Stern Pinball

"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

"The problem over at Stern is simply like what they've been pushing in front of people like recently it just looks cheap. It looks crappy and it looks uninspired. And then it all looks the same."

Stern's recent games look cheap, crappy, uninspired and all the same

"four years later, we are happy, that stern, passed on beetle, juice"

Stern passing on Beetlejuice license was beneficial for the pinball community

"I think Stern best years are behind them. And that's the thing I think spooky's best years are in front of them."

Stern's best years are behind them while Spooky's best years are ahead

"Stern's been releasing pancakes for $13,000. You know, the history is amazing. Stern told Franchi of pack his bags. Now look at where he's at. Look at who's got the mojo. The Stern art stuff, the last few Stern art games. Leaving everything to be desired."

Stern has been releasing pancakes for $13,000 and their recent art games leave everything to be desired

"People love Stern Pinball games. They just want to see Stern Pinball make some different changes every once in a while. They want to see them not go back to the well and charge twice as much money for games that were half the price. And they also just want to see some different art styles make their way into Stern products."

Stern Pinball makes great shooting games with good code, but needs to change art styles and stop charging twice as much for games

"I don't understand why Keith Elwin, the greatest pinball designer Stern has and the biggest theme Stern has ever had would not do Pokemon."

Stern should have Keith Elwin design Pokemon instead of George Gomez finishing it

"And then we're gonna get Stern pinball trying to like pour a stern man. Pour a stern is gonna, like they literally are gonna try to stream the walking dead... The same day Beetlejuice drops in the world. The great, great strategy guys... Insane. Not gonna work."

Stern's Walking Dead Remastered timing strategy is terrible - releasing same day as Beetlejuice

"You know, this whole notion that we're just going to keep the same art style over and over and over again. And this, you know, very bright color palette over and over again. Like, it, it's just not working for Stern."

Stern's art packages are repetitively colorful regardless of theme appropriateness

"Like everyone knows instantly, instantly that these 13K Elise are gonna be 10, 10 grand in like a month. By the time you get it, they're gonna be 10 grand... And here's the funny part. Beetlejuice is gonna go from 10 to 15 instantly. And the walking dead is instantly gonna go from 13 to 10."

Stern LE games instantly lose value - $13K games will be $10K in a month while Beetlejuice goes from $10K to $15K

"Name me one move that Stern pinball has done in an entire year to win back the loyal Stern LE buyer. One move... Did they give you any exclusive code in an LE machine? No. Did they give you an exclusive topper? No."

Stern needs to win back LE buyers and collectors but has done nothing

"You made the best damn pinball on planet Earth for five to $7,000... And it was those five to $7,000 games that became worth $18,000. And you don't get it. Now you want us to pay $13,000 for games that are half as good."

Stern's original $5-7k games were better than current $13k games

"Which company feels like the best days are behind them? The best themes they're ever going to get are behind them. The best value they're ever going to give us is behind them... does anybody in all of Pinball right now think that the best days for Stern are in front of us?"

Stern's best days are behind them while other manufacturers' best days are ahead

"Everybody at Stern Pinball seems on edge... I get a text message 12, 1245 in the morning. I get a text message from someone over at Stern pinball. You could probably guess who it was, you know, telling me what a terrible person I am, how I've destroyed their family."

Stern employees sending late night text messages criticizing Kaneda's commentary on their games

"Maybe we're just tired of every single Stern game looking very similar. Maybe we're tired Stern of you taking every single theme regardless of what it is and it looks more like My Little Pony than it does look like the theme."

Stern games all look too similar with overly bright, colorful art that doesn't match themes

"the ultimate mistake in pinball history. I mean, if books are written years from now, it's not going to be that Kaneda won six TWIPYs. It's going to be that Stern pinball passed on back to the future."

Stern passing on Back to the Future will be remembered as the ultimate mistake in pinball history

"Stern Pinball will never be able, and I mean this, never be able to consistently make a game, even in LE Trim, where you look down at it, and it looks like a 10 to $13,000 product. They are not that company."

Stern Pinball will never be able to consistently make games that justify $10-13,000 price points

"every single Stern LE since Godzilla LE has lost money except for one game. And that game has only held its value. It is now trading for what it was originally. Nothing has gone up. Everything has gone down significantly. And that is Jaws LE."

