Did you finally buy a Beatles? How come you have not added it to your collection and goose the ownership number?

So, by your opinion, since Munsters has sold a few more pins (on pinside) than Beatles that makes Beatles a failure?

I remember when rock and roll bands would be elated to sell a million copies and get a Gold record. And then Fleetwood Mac came along and sold 10 million copies of Rumours. The next album up was Tusk which sold a "measly" four million copies.

It is all about perspective.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tusk_(album)

Compared to 1977's Rumours, which sold 10 million copies by February 1978, Tusk was regarded as a commercial failure by the label, selling four million copies. It has since been recognized for its influence on various artists and genres.[5][6][7][further explanation needed] In 2013, NME ranked Tusk at number 445 in their list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[8] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[9]

it is listed. Game is on location at IO Gaming Arcade Bar.

I would love to buy a personal game also, but it is not even worth the current drastically reduced prices they are being offered NIB. On route means it will slowly get paid down and frankly we make all sorts of stupid business decisions for the fun of being able to share new games with the local community

sales on Beatles are a complete failure. That is clear despite some people trying to claim otherwise as they hype the game because they own one or are a Stern schill. Prices NIB have dropped, Stern did not make the full run, and sales have no picked up at all. 3 in the past week shows how bad it is.

The fact that you want to compare a failure of a $10 album to the failure of a 8k pinball machine is well... not even worth comment of showing how out of touch some people are on this one.

Beatles is likely the worst selling modern stern of all time. Only possibly slightly better than WWE and the main Beatles sales are driven by the uber collectors that dumped big money on the platinum and diamonds to have something "collectible" lol

Is this because:

- Beatles fans don't have the cash?
- Beatles fans think pinball is for losers?
- Beatles fans have no clue a Beatles pinball was produced?

Most pinheads I know that have played it love it.

If you are correct, I think it's just a slow start out-of-the-gate (hasn't been out all that long).

I have no doubt Stern will build/sell the entire run of 1964 games.

I dont think it is any of those issues. I think the game is just TOO DAMN MUCH!

Even a Beatles fan with boatloads of money can do some high level internet searching to see that most brand new games are 3k cheaper and have more features.

The hard core collector fans have little interest in a base "gold" model when they already missed out on that "collector" (lol) diamond edition.

Everyone I talk to thinks the game is fun. Everyone I talk to thinks the game is too much $$$$.

Stern simply attempted to price gouge for the license and it backfired on total sales.

I believe the ONLY thing helping sales at all is that some people think the game is selling so bad it may be collectible from a pinhead perspective.

I dont think that is the case. I think even in limited numbers this game stands to lose another 1k on the secondary market when they pop up.

Joining the club next week. I bought the recently advertised Gold Edition from Jonathan at ASOA on Pinside this morning. This is a great pin for my kids and wife who are casual players. My siblings will dig it too as we all grew up in the Beatles era.

Just silly. I sincerely doubt a "Beatles fan with boatloads of money" is trying to analyze relative value of pinball machines!

But just to humor you...here are some music themed pins they'd find on eBay...

- ebay.com link: Stern Metallica Pro LED Pinball Machine with Subwoofer and Color DMD
- ebay.com link: Stern Iron Maiden Premium Pinball Machine with Shaker Motor
- ebay.com link: Guns n Roses Pinball Machine by DATA EAST

All are in the price range of Beatles Gold.

I think you are "projecting", because YOU think the game is too richly priced. A true "Beatles fan with boatloads of money" doesn't give a crap...

I'm not sure how you arrived at this conclusion. I was pointing out that 10 million is sales of one $10 album made the 4 million in sales of another album look bad on a comparative scale. When previously an album with only ( oh my, only) 1 million in sales was a cause for celebration. And then all of a sudden a 4 million seller is a failure?

So, when you compare a Beatles to a Munsters and just because Munsters has sold a few more units than Beatles you are willing to hang a dunce cap on the Beatles and call it a failure? After two months of sales?

Yeah yeah. Everybody is whining about the price. But people are figuring out it is a fun pin to play and they are voting with their wallet. And I think that as word gets around that sales will continue to happen.

I can't believe Hilton still hasn't figured out how to spell shill.

Well yes, I actually can believe it.

By features I am assuming you are referring to all of the toys. All of the Barbie Doll eye candy crap that has nothing to do with how a game plays.

