Just getting the thread to salvation

Continue the Fire and Brimstone discussions

legit like a 3 dollar bill

I wouldn’t read into it too much, I imagine Randy would love to work on BTTF, what artist wouldn’t? Plus he’s done some BTTF art in the past and likely wants the gig if it comes up, it’s certainly not coming from Stern anytime soon if the next 3 pins/releases are accurate.

Uhhh…

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so what's going to be the next stern pin?

Whatever happened to the rumored Foo Fighters game as one of the upcoming Stern offerings?

Hopefully with a new take on the shadow layout if Brian goes back to the well.

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US rates were tightening long before the fed moved. US came out of the pandemic faster than almost anywhere. The US has more cash sloshing around from low rates, a jacked up stock market and pandemic helicopter money than anywhere. Record sales and profits came from that. Don't blame companies, blame the fed and the government for leaving monetary and fiscal policy too lose for too long.

Fed realized this too late this now and has to tighten fast. Markets saw this long before and hence USD strengthened vs. every currency the world and continues to now.

The designer this was rumored for won't have his game out till probably late Spring or Summer 2023 (and lately the talk seem to have shifted to He-Man). Rumors typically don't firm up much until a month or two ahead of announcement, best case you'll see more unsourced speculation and argument as it gets closer and maybe some consensus builds.

I don't know when, but I'd bet my last dollar on Jack Danger doing a Beastie Boys pin within the next few years. I also think he's for sure doing He-Man at some point. No idea about Foo Fighters happening or not. I just hear other people say it a lot.

Like the Blues Brothers and Stern in Chicago, Stern making a Home Alone pin also makes sense.

Would be a fun “defend the house” pinball battle. Marv and Harry call outs.

Now that we know the 2023 prices, do Venom LEs sell as easily as bond? (Or any new theme that isn’t an Elwin pin).
I can’t see Foo Fighters cornerstone moving 1k units at $14.5k after tax and shipping.

IDK I was in on a venom but now at $13k LE price IDK. Has to look amazing now. Bond for sure because of the license. Rush, Mando at 13k LE price no thanks. Gotta be a killer theme going forward or sales may hurt. Bond is very popular globally.

Why are you only be considering the LE? Premium is the same game play $2k+ less than the LE.

I was thinking the same, plus there’s no way I’m dropping big bucks on an LE when George seemed to all but confirm a Goldfinger LE will be coming.

I always go le. They hold value much better bc premiums are a dime a dozen. Every time I’ve sold a premium still in production I lost a ton. Avengers I took a bath on. Of course that was before the huge price increase so who knows now.

Because of Bond’s appeal worldwide I think they will sell quite well even at these new price levels.

But I think Premium/LEs for future games are going to suffer without a similar home-run type theme (BTTF and I’m not sure even that is as string as Bond).
Godzilla might have worked with this pricing, especially because of how good the game is. But the lesser niche titles are going to have a very hard time with Premiums pushing $10k and LEs $15k.

I’m glad I’m only looking for one more NIB from Stern because at these levels I’m not taking a flyer on any new game that doesn’t check all the boxes for me. I feel bad for those that like to concentrate on only new/newer games and like to change things up frequently.

I'm down for a Muppets or G.I. Joe still. *shrug*

Got to sell them before the vault Spike 2 LCD version come out in 2023....

Forget that nonsense, Tron is over-rated. I want the LotR Spike2. I am not alone. We are legion. It will print money.
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Tron ve or bust!

I like the Ramones, but a dedicated Ramones pin might be a bit much. Maybe something more like CBGB-themed pin with a number of punk/alt/art bands (Violent Femmes, B-52s, Misfits, Devo, Plasmatics, The Strokes, etc) for more variety during gameplay.

Sick of It All pinball! I mean, there's no chance in hell, but since we're talking about unrealistic but theoretically awesome music pins...

Bttf is probably not going to be a corner stone. Ozzy(C.S.) or foo fighters(Not a C.S.) one of these is going to be the next music pin. Stern is messing up again with production. By the time we get or still waiting premium bonds the next one is announced.
Pinball should be entertaining first not a investment for the home person. As a outside operator I do well.

