(Ed. the following article was written a couple months before the author — me — bought not one, but two new in box pinball machines within the last 30 days. Publishing this after buying two machines presents a curious viewpoint retrospectively. Have intentionally tried not to edit/change any of the original article and add editor notes when something is inaccurate or has changed in time — like Metallica: Remastered being announced and released vs. the rumor it was at the time this was originally written.)
This is being written by someone that is legitimately interested, actively considering, and has the financial means, to buy a new in box pinball machine right now. Yes, here in 2024, a buyer with funds at the ready. Not putting the purchase on credit, but able and ready to pay cash.
But.
Oh, the buts with NIB pinball.
Before you think this article is going to be yet another whining session, stay with me. I want to buy one, and probably will. Chances are high I’ll spend 20% more than I should — but it has to be the right one. I’ll even name a few machines on the list before we’re done here.
Readers know my son bought a Jaws Premium New In Box (NIB) earlier this year. He also wants to buy another pin, and we covered his awesome journey here: Our Son Bought a New In Box Jaws Stern Premium – The First 40 Days of Ownership – What’s the Experience Really Like?
Toward the end of that extremely detailed, and 10,000+ word coverage of the experience, pricing was covered. I mentioned how I tried to talk my son out of buying Jaws at launch and waiting to play it first, just to make sure. I mean, ten grand (well, almost) is a lot of scratch. He didn’t listen, but the story, sorry for the spoilers if you haven’t read, has a happy ending — or seems to. It’s been a solid purchase, with zero maintenance issues, and the game by the time you read this should be over 4,000 plays. It’s getting on average around 28 plays per day and should finish, if play continues at this pace, with around 8,000 plays by the end of 2024 (Ed. note, Jaws play has slowed way down, it will not be anywhere close to 8,000 plays by the end of 2024).
The family loves playing Jaws. Our oldest grandson, age 9, is all about Jaws. He plays it nearly every time he comes downstairs. So, this seems to have been a great purchase.
But it’s still priced at least 20% too high. Stay with me, let me explain.
First, we need to understand what these prices are for Stern. NIB premiums are currently $9,699 USD MSRP. Pros cost $7,000 MSRP and Limited Editions (LE) are a crazy expensive $13,000. These are clearly luxury entertainment purchases and Stern can charge whatever the market will demand. And, of course, they are.
But what would the sales be like if the prices were 20% lower?
LE: $10,400
Premium: $7759
Pro: $5,600
I think at both ends, the price is more flexible, with the pro probably being about $1,000 more than it should, and the LE being $3,000+ more than it should cost. So here is how I’d revise the pricing taking a little more off the LE and adding some to the Pro, because despite what customers think, the business needs to price their machines so they turn enough profit to continue to operate successfully.
LE: $9,699
Premium: $7759
Pro: $6,000
$400 isn’t going to break somebody’s bank that is looking at a $5,600 purchase. I realize you can charge more with a collector’s edition, so some reading this will say charge whatever you want for the LE’s, and they wouldn’t necessarily be wrong. If Stern can get $13,000 for the LE, then leave it be, I say.
While $13,000 might have worked for Jaws, it didn’t work for Venom LE and John Wick LE. If the price had been closer to the current price of the premiums, then I don’t think we’d see either Venom LE or John Wick LE readily available to buy.
While it seems this article is looking only at Stern, don’t worry, it’s not. Let’s review Jersey Jack with the same 20%+ knife.
JJP LE: $15,000
JJP CE: $12,000
JJP machines come with a few more bells and whistles than NIB Sterns, and are definitely beautiful looking machines, but tell me they wouldn’t look more attractive to buy priced at least 20% lower like this:
JJP LE: $12,000
JJP CE: $9,600
Yes, they would.
How about Spooky Pinball? These guys are also too expensive with Looney Tunes and Texas Chainsaw Massacre at $9,699.
