transformers pin

Wait it out a little bit, Gary has been talking it up at CES for $2499. Most people argue its too much money for what you get, but I argue differently. You get a full size play field on a game that still plays REALLY well, its a brand new machine, and they used their commercial parts on it. Solid machine, fraction of the cost, and still good to play.
 
What is the story with this game? I heard it had a lot of hype and excitement...but haven't heard much since? Is it a shitty game?
 
Wait it out a little bit, Gary has been talking it up at CES for $2499. Most people argue its too much money for what you get, but I argue differently. You get a full size play field on a game that still plays REALLY well, its a brand new machine, and they used their commercial parts on it. Solid machine, fraction of the cost, and still good to play.

Not a pin guy, just posted for you guys.
 
My boss at work saw this, and also quoted the $3300 price from Amazon - I'd also heard the $2500 price mentioned previously - and that was high enough! I can't imagine these selling at $3300, but any pinball sold is a good thing if it gets the non-pinball enthusiast public interested again I suppose..
 
My boss at work saw this, and also quoted the $3300 price from Amazon - I'd also heard the $2500 price mentioned previously - and that was high enough! I can't imagine these selling at $3300, but any pinball sold is a good thing if it gets the non-pinball enthusiast public interested again I suppose..

Why can't you imagine it selling at $3300? I thought pins ran much higher than that.
 
Why can't you imagine it selling at $3300? I thought pins ran much higher than that.

Because it's not a "real" pin. It's a smaller than a full size pin, doesn't have a coin door, and doesn't have a DMD. Think of the home use Evil Kneivel or Fireball pins from the late 70s. I think if somebody see's that for $3300, then starts researching what other pins you can get for $3300, they will just about all pass on this.
 
It's basically a cross between a real pin, and those crappy plastic ones you buy at toys r us. I wouldn't pay anything over $1k for it, and even at that I wouldn't expect it to sit in my collection for long.
 
Wait until you play it to judge it. The game is a full sized playfield and it reminds me a lot of really good 80's games. It might not be your DMD, deep rule-set, toy-filled machine, but it plays like wonderful 80's playfield, but without any wear. And compared to the Bally home model pins, this machine is commercial parts. You have to play it to properly decide your stance on it.
 
Wait until you play it to judge it. The game is a full sized playfield and it reminds me a lot of really good 80's games. It might not be your DMD, deep rule-set, toy-filled machine, but it plays like wonderful 80's playfield, but without any wear. And compared to the Bally home model pins, this machine is commercial parts. You have to play it to properly decide your stance on it.

I break down pins by three categories. Play, theme, and visual appeal. I know I'm being stuck up, but I don't see myself owning anything besides a DMD. Everything just looks so out dated (wierd, since this doesn't annoy me on vids). This pin fails hard on visual appeal. The undersized, disproportional back"glass", the awkard legs, the cheesy scoreboard, plastic everywhere, and just knowing that it is a cheap version of a real pinball machine. This machine is not for me, and I think it was a mistake for Stern as it cheapens their brand.

Don't get me wrong, I hope this succeeds in getting more people into pinball (obviously that is great for the hobby). I just don't think 99% of the members on this site or RGP will ever want to own one. I'm thinking of this pin as a gateway machine (ie gateway drug), just to get people hooked.
 
Wait until you play it to judge it. The game is a full sized playfield and it reminds me a lot of really good 80's games. It might not be your DMD, deep rule-set, toy-filled machine, but it plays like wonderful 80's playfield, but without any wear. And compared to the Bally home model pins, this machine is commercial parts. You have to play it to properly decide your stance on it.

The only person anyone knows that actually bought one, got it off Amazon. It broke within a week and is not serviceable like a normal pin. He has to return it on his dime to get a refund.
 
Wait until you play it to judge it. The game is a full sized playfield and it reminds me a lot of really good 80's games. It might not be your DMD, deep rule-set, toy-filled machine, but it plays like wonderful 80's playfield, but without any wear. And compared to the Bally home model pins, this machine is commercial parts. You have to play it to properly decide your stance on it.

I see where your coming from, but for $3300, you can go get an A list pin and an 80s system 11 or similar. And for that kind of money that's what I would do, I am currently looking out for an RFM, and after that I will probably pick up a Taxi or something similar. These are targeted towards people that aren't in the hobby as a way to hook them in, not towards established collectors.
 