You and me both, buddy.

I have a question about Stern's warranty on new games and don't see a better place to ask this so I'll do it here. The current warranty appears to be 2 months on the boards and 9 months on the display and that's it?
Has anyone had a recent NIB game show up with missing/defective/broken parts other than boards or display? If so, how did you handle it?

I'm curious to know as well.

Stern's warranty support is better than the printed warranty, which is there for legal reasons. I've had warranty replacements on things that went bad 6 months after I had it. Stern has been shipping pins with bad/borderline non-functional service menu buttons and I've had those replaced under warranty, too. Their policy for support is more liberal than the black and white.

Stern has sent me free replacement parts on a game 3 years old before. Just gotta bug your distributor to bug Stern about it. Probably helps being the original owner and depends on the nature of your complaint.

Yes, this has been my experience as well.. The other thing to consider is that it doesn't appear that Stern has much visibility as to when machines get shipped from distributors to owners and their warranty doesn't start until its unboxed at the owners house.

When you call to make an initial warranty claim they will ask you for the machines serial number and when you received it - regardless of when that was, just tell them "last week." That will start your warranty period from that call essentially.

Stern's support is fantastic. I've had them help me out with all sorts of stuff in the past. First and second owner. Just be nice to them and patient and they will often help.

What are the next 3 releases believed to be coming?

Back to the Future, Jaws and Laverne and Shirley

Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated multiball

I have had issues with machines years old bought secondhand and their support was great. Not sure if it still is, but it was.

Heck, I've even seen Gomez jump in on Facebook comments to help folks fix their games. Now that's service!

I recall someone in the United States received a defective Ghostbusters cabinet, which began to delaminate in one corner of a front panel. Apparently this was a systemic defect for a number of early cabs for a particular run.

Stern reportedly arranged for brand new replacement cabinets to be supplied under warranty through the distributors, which included home delivery.

Although the said buyer had to transfer the playfield, head and internal components over to the newly supplied replacement cabinet themselves, they were happy with the proposed solution and service. In fact, they mentioned that they really enjoyed the transfer as they felt capable and it enabled them to increase their understanding and appreciation for what went into the manufacturing and development aspects.

I’d be completely satisfied with that solution also and I’m sure if they’d asked for additional support a solution would have been provided.

I’ve had relatively very minor warranty issues with only two machines and our local distributors AMD in conjunction with Stern support provided quickly solutions through parts supplied, or in house support from a very reputable well known pinball technician.

Yes, there might be some teething issues with the early runs and there’s always plenty of information on Pinside to help iron out the bugs, along with the above support factors.

So based on previous experiences, I’m very confident to buy another NIB through our local distributor.

Totally agree Jim, I think Stern's new price structure may not work so well for certain future themes. They said they are going to have another increase after Jan. 1st? So are people really going to buy a $14,000-$15,000 Venom LE? Seriously? BTTF or Harry Potter-maybe with some Kapow sparkle paint added? Hoping Stern does not chinse out on future Pros-because Pros may be the only way to go.

Also agree with you about the collectors who only buy the latest and greatest and trade games like baseball cards. There are tons of great games out there to explore other than recently made games. I have shifted my focus from new games to older titles. One good thing about the pinball hobby is the vast amount of variety and choices. I also recently got into the virtual pinball world and it is really enjoyable with tons of custom tables to play. Feel like I opened up another pinball pandora box-in a good way

So a company had a bad cabinet run and your impressed that they replaced them? They should have had the distro replace them completely and not have had the customer do the work.
But hey guess its something .

That's why they need to go back to traditional screenprinting. Vinyl has a shorter lifespan.

The next music pin...

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Pretty much all the cabs from the 90's DMD era and going forward (quite possibly some earlier also) were screen printed yes BUT on a vinyl substrate so essentially still a decal. They mostly weren't screen printed straight on the wood over a paint base.

You had to bitch loudly to get a new cabinet. My GB and Aerosmith had cracked corners and I got no new cabinets though I reported it to Stern..
I reinforced the corner joints, filled in with black grease pencil, and have had no more problems.

why would stern put out a pinball machine based on a t-shirt design?