(Topic ID: 298696)

What is on the line at Stern Pinball / Production Schedule

By beltking

2 years ago


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  • Latest reply 2 days ago by matt68061
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    #6221 10 months ago
    Quoted from JodyG:

    I was invoiced for Foo Premium today...shipping today, FWIW.

    Lucky. I was invoiced for my Foo Premium almost 3 weeks ago and still no word.

    1 week later
    #6409 10 months ago
    Quoted from Manderko1:

    Am I the only one still waiting on their FF premium first batch?

    Nope, still waiting here too. Super excited to get mine though!

    1 week later
    #6550 9 months ago

    Yep, I've heard similar things from other distributors. I paid in full (~10k) over a month ago and still haven't heard anything about my game (FF prem) being shipped. Sucks, but patience is the name of the game nowadays.

    #6559 9 months ago
    Quoted from Grahn:

    Oh yeah, my story is *exactly* the same as yours! This is actually going to be my first machine, so I'm pretty jacked to get it, but I know it's going to be a bit of a waiting game.
    Just wanted to post here since I'm brand new to the site and this thread is pretty much the reason that I found it in the first place Wanted to shout out everyone here because, from paging through the thread, I've already learned a ton as a soon-to-be pinball owner!

    Welcome to the community! We're all a bit "out there", but damn is it fun playing and fixing these toys. Your first game is a Foo Fighters? That's a fantastic first game! Here's to hoping we get ours soon!

    #6561 9 months ago
    Quoted from thekiyote:

    Same! FF will be my first NIB (that’s “new in box” if you didn’t know). I’m can’t wait until it gets back on the line..

    Agreed. Foo Fighters is the first NIB game that I haven't been on a game team for, so very excited! We'll be jamming out in no time! We're planning to have a pinball party when it comes in and we get it set up. Steaks, wings, all the good stuff.

    Though having a hard time coming up with Foo Fighters themed foods. If anyone has any ideas... wrong answers only.

    #6566 9 months ago
    Quoted from EtzEtz:

    Dave is huge into his BBQ, so meat, lots of it. KFC, of course needs to be on the list.
    Coffee. Fresh Pots!!!!
    Alcohol: Brenavin, Jaegermeister, Pat drinks champagne on stage, and they all drink Coors Light.

    DONE! Most definitely Fresh Pots, and since we're in TX, there's BBQ a plenty!

    Thanks a ton!

    #6604 9 months ago
    Quoted from MrNurbtastic:

    We'll have to see, when I asked my distrib a week or two ago they said it'll be made in july and I'd have it by early august.

    Well damn. Ordered my premium on Feb 28th at 12PM central, paid in full when I suspect my distributor thought they were going to get an allotment that never came, or was shorter than expected, which was 5/1.

    Sucks if I'm on the hook that long and the absolute lack of communication from Stern has been mind blowing, but I guess its par for the course.

    #6613 9 months ago
    Quoted from ZMeny:

    I can only speak for myself and my business of course, but figured I would chime in regarding the frustrations with Foo Fighters Premium delay from April/May. It's my understanding that getting parts for that title have been hit and miss, which is the main reason for the delay. This type of delay is not typical for Stern Pinball. What I mean by that is that when Stern Pinball sees a significant delay coming, they tell us dealers something like "Game X Pro is being bumped a month at this time" or "We have to push back Game X Pro run to September at this time" rather than this weekly push that Foo Premium run is being given.
    For the past month, we (and many other dealers) have requested updates for the Foo Prem run and were told 'later this week is the plan' or 'bumped to next week', etc. Now typically, Stern Pinball is the most accurate with their scheduling and with their communication to dealers, compared to the other manufacturers. Dealers are given allotments and Stern Pinball fulfills those allotments. So if a dealer says at the eleventh hour "dang, they shorted me" or "we didn't get what we were supposed to get this run", well, that's just bullshit and them being dishonest to you.
    I bust my ass being open to our customers, even if the truth is not what they want to hear. In this situation for Foo Prem, we legit were told a month ago it would be shipping, so we sent out invoices and started collecting funds, just like we dealers have successfully and smoothing done for years. They even did squeeze out some a month ago, further suggesting the typical cadence of production and planning. If we would have known of a larger delay, instead of 'next week' then absolutely we could have simply returned everyone's payments until they were pushing them out again. Returning money isn't a big problem for us, it's just sitting there until it goes to Stern Pinball. However, it's not always ideal, given the payment fees associated with returning funds only to retake them again, etc.
    We at Flip N Out Pinball would be more than happy to return payment of any of our customers until the game is ready to ship should they wish, but again, I am told that we are finally seeing some Foo Prem being produced slowly and leaving the factory this week (THANK GOD). I can tell it is a parts delay too because Stern Pinball typically will ship all of ours at once (to help with shipping costs of course) OR they will split up our allotment into two shipping days spread apart maybe by a week or so. For the trickling Foo Prem that we finally may see this week, shipping is being chopped much smaller, that is, 10% of the allotment shipping at a time, compared to 100% or 50%. So I am paying more for shipping, but Stern Pinball knows that I am willing to pay more just to get them out as they come off the line.
    Sorry for the amount of info and likely more than you care to know about the sausage, but wanted to update many on here patiently waiting for their games from us or from other dealers. It is frustrating, we are with ya, and Stern Pinball is with ya as well.
    Zach Meny
    Flip N Out Pinball
    [email protected]

