Totally accept that my 5k figure which I pulled out of the nether was probably low, but I’d be astounded if Stern are making 500 machines a week year round (25k) - two or three cornerstones a year and a vault, maybe two titles in the last five years which might have more than 10k units produced (Godzilla and JP), a few relative sales duds like Venom, Rush, John Wick and Led Zep in the mix which would be way lower than that. Just can’t see it adding up that high
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For Sale American Pinball new UK Distributor
- Thread starter David retro
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IIRC, TWIPY newsletter (I think) did an analysis of estimated sales/production of released titles and Stern sell roughly 3k-5k (total) of each (more of the real hits) over three years of active production, with more for recent hits like Godzilla (10k). That’s about 5,000 a year, say, which is ~100 or less a week.
They account for about half the market, with all the boutique manufacturers making another 5,000 pins a year total combined. JJP are the biggest boutique manufacturer with Gn’R, their biggest recent seller accounting for (I think) 1,500 total in units. Most of the other smaller manufacturers apparently manage mid-three digits for every release, with one outlier (who I’m sure you can guess at and it’s not AP) who has sold an estimated 20-50 of their releases, absolute max.
I can’t find the stats I saw, but there are some more here (presumably the same source): https://pinballmag.fr/en/number-of-pinball-machines-produced-the-end-is-nigh/
IIRC, it’s split about 50/50 between venues and home use in the States, so I’d guess that about 2k of Stern’s production is LEs, Prems and Pros for home use, and 2k is Pros for location play. As they make more Pros than Premiums, and there are now about 1,000 LEs, people like me have rare limited Premium editions of Stern’s top pins
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I no its not profit and 20% of it is going straight to the gov but none the less its an very impressive number for a small company!
No surprise there, everyone owns one, I see so many at league meets I'm sick of the game
Anyone thinking this game going to hold it's value on the second hand market is delusional (well for the next 10 years). There just too many!
I suspect the licence would be a problem, unless you changed the graphics to comic
You would need to get permission from all the actors and the estate of Raul
not sure i believe that sales are anywhere near an addams level, but its nice promo spiel..
PinballNoobie
Site Supporter
Changing the art on a TAF would be an interesting solution if the only thing holding it back is a licensing issue.
Much as I love the original artwork I’m not certain how much of a deal breaker it would be for people who were too young for the film.
What’s the odds they just keep the game exactly the same as rebrand it as a “Wednesday” edition?
Can’t see it would sell anything like as much as a “normal” version but it’s the obvious title to remake in some form or other.
Much as I love the original artwork I’m not certain how much of a deal breaker it would be for people who were too young for the film.
What’s the odds they just keep the game exactly the same as rebrand it as a “Wednesday” edition?
Can’t see it would sell anything like as much as a “normal” version but it’s the obvious title to remake in some form or other.
PinballNoobie
Site Supporter
This thread is so far off-piste, it's unreal...
No mate, sorry, I must have worded it badly.
They said that they believed it to be the second biggest selling pinball machine in history. They certainly didn't indicate it was at Addams level.
And it was one Stern employee speaking directly to me so they were not trying to publicise the fact.
Anyway, as I understand it the best selling game in the UK since GZ isn't a Stern.
No bad thing mate, forum seems busier in recent days. I'm certainly refreshing the browser more
Well no one owns any new American pinball, we have one galactic tank force owner. Something has to drive interest!No bad thing mate, forum seems busier in recent days. I'm certainly refreshing the browser more
If they sold more then t2 I’d be surprised aswell..
I have to be honest, I was very tempted by GTF and don't blame Rob for getting one. . . he doesn't mind being in his exclusive club either.
I was lucky enough to have it here at the same time as Pulp & Elton which I preferred but it was good fun.
It's looks a cool game, in this instance I wasn't criticising AP. Having borrowed a houndi I really liked it and want to play some of there others, except the barbecue one that looksI have to be honest, I was very tempted by GTF and don't blame Rob for getting one. . . he doesn't mind being in his exclusive club either.
I was lucky enough to have it here at the same time as Pulp & Elton which I preferred but it was good fun.
.Funny why know ones bought any, to be fair they don't play well on site, they break, but most of us are home use only users and had zero issues with Houdini at home, on site bits of it fell apart. I've heard from others AP aren't good to site.
The price of all pinball doesn't help, I'm guessing there will be worry that reselling will be difficult, shame because unlike the turd that is spinal tap, AP games get an unnecessary bad rep. Probably the sheep syndrome some with a strong viewpoint says there crap, then everyone else does without ever actually playing one.
PinballNoobie
Site Supporter
True.
I'm tempted by Barry O's as it will probably be the only one to reach these shores.
There's something about watching meat cooking that appeals to a very wrong part of me.
I'm tempted by Barry O's as it will probably be the only one to reach these shores.
There's something about watching meat cooking that appeals to a very wrong part of me.
Yeh I think the person who buys it might have the last laugh in future, due to the rarity of it.
Completely agree, this place has been like a sterile ghost town in recent months!No bad thing mate, forum seems busier in recent days. I'm certainly refreshing the browser more
According to Pinside:
Bally Eight Ball, designed in February 1977 and released in September of the same year, with a Production-Run of 20,230 Units, held the position of the most successful Flipper-Game of all time until 1992, when The Addams Family took over with 20,270 Units, followed later with 1000 more for a Special-Edition.
So has Godzilla sold over 20,230 units? Can't imagine it tbh.
The mode I remember playing on BBQ Challenge at Pinfest involved a video of a woman’s black rubber gloved hand feeling up a large pile of shredded ham. Not sure which sort of movie it was from, but there are only a limited range of candidates
They don’t release official statistics, but someone (TWIP, I think) has estimated they’ve sold about 10k Godzilla.If they sold more then t2 I’d be surprised aswell..
Bring up 30, 40 year old stats is like bringing up single, album sales for modern artists, it's a pointless comparison as the market has totally changed, it's amazing when you think back to the early 2000 that stern are shifting that many units
Possibly not mate, I don't really have a dog in the fight and couldn't care less what the second biggest selling machine is/was, I'm just recounting what I was told.
I certainly can't produce Sterns manufacturing figures, it was just anecdotal. Maybe he just meant the biggest seller since Addams?
Stern are notorious for hiding their sales stats, which is a pity. Would love to see how GZ compares with ACDC and Met which were big sellers for Stern apparently.
That would be interesting, useful to see if pinball is growing or declining, as those games are fairly modern
t2 sold 15k in 1991...