Apparently Star Wars will be ran forever.

I got mine in the last run. People were surprised then that they were still being made and that people still wanted them. Awesome game! They must still have enough interest to justify.

what is the FF? Fantastic four? Do people really think it will be venom or whatever FF is?

I have a Godzilla Premium and have played Elvira only a few times but I really liked it. It shoots very smooth, but is a more conventional layout than Godzilla. It stayed on my short list for quite a while until I finally decided that at the price I'd rather look for two Pro costed machines and that I didn't really like the theme enough. It's not necessarily Elvira that I didn't like, it just didn't seem like the callouts and video were quite want I wanted - I actually like Scared Stiff more in that respect. The new game doesn't seem tongue-in-cheek enough or something.

I'm in the same boat as you that I don't like the rock band pins which seem to be a high percentage of new releases these days, but there are a lot of older Sterns to look at. I'm considering getting a Turtles Pro if the right machine shows up at a good price. Also take a look at some of the Bally/Williams games from 1993-1998, there are a lot of really good machines from that time and they'll all be very different from Godzilla.

Oh okay, thanks

It’s code for the Nickleback machine coming out

Yea, I just shuddered typing it, so yea....

I got one from that run and I love it

As it should be. Phenomenal pin and absolutely has to be one of the best sellers of all time for Stern.

I don't understand making more SW and AIQ instead of pumping out more GZ.

On a side note, I think they will end up adding Rush in 2023 at some point.

Pin-specific parts on hand that need to be used up?

Rush is not on the schedule for 2023.

Plus there are plenty of them available at many distros right now.

Zach said sales have improved. It is such a great game. It will continue to gain momentum.

The second they announce the end of RUSH, The market for Rush will skyrocket. The next music pin has its work cut out for it.

I thought Star Wars wasn’t that big a hit, guess I was mistaken.

Does anyone know if the May run of IMDN is last call? I'd like to get one but don't think I'll be able to this year. I know Zach mentioned Stern said to not cancel any Elvira orders that wouldn't be filled in the next batch, indicating the next run is not the last run, just wondering if anyone heard anything similar with Iron Maiden. Thanks

Pretty much everybody on here who runs a location says that Star Wars is always the top earner by a mile. It's a giant magnet for kids to run up to and parents to drop the coins, more than any other of the licensed franchises. Same for home use, it's the biggest kid-parent franchise by far.

Yep, I’m a huge Star Wars fan and they must have a long window with the license. They will sell them eventually. Tough layout with some thirsty lanes. It’s probably why there are still some in stock from the last run and resale is pretty weak.

It’s really like any other recent title, resale will be somewhat soft until they are out of production.

It will be just like GB, game many love to hate and probably one of the biggest recent sellers.

Its not a cheap license so I assume they will run it till the license expires. The game sells well, even after all these years the new runs typically have no issue being sold at distros and stock doesn't sit around forever.

Yea i'm wondering on Maiden. It might be my last pin for a long long while and thinking of getting in on the last run if it is.

If Stern is going to discontinue at least two a year (last year was four models: LZ, TMNT, 2 Homepins), then I wonder which it'll be this year?
IM and DP? EHOH also? SW's run comes to an end?

Going to be interesting.

Hasn't IW been running for a while now? DP also so can see both of those if they plan to keep SW going. Star Wars still sells well, while it seems the marvel stuff has slowed... if Venom is happening they maybe want to cut down on the Marvel content too to bring in a new Marvel replacement.

Wonder if Rush will go out of production. Demand seems to have been sated pretty quickly if they plan on making none at all next year.

I wonder too...... but I'm not sure if SW really is a great seller, I'm sure it's a steady moderate seller but not a great one. If it was still hot then they'd be making the comic art version.

You're right about too much Marvel.... I wonder if AIQ is on the chopping block. I love that ramp game, but I don't love the theme. Part of me thinks JP should be on the block too. Get rid of everything 2019 and prior.

Yeah, Rush seems to be the definition of something that will have no long term legs. All the Rush fans bought one right away and it's not like there's any new Rush fans still being created. And the pinballing isn't amazing enough to transcend the dad-rock genre like Iron Maiden did. Iron Maiden makes you feel badass, Rush's vibe is to make you feel silly. Rush's ceiling for demand is no higher than Led Zeppelin and probably lower.

I love AIQ, but I'll agree its layout doesn't fit its theme. AIQ should have had big bash toys for Thanos and the villains, and the zoomy oops-all-ramps layout should have been another game, Rush would have been a good fit for that since the songs are so flowy.

