Stern Pinball

"From what I've heard, like, Stern doesn't even have like a full artwork game rolling around the joint there. Like they're keeping it very under wraps. But I continue to hear more and more information on the game from people that have played it... just feels like the same old story. Stuff was yanked out of the game. And the game is just, I'm hearing, it's not gonna blow us away."

Stern Star Wars is mediocre and Stern knows it

"I think spooky pinball pricing veto juice at $9,999 is going to be a killer. A killer problem for Dune. It's going to be a real problem for Stern trying to sell 13,000-dollar LEDs."

Spooky Pinball's $9,999 pricing will hurt Stern's $13,000 LED games

"I think they went out too early with the teaser. And, you know, I'm really, I'm really, I'm really nervous for them. I think they, they're operating in a little bit of a vacuum. And I think it's going to bite them. I still think they're going to sell a ton though because it's star wars."

Stern's Star Wars marketing launch has been botched but will still sell well

"Stern Pinball has a formula and no matter what the theme is, no matter what the climate is in the pinball community, no matter anything, no other factors change what they do. They just always drop everything into the world the same exact way."

Stern Pinball has become formulaic and incapable of adapting despite their success

"I think we can say this with confidence, they got greedy. They did get greedy and they got cheap. They got really cheap. Once you started selling people $2,000 toppers, it was a middle finger to the community."

Stern got greedy and cheap, especially with $2000 toppers

"Stern has made the biggest mistake on its LEs recently. The last four to five years, they have not made their LEs truly stand out. I mean, go look at Foo Fighter. It's the same damn art package. They just changed like the red to the green."

Stern Pinball's recent Limited Editions lack distinctiveness and don't justify premium pricing

"I don't understand modern pinball marketing. We still don't know the exact date and time by which this game will be revealed. Why? You've been working on it for over a year or two. You've got the licensing deal in place. And so your marketing team hasn't even set the release date or the reveal time."

Stern Pinball has poor modern pinball marketing and should have revealed Star Wars during Labor Day week

"My worry was Stern at least, they don't know how to make a good LE anymore. Have you noticed this? Stern doesn't know how to make a great LE anymore."

Stern doesn't know how to make a great LE anymore

"Because Stern wants to use up existing cabinets. They simply want to use up existing cabinets... I bet we're just getting leftover cabinets"

Stern should have used Spike 3 platform for Star Wars instead of leftover cabinets

"Any guesses I guarantee this is why Because Stern wants to use up existing cabinets. They simply want to use up existing cabinets They have because they didn't use those cabinets Probably for X-Men games and and dnd like the orders were not there"

Prediction: Stern wants to use up existing cabinets instead of using new Spike 3 cabinets because they have excess inventory from lower X-Men and D&D orders.

"stern makes the world's greatest $7000 pinball machines. They do. They make the world's greatest $7000 pinball machines. I think their bomb is somewhere around $3 to $4000 and they should make $3000 on top of that. They make the world's best $7000 pinball machines. They make the world's worst $13000 pinball machines"

Stern makes great $7000 pinball machines but terrible $13000 machines - they're overpriced for what you get

"So it does show me that they're learning a lesson"

Stern has learned from past mistakes by reducing LE quantities to 770 units

"The other part I'm hearing is that distros are a little bit upset that Stern dropped this early like this and there is no reveal. There is no ability for distros to take money on this game yet... They have unsold inventory and a move like this, all it does is it makes everybody pump the brakes."

Distributors are upset about the early teaser release without ability to take orders

"Stern is stuck right now because you know they're making volume but they've destroyed all of the collectability... This is it. This is the biggest property in this age demographic and they really need to nail it... They need a statement game."

Stern has destroyed collectability by making too many games and needs a statement game

"I'm excited about what JJP has going forward because I do think Stern's in big trouble. If they think they can charge with their charging and Jersey Jack just makes Stern's look like tinker toys."

