Stern Pinball

"Here's the thing that I think has happened is Stern's lost a lot of the base. The core people that are just pinheads that used to buy every new Stern and a lot of those people, they're just burned. They're tired. They're burnt out of losing so much money."

Stern has lost their core base due to poor value retention and buyer burnout

"It's now 2026. And Stern Pinball, I think, needs more than just a game that checks the boxes. I think they need a game that is magical. That has like mechanics. Mechanical engineering. That's awesome. They need a statement game for this new spike three platform."

Stern needs a statement game for Spike 3 platform, not just something that checks boxes

"What's happened at Stern Pinball isn't an isolated thing at Stern. It is what is happening all over the world. Companies are losing their identity. They are losing their culture and they are losing their creativity in the name of one thing. In the name of growth."

Stern Pinball has lost its identity and culture due to obsession with growth, bringing in outside executives who don't understand pinball

"I marched into that company, not as Kaneda, as Chris, a dude with 25 years of marketing experience. And I cared. They didn't even expect anything from me. I spent so long making an entire deck and an observation and an analysis of their company. They didn't even ask for it. I did it because I thought it was the right thing to do. And I cared. And they ignored every single thing I said."

Personal grievance with Stern management for ignoring detailed marketing analysis and recommendations

"Stern Pinball is in big trouble. And there is no denying the fact that Stern Pinball relative to everything else happening in the hobby is one of the least exciting companies right now. And they need, they need to get their asses kicked a little bit. I think to turn a page."

Stern Pinball is in big trouble and least exciting company in pinball right now

"I think this has been one of the worst years in the history of Stern Pinball. And I think they're in big trouble"

Stern Pinball has had one of their worst years in company history and is in big trouble

"You know, it's funny watching Stranger Things season five right now. I feel like Stern messed up. I really do. I feel like Stern should have released D&D to coincide with the final season of Stranger Things in which Dungeons & Dragons is like a central part of that show. But I digress pinball companies have the worst marketing."

Stern should have released D&D to coincide with Stranger Things final season for better marketing

"I think what we're going to see when we go through the award show is that stern pinball has some work to do. That quantity does not equal quality. And I've witnessed award shows, ladies and gentlemen, where stern pinball has swept, where they won almost every category. And I think what's happening now in pinball is a changing of the guard as I've been saying over the last year. I think the boutique companies have really improved their product."

Stern quantity doesn't equal quality - boutique companies have improved and are changing the guard

"I think Stern, out of all the companies, they blew it. Like they really blew it. They had a chance. To have both like the mass volume games and the collectible games that everybody wanted. And they absolutely blew it. They treated their customers that collected their games like crap. And they're never going to get them back. I mean it. They're never going to get them back. It's too late now."

Stern Pinball has completely blown their opportunity to make collectible games and treated collectors terribly

"No, I mean this when I say it, I think pros are going to 3,500. I think premiums are going to 5. I just mean it. There's just so much of everything old that's out there. The new stuff is where all the excitement is going to be."

Stern prices need to drop significantly - pros to $3500, premiums to $5000

"I think Stern's three tiered model is what's now dead I do I just think Stern's you know Stern Stern's trying to have it all at once now and it's just not gonna work like I just don't think they're gonna be able to sell their L.E.s for 13"

Stern's three-tiered pricing model is dead

"I really think Stern has no way out. I'm just going to guess, but I think in just a couple of years, Stern pinball is in big, big trouble. I mean, imagine if they lost Keith Elwin. If Keith Elwin just went somewhere else, imagine how much trouble Stern pinball would be in. That's how vulnerable they are."

Stern Pinball is in big trouble and vulnerable

"That stern pinball over there culturally has become a bit of a toxic work environment. And you can kind of feel it. You can kind of sense it."

Stern Pinball has become a toxic work environment

"The value of all of their models is contingent on the LE holding value. If the LE doesn't hold value, it doesn't stabilize the premiums and the pros. It's like a house of cards."

Stern's three-tier pricing model is collapsing because LEs are losing value

"I'm tired of little pez head dispensers being shooter rides. This is just so lazy. What is happening? I wouldn't mind this stuff if the games were much cheaper."

