Gary Stern talks Transformers Home Pin

[Crashramp]

Quick interview with Gary, I was surprised to hear Him say that almost all games increase in value over time! Anyway it was interesting to see the home pin in action. It looks more solid than I thought it would but still not for me I'm afraid.
Anyone familiar with the LE or Pro versions of this game? How does the game play look in comparison?

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=m1HXIT8ZnKI

[Strangeways]

Is there such a term as "reverse innovation" ? It is horribly made toy. Do Stern think people are that stupid to buy one of these over a reconditioned Fiishtales or similar 

Sorry for being negative, but I think Stern should be spending more time in research and development doing something to FORWARD the industry, not go backwards making expensive and useless toys !

[Caveoftreasures]

The vast majority of brand new people to pinball, who have never seen one before, wont even know about a reconditioned pinball, or a reco fishtales etc, so brand new is the only way for them to go if they see a new pinball on display.

If they walk into a large sales depot style place in the USA and see these new home Pin pinballs there being set up and played, its great news if they take one home and start their collections. Also, if its going to be purchased for children, or the whole family, they will have peace of mind knowing the kids or anyone wont be getting electrocuted by some USA hack technician who didnt due a job properly on a 20 yr old fishtales etc, so these pinball machines are very important to get new people into the pinball hobby IMO.

Plenty of people in the USA with money to spend. Also, it cant be a toy if it has the same commercial  flipper kits, coils and all hardware a Pro Stern has etc. Except for the different displays etc, its the same machine hardware wise according to the videos except a little shorter etc.
I think anything to expand new pinball sales is a great idea. Well done Stern.

[Strangeways]

The vast majority of brand new people to pinball, who have never seen one before, wont even know about a reconditioned pinball, or a reco fishtales etc, so brand new is the only way for them to go if they see a new pinball on display.

If they walk into a large sales depot style place in the USA and see these new home Pin pinballs there being set up and played, its great news if they take one home and start their collections. Also, if its going to be purchased for children, or the whole family, they will have peace of mind knowing the kids or anyone wont be getting electrocuted by some USA hack technician who didnt due a job properly on a 20 yr old fishtales etc, so these pinball machines are very important to get new people into the pinball hobby IMO.

Plenty of people in the USA with money to spend. Also, it cant be a toy if it has the same commercial  flipper kits, coils and all hardware a Pro Stern has etc. Except for the different displays etc, its the same machine hardware wise according to the videos except a little shorter etc.
I think anything to expand new pinball sales is a great idea. Well done Stern.

There is no "spin" that can save this contraption. Customers that walk into Home depot etc, don't have a loose $3000 - $4000 to spend on luxuries in today's economy (over there). It just won't happen. A big "if" someone was stupid enough to spend a huge amount of money on a toy, then they would have already done their homework, and made the wiser decision. I think a consumer would be a lot more worried about a 110V toy than a well built "real" pinball machine. This toy looks cumbersome, and I think if someone sneezed hard enough near it, it would fall over is so badly designed.

"Plenty of people in the USA with money to spend" - Do you not watch the news mate    . The fiscal cliff nearly threw the entire country into a recession late last year !

Stern spend way too much time going backwards with ideas like this. I wonder if the sales for this toy are in double figures yet ?

[oldskool1969]

Lets face it - pinball is a luxury and not a necessity - people who don't have much $ to their name WILL PROBABLY NOT buy this (ummm) pinball.
Using parts from a pinball which did not sell well is a very smart move to free up some funds that are tied up as dead stock, but, this day and age, lean manufacturing is the key to profit.
Would love to know what George Gomez actually feels about this.
Does anyone here actually want to buy one? curious.
On a positive note at least it has some people talking about pinball. 

[Caveoftreasures]

There is no spin. America has apx 400 million people in it from memory, if he sells a few hundred or a few thousand worldwide he will be happy.

Not everyone is broke, and there are alot of people with lots of cash to spend, both here and in the USA.

Its got the same commercial hardware as a normal Stern. Whats wrong with something new for pinball to get new people involved. Some people only buy brand new, this product caters for it. There is certainly no harm in Stern trying a new product.

If the industry didnt try new ideas, we would be back when pinballs had no flippers.

[oldskool1969]

Spoken like a true FANBOY Cavey. 
Do you have shares in STERN and thats why you talk this up?
It's all good mate, when do you get yours?
I loove forums 

[Pop Bumper Pete]

There is no spin. America has apx 400 million people in it from memory, if he sells a few hundred or a few thousand worldwide he will be happy.

Try 300+ mil
they cannot sell a few thousand of most titles they produce, why would they sell 1000's of a cut down version

Not everyone is broke, and there are alot of people with lots of cash to spend, both here and in the USA.

And if you had cash, you would buy a real game

Its got the same commercial hardware as a normal Stern. Whats wrong with something new for pinball to get new people involved. Some people only buy brand new, this product caters for it. There is certainly no harm in Stern trying a new product.

