about the "footprint" of the pin. Like some guy who doesn't have a pinball machine or arcade game is going to be talking about the "footprint" of the machine. AND it was his first review on Amazon 
Quoted from vid1900:The Costco manager near me said they sold 9 of them.
There are over 400 Costco stores.
But how many carry The Pin? I don't believe any of the ones here in WA do.
I had heard previously it was only Chicago Costco, is that where you are vid, or somewhere else?
I would be happy if they did sell a bunch. Otherwise it was a huge waste.
Quoted from bobbyconover:But how many carry The Pin? I don't believe any of the ones here in WA do.
If you want one and your neighborhood incomes don't not support the sale of $2500 toys, order it through your store manager.
I'm trying to buy the floor sample when they finally run out at one of the 3 local Costcos that have them around here.
I asked the local (GA) store manager about them before, and he looked at me weird, walked to the back, came back 5 minutes later, and said it was a regional thing in the Chicago area. Didn't offer to order one for me. They've got plenty of expensive toys for sale in the store, and a few automobiles for good measure, but not one pin or mention of a pin in sight.
Quoted from Mudflaps:bolting the playfield to the cab seems odd to me.
You and every other rational pinhead in the world!
Really think stern could make a good niche product here if they can lower the price a little more, it's crazy not to have it serviceable though, what harm does it do for the home user who doesn't want to touch it? Not having the playfield come out makes most real pin players cringe
I've been to half a dozen Costco stores in central Ca hoping to see one in the wild but I have yet to find one. Has anybody posted detailed pictures and or video of the machine inside and out?
Poor guy (Amazon review: Str8Talk) who's wife got him one for his birthday. For nearly $3K she could have bought him 2 complete and functioning Baywatch pins!
I've heard of shill bidding, so is that shill reviewing? Try to make it less obvious next time, folks.
Instead of, "The quality of this fine Stern product is on par with the full size commercial games, while providing the same level of excitement that will keep the whole family entertained for years to come."
Try, "This is awesome! I admit I was skeptical because it's smaller than a 'real' game, but it plays really fast and has fun rules and cool artwork. I thought about picking up a used 90's game for the same price, but I'd rather have a brand new game that doesn't look like it's been in a junkyard for 20 years."
Quoted from spidey:I've heard of shill bidding, so is that shill reviewing? Try to make it less obvious next time, folks.
Instead of, "The quality of this fine Stern product is on par with the full size commercial games, while providing the same level of excitement that will keep the whole family entertained for years to come."
Try, "This is awesome! I admit I was skeptical because it's smaller than a 'real' game, but it plays really fast and has fun rules and cool artwork. I thought about picking up a used 90's game for the same price, but I'd rather have a brand new game that doesn't look like it's been in a junkyard for 20 years."
would you like a job in sterns marketing department haha?
shill reviews are stupidly common these days. Books are a big candidate for shill reviews.
Quoted from vid1900:It is serviceable.
Don't let all the Pinside squawkers imply that it isn't, especially when they have not even seen one in person or played it, LOL.
I asked a while back in another thread and noone knew but I'd read amazon reviews saying it isn't. I'm happy to be incorrect if that's the case. Wish there was some good detailed pics of it's insides.
No way a real pinball... oh my gosh I had to turn it off...
Quoted from vid1900:» YouTube video
Video of Jody saying that it is serviceable.
If the reliability claims are true, I could definitely see a niche for this but they would have to get the cost below 2k. Also, it really, really needed a LCD. It would have given it a totally higher end look and appeal. In fact, this product line could have been their jumping off point for LCD since the simpler ruleset wouldn't have required as much programming.
If the playfields were user swap-able so that you could get a new game every couple years, that would be a selling point.
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