Sure hoping an original Steve Richie table is next and being shown at TPF. Any rumors bearing that out?
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Quoted from Coz:Steve Ritchie’s next pin or fake pic?
[quoted image]
Really hoping that’s real. Where’d you find that? Based on past spring releases, about when would this be announced?
3 weeks later
Well the one tibit of secret news revealed by Steve at TPF was that his next game will have 62 plastics as opposed to 40 regularly, so it sounds like the table will be packed. At least I’m hoping so.
JJP introduces the same retread of the past with a new paint job and a much higher price. $11,500.00 for WOZYBR, wow!
Quoted from PinMonk:I thought it was funny that he called it a "trainwreck" (2:06:30). Not something for the game flyer, I assume.
Did you get any other hints about next table? I didn’t watch it all...
3 months later
It will be a brilliant strategy on many levels if it is in fact Star Wars home edition. A $3900 table for newbies would put up a huge challenge to Deeproot and anyone else trying to do pinball would almost call it quits with Stern marketing. A four tier system:
3.9k Home Edition - for newbies to introduce to pinball (we like this, so what else does Stern make?)
5.5k Pro - for Arcades & locations
7.5k Premium - for home owners
9k Limited Edition - for collectors
This would be a killer strategy for Stern to continue its dominance and grow the market. Real top popular IPs sold to people that know nothing about pinball. Not the no name IPs being considered or done by others. Winner strategy if this is the case. Will be good for us pinheads as well. Now if we can get Stern to focus on more and unique mechs...
(Come on Stern haters, give this a down vote, you know you want to...lol)
4 months later
Quoted from SkillShot:If Brian Eddy is doing ST, then who is on design and code for Turtles?
Rumored to be John Borg on design for turtles. Possibly Dwight Sullivan or Tim Sexton on code.
2 months later
Get Smart would be a big seller...ball dropping down HQ phone booth, cone of silence ball lock, shoe phone dialing up mission, invisible wall magnet, list of possible mechs go on and on from that show.
3 months later
Quoted from KnockerPTSD:Try leaving the 90s for an example.
Dialed In
Houdini
Black Knight sor (*kind of)
Americas Most Huanted
Tna
Octoberfest
Raza
With the exception of TNA with it's great rags to riches story, how have the rest of those titles sold? Compare those numbers to pretty much ANY liscensed game. Heck, Munsters probably has better numbers that almost all of those titles and it's no gem no be nice.
Munsters is a AAA licensed theme from Universal Studios, using the classic Universal Monsters in a comedy family setting. It is well recognized around the world and is still enjoyed in rerun syndicated TV by millions. Just because a few on Pinside have berated it, doesn’t take away from Munsters licensing power.
The game is an underrated gem, just needs additional material added to the software, which Stern is rumored to be doing in the future. The mono targets on the game was an issue at first with me, but after playing it a lot, I’ve completely forgot about them and it is a non issue now. Can’t say all games should be that way although. I prefer drop targets for sure.
Munsters may be an old TV show, but it’s theme is timeless and still loved by millions around the world. And because of the theme, it still holds up today.
It’ll be a sell out! Evergreen theme and fun for the whole family. Looks quite packed as well! Layout is very different from usual Borg titles. Can’t wait to see high Rez shots!
Spinning disks have been on many machines, but I don’t have one yet and the way this is integrated by pressing button to eat pizza, looks fun and unusual. Good job John!
2 weeks later
1 month later
Well, my friend sold his Batman SLE recently for $36,000.00. Which was originally purchased for $19k. So he doubled his money. Don’t think you’d win the bet of decreasing in value. Lol It was in mint condition and proves PF protectors installed from day one, fetch big money on the 2nd hand market.
I agree, pricing has gotten out of hand on pinball machines. Stern is climbing in price to JJP stratosphere, which is not good. Price gouging like that is not good for our hobby. Batman 66 SLE was a special case and don’t think any other machine will get that kind of a price. To be clear, it was sold from original owner to another guy for a $7k profit and then the next guy made the rest selling it for a third time to a whale. This is a rare thing and not to be celebrated, because it was a lucky shot. Don’t think any other title has buyers willing to spend that kind of crazy money for other IPs. Batman 66 collectors are nuts, lol. Know a guy who spent way more than that duplicating a 66 Batmoblie. Hope Stern keeps things reasonable price wise and stops the ever inching upward to $10k for an LE. Elvira CE and Beatle Diamond editions were plain money grabs. Same could be said for JJP and their CEs.
2 weeks later
Could LZ be a code name for Avengers, since LZ Immigrant song was used in movie? Hope not, since LZ would be the only music pin of interest imo.
Quoted from Psw757:That’s grasping at straws, LZ is coming and all the usual suspects at calling it have said so.
Well I’m for LZ coming out too. Only music pin of interest imo. The way Stern uses code names, only thought it might be a possibility.
Quoted from PinKopf:Isn't it a bit soon for another KME title? I wasn't expecting a release so soon after TMNT either. Rock on. I'm pretty pumped to hear Keith is on a title like Avengers. If anyone can take the oft-overused superhero genre and make it something special, it's KME.
Not too soon for a Keith pin, since it is now over a year since his last one. Plus, TMNT has been the only Stern released this year and we are almost into 4th quarter end of the year.
7 Stern Marvel pins?
Spider-Man
Hulk
Ironman
X-Men
DP
Guardians
Infinity War or End Game (new release name?)
1 week later
Quoted from brickbuilder14:It's going to be Back to the Future! Joe Kaminkow was on a podcast 7 months ago and dropped the news. He designed the original BTTF for Data East which is now owned by Stern. He last designed Beatles and Batman 66. I can't wait! Should be incredible!
[quoted image]
Had the same impression when I heard Joe on the podcast. BTTF is a no brainer for another pinball IP. Want to keep things heating up in the Stern camp, when lots of others are releasing titles finally, drop BTTF and boom!
2 weeks later
1 week later
Quoted from Edster:Yup, Zeppelin.
Would think Zeppelin or Queen is coming and possibly before end of November to bite into GNR.
2 weeks later
I’m calling it now, BTTF next Kapow/stern release, whenever that is, maybe first of the year. During Beatles discussion at expo 2020, Joe said, “maybe next year we can do this again, (emphasis) in the Future”. Maybe wishful thinking but his voice inflection on “in the future” was definitely emphasized. 
1 week later
Quoted from mrclean:Haha I knew people would dig into the other Data East titles.. Honestly one that comes to mind which I think could be absolutely incredible with the same treatment as the current games have been getting is Tales From The Crypt.
My prediction for Stern Dec 2020- Dec 2021 :
Led Zeppelin
Back To The Future
Some unexpected title... like Heavy Metal, Primus, etc
JAWS
Tron VE or Tron 82' version
Honestly I'm a huge fan of Stern, but if Harry Potter were to come out, I'd want it to go to JJP... just suits them better.
Joe Kamikow said during October expo, that he has a relationship already with Harry Potter and we’d “better like Stern”, if the title comes out. Honestly, JJP is overrated and I for one don’t want to pay $12.5K for Harry Potter. Hopefully, Stern will do a stellar job with their team of industry top designers. Think they’ve learned their lessons from Star Wars and Beatles. While somewhat good, both of those licenses could have been so much better. With Lyman on code, Keith on design and either Chris or Jeremy on art, it’d be awesome imo. Priced LE at $9.2k, still expensive, but much more palatable than a JJP $3.3k higher price offering.
Quoted from Darth_Chris:From what I heard Stern have a backlog of almost 5000 pins. Their lastest titles are very popular JP, elvira, avengers, etc. And they will sell a lot more of these. And they still have to make runs for star wars, DP and other titles still in production. So my question is why in their same minds would stern rush another title if they can't even keep up with the demand.
No bashing here, just an honnest question. Why come up with another title if some people are still waiting for titles they ordered weeks or months ago ? Covid doesnt help production either.
My honnest opinion is it might take a while before next Stern announcement.
Stern has no control over licensors deadlines that have to be met. They usually get a license for 3 years, so Stern has to announce at the beginning of that license deal regardless of all other factors surrounding pinballs current landscape. Plus Stern has zero concerns about announcing, since each title is made for 3 years anyway.
Heard that the next Stern release will be announced on December 10th. Only a month a way now. Either music pin or BTTF and if BTTF, I’m in for the 35th anniversary celebration of the movie that began it all. Like Joe Kamikow said at Expo this year, “we hope to do this again, soon “IN THE FUTURE”, 3 words he heavily emphasized. So wether its next or at the first of the year, I’m in. Since Stern announces at least 1 boutique game every year, it might be next and is usually the time they announce one, with Lyman on code.
Quoted from PinMonk:All I can say is I will never be suckered into a Kapow SLE machine again. Batman'66 SLE was a one-time event. Terrible experience.
Agreed, but curious, were you able to sell your SLE for more than you paid for it?
Usually Stern’s 3rd release of the year is a boutique game, which BTTF would fit right into that mold. Heard from Disty that announcement will be first week and a half in December. I’m sure licensing issues require it to be announced then. I’m in on BTTF for sure, if that’s the case. No PF issues on any of my Stern LE’s ever. We have a good distributor that looks after us.
Quoted from rai:I played it was very blinky. The strange thing to me is how much praise GnR is getting from Flip n Out podcast last one where they were all over GnR like it’s the second coming as if they were saying it's pinball at the next level. To me, it’s a very visually stunning game but the gameplay is meh. I’d rather have a nice Tron.
Was wondering if Zach was still a Stern distributor the way he carries on about anything JJP. Think his words and actions say he’d take a JJP game all day long over Stern. Too bad: as a distributor, you’d better stay pretty neutral and not be overly enthused on just one specific company, especially when that one company only puts out 1 game every 2 years, versus Stern doing nearly 8 during that same period. Don’t think FlipnOut pinball would survive on just 1 title every 2 years, no matter how good he thinks a box of mainly just blinking lights may look, with some rockin music.
