(Topic ID: 298696)

What is on the line at Stern Pinball / Production Schedule

By beltking

2 years ago


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    There are 8,090 posts in this topic. You are on page 128 of 162.
    #6351 10 months ago
    Quoted from TechnicalSteam:

    Stern could re-release many of the Classic games with Stern Insider such as:
    Tron, Spider Man, Met Pro, LOTR and others and sell em slightly lower than a PRO
    and print money.

    This would require a lot of development rework since those are all on older computing platforms. LOTR in particular is on Whitestar, which isn't much more than an embedded-class 6809 CPU, nowhere near managing a modern internet-connected technology stack. The other three you listed are SAM, which is somewhat more capable, but still far from Spike. Really you'd be talking about porting the software for any of these games to run on a modern Spike computer.

    #6352 10 months ago
    Quoted from TechnicalSteam:

    Stern could re-release many of the Classic games with Stern Insider such as:
    Tron, Spider Man, Met Pro, LOTR and others and sell em slightly lower than a PRO
    and print money.

    They can't re-release them. They redesign them. It would be as much effort as a brand new game basically, but probably not sell as well (because there are thousands of those games already out there still).

    They have designers on staff coming out with amazing new games constantly. Not sure why they'd go back. Especially to sell games for less than pro prices as you suggest. Premium, LE, and accessories are where their margins are. The pros only exist to build market share and total availability market.

    #6353 10 months ago
    Quoted from TooMetal:

    Iron Maiden Pro was my gateway drug into this hobby. I bought it because I am a huge Maiden fan. Now I can't stop buying pinball machines.

    Took me about ten years to stop buying new games. Went from 3 to 5 to 32 to buying everything I saw. Now back down to 12 and only 1 maybe 2 projects..
    There is help 1-800-PIN-STOP - We will slap ya back to reality.

    #6354 10 months ago
    Quoted from Sorokyl:

    They can't re-release them. They redesign them. It would be as much effort as a brand new game basically, but probably not sell as well (because there are thousands of those games already out there still).
    They have designers on staff coming out with amazing new games constantly. Not sure why they'd go back. Especially to sell games for less than pro prices as you suggest. Premium, LE, and accessories are where their margins are. The pros only exist to build market share and total availability market.

    Yeah, it would end up needing to cost the same as a modern pin and have similar pricing plans, at which point you may as well as do this as an updated version, with better graphics, animations, sounds, etc. The only games that this might make any sense for out of the early 2000s games are the ones that still have a fair bit of buzz around them, maybe lotr or tspp. Even then, it would be still probably be too much of a gamble for them to bother

    #6355 10 months ago
    Quoted from Sorokyl:

    Here's an update on recent production based on Factory Fridays, latest TPN, etc. They clearly have been doing a few games at a time almost all month.
    this is certainly not 100% accurate, hard to know exactly when was something on the line from the TPN comments (is he referring to when it's actually on the line, when he's getting it, maybe both at different times) and also is just tidbits and not a complete recounting of production that week.
    May 5 Factory Friday - Bond Prem / Foo LE
    May 5 Build Date - JP Premium
    May 8-12 TPN - Bond Pro
    May 12 Factory Friday - Foo Prem / JP Prem
    May 15-19 TPN - Foo Prem, Bond Prem, JP Prem
    May 19 Factory Friday - FF Prem
    May 22-26 TPN - IMDN Pro, FF LE, JP Prem, Bond Prem
    May 29- June 2 - Bond Prem, FF Prem
    Latest 2023 Estimated Schedule:
    May 2023 - JP Premium
    May 2023 - Foo Fighters Premium
    May 2023 - Bond Pro & Premium
    Jun 2023 - Iron Maiden Pro & Premium
    Jun 2023 - Godzilla Pro & Premium
    July 2023 - AIQ Pro & Premium
    July 2023 - FF Pro & Premium
    Aug 2023 - Deadpool Pro & Premium
    Aug 2023 - JP Pro
    Sep 2023 - Cornerstone - Venom?
    Oct 2023 - Bond Pro & Premium
    Nov 2023 - Mandalorian Pro & Premium
    Dec 2023 - Star Wars Pro & Premium

    Thanks for posting! I'm in for a Godzilla Premium for the upcoming June run. My wife and I have a baby on the way (end of August) so time to get one last pin into the game room before she gets here lol.

