I would need to buy both of those machines. I'm sure my wife would divorce me if I didn't order a Jaws Prem/LE and I would divorce myself if I didn't order a Back to the Future Prem/LE.

My GZ is bolted to floor at the moment.

She said she had 300 people with deposits, you gotta get in line. 2024. Maybe it is shorter at another distributor. I sure like Cointaker, though. $1 deposit, for one thing.

She said she had 300 ahead of me. Gotta get in line. 2024. Maybe another distributor is shorter. Cointaker is the best, though. $1 deposit.

It’s only $1 bc you will never see that GZ…would definitely keep calling around

That $1 deposit is most likely why the list is so long. That combined with their well known reputation and I'm not surprised it's that long. No reason everyone interested in Godzilla shouldn't be on that list.

Yeah, I've been on the $1 list for a bit, but....still don't really foresee that game coming to my house anytime before another 5-10 games have been released all over.

We’re you asking as someone with a paid deposit or as a general inquiry?

Yup, I’m on that list as well. But now I’m afraid to find out how far down it I am! I only got on the list a couple of weeks ago.

That's hilarious...... I just ordered one. LOL!! No problem waiting.

Bring on 2024!!!!

HA!!!

I am also on the list with cointaker since day 1 and not surprised the line is that long. Its too bad they cant fill the orders they have as many of these folks certainly are not going to wait till 2024 and will bail.

Also Stern is really missing out on the opportunity to cash in here. It would seem the demand for games is at an all time high and they are messing it up.

I do know for me personally, if this keeps up my money will probably be better spent somewhere else.

To be fair, how is Stern messing it up? They'd LOVE nothing more than to be able to make 1000 GZs a week, or every other game backordered, so that the money surplus keeps rising. Unfortunately, it is beyond their control.

When did you put in your deposit?

oof...2024. I put a $1 deposit on a GZ Premium with CT on 12/20/21...

I also have the 1k deposit on a Rush Premium with CT on 01/04/22

Anxiously awaiting both...guess its gonna be awhile, wattya gonna do...

(P.S. love Chris and Melissa, purchased a bunch of NIB through them over the years)

300 doesn’t really seem that high. Given the “insane demand” rumor I was expecting several thousand.

And isn’t this hobby the domain of GenX and older? I’m surprised that rather ripe adults don’t have patience. Y’all lived 50 years +/- on this planet, what’s another couple of months without the latest game? I mean, it’s not toilet paper.

This. I put a deposit down on a Mando at launch, waited 8 months until the end of January, and still didn't get it (you're next on the list). So I started checking around and found one in less than a day.

Weird I posted a comment almost identical to this and heard crickets.

It is - but not as weird as people keeping their distributor a secret. It’s like there is something to lose by mentioning it. Transparency is a good thing for US THE CONSUMERS.

For anyone else waiting for their "March Run" GZ from CT I paid if off in full last Thursday still hasn't been shipped

My GZ Pro arrived last Friday. Been playing it non stop. When I was talking to my distributor, he mentioned that Deadpool is scheduled to come late April to early May. If that is true, thats going to be amazing.

It’s like this: on the street, no one wants to get in bad with their drug dealer or make other junkies envious when they score.

If people say what distributor they use, when they made their deposit, and when they received their game it would probably piss a lot of people off that think they should have received their game already. So because of that it’s not worth it. I don’t want to piss someone off by saying I placed my deposit last month and got my game today (not 100% true).

My luck it would get back to my distributor and then I’m placed on his shit list because he’s getting hundreds of angry phone calls. I don’t know how distributors go through their lists or if they place preference to those that are repeat customers or live locally.

So what I’m trying to say is that it’s a no win situation if people started naming their distributors. You will not get your game any faster. All it will do is cause anger

I'm on the "list" for a few games mentioned here. Honestly, I don't care if it's 2023 or 2024 or whatever. What I'm looking for is a commitment that I'm getting one eventually - a tough position for distributors with the info they apparently get from Stern. With a commit, I'm happy to wait forever. Without a commit, I need to consider the flipper market if I want to secure a game. Tuff stuff.

