ROTFLMAO

They need to go full JJP and $15K that next Elwin.

That would be WORSE than JJP because Stern LE is less than even a JJP LE, feature for feature, and build quality. The only extra Stern has that really ranks is Insider Connected. Selling a cornerstone Stern LE for the current $15k JJP CE price would be ridiculous.

(See you in 2025 when that happens.)

Unfortunately… I totally expect another hefty price increase as well. How long did it take FFLE to sell out?

I mean…why wouldn’t they?

They are producing way too many pins. Way too many "limited editions" for sure. Pinside market is loaded with games that aren't selling.

1) How well did that work for Bond LE? Yeah, they were completely "sold out" at launch, also.

2) Why not just make the games $20K? Because even at current prices, they are running out of customers. There are plenty of other games that you can buy for less: Pulp Fiction for $10k, Scooby for $10k or less, Cactus Canyon, Galactic Tank Force, Fathom, Spinal Tap, or a thousand existing titles, or buy a Pro/Premium instead of an LE. Nobody has unlimited room or money, and there are only so many people that can spend $10k on a toy.

My advice: Don't push your luck, Stern.

There are almost 2 million people with net worth over $10 million. And SIXTY million people with net worth from $1-10 million. I don't like the rampant pinflation, but I think Stern has room to run, and I expect them to continue to try.

Just to be clear…I dont like it and agree with your sentiment of not “pushing it” with a legion of past, loyal customers.

Im just saying the numbers, production capacity vs. demand, and the FOMO for LE’s suggest a price increase. Throw Elwins name on it as the cornerstone designer and I can see them bumping it a grand.

Ive been priced out of LE’s for some time…hell, Premiums are just about out of range for my small collection of games…. Not that Stern cares. They care about moving units as they should.

Will be real interesting to see how these upcoming runs of past models of pros & premiums that have been around for several years go. JP, IM, SW, etc… if distros inventory start to build up and sit for awhile that would sure help keeping the retail price stable. If they sell quickly…well…better get the lube out.

Sure, but how many of those people are interested in pinball? There are 98,533 Pinside accounts total (since 2002). There are only about 48,000 people with Insider Connected accounts (and some families have multiple accounts in the same household). Those are people that have actually signed up and played at least 5 games on a Stern machine. This is a pretty small/niche hobby compared to most. There are only so many new machines that the pinball community can buy each year, and that number becomes lower when the prices go up.

You're assuming that Pinside is representative of pinball. It's a good chunk, but probably not even close to half the market. There are plenty of people that have no interest in a pinball community or even know one exists. I'm always amazed when a HUO pin comes up in the wild with like 50 lifetime plays after a decade or more. With Stern's "lifestyle" push, ridiculous as it seems, that's the buyers that will pay what Stern asks and soak up the excess capacity. I'm not into the pinflation thing, but it's pretty clear Stern will keep pushing both prices up and costs down until something breaks.

Don't forget the extra 2K for the topper

48k insider connected is a crazy small number for a global organization. Hell that is less than 1000 people per state! Granted it is fairly new (2 years old?) but still that boggles the mind. It really puts how niche pinball is into perspective.

How many accounts on Pinside have at least 1 game in the collection? That’s probably a better number then the 98k accounts. And then how many are looking to buy 1 more game this year (and not sell another)?

I don’t see how pinball comes out of Covid without some sort of contraction. I hope I’m wrong…

Will it have a Face Lift Multiball??

Anecdotal I know, but of the 50 machines I've rotated through my basement exactly one was a last pin, and his wife was taking him to the cleaners in a divorce and he needed the money. By contrast I've been to 4 estate sales that have had pinball machines. People tend to hold on to these things.

Also of note, as a percentage of Google searches pinball has been on a small upward trend since the start of COVID

pbbbbb (resized).png

I have dreams of a " Smile you Son of a".....kill shot mode in JAWS when it comes out.

I honestly believe we’ll see 25%-50% of themes going forward targeting the younger crowd say 45 and younger .They have started construction on the bridge and will be no stopping until traffic flows .I’ll bet Eminem is already on the table .If it were me I want to see DLRs Van Halen ,Judas Priest ,The Warriors and One Flew Over the Coo Coos Nest but I completely understand the movement to keep pinball moving forward as it has been .

I could see no price increase for Venom as it’s potentially a weaker title although theme wise it’s A+ in our house providing the layout is good/great id be hard to pass it by.

However could see Stern making up for it with a big price increase start of 2024 with Elwin game kicking off the year, let’s be honest Elwin could make my little pony and it wouldnt have any troubling selling out all 1000 LEs.

I'm relatively on the younger side for this site (I'm 36) but I personally have been enjoying the "old man" pinball themes. Looking at my lineup I've got Weird Al, Bond, STTNG, and Elvira. Every single one of those had its prime before my time. I think the machines with lots of assets that are relatively "cheap" licenses are the way to go. Godzilla, Elvira, Batman 66,

Looking at the pinside top 100, the only themes that originated after I graduated High School are Stranger Things, Rick and Morty, Tron: Legacy, Walking Dead, The Mandalorian, The Hobbit, and Toy Story 4.

Yes. Give me The Warriors.

