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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.
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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.