If the industry didnt try new ideas, we would be back when pinballs had no flippers.

It is not an new idea, Stern has tried the cut down version twice before, Batman, Ironman. I do not remeber tose game setting sales records

Stern needs to try harder, not cut back on what is already a cut down product

[Strangeways]

There is no spin. America has apx 400 million people in it from memory, if he sells a few hundred or a few thousand worldwide he will be happy.

Not everyone is broke, and there are alot of people with lots of cash to spend, both here and in the USA.

Its got the same commercial hardware as a normal Stern. Whats wrong with something new for pinball to get new people involved. Some people only buy brand new, this product caters for it. There is certainly no harm in Stern trying a new product.

If the industry didnt try new ideas, we would be back when pinballs had no flippers.

Oh there is spin on this contraction mate - Stern can't promote this as anything else but a toy. It is what it is. No one can claim this is anywhere near a real pinball. It is a Zizzle with a massive price tag. Customers that want toys will buy Zizzle before a Pin at 25% of the price. Do you seriously think Stern will sell a few thousand ? They could be "over the moon" to sell in the hundreds. Pinball people are not that stupid. I can't see any local stern distributes even looking at these as novelty. As I said, it is not new - it is an idea taken from Zizzle. No innovation here. When it beaks down, what do you do ? Fold it up and send it in a postpack ?

I have a bee in my bonnet over this toy. It is further proof that Stern don't know their customer base. Maybe they are starting to realize that their future market is the home market - which Stern have ignored for years. But to "solve" that "demand" they release the leftovers of production games and set the prices higher than a quality second hand real pinball.

I want pinball to survive and thrive, and it frustrates the hell out of me that Stern release junk like "Pin".

[Replay]

those things are fugly, plain awefull

[Caveoftreasures]

Nino, u said "pinball people arent that stupid", but its not aimed at pinball people, it aimed at people who havent had a pinball machine before  !

And thats the point. Stern is trying to say to new people, and perhaps to old people, u can have a pinball machine which doesnt weigh 160 kilograms and u dont have to have a massive machine in your house, u can have something which is still new, and has all the commercial hardware, but its lighter and smaller, and still lots of fun.

What 8 or 12 year old kid would say no to having one of these machines compared to nothing at all.
You just have to understand that the industry and the world is changing, its not aimed at the purist, its aimed at a newer market.
Again, anything that promotes new pinball machines in new homes is a good thing, and who cares about what Gary Stern did or didnt do yesterday, he is certainly looking after the home market now. I think people should generally give the man a chance, no one on earth is perfect.lol

[Freiherr]

Brett and Nino, I agree with both of you although you are poles apart.
Looking at some customer feedback on Amazon, there are the purists who bag this thing with 1 or 2 stars and there are  typical family members who give it 5 stars.
http://www.amazon.com/Stern-Transformers-Pin-Pinball-Machine/product-reviews/B009AVLBS0/ref=cm_cr_dp_see_all_btm?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending
I personally think it is too expensive for casual home entertainment and it will not turn the girl next door into a pinball collector.  Gary is trying and testing  the market with not much to loose short term. It will  be interesting to see how long they last both physically and as a novelty.

[Pop Bumper Pete]

Brett and Nino, I agree with both of you although you are poles apart.
Looking at some customer feedback on Amazon, there are the purists who bag this thing with 1 or 2 stars and there are  typical family members who give it 5 stars.
http://www.amazon.com/Stern-Transformers-Pin-Pinball-Machine/product-reviews/B009AVLBS0/ref=cm_cr_dp_see_all_btm?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending
I personally think it is too expensive for casual home entertainment and it will not turn the girl next door into a pinball collector.  Gary is trying and testing  the market with not much to loose short term. It will  be interesting to see how long they last both physically and as a novelty.

I just read the Amazon feedback too
as it is with all pinball machines, these toys will break down aswell, for the non-pinball person, this will turnout to be a very expencive toy

Are they being sold anywhere else except for Amazon?

[Retropin]

Yep - read the Amazon feedback and its a mixed bag.. not sure why those who havent purchased one feel inclined to post against this to deter people.

reviews of owners is pretty much a 50/50 mixed bag.. seems the small profile is a winner with home environment but then there are the early faults and if its the same components that Stern use for the real deal then it aint good and JJP will shine like a beacon on a dark night once released.

My take on all this is that there may well be a place for a scaled down pinball for the home environment after all... i was very sceptical at first but people are buying it... unfortunately, the savings have come at a cost and the machine is at a premium price too.

Maybe a bit better quality at a lower price would see this actually launch as a serious platform?

[swinks]

Negatives
- has a sealed mdf timber playfield
- has a mdf cabinet
- rails is actually just a special powdercoated timber
- very expensive

Positives
- has leds
- has SAM 2.0 board set