Standard flippers

Standard pops

Standard balls

Ramps

Multiball

Wizard mode

Tilt

Better sound that 90% of all the pinball machines ever made.

Better lighting that 90% of all the pinball machines ever made.

Full size playfield

No vacuum displays to outgass.

Made in USA.

=

What's not real about it, exactly?

I've played a bunch of WOZ and so far, LCD does nothing at all to improve gameplay (I know, wait until Fall when the game is finished).

I'll take fun gameplay over a bunch of silly animations on a display anyday.

I have stated publicly when it hits $995 its mine ....
I said $99 on Zizzle and it hit that but I missed the boat...bummer.

if they moved production to china and sold at 1k would you still buy it?

After all my moneys in pinball, I'll be eating there daily.

So, I guess the answer is the OP's original question is "No".

People complain about pinball machines becoming more expensive
...so Stern makes a less expensive pinball table.

People complain about 'the pin' having less features than a full size
so... (people have a short memory)

Semi in line with the OP's question... how many pinball owners open up and work on their own tables? Is it 25, 50, 75% of owners?

I'm sure any answer is just a guess, but in any case, I like the Pin and why not leave it as a non servicable item. It would be nice to create more jobs for pinball techs around the world as these machines begin to require service in the future

Made in America is great but it is what it is and 1k is my mark on this one.
Pinmanguy whats your price on it?...I said I'd buy it at 1k.
Also what kind of car do you drive? shoes? clothing? Its a world economy and this is a commercial product.

If they made it in China and price point was 1k think of all the Shipping jobs that would be...loading dock guys...transport and not to mention at $1k there would still be a profit for the retail stores that carried it. Make it here for 2k sell 100 units at a $500 profit = $50,000 profit for retailers.
Make it there sell it here 1k -$200 profit sell 1000 units =$200,000 profit for retailers.

Here on Pinside, many owners do some level of service on their games.

Out in the real world, I do a great many service calls on other people's games. "I'm usually pretty good at fixing stuff. I replaced that fuse there, a cupla times. Dang thing keeps blowin!" - real customer quote.

I'm not dissing china, I agree with your thinking and think buying something made American is over rated in some cases. If the parts are the same why's it matter where it's assembled? Yes QC may be lower but if you have a warranty that will swap out serious faults then your covered. I've found this with fender guitars and their lines made in mexico. Some of those use the same parts but are just assembled over the border and cost less. For a beater that i'll be carrying around to gigs I know which one I was happy buying. I'm in australia so our prices are off from you guys and I don't know if anyone actually carries the pin. If they did I'd probably max out at around 1.5k

See Stern thats two sales right there lol.
Thats a 25% sales increase...still keeping watch.

It may do nothing for you personally but I think what matters is the broad consumer perception.
The display technology they used is 40+ years old. Early handheld electronic games in the 70s used it.

I'm also underwhelmed by woz as far as what they're doing with the LCD so far, but one game doesn't break the case for it.

They had 3 or 4 at the Bolingbrook Costco. Appears they sold all of them since I am in there every week.

I guess you didn't watch the video. I was commenting on the interviewers enthusiasm about seeing a "real" pinball.... And then they show this stripped down non-commercial home model without dmd like its something that evolved. Its the worst stern pinball made in 13 years,now isnt it? I wouldnt recommend this to anyone, there are so many better choices for the same money or less.

I would Buy a ton of these if the sale price was $1000. I could sell many of them at that price point =)

amen! I would take a newly made loaded pin like a TZ or a whirlwind with an alphanumeric display over what Stern is putting out lately anyday. If the code is really such a crutch, then offer a semi-pro without a DMD.

As far as serviceability, it's all about what Stern is willing to sell as spare parts (anything is serviceable if you can buy parts). I'm sure Stern isn't wanting to sell anything that isn't standard parts because of the reputation it has as a "trouble-free" pin

Wow, fake online reviews.

Scandalous!

I wouldn't even want a Zizzle for $99 ...the buttons & flippers just feel terrible. I haven't played The Pin, but it's using REAL pinball parts, so at least it has that much going for it!

Many of the greatest pinball games of all time do not have a DMD.

Goofy animations and video game modes worse than an Atari 2600 do not a great pinball game make.

At least one person here who doesn't own one bagged it. Makes you wonder how many of the reviews on either side are real...

Well thats 100 toward my $995 lol.
Never played a ziz.

I guess you have not played it.

It is totally fun and fast.