Snaroff....post a video! I would like to see how that looks ! Hooking up Pinstadiums to the spinning LP flasher!

are you really using the most overpriced crap you can find on ebay as example that Beatles is fairly priced? seriously WTH?

ummm.... Beatles was known and even announced on Pinside more than 5 months ago... Sales are 4 months in now...

I honestly can't believe how out of touch some of you are in your defense of a game that is obviously selling very poorly. At this stage I am guessing <50% of the total run gets made.

I knew that would be your response. Whatever...you know it all!

I dont know much... but I do know that Beatles sales are abysmally bad!

I am not sure why that seems to be so hard for some to grasp when the evidence is overwhelming and obvious?

Hell, even conversation of the game is all but dead on Pinside and has been aside from price discussion for the past 2 months.

People need to stop defending the game because they so obviously want it to be a collectible or not lose value. It will eventually settle at Pro pricing or slightly above (where it should have been priced form D1)

No, don’t Snaroff. Im pretty sure everyone here already knows enough about over-bright over-priced over-schilled LED light strips.

I am an owner of a Gold and I love it. What I would really like is for your "conversation of the game" to be "dead on Pinside". For God's sake you have made your feelings VERY WELL known. We all know how you feel. Would you please move on to another subject.

Stern tried to sell on theme alone, charge as much as possible for as little as possible, put as little effort into designing an original game as possible, and it flopped. Is it fun? I suppose it is fun in the way that any SS game is fun. It's fun for a little while, until it isn't. And that time frame is much shorter than a modern game. Stern treated AC/DC fans with respect with an awesome game (which they should) and the treated Beatles fans like chumps with more money than sense.

So if you think Stern treated Beatles fans like "chumps", then I guess pin-nuts (like myself) are "super chumps"! Might want to list what games you own so we can learn from your sophisticated taste in games.

Uptown Pinball in Martinsville VA has a Beatles gold pin. $10 free play all day. Lots of new games and pins all on free play.

8251435E-4C72-4581-B810-D8E881E84468 (resized).png

I must be a super chump, also. I can live with that!

Here's my history if you're really that curious. Bought my first game in 2000 from eBay (a mint TZ for $1500). Sold it and didn't care again until 2010. Since then, I've had many games, including another TZ and The Shadow twice. I have one at a time or two at the most, so I don't really maintain a "collection". Critique away. If The Beatles was so fantastic, you wouldn't be so defensive. And to add one thing to my post that you hated so much, they couldn't even get the era right. Even John was embarrassed to have ever been a mop top.

COLLECTION HISTORY
Sort by: » Date added » Game name

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Johnny Mnemonic
Williams, 1995
??? ???

» Remove from history
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Earthshaker
Williams, 1989
??? ???

» Remove from history
» Purchase details
Twilight Zone
Bally, 1993
??? ???

» Remove from history
» Purchase details
Twilight Zone
Bally, 1993
??? ???

» Remove from history
» Purchase details
The Who's Tommy Pinball Wizard
Data East, 1994
??? ???

» Remove from history
» Purchase details
Revenge From Mars
Bally, 1999
??? ???

» Remove from history
» Purchase details
No Good Gofers
Williams, 1997
??? ???

» Remove from history
» Purchase details
Stargate
Gottlieb, 1995
??? ???

» Remove from history
» Purchase details
Batman (The Dark Knight)
Stern, 2008
??? ???

» Remove from history
» Purchase details
Shadow, The
Bally, 1994
??? ???

» Remove from history
» Purchase details
The Rolling Stones
Stern, 2011
??? ???

» Remove from history
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Pirates of the Caribbean
Stern, 2006
??? ???

» Remove from history
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The Avengers (Premium/LE)
Stern, 2012
??? ???

» Remove from history
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Congo
Williams, 1995
??? ???

» Remove from history
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Corvette
Bally, 1994
??? ???

» Remove from history
» Purchase details
Spider-Man
Stern, 2007
??? ???

» Remove from history
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Junk Yard
Williams, 1996
??? ???

» Remove from history
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AC/DC (Pro)
Stern, 2012
??? ???

» Remove from history
» Purchase details
Last Action Hero
Data East, 1993
??? ???

» Remove from history
» Purchase details
Avatar (LE)
Stern, 2010
??? ???

» Remove from history
» Purchase details
Who Dunnit
Bally, 1995
??? ???

» Remove from history
» Purchase details
Twister
Sega, 1996
??? ???

» Remove from history
» Purchase details
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Williams, 1993
??? ???

» Remove from history
» Purchase details
Shadow, The
Bally, 1994
??? ??

