They really need to retire a bunch of games and that will help. I know that TMNT, Guardians, and LZ are on last call. They also should add Iron Maiden, Deadpool and SW to that mix. Then I think there would be enough room for them to get caught up.

When I was a broke 18 year old college student I got a job at Mr. Aquarium selling fish. Owner made me write an essay on the nitrogen cycle and pass an extensive verbal exam from the other employees. I was thrilled for the job as it was much better than fast food (but it paid the same). There is not a chance in hell I could have gotten a job as a forklift driver at the time. Heck, when I was in the Marine Corps you had to pass a special class and hold a special permit to drive a forklift.

Well times are different? Idk what to tell you.

If you wanna drive a forklift, places are happy to train you if you reliably show up. It only takes 1-2 days of training.

Disagree. Cars and boats and lots of other consumer products cost more, not investments. Pandemic pricing was temporary. The price lift of the last 10 years was a one time thing.

Today - if you buy shrewdly or fix up games then yes, you can make some money. I don't think the vast majority in the hobby look at these machines as investments. If I get my money back out, I am a happy man.

proven fact .... look at all the damaged NIB delivery photos

So is $44K-50K/yr bad, or are people being stupid for not taking those jobs when they're making $15/hr with the same qualifications?

In the late 90s I started making $5.25/hr at 15yrs old at the mall but when I turned 18 I actually went to go drive a forklift for $12/hr. But I also was a high schooler who lived at home so I was well able to afford my $.85/gal gas and Twisted Teas. So I over-doubled my income when I turned 18 and was allowed to do something slightly more intensive. The mall job could F off the moment I was able to drive a forklift and make $6-7/hr more.

I've been through this debate before, but I'm just in the mindset that you may want to reconsider starting a family if your income doesn't suggest you can afford one. Sorry. We have the rare exceptions like the politician trying to push something by giving the sad one-offs about the single mom of 9 they just met that day, or the person down on their luck who couldn't get a break. That's why we have programs and safety nets (but probably room for growth in trades education programs and better community colleges). But to just say there should be >>> $15/hr to vaguely "support families" (when apparently $22-25/hr jobs are also out there) when many argue there isn't $15 in value in the output given by the employee at the McDs position, there's a serious cost/benefit discussion that needs to take place. Automation is already hitting these industries because it's cheaper.

TLDR - I've debated this countless times, and yeah, it's not worth debating. There's two sides, and though one may be more "moral" on paper, economics will prove the other is ultimately right. You can't force wages without a ripple effect everywhere else. Labor value is relative to all other labor. Moving one piece moves all. Sad but true.

Lol. Is your car an investment? Is an AV system and investment. Its a toy not an investment.

It’s a problem of motivation...

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That's beautiful

Best movie ever

Yes. 100%..... start nuking games, clear that catalog!!!

Still.... This is Stern we're talking about..... they enjoy amassing orders for premiums and then only offering Pros (sometimes not even that much) before flipping off the customers and canceling the game entirely. I wonder how long people have been waiting for their DP's & IM's? Another incoming case of STH/Munsters? Ask GOTG.....LOL!!!
Will they ever cancel SW?

***BORING LIFE STORY AND CURRENT REFLECTION OF THE WORLD ALERT***

I was born in 1982 (this makes me 40 years old for the mathematically challenged). Outside of a 3-month window that involved the FBI in my living room I've been working since the age of 16.

My home life wasn't great and the only way I could see a light at the end of that tunnel was to venture out on my own. I was raised in poverty; my mom abused every single form of assistance that existed, I shit you not. She hasn't worked a single day in my entire life. When you collect X amount of dollars in various assistance programs per child it gives you very little incentive to work.

I say all of this because I think it echoes still today. I know of people applying for and getting disability, especially years of back pay, for things I just cannot comprehend. I know of people who haven't worked in years who have more money coming in than I do and have adjusted rent lower than what I pay.

"If you keep feeding a dog it will eat until it pukes."

I've always thought that a huge first step in lowering assistance abuse is to adapt the EBT program into operating it much like the WIC program. But what the hell do I know?

Don't get it twisted, I do NOT look down on people that collect any kind of relief or assistance. I'm saying I firmly believe the system is totally busted. Mind you VERY few of the people I am talking about have more than $12.15 in their bank account. They spend just about every single dollar they get as soon as it comes in. People lining up at the ATM at 9:30pm for that 10pm payday. People rolling over payday loans every single month with their homes filled with shit from Rent-A-Center.

In my gin-addled brain there's just no other way I can make sense seeing a job market seemingly flooded with $15+/hr jobs, life being crazy expensive, affordable housing rarer than a great white elk yet still seeing "Help Wanted" signs everywhere. I've seen great businesses close their doors due to lack of help!

