You are ignoring quantity buying. Parts would drastically reduce in price for stern thus having a positive affect on profitability. Not to mention they would have more games out there and a better hold on the market than they do now. They are slipping.......

They were in a great position with market share, you would think that rather than linning thier pockets with fast cash they would have shut the door to any competition

Its very hard to move completely away from the liscensed themes. There is a reason that B/W and other manufacturers didn't. It provides immediate recognition for the public who would normally care less about pinball machines. Liscenses are attractive to everyone and not just pin heads, however I do feel a 50/50 mix would be much more appropriate. Or here is a crazy idea, Stern approach B/W and consider keeping their LE line and redo some of the huge titles, MM, TZ, MB etc. to keep the high end collectors happy and their profit margins huge.

Any decent manufacturing company should operate at 40% plus margin. I would assume they are in that range. Distributors operate around 25%, but maybe that is just the industrial automation/electrical industries that I am used to dealing with.

I agree, lay off neo. I think its a valid discussion to have. I think everyone is sick of the different versions Stern is producing coupled with the price increases. There are 1000 ways to skin a cat, they chose one of them and their customers would perfer the other 999.

I can afford to purchase every LE that comes out so that is not the issue. I don't believe Stern produces a quality product for that price range. I have no problem with JJP pricing, higher quality by far. If Stern could produce something that was worthy of their asking price, I would be all over it.

Just because I can afford to purchase an item does not mean I find a value in that item.

I often find those that mention the amount of money they have/make are often not nearly as well off as they try to impress upon people. Please don't tell me to back to college, I have two Masters. I most likely have years upon years of education that you do not.

Congrats on your 40 pin collection we are all very impressed. Purchase a few more and you will catch up. Your attitude sucks. Its nice to see your "movin on up", you have come so far from that fast food career, now get over yourself. Act like someone who deserves to be in a position that is better than most. I don't believe in measuring dicks, comparing check books or flashing money around, maybe you do. There are plenty of people on this site who come from all different backgrounds, please don't act like your the top of the food chain. New money is always so easy to spot.

It obviously annoys me when people get on thier high horse about money. It's pathetic.

Your right you did not mention an exact amount, however you go on to say that you make more than enough to build your collection to over 40 games in three years blah blah blah, and you stated this with an elitist attitude. You specifically quoted me and continued to state that people should stop complaining about what pin prices have become. You stated that the reason we complain is because we can't afford them so either shut up or go back to school/change careers so that we can.

You must understand that just because people complain about something does not necessarily mean that it correlates to a price tag. In my case, I am not complaining about the price tag. My complaints continue to be about the quality of Stern for the price.

When they were doing only one version, I feel the quality was better, now everything is rushed, unfinished and needs tweaking right out of the box. Don't get me wrong there has never been a company that produced the perfect unit right out of the box, but it seems like Stern is letting that get away from them and rather quick. Try finishing the code, ensuring the playfield is put together in a manner that I don't have to tighten things down when I receive the game, and for god's sake why not try and get creative and produce a theme that they don't license.

I don't complain about prices of pins, it really doesn't make a difference to me because I have built an inventory and so I sell pins and buy pins. I sell pins for much more than I think they are worth and I feel I overpay for machines as they come in. To me, its a wash.

All in all, if you want to make remarks about pinsiders and give your opinion of why they can or can not do something, try not directing it at an individual. The results will never be useful to the site or to your ego.

1. Its not very hard to discern an elitist attitude from what was written.

2. Durabilty is definately part of quality, but the materials alone are better in my opinion than the stern stuff. Again just my opinion and take of WOZ.

I am the same individual in person as online. I have never said I am going to kick someones ass or threaten them. I just prefer to call things as I see them and for those who have worked with me know that is the case. As for the 5.5% the distributors make, that is sad. You can't even borrow money with a business line and make money. I run a company with almost zero debt but we have been in business for 50 years. I don't know how some of these distributors make it on 5.5, you couldn't get me to move something around my warehouse for that.