Good God, would you please move on to another subject. You feel that "The Beatles" is over priced. OK, we all get it. Enough already. I have a Gold and I do not feel cheated, however, if you will just shut up about it I will gladly agree that you are the wise one and I made a terrible mistake in buying it.

I finally got to play Beatles tonight. I put about 20 games on it. Wow! So much fun, much better than I had anticipated. I really like the fast play, sound and the artwork.

Did you land one at $6500?

Thanks for the history/detail. I'm "defensive"? Nah...I'm just annoyed.

You've never owned an 80's game, so it's clear you don't appreciate the design point. It's also clear you like bargains, which explains why you think it's richly priced. Both of those criticisms are totally valid, but calling people "chumps" for liking/owning the game?

Your "critique" is lame and not-so-insightful.

I will admit one thing. I'm not a fan of the Gold/Platinum/Diamond leveling. From my perspective, they should have had one version...the "Gold". MSRP of $6,500...street price closer to $6000. With effective marketing, 1964 is still a fairly low number considering the huge Beatles fan/collector base to draw from. And @ 6k street price, more of the Pinside community would have engaged. Still a great game...!

Is it in the realm of possibility that in the near future we see a “ Sgt Peppers” version with all of the modern day ramps, habitrails etc? Or was this their one shot at the Beatles license?

So if Golds are selling cheaper now - how much cheaper - What is the current street price ?

The distros I chat with are claiming there hasn’t been a price reduction. Maybe I don’t know the super secret handshake and eye wink.

Oh, I feel reasonably certain that The Beatles Store would sell another license.....for a whole lotta money. So, with all of the bells and whistles and ramps and doodads, how much would you be willing to pay?

If it’s not a Kapow game.... I would pay the normal pricing given the game layout and code was great. If it is a Kapow with all of the other modern game trimmings? It would most likely be out of my price range

More action here than in the Munsters threads, months after the game’s release

Clearly this is a huge hit and people can’t get enough of Beatles! When was the last time a new release thread went this strong for this long?! Based upon the official Hilton Fake Made Up Pinside Metrics system this game might be Stern’s best selling boutique model ever?!

Nice work Stern!

My distributor said he was on his second order of Golds.... mine was one of them.

Here’s another data point for Whysnow

Perhaps you can use it to apply to your invented formulas, that extrapolate from made up numbers! Haha.

Some good friends are looking to buy their first pin. I had them over to play my collection which ranges from ‘76 Fast Draw to Maiden LE with a bit of everything in between.

They left wanting a Beatles. They are going to buy a Beatles. I explained that they could get machines for cheaper. They could get machines with more code depth. Etc etc. They want a Beatles.

IF they grow out of it, or decide they want something else, I’ll help them move in to something else. Zero drama.

Another good friend had one pin, a BOPP. Beatles was his second purchase. No other pin has made him want a second pin in his home until Beatles.

I LOVE mine. It gets played constantly. Second only to Maiden, which I still can’t get enough of.

This was yesterday 2-15-19
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This is today 2-16-19
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There are some pricing discounts going on for open box Platinums.

Screen Shot 2019-02-16 at 1.12.06 PM (resized).png

There is also some discount of 2 Golds. The $7300 unit is open box with some nice extras added. The $7850 unit is NIB.

Screen Shot 2019-02-16 at 1.25.22 PM (resized).png

I finally found a pic that let me have a good look at the play field. Now I can see where the geometric differences are and understand what shooting the left loop on Beatles is so much easier than on Seawitch. If you supersize the pic you can see that the left loop runs all the way to the rail and looks to add approximately 1 inch of extra width to the loop lane.

The spinner on Beatles is a floating unit which allowed for the inner flipper mounting post to be removed. The removal really opened up right side access to the upper pop bumper area and also allowed for that little target inboard of the spinner.

I'm guessing there are a few other very minor mods over on the right hand side . The right side loop entry looks a bit bigger but I can't say for sure.

Screen Shot 2019-02-16 at 1.51.58 PM (resized).png

Makes perfect sense - The Game is purely fun and easy to get into. Deep codes can be a headache for most.

It's nice to have a bit of variance in a colection and I'm really happy with The Beatles being in mine. We absolutely love it.

Won’t happen, they blew their Beatles “wad” on this one unfortunately.

My smaller group of 12 pinheads, all of which have put at least a dozen games on some local Beatles pins on location. So I took a poll:
4 liked playing it but thought the price was too high for what you get
1 liked playing it and is interested in purchasing one
7 didn’t care for it

FWIW...