    #6356 10 months ago
    Quoted from PanzerFreak:

    Thanks for posting! I'm in for a Godzilla Premium for the upcoming June run. My wife and I have a baby on the way (end of August) so time to get one last pin into the game room before she gets here lol.

    Great stuff, congrats! Both on the pending arrival and the pre-emptive strike on GZ Prem. Love GZ for a home machine, long game times and deep replayability.

    #6357 10 months ago

    Reworking a game to work on Spike wouldn't be that much of a lift and shift. If you know what your doing.
    I've refactored code from one system to another numerous times. The Visual Pinball or Virtual pinball is a pretty
    good example of how this happens. Look at how quickly The Pinball Arcade was able to go thru the entire classic
    line of games and reproduce them. From a programming standpoint cake walk for experienced developers.

    Many of those games where built on some fairly simple hardware compared to the modern Spike games.
    The whole industry would benefit if these companies started to work as a whole and create more industry standards.

    Also go a long way to ensure 10-20-30 years from now you'll be able to fix your games at all.
    License out Spike systems and make it a Open source library. ( Which might be impossible but who knows unless you work there ).

    #6358 10 months ago
    Quoted from PanzerFreak:

    Thanks for posting! I'm in for a Godzilla Premium for the upcoming June run. My wife and I have a baby on the way (end of August) so time to get one last pin into the game room before she gets here lol.

    Congrats on the little one. I'm in the same boat. Our first baby is due in November. DP pro and Gz pro both ordered and cash in the safe. I'm hoping to use those to trade around as 2 is my limit.

    #6359 10 months ago
    Quoted from Gubbin:Congrats on the little one. I'm in the same boat. Our first baby is due in November. DP pro and Gz pro both ordered and cash in the safe. I'm hoping to use those to trade around as 2 is my limit.

    Congrats to all of you! Just started my paternity leave in the middle of May. I can't wait for my FF Prem to get here, to give me something to play while my son is napping!

    #6360 10 months ago

    Maiden and JP on the line!

    #6361 10 months ago

    How do you follow up FooFighters?

    Is Stranger Things really back on line? I've heard rumors on FB.

    #6362 10 months ago
    Quoted from TechnicalSteam:

    How do you follow up FooFighters?
    Is Stranger Things really back on line? I've heard rumors on FB.

    Has Stern ever put a game that has already been archived back on the line?

    Gord

    #6363 10 months ago

    Nice to see JP on line again with so many people waiting.

    #6364 10 months ago
    Quoted from GRB1959:

    Has Stern ever put a game that has already been archived back on the line?
    Gord

    Yes. They call them vaults. Some were still warm.

    #6365 10 months ago
    Quoted from GRB1959:

    Has Stern ever put a game that has already been archived back on the line?
    Gord

    If I remember correctly they "archived" Iron Maiden at one point without the customary "Last Call", removed it from the archive shortly after listing it there, and then put it back on the line a half a year or so later.

    #6366 10 months ago

    Seems like Iron Man was in the camp too. Totally stale in the beginning then blossomed late. Cheap easy build probably too.

    #6367 10 months ago
    Quoted from FalconDriver:

    Seems like Iron Man was in the camp too. Totally stale in the beginning then blossomed late. Cheap easy build probably too.

    Iron Man was an official vault title.

    14
    #6368 10 months ago
    Quoted from PanzerFreak:

    Thanks for posting! I'm in for a Godzilla Premium for the upcoming June run. My wife and I have a baby on the way (end of August) so time to get one last pin into the game room before she gets here lol.

    My wife and I just became empty nesters. Our daughter moved out 4 years ago and our 18 year old son just moved out 3 months ago so I just ordered a Premium IM, DP and GZ from Nitro. Now that the kids are gone, I've got a few extra bucks.

    Don't worry, once the baby arrives, it'll be a magical 20 years....... and once your kids grow up they'll finally leave you and the wife all alone in the house. Your home will be all empty and quiet and only then you'll realize.........it's awesome!

    QSS

    #6369 10 months ago
    Quoted from Gubbin:

    Congrats on the little one. I'm in the same boat. Our first baby is due in November. DP pro and Gz pro both ordered and cash in the safe. I'm hoping to use those to trade around as 2 is my limit.

    If you have the baby sleep in the bathtub you can fit two more games in the nursery. Just saying

    #6370 10 months ago

    Is there a leaked photo of the godzilla topper?

