Looks good! I am interested in it for sure!

They look great! Amber seems to be my preference...but I have some red-green color issues (which also includes grays/purples); I'll definitely be picking some up.

Completely badass. Must upgrade for home games.

A little something I am making for myself, plan is to have "live" vials in place of the fast lock plastics, fast lock mechs will trigger a reaction and make the symbiote fluid react.

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I get exited for games after ordered ,but this has us all chomping at the bit .This is my youngest boys pin and he got himself a new hat at our town fair this week Great times ahead with saved progress in this pin .We have been waiting for this exact pin for a long while .I’m hoping Oct for our LE as I’m hearing the move is taking more time than expected .This way if Sept ,it will be a pleasant surprise

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You’ve clearly never played FF. There’s not one thing about it that’s remotely like JP.

I'll come to his defense. I was actually worried about buying it. Yes they shoot completely different after the ball leaves the flipper thank god for that but shot for shot they are identical 1 to 1 before that. I believe that's what he's saying. I'm kinda surprised that's invisible to most. I hear ppl say they don't know if they can handle this in the same collection as DP. I'm ok with it right next to JP and DP because of what it does after the flip.

Is it just me or is this one of the deadest hype threads ever after only 31 days?

Personally speaking; not much to hype. We’ve seen the game, seen multiple streams, know the rules, know the direction. Looks to be one of sterns best pins in a long time. I’m in! Don’t care much about anything else except stern building and shipping them out.

That translite.

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I enjoy both but how is it possible to say there isn't anything REMOTELY LIKE:
-geometry overall extremely similar
-MAP = VAN
-3 white arrows to qualify and 3 white arrows to qualify
-L ramp starts mode
-3rd right flipper with a loop and a shot that returns to lower flippers
-gimme layup center spinner accessible from both lower flippers
-both have captive balls

I'm not saying they are clones.
I'm not saying they provide identical experiences.

I'm saying I disagree with anyone say that they are not remotely like based on the facts above.

Yes, they’re both pinball machines. Anything beyond that is quite a stretch. I can find something similar about all pinball by these criteria.

-They have flippers
-They have shots
-They have ramps
-They have balls
-They have modes

Anybody play it at Trent’s how is it?

Do the names of each shot (Alchemax, Police Station, etc.) have any rules significance or are they just there for artistic flavor?

first I'm not a stern fan but I have nothing against them either. They make some good games. I'm also a comic book collector and have sold a lot of my collection to buy pins. But venom? Nothing about that interests me at all.

It's kind of cool how we are all into pinball but can have such vastly different takes on games. To me it looks like one of the more interesting releases to come out of Stern for a while. The changing playfield/style, and the fast lock system absolutely make it for me, and I'm super psyched to play it.

I've said it before - the reveal trailer really didn't do much for me, but once I saw the game in action, I was all in. It looks like another fantastic shooting, amazing looking/sounding Stern - and it's got a few interesting new ideas sprinkled in with an extra 2 shots of adrenaline.

The only downer is that i'm not gonna see it here until November.

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

Insert More Hype "Here"

Anyone got their venom yet?

Wish I had something to add besides just looking at the pin, I have not played it yet. I was just at an arcade playing most of the new pins and lots of the older pins. I honestly wouldn't buy any JJP since Wonka they have all disappointed me.

I was going to buy Elvira HOH but have played it so much already and the new price was $10,500 (I got Maiden instead).

People gush over FF but I didn't like it or Bond, this was the first new pin that got me excited since Godzilla. I know it's doesn't have as much BOM as people like to say, but one thing that I am looking forward to is the ability to save progress and get up to the later modes. I have a ton of pins that I love but I only see like the first half of the code. I think on Godzilla when I get the topper will have a mode that is similar to the wizard mode that I can play as a stand alone mode. But it would be nice to get into a boss mode while playing as a regular game on Venom (with experience saved).

No but someone added and owners thread too early.

The right guy for the job opened the owners thread. 10 bucks says he’s paid in full too, so I’d say he’s allowed.

