EDITED TO NOT BE A DCK

I need to ask this first before I cast an opinion especially the opinion I cast.

What are you going to do with this machine? Are you buying and flipping it? or Buying and keeping for 5 years? What are you afraid happened while the game was on the floor and in the box?

To me a NIB is just that. As long as it has never been opened, you wanted it, the price is right, then I wouldn't have a problem with it.

Battery leakage won't be a problem with that pin anyway.

Depends whether there were any fixes to newer NIB due to known problems with earlier NIB such as light board issues.

When I picked up my NIB Mustang directly from the Stern factory it had been sitting in the box in storage for a few months.
So.....
No, I did not care.

No

My advice: If it's really important, ask before you buy. If you don't get the answer you want, move to the next distributor.

As long as it's played before the expiration date, all should be well.

Answer to query: Nope, not a single little bit.

I am not sure why it would matter, it's not going to spoil.

As long as it is stored in a temperature controlled environment, not a problem for me. Planking can occur if there are wide temperature swings and you won't see it until you open the box.

I'd want to know. Some games have changes made over time. Think about the difference between getting a first run LOTR and a last run. Another would be WOZ where an early one could have playfield and board problems that have since been corrected.

This is definatly one good reason. I'm going through a similar situation right now. St pro and twd are being made hopefully as we speak. I've had the money since the beginning of dec to buy. Problem is my distributor dosnt have any. Several distributors do and the prices are good, but I decided to wait it out for the new run for the reason above and the fact I wanna try and keep my purchase local. It's been tough wait since I've seen both machines pop up for sale nib, and slightly used. Besides any bugs being worked out on the newer models, I feel that with the later build dates if it turns out I don't like the machines it'll be more believable that they have low plays than trying to get rid of a machine from 2014 and trying to explain how it only has a hundred plays. Not sure how valid these reasons are especially when I wake up every morning knowing I can have these machines right now and I dont. But after this long I feel I gotta just wait it out.

I'm sure you'd be pissed to get an attack from Mars nib from 1995 or whatever

I think we are talking nib that are still being made. Not sure getting an afm nib would piss anybody off.

Only if there were known, unfixable, issues like the cloudy window in AC/DC.

It may actually be better to get the older NIB game for 1 simple reason -> the playfield clear coat would have had more time to cure/harden.

wasn't TWD one that changed fomr SAM to Spike at some point?

I personally want to most recnet off the line when given the choice. Reality is that over time things get refined on the production line. Also, reality is that the more time a game is sitting around the more opportuntity for things to happen... Did it experience big temp/humidity swings? How many times has the box been moved/dropped? Crap happens. More time = more possible crap.

For a game currently being produced, I woudl try and get one mnore recently built unless there was a specific reason you want the older style (i.e. IM with real wood head and ability to change lights vs crapy metal head and light boards.)

I noticed when playing a newer run Walking Dead that the artwork around the drop target and well walker areas were slightly different. Maybe I'm just crazy, but I'm pretty sure they were, so perhaps a few other minor adjustments happened to the new runs as well. Personally I'd go for a new run TWD if I were buying it NIB.

Pretty sure it started on SAM and is still SAM.

OP - Wouldn't bother me one bit if I'm buying from a distributor. I believe the warranty starts when you buy the game anyways. Buying an old NIB would only concern me if bought from a private party as you can not guarantee it was stored properly.

Bought a NIB TWD from GEX on Dec 2015. Date on machine is from Dec 2014. No issues at all. No regrets.

Yes if there are changes that I want. I got a NIB Met Pro and wanted the later run with LEDs. My guy was able to accommodate my request. Otherwise, probably not.

I feel the same way. I woild not be bothered by it. People seek out nib BBB, Cactus Canyon, MM, etc., all the time. If found those eould be decades old. This is a good thing lol!

When I received my nib walking dead prem 2 months ago its born on date was actually dec of 2014 lol. Still nib tho so I dont think it really matters and it had all the known fixes Iinstalled all ready .

Just worked on a Premium last night... it had the Spike light boards