Spooky: $7,759 (20% less)
I feel like Spooky, at least based on playing their machines, is probably 30-40% too high, but don’t want to sound too crazy here. Why do I say that about Spooky? Take Turner Pinball, with their first offering: Ninja Eclipse.

Turner Pinball is also including an Insider Connected-like service called Pin Access, yes, it comes with connected gameplay, something we at PGM have been huge proponents of all modern pinball machines.

This pricing seems well-positioned and enticing, even though it’s not a major IP. Let’s say you have to put another $500 on each machine for a major IP, we’re right there against there with this Premium-like experience. I haven’t played Ninja Eclipse, but am hoping some operator picks one up so I can check it out. I like the pricing on this one — a lot. Seems like fair to the company, fair to the customer.
Unfortunately, there are other companies that aren’t going the road of Turner, Like Barrels of Fun with Labyrinth at $10,600.
Barrels of Fun Labyrinth 20% less: $8,480
And if they threw in that super cool topper for $500 more, $9,000 and they are selling out of these. Labyrinth is a cool game and shoots fun, but it’s 20% priced too high as well.
Pinball Brothers? They are trotting out at Abba at $10,995 (if it was 20% less: $8,796). Not just no, but hell no. I don’t even like Abba priced at $8,800. That one should be down or beneath the Stern pro adjusted price. To be fair, haven’t played it, simply saying no on the price, regardless of the play.
Chicago Gaming Company is also a little on the high side with Pulp Fiction at $7,999 (should be $6,400 or less).
We could go on and on, but don’t need to. If you’re in the market to buy, like I am, you’re sitting here thinking: why should I give these companies 20% more than the product deserves? We’re going to have to love playing these machines, like our family loves playing Jaws. There just aren’t that many NIB Jaws for me.
There are some, however. I’ll list some on my maybe will spend 20% more than should list.
The new B&W Godzilla Premium at $9,699? Extremely doubtful, but not an outright no (see: Mixed Reactions to Stern Pinball Godzilla 70th, but Choice is Good). Haven’t played it yet (Ed. I since have played it and did not like it as much as the color version) but greatly prefer the color premium. That color artwork by Zombie Yeti just pops. Godzilla is considered by many to be the best modern pinball game out there, and I personally rate it highly — and yet looking at that price. It’s causing me to pause. It’s a strong contender, making me want to pull the trigger, however. Around the time my son purchased Jaws, we asked our vendor friend Candyman to pull a price on Godzilla premium. My son went with Jaws instead.
Another Elwin under consideration? Iron Maiden pro at $7,000. Yes, it should be priced lower and I could get it for around $6,000 used, but $1,000 used is not worth it to me vs. NIB. Recently, we asked Candyman for a quote, so this one is under strong consideration.
James Bond pro is another pro of interest. My wife’s favorite Spike 2 is Star Wars or Stranger Things, so have to put those two in the mix, but I can’t see paying 20%+ more for either of these. This is pretty much it for Stern for me under consideration NIB at MSRP. Now, if there was a killer deal on any Spike 2 NIB, something that pushes the pro NIB price down near $5,000 … totally different story. Could be a buyer for any of them at $5k NIB. Even thought about TMNT and Zeppelin when they went on sale toward the end of 2023 (see: Stern New In Box Dealer Discount: $2,000 USD off TMNT Premium at GameRoomGuys (LIMITED TIME OFFER))
Then there’s the coming soon, maybe, rumored machines. Spike 3 Metallica? (Ed. this has been announced and is not a Spike 3) Maybe. Pokemon? Personally, am not a fan of the IP, but our youngest grandson is all about Pokemon and if it’s from Team Elwin? Maybe. Back to the Future from Dutch? I’m a huge Back To The Future fan, the IP is great and Dutch did a good job on Big Lebowski, this will be a maybe as well.
Jurassic Park Premium was on my list, but it’s pretty much off now. I just can’t get over the assets and callouts not being as good as Jaws. Blame it on Jaws assets being so jawesome.