My girlfriend is a CNA 2 and makes very good money working in a care home for the elderly. She busts her ass and loves her job and takes it very seriously. Her grandmother was moved to a memory care-oriented facility and they had people working there hired off the street with zero experience and very little training tending to people and they still had a dangerously low skeleton crew with ONE actual nurse in the entire building at any time. This brought her to tears. That kinda shit is just scary to me.

I've had some people look at my 4 pins at home and legitimately ask if I'm a drug dealer. "You must be loaded buying stuff like this." No, I work my ass off and manage my money. It isn't rocket science.

Now mind you I live in a pretty small town with a combined population of about 30k so there's that huge possibility where my observations are abnormal or unique.

***END BORING LIFE STORY AND CURRENT REFLECTION OF THE WORLD ALERT***

Watch them actually make a Back to the Future pin but in extremely limited numbers with a hugely inflated price tag.

I've never played an EHOH but man after watching some reviews and game play footage I'm pissed at myself for not being more attentive and grabbing one when they came out.

I saw a few people discussing Avatar. The success of that movie cannot be denied but I have yet to EVER hear anyone mention it as one of their favorite movies. It's always that "oh yeah I remember that flick". I fear that without the allure of now seemingly defunct 3-D move going experience that the bloom may be off that rose, especially considering the delays in making the sequel(s).

Came in the mail just the other day.

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I personally enjoy the side bar conversations in place of always taking about bttf .. especially when it is in response and support for earlier discourse that I was in... Will these be moderated like mine was?
Wait and see....
for those that don't like the side bar, it's temporary, just roll with it... The Stern merry go round thread is still here and not going anywhere.
And yes office space is classic, one of my favorites, along with Avatar... Now you heard someone say it ..

Worked at Wendy’s 6 yrs through high school. Still get nightmares about it. One of the shittiest jobs there is. They deserve $20 hr.
5.50 hired in 1999 ended at $7.15.
Med frosty was 99 cents now over $2
Should’ve worked elsewhere but if I didn’t work there my next boss wouldn’t have heard about me, wouldn’t have learned website design with him and start my belt empire that affords me pins. Worked out perfect I guess.

I want a Brian Eddy designed Disney's Jungle Cruise machine. It could be a great spiritual successor to MM with tons of puns and dad jokes. You could probably get a bunch of former skippers to help write jokes.

A way to gauge a movie’s long term success (relevance for a pin) is to look at its merchandise sales. How many people have Avatar chochkies? Do kids buy toys of the franchise? Are there tons of pop culture references on TV shows, T-shirts, and corners of the internet quoting lines and making memes? Are there successful video games based on the movie? Has Lego made kits of it? Ghostbusters is an example of a movie that never had the type of opening as Avatar, but my gosh does it still sell. As does BTTF! Ex: I just opened the first door on my Playmobil BTTF advent calendar this morning I think Avatar was all bark and no bite. The studio and media advertised the crap out of it and the sheep boarded the hype train. Wooo wooo! Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

You really should have elaborated a bit more there...

I was a key character witness asked to testify in an attempted murder case. The FBI got involved because the guy crossed state lines. It was beyond surreal.

I'm 42 and have been working since 15 years old. I have shitty work experiences too, with a success story at the end. Funny how working hard and testing yourself prepares you for seizing opportunities that may come in the future. I'm looking at the inflation calculator, and what I was paid in shitty jobs between 1995-2002 is still below $15/hr in today's money. Soooo..... *shrug*. The "living wage" argument is lost on me. I'm not trying to raise a family at 15 years old living with my mom lmao. I woulda been dead at 15.

#1 My car is def an investment #2 WTF is an AV system?

Audio Visual System

So summing up the last couple pages -

Stern should discontinue some titles and the next Stern pin will be made by unskilled fork lift drivers that used to work at McDonald’s to buy weed after they relocate the factory across the street and Back to the Future will be crazy expensive.

I have an idea,

I really like how Deadpool has the battles, its what makes it fun. Certain shots do damage and you have a health meter. Different shots do different things do different opponents. It's a very good and underused idea.

I also like how the TMNT game lets you choose any of the 4 turtle characters.

So why not make a GOOD Street Fighter 2 game with both of those aspects? I know Gottleib made a bad one in the 90's but a spike 2 Stern would be great.

Having all the characters playable as your character probably won't be possible but lets say they just use 4. You can pick between Ryu, Ken, Chun Li, and Guile. Goal is to start battle mode, beat all the characters and become the ultimate World Warror.

One of the wizard modes could be a timed multiball where you're beating up the car on the dock.

Lots of ways you could go about design but it would definitely sell. Kids today still like Street Fighter and any 40+ year old male is gonna want it.