Stern in big trouble if they don't improve quality while charging high prices

"I think it's bad marketing, I think it's a terrible mistake by Stern Pinball to only go halfway with the new Star Wars game"

Stern's Spike 3 rollout strategy is terrible marketing - should have put everything into Star Wars at once

"There's no way they're hiking a pro by $2,000 guys. If they do game over for a stern, people are just done."

Stern pricing and business model concerns

"Don't you love it when companies do this? We cut corners, we passed on to our consumers something inferior, and now you have to pay to replace it."

Harsh criticism of Stern's new power supply as a cash grab

"So Stern Pinball is under so much pressure. Spooky Pinball, they can all rally around just one game a year... Jersey Jack Pinball, all the money in the world, all the resources in the world. They still focus it all on one game a year."

Stern Pinball is under too much pressure from their size and needs to sell too many games, unlike smaller companies that can focus on one game per year

"there hasn't been a juggernaut IP that Stern has nailed in about five freaking years... That has been their biggest game in the last five years and Godzilla isn't even a massive, massive IP"

Stern hasn't had a juggernaut IP hit in five years, even Godzilla isn't massive

"I think Stern needs to get a little bit better at making some more exciting videos... There's never any real hype. It's just like why we're talking to grown men. That's who buys these things. They need to get a little bit more Bruce Buffer"

Stern needs better marketing videos with more energy and hype

"It is the final frontier, I believe, in Stern's overall marketing strategy. Let's get hundreds of thousands of games online, get them all connected, all on the same hardware, all running the same system, and then we do it."

Stern will eventually do DLC and subscription model like Xbox Live

"They don't care about collectors anymore. Stern has made it quite clear that all of you people that collected Stern that kept them in business for the last decade they don't care about you"

Stern Pinball doesn't care about collectors anymore and only focuses on distributors

"I really don't know what the way out is for Stern, because they're so big. I think the way out would have been two cornerstones a year and one remake. And they should be in their old factory. I think they're just too big now and they're going to struggle."

Stern should focus on fewer cornerstone titles instead of constant remakes

"Doesn't it sound a little bit like Stern's out of ideas? They are retreading some themes. How many Star Wars games have we had? They already did Transformers."

Stern Pinball is out of ideas and just retreading themes

"I think Stern's in big trouble gang I think Stern's in big trouble I think they blew up their collector community and I think they're not gonna get it back"

Stern Pinball is in big trouble and has lost their collector community

"Stern's on the ropes baby, they had everything, they could have acquired all of their competitors, they could have acquired every theme and now they're on the ropes"

Stern needs a hit and is on the ropes

"I know for a fact, Stern was trying to find a buyer people, if you think that that was not the case, yes it was the case, there were very real conversations trying to find a buyer for Stern Pinball"

Stern Pinball was actively looking for a buyer

"I don't think anybody impulse purchases of $5,000 pinball machine that walking through Costco. That's the part that's weird to me. Is someone really like not aware that there is all these pinball companies in the world and they're just going to be walking down the aisle being like, honey, we need to get some more chips and sauce. So hey, look, there's a $5,000 pinball machine."

Stern's Costco machines are unlikely to succeed as impulse purchases

"when you see those two machines at night lit up, it's gorgeous, man. It is gorgeous. Stern, you need to get to where these guys are at when it comes to the presentation of Pinball"

Stern Pinball needs to improve visual presentation to match Jersey Jack Pinball's quality

"they're not over they are never over but they're in trouble people mark my words I think stern pinball is in more trouble than people realize again just because they're so big can they move that weight in the right direction that's the key everybody thank you for being a member of Kaneda's Pinball Podcast thank"

Prediction: Stern Pinball is in more trouble than people realize, despite their ability to punch back with major IPs like Star Wars, Batman, and Pokemon.