Quoted from PinMonk:There was an interview within the last week or two where they said they made 1964 Beatles, which isn't true.
Hopefully Stern learns their lesson from so badly overpricing Beatles. Could have sold many and paid for the license many times over if they had just used regular Stern 3 tier pricing. I don’t get why the greedy pricing? Doesn’t make good business sense at all.
Quoted from Flyfalcons:Honestly I think Harry Potter would be better realized as a JJP. Their playfields are beautiful and would most likely pull off a HP world under glass better than Stern.
Disagree, if Stern, AP or CGC used a $12.5k BOM would be every bit as good.
Quoted from PinMonk:Why overspend by $3k? JJP blows away $9k Stern LEs with their $9.5k LEs right now.
They did put a lot of ball interactive toys in their first 4 games.
Quoted from KnockerPTSD:I hear this all the time but i went to pick my AIQ on Friday and got to play GNR. Its pretty as hell but 20min and im good. I have zero desire to play it again. My friends and i put hrs into AIQ and it was a blast for everyone.
(Full disclosure on the previous statement toward JJP that i still have never played WOZ.)
Haven’t played GNR yet, but your take is what I feared. It’s a concert and any concert third or fourth time through gets really old quick, no matter how much the band is liked.
I’ve played lots of WOZ and if you like straight up the middle shot geometry (that is the big reason why a middle post was put in the SDTM drain trough), along with losing track of the ball in the upper right and other areas of the PF, etc. then you’ll like WOZ.
Quoted from BallPin:Different strokes for different folks. I played SE, and LE GnR. I can't wait until my LE comes in because I'm itching to play some more GnR. I played AIQ Pro, and I didn't dig it at all. It was set to free play at my barcade, and I played one game and a half. I wasn't feeling it. Went back to GnR and MAN what a difference. Fun is the key word. Only thing I liked about AIQ was the ball lock tower was cool. LE AIQ might differ a bit, but the Pro, dare I say...sucked. I felt like I was shooting at spinners the whole time. I think it was 4 or 5 spinners. Then a kintect ball to hit, and a spinning disc and finally two huge ramps. Nothing satisfying to shoot at, except the tower ball lock. No interest in playing that again. TMNT Pro was much better.
...But Kaneda we would not ever expect you to like much of anything Stern. Your Stern hate is quite evident, Chris. (Reminding you, that this is a Stern’s next machine thread and not a JJP/GNR promotion thread. Please leave your JJP lovefest to your podcast.)
Quoted from Jason_Jehosaphat:So we read on the Pinball Browser thread. Sad, that. PB is my favorite mod ever. Unless Olivier, the program's creator, has a breakthrough, there will be no chance for PB'ing your LZ or any other Stern that ships now or in the future. Your best hope is to load an obsolete version of your Stern game's code that predates the lockout. SAM games, for instance, can still be PB'd, although there's a chance that the latest MET or ST codes have the lockout, as those games had code updates after Stern decided to thwart PB. I'm not sure. I thought I read that only SPIKE II architecture lent itself to beating PB, so maybe even the latest MET and ST codes are PB-friendly.
Reread the thread as it seems he’s had a breakthrough and PB is working again as of a day ago.
Quoted from SantaEatsCheese:Street price $3999.
[quoted image]
Hmmmm, thinking outloud, should I buy: SW the pin $3999 or four TMNT toppers $3999???
Quoted from Tranquilize:I'd rather him be gone. He has his other outlets. Funny that he thinks a brand new account with all the same info, claiming Kaneda steals his info etc. It's so obvious.. I'm surprised the account has lasted this long. *Sigh*
He talks just like Kaneda, promoting JJP/GNR like he works for the company, all the time. You’d think he receives sales commissions on GNR. Yes it’s obvious, same guy.
2 weeks later
Quoted from Pinchild:It's great you all are happy about Zep but JJP GNR is wayyyyyy better no matter what!
I smell a weak machine coming.
Much like Rolling Stones
Let’s see just googled top 50 rock bands of all time:
1. Beatles
2. Pink Floyd
3. The Who
4. Rolling Stones
5. Led Zeppelin
GNR didn’t even make the top 50 cut, although Slash is quite the guitarist for sure....
28053259-1CEA-4959-8997-7F01A416D0F5 (resized).jpegBTTF coming 2021 per rumors from Joe K. Stern has been recreating several of their old licenses from the past, like TMNT. BTTF is just one of those licenses, that Joe K. has access to, like he did when they originally made BTTF. Make no mistake, BTTF 2 is coming, probably as the next boutique game, that was missed this year.
Quoted from BallPin:“I'm not impressed with the layout and art, so it's a no for me”
Let’s face it Kaneda, you’re not going to like any layout Stern or Spooky does. We all know only JJP is to your liking.
Quoted from BallPin:“I really hope Stern doesn't have BTTF, as its my dream theme, and if they shit on it like they did on Zeppelin..”
More underhanded negative comments from Kaneda about a well known Stern rumor remaking BTTF. It is an old license they made before and they’ll do it again, only much better this time around.
Quoted from BallPin:... art packages, even though all 3 were low effort, entry level graphic design, maybe even high school kid could come up with that, but I applaud them for 3 completely different packages.
This was the artwork on their albums from 50 years ago. After hearing your comments on LZ artwork, have to agree.
Quoted from BallPin:Also like the pinstadium lights. I have to think they added that after the hot rails in GnR, but it's good to see Stern saw that implemented it. Wonder if GnR also influenced the 3 different art packages and maybe that's why we have a rushed design.
SR has been in the pinball business way longer than anyone, other than Gary. Do you really think he stole his art blade LED idea from JJP? If that is the case, then JJP stole their hot rail idea from Pinstadium, by just turning the LED bar up, instead of down.
Quoted from chuckwurt:I don’t think that’s fair. Although stranger things is a fan layout, the demogorgon ramp and toy, magnet lock and projector are all fresh ideas. They didn’t go over well at all, but they are definitely fresh ideas.
After playing an LE, think we didn’t give it a fair chance. Very fun playing game! Really liked playing it and the “upside down” is a new pinball experience. The artwork is the only so so part imo.
Quoted from Xaqery:We never grab licenses without plans to use them. Many of us have wanted to do Godzilla for a long long time. I can not speak to when the game will be made or who will be working on it. All I can say is that mudwrestling was involved.
Thanks for chiming in Dwight, we all love your work! Whomever is working on Godzilla, it’s a favorite of our families, especially ToHo version. We frequently go to the very ToHo Godzilla theater in Tokyo to watch movies. Great fun. I took this photo standing outside the theater. You can see Godzilla himself is watching over the theater, lol.
Quoted from DCFAN:I think the 50 year old demographic like me watched and enjoyed Stranger Things the show, but we as pinball people mostly realized the game was not something we wanted to own. I played it at barcades and did not take long to lose interest. I can understand why kids gravitate toward a theme they are recently up on but the majority of pinball buyers need more than that. A standard fan layout with little novelty in shots is kind of dead to me. This is why Elwin designs are killing it in sales. His games shoot as well as fans but are way more interesting in shots.
Elwins IMDN is still the definitive music pin imo. It has more than just music, with the rules telling a story and interactive pinball mechs theme integrated. A pin with 10 or 20 songs just playing music (concert), wears out in the long run.
Quoted from BallyKISS1978:When will Sterns next announcement happen? New to the hobby.
Probably around end of March first of April. Usually every 90+ days.
1 week later
How about Get Smart???
When ball drains, “missed it by that much”!
Cone of silence: “Chief, can you hear me?”
Chief: “Kaos MultiBall is coming, so get ready Max!!”
Max: “I can’t Chief, my shoe phone won’t go back on...”
Chief: “Sigfreid is going to rain steel balls all over your head, put on the Control gadget head gear...now Max!”
Max: “What’d you say Chiiieeeeefffff..... ???” (as 10 multiballs are pounding all over into the cone of silence).
1 week later
An Eagles pin? Hmmm, maybe it could be the first music pin to buy? Main mech: Hotel Cali trapping balls till the end of the game, unless you bash them out the front door? Another Eagle/Monkey mech, where the eagle carries the ball to it’s upper nest?
Quoted from Flyfalcons:Guesses?
[quoted image]
BTTF! Cars, futuristic looking furniture. BTTF all the way!!
Quoted from Budman:Jonny Quest( original 1964 version) was made for pinball.....the best villains, coolest gadgets that were before their time back in 1964, incredible theme song/ multi ball music. Hanna B cannot be an expensive license to acquire. George G, you KNOW I am right on this one....admit it and then make it! If you intro Scooby Doo before Jonny Q ( hey that rhymes!) , you’re crazy. If anyone reading this has no clue what I’m talking about, go look up the original...not the later version and join the movement !
[quoted image]
This is right on the money and would be an instant buy for many. What an awesome theme and series to take content from. Right down pinball alley and would be widely enjoyed by all ages.
Quoted from cooked71:If it ever happens, Harry Potter will be a high cost, high restriction license.
This combined with Stern is a recipe for high disappointment.
Couldn’t agree more. This will be disappointing as Star Wars, no matter who makes the machine, because no one can top consumer expectations and imaginations of what could or should be Harry Potter. Pricing will be over the top to compensate. $15k Elvia sig edition comes to mind. Get a 1mm by 1mm piece of Harry Potter’s cape, as the bonus for an extra $5k, lol.
(SW comic package is very good indeed! I like it better than my LE, but the gameplay/software is awesome on SW, just that left out lane issue, going straight from LCD targets to left outlane on hard plunged, not good geometry)
Quoted from NC_Pin:Now.... the cost of the license.... you'd suspect that it be up there with Star Wars and Toy Story (or more).
Toy Story licensing fee is surely quite reasonable or even low, with zero actor likenesses to consider. None of JJP games have been in the high license fee category, because of almost no assets, other than name and a few still photos. Star Wars on the other hand a different kettle of fish.
