Consider how many people bought before playing it, for starters.

My first Elwin game and play the hell out of it. Selling looks sort of normal...no giveaways, some NIB a bit more than original price, etc.

I really like it, but don't keep up w selling trends that much....great game, imho.

Thanos sold me on this game. But I didnt feel like Thanos or any one character was integrated very well. Lack of good call outs, interesting music and good animations. For instance, one screen when you first start playing is an empty trophy room which makes you wonder why it matters to the game, its like your stuck on an achievements sub menu. Shots were really fun however. The flow and the combos, fun. The more I played it, the harder it was for the shot to complete on Captain Marvel and the prem feature felt a little wasted. Whats really a turn off to his games is the shot counters, we dont need stats in your face when playing pinball.

Initially the game seemed extremely hard to beat the main bad guys. Code changed, it got a little easier. Made me want a Deadpool. Got a Deadpool, seems like a much more defined and polished game that does heros vs villians. And its fun too, not super serious like Avengers.

Unfortunately playing pinball with buddies has been pretty low during this pandemic. I didnt play any multiplayer on it which could have been more interesting. It generally builds more interest in games.

I would say that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has seen the same phenomenon and in greater number than AIQ. Our AIQ is a keeper for now and the public likes it. We are looking at the TMNT too since prices have come down and again a good theme for the arcade

LZ and GnR come to mind... pinball has always been dominated by the latest and greatest craze. Many games have traveled the same path, some to make a resurgence and others that's shall not be named.

Here's the thing in my opinion, its not a phenomenon and definitely nothing new. Sometimes it takes 50 to 100 plays at home to realize, ok I like it but that's enough. I think many bought it on the Elwin factor over the theme and that usually doesn't last, I just remember being a teenage long haired punk combing bowling alleys and pool halls, local arcades looking for new stuff to play. Even now rarely do I get past a few 100 games before its time. Man I have thrown away a lot of money buying new or used pins for the sake of playing something new only to realize and in a short while that I'm done with it. Buts that's one of the main fun factors in pinball. new game to play that is not throwing away money.

Have you guys noticed the correlation of the amount of new collectors joining the obsession and how 95% of them buy the newest game to add to the collection. I keep seeing new collections with AIQ, Jurassic Park, and Iron Maiden/Star Wars, etc.
Buy a game because it is the latest and greatest-but it turns out the latest and greatest is not always the best. Playing dozens of games and realizing it is not your cup of tea. Makes you want to actual get some time on a game before pulling the trigger or look at some older titles.

AIQ is a great theme, I did not care for Comic art style, animations, call-outs and layout. I will take X-MEN shitty beast and Avengers Hulk hang-ups any day of the week over AIQ.

I noticed the same thing. My conclusion was that it wasn't so hot and people regretted the purchase. I, myself, havent played one yet.

There is nothing new here. This happens with nearly every new machine. People buy the new and shiny without playing it, then if they don't love it move it on quickly. Usually the second or third owner is where a machine settles in for awhile because by then the buyer knows they actually want the game, and are not driven by FOMO or the need to have the newest machine. It may be more noticeable recently because of COVID and other factors leading to more first time buyers and also even less people having a chance to play a game before buying than before. There are also more new titles being pumped out faster than ever before, or at least any time in the last few decades, so the cycle may be going even faster than usual.

Either way, I wouldn't look at it as an indication of the quality of AIQ, or any game. It happens all the time.

One of the least inspired theme/theme integrations of the last few years

I know someone that bought the LE sold it (lots of manufacturing defects, but was all slowly fixed), then got a PRO and sold that a few days later. He told me it was "borefest"

Just my opinion, but I don’t find it to be a snooze at all and think it shoots great. I agree with the theme-integration comment though: to me it seems like a great design that had the wrong theme dropped onto it. That opinion might just be due to me not caring for the theme though, its hard to know.

Buy before playing seems to be a strong reason. Then again with limited location play people jump on the next big thing out there hoping for the best but soon realize it’s not going to happen in a short period. I’m sure this pin will develop more than what it is. I haven’t played it but viewing videos hope there is revision with call outs and video like others have mentioned.

You are right... nothing new. And just like clockwork, the same post always pops up a few months after sales start, asking why so many people are selling theirs.

For me, the theme integration is fantastic... but the music and callouts just aren’t there to pull you into it as much as I’d like. It’s been said before, but try watching any of the Star Wars movies without the iconic John Williams music and you see what I mean. Stern and the people making the game did a great job with what they had to work with, but I’m sure real voice actors and movie soundtracks just wouldn’t fit the BOM. I believe there are a few out there working to correct this with some updated enhanced code (stern licensing be damned). EDIT: I totally understand that this is not based on the movie and I actually love the comic version... but I believe the sense of being pulled into the theme would be easier with some upgraded audio.

And always draws the same amount of negative speculation (lacking this, lacking that, etc.). If we started a 180 degree thread "Why have the vast majority of ( generally any title) LE pins still being held onto in this timeframe", probably get about 3 posts.

I sure wish these new titles would come up for sale in Denver! I have a AIQ NIB Premium on order, being told Feb.....

TBH , it's just me constantly bumping my for sale ad.

Great game , bought for lockdown , now rick and morty coming if people want reasons.

One of the best shooting game of all time . Callouts and subway mech utilization are the weaker points of it.

