I will destroy your kids in MK1 MK2 or MK3. KI1 as well.

Great then I should be able to pick one up for >$100 on Craigslist in a couple of years.

You might be able to do just that.

At its price point, I don't see how this will be anything but a failure. I think they would have had a shot if it was in the range of $1,700.

I have Raven, and it brings joy...

I just see alot of issues in the future with the PIN..

And it is way too expensive.

For 2600 familys could buy way more for the money..

And at least have something tha would hold some kind of value..

And get a real pinball experience...

If it is fun to play, who cares what it costs?

You've got to quit worrying about other people's money.

I've got a $3500 billiards table.

Did I pay too much? Nope it is exactly the table I wanted.

Will it hold some kind a value? I don't care. I wanted it, I bought it.

I'd like to play that table..

8'..9'...

I like 9'ers...

A buddy of mine is getting a Diamond, they are super nice...

We play on diamonds on our 9 ball leauge..

they are stupid fast...and the pockets are tight as hell....

I think Stern will care if actual sales are not close to their forecast.

We'll see.

Bah Ha Ha!!!

Sound like my ex mother in law.......

A plumber just stabbed me for $75 a hour.

BTW, what kind of table is is ?

It depends on the tv your getting and from who but most of the better brands are going into the 3's now

9' Bellocichi (sp?) turn of the century.

Thanks, I'll have to raise my rates.

Actually, you can buy one new for >$100 right now.

LOL you got me! That should have been <$100.00...

I like how some say an Xbox 360 is $300 or so. In reality, the average user has 50 games at $60 a pop plus sprinkle in a few Benjamins for extra controllers and headphones. Thus, the same or more than " The Pin".

Yep, then add in your monthly Xbox Gold subscription fees....

But when you go to sell those $50 games, they will cheerfully offer you $10 each for them.

Or when a online game is 1 year old they drop online support for it.

That's funny, he states "we are the only manufacture of pinball machines in the world"

Prove him wrong.

Anytime I see a picture of any other "manufacturer" there is a factory without any workers working.

Anytime I see a picture of Stern factory, there is 150+ people hustling.

I agree, but there are still two manufactures, at the moment.
I think I read a post recently regarding the 2012 Expo Stern Pinball factory tour, he asked that no pictures to be taken because they are not the only manufacture. Or something to that affect.

Three actually.

If we are counting anyone that has built a new machine design, but has not delivered a single unit to an end user, you have to count me in too.

Yes, yes, we know. Not until a game ships can we count JJP as a manufacturer. Doesn't the same simplistic definition you use to scope-out JJP also scope-in Marsaplay? Maybe even Retro? They've shipped, no? Pretty silly argument to backup a pretty silly statement from Stern.

I'm just playing Devil's advocate.

When JJP, Skipiball or Jpop starts manufacturing games and putting them in customer's hands, we will have something.

Until then, if I go to any distributor today, the only machines I can load in my truck and deploy on route are Stern.

I suppose that is true. However, I've purchased a number of NIB machines - none of which I've actually picked up from a distributor. All drop-shipped direct from manufacturer, which I suppose you could do with Retro or Marsaplay?

Honestly don't know if they ship to USA or have UL listed machines that run on 110v.

You're not getting it. Many people ARE super rich and they haven't seen pinball in ages. I know you want to use logic here but these people never see pinball on a daily basis. It's like that tribe in South America that for the most part has never had any interaction with the modern age. Do you think they watch Oprah, The Jersey Shore, or the Super Bowl?

ALL...and I mean ALL...including most of the movers, say one of two things:

1. WOW...I haven't seen a pinball in ages.
2. What do you do with these things? Do you own a bar or what not?

By the way Gerry, it's extremely annoying that someone who owns 17 pins is preaching about a bad economy or "stretching to buy $2K pins."

REALLY??

Yeah... maybe not. They posted about a month ago I think. Mentioned difficulty getting into NA - looking for a distributor if I recall.

Look, if these things are bulletproof lets put that technology into the full sized pins. I mean...do the same thing with the LEs and pros. Just think, no more QC issues!