Quoted from TronGuy:Wacky races, Underdog
Both these themes would sell boat loads of machines. There would be tons of cool toys that could be made for Underdog and Wacky Races as well. They both would bridge all age groups, along with Jonny Quest.
1 week later
Quoted from crujones4life:Heard anything solid BTTF related?
Borg is sure trolling BTTF right now...
Quoted from PinMonk:This seems unrealistically high.
There are 261 weekdays in a year. Take out 21 to account for 21 days of holiday period and that leaves an even 240 working weekdays. Stern builds 50-70 pins a day. It was less during COVID until they got the line figured out, but they're back around 50 from what I've heard.
If you take 50/day as a consistent average, that's 12k pins a year. 60 would be 14.4k pins a year. Balls to the wall 70/day would be 16.8k a year. 20k isn't happening unless there's weekend work.
Gary recently said they are up to 75 machines a day now.
Quoted from PinMonk:I doubt that's their average over the whole year, more like their peak periods. But even if it was, that's ~18k max.
Thanks for that number, though. Do you know where he said it?
He said it in an interview. Sorry don’t remember which one for sure. May have been super awesome pinball show. He was talking how behind they were and that they had ramped up the lines to consistently do 75 a day to catch up. It sounded like they are doing that number going forward.
Some have been duped that Stern is not doing BTTF, because they are. Joe Kamikow did it once before and he still has the license connections and will do it again with Stern. He’s hinted it on several occasions already. Stern will do a good job with such a stellar license. They have the teams to do it. I’ve already put in my order.
No way would Stern allow BTTF license to go to any of the other small manufacturers.
Quoted from NoQuarters:They can probably do some magic and utilize old recordings to make up the speech. Otherwise as typical with Stern they can use voice actors that are pretty close and sound authentic enough.
I don't think they will do Comic art to start with. Maybe if they run a Vault Edition later they may tap using Comic Artwork.
Isn’t ZY rumored to be doing the Welk comic artwork already?
Heard Jerry Thompson is already working on Welks champagne music catalog being installed in the Welk machine. Rumored to have full musical Welk catalog, exceeding GNRs 21 song effort.
Welk SLEs are going to come with a piece of the band leaders wand. (Kind of like Elvira’s couch piece is the rumor.)
Quoted from sushko:I can't believe that they are going to have a new game coming so soon. Stern is pumping games out so fast.
Actually, nearly a quarter of year has gone by since Zeppelin release. Pinball compared to any other industry, has very few yearly releases. Last year Stern only released a paltry 3 machines.
Quoted from cpr9999:[quoted image]
A franchi artwork package? Looks like his work...more proof of a Welk machine in progress. Can’t wait to try the rumored bubble blower that blows bubbles in your face while playing. Discovered a leaked photo of innovative Welk topper. Rumored Stern topper pricing: MSRP $2,000.00, but really looks to be worth it, imo.
CD282F7C-F1C7-4AD5-9A5F-667BAF73DBC8 (resized).jpeg
Quoted from Utesichiban:It is Godzilla. Take it to the bank.
Agreed. Stern is not in the puzzle business and could care less about it. They are promoting pinball and the puzzle is all about Godzilla and not a samurai. I read, write and speak fluent Japanese and that is katakana for pinball written below the Stern logo. Stern would not have reason to show Japanese wording if it wasn’t about selling Godzilla the pinball machine (not a $6 puzzle) very soon.
Quoted from Utesichiban:Yep. That was my interpretation as well. I’m rusty but lived in Japan (Kyushu) for two years and minored in Japanese in college. Kanji is tougher for me to read now but Hiragana and Katakana I can still read no problem so I can read the clues Stern is dropping as well. All signs point to Godzilla.
Did you live in Japan? Just curious how you learned it and if you still use it at all in your job, etc? I don’t and unfortunately don’t get a chance to use it much.
Nippon is an awesome place where I’ve lived and done business for over 30 years. Headed up a nutraceuticals company as the shacho. Much of the time I haven’t spoken my first language English lol, so not rusty. Can’t wait for a ToHo Godzilla machine. LE here we come! 3rd reptile machine I’m buying. (First JP2, second TMNT, third Zilla!)
Yeah hoping Lyman is on code and agree completely with @Cooked71, Munsters assets were “crimminally underused” by Dwight.
1 week later
Quoted from Darscot:I would actually prefer a fully licensed retro Goldeneye 64 pin that focused on amazing 4 player modes and that great soundtrack. Drop a Goldeneye with 4 player online and I can't give them money fast enough. LOL
Now if they did this, it would be an amazing game structure, just as it was for the video game industry, becoming a must have game of fun for 4 players.
1 week later
Sure glad most of those themes are not what we will ever get from Stern, lol. (Pretty gloomy and even morbid negative themes imo)
Really like TS, but BTTF wins hands down imo. It will be an epic blast back from the past or should we say, future! Lol
Put all these teases together:
Joe K. Twice last year
John Borg tease on his page
BTTF Mayor tease today
Yep, it’s comin round the corner powered by 1.21 gigawatts...at 88 miles per hour...
6D47BCBC-4CF2-4A6F-A760-30FE17DA8E10 (resized).jpeg
2 weeks later
Quoted from J85M:I read years ago it wasn’t actually MJF that refused but it was his agent at the time that passed it up and it never even got to MJF.
His agent felt he was too big at the time to do the gig, I guess Universal, Pepsi and Nike pay a lot more than Data East where offering.
No idea how accurate it is but have either version of events ever been 100% confirmed by anyone?
Urban legend says it was likely the agent. After all, MJF’s face did not end up on the machine and surely Data East aka Joe Kamikow did seek to have MJF’s image on the machine. Would think MJF would have wanted his image on the back box more than a small scale licensing fee, that wouldn’t have meant much to him at the time. Hope this time, they get it like they did the SW characters. Back then no one really understood pinball and that it is such a niche market, unlike lunch pails, juice cartoons or soda cans that sell in the millions, lol.
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Add me to the ever growing large list of people saying they’re out if it is Mando. The show is just okay, but not pinball theme worthy imo. Pinball themes need to be something to be enjoyed over the long haul and must be a very established theme. Scooby Doo fits that description, but unless Spooky really improves their shot geometry and game play fun, would be easy pass, even though I like the theme.
Really want Spooky to succeed, but have played all their games and none of them have impressed me shot geometry wise, except ACNC, but the theme is not what most people want, including me. I have a friend that purchased ACNC and has been trying to sell it just a few months after purchase and he says he can’t give it away. Jetsons was a subpar layout, with not much in the game, even though by theme alone, it should have sold well. Spooky really needs some top layout design on something like Scooby Doo and that’ll take them to the next level. Who doesn’t like Scooby Doo and yes, it is very campy. Lol
Quoted from cait001:stop saying Mando
...if Mando name is not to be used, then what is Mando changed to if its not Mando? Mando is better understood as Mando and is the way...as Mando. BTW, was thinking Mando, because the long spelling of Mando is much longer than Mando. (Mando, Mando, Mando...just sayin)
If it’s Mandelorian, it really could be good, with BE doing the game, with a Shadow twist to it. Who wouldn’t like Baby Yoda doing some kind of magnet Jedi ball stunt? Or Mando fighting an AT AT. So many possibilities. I’ve changed my mind before its even released and would be in, with the SW theme. Need a RazorCrest or Xwing somewhere on the playfield too!
Makes sense that Randy M. would do the artwork, although would think Johnny also would do a good job. Let Stern be backed up for a year, but keep the releases coming. Distributors need the new business cash flow as well. Without Stern cranking out 4 titles a year, there really is not much of a pinball world it seems. The other smaller companies doing 1 every 2 years; doesn’t leave much to choose from or even talk about.
It’s now coming up on 5 months since last release. Time flies.
Quoted from frankmac:800 Mando LEs seems like a lot.
Sure hope Stern doesn’t milk us LE buyers doing over 500. 500 is the limit. I purchased one of the 800 SWLEs and this many years later, hard to sell if one wanted to. They are aplenty and 800 is too much for an LE. JJP LEs at 5000 is an absolute joke and insult to us as buyers. Nothing limited about 5,000 in pinball that sells for over $10k and we’ll see GNR LEs flooding the market at a loss in the future. History will repeat itself as it always does when the numbers are too high on so called collectibles.
Quoted from cait001:wait for it... here it comes... Mandoloserian
I’m thinking, Maindailingorientian. (just sayin)
Quoted from cpr9999:Put me down for #7
I’m in for a wild #7 too! A Bobby and a Sissy dancing wild in a mild kind of way...(Welk is my Dad’s favorite show and would be his favorite pinball machine at going on age 92.)
So glad it will be Stern making Mando instead of one of the small companies, like JJP. Still wondering why some say JJP has “raised the bar” with GNR (hey it rhymes) and they wish JJP was making Mando instead of Stern. We all know JJP machines, including GNR don’t shoot all that well. That’s precisely why they are loaded with cheap LED lights to distract from all the deficiencies, lol. Let’s face it, JJP has way overpriced their games because of years of business fiscal irresponsibility, which we all pay for when we buy their machines. LEDs are cheap, drumsticks are a couple bucks, plastic cymbals are a few cents from china, rotating hat has no ball interaction, guitar neck doesn’t do anything of real interest. GNR the band put out a handful of albums with tons of covers. Not sure how or why these few items listed here have some how “raised the bar” for anything in pinball. If lots of irritating flashing in the eyes is an immersive experience...can’t figure that one out at all. No one has ever played anything like that at Stern, because they know how to make fun pinball, that shoots great. After all, most all the pros at Stern once worked at Bally/Williams who set the real bar/standard years ago.