Remember the commitment is only that you'll get a game eventually, at whatever the then current price is. 2024 might be a couple price increases from where it is now.

Yes, and I'm good with that deal. Its fair. But how do you know Stern will eventually build one for everybody in line? I guess thats the magic question.

I get the $1 deposit (and even the no deposit distributors) but I really think it skews Stern's backlog numbers. It makes me wonder if Stern realizes that there is a potential for the bottom to fall out if they filled every "order" from every distributor. I'm not saying they are purposely slowing production but they may be purposely limiting each run to ensure there are enough "true orders". If they had all the parts, manpower, and manufacturing capacity to make every "order" currently backlogged there is certainly a potential to have a big pile sitting around for a bit.

Regardless, I do miss the days of being able to crank out 7k games in a 3-4 month period then move on to the next title. Not saying Stern needs to get to that number (I don't think there is that much demand) but it would be nice if they did enough of a run to have enough extras at distributors until their next "cornerstone" starts cranking out vice shutting down high demand games for a new title.

Well, what the F is the sense of getting excited about new Stern pinball releases then? WOW, that's awesome!! Can't wait to own one in 2 (TWO) Years!!

This is a silly hobby indeed. I don’t disagree but I mean your spending 10s of thousands and worried about angering a distributor that is there business. Again I get it but man…

I used to wait years before I could find a pin on my wishlist, and hope it would be in good shape or playable. Waiting a year for a NIB pin isn't that bad, especially if I can find one to play in the wild while I wait.

Wouldn't this be better for everyone involved?

--A customer places on order for a game directly with Stern (or via an ordering portal from a distributor to Stern) with a non-refundable deposit of $1000 which guarantees the price and place in line, i.e. Godzilla Premium Order number 755.
--Orders are then assigned by Stern to individual distributors (based on size/geography for those ordered from Stern directly), who take a fixed profit and arrange for delivery or shipping, and handle warranty related issues.

Stern would know exactly how many orders they have for a given game and could adjust their production accordingly, the customer would know exactly where they are at in line compared to everyone else and be able to better estimate when their game would be delivered, and distributors would have a lot less questions to deal with.

For the same machine to see which one comes in stock first and pass on the second?

Nonsense. This would remove the transparency and secrecy of the good old boys club.

When did you leave your$1 deposit? I left mine in Nov.
Melissa just responded to my email checking on production status today and she said 3rd or 4th quarter 2022.

Something has to give.. I've checked every site and none of the distributors have new in box available inventory on anything good.. I'm not so sure it's a supply & demand issue anymore but rather manufacturer's choosing to make only what they sell so they have no excess inventory. Terrible for the hobby.. the only thing you can do about it is to be sure you put no more money out there in advance unless there's an actual product to buy, tired of it. I saw one distributor who actually lists the days and years till one gets a game, like a countdown, lol, but no way, no more deposits from me. Kudo's to the distributor's who are only taking little or no deposits but it must su-- for them too because without inventory, there's no sales & pre-orders must be a crappy way to run a business.

This makes sense but I’d rather see pay in full at time of order. It would weed out quite a few flippers. Reserving spots at multiple Distr.’s is too easy and almost all of the deposits are transferable to another machine or refundable. This needs to stop. I bet there are quite a few Pinsiders that have deposits on the same machine at 3-5 different distr.’s Also deposits should not be able to be transferred to other buyers. I ‘d like to see these harsh changes to weed out the scalpers!

DIE Scalper Scum!!!

Stern doesn’t want to deal with thousands of individual orders, accounts, etc. That is a big part of the appeal to using a distributor sales model - you maintain accounts and sell through a small number of distributors and let them handle thousands of customers, issues, orders, returns, refunds, etc. If Stern wanted to deal with all that comes with selling direct they would have.

