Stern's business is growing without changing their marketing strategies, so not sure how you can say it is complete suicide. Stern doesn't need to sell every single possible machine of one title that they can. They always have the next machine in the wings.

My guess is Stern knows way more about their business and what they need or do not need to do than most people posting on Pinside.

Sorry, but I can't believe you, because you are talking about stuff that hasn't happened yet. You could be the smartest advertising dude on the planet and still not be certain about what is going to happen when (or in most cases, if is more likely) any other manufacturer produces enough machines to make any difference to Stern's business. Out of those you mention maybe JJP, but they have to get their machines to market faster if they want to be a serious threat.

Agreed on the nice TBL presentation. However right now it is all flash, no substance. The toys look cool, the lights look cool, the machine looks amazing, so as a piece of pinball art in your basement, thumbs up. For me it is about how it will play. Will it be fast? Will the modes be interesting? Do the video clips get monotonous? Is it all tied together thematically or just activating one toy over another?

As for marketing, everyone already knows a lot about TWD, I would argue even more than they do about TBL as people have actually played TWD. People know about the product. There is already a schedule of launch parties throughout next month hand in hand with the ifpa where people will be playing the machines.

So exactly where is Stern's marketing screwing up? By not having a party in a small bar with one non-working machine so people can get in an uproar about pretty lights and some video on a screen? Seriously?

Interesting math. Not sure where you came up your numbers. By your own admission, you and people like you have never bought a NIB machine from Stern. So 45 people who haven't contributed any cash to Stern has suddenly lost them 225k?

Not even sure you can say these mythical 45 customers would buy a machine if Stern changed their strategy because you state one of the reasons you haven't bought a machine because of price increases. Changing their marketing strategy wouldn't get you as a customer, nor the 45, so again, zero lost sales for Stern.

For those sales to truly be lost, we would have to assume that those 45 machines that they didn't sell to your non-existant buyers wouldn't be bought by someone else who doesn't have your same problems with Stern. I am sure Stern doesn't really care if Bob or Charlie ends up with a machine, as long as it sells.

How are these "release setbacks"? Stern is doing what they have always done, and what they have always done has caused their business to grow and sell more machines over the last couple of years than Dutch Pinball can even dream of at the moment. I agree there is room for improvement, but the conclusions you keep jumping to and posting about over and over and over aren't based on anything concrete, just idle speculation and opinion.

In five years if Stern is in financial trouble and Dutch Pinball and JJP own the market and selling thousands of machines, and you poll people as to why and they say marketing is the primary reason, then I guess I will be eating crow.

However, my opinion is that as long as Stern keeps making fun to play pins, based on popular themes they will be selling machines as long as people are buying them whether or not they properly coordinate the release of their flyers.