Stern Pinball

"if you ordered a Godzilla premium today, guess when you're being told you're going to get your game, you might not get your machine until November of next year"

Stern Pinball has a serious one-year manufacturing backlog problem that will make 2022 brutal

"maybe we should be telling Stern Pimba why can't all the L virus look that good, maybe I shouldn't have to spend 20 grand to get L virus to look that good, I should be able to spend 10"

"There's one thing that is just so embarrassing so sad looking and that's that tiny little display between the speakers stern Come on we know that an LCD display is like 30 bucks at most and this is still a 4500 dollar item"

Stern's tiny display on home games is embarrassing for $4500 price point

"I think Stern pinball is going to bake into this new system. A lot of different revenue streams and micro transactions as ways to get you to have to keep spending money on your pinball machine well after you buy it"

Stern Insider Connected will be used to extract more money from home collectors through microtransactions

"This is what pinball is supposed to be. It's supposed to be attractive and I do think when you look at these modern Stern machines with all of these art packages sure we can nitpick but for the most part these things do pull us in. They do look great. They look better than all the games from the 90s."

Modern Stern artwork is colorful, bright and superior to 90s pinball art

"Stern sells thousands of each title, and we really don't see many people having a lot of quality issues with Stern. So I would argue probably that Stern is the best quality pinball machine. And if you look at the amount of games they sell, I don't go into Stern threads and see page after page of like issues. We're seeing that more with Jersey Jack."

Stern has better quality than Jersey Jack based on issue frequency

"I think Stern needs to do a much better job showing us these games for the first time. Because when we see them, our first impression is forged by these videos that wash all the colors out, and they don't do anything to get you excited."

Stern's marketing and reveal videos are horrible and don't do justice to their games

"when you look at what JJP is putting into their games it justifies the price when you look at what Stern is putting into their machines it doesn't justify the price... there's not nearly the level of craftsmanship in a Stern machine as a Jersey Jack machine and now they cost the exact same price"

Godzilla's pricing doesn't justify the value compared to Jersey Jack machines

"we also can't go back and forget that Jersey Jack Pinball gave us the greatest launch ever with Guns N' Roses. The Guns N' Roses launch video and the excitement around that game and how they drop that game on the world is still. So many levels above what Stern does with their launches."

Jersey Jack's Guns N' Roses launch was levels above what Stern does

"I think it's safe to say that after Black Knight and I mean this, after Black Knight, Stern pinball will most likely never have a bad theme again."

After Black Knight, Stern will most likely never have a bad theme again

"But Stern's going to win. Stern always wins. And the reason they win is because they can manufacture."

Stern consistently wins because they can manufacture and deliver games on time, unlike other companies with constant delays

"I think it was long overdue. I think it's been coming for a while"

Stern's $600 Pro, $1000 Premium/LE price increases are justified and overdue

"as everyone else waits and does nothing. There was a tiny window of opportunity in which stern had no new games on the line. Mandalorian's been out for a few months and what has everybody else done? They've been asleep at the wheel"

Stern Pinball dominates through consistent releases while competitors sleep

"$500 increase on the pro a $750 increase on the premium and they are deciding right now on the LE's whether they will raise The price by 1,000 or 1500 bucks"

Stern pricing will increase significantly across all models

"if you're gonna charge me Stern Ten thousand dollar plus for an LE version of the game you got to make it limited 750 is not limited... I think 500 needs to be the cut off on all LE machines"

Stern should limit LEs to 500 units, not 750

"Unfortunately, we're about to see a stern increase in price. I'm hearing that stern machines are going to go up $500 across the board. And so now a stern LE is going to be $10,000 with no topper. Two loaded stern LE machines are now going to set you back $20,000 to $24,000. This isn't the hobby you guys all fell in love with."