Just exactly when do we enter the "ownership club"? The second we pay in fool, or the second it crosses the thresh hold? and go...

If you can't take a picture of it set up in your house/location, you're not an owner. Whoever starts an owners thread should be required to post photo evidence, simple.

For me personally; when it’s in my home and being played.

Just played it at Trent's.
Game plays awesome!
Lots to look forward to on this one.
Shots are fun, code seems good already, nice art and display, cool mechs.

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Yup.

My son and I, and friends were able to put a game in. Hard to hear the callouts and we had little clue what to do.

However- the game was…very FUN. Fast and flowy. Looks so much better in person. A fan layout for sure- but very cool shot geometry. Once you get shots dialed in- very satisfying. We had some rather long ball plays, but nothing obscene.

Code/animations/artwork really cool even though we were trying to figure it all out. Spidey Sense was cool even though I missed the hurry up shot. MBs were definitely achievable and fun. We tried different characters which was pretty cool.

Another Stern winner- can’t wait to really explore the code.

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I played it today and it was fast, fun... and surprisingly smooth. Hit multiple combos in a row. Was really surprised how smooth it shot. Closest thing I can think of is EHOH or a really dialed in GOT (pro).

Didn't get much time on it, but what time I did get, was really impressed.

New Venom banner I am working on. Was hand drawn by a professional graphic artist. Added some sexiness to it and love the tongue around the Stern logo.
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Did no locations buy this? I can't find a single one on the pinside map outside of Illinois.

They haven't shipped any location pros yet. Distributors haven't even asked for payment yet so it could be a little bit.

My thoughts on Venom from 3 days of playing at SFGE.

First a little background. I've 57 years old and I've been playing pinball since 1976 and collecting pinball machines since 2003. I own some WPC era games and some Stern games released in the first decade of this century. With my gameroom filled up and a desire to move, I haven't purchased any new games in awhile. However, between SFGE and location pinball, I've played most of them. Recently I've been thinking about moving out 2 pins to buy a recent Stern. The wife is also a pinball player and really enjoys IC so she's fully on board. Before this years SFGE our list was basically narrowed to 4 (Foo Fighters, Godzilla, Avengers IQ and Deadpool).

A lot of our time at SFGE was dedicated to those games plus the latest arrival, Venom. Originally I thought that game wouldn't fit us well. I'm no fan of comic books and even less so their associated movies. Comic book art/themes don't really grab me (although I can appreciate it). That being said, gameplay and rulesets can certainly trump theme and what I experienced with Venom was a treat.

The artwork was very impressive to see firsthand. While it might be a bit overwhelming, it fit the game very well. While I couldn't hear the music or callouts, what I've heard since then is pretty good too. Although the software wasn't complete, it was hard to tell. While the shots weren't horribly challenging due to the very basic fan layout, it was quite satisfying due to the sweet combos and moving mechs.

I have to admit, I like IC system almost as much as the wife. Achievements might just be sugar coating but it gives us something intermediate to shoot for. I'm a statistics geek so the more data Stern can give me the better. Being able to save progression in the game was certainly something both the wife and I liked since our playing abilities are typically below those needed to see some of the more advanced rules.

We also took the time to sit down and listen to Brian and Dwight talk about the machine. You could tell they were very excited about the outcome and committed to IC as a major part of it. They also indicated there were some balancing tweaks still to come which will hopefully make the non-multiball scoring a more important part of the play. Details about the depth of the rules was really interesting.

My favorite thing about the game was how quickly the ball comes back to you after hitting one of the lock ramps. It gave the game tremendous flow you don't normally associate with ball locks. I also really liked the "delayed gratification" where you could hold off on multiball hoping for more locked balls (up to 6). Finally, playing as different characters adds quite a bit.

Walking away from SFGE we now have another pin on our possible purchase list. Venom probably won't be our selection but I know a lot of people will love this game.