    #6371 10 months ago
    Quoted from Ivanhoe:

    I'm seeing it too... Prices on used are sliding down. I'm tracking a bunch of titles and asking prices have dropped about 15% over the last month alone and they're still sitting. I think these COVID buyers are spending their money elsewhere. If this keeps sliding down, this may impact NIB production. As a pinthusiast, I may have a lot on my wish list but there's only 5 titles I want, and 3 of them are older titles. In other words, my appetite for new is drying up. If I get anything other than those 5, it's because it was a deal too good to pass up...at least 1/2 the price of what I'm seeing out there now.

    This happens almost every time a new title comes out. They drop for 6 -18 months then they have historically come back on price from that point. But of course there are always outliers.

    . This is not new and has nothing to do with the “Covid Bump”.

    I’m saying think you’re wrong . Just saying that this is not a leading indicator of a market pull back .

    None of us have a crystal ball . No one knows what’s gonna happen with pricing . Some people think it’s gonna keep going up , others think it’s gonna plummet. That’s what makes a market .

    Just buy games at the price you feel comfortable .And the market price no longer matters .

    #6372 10 months ago
    Quoted from QuickSilverShelby:

    My wife and I just became empty nesters. Our daughter moved out 4 years ago and our 18 year old son just moved out 3 months ago so I just ordered a Premium IM, DP and GZ from Nitro. Now that the kids are gone, I've got a few extra bucks.
    Don't worry, once the baby arrives, it'll be a magical 20 years....... and once your kids grow up they'll finally leave you and the wife all alone in the house. Your home will be all empty and quiet and only then you'll realize.........it's awesome!
    QSS

    If my wife and I are anything to go by, it'll be more like 27 years... That was the age when both of us finally moved out of our parents' houses. (We both went on to get our masters, I moved out after I got that and worked long enough to save for a down payment on a condo, my wife moved out after we started dating and she moved in with me)

    #6373 10 months ago
    Quoted from thekiyote:If my wife and I are anything to go by, it'll be more like 27 years... That was the age when both of us finally moved out of our parents' houses. (We both went on to get our masters, I moved out after I got that and worked long enough to save for a down payment on a condo, my wife moved out after we started dating and she moved in with me)

    If my kids are still on the teat at age 27 and preventing me from buying more pinball machines I will be a bit annoyed and have a slight sense of failure as a parent. I took pride in becoming independent shortly after high school.

    Anyway, no photos of the GZ topper yet. And if you wait until you see one next week it will almost certainly be too late to get the first run. First 7 guys I called yesterday were way past their initial allocation (e.g. getting 7, line 30 long)

    #6374 10 months ago
    Quoted from Sorokyl:I think 1 year between runs doesn't really count as

    I agree, but what I was talking about was when Stern put the title in their “archive” section of their website and then pulled it back off.

    #6375 10 months ago
    Quoted from Sorokyl:

    If my kids are still on the teat at age 27 and preventing me from buying more pinball machines I will be a bit annoyed and have a slight sense of failure as a parent. I took pride in becoming independent shortly after high school.

    Eh, it’s complicated. I graduated college right when the Great Recession hit. I was making do with a few part time jobs for a while, while also working as a laborer for my dad’s company to help keep them afloat. The plus side was this really helped me to save money and I was able to grab a foreclosure and put myself in a very good position, while going to a local grad school without loans (TA was one of the part time jobs). So no regrets here.

    My wife went to business school, found out she hated it, and then went back to library science school for an MLS. Combined with the fact she comes from an Russian immigrant family, where staying with family relatively late was normal, she stuck around until we started getting serious.

    #6376 10 months ago
    Quoted from TechnicalSteam:

    How do you follow up FooFighters?
    Is Stranger Things really back on line? I've heard rumors on FB.

    Stern already publicly released a letter to distributors squashing that rumor, at least until next year. They acknowledged the rumor and said no builds this year.

    #6377 10 months ago
    Quoted from frenchman:

    Is there a leaked photo of the godzilla topper?

    Pas encore.

    #6378 10 months ago
    Quoted from spikelou2:

    This is not new and has nothing to do with the “Covid Bump”.