Stern Pinball price increases make games too expensive

"This is why Stern Pinball just dominates. By the time you actually have time to study the game and see if there's anything in it you love or hate. It doesn't matter. It's in your house. They've taken your money and you've got the game"

Stern Pinball dominates because they actually ship products quickly unlike other manufacturers

"stern pinball for as big as they are it is a little cookie cutter another comic book another movie another dad rock band at some point it gets old it gets stale"

Stern Pinball is cookie-cutter with repetitive themes and doesn't connect with the community

"They robbed spooky of their ability to make their dream theme and I think it's somewhat disgusting. I do. I know it's business. I know it was a shrewd business move but it would be like if I had a pinball company and you know me as Kaneda and you know that I want to make the Akira game and Jody Dankberg walks in and takes the Akira theme from me"

Stern taking the Godzilla license from Spooky is disgusting

"where is the magic under the glass where is it where is the magic in Mandalorian under the glass I am far more excited to look at these spooky games than I am when I look at Mandalorian at least spooky tried to do stuff that was super creative and super unique"

Mandalorian lacks magic under the glass and Stern just mailed it in

"I don't want to see people who buy a Stern product have to spend two to three thousand dollars to get a topper on a machine they just bought from us in the last few years"

Stern should continue manufacturing accessories people want and not force customers to pay inflated secondhand prices

"Imagine if people bought Mandalorian and we got Carl Weathers on just 50 machines to personally call out each of those owners by name and give them a shout out in their game"

Stern should create a platinum series with unique mechs and personalized celebrity callouts for ultra-high-end market

"Stern pinball machines just feel better. They just shoot better. They don't have as much in them. They're not as interesting from an experiential standpoint... But Stern pinball machines just feel better and they just shoot better and I understand why so many people are in love with Stern machines because of the way they feel."

Stern machines feel better than Jersey Jack despite having less content

"They have got all of you... They have brought you to this place where the stuff you value... All that stuff cost them nothing. And they've been able to charge you thousands of dollars more for stuff that is pure vanity"

Stern Pinball has successfully manipulated consumers to pay thousands more for cosmetic upgrades that don't improve gameplay

"I hear that Stern Pinball is raising the prices on all of its titles by $500. That's coming next... We are going to be at the point pretty soon where a Stern LE is $12,500."

Stern Pinball is raising prices by $500 across all titles

"They had playfield issues and guess what they did they stopped production during Jurassic Park and they fixed it"

Stern stopped production to fix playfield issues while Jersey Jack hasn't

"stern will do what stern does they will simply crank out games with very low bomb. They will not put as much as they can into the games"

Stern doesn't put enough into their games despite good themes and manufacturing

"They walked over to the big red button on the manufacturing line and slammed their fist into it and they stopped the production and they changed the artwork on the games and they fixed the problem"

Stern Pinball praised for properly handling playfield issues by stopping production

"there will be one more cornerstone game from stern Which will be out in October? Okay, so look for Godzilla in October and that is what is happening at stern pinball You heard it here on Kaneda."

Prediction: Godzilla will be released by Stern in October as their final cornerstone game.

"Stern is not the crem de la crem de pinball. They are not putting the most into their games. And so when a Stern Reveal happens, it is more like a Honda Reveal than it is a Ferrari Reveal. And when Jersey Jack reveals a game, you're just that much more excited, because you know they're going to put that much more into it."

Jersey Jack Pinball games are like Ferrari reveals while Stern games are like Honda reveals

"These games continue to come out in such a boring and pedestrian way. And once again, right, we got the crappy cell phone picture was the first thing we got to see."

Stern Pinball's marketing approach is boring and pedestrian compared to Jersey Jack Pinball's launch videos

"I think we've sort of just hit where we're going to hit with what what Stern can do with the amount of money Stern puts into these games... Unless they're willing to invest more in these games. Unless they're willing to give more money to their designers. Unless they're willing to give more money to their engineering team. We're just not going to see anything much more impressive than this."

Stern Pinball has hit their ceiling - they won't improve without investing more money

"The reason why they are not streaming this game for 10 days is most likely because they want to sell every 750 of those LEDs, and they want to help their distributors sell every single one before anyone can back out because they saw something they didn't like."

Stern is deliberately not streaming The Mandalorian for 10 days to sell all 750 LEs before people can back out

"they are watching people spend $2500 on black night toppers... if stern wanted to take care of you as a black night or a stern customer Why won't they just make more of their own accessories?"