"I'm worried about Stern Pinball. I just don't know where this company goes. I feel like they're at a crossroads... I'm not sure the next five years look amazing for Stern Pinball"

Stern Pinball is in serious trouble and at a crossroads, carrying too much weight with too many people and costs

"I think Stern's in trouble I I really do I think the reason why I think Stern's in a little bit of trouble not a lot of trouble but just a little bit of trouble I just think Stern like they just seem like it seems like they're like stuck in their own process"

Stern is in trouble because they abandoned their successful formula

"If you put them next to each other and you told people this is six years later, six years of innovation going from this game to this game, they wouldn't even notice a difference. The only thing that's changed is the price tag."

Stern games lack innovation and look repetitive despite price increases

"Like, why shouldn't you if I bought a $13,000 pinball machine? Why am I not allowed if I liked the previous code? Why am I not allowed to get that from the manufacturer?"

Stern should allow players to use older code versions

"And if I'm the new CMO over at Stern, they need a reset. They need a hard reset on all of this. This isn't working anymore. The vibes amongst the community towards Stern. It's not great because they're not listening. They're not connected to what the home buyer wants."

Stern needs a hard reset and new CMO strategy for connecting with home buyers

"When you start highlighting a little hologram sticker as something special you're going to get. To me, that's like the ultimate moment. You've lost the narrative. They've completely lost the narrative on how to excite us. They don't really know what to say anymore."

Stern has completely lost the narrative on how to excite pinball buyers

"They could release Jaws SLE 50th and sell it for 20 grand and sell every single one. And they haven't gone back to the SLE well in a really long time."

Stern should bring back Super Limited Editions with only 50 units at $20k

"A damn pro shouldn't look great. It shouldn't. A pro is meant for location. It should just have the title of the game on the side... He didn't spend 13,000."

Pro versions should look worse than premium/LE versions to justify price difference

"I think they should give us all the bells and whistles on the anniversary edition. And just charge us more but make it look as spectacular as it can... Why don't you just make a $13,000 Jaws 50th. And just don't limit it."

Stern should make expensive anniversary editions with all features instead of limiting them

"For hundred dollars for a piece of flat plastic and about 12 little lights at most cost them three dollars each."

Stern's flat plastic toppers are overpriced at $400 and should be included with premium games

"They're moving so quickly that they are okay releasing games where the code is not even close to being complete. And also mechanically, it's clear that mechanically, this stuff is not being tested enough before it's being sold to you."

Stern is rushing games to market with incomplete code and inadequate testing

"Stern killed the Golden Goose. All their games are so overpriced. A Stern machine at $13,000 is so stupid."

Stern's pricing has killed the golden goose

"I think LE is in general, are dead. And I think Stern's LE model is like over. And everyone who's bought in LE recently just keeps losing money. The LE model only worked when your games went up in value."

Stern's LE model is dead and King Kong LEs won't be coveted

"Why can't Stern make their machines look as nice as Jersey Jack machines? It's literally just shinier decals, nicer screen, like the overall package just feels more solid."

Stern machines look cheap compared to Jersey Jack

"Stern pinball should have bought Bader years ago. You're the number one pinball company in the world. This company is making the best quality playfields in the entire world. Buy them"

Stern should buy Bader playfield company for quality improvements

"I think this theme would have been a better pick for stern to make it instead of John Wick instead of venom"

Predator theme would have been better for Stern than John Wick or Venom

"Again, we all know these games aren't play tested. They're not. Like they're rushed to customers before you know what the quality is on anything these days. You have paid in full. I mean, that's just the way it goes. And your warranty is not going to cover anything."

Stern games are not play-tested and rushed to customers with poor quality control

"I heard a number that has to be wrong. It was something like Stern has 17,000 unsold games sitting in boxes that dealers and distros did not order."

Stern Pinball has thousands of unsold games in inventory that need to be moved

"It makes Stern games look like a tinker toy. Stern's got some work to do"

Jersey Jack makes Stern games look like tinker toys