I wasn’t excited for Mando at first, but now after thinking more about it, it could be a winner with Eddy doing it in the vain of The Shadow. It’ll be a sell out, from what I’m hearing, if it is indeed next or not a code name for Delorean, lol. At any rate, I’m glad Stern is the company making it, even though they too can be somewhat overpriced, but still $4k to $7k less than a JJP. Nothing in a JJP machine warrants those crazy high prices imo.
(No surprise: usual JJP fanboy down voters, in a Stern thread, showing their displeasure by downvoting others opinions with truth mixed in, very mature, lol) (JJP fandom frequents Stern threads it appears, lol. Must not like hearing the truth hey fanboys?)
Quoted from mwthatch:are you sure you have played GnR? in no way does GnR feel cheap or not shoot well. Locking the multi balls in the guitar head alone is brilliant. I have the LZ and GnR. LZ feels like it as a phoned in JV basketball game at a fat camp compared to GnR. I like Stern, but right now stern is the McDonalds of pinball.
Give you one, as only a lock...it’s good for a lock. Don’t think Stern is equivalent of McDonalds, but can see that JJP fans like to think that way. Nothing in that machine feels rich enough for the extreme prices. Price of a car, as GNR fan club like to exclaim in anger against GNR decision to do a pinball machine in these troubled times. Of course they don’t understand how crazy we pinball enthusiast are, lol.
We are in a Stern thread discussing Sterns next title. People are comparing and have been comparing what Stern makes, with GNR and Pinside moderates my post as trolling!!! Lol, wow!
(I’ll write this differently then so it can’t be compared somehow cross posting or trolling. Ridiculous!)
When I was first introduced to pinball I was told Stern makes pinball machines for real pinball players and enthusiasts like Bally/Williams did, because the Bally/Williams team had most all gone over to Stern, after B/W went out of business. Which is true.
JJP began as a tiny competing company, which they still are, after nearly going out of business 3 times, if it wasn’t for the bailouts of the Abbot family, new owners now. So after trying to run 2 separate double the costs operations JJP wisely combined and located near Stern. This all costs incredible amounts of money to accomplish and is passed on to us the consumer of JJP in the form of very high prices on their products. It certainly is not because of high BOM costs. LEDs are very cheap. Plastics are very cheap as well. Both Stern and JJP overcharge for their product, but of the 2 Sterns is $4k to $7k cheaper with not much more in any 3 level JJP than any 3 level Stern. They do have more, but not this next level “raised the bar” claimed by JJP fanboys. And shot wise, put any modern day Stern against the only 6 JJP has made in over a dozen years and one quickly realizes, shots are not so good compared to a Borg, Richie, Gomez, Elwin or Eddy layout. Pat does some good shooting layouts, but his 2 efforts with JJP are not his best, because the ball gets lost much of the time on both layouts and has issues. Eric’s 2 efforts look good, but don’t shoot all that well. Ball meanders all over the place on POTC, gets lost and does not flow all that well on GNR, but he’s still learning with so little experience under his belt compared to all the other designers mentioned above that have been making great pinball designs many years before he was even born.
If we are being realists, a Stern outperforms and shoots better than any JJP, simply because Stern makes machines for the actual sport of pinball and real pinball enthusiasts. Whereas JJP makes pinball for collectors that like a lot of lights, plastic and don’t mind that all that plastic hides the ball a great deal of the time. Collectors have a different idea on pinball and like the look more than the actual gameplay. So that is my reasons of why I’m glad Stern is making these next big titles, like Mando, Godzilla, BTTF and not any of the small way less experienced companies like JJP.
(This was not the person’s quote I was commenting on. Glitch in pinside system caused an error it appears.)
Quoted from PinballManiac40:I have no idea how you quoted me as saying that since I never owned a JJP up to this point. Also, I never made that statement.[quoted image]
Just clicked on what I thought was your comments, didn’t change a thing or add any quote. Assumed it was your quote, can only think then it was a glitch on pinside’s system.
Quoted from Utesichiban:Not only was it a maintenance headache and nightmare, like you said, the game was a clunker. It was beautiful to look at but I rarely had the urge to turn it on and play it.
Okay, it was this quote I agreed fully with and somehow glitched from another persons comments: I said: This a thousand times about JJP games. Well stated JJP games are clunkers and what I’ve purchased have been Maintence nightmares as well.
Quoted from PanzerFreak:Stop repeating your same garbage comments over and over again, it's old.
JJP fanboy garbage in Stern threads repeated by you the king of JJP fan club over and over again calling me out??? Lol Stop your nonsense and go back to trolling elsewhere. We’ve heard enough of you over and over bashing Stern, it gets real old buddy. You are constantly in fights with people all over pinside. When is enough enough??? What you constantly do gets even older. We get it, you hate Stern, but pretend to like or pretend to order a game here or there. I don’t go into JJP threads and bash like you do in Stern threads. Stick to your chosen corner.
Quoted from PanzerFreak:You posted a 1,000 word rant against JJP that makes zero sense and now keep repeating it, please stop.
Also, I currently own two Stern pinball machines, have owned many in the past, and I'm on a list for a Mando LE. I don't hate Stern, far from it. Do I think their games are often overpriced for what you get? You bet and I'll always be critical of that at these insane prices, just as I've been critical for JJP raising GNR prices by $1k (which by the way we both agree on in that other thread). What you are now doing is attacking me, and spreading lies which isn't cool. I'm done, have fun arguing with yourself.
Let's get excited for Mando instead of arguing. Speaking of Mando I've contacted a few of the larger distributors and all have wait lists for LE's at this point... I'm sure some people will decide not to get the game and open up spots for others.
No attacks on you personally at all, just a discussion about likes and dislikes. I respect everyone’s opinion, even yours, when it stays on subject without name calling my opinion as “garbage” and such. I will go with that invitation to get Mando excited. Thanks.
There are some cool moments in season 2 more so than season 1. So if they can capture those scattered moments in the game, it should be good.
Quoted from Pinchild:Munsters was my worst NIB purchase ever
Terrible game
This is a completely subjective statement and incorrect by most of us that actually have owned this title over the long haul. John Borg did a stellar job with this pin, but Dwight fumbled the ball in not giving it proper attention to code like he has on all his other coded games. This is the thing that sticks in most people’s craw. Sales of the game have proven it is not a terrible game, rather the opposite of your personal opinion. It is presently a highly sought after game by many people that now realize they have been duped by the vocal negative few here on pinside that portray it as bad, because it is not what they were expecting. Many wanted it to be Batman 2.0 and I was one of them too and thought a great deal more Munsters material should have been included in the game. But the game itself, is great fun to play and is exciting, not boring in anyway.
I don’t buy the narrative some keep spouting that it was coded to be like an old B/W shallowly programmed game. Don’t buy that for a second at pricing of $10k. When all other $10k Stern’s get oodles and oodles of programming. Case in point: Munsters got to 1.03 and TMNT is 1.41, both coded by Dwight and both are the same price of $10k. Dwight did the same thing on all his other games, although GB took forever. Dwight has shamefully neglected Munsters in a major way and this alone has really put a bad karma over his coding now, to where many will not buy a Dwight coded game for fear he will not support it, just like he did to Munsters. The only way Xaqery or Dwight can correct this travesty is to give Munsters the proper attention it deserves, since we all paid the same for both TMNT and Munsters. Stern would have not sold any Munsters if people thought they were going to give it such little coding attention as they have.
Quoted from PinMonk:Wait, pinside is about objective opinions now?
Is this real life? "
Lol!
Quoted from shaub:I think it was Dwight himself that said that he tried to make a simpler game like T2. Possibly with a suggestion from Gomez. I wish I couls find the podcast but it would take too much time to dig through them all.
No one absolutely no one wants to pay $10k for a “simpler game”. Anyone can find plenty of those old type games for a couple grand, not $10 grand. And simpler game does not mean less code. Less complex maybe what is referred to as simpler, but in no way does simpler mean shallow or lacking. For example: Munster Madness 1 being a repeat on Munster madness 2 and 3. That is completely and utter nonsensical laziness on Dwight’s part.
Batman is loaded with show material and could even be considered quit simple code wise. It is very simple to understand. Collect four main villains and 3 minor villains. That’s it and yet it has great depth and with tons of Batman show material in it to keep people interested in it for the long haul.
This is what Munsters is lacking in spades. Dwight can still keep his goal of simple, but include lots of material and modes to keep HUO crowd happy that they spent $10k, not so little attention to code everyone becomes irate over being duped by Stern and Dwight on Munsters. It is almost criminal Stern took our money all the while we were expecting them to do what they’ve always done before and give us our monies worth code wise. Xaqery needs to revisit and give us our monies worth at some point. Of course it took him 3 years on GB.
Quoted from PaulCoff:Borg did mention that he went through ever Munster episode to find material for Dwight.
What an absolute waste of John’s time going through all the episodes. Dwight only used material mainly from the very first episode. How comical! Almost none of John’s research was used.
There is a lot of unknowns about this title that Stern is not telling us and a gross misuse of a stellar license. Munsters to this day has millions and millions of fans and is still in syndication around the world. Butch Patrick has said the fan base just keeps growing. Why Stern somewhat wasted their effort on such a great shooting layout as Munsters with a stellar art package is beyond understanding. It should have been a title sold for long time to come, not just 2 years. They are still making and selling Bat66, soon to be coming up on 6 years old.
Quoted from mbeardsley:Unless you have personal knowledge of how Dwight (or Lyman for that matter) works, this is all just speculation.
Maybe he was given a short amount of time to implement Munsters, maybe he was told to work on something else, maybe he needed a vacation, maybe one of his parents died.
My point is that it is NOT necessarily his fault.
I know that on virtually every one of the games I worked on, I wish that I had more time to do stuff. Eventually, management will say "ship it, and move on to the next project".
We have personal knowledge from Dwight’s own mouth. He did an interview last year and stated he can work on and improve any games code anytime in between other games. He was not just given a short amount of time, he plain and simply decided it was done, even though the only 2 updates he did after it was released was to take Munster madness 1 special code items, make it simpler and move them to Munster Madness 2. That’s all he did, pure laziness.