Stern doesn't care about customers getting ripped off - evidenced by not making more Black Knight toppers

"they eventually are going to turn on their internet connectivity to all of their games on spike two And charge you a monthly feed to connect to the network that's coming next"

Stern will eventually charge monthly fees for internet connectivity on Spike 2 games

"when you put a jersey jack game next to a stern machine It is absolutely comical that those two things could even be close in price"

Stern machines don't justify high pricing compared to Jersey Jack - it's 'comical' they could be close in price

"They are the greatest pinball company on planet earth right now... what they do at the efficiency they do it is just incredible."

Stern Pinball is the greatest pinball company on earth right now due to their efficiency and business model

"but May 11th is the date I am hearing stern is planning to reveal this thing Now that means we might get a tease on May 4th and they might roll it out and then have a bigger reveal the following week So we'll see what happens, but you heard it here May 11th is the date that Kaneda is hearing"

Prediction: Stern is planning to reveal their game on May 11th.

"So we all should be very thankful that stern is here to sort of keep pinball prices down I know this sounds crazy and counterintuitive to what we've been saying about stern is they're driving prices up The truth is they're not Without stern pinball prices would be astronomical"

Stern Pinball is actually keeping pinball prices DOWN, not driving them up

"Stern gets the best themes in pinball. But it is often the case when we see a new Stern machine, we are somewhat underwhelmed. And we often don't feel like, wow, they went the extra mile with these games."

Stern gets the best themes but often disappoints with execution and value

"If you put a Jersey Jack LE next to a Stern, you can't tell me they should be priced the same."

Jersey Jack LE quality far exceeds Stern LE quality despite similar pricing

"the majority of them the majority of them are not allowed to come on Kaneda's pinball podcast... Ed Robertson won't come on the show... Ed's afraid to come on the show because of how it will make him look to his buddies at Stern"

Most Stern employees won't come on Kaneda's show

"I know they've done such a good job of keeping these titles a secret but the secret might be out of the bag and the last person any of these companies want to have in his possession The title of their next game is Kaneda's Pinball Podcast"

Kaneda claims to know upcoming Stern and Spooky titles but won't fully spoil them

"My won't Stern Pinball make more toppers for these games. I really don't understand it... every single topper is out of stock. And then you go on the second hand market and you see these damn things trading for well above what they're worth."

Stern should make more toppers to meet demand instead of allowing scalping

"I absolutely don't think you're getting anywhere near what you're paying for in a Stern LE. They know what they're doing. They're doing the smart thing. They're getting this hype train going with these LEDs. The FOMO is what drives their LEDs"

Stern LE pricing strategy is a cash grab exploiting FOMO

"how bad did stern miss releasing godzilla right now because if you look at the world right now king Kong versus godzilla or godzilla versus king Kong this movie is huge the excitement for it is huge"

Stern missed huge opportunity not releasing Godzilla during current movie hype

"This was the ultimate middle finger to Stern Pinball... it's Stern Pinball's price gouging of the industry... we are telling them that we don't want your overpriced crap"

Stern's expensive toppers are price gouging and should be criticized

"Before you know it you're going to look at your Stern receipt you're going to look at your bill and it's going to be around 12,000 dollars for a Stern machine where the bomb is around $3,000 and they're not putting way more into these games like Jersey Jack."

Stern is strategically pricing games to reach $12,000 through accessories and toppers

"Talk about absolute Pinball world domination. The market share they have they're in a completely different universe than everybody else... I would say this that quantity does not equal quality and I would argue that even though Stern has made 28 games, they have not made 28 masterpieces. They have barely made any masterpieces amongst those 28 games."

Stern Pinball dominates the market with 28 games since 2015 vs all competitors, but quantity doesn't equal quality - they've barely made any masterpieces

"I don't need all of your games to be great I don't need all of your games to be masterpieces but when it comes down to its stern at least once a year you should create a game that is a level above anything you've ever done before... you've made enough money now's the time to at least make masterpieces"

Stern needs to make at least one masterpiece per year instead of focusing only on profits