The Munsters desaster isn‘t Dwights fault. He got teached to do so. A lot of people seem to forget this.
Dwight can code, he showed it with GOT and GB. If he’s let alone nice things happen. Like seen on the TMNT stream.

Two bad examples.

Couple weeks ago one of the usual sources indicated Godzilla was the code name for Led Zep.

just guessing from your theme choices, you were in the third grade with Jesus?

Theme sells and it's interesting seeing some of the opinions in this thread. I'm born 84 and this TMNT is finally going to get me to pull the trigger, just trying to decide on trim. It's funny cause I see something like Munsters and think who would want to play that? 70s babies? Admittely I'm a pin novice though so the rule sets aren't the selling point to me, it's theme. And turtles is big with the 30 somethings.

For me, being an 80/90s kids, video games were everything. And turtles was all over NES / SNES and the Arcades. Sure I don't watch any of the modern cartoons and I'm sure the modern toys suck, but that has nothing to do with it. A pinball machine is pretty close to a video game in terms of demographic and nostalgic kick. It's just another neat toy in a man cave.

For me my first pin purchase was going to be between Simpsons DE, Turtles DE and Mario Gottlieb based on theme. But they all were "meh" games that need a lot of maintenace due to age. I saw Simpsons got remade in 2003 (ish?) with Pinball Party and that was perfect, another one for the 30 somethings. Can't believe it took until now for Turtles to get the remake treatment.

If this thing is even coded half decent (which it appears to be from what I've read here), it has no problems selling out and holding value. I'd expect it to have even more secondary value than Jurassic Park simply from a theme perspective, but time will tell.

I extremely disliked the Data East Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This is a terrible theme and I will definitely not buy one even at half price.
Perhaps it will appeal to 10 year olds back in the 80's.

Quite frankly I'd rather have a Shark boy and Lava girl pinball than this.

I would be interested in TMNT when it hits the used market in 1-2 years for less money and with more complete code. Until then, location play.

That TMNT looks great!

Just imagine how long these playfields have cured.

My wishlist for one of next Stern Pinballs after TMNT:
-Wizard Blocks Remake (If they get License from Bally/Williams)
-Coca Cola
-American dad
-Fanta
-Twilight zone (Ik there's Bally's version already, but thought it would be nice when Stern could do their own TZ pinball)

You were one American Dad away from the biggest downvote lol.
Pop brands? Remaking what is already one of the best games ever? That Twilight Zone comment is going to get you some grief.

Why?

People around the world love American branding and products, nothing wrong with that.

TZ is the best game ever and I dont need a new one. But would I rather have it or Ninja Turtles...not a hard choice.

Van physical lock. Krang bouncing toy.

I'm a 70's baby and have no interest in Munsters or Teenage Mutant Turtles. I appreciate you love this theme but I think it is a niche for those like you that may have grown up in that era. The Jurassic Park franchise is a lot bigger and is going to have a much broader appeal IMO... not to mention it is a great game with a very high bar.

I've had my JP premium on order for over a month and that thought actually entered my mind. Won't be a happy camper if Stern prioritizes Teenage Mutant orders over baglogged orders for other games. I liked the fact this Covid layoff could increase my odds of a solid and adequately cured playfield .

The JP franchise is a lot bigger than TMNT?

Yes. $5 billion and counting in worldwide box office.
JP box office.png
Plus all the non-film stuff.

Not going to bother to include TMNT numbers? That I know of there have been 6 movies, 5 TV series, 2 pinball machines, several arcade games and dozens of video games, soundtracks, action figures, merchandise and even the concert that we should actually just forget about lol. Add those all up and it's not a small number.
Jurassic Park had ONE good movie. Dinosaurs arent hard to sell.

Ok... so only comparing movie box office dollars. Got it.

I said "plus all the non-film stuff." My kid is a huge JP fan and he literally doesn't know the movies exist. Duplo, Lego, bigger toys, cartoon, books, stickers, etc. Feel free to add it all up yourself.

Exactly.

By that comparison, Stern should make a Candy Crush game next. Just saying that qualifying numbers can make for any desired outcome.

JP is not a lot bigger franchise than TMNT.

B17FA61B-01C5-4C90-8232-3E305B346FFD (resized).jpeg

Wiki

The franchise generated merchandise sales of $175 million in 1988 and $350 million in 1989.[26] By 1994, it was the most merchandisable franchise, having generated a total revenue of $6 billion in merchandise sales up until then.[27]

That’s just the merchandise.

Movies

DF82E867-98EB-408B-9436-DA3411A9AE06 (resized).jpeg

I'm not saying what makes a good game. You said what's bigger.

Will this hold up in a court of law? I'm going to start lobbying for this pin if so...

