Noticed something similar. Had heard that Mando Prem’s were held off til summer. Have a friend still waiting since day 1. Then I heard they may be on the line, and then there is a NIB available that just shipped in. We assumed something Rush-specific was out of stock so they went to something they could build. Nice problem to have when you have like 10,000 games on back order across 6 titles!

Back in Jan/Feb my plan was to get in on the April run of whichever Pro came first (JP or GZ), play the hell out of it until the DP Pro run which was scheduled for July, sell the game and buy DP. That way for just a net cost of a few hundo, I could finally learn JP or GZ inside and out for tourney play. But then DP and JP switched spots and I wasn't able to pull that off. Got what I wanted in the end, but my master plan was certainly thwarted.

My local distro 11 months ago only had one LZ Pro in stock. That was it. I had to convince him to sell me a floor model from his showroom. That's how tight things were last year. As of his website this morning he has 8 different models in stock of Stern alone, multiples of some of them, plus a few other games/titles from non-Stern companies.

Automated this time last year was similar, almost no new Sterns in stock. As of this morning they have 22 different pinball models in stock, 16 of which are Sterns! Most of these titles have been sitting for weeks.

If they aren't selling now, a January price increase isn't going to help. If you don't want a Pro for $6700 (street price) now, $7K (firm floor price) in a few months isn't going to sweeten the deal.

Then you have to look at what Stern ran this year and break them up into groups. The runs in the first half of 2022 of the more "A-tier" titles were all quickly scooped up - Deadpool, JP, Godzilla. Then you have the titles which were popular in their day, but the 1000th run of them at higher prices mean many already have the game by now or have mentally moved on - SW, Mando, AIQ. Lastly you have the games (I don't care how much any one person likes a particular title, sales are sales) where they just weren't received overly well and the runs just use up existing parts, kept the lines running, and built inventory back up - LZ, TMNT, Mando.

Just so happens that the more desirable titles were built earlier in the year and the less popular titles were being run from August - present. Now those are sitting at a ton of distro's and many buyers are simply waiting for Bond, the next Stern, CCrLE, or the next AP. If not, each distro wouldn't have Pros and Prems of Mando, LZ, SW, TMNT, GOTG and Rush in stock (plus 2-3 models of SW/JP home editions!). These getting jacked up in price will just add to the dust layers on the boxes.

What you have to be aware of is that Stern doesn't allow you to be locked into a price. So if it comes in let's say late 2023, you may be paying no interest, but the overall loan amount may be higher.

My friend had a Mando Prem on order for about a year. Premiums had a big price increase between order and delivery and though they paid a deposit, they had to pay the balance on the higher price once the game shipped. Totally bogus IMO, but until someone is offering better deals, Stern controls the market and the rules.

And Amazon, and perhaps direct through the IFPA rewards program.

But my point stands. Even if you put a deposit on a game through your distro, that doesn’t lock you into a price.

Meanwhile if one of my company’s distributors quoted a price to a customer, that’s an official offer of business. If they put down a deposit or send a letter of intent, we’d never try to up the price on them during the validity window, even if we have an annual price increase along the way. It’s not the customer’s fault we offered a price and couldn’t deliver a product within a reasonable timeframe.

Kicking the can down the road (especially withholding production of certain popular products until a price increase hits) and then saying that no one’s deposits to their distros mean crap, ain’t the best way to run business, let alone a “lifestyle brand”.

I agree with most of that but think Stern has a big hand in this too. It’s not all the distros fault.

Pretend you’re new to the hobby like the GZ Prem poster above. Let’s say I just played Jurassic Prem at a fun center with my kids last night and they loved it. You go to Stern’s website and today it says MSRP $8999.

You and I both know there’s not a JP Prem in stock anywhere and know it won’t be run again in 2022. So what does that mean on January 1??? $9500-9700 I think, right?

Stern knows their short-mid term production schedule and also has contingency plans. There will not be a NIB JP Prem run for $8999 but there are people wanting to buy it right now and I bet deposits will be taken with the idea that $8999 will be honored. It’s honored on the MFG’s website.

Going back to the GZ guy above, he got 0% financing, great, but has has he been fully informed that it won’t be $8999, and depending on when his ships in 2023, could even have TWO price increases applied???

Automated (pinballs.com) just put up a DP Pro in their NIB inventory. I don't know if they just did a quick run or what, but if interested I'd be eyeing that one if you can somehow get it across the border.

You need to look at the seller info. I recently bought a SW Prem off Amazon and it was from Stern directly. They also had some Rush Pro/Prem on there at MSRP.

A few days ago a distro added a TON of Sterns up there. NIB's were crazy high over MSRP, and their used games were even worse. But it all looks like one seller. You need to see the seller info... but once you know this, you can also see real quick which games are from that douchy distro just by the prices alone.

Both my Deadpool Pro and SW Prem I’ve bought in the last 6-8mo came with IC installed, though they’re pre-IC releases. Both 2022 builds.

They should 100% vault or revisit MET. Call it the M72 edition. Maybe add more songs, tour footage, shift to Spike and LCD. Would print money.

You can get Bond or Mando at a bunch of places non-stop for months. With the next cornerstone having such a small chunk of the timeline, and I also question the demand for more AIQ’s and SW’s, there has to be some sacrificial lambs in there. Why make more dust collecting titles when FF/JP/IMDN/GZ will all sell out?

Also crazy that in 8 months, all 4 KME cornerstones are slated to be run again.