Because they're huge in Europe, where Stern sends 50% of their pins, that's why. The bands you listed probably don't sell as well there, no idea, but the business case is the global market, not just the US.

You're talking about a company that thought a Wheel of Fortune pin was a good idea, don't ask me to explain how they pick licenses, I can't. My point was simply that Iron Maiden has a business case built for it, it's not just a few rabid Pinsiders who really want it. It could move units like Metallica, which broke sales records. This case has been made to Stern, and they got it, and it's gonna happen is what I've heard. Iron Maiden with Dirty Donny art could be the next pin. Or not, you hear what you hear and you wait to find out if it's true or not.

No matter what the theme is there's always going to be someone who says "pass, won't buy", and someone who is so excited they hope they're gonna make multiple LEs so they can buy them all. Only Stern even knows how many they need to sell to be a success, we're on the outside of the black box.

You can't be right all the time!

Would Iron Maiden sell.....yes of course. Would it sell better than a few dozen other bands or non music related pins....No!. If I asked most people if they know more then 1 or 2 IM songs they would tell me they don't know any. Iron Maiden is not that popular with the general public, and that is supposed to be Sterns main focus according to Stern.

Bear in mind I'm simply putting forth the business case as has been pitched to Stern. I'm not dying for a Maiden pin myself, though I would be interested in seeing how it came out. Personally I don't think of them as an obscure band by any means. I haven't listened to them since maybe middle school/high school, but that's the same era that I cared about Metallica too. All my metalhead friends knew Maiden, they're a household name, and their album covers are famous. The thing is even though Pinside is a European site technically, the forum skews very US-centric. And the appeal of this brand is that it's very big in the rest of the world. So you have to be careful about the "people you know" test. It might be the opposite of Mustang in a way, and maybe that's the smart play, do a real US focused pin, and then one with a more Euro/global focus back to back.

Why would Dirty Donny be a good choice for the artist of Iron Maiden? That defeats the best part about doing that license in my mind. I would think the droves of Iron Maiden fans would want Derek Riggs to do the art.

That's easy, he wouldn't be a good choice, he's a terrible choice. I'm not advocating for it at all, not getting Riggs sounds insane to me. Maybe he's too expensive, I dunno. I'm simply reporting it like I heard it. Maybe I'm wrong, but the way I heard it was next pin was Borg doing Maiden with Dirty Donny on the art. Be happy to be wrong really, or maybe it will come out great, I don't want to pre-judge. I'm down to just see how the dice roll out, this speculation stuff is just water cooler bullshitting to pass the time.

That's why not getting Riggs seems nuts, if that's even true. Who cares about the music, if it's a fun game and has new awesome art that makes you think of the old awesome art you saw for years and years then buy it and play it, so long as you don't hate hair metal or speed metal or wtf Maiden metal is. If you don't have a strong opinion on the band then it's better than Metallica in some ways, since some people have a bad taste in their mouth over Metallica. If the band doesn't mean much to you, but you like the art and can dig listening to it why not?

I'm not an AC/DC fan by any stretch of the imagination. I had a Razor's Edge tape as a kid, that's it. But I'm fine with listening to them while playing a rad pin.

Dead on observation Ben, I agree, all anyone ever says is "zombies are cool!" and "I hope it's the comic book art!".

If you're a fan of the show (I've only read the comic, but I have to think this would be the show, it's more popular and they could steal audio from it) then what would you actually want from the show in the pin?

Edit: BSD is super campy to me BTW.

The comics are popular, for comics. Nothing like the popularity and numbers of the show. So I would be surprised to see that. Maybe they could combine comic art and the show, I dunno. But if this is really happening I would think it has to be the show.

And if it was the comics, who's doing the voice work? See above thought about combining maybe (comic art, lines from the show?), but there are way too many characters to think that Stern is going to hire a bunch of voice actors. And if the voices don't match the show aren't people going to be upset/confused? Assuming the voices are even good, and not X-Men Beast?

Also, it just occurred to me, the show and the comic would probably require separate licensing agreements, different properties, doubt you could get them as one-fee-for-both.

lol, we have the exact opposite opinion. Brendon Small is the only redeemable part about those callouts! I want a Metallica despite them, but man ... ELECTRIC CHAIR!

Or you could buy America's Most Haunted, an original theme, available now, not years from now.

Anyone who says "make original themes, we'll buy them!" should consider supporting the people making original themes.

Lots of people do, it's a #1 selling book. That group is just dwarfed by the TV show audience is all.

I've read the comic. Up to the suburban gated community storyline. Want to say 70+ issues maybe? Never seen the show.

And then we got Mustang. Just saying.

Stern can assemble more than one game on their line, no need to go "full on" for any title. Also, the person refuting that has good cause to if I recall correctly, so I'm inclined to believe him.