You're missing some pretty important stuff. If you watch any recent Gary Stern seminar on youtube, he explains it pretty well.

First off, the vast majority of the people that buy the pin will never become a hobbyist, like you did. The typical buyer will have a $100k+ a year income and a big ass house. For entertainment, they'll have a huge TV with all the latest video games, a pool or foosball table, and maybe an arcade video game or two. In the backyard, they'll have a pool with a diving board and a hot tub. The pin will just be something to go in the big empty corner of the entertainment/media room. Grandparents will buy the pin for their grandkids to play when they come over twice a year to visit.

Secondly, the game will get played so little, the warranty won't be an issue. The demographic that the pin appeals to has many other things around to entertain folks. The pin will rarely be the center of attention. Maybe a few days a year of play. The only maintenance most will ever need is replacement of the UV damaged rubber, which happens whether you play it or not.

How do I know all this? I did in home pinball repairs for a living in silicon valley for a while. The vast majority of my customers only had one game and virtually all of them showed signs of neglect. I heard 'We haven't played it in years' numerous times. I had more than a few grandparents as customers.

These games rarely get played. The paint will fade on the pin before most will ever break down. Please stop trying to 'save' these people. They don't need your help. Trust me.

Yep, every time you go to somebody's house, they always have a broken Bally Playboy or TAF, unplugged in the corner of the game room.

They would probably be much better served with a brand new "Pin" than an older game that has not been bulletproofed.

Stern is only selling these through Olhausen distributors now, price is usually 3k, not sure if they have changed the design at all since raising the price from $2500 to 3k.

But, I had a chance to play it at a local distributor today, and I must say, I love it...Flame me all you want, but there is a lot of appeal for someone like me...First time buyer, don't have a ton of space in my game room, and both adults and kids can play it...Just sayin' I will probably buy one, as I've talked to some local guys who are selling Pro and LE pins, but they are at the very least $4300, and the LE's are $5800...That's twice as much as one of these home pins...Honestly don't think I'll get that much play out of it...I'll binge play it every once in awhile, and when friends come over...But other than that, I think it is a good complementary piece to have. Seems like they will see how this arrangement works out this year before deciding to produce more next year.

I saw one a week ago and it was not in an Olhausen distributor and it was not 3k. It was listed at 4k and on "sale" for 3500 and said "sold" on it.

Not for all the tea in China

Last week I spoke with Gary Stern about The Pin. I told I talked to a pinball retailer who didn't understand that game. According to him there is a huge market of people that want a pinball machine for cheap, but it will have to look like a pinball machine, not like a toy. According to him it would be better to keep the regular cabinet design and just do a simple play field with a few targets, bumpers, slings and that's it. Simple to produce, but still looking like a pinball machine. Gary then pointed out that they did change the design of the back box. The previous back box was designed so the game met a certain transporter's required measurements for shipping it. I plan to publish the Gary Stern interview in the near future on www.pinball-magazine.com.

As far as the game being made during Expo: while they were all over the place, and I was told they were making them for the holiday season, I didn't see anyone work on them.

If you end up not keeping it very long, you are likely to be very disappointed with it's resale value. I don't have any data to support my claim…just a gut feel. OTOH, there are many nice classic pins for 2-3k (especially in today's market) that you would get your money back in a heart beat. Just food for thought…certainly not trying to tell you what to do. I understand the appeal of a smaller, consumer-oriented product.

If Gary thinks 3.5k "street price" is cheap, then he lives on a different planet than I do.

Such a waste of time. Every time I see a picture of ''the pin'' I think about how all that effort could have gone in to delivering monster coded games, building a strong buzz with consumers and then cashing in on their pro line as well as le's, instead of underselling and cutting many runs short. And I love Stern games. Shrugs.

I would consider buying one if the price was sub-$2,500. They seem to take up slightly less space, I would assume maintenance would be less on them, the built in LED kit looks super nice, and I'd be able to carry it up and down my apartment stairs on my own. Problem is, these things don't seem to be for sale anywhere. They used to be on Amazon for $2,800, then were pulled (I am assuming this anyway, I doubt they sold). Stern later announced they would be exclusively selling them through another distributor, for well over the $2,800 they were on Amazon before they were pulled (what the hell?). Now I can't find them anywhere on the web. People here have been making statements like, "Well, they must be selling!", but I don't understand how they could be selling if there aren't any places to buy them.

Just like TRON they make them in batches to keep the lines busy.

Has anyone actually confirmed the latest versions have a playfield that can be raised for servicing like a normal machine? Does it come with a manual and schematics? What boardset is in this thing? What's the power supply board look like?

I agree, that's a major consideration in me not getting this one, I keep looking on Ebay and Craigslist to see if I can find someone selling one, but no luck so far.

The Avengers that I played today, which the distributor is selling for 3k had a liftable glass, not sure if it was like that before...But there is a key fob, when turned, the glass becomes liftable and you can touch anything on the playfield.

Was this not the case on the $2500 first version? Maybe that's something they added...If so, that would be good to know, as it will be easier for me to justify paying 3k for it, instead of $2500.

The guy at Stern I spoke with today, said they sell only through Olhausen pool table distributors...If you go on the Olhausen website, search for distributors in your area, then call them. I talked to 3 in my area today, and they all were aware of the Stern Pin...Just FYI, I tried negotiating price with them, and they were firm...All three noted very little margin on the machines.