    Why not? The impact of COVID on pinball collecting has all but subsided. People are now free to travel or recreate in ways that were closed to them during the pandemic. Spending huge sums on toys to amuse yourself while cooped up at home makes far less sense now. Have you noticed the sizeable surge in pin listings in the Pinside Classifieds? I certainly have. I'm also noticing many fewer "Pending" stamps because sellers are out of touch and asking above-market prices. This is a post-COVID market. It's also a recession market and a defensive market. Collectors are selling to shore up cash because they're uneasy about having so much tied up in pins. They're not as bullish on pins as they were two years ago and the push to sell reflects that. Only the rare or uber-collectible titles sell quickly and only at fair prices. Everything else is sitting unless it's bargain priced. Supply exceeds demand. And take a closer look at distributors and their ads. They're posting ads for titles that were particularly "hot" just a year ago, but today sit even when shipping is included. (JP2 Premium and EHOH Premium, for example.) Before, the distros had waiting lists for these titles, but no longer. Distributors are struggling to sell games. The only recent Sterns that will sell within a week as HUO are 'zilla and Foo Premiums. Everything else has to be discounted far more than it was just a year ago to close a sale.

    #6379 10 months ago

    Well I guess I’m going to get Jurassic Park premium. I found 2 willi wonka le but one wants 11,000$ and the other 11700$ I’m like holy cow so Jurassic here I come wide open and I’ll save nearly 2000$. Lol

    #6380 10 months ago
    Quoted from cbdarden:

    I was the lucky winner of Project Pinball’s Premium raffle. I chose a Godzilla Premium and confirmed everything on 5/17/22. Now I’m really curious when it’ll ship. I’ll keep everyone posted!

    As an FYI, I still don’t have my Godzilla Premium, a year later.

    #6381 10 months ago
    Quoted from cbdarden:

    As an FYI, I still don’t have my Godzilla Premium, a year later.

    Dude…..hopefully you get it on the next run

    #6382 10 months ago
    Quoted from cbdarden:

    As an FYI, I still don’t have my Godzilla Premium, a year later.

    I'm curious: how many raffle tickets did you buy? What was the pool? How large? Thousands or tens of thousands? Congrats, for sure!

    #6383 10 months ago
    Quoted from Jason_Jehosaphat:

    I'm curious: how many raffle tickets did you buy? What was the pool? How large? Thousands or tens of thousands? Congrats, for sure!

    They are usually 200 spots at $85/each for a premium.

    #6384 10 months ago
    Quoted from cbdarden:

    As an FYI, I still don’t have my Godzilla Premium, a year later.

    Wow that’s crazy, I’ve always assumed they just took the amount of money from the proceeds needed to buy the machine and placed the order with whoever had allocation. Seems crazy to win a prize and not have it a year later.

    #6385 10 months ago

    It all depends on what you pick when you win. I won in 2020 and it took 8 months. I’m won in February of 23 and could have had a bond shipped right away but chose ff

    #6386 10 months ago
    Quoted from Jason_Jehosaphat:

    Why not? The impact of COVID on pinball collecting has all but subsided. People are now free to travel or recreate in ways that were closed to them during the pandemic. Spending huge sums on toys to amuse yourself while cooped up at home makes far less sense now. Have you noticed the sizeable surge in pin listings in the Pinside Classifieds? I certainly have. I'm also noticing many fewer "Pending" stamps because sellers are out of touch and asking above-market prices. This is a post-COVID market. It's also a recession market and a defensive market. Collectors are selling to shore up cash because they're uneasy about having so much tied up in pins. They're not as bullish on pins as they were two years ago and the push to sell reflects that. Only the rare or uber-collectible titles sell quickly and only at fair prices. Everything else is sitting unless it's bargain priced. Supply exceeds demand. And take a closer look at distributors and their ads. They're posting ads for titles that were particularly "hot" just a year ago, but today sit even when shipping is included. (JP2 Premium and EHOH Premium, for example.) Before, the distros had waiting lists for these titles, but no longer. Distributors are struggling to sell games. The only recent Sterns that will sell within a week as HUO are 'zilla and Foo Premiums. Everything else has to be discounted far more than it was just a year ago to close a sale.

    Summer Slump has happened each and every year now, for 19 years. Always picks up by Oct. Nothing to fear, it is as common as life.

    #6387 10 months ago
    Quoted from jeffspinballpalace:

    Summer slump has happened each and every year now, for 19 years.

