I think the pin community wants the premium. The op's want the pro and collectors the le, sound about right? I'm with you. I was not saying I was against a premium, just by Stern's point of view, make people stretch the extra 1k for an le to get them sold. ALthough they should of known the hype was huge with this game.

they could always do LE for the collectors, just run less so it is limited.

100% as you said, also they didn't specifically say there would be no premium. So they didn't burn any bridges or piss off anyone except if for some reason they make a super-premium like JJP did with WoZ-75 which I don't see happening.

%100 correct in my book

That makes zero sense and dealers want to sell you a pin today not 6 months from now so even if dealer knew for a fact there would be a premium he might not bother to tell you.

The VE is not another edition of the LE or else that would be a premium which is what we are talking about, the VE is another edition of the pro which we have alredy.

Same. I tolerate the cannon on AcDc but that's not interesting to me.

Pro buyers , if you really want a premium , just wait it out & see what Stern's going to do . Save yourself some grief , they may or may not make a premium. The pros will be available if it turns out no premiums will be made. I think the full featured premiums is where it's at, I hope Stern doesn't abandon the model.. I apologize if this has been stated already , I didn't read all 15 pages of this thread..

Agree with your post but disagree with your posting without taking in the content : )

Spinners.... why did they have to nerf the spinners on the pro again!

Spinners should be a part of ALL versions...

Rob

Agree, with STLE Stern made plenty so I could try to make sure got a LE after they were out.

I do think there will be some LEs in a few months, due to saturation or lack of unlimited money here. But for myself I'm on a self induced buying hiatus so if a premium was around in a year (like Met is or AcDc couple years) that would be the best.

That is correct from Stern's standpoint. From a customer standpoint, LEs usually drop in price, which eliminates the pre-order incentive. When all customers get that, Stern will need to adapt. Right now they are still mucking with LE numbers every game to pre-guess demand, and they will inevitably be burned again on their bottom line when they under-estimate.

:/ yeah I like those.. pro gets a few drop targets, but what machine was able to have the spinners added to the pro?

I hardly ever praise stern, but finally I agree that this theme is relevant. They might learn something from the sales on this one. Nice job listening to what the pinheads want.

Ok so why not say premiums will be released if and only when all LE models are sold. No premiums will ever be made until all LE games are sold. Make 500 LE versions and if they don't all sell, than no premiums. Don't show the premium version in case people like it better than the LE. Give it a timeframe of 6 months or a year or something. Maybe it's a dumb idea but it still gets people to buy the LE and if it's a dud than you don't have to worry about a premium.

The last telegram ever sent was last year.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Last-telegram-sent-to-Rahul-Gandhi/articleshow/21078635.cms

I like it but.....Where's Maggie

I have a fair number of games, but only 2 Sterns, so I've not lived much of the Pro/Premium/LE roller coaster as many have. That said, there seems to be a perfect middle ground that, to me, makes sense from all angles.

Produce all 3 tiers for every game. Cut the number of LEs, but raise the price a little more versus the Premium. Then produce Pros and Premiums to fill demand. If the LEs have a different art package, backglass vs translite, signed this and that, etc - but they truly are limited (say 200 or so) - then the real collectors will likely still pay extra for exclusivity. Stern will get their pre-order clamor. Buyers of full-feature games get Premiums, and Pros are their for the "budget" buy.

To me, this doesn't leave any money on the table, and doesn't piss anyone off. Seems like an easy solution to me.

I want more pics and video of this game!

EDIT: well bigger pics

Can we get some of these call outs in the game?

Maggie's hot, no doubt. In the event of the Zombie Apocalypse, I'll take Michonne every damned time!

If there's an Le and no Premium, pre-order incentive for LE isn't about future value, it's about getting the full featured game.

"Burned on their bottom line" …lol…everyone here is an expert on Stern's books. They're the ones running a pinball factory, they know what is good for their bottom line. If the LEs sell out and there are no Premiums AND the game gets a good reputation, they'll sell a shit-ton of Pros. Their bottom line will be fine.

Maggie edition.. Like luci

And when a HUO LE drops in price almost in line with a NIB premium...no Premiums get bought either (See STLE)

So Stern just tacks a couple hundred dollars on to the pro to make up the difference on the few Premium sales they lost...with less (no) dev time

It kinda makes sense from a business standpoint

So Awesome! I wish I was rich so I could afford all of these great pins! I'll just keep dreaming I guess...

Don't the pictures show a premium version? I mean, the pictures appeared to show a black trim with the crossbow as well as a rust red color version.

Is this not a black plastic apron and black trim?:
285106.jpg285102.png

I'm pretty sure that pic is photoshopped...either that or then need to fire the guy that put the rivet holes in the lock down bar for the fire button. It's no where close to being straight

My point is that the premium is going to happen if the LEs sell out. It would be stupid to leave significant money on the table when it fits within their business model.

Yup. In the case of ST, lets take into account some factors.