Stern accessories are lazy and overpriced, particularly criticizing Star Wars accessories

"Star Wars is embarrassing. Walking dead is another flop."

Star Wars pinball is embarrassing and Walking Dead is a flop

"And this is why if Pokemon in two weeks is a flop, I think Stern's in big, big trouble gang. They have to be. I don't see the unboxings. I don't see the orders. I don't see the enthusiasm anymore."

Stern Pinball is in serious trouble with consecutive flops and Pokemon needs to succeed

"I would have given Keith Elwin like two years to design all three games as individual titles. That's right. I would have allowed Keith Elwin to make a new hope game in Empire Strikes Backgame and a Return of the Jedi game."

Stern should have made three separate Star Wars games for the 50th anniversary instead of one mediocre game

"Ever since the private equity company took over Stern people during COVID, this is what happened, man. The private equity came in during COVID. They demand the high margins. Gary has cashed out. I think they're just bleeding this thing until it's done, baby."

Private equity takeover of Stern during COVID is bleeding the company dry

"Like who was always like the cheapest option in the market? I mean, seriously, the mass produce, they make the cheapest game in a lot of ways... for what you spend, you are not getting your money's worth. And you know this right now, right?"

Stern makes the cheapest games in the market and you don't get your money's worth

"I don't like the fact that you are now giving people who bought the premium the ability to have the same lit up side armor as the LE owners. I mean, it's like Stern doesn't get it. Like the very simple concept here of you continue to screw over the LE buyers."

Stern continues to screw over LE buyers by making premiums look just as good

"I don't know if you're a Stern. How you think that we would look at that image of that cabinet corner that we would look at that and say this is an improvement. That this looks like a quality build now. Does anyone believe that?"

New Stern cabinet corners look terrible and are an embarrassment

"There's something happening over at Stern. It's not good. It's not good. There's, I do think we talk about this a lot. I think this company is at a moment of inflection, and I just don't really understand the strategy."

Stern Pinball is at a moment of inflection with a confusing strategy that won't work with consumers

"When I go to Ikea and I buy furniture and it's got those little pegs like the Stern cabinet and it's got brackets, I don't expect my dresser to fail or my cabinetry to fall apart but it's still cheap because I bought it at Ikea and it came flat in a box and I assembled it. This isn't like true craftsmanship happening now over at Stern with these cabinets"

Stern's new cabinet construction using brackets is cheap IKEA-style furniture despite being functional

"A lot is riding on this game. If this game is not a hit, Stern is in trouble. I think Stern is in trouble either way."

If Stern's next game flops, the company is in big trouble - they're already in trouble either way

"I do think they might want to explore being more focused as an organization on just two cornerstones a year, where they put so much more effort and details into each game"

Stern should focus on just two cornerstone games per year instead of their current release schedule

"I think buying any of their products new and box is absolutely silly unless you're an operator. The home buyer who buys any of these games right away, I think is foolish."

Home buyers who purchase new Stern games are foolish - only operators should buy new

"We don't care about your growth as an organization. We don't. We're not investors in Stern Pinball. We are buyers of Stern Pinball products."

Customers don't care about Stern's business growth journey - they just want value for $13,000

"For $3,500 more, what did you give me? That is basically almost the bomb on an entire stern game. For $3,500 more, you didn't give me exclusive code. You didn't give me really a lot of these new games, even like exclusive artwork."

Stern's LE buyers are getting ripped off - paying $3500 more for minimal exclusive content

"The reason why so much of this is happening right now is I just think the product overall has been very underwhelming for a long time. And so then it's easy to deconstruct it, to look at every single decision they've made, and say, hey, that's the reason why I'm not buying a Stern."

Stern's recent games have been underwhelming - that's the real reason people are nitpicking cabinets and other details

"What do you think is going to happen to the pinball market when all of these games have to make their way out there eventually? It's going to happen. The white walkers are coming baby to the value of your older stern machines."

Thousands of unsold Stern games in Chicago warehouse will crash the market

"I think buying new and boxed Stern's over $10,000 is just going to be a losing proposition moving forward."

