I canx my GZ premium preorder today. Going to hold off and hopefully get one used when they make too many. I can wait.

Picked up my Godzilla Pro last Friday (August 9 production date). My first pin and having a blast with it so far.

Great buying experience thru Hemispheres Amusements. Not a single complaint.

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For as long as there is a demand for it.

Considering this approach as well just tired of waiting… and after a year I feel I can wait longer. and this last half of year should show some new options.

Getting a GZ Pro scheduled for delivery on Friday, coming from CT. Just fyi, the games shipped to CT first, then they are coming back out to me in WI, so...not 100% necessarily true they they use a warehouse at/near Stern.

It's coming via Fedex Freight, and I've heard bad things...*fingers crossed*

They do have a warehouse near Stern. My GZ Prem from CT came direct from IL. Not sure why games sometimes got to PA before shipping to customers.

Yeah, I checked the tracking # and it's coming from PA. No biggie I suppose, but it going to the east coast, then back "home" is kind of meaningless. I would have been happy to pick up directly at Stern too, but I don't believe they do that.

Fedex freight suuuuuuucks.
If it was a better quality video I’d post a vid of one of their delivery guys almost totally dumping my game off a pallet jack in my driveway.
Bunch of clown who can’t even read the big red directions on the box.

you can say fedex sucks, but just think of it. the guy that gets fired from fedex today, starts at another shipping company tommorow, lol.

Every single shipping company has its pros and cons. But reality, all of them have minimum wage workers that only care about putting the hours in, not the product that they are moving. The workers dont have any responsibility with any of the companies. And this isnt just with pinball, this is across the board with shippers. Also, no one wants to pay anything, when i say this, as we all know, stern games come on a skid that is the size of the box. if you went with a normal size skid, (48x40) there would be a lot less issues. But with that size is additional cost. around 200 bucks.

as i have said before, there are a half dozen of us that use a warehouse in chicago, it just moved and is now about 25 minutes from stern. With the way production is lately, sometimes we might only get a couple games, and other times (depending on size of distributor) we might get 20+ games. It makes no sense for us to pay to ship a couple games to our location, so in those cases, i personally always will use the chicago warehouse. But if it is 20 games, it lowers the shipping cost per unit drastically and is worth sending to my location. Remember, distributors pay all shipping to get games, Stern lets us know when they are on their dock, and its our responsibility to get it from them. So for example, if 1 game is ready, should I pay 250 to get that one game to my place, or pay 50 to get it to the chicago warehouse? are you willing to pay the extra 200? But if i get 20 games, it goes down to about 40 a game to get them to me, which makes more sense then. Us distributors dont pass on the cost that it takes us to get the games, if we did, there would be even more complaining

Just wanna say I appreciate your tidbits and insights, as someone new to the hobby with an obsessives personality disorder for needing to understand how everything works.

On the last Friday Facebook update someone asked when Elvira would be run again and Stern responded today with “stay tuned.” Hopefully that means the November run is still on. Seen some speculation it could get shifted to next year.

First and last order through Cointaker for me. Fedex just called to tell me that my Godzilla Pro is ready for delivery. 2 things, I never received shipment notification and I ordered a Jurassic Park Pro. List price also does not match invoice. Waiting on updates.

Wow!

Ill try to help people understand how some things operate, even if they are not Tilt customers. its all about making pinball better in general. Lots of things go on behind the scenes that people dont understand or have an idea about. Just like the shows, yes stern will give us additional games above our allotment to do a show, but we still pay for those games, its not that games are loaned to us. and the bigger the show the more money the distributor is out. Like Expo coming up. I will have over a half million dollars tied up in show games, and to get you guys the variety, i have been getting games since february, which means im paying and sitting on games for 8 months that i cant sell until the show. But the tournament is going to have a great variety of games, I think we will have 10 different titles with 2 pro and 2 premium of 9 of the titles, and then 2 pros of gotg since premiums are no longer made. And thats just for the tournament. not even talking about the stern booth which we are expecting another 35-40 games for that will be available also

just who do you think you are? some who actually cares about the hobby? remind me to buy you a drink this weekend!

