Good enough to be my first NIB purchase!

Naysayers beware, there are plenty of people who like Sterns latest release. Myself included! I am admittedly a Mustang fan, but not a fanatic or fanboy. I also am quite new to pins, with my only other at this time being a project Space Invaders I brought back to life recently. My wife gave her blessing for me to get my second pin (as long as it wasn't a project) and I narrowed my choice down to TSPP or Sterns just released Mustang Pro.

I write this while at the 2014 TPF in Frisco, TX. I have had all weekend long to play over 400 games, including several TSPP's and Mustang Pros. My wish list grew tremendously these last few days to include MB, IJ (wms), POTC, TFTC, TZ and a few others. Thankfully there were no deals to be had on any of those titles so I kept my funds intact to buy the Mustang Pro.

At first glance the playfield seems kind of empty, especially when compared to some other recent Sterns, and perhaps it is. The artwork seems to be a little ho-hum compared to others as well. How about game play? Well I'm not good enough (yet) to appreciate a deep ruleset, nor can I tell if the code is 'finished'. What I do know is that I like it and isn't that why any of us play (or buy) a game, because we like it?

Of course it is. Nobody has a favorite game that they hate the look, lighting, art, layout and rules of. So conversely if you like the look, lighting, art, layout and rules of a game wouldn't that make it a contender to be a favorite of yours? You bet it would! Even if others don't like it? Sure, why not, because for any game out there there is always going to be another one that's better in some (or several) ways.

So when I finally had a chance to play the Mustang Pro, I had a lot going on in the back of my mind. Will it play decently? How does it compare to other games I like? Can I afford to buy one? Where will I buy one? Can I play a two player game by myself without the people in line behind me noticing? (Nope).

From my first plunge I was hooked. The vroom vroom, the squealing tires, the jackpot jackpot JACKPOT of multiball, the fun callouts, and even the lame song selection all helped solidify my decision that this game could (should) be my next pin and my first NIB purchase. Over the last three days my scores have steady risen from about 1 million to just over 13 million, dismal for some but I'm happy with my progress (especially considering most of my games were multi-player games with long waits between games).

I really hoped to go home from TPF with a new pin. I even brought down an empty trailer with the hopes of buying (or winning) something to bring back in it. I bid on several in the auction, but alas with taxes and buyers premium added in there were no real deals to be had (sorry to the folks that won auctions and disagree with me, but 'a deal' is subjective). Ultimately I ended up ordering my new Mustang Pro from an online vendor and supporter of Pinside.

Now the hardest part begins, the wait for my new pin to arrive! I'll update my story and rating once I've got a few hundred games on it.