Stern's recent LE games have all lost money on secondary market except Jaws LE which only held value

"I just think Stern Pinball is completely lost as an organization. And I've never seen anything like it... This company, I hate to say this, it's feeling like all of these Stern launches now, one after another after another are just feeling predictable. They're feeling repetitive."

Stern Pinball is completely lost as an organization, tired and fatigued, out of ideas with everything looking the same

"Remember when Stern lied to everybody when the walking dead came out? Remember what they said? There was only an LE and a pro. And they said they were never gonna make any premiums. And that's one of the things they did to sell all of those LE machines. And then what did Stern do? They made a premium. See, this company has a long history of doing things they say they're not going to do because they want the almighty dollar."

Stern Pinball has history of lying about game production plans

"Stern has done Transformers in the past and they don't have a good track record of making any of these big IPs we love into great machines. Hello, Star Wars. They destroyed our childhood with this new Star Wars game."

Stern destroys beloved IPs with poor game execution

"the decision to not have Keith L. when makes Star Wars, F you stern. You've got the best designer in the world and you've got the IP that is the biggest IP that all of your pinball buying fans are into like Star Wars is it."

Harsh criticism of Stern's decision not to have Keith Elwin design Star Wars

"The thing they can't shake is how their games just look and feel cheap. And that's it you know even it's getting harder for them to be put next to other games in a lineup and to look like they're worth that much money"

Stern games look and feel cheap compared to other manufacturers

"I think the growing resentment against Stern is much larger now than it was a year ago... everything they've been coming out with continues to like underwhelm everybody."

Growing resentment against Stern is larger now than a year ago

"Stern machines, it's almost like no matter what they do now, it doesn't matter. Like, Zombieetti can't illustrate this company out of a simple fact that their games are just looking cheap and they need to do more."

Stern machines look cheap compared to boutique games

"You've got the biggest pinball company in the world making some of the most mediocre pinball machine ever in stern pinball. I think people are bored not just with Star Wars. I think they're bored with Stern's overall approach. I think they're bored with Stern games always looking the same. I think they're bored with like the art decisions. They're bored with the layouts. They're bored with a lot of what Stern is doing and they're just very bored of losing money"

Stern Pinball is making mediocre games and boring collectors with same-looking games and unlimited runs that lose value

"I think the pinball community has been Abused by the biggest pinball company in the world I think Stern took advantage of everybody by putting mediocre cheap products out into the market"

Stern has abused the pinball community with mediocre cheap products and is in big trouble

"I'd rather have one beautiful girlfriend Than two mediocre girlfriends. I'd rather have one spooky machine Than two stern premiums"

I'd rather have one Spooky machine than two Stern premiums

"Stern is in a little bit of a tailspin. It's funny to watch Stern having to, to correct the ship. They seemingly, I just think that their strategy just wore thin. And they set themselves up for short term profitability to cook the books to sell that company during COVID. And it, it's now backfire because they didn't get the sale. And now they don't have like a way to validate their extremely high prices. And because the secondary market on their products have just collapsed. It's like you really, you mean you really do have to be a sucker to buy a Stern new inbox these days."

Stern Pinball is in a tailspin due to poor strategy and high prices

"This is the thing about Stern that frustrates me. Why can't they take everything? They're good at and just elevate the platform itself so that their games just feel more premium, that their games just have more quality, that the bill of materials like why can't they just make their product just feel more expensive?"

Stern needs to elevate their platform to feel more premium given their high prices

"I think Stern is in big trouble, like much bigger than people realize. And I do think that the pinball hobby is going to consolidate and become a very boutique driven industry over the next two to three years."

Stern is in big trouble and the pinball industry will consolidate into boutique-driven market

"They really are acting like the humongous company that just wants to make volume product. Get it into Costco and turn its back on collectors and this is where we're at."

Stern has lost touch with collectors and is acting like a volume manufacturer, not a boutique company

"Seth, like, that's not the issue. The issue is it doesn't matter how positive your dealers are. The the the game is crap. You know what I'm saying? Like it's you know, you need to design a better product."