Interesting...thanks for posting.

I remember when IM was released...many folks complained it was bare bones and therefore too expensive. Ended up being a very popular game...

fwiw, my knee jerk reaction to both IM and Beatles was "meh" but I still took the plunge. I'm not a fan of evaluating games on location...most location games play awful and it's impossible to hear the callouts and/or music. If you can't hear Beatles audio during gameplay, it would detract from the experience big time.

Everyone that has came to my home, love playing the Beatles. Kids, novice and skilled players a like.

It’s a pin that anyone can go to and play. It’s easy enough for beginners, and challenging enough for the experienced players.

I agree that all pins are much better in a home environment. I’ve added a shaker and sub woofer it, the music is fantastic.

Sometimes it’s nice to change the pace of the deeper coded machines. I seem to play my Funhouse and Beatles as much or more than a lot of my other ones.

That’s a good point, I’d like to play it in a home setting as well...

Is the shaker activated a lot on this game? When? It’s not a typical modern pin layout with bash toys etc. where shaker use is obvious.
I think this is also a natural for purple lit flipper buttons.

How do the advance loops reward?
I’ve hit each of the three target banks (advance loops 1,2 & 3) and lit all 10 of the outer orbit blue lights
Though I’m not seeing any reward score wise or otherwise from achieving this
Anyone know what this is all about

If Stern does come out with a more up-dated (music wise) version of "The Beatles" then I will probably buy it. I'm sure there will be thousands of words bitching about it being over priced.

Loop shots collect points and the more loop lights the greater the points. You may have also noticed the game keeps track of sequential loop shots and issues a tone that increases in pitch with each subsequent loop combo made in a sequence. As to specific points, I have noticed that the second Beatlemania award increases the loop value by 5X. I have also noticed that the loop value shown in the Beatlemania award is 10,000 per loop light. So, if you have,for example, all 10 lights in the loop lit, then the award shown on the screen for Beatlemania will say "5X loop value, 100,000" (similarly if you have 3 lights lit, then the Beatlemania award will say "5X loop value, 30,000). So, if we assume the award is 100,000 when all ten lights are lit and in Beatlemania loop mode and the 100,000 already incorporates the 5X value, then that means 5X = 10,000 per light and the normal award for loops would be 2,000 per light. I am also not sure if just one loop shot awards anything. It may be that the game only awards loop shots made in sequence and not the first loop shot, since the game recognizes loop combination shots. Also possible the value increases as combo shots in sequence increase and pitch goes up. I am always too busy focusing on making the next loop shot in the combo to watch the score on the screen. Any insight from others to fine tune this is welcome!

If Stern was to come out with another version of The Beatles, based on Sgt. Peppers, Rubber Soul, Abbey Road, what classic Stern pin would you want it to be based on? Kapow (spelling) said they were looking at Galaxy, as well as Seawitch. IMO, Stern chose the better of the two.

With TNA, and now The Beatles, wrap around the play field loops are probably off limits for awhile.

Would you want it to be another single level play field?

For myself, I would love to have a 21st Century upgrade to my Big Game. But Big Game is a large body pin; I seriously doubt that would ever happen. Big Game has nine drop targets numbered 1 thru 9. You can hit that 9 many times during game play but it only counts for 3 shots; I could imagine hitting that 9 and hear John Lennon start calling out "Number nine, number nine, number nine."

But Meteor could be fair game. It is a popular classic Stern.

I don't know what Stern could do for the art work, but IMO the best album for pinball back ground music would be the White Album. And the last six songs of Abbey Road.

Another one?? Good lord..

I'm doing some maintenance and thought I'd snap a photo of IMDN Premium $7,599 (MSRP), Beatles Gold $7,999 (MSRP), and Munsters Pro $5,999 (MSRP) "under the hood".

Beatles retro ramp-free design caused many folks to complain it was stark and should be priced more like a Pro.

These photos show the naysayers that Beatles is outfitted much like a Premium, *not* a Pro. Beatles is priced $400 more than IMDN Premium and you get gorgeous power-coated legs/armor/apron, side-art blades, "Vox" speaker trim, sweet emblem on the apron (much nicer than the cheap-o emblem on the backbox). Oh yeah, you also get lots of Beatles footage/assets from the time period...
IMG_1311 (resized).jpegIMG_1312 (resized).jpegIMG_1313 (resized).jpegIMG_1314 (resized).jpeg

Great way to compare. Thanks