I really need to play Turner Pinball’s Ninja Eclipse, but it’s on my list as an outlier. It is. I like the price, am curious to see what their Pinaccess is like. It’s talking to me in all the right ways.
Am sure I missed something that I would spend 20% more on for NIB. I’m not really interested in buying a modern machine used, but if the used deal was irresistible and local (and probably HUO), well maintained, where I could review the condition, play it and see if it’s very much “like new”? Maybe.
Saw a Spooky Halloween CE for around $5,000 used nearby on Facebook (90 hours play, according to the ad) and thought about telling my son. He’s a huge Halloween fan and mentioned wanting to buy a Halloween. It’s not really on my radar, but he could be interested in a used Halloween for $5k.
UPDATE 10/19/2024: Most of this article was written months ago, as indicated by italicized editor comment at the very beginning. I tend to work on some articles for months and things can change during this waiting to be published time as indicated at the top of this article and some things within it are not outdated or need to be updated at time of publishing. Let’s get to the biggest one: in the past 30 days I’ve since bought two different new in box pinball machines: first an Iron Maiden Premium (see: My Best Birthday Present in 56 Years: Iron Maiden: Legacy of the Beast Premium NIB) and most recently a James Bond pro. The former you can read about in the linked article and the latter was at my wife’s urging. I haven’t really written much about the second NIB yet, but someday in the future will probably do so in more depth.
Bottom line: I paid the current Stern NIB prices.
Was able to get a slight discount on the Iron Maiden, buying through a friend that’s a vending machine operator, but Bond was bought at MSRP. My son and I picked up in my truck, brought home and I setup myself.
Despite these purchases, I still very much feel the prices are (at least) 20% too high, but after such a positive owner experience with my son’s Jaws, felt it was time to take action. Maybe somewhat in conflict with this article, but it is what it is.
I fully accept that this activity is contributing to the prices staying where they are at or growing, but I wanted to buy these games (moreso the Iron Maiden than James Bond, but was legit interested in both). No guilt whatsoever here.
That said, my Iron Maiden machine worked for 10 days and then the CPU went haywire, needing replacement, which as of this writing hasn’t been fixed yet. Relax, Stern is sending the part, under warranty, and it will be fixed soon — hopefully by the time this article is published. James Bond is working fine, no issues other than a minor rubber piece that had to be re-applied to the playfield, as it came unglued from its place. This was a very minor situation I fixed in less than a minute.
Other than that, I’m actively maintaining owner diaries of both pinball machines, and continuing the diary with my son’s Jaws. Will see how the ownership continues and report any significant findings back in future articles.
Oh, and one more thing brought up during this week’s Humpday pinball stream (Join Us to Celebrate Humpday Wednesday #66 – We Get You Over The Hump of the Week!). this week I listened to a podcast (The Pinball Show Episode #163 – Zach’s inflammatory but honest, IMO, comment is about 31 minutes from the start) from Zach Meny owner and distributor of Flip In Out Pinball, where he proudly admits during that he told Stern that they should have charged “a little more” for the Metallica: Remastered Stern LE.
Really, Zach?
Clearly, Zach didn’t get the memo that the vast majority of the pinball buying public thinks current pinball machine prices are too high. It’s ok for a distro owner to believe this — they are business owners, and their business to make more profit — but to tell an audience that already thinks these prices are too high, especially during these high inflationary times — that more should be charged, maybe he’s signaling to prospective buyers like me that’s he’s the wrong guy to buy a pinball machine from. I surely won’t be buying any new pinball machines from him.
Luckily for the Stern LE Metallica: Remastered buyers, they didn’t take Zach’s recommendation seriously.
Time to pass this to you, friendly readers. Are you in the market for new in box pinball machine? Do you think the prices are too high, just about right or (gasp) as Zach Meny told Stern for the Metallica: Remastered LE — too low? Sound off in the comments.