Austin Powers or Sharkey's Shootout are WAY worse games.

I played the Transformers at the Costco in St. Charles, IL, a couple months ago. The game was unplugged so I plugged it in and tried it out. I gotta say, the actual gameplay was quite fun.

Some pics

image.jpg image.jpg

an interesting thing mentioned for the avenger pin was that it was going to have usb ports and software for users to create their own rulesets. Did that ever happen?

"There are so many used cars for less money, I wold not recommend you buy a new car."

That is great logic right there.

You guys should go walk through the Stern factory and see what it takes to put a machine together, even a scaled down one like this. They employ a lot of people and hand assemble each little part, from building the full wire harness, to tightening down each little screw and bolt. Seeing it in action really gives you an appreciation for how complex this all is.

As players we only see the main table and its 2 button interface, which makes up a small percentage of the total complexity of the entire game.The res is all hidden so you, the player, don't have to deal with it. I think the idea of creating this pin was a good one, albeit not the first attempt by any means. No company is going to nail something on the first try, but if the design lasts a few product iterations, it stands to get better.

a NIB pin is just as likely to have issues as an old pin that's been restored. Your argument doesn't work pins are different to cars.

So a restored car does not have issues?

Pins are different than cars?

LMFAO

They are different TO cars , learn to read Child.

you can't make an argument that someone should buy a used car as opposed to a new car because new cars tend to be a lot more reliable to then old cars. Restored cars and classics are different as there generally not for every day driving. A new pin has a ball flying around it and is just as likely to break something as an old pin is. With an old car unless it's been completely overhauled with a new engine and parts then the miles add up. Plus cars depreciate like crazy (once again i'm talking regular every day driving cars)

If pinball had even a small percentage of the R&D budget that cars get, I wonder where we would be.

I'd be happy to own one of these for $1k, assuming it was avengers themed and not this generation of transformers. This is even more true as the price of used pins keeps climbing, making the $1k pin all the more rare (plus unlike a new machine, those are typically not ready to play or at least gleamingly clean).

I don't think it matters what we'd pay though; if Stern could sell this thing for less they surely would. This level of manufacturing is expensive and the components are as well. Anyone who has tried to build their own pin (or even virtuapin) appreciates how quickly the price goes up.

Also, people should stop bagging on the Zizzles. Take one apart some time, you'll have a lot of respect for what they accomplished.

Yeah, but isn't it so big you can just get a creeper and work under it upside down like a car? heh.

Just open the bomb bay doors and let the dust drop.

Yeah, but with Herc you can just crawl inside the cabinet and fix it from underneath!

I am all for more pinball machines on the market but pins ROFL LMFAO

I am so glad to hear this is falling flat on its face. No joke laughing about it.

At the price point and quality of this thing it is a nightmare and can only turn off potential pinball buyers. Picture the poor guy that can barely afford one but surely cannot afford a full sized one. Then has reliability issues with it. Said guy/girl gets a better job and makes more pay......Do you honestly think with that taste in his mouth he would ever delve into our hobby again.

This is the most rotten thing Stern has ever done to our hobby.
It was the single stupidest idea ever conceived in pinball. I will be glad the day they are all in a burn pile.

And yeah I am telling you all how I really feel

Maybe they can borrow some of JJPs new day-laborers to add some hinges to the Pin's playfield.

this cracked me up

even more once I read his real username

It's made of all regular Stern parts. Same flippers, pops, ramps, balls.

How is the quality of this pin a nightmare, exactly?

I know, right?

Stern sends a regional repair man to the house to fix it.

Once the warranty is over, you get to pay the repair man yourself.

It's just like a washing machine, but flashier.

lets say the 180 deg ramp guides for a prime example. quality. I am sure for this price point there were tons of corners cut. Any other proving points vid. IMHO this thing is worth nothing but 15 bucks to give it to the dump.

service tech is a good and very needed idea for this game I am sure

for the record I am a fanboy of Stern, JJP, JPOP, BH, SkitB but just not "THE PIN"

problem with the price point is that if you can afford the pin you can afford a nice 90's dmd

All I can say is play it.

It's totally fun.

It's made of standard Stern parts. I will not have any problems fixing it, nor would I expect any other competent pin tech to have trouble with it.

very small percentage.

Stern produces less than 4,000 assembled products per year
Toyota produces 80,000,000 cars per year

20,000 ratio

You think about that kind of stuff, huh?

<edited>

_{Post edited by The_Dude_Abides : Inappropriate materil.}

LOL