I break down pins by three categories. Play, theme, and visual appeal. I know I'm being stuck up, but I don't see myself owning anything besides a DMD. Everything just looks so out dated (wierd, since this doesn't annoy me on vids). This pin fails hard on visual appeal. The undersized, disproportional back"glass", the awkard legs, the cheesy scoreboard, plastic everywhere, and just knowing that it is a cheap version of a real pinball machine. This machine is not for me, and I think it was a mistake for Stern as it cheapens their brand.

Don't get me wrong, I hope this succeeds in getting more people into pinball (obviously that is great for the hobby). I just don't think 99% of the members on this site or RGP will ever want to own one. I'm thinking of this pin as a gateway machine (ie gateway drug), just to get people hooked.

I guess I can understand both of your points here. Your first point being that you don't even like the category the game sits in makes sense from your point of view, and the second point is very true. I would love to own one of these, if nothing else they sit a little lower and are good for the young kids in the arcade, but I probably won't ever buy one myself, but that's because I'm a cheapskate. And absolutely right on the gateway drug aspect, especially since these machines aren't directed at us pinheads.

The only person anyone knows that actually bought one, got it off Amazon. It broke within a week and is not serviceable like a normal pin. He has to return it on his dime to get a refund.

I'm not trying to throw it back in your face, I'm legitimately curious, what broke on it? Also, how is it not serviceable like a normal pin? Just trying to see what is different on these things.
 
I'm not trying to throw it back in your face, I'm legitimately curious, what broke on it? Also, how is it not serviceable like a normal pin? Just trying to see what is different on these things.

I too am curious about this. I hadn't heard anything about this in the past (I'm mildly interested in tracking this pin in the future, as I'm hoping my 6 month old would like it in his room if the price drops out on these in the next few years)
 
This +1

You can still get some very good used games with a much better pinball feel than you can with this scaled down pin.

Because it's not a "real" pin. It's a smaller than a full size pin, doesn't have a coin door, and doesn't have a DMD. Think of the home use Evil Kneivel or Fireball pins from the late 70s. I think if somebody see's that for $3300, then starts researching what other pins you can get for $3300, they will just about all pass on this.
 
How is it NOT SERVICEABLE? Are there no manuals/schematics/parts lists? Is the playfield bonded to the cabinet? Is there something special about it that makes it impossible to repair?

As a comparison, for all the maligning that Vacation America gets, it can be repaired and there are manuals/schematics available. That is how I was able to write the repair section for Vacation America on pinwiki.
 
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How is it NOT SERVICEABLE? Are there no manuals/schematics/parts lists? Is the playfield bonded to the cabinet? Is there something special about it that makes it impossible to repair?

For all the maligning that Vacation America gets, it can be repaired and there are manuals/schematics available. That is how I was able to write the repair section for Vacation America on pinwiki.

I would guess it means STERN offers no service for it under warranty so your only recourse is to send it back for exchange or refund?
just a guess.
 
I recall Gary stated that the new board set they used in the pin was designed to be much easier to replace individual parts on, as it used serial nodes to control individual bits.

That being said I can also perhaps see Stern not wanting to force home users to dig into their pins to replace boards. Can you imagine Dell asking your grandmother to replace a video card in her computer?

I suspect if he'd called Stern directly there might have been a different response, but if he went through Amazon, they'll treat it like a non-serviceable item. There might also be additional complications since stern does all of their warranty replacements through your distributor (ie if you need a replacement MPU inside warranty, you call whoever you bought it from) and Amazon probably doesn't want to deal with that.

That being said, I find the story slightly suspect as Amazon has always, in my experience, paid for return shipping on damaged or defective items. If it was shipped freight I could understand there maybe being complications, but this pin is explicitly designed around UPS's shipping dimensions and weight.
 
Regarding earlier points, I don't think Stern is targeting us (or most of us) with this machine. They had their existing variations that keep the Op's and collectors interested, and this is towards the neophyte - give me something new, that works, that I won't have to fool with.

Key here will be "that works". Decided to go check the Amazon reviews:

www.amazon.com/Stern-Transformers-Pin-Pinball-Machine/product-reviews/B009AVLBS0/

Mixed reviews; 3.5 stars average out of 14 reviews, and definitely mention of people having problems. For that price, the quality needs to be top-notch.

At least people are buying them - and if they're happy with what they get, good job Stern, and a bigger market. Add in several new pin manufacturers for competition, hopefully an increase in manufacturing volume, and we can hope for prices to come down across the board eventually due to competition for a (hopefully) growing market.
 
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