-There were a lot of LEs
-The Pro isn't THAAAAAT stripped down, really. You see a lot of people who were happy to just buy a Pro
-Code had issues/bad rep out of the gate - that will kill Premium sales in their tracks

AC/DC Prem and Metallica Prem sold well….but Avengers, Mustang, and ST might actually have less Premiums built than LEs….thus kind of making the Premium the LE lol. So, maybe they need to feel like a Premium has the potential to sell thousands & not just hundreds to make it worth while.

Argh, that phrase again…"money on the table" …if the LEs sell out at their high prices & they sell tons of Pros cuz the game is good…no money has been left on the table.

Why are we so obsessed with Stern's books, anyway? Their business is their business. If you want one of their games, buy it. lol

Are you saying they don't make more profit on the premium as compared to the pro? I doubt that is true. The items/labor/costs on the premium don't add up.

Which Maggie is hotter?
Country bumpkin Maggie on the farm
Or
Tough as nails soldier Maggie?

There's a bigger picture than "profit on this one unit" vs "profit on this other unit".

Maybe they can only move, say…200-400 Premiums. Perhaps they have to do a minimum 1000 part order on the custom toys (crossbow assemblies, zombie heads in the fish tank, etc). Meanwhile, they know they can move thousands of Pros and can comfortably do the parts order for that game. It makes more financial sense to just roll with more Pros. They sell and make customers happy. Win/win.

Pinsiders can question Stern's release patterns all they want, but there's a business logic behind it. If it was as easy as "do this, free money!", they'd do it.

If distributors sell out of this LE fast and have customers knocking down their door for a Premium…and they all say "Hey, Stern - we need a Premium to sell!", and the numbers look right…they'll probably make a Premium. If they don't, it's not because their stupid and don't like money lol

That's a trick question. They're both hot!

I agree.... does everyone on Pinside think they know more about the business than the people at Stern? I'm sure they know what is best for their company. Geez, we should all be enjoying another new game rather than playing Armchair Finance Guru

Stern has quite a lot of business coming down the pipeline; no need to go for a premium on this title and a smart move by them IMO. That said....

IF the TWD-LE version kicks ass AND
IF sterns factory begins to slow AND
IF the demand is heavy, THEN....
I think we'll see a TWD Pro+ version with the better elements of the LE integrated into the pro.
I dont think we'll see a premium run on this game or they would have had it in the fine print like they did Avengers.

Im looking forward to seeing some of the custom toppers people make for these pins...

MEZELmods will be pursuing the fish tank!

I personally would never buy a pro unless I felt the premium/LE had design flaws such as Metallica. I think there are quite a few people that don't buy unless they can get the best. I would rather be missing out than settling. The gameplay is where I especially will not consider settling. Lighting, art, and paint are more optional.

Remember Avatar LE scenario, anyone? What about those poor Pro owners? Stern just gonna piss them all off, again?

yeah this is a fail.

I don't think you'll ever see a Pro+ version. The beauty of the Prem/LE thing is that they were the same game - 1 set of code. We know how hard it is to code a complete game, let alone 2 variations….now throw 3 into the mix? Forget it. Not going to happen unless it's something that is "code free" like the Bell they added to AC/DC LED Pro. Maybe the Well zombie's guts? The fish tank heads? *shrug*….game was just announced and we're speculating future versions…wtf lol

They already did that again with LED IMVE, ACDC PRO LED, and MET LED. Some were pissed and some said the more the merrier.

Different scenarios. All of those have the same playfield layout and toys.

Those were just more Pros.

Avatar LE came out months after Avatar, unexpectedly, and with more mechanical features, extra switches, new toys, etc. Those who bought the Pro just a few months earlier were justifiably annoyed - as they would have spent a few more bucks to get the extra features version. That's why all multi-tiered releases after that had all versions announced at once - so you could make a comfortably educated choice as a customer.

You are not alone. I wouldn't settle for a pro either. There are too many other options in the market - or will be soon. If Stern can't/won't supply a full featured version after the LE sells out, then I'll just spend the money elsewhere.

I was one of them....got a day 1 Pro for the US release only to see an LE announced shortly after (which I would have ordered). They did say they would work with me on getting an LE, but I stuck with the regular.....I still have it too

Part of that was "flipper frenzy" that fell flat later, although Met was/is a great title.

If these LE's were priced at Met LE levels there would be the same scramble by the flippers. No profit left for them.

Some people might want a LE/Premium but might not be in the market just this very minute. If they sell only 600 LE and no premium but it's popular like AcDc LE or Met LE was. If somebody didn't want to buy it this month, they would just pass completely or buy from a secondary re-seller. Stern would miss out on potentially hundreds if not thousands or additional sales especially if people were not satisfied with the pro.

I don't see Stern being too keen to miss out when they have the opportunity to sell pins (instead of having those sales potentially go to JJP, PPS, Skit-B, or Spooky etc.).