Have Godzilla Premium's been finished until next year?

I appreciate the nugget of wisdom. I (we) are just consumers, so we see the "consumer" side of things. Example, I would have to pay double the shipping if it was shipped to the distro first, then back to me, so it would make sense to only pay for one leg of the trip vs two legs of a trip. What you say makes a lot of sense.

Also as a consumer, it's just more "risk" to the cargo having to endure two trips vs one. I'm sure as a distro, you assume some risk from the shipping companies as well, but I bet you have some policies playing in the background there that I'm not aware. I just pay and expect a game

Thanks for posting!

I’ve heard the same… I’m actually ok with waiting until spring as long as the game gets made. I’m always more worried about them cancelling the run all together

Looks like Mandos on the line this friday!

That would be a surprise considering distributors seem to have plenty of them in stock. Maybe that's for international distribution?

That post on Instagram wasn't tagged #FactoryFriday. Should be only SW this week.

Here's today's #FactoryFriday

https://www.instagram.com/p/ChcotmbjOJv/?hl=en

Strange though. Premium playfields but that cab art is not from a Premium.

They were probably building them at the same time as the pros

Looking at the last schedule I’d be tempted to say yes. Between the cornerstone and the last calls they are going to be very booked for the rest of the year. I’d be pleasantly surprised if they fit in a small GZ run and I got the call, but won’t be too shocked it that didn’t happen til next year.

Jurassic Park should be here sometime this week through Game Exchange. Cointaker gave up fulfilling my order themselves.

In my experience, shipping companies are often judged by the end of the line office near your home/business.
I’ve got a friendly relationship with the FedEx freight crew locally and they are great. They know well the few pinball collectors in our community and go out of the way to help us. They alert us to box damage etc and are helpful in documenting issues.

Agreed. I end up seeing a lot of the same local folks here at the terminal and the house. To the point they pre inspect and already have the refusal paperwork filled out ahead of my arrival if they find legitimate damage. They apologize and tell me I am going to want to refuse the shipment. Building relationships everywhere you go in life pays off and you get to know great people. Treat them well and they treat you well. I know this is not everyone’s FedEx experience but I am happy with them.

Just received my Godzilla Pro with a build date of 8/5.

I dont think I have ever read a statement on pinside with more truth.

Our family is patiently waiting and very excited to see a factory Friday soon with Guardians on the line! Recently got back from a Disney World trip and brought back some Guardians souvenirs from Epcot. The ride is amazing, best coaster I have ever been on without a doubt. It’s been 2 months since we ordered our game, and riding the ride a few times really got us even more excited for the game. My daughters carried their Rocket and Groot plush around with them most of the vacation and on many of the rides. Here is our loot, my girls holding their plush at Beaches and Cream at the Yacht and Beach Club and our empty spot waiting for our game!

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I think the GOG run pretty much sold out - popular title and a great game.

Has anybody waiting for SW Prem final invoices gotten word yet? With LZ on the line SW must be wrapped or wrapping up this week.

Not yet. My distro says next week

My distro said next week as well.

You folks were right. No teaser this week. The Stern Factory Friday update showed off the last run of Led Zeppelin.

https://www.knapparcade.org/post/stern-pinball-s-big-factory-friday-update-shows

They kept the camera pretty tight on that one playfield. Maybe that means there's something else on the line they didn't want to show???

Email from Stern an hour ago said that my allotment is coming next week, more than likely tuesday

Hope I get the email next week for my SW Premium

I paid my SW Premium final invoice on Wednesday.

My distro said it should be in in the next week or two

My distributor shipment arrives Monday. So seems they are shipping them out

.

Does anyone know when more Rush Premiums might be on the line?

They’re available or pretty much everywhere. Contact Rob @ Mad Pinball

Thanks, but another distrib already has my deposit, and while they had said 3rd or 4th Q I don't see it coming up on any lists I've seen.

Guess I might need to ask for it back...

Yeah, try and get it back if you can…there’s no reason you should have to wait for a game that’s widely available

I have some in stock, and also will have some at expo at discounted pricing after thr tournament