Luckily for me the themes they are putting out these days I'm not obsessive over so it doesn't really matter.
GB I didn't like so i sold it...not a big deal and I didn't feel like it personally wronged me in some weird way.

I play them all. And Dialed In is about the only one I can relate to. The theme is new to me. But that's what I like in a new pinball game.

For older themes Dirty Hairy and Terminator 2 did not do it for me. The art was bad and didn't like the game play.

Star Wars... I'm borderline angry about that one lol

Seriously?!

It's a Chicago Coin pinball game for Chrissake! Need I say more?

TBL isn't an example of "theme disappointment". To the contrary, the game's integration of theme is great! Because of this, Dutch Pinball's failure to deliver the game as promised is even more disappointing, but that's a separate matter.

Couldn't agree more with this, lower playfield bowling alley, upper playfield car park, car bash toy, rug, the white russian, fantastic artwork, call outs, narrator - just superb theme integration. So sad what happened.

What? No way! Do tell!!

Dear Stern,

Thanks for ruining:

Transformers

Game of Thrones

Batman Dark Knight

Xmen

The Walking Dead

Indiana Jones

Star Wars

Yes it is that bad.

Avengers and Hobbit.....and I have both of them.
Avengers is too clunky and The Hobbit isn't clunky enough!

b45efa41300b83e029fae98d6b7b03091908b90c7da9f258c8b6c8eb6e2fd81c (resized).jpg

As someone who grew up with the Transformers, I expected a pin to rock. It doesn't.

The first modern Stern I played was The Rolling Stones. I expected a modern pin based on music to rock too. But it didn't.

Avengers for Stern
Hobbit for JJP

I remember being really excited to see the Star Trek pin as a kid when it was first released particularly with all the crew characters on the back glass.

That turned to complete disappointment when I heard the crap sounds. I was expecting all the music and sound effects from the TV series not some random bleeps.

Expectations a little high for 1979

I love my 24, and actually think it is well integrated. I love the hurry ups and wide open playfield. I also love my CSI and think it is a well integrated theme.

Most disappointing to me is Hobbit and Star Wars. I still have not given up completely on Star Wars, I am hoping it will improve and grow on me. WWE does nothing for me.

Probably need to mention Jetsons as well-huge money grabbing failure with theme integration-imo.

Aerosmith. When I heard it was coming out, I was 100% going to buy it. But it’s just too similar to KISS. Even after playing it on location a few times, I was disappointed. It’s a shame because I love Aerosmith and love music themed pins.

Rollercoaster Tycoon! It's a great, fun concept, how did it wind up so dry and corporate? What a mess.

I never thought about this. Yeah, this was stupid, I'm now mad about it. It needs re-made with air-borne balls over crashing ramps and skid mark magnets.

A lot of people were disappointed with the newer IJ since the B/W was so awesome.

I wonder how many of them will buy the new Elvira pin sight unseen?

be lined up around the block.

Even if it's another B'66 $15k with an application buncha bullshit?

24 isn't even in the same league as the Hobbit....SW has been a big disappointment yet enjoyable

Oh no I was thinking just a normal release....Elvira is another one of those weird runs? You'd probably have a good chunk of people to buy them right away, whcih is all they need what that cost I guess?

Oh, and BM 66 is absolute junk in my opinion.

Gotta go with Popeye.

Only put a hand full of games on Batman 66 on location. I did not really know any rules . The is not rule card on machine even the basics not sure why . I did complete / collect Bat Girl mode and put her in jail. The film clips were cool on the LCD . Very fun mode . Left a good impression on me. I will add that the location Batman 66 almost all inserts had bad crazing . And for compare value . They have JJP The Hobbit . Every single insert had crazing as well on Hobbit . An both ramp flaps were curled up off the playfield on hobbit .

Last October around this time a thread like this would have reeked of DI.

What a difference a year makes.

Pirates of the Caribbean.

I actually like the game just fine, the ship is a cool toy, and the Tortuga multi ball is really fun, but I was disappointed how generic it was, and especially that it was totally lacking the movie soundtrack (licensing, I know... fixable now thanks to Pinball Browser!) and the super generic call outs with the occasional terrible Jack Sparrow impersonation.