I can assure you a business this size has a trove of FP&A data that drives their production. They likely have historical data, recently adjusted for the last 12-24 month change in the market, that shows % of actual sell through on deposits. They likely have that data by distributor, by end customer deposit size, geography and other factors. The ability to analyze data and accurately forecast is important for proper production planning but it’s also highly valued by the business and equity world. Stern can likely take all the pre-order data available and come within a few % of knowing exactly how many will sell through.

If orders are getting to 2 years out Stern doesn’t even need to do any new titles.

Hopefully we can get an updated calendar production list soon, i wish they would give production updates every month when they release the stern of union. Bummer about JP Premium delays!

Stern is making the games. This high demand is nothing new, its been there since JP in 2019. They should be able to amp up production here 3 years later. Part/labor shortages are not really an excuse . Buy your parts from somewhere else, offer incentives for labor. They keep increasing prices anyways.

Sony can't make enough PlayStations and Apple is canibalizing product lines to meet phone demand.

I personally can't fault an exponentially smaller org with MUCH riskier inventory costs for keeping the throttle moderated.

Ramping up production without careful consideration could end up with a bunch of flattened machines buried in the desert and a market crash.

Curious how many posting here have actually been part of the process to bring an injection molded part into production. It's a complicated, costly, and lengthy process to get tooling designed, manufactured, and set-up for actual use on a product line. It's not something you simply choose to switch manufacturers on a whim - switching manufacturers often includes having new tooling made to accommodate the specific machines utilized by that different manufacturer.

In a previous life, I was beholden to a specific supplier for my plastic parts ordered in the hundreds at a time. If that company was backed up with orders for other industries that buy parts by the 100s of thousands, too bad - I simply had to wait (sometimes months) until they ran my small batch. When ordering even 1000 pieces of a given part, the largest expense was tooling set-up time and not the actual parts themselves. And when tools aren't in use for producing parts, there's a cost for stowage in the warehouse until it's time for a new batch of parts to be made.

I would have loved to bring this part making in-house, but the cost for machinery was beyond prohibitive and I didn't have the cash to also invest in tooling and skilled labor to set-up and operate the machines. O, I should also note that environmental laws are a major factor, in conjunction with labor rates, for these parts being made overseas on not here in the US

Not offering excuses for Stern, just bringing some industry insight into the discussion to aid in understanding that not everything is as simplae as it may appear on the outside looking in

I’m quite sure that Stern is doing everything in their power to take advantage of the resurgence they’ve been waiting for for almost 30 years. As Rodent pointed out, almost everything on these games are custom made parts, not like they’re waiting on screws, washers, and fuses.

Exact same. Deposit placed 11/26/21, heard most likely 3/4th quarter

Maybe a dumb question (which is why I don’t want to ask my dist.) but I hear you guys talk about bank transfers for payment. They do take credit cards right? I’m sure some people do it differently but I just assumed all this time that was an option for me…. My anxiety is getting the best of me lol

Nope.

But if they don't make new titles they will lose their all-star design teams. That can't happen.

This is my first NiB order. My deposit $1,000 was able to be paid with my credit card. The final invoice required a bank transfer. I was kind of upset because I had a credit card offer lines up for 0% interest, the credit card points, and the security if anything goes wrong. CT was bank transfer. I am sure some other places will allow it for a fee but I can only speak form my experience.

Thanks for the info

Most do but not all, and I think those that do usually charge 3% to do so. I would check with your distributor. Not a dumb question at all btw, but I’m sure sure you can find the answer on their website if you don’t want to ask them.

Why would you want to wait that long? I ordered my GZ Premium at the end of February and received a March order.

Well, there ya go!! You can put a deposit down on a Haggis game and get it before you get a brand new release Stern!!!

Go Haggis!! Delivering games faster than Stern!!