Every theme isn't for everyone. I pick themes I love and I know so that I can do them justice. I also like a good challenge because I don't like being 'comfortable' as it tends to make you rest on your laurels and stagnate... I turned down MUCH larger licenses to do this pin... Everyone on the TMNT team LOVES the 87 Turtles and we tried to show that on all fronts. I'm beyond proud of the efforts and results and if playing this game doesn't make you smile, you should play something else

I responded to a comparison of franchises. JP is not a lot bigger franchise than TMNT.

I haven’t seen anybody mention “Aqua teen hunger force” or “ metalocalypse”, both would be really fun games and I’m not sure the licensing would be out of reach for stern.

Jaws would make more sense for the Godzilla code name than Zeppelin does. It's the reverse of JP. Jaws for JP, Godzilla for Jaws. They may have learned from JP that they don't need the movie assets to make a great game (especially if Keith is involved)...but they sure do help.

I'll tell you what: If the next two are Zeppelin and Jaws, I am in deep financial shit.

Agree to disagree I guess.

Hmmm the TMNT brand precedes JP by a decade and has been popular and super successful in toys, television, film and print for about 30 years with few periods of pause. I’d say it is most definitely a larger franchise.

After watching the stream I think Turtles looks really good . It has the best layout I have seen for a long time . I love a pin with orbits .

Guess Heavy Metal is shelved for a while?

Do we really care about themes that much?

I don't know; I look at theme's as maybe putting a pin over the top; but they are all dorky in some way shape or form, it's pinball.

Then you have an original theme from Stern like Black Knight, and it gets universally crapped on by Pinside...They can't win.

Theme doesn't make an otherwise mediocre pin. However, found I do enjoy solid pins with themes I like better then good pins with themes I can't connect with.

I got a Spiderman 8 months ago from a local pinhead. It is a solid, highly ranked game but I just haven't been able to really get into it... largely because I never loved Spiderman or the movies. Ditto for hard rock pins. There are many highly ranked pins that fall into that category like Iron Maiden, AC/DC, and Metallica but I'm not interested in adding them to my collection becaus I just don't enjoy that genre of music.

The jury is out on if Mutant Turtles will be a fun pin worthy of comparisons to JP2. I'm sure those that really like the theme will jump in right away which is understandable. To each their own

Agree on how theme changes an opinion on a game. I really love playing Metallica and just got a Maiden to slap around. I grew up listening to that style of music, so it helps me enjoy playing the game a little more. I have a JP premium here now and just can't get into it. Its not my favorite theme and because of that, the little things you would normally overlook become more obnoxious (I am sick of hearing them screaming about Nedry and I am ready to disable the dino head. It was neat the first couple times, now it just slows the pace.) If I really wanted to like the game those things wouldn't bother me at all.

I will be more open to TMNT because I like the theme.

For me, the theme can only make a machine less appealing, not more. For example, it doesn't matter how good a pin Aerosmith or AC/DC is, there is just no way I would ever buy one because I hate the theme.

But on the flip side, themes that I love (I am a huge StarTrek/StarWars fan) would still only be considered if the machine plays great.

So for me to buy a machine, the play has to be great, but the theme just has to not be "actively stupid". Hence, the machines I own are EBD (and I don't particularly like pool), WH20 (I've never been rafting - though I would like to one day), and MBr (and I am not a horror fan).

Most rock bands, TMNT, and Baywatch, are all things that don't pass the "stupid test" (at least to me).

Theme is a double-edged sword. It will make some interested in a pin without any knowledge of gameplay, and overlook some weaknesses. And it will make others under value a machine and ignore its strengths. This is the case even with a generic theme. Some people hate martians for example. That’s why Stern and other manufacturers look at their customer base and pick a license with the widest reach for the best value.

You & I maybe not, but I would guess the vast majority of NIB buyers do yes.

Tmnt was my favorite cartoon as a kid from the 80s/90s. But when I saw it at first I was like hey the art is great, but I just don’t think I’ll get it. Me and my bro talked about it and thought we should pass on it. THEN we watched the live stream. And it looks like a shooter. So you bring it all together, art, shot layout, rules, display animations, and it looks like a good pin. Time will tell if it holds up to be one of the greats. I was extremely surprised I would cancel jp and get tmnt instead. We both didn’t like the dinosaurs theme much but it’s a shooter. And I’m not saying tmnt is a better shooter.

The art is spot on in my book form a new style of the classic show. I have issues 3-5 of the original comic. The old black and white style art was great. Any talk of you maybe doing something with that style zombieyeti. I know you couldn’t comment about it probably. Thanks for all the hard work on the projects you work on.

Every game manufactured was sold trough, wich was... Zero.

Since the Launch was postponed.