Gary Stern hits Australia Feb 2014. Are you going ?

[Caveoftreasures]

I certainly think my 4 yr old would be excited to the point he would brag to his family n his favourite uncle etc, but the only person who would mention meeting Gary would be a stern fan to a stern fan etc.

Its not like u would run around telling the world. He is not Barrack Obama yet.lol

[Cow Corner]

There's really no constructive point in meeting stern and chatting uselessly about stuff he'll choose to ignore......you're only gonna massage his ego, NOT twist his mind about making better games or themes that YOU want.
It's best that nobody massages his ego as it'll only encourage him to release more CRAP games instead of good ones.

I find it hilarious that people want to meet someone like that, thinking somethings gonna rub off onto you, he's absolutely not a hero, nor is he magic, nor will your life improve after meeting with him......same goes for meeting fake hollywood types too.... sheesh.

Cow Corner, if i ever have the displeasure of meeting Gary, i'll thump him for free.  

Thanks mate!
 

[Marty Machine]

Its not like u would run around telling the world. He is not Barrack Obama yet.lol

he's not, as Obama is famous worldwide....ya never know, old Gaz might have a heart attack on the way over.....you better hurry and be 1st in line to meet him.

[Strangeways]

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+1

The comments archived were not complimentary 

Not sure what the fuss is about. It's only Gary Stern. If it were Ed Krynski, Wayne Neyens or Greg Kmiec then I could understand the interest in meeting a genuine legend of the industry. I think that Gary has a long way to go before he has earned the reverence of the industry / hobby. Gary Stern didn't "save" the industry. The industry was saved by collectors and hobbyists. Take them away, and Stern are finished. Take Stern away, and the hobby continues to thrive.

I hope the event is successful and attendees enjoy themselves 

[Caveoftreasures]

Nino, would you ever make the effort to meet Gary if he was in VIC, close by.

Also, are u ever wanting to go see the Stern factory ?

I guess cause I am a DMD man, its a sweet idea to do both for me.

But I can see that if u are into the older era's,  then Gary is at the end of your wish list to meet line.

[Strangeways]

Nino, would you ever make the effort to meet Gary if he was in VIC, close by.

Also, are u ever wanting to go see the Stern factory ?

I guess cause I am a DMD man, its a sweet idea to do both for me.

But I can see that if u are into the older era's,  then Gary is at the end of your wish list to meet line.

I look at the entire lifetime of pinball. From the 30's onwards, not just the last 10 years. The last 10 years has been the lowpoint of the history of pinball. That's no one's fault, it is just the way it panned out.

I should have traveled to meet Steve Kordek when I had the opportunity. Ed Krynski designed over 200 tables ! These guys are luminaries. These guys are already on the pedestal.

The "snapshot" for me was the Stern / AMD AC /DC comp in Melbourne when they did ZERO advertising and they had to pull the barflies away from the bar to make up the numbers for the comp. If Gary Stern was there I would have no interest in meeting him. No offense, but when we talk about "Pinball Heroes", there's 100 other people I'd rather meet.

I hope anyone that wants to shake his hand gets the opportunity and relishes it !

I still have no idea what this "symposium" is all about. It sounds like an important word.

[Caveoftreasures]

symposium = meet other pin heads, see the new game if on show, play it n leave a deposit to secure a title

(talk pinball n shit n have some alcoholic beverages)

don't forget, if it wasn't for Garys father, where would pinball be today (like if u went back in time n erased Stern SNR, where would pinball have ended up), so to me, its just not Gary but his dad as well, if u know what I mean.

As long as we are all havin funplaying pinball, the small stuff is just the fun talking points. Thanks for your candid response Nino. It makes sense.
The one thing you and Gary do have in common but, is u both got into pinball at a very early age cause of your fathers. There u go, a starting point with a cold beer in hand. See u at the Symposium.lol

[Marty Machine]

"symposium = meet"
....then bloody well say "meet".....damn la de da promotional guru's always trying to make something bigger than what it actually is....as usual.

Gary and his father are nothing more than businessmen, the 'talent' they employ would be a bigger attraction at a meet....1000's would rather meet designers and artists than the boss.

We can safely say that pinball would be in the same place today with or without Sterns presence.
Collectors & pin enthusiasts have always existed, so the worldwide interest would still be the same.....yes, Stern released new games in the past decade, all of which we wouldnt have missed if they werent made at all, in fact alternative developers would have made them anyway.

[Cow Corner]

Gary and his father are nothing more than businessmen, the 'talent' they employ would be a bigger attraction at a meet....1000's would rather meet designers and artists than the boss.

Spot on!
 

[Strangeways]

..snip

don't forget, if it wasn't for Garys father, where would pinball be today (like if u went back in time n erased Stern SNR, where would pinball have ended up), so to me, its just not Gary but his dad as well, if u know what I mean.

..snip

Sam Stern's claim to fame was ripping off the Bally SS design. He lost the court case, but was happy to pay Bally a commission on every Stern sold (to Bally) as part of the settlement. Ditto SYS11 - Data East. So both Sam and Garry Stern have been experts at copying others before them. Admittedly, some of the Classic Stern's are comparable to Classic Ballys in design - Meteor, Galaxy, Flight 2000.. Under the STERN name, these are easily the best titles. But Garry Stern's business really struggled until the "backers" came on board and straightened the ship. Even in the "Golden Era", Stern was behind Bally, Gottlieb and Williams. So if they didn't exist, then not much would have changed today.

If Stern pinball did not exist in the last 10 years, it would only affect the Stern collectors. In the scheme of collectors, this is not a huge percentage of of the hobby. Gary Stern is a CEO. I don't even know who were the CEO's of Gottlieb or Bally in the golden era of pinball. I'd rather talk pinball with legendary designers rather than salesmen trying to sell me inferior pinball machines or businessmen talking about profits.

Sure, I'd rather Stern Pinball be active in the current point in time. But when we look at Stern innovation, it is not there UNTIL other manufacturers appear on the scene. This is the next chapter in pinball.

[pinsanity]

GS's input into a pinball machine is little more than a bean counter. It would be the equivalent of Neal NiCastro from Bally/Williams making a trip over to Australia back in the '90s to make a s.c.r.i.p.t.e.d spiel about their latest machine and people (overwhelmingly dealers and operators in those days) were given the "privilege" of paying to hear it. It's absurd hubris and like any diligent bean counter, he gets to write the entire trip off as a business expense on his next 401k.

A real symposium would have at least one of the designers of the current machine fly out to talk first hand about the machine in question and tell us how much of the original design concepts had to be removed to fit in with Gazza's predetermined BOM. That way we can all see what we are really missing out on in the final product, rather than the usual meaningless superlatives some members of the pinball community seem to salivate over. It's bordering on Pavlovian when you step back and look at it.

I still have no idea what this "symposium" is all about. It sounds like an important word.

It's a euphemism for huckstering, another important word, mate.  

See you there.........

[Marty Machine]

It's bordering on Pavlovian when you step back and look at it.

....it's bordering on boring & pointless to us normal folk, but is a magical enlightenment for the salivating nuffers 

[Freiherr]

The boring folk would probably demand an update on what happened from the salivating nuffers.
Please keep us updated.

[Cow Corner]

I heard that he cheats at golf, maybe someone can bring that up with him.
Anyone who cheats at golf can't be trusted to do anything.
 

[Marty Machine]

The boring folk would probably demand an update on what happened from the salivating nuffers.
Please keep us updated.

I certainly won't be asking what happened, i simply don't care....nothing could be discussed or announced there that will change anyones lives.