Stern needs to stop releasing inferior products when they're capable of making great games like Jaws and Godzilla

"the fact that Stern Pinball is putting this game into market and it costs anywhere north of $7,000 is a freaking embarrassment for them. I am very embarrassed for Stern because at the show, this is just how I feel. They're so big, they reek of a company that's been so successful for so long, and this game is just an embarrassment."

Stern Pinball is embarrassing themselves with Star Wars release

"Stern Pinball hasn't released an exciting game in years. I mean, let's be honest, in years. And we all know what the Stern themes are. Like, do you actually think Stern has a game that's not going to be Pokemon, The Walking Dead, Transformers, or Fallout?"

"The problem with Stern Pinball these days isn't what Stern is making. It's what they're not making. The problem with all these Stern games is the moment you put it next to a Harry Potter and an Evil Dead, you just don't feel the value anymore"

Stern's problem isn't what they make, it's what they're not making - they look cheap compared to JJP

"I think one of Stern's biggest mistakes is they never did any M&A. They never merged or acquired anybody. They should have bought spooky years ago"

Stern needs a statement game and should have done M&A with boutique companies

"I really think stern LE stands for loser edition now. I mean I have five years of data that actually supports that that stern LE now stands for stern loser edition. You're losing money."

Stern LE now stands for Stern Loser Edition - buyers have been losing money for 4 years straight

"If they had stayed in the old factory and been a little bit smaller and leaner, their margins would be better. They would make more money per game."

Stern grew too big and should have stayed smaller and more profitable

"I think the problem happening at Stern is that they're not looking internally to solve this issue. I think they think they can find an outside consultancy or an outside firm that does sales and they think they're going to turn that on and all of a sudden they're going to ignite new demand for this product. But the answer is a lot easier than that. The answer is in the past. The answer is what made Stern as big as Stern is today."

Stern Pinball's problems stem from bringing in outside consultants rather than focusing on making amazing products

"The guy that Seth brought in to replace John Bruscaglia, I heard that this guy thinks that Stern should be able to sell a hundred million dollars in merchandise, in merchandise. These are the people that think that Stern is a lifestyle brand... These people are delusional. The only people making a hundred million dollars on merchandise sale are called Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, Demon Hunters."

Outside hires at Stern have done a poor job and the new sales director thinks they can make $100 million in merchandise

"the boutique companies are about to eat stern's lunch Beetlejuice is about to change the game it's gonna be an awesome three months because there is going to be the changing of the guard... I think Beetlejuice will bring back the fomo and sell out instantly"

Beetlejuice will change the game and bring back FOMO while current Stern LEs lose value

"I really do feel like Stern pinball is in very, very deep trouble because of their own inability to sort of be aware and cognizant of what the exact issues are that have kept people away from buying their recent offerings."

Stern Pinball is in very deep trouble due to poor decision-making and brand management

"I put hours into that deck, recommending a direction for your company... And I mapped out the number one thing this company needs to do is win back the new inbox buyer... I showed them that whenever you launch a game, you can make it a moment."

Kaneda presented professional business advice to Stern that they largely ignored

"I would argue that Stern pinball's catalog is better than the Bally Williams catalog. The games are more fun. The games are based on better themes."

Stern's catalog is better than Williams' catalog - games are more fun with better themes

"Stern games look like tinker toys next to Jersey Jack games...Harry Potter makes King Kong look like a $5,000 game"

Stern games look like tinker toys compared to Jersey Jack games

"Stern Pim ball cannot survive at these prices with this kind of product"

Stern Pinball cannot survive at current prices with current product quality

"we all know star wars 50th will come out I don't even think they'll do star wars 50th now because star wars is a sales disaster it's got to be a sales disaster from them is no way it's selling that well"

Star Wars pinball is a sales disaster that will never get a 50th anniversary version

"Poor Stern Pinball...You guys so good for the last 20 years. You kept Pinball alive all these years. You've lost your way...you've turned your back on your loyal customers and you overcharge for a platform that's not innovative enough and your games are looking really cheap"

Stern Pinball has lost their way and needs to punch back

"Stern Pinball, they need help, whether it's Don, Ralph, Kaneda, people need to put more creativity into these games... nobody really cares where a great idea comes from."

Stern Pinball needs major creative help and innovation