    We love a good sausage fest, Zach.

    I must say that my frustration here is NOT with the dealer. They have been up front about what they're getting in terms of information from Stern. My frustration is with exactly what Zach said, Stern constantly being "next week". Agreed, the fees associated with moving that amount of money back and forth add up quickly.

    From discussions I've had with other distributors, they're confirming exactly what Zach said above. The kicking the can down the road week by week sucks, but I still want (and will get) a great game.

    1 week later
    12
    #6694 9 months ago

    Foo Fighters Premium received yesterday (Tuesday)! Born on June 13th. Many thanks to ZMeny and Nicole at FlipNOut Pinball for keeping me up to date as best they could with the limited information they were given. Many of us were plagued by parts shortages and rescheduling of runs on the line at Stern to account for them. However they immediately called when they were able to secure a game for us!

    FedEx Freight was also fantastic. When the driver got here, he walked around the box himself, pointed at a hole he found in the box. Thankfully said hole was minor and on the "truck" side. He even helped me open up the box and inspect everything before even giving me the bill of lading.

    All in all, fantastic delivery, fantastic support from FlipNOut, and a fantastic build from Stern.

    Time to tinker around with some Titans on this thing and learning more about the game!

    We'll be having a pinball party soon and can't wait to share it with others in Austin!

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    #6697 9 months ago
    Quoted from mbl1116:

    Is this a sponsored post?

    Yes. Sponsored by Spatula City!

    Quoted from mettle64:

    What in the world is the story on that Demolition Man?

    Ahh, its a custom Demolition Man 2000 build I did ~11 years ago. Basically I put a P-ROC in it, got with some friends and we custom designed a widebody P2K head for it, then I wrote a bunch of software to drive the display, handle game modes, etc. I work mostly on operating system/game framework software for various pinball manufacturers so this game tends to be my reference implementation for making changes. It was a fun build, but absolutely heavy as hell.

    Topic is here: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/dm-p2k-concept
    Crappy video here:

    -- Jimmy

    #6705 9 months ago
    Quoted from Grahn:

    Congrats my dude! So happy to hear it! I've been plotting the last few weeks about how exactly I'm going to rearrange things here when mine shows up... sounds like I'd better settle on a strategy sooner rather than later Enjoy!!

    Thanks man! You'll be flippin before you know it! FF was definitely worth the little wait we had. Easily right up there with IMDN as far as the best flowing game I think I've ever gotten to play.

    #6744 9 months ago
    Quoted from Grahn:

    Late post (I've been busy), but I got my Foo Premium!!! It was probably in the same batch as yours... the distributor didn't clue me in that it was shipping, so it was a surprise. I guess that the courier tried to deliver it Tuesday when I wasn't home (they didn't leave a note or anything). Then, I'm out on the mower on Thursday, and some dude just pulls up in a semi and says that he has a pinball machine for me! Uhhhhhh, OK!
    Anyway, of course I had nothing ready since it was a surprise, so the last few days have just been assembling and initial testing and rearranging the place and cleaning up after myself (oh and fixing a car tire, which sorta took precedence) Everything's all set up, and I have no complaints! Maybe I'll actually be able to really play today!

    YES! So glad you got it! I'm also really happy that they didn't just leave the pallet outside when you weren't home. I'd heard a couple stories around here of similar things happening. Nothing like a surprise!

    I hope you enjoy playing the game as much as I have. It's been a blast to learn and has flow for days.

    -- Jimmy

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