The glass was always liftable, but from what I had read, the playfield was screwed in and not liftable like a normal pinball machine.

I saw that the playfield glass is in a liftable frame very much like the old Bally EM machines of the late 1960's. It even has a prop rod like for holding up a car hood. I'm curious to know if the playfield can be raised for service work.

Oh, I gotcha...Not positive, but I don't think it can, because I didn't notice any way to lift the playfield once the glass was lifted/raised.

Thanks! I sent a product inquiry request to one of two local Olhausen distributors. I am not in a position to be able to invest in one right now, but regardless it will be interesting to see if they do carry it (or at least know about it).

What was the price quoted from the distributors you contacted?

It has the new boards. CPU anyway. New operating system too, I would guess.

The pin was/is the test bed for the new hardware and likely the new operating system. Would you prefer they did R&D on the pros, premiums and LE's you buy and play? Or do you think keeping it simple, with the pin, was the best way to go?

I was at CES this year and asked if they would continue with the pin or make any changes, he said they would keep making it, no changes. Not making a Star Trek, so not sure what theme they will be doing?

If you"re thinking about "resale value" here you're again missing the point of this product. It's not made for the pin-nerd royal class that cares about the daily resale rate of their "collectibles."

What's the 2-3 year resale value on a 73" TV..... Or a multimedia computer.... Or a cheap pool table, etc.

These are not for collectors.

That effort will never shift into what you're talking about until the consumers (us) actually send the message to stern that any of that stuffs important.

You know what message the pin community is sending stern today?
"Release a sexy THEME and we'll buy it..... We don't need complete code or even play testing- just take our money! In fact, we will fight each other for the PRIVILEGE of alpha testing the first 1000 you make- and pay a premium for it!

So, how early can we prepay?"

So expect rising prices, rushed products and slow software updates as long as there's this fawning public voting with their credit cards...

The only one I ever saw for sale on the used market was in the last year on eBay. The guy had the original Transformers model and was asking $2,800 (or maybe $2,700). It sat for about a month and was listed twice, but the auction (it was set for "Buy it Now") ended partway through one of the listing runs. I am going to assume it sold. Around that time I believe that was when they were pulled or made unavailable through Amazon. So all things considered, I don't think the seller did all that bad, assuming it actually sold. It hasn't been relisted and I haven't seen any others.

I UNDERSTAND IT'S NOT FOR COLLECTORS! If you think collectors are the only folks who care about value, you are being naive.

The HUGE difference with a TV is after 2-3 years, the TV still provides value. Most people don't tire of TV. Same story with the computer. OTOH, "The Pin" is a large, dedicated single purpose toy. The likelihood of it still being played in 2-3 years is very low. Again, just a gut feel…I have no hard data.

If it were 1k and provided bullet proof reliability, I'd likely recommend it to non-pinhead friends. At well over 3k, I'd NEVER recommend this product to anyone. Sorry.

$2995 at all three

You don't understand how life works.

Maybe stern will do a similar LCD screen like the pin back box on a full size game.. Like golden tee went with
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Hm.. Not as high as they quoted when they announced the partnership, but still higher than I think any of us will be willing to pay.

I haven't heard back from the dealer that I emailed either. Perhaps they don't check their email, or they get a lot of inquiries, or they simply don't carry them. Who knows.

Stern definitely needs to entice other retailers to carry this thing if possible. Ones in particular where customers can order online. Amazon was a nice place, I wonder why they are no longer available there. If the only "Olhausen Distributors" in my area don't carry them, how do they expect to sell them to potential buyers like myself?

While I hate the backbox, I understand this concept could be interesting for some. Half the weight, half the cost...

The Pin is clearly not my dream pin, even in that "half and half" category... but it was an interesting attempt. A majority of its buyers won't become hardcore pin fans, but it can help getting new people in the Hobby, why not !?

It's been a week, and I just received a call from the local Olhausen distributor I made an inquiry with. They said they can probably get these. They don't have them in their showroom, not to mention they are relatively unfamiliar with the product, but they informed me that they should be able to get them as long as they are indeed distributed through Olhausen. The guy said he will get back to me with pricing information and what not.

I'm also not sure if this is entirely true or not, but the guy said that Olhausen supposedly does not like products they carry to be sold online. The reasoning I got is that it "devalues" the product. Um.. Yeah. I guess by making it more difficult to get ahold of, they can thus charge more for it as a result. I guess that makes sense. That may be why they are no longer available at places like Amazon as well.

Very good post. Maybe plenty of these rich people are more into making money than any hobby.

Has anybody ever brought one of these things to a pin show/convention/expo?

I'd be curious if Stern ever considered doing that, too.

Stern brings The Pin to CES because it is a consumer product.

Stern brings LE models to conventions because they are an enthusiast product.

I know, I just thought it'd be ballsy of them to even consider bringing one to a convention.

But, I was actually curious if a collector had brought one to a convention or not. It'd be interesting to see the crowd's reaction to it.

The booth space is expensive, the transport of the equipment is expensive, each electrical drop is expensive.

Too much money to spend on the wrong audience.

I don't know of any collectors who even own one.

Michigan, Ohio and Kzoo shows are coming up soon .

So true.