    I think the first couple COVID summers were an exception, but overall-yeah. This one might be worse because everyone and their brother wants to travel this summer because they can with pretty much no restrictions.

    #6388 10 months ago
    Quoted from tgarrett09:

    Wow that’s crazy, I’ve always assumed they just took the amount of money from the proceeds needed to buy the machine and placed the order with whoever had allocation. Seems crazy to win a prize and not have it a year later.

    I'm pretty sure it's because Stern and one or more distributors work with project pinball to get their cost as low as possible (stern discount + distributor discount) to maximize the amount of the raffle proceeds that go to charity. That is kind of like the IFPA discount pins, then, meaning they become lower priority than paid, high margin pins from normal customers. I don't know any of this FOR SURE, but it seems like it's the case. and Stern has issued project pinball outright donation press releases, so they're definitely involved.

    #6389 10 months ago

    I can’t wait til Summer 2024 and Elwin’s Jaws will bite the heads off the competition

    We have seen it’s unimportant for a movie pin to follow the plot (like TBL does). Rather, a pin is typically only loosely based on theme: (JJP) POTC, Wonka and TGF, (Stern) BM66, EHOH and JP. Wait, until Matrix and then Harry Potter are released by JJP and are only loosely based on one movie. Wait until Jaws and BTTF are released by Stern and they don’t follow a movie. People will be royally pissed. But we shouldn’t fool ourselves in regards to any future titles, so H.P. license will be no different.

    #6390 10 months ago
    Quoted from jeffspinballpalace:

    I can’t wait til Summer 2024 and Elwin’s Jaws will bite the heads off the competition
    We have seen it’s unimportant for a movie pin to follow the plot (like TBL does). Rather, a pin is typically only loosely based on theme: (JJP) Wonka and TGF, (Stern) EHOH, JP and Bond. Wait, until Harry Potter is released and it is only loosely based on one movie or book. Wait until BTTF is released and it doesn’t follow a movie. People will be duelly pissed.

    Pfft, as long as Big Trouble In Little China has Porkchop Express multiball, I’ll be satisfied.

    #6391 10 months ago

    Huge announcement tomorrow.

    #6392 10 months ago
    Quoted from beltking:

    Huge announcement tomorrow.

    Godzilla topper? Define huge.

    #6393 10 months ago
    Quoted from kermit24:

    Godzilla topper? Define huge.

    this much (resized).JPGthis much (resized).JPG
    #6394 10 months ago
    Quoted from beltking:

    Huge announcement tomorrow.

    There always is.

    -1
    #6395 10 months ago

    Son of Mario is coming

    #6396 10 months ago
    Quoted from beltking:

    Huge announcement tomorrow.

    annie (resized).jpgannie (resized).jpg
    #6397 10 months ago
    Quoted from beltking:

    Huge announcement tomorrow.

    What’s the current game build list like now?

    #6398 10 months ago

    What will GZ topper look like at reveal tomorrow? Expect wallets to flex and the order banks to open and remain busy until closing. Huge news, indeed.

    3249F000-84FE-4886-A60D-48B0CAEBB6DD.gif3249F000-84FE-4886-A60D-48B0CAEBB6DD.gif52698B3C-8616-449E-948D-56B5CE1998B1.gif52698B3C-8616-449E-948D-56B5CE1998B1.gif5DD19CE8-4623-4D72-A800-FCF71743C678.gif5DD19CE8-4623-4D72-A800-FCF71743C678.gif6DBA6CFF-4C13-47F2-ABDA-5FD456BBAE8D.gif6DBA6CFF-4C13-47F2-ABDA-5FD456BBAE8D.gifABD4282C-E04C-4D60-BCFB-0377822799C6.gifABD4282C-E04C-4D60-BCFB-0377822799C6.gifCA4FF403-5A71-42D9-A60F-F6E018B6CB9F.gifCA4FF403-5A71-42D9-A60F-F6E018B6CB9F.gifF6F7C9FD-04D8-45FF-9F26-FC29B5AFAA82.gifF6F7C9FD-04D8-45FF-9F26-FC29B5AFAA82.gif
    #6399 10 months ago

    Who’s announcing what tomorrow ? Cheersmayes

    #6400 10 months ago
    Quoted from Pinball1987:

    Who’s announcing what tomorrow

    Third base.

    There are 8,090 posts in this topic. You are on page 128 of 162.

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