Not a great earner and we tried it over 4 locations. It’s just a brutal game for casuals. A theme can pull some initial money, but if it feels like a cheap drain it will have no lasting appeal on route. Obviously location dependent, but we had no luck. Fixing that hyperdrive loop was definitely a pain, just remembered that part. Ha!

Rush is a players game through and through. Great rules and the definition of long legs for a home game. I’m not a rush fan really and the game has been more addicting than the last few sterns. Great game!

Local distros have always sold out of star wars without issue and it's been run longer than any other pin. It's still a good selling property and the pin is popular enough to move machines still so I imagine if the license is still good, they will keep it going as long as possible cause they likely paid a pretty penny for that IP.

Now where is the Elviras? Pretty much everyone already sold out of the Feb allocation from wait lists. You got so much demand for that machine Stern and your gonna do one small run in 2023 after all this time? If it's the last, that's another kick in the pants when there is so much clear demand for it.

Disagree. It's been moving up the charts steadily (#12 now). As people play it more word is getting around its an awesome game.

Star Wars wins a lot of coin drops from the name alone and Locally anyway, they don't come up often for sale.

What about Mando. Seems like a lot of distros have them still? I picked up a nice premium recently for near pro price. Im loving the challenge but sure seems like they are "easy" to find.

Even moreso, I’m slightly surprised to see various distributors bumping up the price to 9499-9699 on games like Mando prem, TMNT, Rush, etc that were stock from last years builds, and I assume already invoiced at the pre-increase price

Is this something that Stern mandates?

It’s Star Wars.

I’m convinced Disney could film a literal pile of dog shit for 2.5 hours and the entire fan base would flock to see it.

The Minimum Advertised Price allowed by dealers changes across the board. The MSP (Minimum SALE Price) may still be less, but it can't be advertised. Talk to your dist, potentially get a deal (but not TOO good a deal, or it breaches the MSP).

it is mandated, all games, whether in stock or on order must go by the new price effective jan 1

Is the reason possibly because they don’t want people buying the “in stock lower value games” over the new games they’re manufacturing at the higher price. Seems like the only logical reasoning to me??

Anyone want to “chime in” on that one???

That’s the rule for distributors. If you what to know “why”, ask Gary.

Thanks for clarifying…that must be frustrating for you guys too. If people aren’t buying at the previous price i can’t imagine they’re lining up right away for the new one

no you wasn't mistaken. they haven't made a good starwars pin yet.

For all I care, you and Gary can indulge each other! Now…..anyone with common sense want to take a crack at it???

Tilt…

The real questions we should be asking is what's going on the Line in summer 2024?

And Why is Stern having Keith Elwin design a game limited to 500 units ?

Perhaps because Stern will be moving into a new Factory this time next year. Nearly Doubling the factory floor space.

Perhaps Stern doesn't want another Elwin Cornerstone Smash Hit, while they can't handle the current level of orders.
They would just be cannibalizing their own market.

They could have another Line... or two ?? Up and running next summer 2024, allowing for backordered games to be built in concert with Cornerstones.

I would think we won't see an Elwin Cornerstone until March 2024, when hypothetically Stern could better handle the volume .

So hopefully more Elvira, Stranger Things, Godzilla and possibly Vaults of other wished for games.

2023 is gonna be interesting to see how well the Backordered games do at the new price points.

P.S. Build more Elvira's Stern, I'll get one eventually... fingers crossed.

Cheers.

honestly, i dont know the exact reason,

I dont have an answer that is good or logical. I guess one way to say it is similar to gas prices. When you go to fill up your car, your paying what it will cost the gas station to refill at todays price. Doesnt matter if they just got 100000 gallons at a lower price yesterday

Just so you know, distributors are not thrilled about it either, but its part of distributor agreements and its out of our hands

Well, then it sounds like when they were looking for the “ceiling”……distributors were in the same boat as the consumer then, unfortunately. Weird ethics, but I guess if they can make the extra profit, go for it.

Higher new prices just drive me towards HUO pins instead. So they’re getting less profit out of guys like me that might otherwise bought an Elvira, etc…

Similar here, my wife and I are officially only looking at 2010-2020 pins that we can either clean up or get for a good deal. Stern and JJP solidified that for me.

What is the topper production schedule?

Nice entitled response you got yourself there. You are asking a bunch of people THE reason Stern does something when none of us work for them. It’s been their pricing policy for several years. They could allow dealers to sell at the legacy price when they received those specific boxes of games, but then you open up the potential for that to be abused. If you say any games you sell have to be the new price as of JAN 1, then there is no confusion.

Right on….