Most everyone had already purchased way before that. Demand was so high that at release Stern changed LEs from 500 to 600. A friend of mine in the mod business said Munster sales were in the blockbuster category. It is completely Dwight’s fault the code has not been revisited and at least polished. Dwight has severely let us down, plain and simple, I do like him as a coder, but his lack of giving us our monies worth has severely hurt his reputation. He can fix and polish needed areas. It is irresponsible that he has not done so at this point. Munsters is in all other aspects a top 10 game, only lack of code takes it to the basement at number 73. Xaqery need to step up to the plate and hit a home run. Everyone else on the Munsters team did except for him. We are not speculating on these things. They are facts.
Quoted from BasementFacts:You’re confirming my statement that he’s an executive with authority to ship products without them being finished. Dwight has a boss. If it’s not Gary, it’s someone else. Blame the boss. It’s silly to think Dwight is just haphazardly doing whatever he feels like.
Read above because it came out of Dwight’s own mouth. He can work on whatever he wants that he feels needs more development. He has chosen to this point to abandon Munsters. He has patterns of doing this on other games. His so called Boss didn’t tell him to make it so lackluster code wise, that is assured. No other programmer at Stern has this reputation except Dwight.
What the total shame is, he is a very good senior coder and does want to make some of his games great. Look no further than TMNT. Munsters has shown us, he could care less about. Actions speak louder than words.
You can bet it wasn’t his boss that said to give TMNT so much code love that he took it to 1.41. That was Dwight’s decision. I know for a fact John thinks the code and call outs in “Munsters needs more love”. That also is not speculation. Munsters is a beloved title that deserves the code treatment all other Sterns to date have received. I’ve purchased many Sterns and have never asked for code improvements on all the others, except Munsters. Xaqery has let us down again, just like he’s done on GB and GoT and TMNT still has needed polish. FB has missing dialogue for example. I don’t see this lack of code love on anything Keith does in comparison.
Quoted from rai:I think we here on Pinside are an echo chamber and a vocal minority.
This issue with Munsters is not a vocal minority, nor is it not something others that are not on Pinside disagree with. They too think it needs more code love. Munsters has numerous threads about this issue with many supporting voices wishing for more code love for a great game in all other categories except code.
Quoted from jfh:I generally agree with much of what you say, but you are off base here. Sales absolutely plummeted after the LE release and Dwight’s statement on the code. Distributors had games in stock forever. Stern discontinued production (very quietly) long before the license was up.
If your measurement of whether a game is “terrible” is based on sales, Munsters is “terrible”. It may be difficult to find Munsters on the secondary market because (a) there aren’t that many actually out there and (b) those that have the game generally love it so they have little interest in selling.
If Munsters wasn’t such a great game in so many respects very few would be pissed off by the code fiasco.
Only going on what John himself told me about Munsters sales and what a mod company said, pertaining to mod sales. We all know the only reason Munsters sales are not fantastic is because of Dwight’s super poor treatment or the lack thereof on code. Proven principle, give HUO the code depth and sales will soar on a machine that has everything else. Stern/Dwight doesn’t give a flip on Munsters, so lackluster sales is the results. But they left all us early adopters in the lurch, since they have a history of fixing and making better every game to date, except Munsters. This is what we are all upset about. The consequences for Stern/Dwight: many now will not buy a game programmed by Dwight. This is the primary reason Dwight put so much effort into TMNT to prove he can give us our monies worth, but that is a flawed idea, since we still have the bad taste in our mouths about how he severely neglected Munsters. Xaqery is squarely going to suffer in both his legacy and future coded games by him, unless he fixes this travesty. He plain and simply did not give us our monies worth in code on Munsters. Simple is fine (less complex), but lack of depth isn’t fine at all.
How can it not be personal? Dwight is the one in charge of code. Yes, there are code issues and problems that need fixing, which Dwight has not addressed. He has addressed issues on all his other games, but has severely neglected Munsters. There are consequences of his lack of support for a stellar game we all trusted he would continue to support after release. He hasn’t done that, it purely his responsibility. No excuse for a lack of code love period.
Would be much easier to make all us owners happy with our big purchase, rather than all the threads of people upset with what little Dwight did on Munsters code. I’ve been running a worldwide company (many times bigger than Stern) and if I had customers as upset about any of my products as many are about Munsters, I’d fix it pronto. Reputation and trust is a hard thing to earn with any customer base. It is not worth losing over simply giving some more code love with needed fixes and some much needed Munsters show material.
Quoted from PinMonk:Dwight is all right. He did Game of Thrones, and it's one of my favorite pins. I don't mind Ghostbusters or Star Wars (but I really wonder what the midnight madness removal is all about on that one). I really feel like Dwight was given a thimble to fill with code for Munsters and a lunch break to do it for whatever inscrutable Sternish reason. He did it, it's terrible and boring and shallow and not much fun, but he did what he was directed to do. I lay this more at the feet of Gomez than Xaqery. G-man is in charge. He's the Executive Vice President and Chief Creative Officer. The buck stops there for the shape pins are released in and code-maintained.
And Gomez has the power to FIX this. Unfortunately since he tanked the sales of what should have been a popular pin, I doubt he'll budget time for Xaqery to revisit it and make the game Borg's design deserves. But he should.
6D35DE92-DCDE-4B9D-A424-8BE1BAF61BF4 (resized).jpegQuoted from PinMonk:I dubbed it the Kitty Show after extensive play over that one month period. Keep bashing the Kitty target. Get lots of points easily. Win. Not fun. I didn't play the Premium, but that lower playfield seems like even LESS fun.
The lower playfield is one of the best of all time toys in any machine imo. It is in fact a pinball machine in and of itself. Having 2 pinball machines in one, creates the best multiball experience of any pinball machines ever. It is nirvana to play multiball on upper and lower playfield at the same time. John Borg outdid himself on that one.
Quoted from atum:We get it... You bought a game, and it didn't turn out to be what you wanted it to be. There are people wanting and buying these games all the time. I see them go on and off show room floors around here when people buy them. Is it a game for the most avid player, or people with a small collection that are in to pinball? Probably not. But does it have a place, yes. I enjoy playing a pro that we have at an arcade here every once in a while, as its a nice change of pace from the deep games that exist elsewhere. Is it very shallow code? Yes, but that was 100% apparent from release and walkthrough with Dwight, he as much said that during that. So if you hear them all but say "This is shallow", and then complain about it being shallow, I don't know what else there is to say...
Except almost none of what you’re saying is true...
E3AE1D75-3C75-43FF-BF64-7C109BF7DE1C (resized).jpeg
2AC9E7CC-AD27-4A47-AC96-0069A42D7178 (resized).jpeg
John: I tried my best to convince George and Dwight Munsters deserved more code love, as in call outs, code polish, code bug fixes, Munster material, etc. I slaved over Munsters material to find the best for the game, but...
Dwight: But what John, I’ve heard enough of this! I really don’t give a rat’s (blank) what our customers think...IT’S DONE!! I know this is not what Stern ever does with a game, but I’m finished, period...
George: Whatever Dwight, who cares anyway, as long as it is as shallow as those old games of yesteryear that were not designed for home use, don’t worry about it. I know our customers trusted us to do the right thing and make Munsters have deep code for their families to enjoy for years to come. Time to move onto the next one. Let’s quit all this talk about Munsters, that was over 2 years ago. Never mind it is the only game code that has a thread with well over 1400 posts titled “worst code ever”, with thousands more in the Munsters club thread. @xaqery, remind me to never do a shallow coded game again, as no one likes them, I’ve since learned.
Amazing looking LE, even with fuzzy photo. It is packed and exactly what we’ve all been craving for a Star Wars pin. As much as I like my Star Wars LE, this is the one that has what all fans of the movies have always wanted. Star Wars Disneyland under glass.
3 months later
Owning several Borg games and knowing John’s passion for our hobby, he’s going to knock it out of the park imo. A friend that has spoken directly with John recently expressed how excited John is about his upcoming title, which is assumed to be BTTF. John didn’t say it was, but on his FB page a while back, he did post some BTTF material. Owning TMNT it shoots like a dream machine and is so underrated, just like Tron was when it first came out.
2 weeks later
Quoted from Hammerhead1550:I wonder what an LE is going to go for?
The best I have found is you get about $200.00 off msrp, but I'm new to buying NIB, so don't know anyone to so I can get a better deal.
All the year’s I’ve been buying new in the box: the best deal I’ve found is MSRP, lol.
Quoted from PinMonk:A Bond/Get Smart dual reskin release like Family Guy/Shrek would be great. I think I'd buy the Get Smart version. So many possibilities for fun code.
Count me in on Get Smart too! First in line, so I wouldn’t “miss it by that much”, lol. Steel ball lock in the “Cone of Silence”. Ball drops in phone both to get next assignment. The gags and mech possibilities are endless. Come on Stern make it so.
Quoted from Royale-W-Cheese:HAHA ....same here....I just watch the stars of Get Smart...I was shocked with the big names that were guests...You gooota go watch it.
Man I had a crush on 99 an then years later 7 of 9 ...HAHA. I hope 9 is a lucky number.
Where do I find Stars of Get Smart?
Quoted from Royale-W-Cheese:My Bad.
After watching it post up your top 3 shocker's and we can compare.
Leonard Nemoy, Johnny Carson, Bob Hope. Have the whole set on DVD, but forgot those folks were in the show. What a great cast of famous people in the show. Everyone wanted to be on Get Smart. Couldn’t wait to watch it every Saturday night. Family favorite and yes, like 99 and 7 of 9 too! So many classic lines in this show, the callout possibilities are endless. “I said the craw, not the craaawww.”
Quoted from John1210:the games are tiered differently so cant compare, the jjp le is like a premium stern.