Buying new Stern games over $10k will be a losing proposition

"It is so obvious that Stern pinball just can't really sell a product that is north of $10,000. once you go over 10 grand their product just doesn't cut it. It just doesn't look the part."

Stern can't sell products over $10,000 due to inferior quality compared to competitors

"They can't have a game come out where it takes over a year to get the topper to get the accessories. Does Spooky Pinball make your way to year? Does Barrels of Fun make you way to year? Does anyone else out there in the pinball world make you wait an entire year for the topper?"

Stern needs to stop making customers wait a full year for accessories and toppers

"Well, the the reason they do it because idiots buy it when it's half baked. You know like I wouldn't buy any I wouldn't buy any stern new inbox now. I don't care what the stern is anymore unless it's like a dream theme that's got 80s or 90s nostalgia. I think every stern is such an await and see and save money on it like absolutely. They have lost all new inbox FOMO. There's no need to buy any of them"

Only idiots buy Stern games NIB - wait for price drops

"I think there's a real issue with Stern. You know I don't know what Stern does now like how does Stern survive completely losing collectors. You know how do they do that? How do they continue to make three tier model."

Stern has major problems surviving without collectors

"And it's not my fault for making fun of it because I shouldn't have to wait For license or approval they should have showed the game after it was approved But it looks terrible"

"It seems like Stern hasn't had a hit cornerstone since Jaws really and that was a couple years ago"

Stern hasn't had a hit cornerstone game since Jaws and their recent releases like Star Wars and X-Men are failures

"if you bought all the new Stern-Elyse over the last like five years, you look like an idiot. You lost about like $50,000"

Stern has lost collectors permanently due to massive depreciation and should focus on nostalgic themes

"Stern made the biggest mistake ever. When Godzilla was 10-5 and it sold out and the second hand market was around 13,000 for one or 14,000, they made the carnal mistake to raise every single LE to 13,000."

Stern made a huge mistake raising LE prices after Godzilla's success

"When I put a Beetlejuice next to a walking dead LE, the Beetlejuice looks so much better and it's going to look so much better in person. And so, yeah, Stern's got some trouble. They got to figure this out."

Beetlejuice looks much better than recent Stern games and exposes Stern's quality issues

"I think what's boring about Stern is just going back making the same game over again. It's boring. It's getting boring. It's been boring. Making Star Wars again, boring, transformers again, kind of boring, right? We just keep making the same stuff over and over again."

Stern making remakes/sequels instead of original games is boring

"There hasn't been a single Stern LE since then that has even held at 13. Jaws LEs are starting to sell below that because everyone now realizes the 50th anniversary is the better game."

Stern Pinball recent LE performance and value retention

"Every single Stern premium is the same price as Beetlejuice. And when you put every single Stern premium next to what you get with Beetlejuice... what you see as a customer is this item is $10,000. And this item is $10,000. I can't unsee that."

Stern doesn't understand value comparison problem

"This is Mickey Mouse Marketing at its finest. How do you reveal a game before you have permission to show the game in its final light? That is Mickey Mouse Marketing. None of my clients would ever do this."

Stern's Walking Dead reveal was incompetent marketing

"Stern definitely has an issue with the art department and with how their games are being perceived in the way they look in the colorization of the games"

Stern has major issues with art department and game presentation

"I said to him George for $13,000 every stern LE needs to come with a topper your competitors are all doing it. Spooky's doing it. JJ P is doing it. You know barrels of fun offers a topper"

Every Stern LE should include exclusive topper for $13k

"When you look at a stern for 13 thousand dollars where almost the exact same game is available in premium trim for 10 and they're gonna make that premium for an unlimited amount of time. It does beg the question what's even the point now of spending $3,500 over the premium to get a game that basically is the exact same game"

Stern LE games are pointless at current pricing structure

"Should they even be making LE's think about this for a minute. Why maybe they just give up this whole LE market. I just don't think they can offer a product next to what we're getting with these boutiques because if you think about what collectors want I'm just not sure Stern is even capable of it anymore"

Stern should consider abandoning the LE market entirely

"When was the last time a stern machine exceeded your expectations... 9.5 years ago Batman."

When was the last time a Stern machine exceeded expectations? Batman 9.5 years ago