I feel like the game will be a hit, but I'm thinking about passing on my NIB premium for now. Really hard to justify paying MSRP for anything out there. I'm shocked that FF premiums are showing up at $9k this early and still taking a minute to sell

I'm honestly not sure even an upcoming Jaws will sellout immediately at the current price point, but if it does, it just means Venom will be all over marketplace by January for a nice discount

Just re-watched this first impression video.

I thought it was a negative impression but now I think it’s just good and bad aspects. I agree with most of what he said (I have not played one yet), it may be similar to Mando, doesn't have a spinner these are facts.

I have many games without spinners (Stern PotC, TWD pro, Met pro, AFM, DI). I don't hold that against a pin if it doesn't have a spinner, I like spinners, I also like drop targets, magnets, up-posts, scoops, subways, diverters. All these are nice pinball features but not every game needs to have them all. I think the point he was making is that the BOM is not as much as Godzilla or BM66 clearly so it would be nice to have a spinner.

I'll leave it to the designer to decide what is best for the pin. Brian Eddie didn't put spinners in AFM or MM. I don't believe he left off spinners just to save $15 BOM (or whatever they would cost) but maybe they just didn't fit with what he wanted to do.

The killer feature (they look great to me) is the fast locks. I've not seen before (I saw ramp locks on LotR, DP and GoT) but the fast release before the ball is locked is something unique. R&M did have something similar but was not used as much as the fast locks will be.

As for some shots being close to Mando, that might be, I don't own Mando and have not played it too much so it's not an issue to me. But if you look closely at pins you can see similarities, DP has a similar (not identical but very similar) left ramp to Foo. Does that mean they are the same game or too close? No.

I own Iron Man and Met pro and they share a lot of DNA they are closely related but I love them both. I had SM and ST at the same time, they are similar but both great pins. This may be a big deal to some people and it may be a nothing burger to some people.

Finally this is an early code impression, I have had mixed impressions of many games that later I turned around and love like SW and TWD.

"Hit" means Good sales,
but I highly doubt that...
Hit on location,
sure I bet it'll do above average numbers at least initially.

I am looking forward to it. There are so many themes that are so-so but game is awesome and vice versa. Godzilla is a great example where many people did not and do not geek out about the theme, yet the game itself is awesome.

I know it won't happen, but it would've been awesome if Stern had made plans to bring Venom to PAX West in Seattle. Some organization provided a healthy bank of machines on freeplay last year that drew interest from new players. And thanks to Stranger Things prem making an appearance, my wife now wants one if another run ever happens.

It's an invasion! A horde of symbiotes went out in today's mail...

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I didn’t join, living through the Bond hype threads was too terrible waiting for the owners thread.

Are locations even going to get the game first this time? Pros are being built later, so only LEs will be out for so long?

Location Pros go out first then LEs after.

The location near me bought it.

Guess they didn’t post it yet.

They probably haven't got it yet. My local watering hole is usually one of the first places to get new games and it still hasn't come in there yet either

Premium Ordered, no MSRP (that’s for suckers) but under enough to ensure a decent return on investment. Break even at least…and you get your games for free (per se). Most games are less expensive 8 months down the road, Venom won’t be any different. Played it at SFGE in ATL, very fun game with great initial rules and options that can only get better. Love the tech.

There are great things and not so great things that too many folks want/ don’t like on any pinball. So don’t let other opinions stop you from enjoying the hobby. I play pinball for the fun of it. You can find the same up/down comments and criticisms about folks that buy boats, bikes and bows.

I for one am excited, Hoping for mid to late September. Will play my 500 games with league friends…sell it for what I paid for it and be happy.

Just an FYI if anyone is interested in the production timeline. My distributor asked for money and said Venom pros should be on the line in 10 days or so.

So many Chewy's! 18 Venoms and a grand total of 55 Sterns at CAX this weekend.

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Guessing thats the code name for Venom then?

Great to see

Fox Cities Pinball stream today has some good footage of Venom getting played by Escher, ZMac, Tom Graff and others. At the beginning, and then again at the 6:20 mark.
Edit: And again at the 9:13 mark.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1901252493