Thinking the same 3 tier system is identical, except the names used. They do actually compare. Spooky has a similar 3 tier system as well, but doesn’t compare well, because there can be as many CEs as customers want within the total limited numbers. Customers decide how may of each of the 3 tiers instead of the company.
Don’t think there will be any disappointment with this one. It is highly anticipated in our home! Not far from our home in Tokyo is ToHo theater, where our favorite King of the monsters watches over Tokyo. For big premieres like the Avenger movies, this is where we go to watch. I took this photo a while back, when Queen debuted. Godzilla is real size next to the skyscraper…ToHo Cinemas is the theater that Godzilla built.
Quoted from blairan213:I. got. his. "point"..... People have been pontificating about Gary selling the company for years. Please explain to me how "Loading the asset side of the sheet with back orders and taking out a huge chunk of pro buyers;" equates to, "buy my business because it is awesome?" For one, backorders are not "assets". The other side of the coin, eliminating "pro buyers", which I take to mean lower income buyers and operators in this context, how does that increase a company's value? So bottom tier quantity sales are now frowned upon?
Gary is never going to sell his child. He’s in it like his father was, always.
2 months later
Quoted from frankmac:So cool!! Thanks for pointing this out.
[quoted image][quoted image]
That looks more like ZY to me.
2 months later
Heard Joe K. tease on at least 3 different podcast BTTF. It’s coming whether people want to believe it or not. It is a cash cow machine, so why wouldn’t they do it? Remember, Joe K also did the original BTTF too, so its not like he doesn’t already have a relationship with the IP. He wouldn’t constantly be trolling it, if it were not in the works already. Just look at the interest in this thread alone. By far the #1 most desired pin.
1 week later
The next Stern pin is delayed till August says Gary Stern. He says demand for games has gone through the roof and IC has helped that effort.
iC makes for good marketing jingle and creates a closed eco system no other company/boutique manufacturers can match. Many now don’t want to buy outside that eco system, because the future of IC is only going to get bigger and better. It seems buyers mainly want the games that will work in that eco system as the future holds many additional add-ons for existing games. Even new ways to play the same game will be introduced, without spending well over $10k for a new one. Stern is heavily investing in IC and its not just for giving our games achievements.
The days of Stern releasing new games every 3 months are going to be challenged. With IC setup, there is no reason all current 17 games have to continue to play only one way. predict Stern will be releasing “new games software” to play all of those machines in different ways. No reason to approach the same game the same way all the time with IC. Think that will be a new money tree for Stern.
3 months later
Quoted from PinMonk:Bond could be reskinned Get Smart in a Family Guy/Shrek way. I'm "meh" on a Bond pin, but I'd be all over a Get Smart pin.
Get Smart could be a fun pin. The theme makes the game. Cone of Silence for pinball lock. Phone booth pinball down to HQ under PF with lit corridor seen from above. Invisible wall magnet barrier in apartment and on and on with ideas like a shoe phone dial a villain selector outwit modes. Siegfried, Dr Craw, Shtarker, etc. I’m in for Get Smart.
1 week later
Gomez Bond seems like a sure thing. Joe K. just did up a Bond car and has the license. He wants a pinball game to go with his Bond car. Look for October Bond release as a Kamikow/Stern boutique pinball offering. They seem to be on track repeating licenses they’ve done in the past. JP, BTTF, Golden Eye/Bond, TMNT, Avengers, the patterns there. It’s happening, now is it Golden Eye like they did before???
ZY/Eddie Venom is next up in August. Year might end or first year release, with Team Elwin Jaws, imo.
Quoted from Utesichiban:Stern has already announced there would only be one more new title this year, likely in the August timeframe. Are you suggesting that has now changed and there will now be two? If I’m a betting man, I’d wager on Bond in August.
Would like Bond in August over Venom, but on Stern’s production schedule it already shows an October new release as well. Probably Bond Kapow game, but if its in August, all the better. Nothing more until next year or right at the end of the year.
Quoted from kool1:I was actually going to buy a Mando since they had some in stock at Player One but I got nervous because they are in stock everywhere and if I don't like it I may have to sell at a loss.
I should probably go try it out!
Go try it and you’ll love it I bet. Only in stock because they just finished a run. Will soon be out of stock again, with the new fab SW topper coming out. It’s going to be very cool indeed, from what I’ve seen. It is my goto shooter of exciting fun. You won’t be disappointed, imo. One of Eddie’s best!
1 month later
Quoted from PinMonk:Supposedly JJP has this, which is fine with me.
Isn’t anything JJP fine by you?
1 week later
Quoted from J85M:The Boys
Star Trek Strange New Worlds
John Wick
Fast & Furious
Mortal Kombat
DREDD
Mario Kart
Anyone of of these I’d be excited to buy.
Mario Kart in particular could be amazing. There is so much that could be done with it.
4 weeks later
Quoted from freeplay3:Stranger things was Attack from Mars. It is even acknowledged that it was a rip off by the extra ball video copying AFM.
This was purposefully done by Brian who designed both machines, so its not a rip off. It’s just 2.0…
Quoted from acakoning:Well, the next STERN pin Title for my own collection is finally clear Got myself a second hand TMNT Premium!
You are so fortunate to have a copy of TMNT, one of my goto machines. It’s A symmetrical design (like I read in another forum) is so unusual and tops just about everything out there in the world of fast shooting pinball. All those that have this game should count themselves lucky as its going to only go up in value as more people discover its kinetic shooting satisfaction. Stellar code by Dwight is also one of its hallmarks. Too bad Stern has stopped production on a top ten game.
Quoted from mpdpvdpin:TMNT is one of the most underrated Spike 2 games. Love mine and it absolutely KILLS on location.
You are soooooo right on this point. TMNT is a killer game that is being discovered by many players now as a top ten game like it should have always been from the beginning. Certainly locations know this, as I’ve spoken to other operators and they say out of all their games it is number one best earner of any of the many titles they have on location. Love my TMNT too! Never selling it.
Quoted from Vecna:Godzilla was once a Spooky title. Not really.
You never know.[quoted image]
Our family is so wishing Stern does Scooby Do…
Quoted from PinMonk:Halloween is currently not a great game (code OR design) by any objective measure. I know some people are really into it, and that's great, but you only have to glance at the marketplace (right now, even) and see people taking huge losses on their deposits or just outright walking away to realize that the "sick" diagnosis is pervasive for Halloween, but not in the way you mean it.
I hope Spooky pulls it out and makes it better with new code. Unfortunately, the layout is what it is and can't be fixed. Those ball return risers are a huge waste of BoM they could have used to make the lighting look less cheap or any number of other improvements that made the game measurably better.[quoted image]
Your comment about the market place declaring HWN/UM “sick” diagnosis is spot on. There’s no fixing those PFs through code.
Quoted from mpdpvdpin:Scooby Do is the next Spoo#y game.
If true, its so unfortunate, but no ill will toward Spooky. Think they’d do better by just becoming an alternative choice to more affordable gaming, if they priced themselves under a pro, they’d have business coming out the ears. Since feature wise their machines are sparsely appointed in the lesser category of pinball, which is their market place. Stern homepins are priced around the $4.5k mark and have about the same amount of accouterments as Spooky pins do. So if Spooky priced their offerings somewhere in that realm or even a little more they’d find their niche for success.
Quoted from Vecna:My buddy has Ultraman and Jurassic Park home pin and JP pin gets a lot more plays and smiles during cocktails hours.
Stern’s JP Home Pin created by Jack Danger is a superior game in every way over HWN/UM. My niece has one and loves it. Certainly has a more exciting mech with the T-Rex. What does HWN/UM have in the way of mechs? None, so the comparison with Spooky pins being in that pricing realm is realistic. It’s not meant as a put down of Spooky, but as reality of their business model. If they would only realize that and then capitalize on it, they’d have a more successful company and the market would bear that out for them. Right now, the market says overwhelmingly that they are way over priced for what they’re offering. Have a good friend with a ACNC, which he says he can’t give away. There are no buyers at that price point, but it is one of the only Spooky pins with a little more in it.
Quoted from mpdpvdpin:You have very obviously not played (or seen) these games apparently LMFAO
Played every Spooky pin many times (with the exception of Dominos and Jetson’s). I know exactly what I’m talking about.
Quoted from PinMonk:See this is where you get in trouble. You can't pull subjective statements out of your butt and call them fact. Just a quick COIL COUNT will tell you that Halloween has ~17 coils and a shaker and PotC has ~39 coils and a shaker. That's right, Halloween has less than HALF the coils of a jjPotC, which any rational person knows is not the sign of a "feature stacked" game.
You like Halloween. But it's less-than in the current market, and will far undersell the next Stern. <---see? Back on topic!
But what you’re saying is making too much sense for irrational people, lol.
Quoted from crujones4life:[quoted image]
Love all this stuff! Getting this thread back on track that mpdpvdpin keeps trying to derail into a Spooky thread. Come mpdpvdpin, let’s get back to “the next Stern pin” talk. If you want to discuss Spooky do it in Spooky threads, please.
Quoted from Vecna:I think mpdpvdpin is out counting the coils on his Weenie
Too funny…lol.
Quoted from crujones4life:I was not aware of this...good looking out brother.
This thread is a hoot, spamming BTTF and all. What else is there to do while we wait for the announcement of BTTF?
Quoted from mbl1116:And he would have gotten away with it too…
[quoted image]
Another one too funny and spot on. Always thought mpdpvdpin is a Spooky associate or employee of some kind, lol.
Quoted from Jaytech10:I'm still saying bond in October. Gomez had to take it because of Richie leaving and Franchi is the artist. I said back on page 621. Deposit and reveal maybe in September.