So....you will be listing it for sale in early March?(not sure your price gouging resale practices will work this time around)

every time a Stern releases a new title a significant number hit the market due to preorders or people's financials changing. Sterns sells a lot more machines than any other company, so these new releases will tend to flood the marketplace
Does AIQ really appear to be getting resold more than TMNT or ST or other recent Sterns?

Well, the same thing happened with Turtles, but worse. Because again, a lot bought before they played, and many owners found that Turtles was just too hard a game for them. And then Stern made things worse by releasing Avengers a bit earlier than expected. Not early for a normal year, but early for a pandemic year. Once Avengers was announced, all the steam and hype around Turtles just flat-out died.

Steve Ritchie says “hold my beer”

I think a big part of the problem is that in the current Covid world a lot fewer people have an opportunity to play first. Everything is based upon streaming and first impressions. So more people decide to take a chance before playing than perhaps normal.

There are also a steady stream of releases with good themes so turnover is to be expected. When your home arcade is full - it’s full and something has to move. So if something isn’t top of your keeper list then it has to move on as you may not have enough time to really give it a chance because the next new thing arrives.

Anyone who moves on from the game before the code is polished is a bit silly to me...

I like my premium. Is it my favorite game? No. Is it staying for awhile? Yes.

I’ve seen a few Tmnt and AIQ LE for sale nib at close to new price IOW not for a profit. Seems like some people bought the LE for flipping and got caught holding the bag.

Imo very few LEs are worth more than original selling price.

I have an AIQ pro I picked up that had less than 100 plays and the original owners only unboxed it weeks before. I say keep it coming. With a small collection I love being able to pick up a pretty much new game, play it for six months, and then be able to sell it for maybe a couple hundred dollar loss.

As long as the market stays up, there are multiple news games coming out every year, and I can pick it up almost new for mid $5k then I will probably keep switching it out every six months. I think it has a lot more to do with that than anything regarding the actual gameplay.

I seem to view pins as a guest in my house. If they are crude they never get invited in. If one does get invited and becomes boring due to gameplay, I politely ask them to leave! There have been a few I would like to invite back for a family reunion!

Theme kills it for me, I had a chance to play a LE at the arcade last week and walked right past it to LZ and GNR. I am insanely bored with super hero themes.

I don't blame Keith or whoever coded it. Its just a lame theme and I hope it goes away. What a great playing pin with a good layout and what did I get? fuckin Superhero's doing battle. Its sucks. Give the man something to work with like I don't know, just spit ballin here......................Terminator '84

Well, to add to my earlier post, a 62 year old man can’t invite Ninja Turtles into his house.... doesn’t look right.

Good I hope they have to take a big loss. Fuckfaces that they are.

It’s a fun game and cool theme. Theme would’ve been a total home run if they had made it with the classic comic art and story of the Infinity Gauntlet. With that art style, story, and theme I would be an owner and not selling.

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It stinks.

I’ve only played the pro. I enjoyed it. Has some fun shots and kept my interest. The art is pretty meh and the animations are bland at best. Otherwise, fun game.

Bought it site unseen/unplayed based on the Elwin factor. It has it in spades in the shots/flow/ramps/layout. For me the Elwin factor is also about rules and scoring. Maiden and JP are awesome in those regards. I had a really tough time wading through the theme to tease those out of this game and ultimately sold it. I don't know if it was indeed the theme or the ruleset itself, but i had a really tough time connecting with this one. Code can save it. For me so far it hasn't. Would pick it up again down the road if it comes together in the end though!

I'm not sure where I stand on Elwin just yet. I think iron maiden is awesome and jurrasic park is over rated. I do wonder, however, if my impression is sorta skewed by stern's lack of BOM. As I said, I hadn't played AIQ, but the callouts and overall theme integration seem sorta crappy. I'd like to play it.

I'm cool with people liking the game, but I laughed when I seen it go #1 on the Top 100 and I didn't believe people who rated it really believed themselves that it was better than Jurassic Park or Iron Maiden. It's great to be an Elwin fan, just think it's another thing all together to say the game is better than Monster Bash.

The Pinside Effect. Games that come out to huge hype usually cool down pretty quickly (JP is the only one recently that has bucked that trend, I think). Games that come out that are initally considered turds usually end up being appreciated years later and thus sought after. That's why I buy nothing but turds. When Pinside says it's shit, that's the game for me. Hasn't failed me yet.

sry man shit is shit

Incorrect. SW, GOT, and STh were all destroyed when they came out. Not many people consider those games shit anymore. You a little negative today?

Of course they are its a superhero theme, Spiderman sucked and the vault was beyond suck. OG avengers, shit. Deadpool could have been great but they didn't use movie quotes, don't get me started on GOTG. I mean almost every game is plagued by horrendously bad pinball callouts. regardless of theme. Thankfully we get the odd gem like Maiden or StarWars.

Are you starting the rumor for the next stern?

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4th beer. (probably ) I look at pinside trashing munsters...I like it. and like you, am hoping that it rebounds. BUT, pniside doesn't usually allow that to happen..I wish you luck my friend! and Yes, I was funning' ....no harm meant.

AIQ has a great layout, great graphics.
And I am a Avengers fan.
But I choose JP instead.
AIQ gives me a skate themed fealing.
There are no "Avenger" mechanical toys.
All is great but for me it
looks like they change the theme later on.
It's designed before JP and sold later, why?.
Maybe iam wrong.

So many Stern games go from meh to WOW after 1 year of code updates. It is what it is...

correct! I look at batman 66 le and hope...

Not if they do Godzilla based on the 70s stuff with real footage and voice work.