That, plus the teens who still work at McDs still get their weekend fun money while the 35yr old next to them has 7 kids to feed, so instantly both positions deserve $30/hr.

Oh, and by the time we sort that all out to everyone's satisfaction, 007 code still won't be finished. Now we're all caught up.

I still enjoy it. It has plenty of challenge to make it worth playing. Add the custom color dmd Malenko made and it’s a solid affordable title. But yeah a new Street Fighter pin would be cool. There’s hype for it again because Street Fighter 6 is almost out.

As an employer of the youths you all speak of, let me just say that, 1: These complaints have been said about literally every generation including yours. 2: Work ethic develops with work experience. So bad work ethic is tied to youth because the kiddos are figuring out how to exist in the real world not because of some generational defect. 3. I watched paying $15 an hour go from “good money” pre pandemic to not being enough post pandemic and the blame is on cost of living not youth being greedy about wages. Everyone’s cost of living has shot up and the landlords are the worst offenders. At least in my market. I have faith that a lot of this will stabilize over the next couple years but rent is going to stay high until there is some sort of limit to how companies own living spaces. In my city 1 in 7 houses is owned by a company playing landlord and not by a homeowner.

yeah truth. I worked with normal employees not managers at 35-50 yrs old most divorced but still at $6 an hr? Looking back I don't think they had the brains to do anything else.

A lot of cars like Mustang GT and corvettes are investments because they are actually selling over sticker price. Sometimes 50g over sticker. But most people don't know this. Right now you can invest in the right car and make money. But once again most people...

My favorite is when they get the total of how much change to give you but can't do it with the smallest amount of coins properly. For instance, $0.57 back I get 5 dimes and 7 pennies. No kidding. I handed the dimes back and said can I get 2 quarters, the kid couldn't figure it out until I asked how much 2 quarters is worth, he said 50 cents,then I asked how much 5 dimes is worth, the thought for a sec and said 50 cents. I asked again if i could trade 5 dimes for two quarters, he was still confused and reluctantly did it after about 30 seconds of contemplation.

OK of course some cars can be looked at as an investment let's get real
. Most cars are not an investment can we agree to that? Thought so.

This just happen to me at the drive through I go through 3-4 times a week. Gave him $5.08, eight cents in pennies on a $2.58 bill so I wouldn't get pennies back. Caused some confusion but we got through it.

I should point out I get there at 6 in the morning and he is always there, polite and does a job I sure as hell don't want to do. I am glad he is working.

Y'all still use cash?

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Stern figured out how to sell all the 60th Bonds..... you have to buy one in order to get on the list for BTTF SLE

"Agent Cru....... double 0-BTTF"

Shiiiiiit. I don't have LE/SLE connections. I will make do with my Premium, most likely.

Enough with the pennies already America. Nostalgia is costing you a fortune.

I like this idea but would much prefer mortal Kombat pin. Not sure though how stern would feel about the blood and gore. Also the mortal Kombat game studio, netherealm, is owned by Warner brother games, I think stern has worked with Warner Brothers in the past, as I believe they own the Batman license.

You are definitely right. Most cars are disposable cars that lose value quickly.

So your car is not an investment. got it.

Excellent idea. MK2 is my favorite game of all time. Remember how deadpool has the finishing shots at the end of the battle? Well a timed shot at the end could just as easily be a Fatality.

So what is your investment car? Not your daily driver, your money maker on 4 wheels.

Very few car are investments. Lets say you bought a Hellcat or a Civic Type R and just parked it to sit over time so you could sell for a profit later. That would be an investment. Most cars however are depreciating assets, in fact many are just plain liabilities.

Of course sitting on anything to grow value over time also has to beat the rate of inflation...another way the Federal Reserve Cartel steals from you.

That IJ trailer looks mighty good if you haven't checked it out.. dunno about Stern, but IJ 5 and Top Gun Maverick don't sound so bad..!

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With John Wick would be a great theme with the new movie coming out.

Investment returns don't have to be money. Before the demand was so high, I could buy a new pin, play the hell out of it for a couple of years and sell it for $2000 loss and still consider it a good "investment". To me a pinball machine is an investment in fun, if I sell and don't take a loss then it is even better. I NEVER buy an NIB game expecting to make money or break even. If it happens, it happens. A car is an investment in transportation. As long as I get 100,000 miles out of it I'm happy even if I sell it at a loss because I have gotten my money's worth out of it.

Alfa

Lol post the model.

Whoa, it’s me, I broke the 4th wall…AWESOME

My first job off active duty Marines was with a trucking company in Portland Oregon, no fork lift experience, yet day 1 they had me on one loading and unloading trucks. Did that job for a couple years before heading back overseas with my reserve unit. It literally took a few minutes of training.