I caaaaan diiig it!
The Warriors.png

The new pinball fever is about the generation that grew up in pinball just finally being barely independent to finally afford a few of these toys. Granted there are a few rich collectors, but I doubt there are enough of those to support the ridiculous prices JJP and Stern are pushing.

I suspect that will see the majority of buyers in the PRO 'price segment' in the future, this will flood that bracket enough that will bring the PRO pricing down in the secondary market. Premium will probably be the most stable one price wise - this is just my guess - as it it currently too expensive at 9600 I really do not see the value anymore and the LE is almost 2x a PRO.... just crazy.

I want to back this. In 2019 a prem was 6500. They are pricing themselves out of the market. I won't buy another game until the secondary market crashes, which I believe would be a direct result of what they are doing. Honestly, it's making me lose interest in pinball. Add in the Disney themes and overproduction and it's a trifecta of sh!t.....

Sweet Mama PM , did you come up with that or is that one of Franchi’s random pinball designs ? I wouldn’t even need to see the trailer on that pin haha .I think that movie was made with pinball in mind ,there’s so much to pull from .Warriors is definitely in my top 3 grails .I’ll keep on dreaming .

The opening music with the Wonder Wheel still gives me chills.

I made it a while back just pulling in some art from the internet. Sometimes I get carried away.

But I definitely would love to see this pin come to life.

I’m with you 100%

Tron 2.0 LCD with dub remix could be stellar, so could Venom with Ozzy mix-I am open to both

Foo Fighters did zero for me with gameplay. Feels like it wanted to be an Elwin with unique shots and loopty loops but it just did not have the fun factor for me and while it had flow it still felt clunky. Really dislike plunging ball and having it go to ramp. The music was subpar and just did not have the one more game feeling-easy pass for me.

Godfather was really bad and my least favorite JJP. The layout is average and the call-outs are horrid. The rainbow show really throws it off and looks like Sopranos went to the Circus. So bad I ended up walking away on ball 2 after playing multiple games-way better games on market-Godzilla kills Godfather for overall package.

Bond 007 60th was really enjoyable and probably my favorite game(need to play GTF) released so far. The shots are tight/unique and the spinners tied to the shaker is brilliant and super fun. Also played a Mermaid Fathom recently and it blew me away with build quality/features and the fun factor is high.

Wow , Foo Fighters is clunky and The Godfather has an average layout

IMG_20200104_031010 (resized).jpg

Says the guy with Guns N Roses

JJP fan boys trying to defend Godfather

Stern recent releases rated:
1. 007 60th Bond
2. 007 Premium/LE
3. Jurassic Park Home Edition
4. Foo Fighters Pro

Sure I like jjp games . I've heard a lot of talk about Foo Fighters and The Godfather but I haven't heard anyone say what you have , but hey if that's your opinion you more than entitled to it .

Some people may not like my opinions and that is ok. I am just expressing what machines have grabbed me recently. I do feel fortunate that I am getting picky and only certain machines do it for me. When I played the Fathom Mermaid-it grabbed me instantly like a fisherman grabbing a fish with a net.

007 Premium/LE and Pro has been kicking me in the nuts and I can't seem to find a groove. Need more time on it and want to see how code progresses.

Van Halen is way overdue-hoping in the next couple years

I dunno about that man. How about Van Helsing with Van Halen music??

pasted_image (resized).png

Hire this man!

What's wrong with guns n' roses?, says the other guy with guns n'roses.

Anything related to Vampires and I am in like flynn

I actually thought just doing a generic Vampire theme with a mix of classic heavy metal music would be stellar.

Stern could start with King Kong-move to Vampire, Frankenstein, etc.

When I read this I instantly thought of the Godsmack Vampires track

Godsmack would be a great pin

Would be so hard to resist. Great music for pinball!

As much as I would love that as a theme, it seems incredibly unlikely. The VH camp is so disjointed and dysfunctional. Wolfie has said that everything goes through Alex now. Al doesn't seem to be that keen on doing much. Two years in and no real memorial or tribute done for EVH. The Sammy reissues are going to start coming out with the RSD release of Right Here Right Now, but a pin seems like it would take real involvement from the estates and living members. I dunno...

VAN_HALEN_1979_NZ34_7a147315-c162-401a-b7e0-6f8e4e58965d_1000x (resized).jpg

If we're doing music, I vote for a combo pin of these two since they originally toured together.

pasted_image (resized).png

A Beastie Boys pin with the costumes from the videos and the different eras with music and callouts would be increedible.

Beastie Boys pin would sell like hotcakes, esp. if Elwin designed it. Unfortunately will never happen.

Interestingly enough, the new Marvel’s trailer features BB’s Intergalactic. I was under the impression that when Yauch passed away, they all agreed their music was to pretty much be locked down and not commercialized. I could be wrong, but I was surprised to hear it in the trailer. Not saying that means a pin is likely, but maybe there’s a chance???

Yeah that was my understanding as well. Which would be why a Beastie pin would be unobtainium. But... lawyers, I guess?

MCA's wishes were to not use the music for commercials or endorse commercial products. Their music is a commercial product so there is a gray area in between... but I am biased.

I feel like they would welcome a pinball theme, I know I certainly would. I grew up with License to Ill and Pauls Boutique but some of those lyrics did not age well.