I was at CES, got some pics with Gary, may change my avatar on Monday. I had plenty of fun on the home edition pins. Is it Tron LE? No, it's not meant to be. I think they are priced about $500 too high, as many do, but they are heck of fun.

That doesn't matter until Gary states that 'Stern is the only pinball manufacturer that sells in the USA'.
Worldwide there's indeed Marsaplay who delivered. Retro delivered as well.
And in the future I'm sure with JJP, Heighway Pinball (hope it'll come true!) and smaller runs by Skitbpinball/predator, JPOP and Ben Heck, Gary can't say 'the only' anymore.

Officially, Stern already (after a long time) changed it to 'the leading maker .... in the world', but Gary (un?)intentionally still uses 'the only...'.

Tough to teach an old dog new tricks .

When doing interviews, you basically regurgitate the same info all the time, so it gets mapped out in your brain. I wouldn't make much of Gary repeating the same old lingo. Probably coming out accidentally. In a lot of ways it is much BETTER to say they are the leading company, not the only one.

It's like that other tired old line about how he doesn't want to say they are "the last", for the same reasons, it makes it sound like a dying business.

I agree since that's the only award. Kids can walk up to any redemption machine and get 1 ticket for completely failing. I've never seen a kid set the high score at our local CC on the nascar pin and get the 150 ticket. Although Stern is trying to fix that by coming out with a variable ticket dispenser.

If this is a pinball aimed for the YOUNGER generation then why the hell are they not throwing a LCD screen on these machines to attract the younger generation! Most kids are just into ipads, iphones, etc...

I love the fact that Stern is trying to get kids into pinball.
I think they are on the right track by offering a less expensive option for familes. But I strongly feel that they need to innovate quite a bit more to get the younger generation into this hobby.

I personally think Farsight studio is doing the best job in trying to get kids into pinball by releasing emulated versions of classic tables on xbox, ps3 and ipad systems. If they can get these kids hooked on playing these emulated versions of the tables, I strongly feel it will help the pinball world greatly.

Farsight has probably brought more people into "real" pinball than anything has in a very long time. Myself included.

a LCD + the art work costs more then a LED 16 seg display.

And Farsight in a way pigged back on the Vp + pinmame ideas. I think back when VP and Pinmame was new that helped pinball over all as well.

I actually don't think the LED would bring in kids. Pinball is still at its heart a mechanical game and if a kid isn't into that, they are unlikely to enjoy pinball no matter how many bells and whistles you put on it.

I personally think the innovation should be on the software side. Making the code open source and easily customizable. I look at the hours people put into things like Minecraft building their own worlds and wonder if you could nab some of those people. Let them customize how the lights display, how the rules work, and so on. Trade versions of their game with others online. Maybe an added revenue stream for companies like Stern could be selling different accessories like alternate ramps and playfield parts that can be swapped in and out by owners.

Nothing wrong with updating hardware and pushing the limits, but I think the innovation we're looking for needs to come on the software side. Imagine a new Avengers game coming out and having 20 different ways of playing the game.

The avengers pin
Transformers then this when will they make a actual machine than a kiddie machine for 2 year olds

While I think customizable rules would be an AWESOME idea I don’t think this would be something for a non-pinhead. And let’s be honest, The Pin is not marketed to you or me. Whenever I have friends over, who aren’t into pinball, I have to explain the rule set and they still don’t get 75% of what I’ve explained. Adding a feature like that wouldn’t transition for kids who aren’t hardcore pinball freaks.

I assume you've seen the official promotional video. If not, there are a few seconds of footage:

BTW, as a newcomer to pinballs, I did seriously consider one of these. Yes, it's more expensive than a good used one, but then again, you can get a used Mercedes for the price of a new Chevy - I don't see Chevy sales being lost for that reason.

Is $2,500 the new retail price for these? Down from the original $3,999

My brother and a friend went to CES. They both said, "they look neat, but were super cheaply built." Not really good impressions from a couple of casuals. If a casual thinks that they look and feel cheap, that's bad.