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The Walking Dead difgerent versions

elondonvillage

Registered
Joined
Nov 6, 2018
Messages
34
Location
Wakefield
Evening all.
Been on here a few months and got my first pinball 2 weeks ago. Flinstones.
Looking st getting my next machine and played The Walking Dead at Gary's house last week at the northern pinball met.
Speaking with a fellow pinballed in Wakefield and there are 3 levels (correct me if I am wrong) of machine. Pro, Premium and LE.
What are the differences against the prices paid.
Any help appriacated
David
 

Differences between premium and le a're just cosmetic really. LE is the limited edition (only x amount made ) of the premium.

Pro is cut down version with some toys missing. On TWD you lose the crossbow, and the bycicle girl ramp doesnt lift. N9t sure what else is different.

Some people prefer the pro because you don't get these two features as they change the flow of the game.
 
not sure why but I find the premium/LE play better... or at least I play better on them. Walker bombs are epic on the premium but both versions amazing - still my most favourite game:

 
The walker bombs on the premium /le are arguably the biggest difference. They are really important in terms of game play.

The ramp / crossbow are ok but I wouldn’t really miss them

I think the pro also doesn’t have the magnet in front of the well walker
 

It seems to be a universal view that the Pro is a "stripped down" version of the proper machine.

I.e. Stern started with a really nice pinball and decided what to take out to make it cheaper and a bit crappy.

For some reason I always see it the other way round. The LE/Premium is a Pro with some upgrades thrown in to tempt people to spend more.

It's a glass-half-full argument really but the attitude makes a difference:

If you feel the first way then buying a Pro is surely going to feel a bit cheap, like you've got a second class pin because you couldn't afford the good one.

If you feel the second way then maybe you look at the versions and decide whether the extras are worth the extra cost, or whether you even want them at all.

In the case of TWD most people say the Walker Bombs on the Premium make a big difference but I agree with @Neil McRae, all versions of that game are brilliant.
 
I always view the pro as the economy version, can you imagine what the 90’s Williams pro’s would be like? TZ with no gumball machine or clock? MM with no castle, just a scoop?

I thought they originally introduced the pro version for operators and the LE for private collectors, the premium idea came later to please the collectors who missed out on the LE run.

On a side note, when TWD first came out there was only two versions, pro and LE, Stern then did a u-turn on that and announced the Premium after the LE’s sold out.
 
I have a Pro TWD and a Pro IMDN, the biggest miss on TWD Pro is the light show, which the IMDN has and I don’t think it’s missing anything personally compared to the upgraded versions if you will. TWD lights would be nice BUT I do have one reservation about the other models too.

Specific changes are:

The crossbow, you still get crossbow kills it’s just fed from the same shot but to a flipper, as opposed to into the crossbow. No big miss.

The spinners are a miss potentially on well walker mode which is a switch mode so the spinners help. Overall, no biggie.

Drop target on entry to shooter lane. Adds +1 shot to HORDE or Woodbury shots. Making the pro slightly easier.

Walker bombs. Button on the middle adds +1 shot towards certain modes, i.e prison, Well walker or horde. Holding these at certain times can return a drained ball - potentially making the Prem/Le easier in certain situations.

Well Walker magnet. No discernible differences IMHO.

Bicycle Girl raising ramp. This is the big issue with the Prem/Le for me. It’s basically a third bash toy, no game needs three and it takes away from the flow of nailing the CDC shot. If you can turn it off (don’t think you can though) I 100% would.

If I had an unlimited pot and could turn off the raising ramp, I’d have a Prem/LE, however... I have no intention of “upgrading” my Pro, not sell it. You’ll get used to whichever one you buy and love that option (it’s what you’ll know and because it’s yours that’s human nature).

If @chris b is selling an LE and you have the pockets, you’ll be buying off a highly trusted forum member and getting a lovely machine. I think @robotgreg had a Pro which was blinged to the max but that may be gone now.

Another point and just my opinion, this didn’t sell well in the U.K. because it launched with poor code, although now has improved so much it’s regarded as some of the best. They will hold their money due to scarcity and ratings.
 
The only reason I have the LE version is that originally there was no premium.

If I’m being honest I don’t thank any of the LE versions from stern are worth paying for compared to the premium.

What do you get really? Different artwork and a certificate from Gary.

Now it it came with the topper as standard there would be more incentive to buy

Do LEs hold their value more? Does anyone panic that they got edition 347 and not 248?
 
Same here, I imported an LE but would have preferred a Premium but both were sold out over here at the time, and I prefer the cab artwork on the Premium and Pro compared to the LE. Stern were really tight with the LE on this one, you didn't even get a shaker included, and the topper was ridiculously overpriced to add on, I agree it should have been included on the LE. Mirrored backglass is a nice touch though.
But I would never want to downgrade to a pro, couldn't imagine not having walker bombs!

The whole 3 tier system sucks, just release one version, priced in the middle, no more tricky decisions about which one to buy.
 
I have a Pro TWD and a Pro IMDN, the biggest miss on TWD Pro is the light show, which the IMDN has and I don’t think it’s missing anything personally compared to the upgraded versions if you will. TWD lights would be nice BUT I do have one reservation about the other models too.