There are worse games (Stern IJ, I'm looking at you) but I feel like Pirates really missed the theme.

Stern IJ

JJP TH

Your not, GOT is awesome. So many ways to attack and play this game. Sure the playfield art mediocre but you don't play the art, you play the game/shots.

Well, if you're nitpicking this, Dolly Parton was out about the same time and didn't even have two saucers next to each other to lock balls in. I mean, they have the place for them on the left of the PF. Theme fail.

Everyone

Depends on how much worse Stern's cost cutting/BoM cutting gets. But probably less people than would have 3 years ago before Ghostbusters PF ghosting and cabinet splitting, etc. I'll wait and see. Premium is fine after they're out. I don't think I'm alone with the wait-and-see method.

I'd encourage you to play it again - it's got a lot more going for it than KISS

Disagree. Outside of the Elevator Multiball intro and (maybe) the toybox gimmick, KISS Prem is the better game at the moment. Scoring makes more sense and has more multiball modes, too. I'm not alone - Aerosmith Prem was a dog on location on the route I help with. Earned less than XMEN LE (which is more popular than one would imagine).

If the key phrase is "epic fail" then it's easy

Magic Girl, epic turd

At least you can play all the other games mentioned

Rob zombie......jetsons......to home brew for me....

From a "fun" perspective or an earnings perspective?

for me....The Hobbit. Owned one, tried to play it a lot....Had to force myself to play it......Stopped playing it.....Traded it for WOZ. Can't stop playing that one.

Funny I felt the same way about my WOZ...now the only people who play it are the kids....TH is epic

Avengers easily wins - I want to LOVE that game so desparately but I just don't.... I think that it had the potential to be great (a different and creative layout, the hulk seems fun and inventive, tesseract etc) but there are just so many miscues in the game it seems like it never got beyond the initial rough draft layout of design....Breaks my heart to this day.

tell us the truth, how do you really feel?

If you have a KISS Prem to compare directly with, KISS Prem is more fun than Aerosmith, IMO. Aerosmith not having band callouts hurts the experience, too. From an earnings perspective, KISS positively KILLED Aerosmith at the locations I help with on route. The main reason it only lasted about 3 months. The new game bump barely lasted a month. Playfield finish was gorgeous on the Aerosmith Premiums, though. Can't fault that.

I don't think people were mad that Stern didn't pull out all of the stops ... It was more like they added stops and jacked up the price. I really like the game, but it is not an $8500 machine!!!

When TH was unveiled at Expo a few years ago I was disappointed as well. Literally walked away shaking my head. How could such a deep awesome trilogy be summed up in such a bare playfield?

Bought WOZ. Was so impressed with JJP quality and innovation that I decided to take another look at TH.

Bought the game, learned the rules and fell in love. The rule set is a masterpiece in my opinion. The way the targets interplay throughout the 31 modes is genius. This is a battle game, just like the trilogy. To fill the playfield with toys trying to represent nine hours worth of film might have done it an injustice. Create strategy and make us work for it. I think it was an awesome concept

Couple this with solid shots, beautiful artwork and a display that is best in class and you have my favorite game after 25 years of collecting.

Just my opinion of course and respect that many pinheads feel differently. But with all the votes, I wanted to provide the alternate perspective. Have had my share of A+ titles and simply love this machine.

Iron Maiden... it should have been about the band
Stern Star Wars... initially at least, it just hasn't wowed me like I expected it to
Streetfighter 2... epic videogame, epic pinball fail
Stern KISS... this should have been fantastic and it's a huge bummer
Austin Powers... such great movies and source material, I liked the look and style, but the game was a bummer
Avatar... just what it could have been

Big Dick. I expected more toys. :O

X/Men
IJ Stern
Avengers
GoT

Wow, I am seriously shocked at that! I've got to imagine the KISS name recognition (and vigilance of the KISS army) help them out a bit there. I don't feel like KISS has the shots and the cool factor that AS does. Not that I've played either of them extensively, I suppose