And you are right, as Franchi also said, just wait till October before spending your money. He knows that Bond is coming since he’s the artist for a Kapow/Stern boutique release. Mid September announcement with October delivery. Will have possibly an SLE, just like Stern/Kapow Bat66 did. And its going to be Thunderball. Joe K. had a Thunderball Austin Martin built with Franchi doing artwork for and in the car as well. It’s coming and will be a Gomez design. Look to have some fun toys related to the movie as well. LEs will be going up in value straight away, since we are finally getting a mature theme from the pinball industry. Franchi artwork will be killer good. Bond will win game of the year with a dream team designer lineup, imo.
Quoted from J85M:No fanboy here just common sense, Elwin alone could keep Stern in business for the next 3 years, look at Godzilla sales for proof of that.
Stern simply put out the best all round games, they get the best license with the occasional head scratcher, they play fast and fun, usually very accessible but with deep code these days too. They also have about 80-90% of the market which isn’t going to change in the next few years, licenses alone will keep stern at the top.
Agreed, but most of all, they can crank out 125 machines a day. That makes them king more than anything else. Stern can actually manufacture and it just happens to be pinball.
Quoted from gonzo73:Its gotta be Franchi on art right ?????
Franchi did recently say, save your money till October, which is when Bond will be widely delivered. So yes, think he’d be on art and it will be a wow art package if he is.
Quoted from jjga:What is your favorite Franchi art game?
Munsters has to be top, Won art package of the year. Love Batman too! And you?
Quoted from mpdpvdpin:I have a Halloween on location and it’s paying itself down along with all my others.
You’ve goofed again, this is not a Halloween thread. We don’t care anything about your Spooky games. Please take it elsewhere and stop trying to spoil our fun for Bond.
Quoted from NoSkills:Stern doesn’t do non refundable deposits like the other manufacturers. Any deposit at a distro for a Stern should be refundable if there’s a price increase. If they say it’s not go to a different distro.
Stern doesn’t need to do non-refundable deposits, since their games are in high demand. There’s a waiting list to take your spot. Non refundable is not a good business practice for the long term. Why would any manufacturer need to do non-refundable, if their games are good?
1 month later
Quoted from J85M:This is my last NIB unless BTTF ever happens, I’m priced out now but Bond is one of my exceptions with BTTF.
So many of us agree with you on this one.
Games of lesser IP popularity going forward are most likely not going to sellout commanding $13K LEs, plus possible $500 shooter rods, and probable $3,000.00 toppers, making completed games $16,500.00 plus tax and shipping. This is Stern’s new Disney (Seth Davis) business model, making gigantic profits 4 to 5 times over BOM.
Bond and BTTF only have the chance of taking us to the cleaners, lol.
3 weeks later
Quoted from shaub:Mario could be such a great theme for pinball. There is so many directions you could go in. But if you could incorporate an overworld element into the game, maybe something like Paddocks/Dinos in Jurassic Park but more varied paths to take and power-ups to earn. The game could revolve around playing levels in a few worlds, each world's boss battle would be a mini-wizard mode and then battle Bowser as the wizard mode. The levels could be a mix of simple and more complex with some freedom and reasons to aim for certain ones or avoid them. The LCD could go from overworld to levels and back.
Already been made. Play it all the time when I’m in Tokyo. An arcade in Odaiba has one amongst many other machines.
6EB0E35C-DE09-4207-A8CB-617BEB519126 (resized).jpeg
In fact two Mario pins have been made. Here is the other one, which is in a much shorter cabinet and quite different. Play this one too at the same arcade.
3E1A0239-AAF8-4FD0-8D49-DE4FECE82F1B (resized).jpegQuoted from RA77:Proving to be fact.
Stern Pinball Price point maxxed out, over extended to the point of upper limit exceeded for most buyers.
As with JJP Stern Pinball tested the limits and found it for sure.
In a world gone into recession, the bean counters may need to be very careful with future pricing structure.
I would have thought well priced units and volume of sales would exceed overpriced units ?
Bond LE still available here down under, very rare occurrence as LE's are usually spoken for immediately here.
[quoted image]
The pricing is outrageous for you. Incredible that Stern is killing the golden goose. Over the $20k mark is unreal. Will people buying at that price ever hope to get their money back if they decide to sell?
Quoted from Mancave:The pricing is virtually the same!!! Doesn't any of you guys understand currency conversion??
Our dollar is SHIT against yours >> $20,500 AUD on current conversion rate is $13,620 USD. If you factor in shipping costs for the distro, which is most likely included in our price, then that works out extremely close.
Not sure what you’re using for a currency conversion calculator, but just used XE.com. USD $13k is AUD $19,554.00. So yeah, your price is very high. I’m sure a dollar is still a dollar to you just like to us in the US. I recall it wasn’t that long ago when AUD was worth more than USD. Although $13k here in the US is also crazy high for any pinball machine, no matter the maker. Going forward, most other titles won’t garner that extreme price hike, that’s for sure. Sure glad pros are still somewhat decent at only a 1% price bump for bond pro. Stern pros are best value in pinball.
The main point is Stern is behind all this price scalping mess. They single handedly shot up the price of the LEs from GZ $10,5k to Bond $13k, killing the LE market. That’s a whopping $2500 in one blow, forget exchange rates. Its Stern that carries the main blame here.
1 month later
Quoted from JonCBrand:I'm with you Zombie Yeti on a Music Pin doesn't line up. I would lean more towards 80s with JD like Heman.
What does lineup with ZY art and JD design enthusiasm is MOTU. GG said it was going to be a different category than what they usually do. Foofighter’s another music pin is not a different category, but MOTU just might be.
1 month later
Quoted from kool1:Rush is a tuff game for me. Shortest games of all my machines. It's fast. I still love it and as they say - "just got to get better".
I'm happy with my current lineup and I have no more room. I don't think either Venom or FF will tempt me but ya never know!
Seems like Stern is counting on us to not order as much to slow down the backorders. They may have done just that with this year’s two rumored cornerstone titles. Count me out as another who has purchased almost every LE since Batman and will be sitting 2023 out based on rumored releases.
2 weeks later
Quoted from Lounge:“Bombshell Harry Potter” … like bombshell Toy Story, Willy Wonka, Wizard of Oz????
POTC (while not immediate) and Guns and Roses are JJP’s best efforts. If they release a Harry Potter, it’s the parents of millennials that will be buying them for their kids just like the movie tickets.
JJP needs to get off this kiddie theme stuff. They’re great at making games but their theme choices just baffle me.
It was confirmed a long time ago by IP titan Joe K. That if HP is going to be made, for which he controls the license for pinball, it will be done by Stern. Here is his TWIP statement on the matter.
2DBEE08B-2319-470F-BFCA-16863B80EAE8 (resized).jpeg Even Pintastic is billing Godfather as JJP’s next release. 755326FB-A658-4CB2-AEA9-65CE2F25ACCD (resized).jpeg
Quoted from BasementFacts:Welp. Either Jack has HP or he's the biggest troll in history. (screenshot taken after Foo was announced)
[quoted image]
Biggest troll in history seems to be what he’s going for, lol. He’s desperately trying to get us to pause and wait to see Godfather before making a decision on FF. Can’t blame him for that, but it’s a slimy way to go about it, by just attaching a non-related HP photo to his “hold on to your money” statement to the meme.
Quoted from BasementFacts:Welp. Either Jack has HP or he's the biggest troll in history. (screenshot taken after Foo was announced)
[quoted image]
Confirmed today: “Jack is the biggest troll in history”, just as you stated.
Now that’s cleared up, we can look forward to seeing FF.
1 month later
Quoted from screaminr:A mate sent me this , almost had me
[quoted image]
Would be all over Get Smart. Cone of Silence ball lock, shoe phone dial up ball mech, with ball drop phone booth at the end of the ramp. Would be such a stellar game!
542B2D01-255B-4C04-BC12-56975057AFD3 (resized).jpegDA8C550B-2979-41A3-8156-E5F4BA37932D (resized).jpeg
6125606E-4549-4009-AF4B-15B46837BAE0 (resized).png 3 months later
Quoted from PinMonk:So the question is, who is the lead coder for it? Another Tim Sexton/Rayday teamup, or will this be Rayday's debut as a lead coder?
Tanio is tied up with Foo Fighters
Lonnie's tied up with Bond (THANK GOD)
Dwight is tied up with the Eddy/Zombie Yeti pin up next
Rick Naegele is pretty much exclusive to Elwin and Jaws/whatever
Lonnie is doing a bang up job on Bond code, albeit sllloooowwwww…
Quoted from PinMonk:Bang up? Doesn't feel special, at least not yet. But yeah, SLOOOOOOOOOOOOW.
Agree that it’s not that special yet, but with all the modes it’s getting there.
Thinking next game is the Amazing Spiderman with villian Venom.
Quoted from acupunk12:I’m sure everyone is going to be glued to their seats listening to Seth Davis since he’s such a pinball pioneer and all.
This is too funny! He knows almost zero about pinball, with his little over a year tenure. No one wants to listen to him. He’s the reason Stern is scalping us on prices for LEs and Premiums. He’s really added a lot since his arrival….
Quoted from JackG:I’m pretty sure Thunderbird is talking about Seth Davis here and liked your comment. Or am I reading that wrong?
100% liked his comment! You’re reading it right!!
Quoted from acupunk12:No he’s shit talking me.
No, your comment was right on!
Quoted from Saltimbanco:[quoted image]
Good photo of the same jerk (SD) that ruined everything he touched at Disney and now he’s doing it to Stern too. When Gary was at the helm we paid under $10k for LEs, with Davis, we are paying $3,000.00 more with no end in sight. Seth has killed the golden goose by his greed. No inflation is not to blame on this one. If inflation were the issue, then why were Pros only raised 1% and Pre/LEs such a large percentage jump? This idiot could care less about the pinball consumer, raising topper prices too. Buy an LE with topper and pay $15k, plus tax and shipping, now were at $16,5k. Yes, CEOs/Pres are responsible for those decisions, no one else.