Specific changes are:

The crossbow, you still get crossbow kills it’s just fed from the same shot but to a flipper, as opposed to into the crossbow. No big miss.

The spinners are a miss potentially on well walker mode which is a switch mode so the spinners help. Overall, no biggie.

Drop target on entry to shooter lane. Adds +1 shot to HORDE or Woodbury shots. Making the pro slightly easier.

Walker bombs. Button on the middle adds +1 shot towards certain modes, i.e prison, Well walker or horde. Holding these at certain times can return a drained ball - potentially making the Prem/Le easier in certain situations.

Well Walker magnet. No discernible differences IMHO.

Bicycle Girl raising ramp. This is the big issue with the Prem/Le for me. It’s basically a third bash toy, no game needs three and it takes away from the flow of nailing the CDC shot. If you can turn it off (don’t think you can though) I 100% would.

If I had an unlimited pot and could turn off the raising ramp, I’d have a Prem/LE, however... I have no intention of “upgrading” my Pro, not sell it. You’ll get used to whichever one you buy and love that option (it’s what you’ll know and because it’s yours that’s human nature).

If @chris b is selling an LE and you have the pockets, you’ll be buying off a highly trusted forum member and getting a lovely machine. I think @robotgreg had a Pro which was blinged to the max but that may be gone now.

Another point and just my opinion, this didn’t sell well in the U.K. because it launched with poor code, although now has improved so much it’s regarded as some of the best. They will hold their money due to scarcity and ratings.
To be fair thats a lot of differences in the machines whether you rate them or not.
 
Thank you everybody for your opinions. Didnt realise such passion for the 3 different levels of the same pinball.
I am still newish to the world of pinball and everybody on here as a wealth of knowledge.
Out of interest what kind of money are we talking about for each version
I understand how long is a piece of string etc, but to give me a ball park figure.
 
Pro is short for professional which are made for commercial usage ! Premium and LE are made for home use / private collectors ,aka us lot :p
When a pro TWD first came out they where £5000 and then premium and LE where 2k more ,but the last run a pro was 6k and premium was still 2k more . On a second hand market a standard premium will still be about 2k more . IMHO if you can afford the extra then go for a premium , but a pro is still a dam good machine that's why I bought one !!
 
David, your Best Buy at the moment would be the LE for sale on here if it is still available @JustLikeMe

Hi all,

I had a sale agreed on this one but after a lot of back and forth the buyer has just told me he won't be able to collect it for another two weeks and I really need it gone by Christmas if possible - I recently brought another game home and need to make some space!

So, if anyone is interested and can come and collect the game this weekend (or Monday afternoon at a push) then it's yours. Priced at £6900 for a quick sale, I'm based in Kentish Town, North London. To get games in and out of my place the backbox has to come off, but I can help with that on this end.


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Cheers,

Guy
 
I would say... standard condition - although I don't think many will have much issues as mine has a fair few plays on it and looks perfect still.

Unmodded Pro - £4.5k
Unmodded Prem - £6.5k
Unmodded LE - £7.5k

Mods can add a few quid such as

Colour DMD +£400
Invisiglass + £60 - £90
Shaker Motor + £60 - £90
Changed Translite +£100
Toys +£?

That's rough estimates in my mind...
 
Might just be me but personally I would have thought there was a grand differential between the premium and ltd versions.

Given the differences are purely cosmetic it seems a bit unnecessary to pay the extra. I know some sterns have different playfield art but I don’t think this was one of them
 
I would say... standard condition - although I don't think many will have much issues as mine has a fair few plays on it and looks perfect still.

Unmodded Pro - £4.5k
Unmodded Prem - £6.5k
Unmodded LE - £7.5k

Mods can add a few quid such as

Colour DMD +£400
Invisiglass + £60 - £90
Shaker Motor + £60 - £90
Changed Translite +£100
Toys +£?

That's rough estimates in my mind...

I think James is pretty close there it’s a popular game and doesn’t come up for sale regularly when I get time to do it my le will be going up for £7500
 
Having put lots of time in on both the Pro and Prem, here are my thoughts

The biggest gameplay differences between the 2 models are:
Crossbow
Bicycle girl ramp
Spinners
Action button

taking each one in turn: IMHO
Crossbow
Is a pain in the **** - doesn't always fire correctly, difficult to aim, gets in the way when returning to it's holding position, can't collect shot multipliers, slows game play down.
Bicycle girl ramp
Slows game play down, breaks the flow, even out of the mode makes the ramp harder, doesn't add anything to the game.
Spinners
Don't add a huge amount, although it does allow you to collect the extra ball from the Woodbury lane while the ball save is still on, which can't be done from the Pro
Action Button
Not used as extensively as in recent releases, but does help a bit in both main MBs and in Horde.

Overall if money was no object I'd still take the Pro
 
the crossbow is a pain but I managed to get mine working reliably with a bit of effort but wouldn't miss it - I don't agree with Bicycle girl. its another way to get into multi-kill which is worth the risk/reward for that; the other things it has is the lights which in Horde mode and blood bath really add to the environment of the game.

Cheers,
Neil.
 
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