Dreaming !

i really hope this music pin is indeed Queen. Id love a queen pin if they got good assets.

That is all he is allowed to do. He can’t really design his own game, he has to decorate Stern Co’s Game

Stern would Probably get the assets from the movie from a couple years back.

Stern would not be smart to introduce a game now. Between the stupid 25% tax on Europe imports and the huge backlog they already have for AIQ, TMNT and Elvira they should just keep pumping them out and release LZ in the spring when hopefully Europe can join the party.

This new game was said to be on the line like 2-3 weeks ago so if true it would not make sense to wait until spring.

Strike while the iron is hot.

While shoppong for Christmas gifts, i stumbled across these leaked pics from Deeproot. Looks like theyve finally got a game ready to ship

Screenshot_20201201-010250_Google (resized).jpg

So Stern's website only talks about Heavy Metal in full production now. Is that it?

No and it isn’t the Star Wars home pin either.

They have several lines and whatever the new one is was reportedly on the line 2-3 Friday’s ago. That is what the usual few in the know reported anyhow.

Gotta mean an announcement soon then!

When are they going to have this stern of the union announcement? I was hoping today they would stop with the bs and at the very least acknowledge zeppelin. Killing me. My gut tells me they are gonna drag it out untill dec 15th. Grrrrrrr

Happened already:

https://sternpinball.com/2020/11/25/stern-of-the-union-address-december-2020/

For a novice pinball collector would someone mind to please fill me in on how this usually works? Is there a usual date every so often that they announce games? Does one just have to keep checking their website, or is there another place to look? Do I have to be a Stern insider? If a game is announced and I want one do I just call up my local dealer right away?

Sorry, only Stern I ever bought was a Sopranos NIB several years ago, seemed it was more simple back then. Call a dealer, pay the money, get the pin.

Stern has never used the SOTU to announce anything major like a game. It is more of a recap of the past 30 days of Stern news, or guidance regarding future software plans.

It's the same now if you don't need to be first on your block to get it. You likely got Sopranos well after release and dealer sold it from stock. That hasn't changed. This is just for people wanting to get a new pin first, or very soon after release.

Who are these people in the know?
We need real answers when Queen announcement is coming.

...because of a stupid 25% tax on US imports.

Let‘s hope this is settled when a certain thing happened in the US.
Imports are on hold at the moment as I understand it and people are trying to sell their Pro machines for 2000 bucks more. /:-/

That was Nov 25th. Hasn’t been one for today yet.

https://sternpinball.com/2020/11/25/stern-of-the-union-address-december-2020/

You have a scoop there.

You should do a podcast.

You're making me want to kill myself. It's the December State of the Union. Today's December 1st. Those are put out monthly.

Somebody help keep sharp objects away from me.

Don't worry everyone...I am sure they are going to announce the theme/vault that YOU are dying to see next

May the odds be ever in your favor

They also said they would release Batman '66 updates "every 2 weeks until we getcha there." That lasted about 2 months until they went almost year without updating.

Don't be so strict with your interpretation of what Stern says and you'll be fine.

Hasn't the EU always had high taxes on imports? That has always been my impression.

I believe this is an additional 25% tariff, on top of the standard VAT and any applicable local sales tax.

They may have wrote it that date but published it by Dec 2nd.

Yes, it‘s the „we (the US) demand additional 25% import tax for steel“ countermove, to remind someone in January to rework things.

(I‘m not wanting to be political here: I‘m just saying I believe this tax will hopefully begone by February 2021.)

Pinball imports in germany are usually import tax free, „just“ 19% sales tax, unstable exchange rates and horrendous shipping cost.

Take a breath. Itll be ok. Its clearly the December email.
Posted (dec1)

Screenshot_20201202-074018_Gmail (resized).jpg

You can write it now but push the send button in 3 weeks!

And?

^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^
Downvote reminder lol

I hope if the game is Led Zeppelin the license did not cost so much that the game is crap. that is an expensive license

What are your thoughts as to the cost of a license like Led Zeppelin and how it will effect the game? I am new to pinball so I am curious what you all have to say.

I believe Led Zeppelin is paying Stern to make it.

I know that I’ll be paying Stern to make this

lol can't tell if you are making a joke here. i just hope the game is not crap because they spend so much to get the rights.

Stern makes good games. Sometimes they make GREAT games. You’ll never get a JJP style game from Stern. It’s just not what they do. If you think Stern games are “stripped down” because of licensing costs you’re listening to the wrong podcast. Stern delivers fast playing fun shooting games. Full of toys? Not usually but most games have unique features. What more can you ask?

Cabinets that don't splt, playfields with clear that doesn't chip and sag or pool, fans that don't scream, assemblies that don't drop off the bottom of playfields and/or not even work right without significant tweaking. Stern does all right, but to say there's nothing more to ask or that the complaints aren't valid denies reality.

And before JJP and Spooky fanboys pile on, they have many of these problems, too.

Well said

I think most of these complaints come from people are afraid to pull the glass. I’ve got a lot of pins with a lot of miles on them and they all take work. Either that or flukes. I’ve never had a cabinet split or a mech fall apart on its own. Playfield issues I think is the only complaint that holds any water. There’s got to be a better clear coat solution.

Who knows, right? My ignorant guess is there are not a lot of parties involved, so it might be reasonable. Swan Song records was and probably still is controlled by the band, esp Page. The artists are all in their 70's, what the heck. They might as well make it happen. What is more important, a few bucks or a machine that otherwise wouldn't exist? Here's hoping that the license is not the barrier. (When the Levee Breaks multiball, hell yeah!!!!) Page seems cool. Did that it might get loud movie with Jack White. White Stripes pin... would also rock

Exactly. Seems like every time I flip up field I can find a screw or post to tighten. Routine maintenance will keep these running for a long time. I've had 8 sterns, no cab splits, no field issues. Had 1 node board on maiden go bad, and quick replacement. I did have to make a new sd card today for ehoh, but big deal. I still think its a great product

Just because you haven't personally seen a specific problem only means your sample isn't large enough and you've been lucky. The failure rate isn't 100%, but on things like cab splitting due to simultaneously cutting back on the cabinet wood quality around KISS time and also using crappy leg brackets, there was a LOT of splitting in the wild, and plenty of pictures of it on pinside across multiple machines. I personally saw it on 3 machines we had on location and promptly made a how-to video here on pinside to show people how to spend $25 to preventatively upgrade their leg brackets to prevent it from happening. Stern didn't upgrade their corner bracing on later machines out of the goodness of their hearts. They were addressing cost-cutting gone too far and trying to stop the splitting because it upped their warranty claims.

All the stuff I listed is legit and not one-offs. I didn't even LIST the questionable complaints, and there are plenty on the line that may or may not be valid.

And the Next Machine is ????

Will we hear before the end of December

No one knows. Last time it was said to be announced in November and then noting.

I really doubt they'd make a Led Zeppelin machine IF the license was super expensive. It just doesn't strike me as the kind of license you'd overspend just to get.