Quoted from acupunk12:Yeah but piss off enough of your base and eventually they’ll leave you. Maybe not immediately but eventually. Hopefully one of these other companies get better at manufacturing and give us a true #2
It’s not shocking that they price gauged during the pandemic but it’s not cool the amount of greed everyone did in many industries. I just don’t understand people shrugging it off as normal, expected behavior. It’s just sad its come to people sympathizing with corporations. Hopefully the workers on the line got their salaries adjusted
Agreed, those calling it just making the most profit Stern can, are part of the problem. In the end historically, greedy corporations go down almost without exception. Point is, Seth Davis destroyed everything he touched at Disney with the same greedy cash grab idiotic mind set. There is a balance of giving value added products, equal to proportionate prices charged. Its the law of economics and stings greedy SOBs every time. Has Stern increased BOM value for Pre/LEs equal to the extra $2500 to $3500.00 being charged?
Did it payout for what Seth did before Stern? Well, Disney got rid of him didn’t they? He got greedy there too and destroyed a whole division, but that was over small ticket items, that all added up to a consumer buying base that got fed up with being fleeced by Seth. Mark my words, it’s coming again for Davis at Stern. It’s easy to raise prices when things are hot, but what about when pinball cools down and you’ve alienated most of your pinball fan base? When Pre/LE buyers begin losing or not even moving their Stern games in the used market place, they’ll suddenly stop giving Seth praise for corporate plundering and stop buying. History will assuredly repeat. Give people a great product for a decent price and they’ll stay with you. Stern has stopped doing that under the moron Davis.
Quoted from Rarehero:Your vitriol for Seth and sainthood for Gary is a bit weird. The Pro/Prem/LE concept come into being under Gary. Full featured pins went from ~$4000 in 2010 to $6000-$7000 under Gary just a few years later. Prices kept climbing year after year…it had zero to do with Seth. Remember Batman SLE for $15k? Pre-Seth. The company kept growing. They added a huge animation team, more programmers, more designers. Ultimately that’s what inched prices higher. They have people to pay.
The pinball market doesn’t function like normal products. There’s never been a “decent price”. To normies, pinball was unattainable when they were $4000 NIB. It’s a niche product with a niche audience who has proven they will pay crazy prices to own this particular product because they love it so much. Mainstream products have competition to keep prices down. Don’t wanna pay $10 for a sandwich? You can find a place to get one for $5…another for $3. That economy doesn't exist in pinball. If you MUST have a pinball, you’ll pay the price. If you can afford $10k, you can afford $12k. If you can afford $12k, you can afford $15k. No pinball company has suffered for their pricing. What kills then is manufacturing issues or just making bad themes/games. Stern hasn’t released a game that was universally viewed as terrible in a long time. They’re on a roll. As long as the product remains desirable, they have zero reason to question their pricing structure.
Say what??? What a nice misguided summation of “vitriol” fantasy. This is exactly the opposite to what I’m addressing here. Stern apologist attempt to have us buy into this kind of nonsense, but your “weird” basis is way off my friend. What illogical reasoning you’ve come up with? Why stop at 15k, because we can afford $100k? Ridiculous and illogical to the manner in which sound business practices actually work, lol.
Quoted from Sorokyl:I can't believe you aren't the CEO of a large pinball company. You've got it all figured out. I bet they fire Davis and hire you after they read this..
Now that you’re calling me out, fact is I’ve been CEO/Pres of a much bigger company than Stern could ever think of being. Nothing against Stern and pinball, but Its small potatoes to what my company has done under my direction and that’s a fact. Sheer numbers that dwarf the small niche that is pinball. Been in manufacturing a long time, but not as long as Gary. However at a many times larger worldwide scale, with manufacturing in many countries, not just the USA. Pinball is a very tough business, so I give kudos to what Gary’s achieved in his career with a very difficult high priced product.
Unlike corporate apologist, I pay attention to decisions CEOs/Pres do with their product and pricing strategies and hold their feet to the fire, just as people have done to me over the years in the same postion.
Quoted from iceman44:That would have been hysterical to watch play out.
There isn’t really anything they can do if they follow the same formula to entice me to buy a NIB game in the future at these or higher prices.
Unless it was truly a “CE” and great theme
1,000 LEs at $13k, no thanks. $9700 for a premium. Ditto
FOMO is bye bye. Plenty of great games to play
But hey, it’s still exciting any new game
Couldn’t agree more. Stern has jumped the price shark. FOMO will be DOA with distributors holding the bag on all these NIB games. Prices on the secondary market are already cooling. When more people realize their proud LE they purchased for $13k plus tax and shipping is selling on the secondary market for a little over $10k plus, (what they should have been selling for, before Stern got into the scalping business): stick a fork in FOMO. The only half decent Stern value for money is the Pro. Pre/LEs are insanely high priced. Excited to see new games and now play them on location and this is coming from a person that purchased every LE up to FF. Stern can keep their games, because now for every 3 LEs purchased, you could have another LE from not too long ago. Would have been okay with even a $1,000 price increase over GZ, but $2500 is very greedy!
Quoted from underlord:Yeah, I’m with Doug on this one. Seth Davis wants to price out 95% of the buyers that’s fine. I won’t be included in that other 5%. Jaws or not. Time to get smarter with my hobby.
Every friend (and there are many), were LE buyers. All without exception have stopped further LE purchases. Keep hearing “sold out” only to find out every LE including Bond and FF are still available.
I succumbed to Bond and FF, but now out too. No other titles other than BTTF will bring me back into NIB, when I know I will be able to get anyone of these LEs on the 2nd hand market and save as much as $3000.00. Every 3 LEs at that price savings gives almost an extra one free on the used market. Seth Davis and his baseball card trading imp are at the helm of this and it will blow up in their faces, just as it did for this same type moronic thinking SD had at Disney too.
Quoted from PinStalker:Venom = SOLD OUT!!!!
No really.......
No really Venom is not sold out. They spin that lie/yarn every time and yet, we can still easily purchase the last 2 overpriced STERN LEs NIB even though the Stern Army hype train claimed SOLD OUT!
Quoted from jbovenzi:I was checking out Stern's website today just for fun. I saw this and other wild priced stuff. And I thought that their Toppers were expensive!
[quoted image]
Now that’s a collectible right inline with Stern’s new LE pricing scheme! Come on, it’s just inflation after all. More genius Seth Davis fleecing scheme coming to fruition! Just put exclusive numbers on them and limit them to 1k and the Stern army will go wild!
Quoted from PinMonk:CE might help, but generally exit lanes for Toy Story 4 are full with 22 for sale just on Pinside. So, plan B?
I will admit that I was pretty blah on Venom in general, but Rayday on Dwight's coding team piqued my interest. Gave me something to look forward to.
Rayday should help make it interesting, as he’s full on into pinball.
Quoted from iceman44:The market will speak as you say Vino.
I’ve gotten several VenomLE emails today from Distros.
Granted, haven’t seen it yet but we all know it will be the same formula in the same box with different artwork and PF.
Stern makes great games. Over and over again.
Raising the price, never raising the bar.
That game plan is on its last legs.
I won’t pay $13k for ANY LE at 1k quantity now. Raise the price in the future?
Premium for $10k? Boat anchor in the future
The clock is ticking and the FOMO Covid bump is over
The formula has seen lower BOMs since GZ even with a 30% price gouging uptick. (Maybe Elwin knows a secret formula others don’t?) ZY beautiful artwork hiding obvious 30% less mechanical BOM. Outcome: air looks like it’s been let out of the Stern FOMO helium balloon resulting in fewer posts in the hype thread.
IMG_0825 (resized).jpeg But Stern hierarchy very happy with record profits rolling in…(deflation has not caught up to them yet).
1 week later
Stern’s worried, very worried. They trotted out Gary on the Venom stream with his new son of cash grab, Seth Davis. Did you see the look on their faces? Tells it all. Memo’s gone out that Venom demand is weak, even though it’s a good game. It’s not the game that has caused many of us to pause, it’s the price Seth, son of cash grab Stern. Stern will soon realize that the FOMO golden goose has been shot out of the sky for real this time.
Quoted from Capn12:Feeling the same way myself. I've got PF ordered, won't see it until 2024, and I don't need anything NIB. I FOMO'd Foo LE, I love it ,but let's be real....none of these are worth 13k. Time for me to sit out for a while, until common sense returns, if it ever does.
Common sense is starting to set in. Has anyone noticed how the Venom hype thread has really slowed down since the stream?
1 week later
1 month later
Quoted from LORDDREK:I think you could take the recent price increase of pretty much anything and get a similar graph.
Actually that’s false. Not even close in fact, nor one that is 43% like Stern’s! Real inflation has gone way down, Stern has shot way up and stayed way up:
IMG_1433.jpeg
Quoted from vicjw66:These two graphs are not the same. In one, you are showing Stern price increases over time. In the other you are showing the rate of inflation over time. Prices in general are still going up, just at a slower pace than before.
First graph is showing how badly Stern is ripping us off, with sudden price increase far exceeding inflation rates.
Second graph is showing real current inflation rates. Easy to see Stern has shot pricing up to the moon, not even closely related to inflation. Prices are coming down everywhere, except Stern. Tesla and Ford have lowered prices multiple times this year to remain competitive. Shouldn’t Stern do the same to get NIB stoked up again? NIB sales are really low right now and keep plunging everyday. Distros are loaded with inventory and Stern’s next new game will sit on the shelf like all the others, unless they get real about pricing.
Quoted from mostater:Can't we move this shit to it's own pricing thread? This one is not about pricing
This thread is about the next new Stern and potential game features. Pricing is the number one feature of any game.
Quoted from jeffspinballpalace:Only one of them is despised, Venom for the win. Even have a V premium ordered.
Yes, go for Venom, its got some great code coming with a fun looking layout.
Quoted from Vino:If Stern makes Stranger it’s with a much higher price tag.
Good luck
Yes, ST LE was $9k, now if introduced a mere $4k more!!!
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