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Pokemon Pinball Hype Thread

ian866 said:
KMS manage to take a cut and pass on a margin to the retailers, no need to force EC out, just get them to see sense.
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I’m not sure now if this is accurate or not. Apologies if I was incorrect that KMS sell to other retailers, I don’t know who has the correct information there.

Either way it has no impact on the fact Stern have stated a RRP for UK and we’re currently not getting it.
 
Jib said:
I’m not sure now if this is accurate or not. Apologies if I was incorrect that KMS sell to other retailers, I don’t know who has the correct information there.

Either way it has no impact on the fact Stern have stated a RRP for UK and we’re currently not getting it.
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I'm not aware of any international distributor that wouldn't do it, no point in being in business if they didn't.

Their current issue is KMS are now selling direct and acting as a retailer. The belief is the 'other' retailers will sell below RRP which is how KMS are 'helping' to generate sales and not upset them.
 
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Alpha1 said:
That is absolutely nuts. How can you have the original Pokémon, utilise the cartoon assets and then not have Jesse and James and their amazing call outs when you've decided to include Team Rocket in your game.
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Because this is stern... GOTG, 4 songs, good enough.... Jaws, 2 of the 3 main characters, good enough... lol
 
ian866 said:
I don't believe you should automatically have to pay duty as they are for private use, not operated by coin, notes , tokens etc, and not intended for re-sale. ??

Commodity code 9504500000: Video game consoles and machines, other than those of subheading 9504 30 - UK Integrated Online Tariff - GOV.UK

Video game consoles and machines, other than those of subheading 9504 30
www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk


Any duty due would have been paid in Germany. The retailer doesn't ask for duty when they sell it, just Vat ( which wouldn't be charged as it's going to the UK ).
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But reality is nobody in customs/hmrc cares and couriers do whatever they like, ignore rules and paperwork. NO PAY NO GOODS.... what you gonna do.. Phone them up and argue it... yeah when you've got the time and get passed around like a bad cold to get nowhere...

I'm sure its not all the time things are marked wrong, but it is something to think about when you import high value items from the eu nowadays in case there is a mess up on the paperwork..
 
Interesting listening to the LoserKid podcast and Stern mentioning how they couldnt use Kanto region and that 151 pokemon - but had to use a variety of pokemon over a few generations and create their own region.

I bet their hands were tied from a licensing POV on a lot of stuff

Also “Pokemon really wanted this to be evergreen. Its own original “game” not following Ashe or anyone.”

Probably explains no Jessie James Rocket etc
 
I think it will be an amazing gateway pinball for a new generation and honestly looks great and with code being accessible for new people and getting deeper for better players :)

Hopefully we can get the pricing sorted so UK aren’t being taken for a ride

I will ask the Germany company giving me a quote about duty
 
It's the commodity code which looks to be the problem. As soon as the word 'pinball' is used it seems to use the code which will charge duty. This appears to be solely based on the 'accepting coins, tokens, cards 'etc description which is what pinball mainly used to be in fairness.
Ask them to use the code above and see what happens as that is a better description of what is in the box.
 
I've missed most of this thread (which seems to be largely about pricing), but are there likely to be any of these coming into the UK onsite anywhere near London?

Pi-Bo Wizard (age 6) has just spotted the trailer and is now absolutely obsessed about playing one.

[He wants to buy one but a) he only has £20 to his name and b) it looks like flipping Junkyard...]
 
Vee, you know you are going to have to get one of these some day then:D

There might be a good price next week ( quick thread summary! ).
 
David_Vi said:
One of the best wpc95s for themes and rules, What's not to love 😍
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Please don't tempt me to derail the thread with this debate.

But the theme of Junkyard is incoherent, at best, and it has a huge honking area in the middle that takes up space that could've been used for literally anything more interesting. It is among my lowest ranked pins of all time.

@Replay I've got a deposit down on an MMr for my open slot.
 
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So got the quote back with shipping now from Germany

Pokemon Premium - £7598.60
Shipping - £217.36
Total - £7815.96
Total with VAT - £9379.15

Machine comes with a 12 month warranty

I would much rather give my business to a UK company...

UK price started at £11,495 then gets dropped to £10,495... Or buy via Chris B for £9995 no warranty (which can't happen as Stern give you 12 months)

Appreciate profit has to be made but this is all factored into RRP... So everyone needs to speak up to Stern and highlight the 2 tier system UK has and how that impacts our distribution...
 
Kaufmanised said:
So got the quote back with shipping now from Germany

Pokemon Premium - £7598.60
Shipping - £217.36
Total - £7815.96
Total with VAT - £9379.15

Machine comes with a 12 month warranty

I would much rather give my business to a UK company...

UK price started at £11,495 then gets dropped to £10,495... Or buy via Chris B for £9995 no warranty (which can't happen as Stern give you 12 months)

Appreciate profit has to be made but this is all factored into RRP... So everyone needs to speak up to Stern and highlight the 2 tier system UK has and how that impacts our distribution...
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So basically what you're saying is unless there is some unforeseen cost for importing the machines into the UK directly from the USA, Electrocoin the middleman is taking a large chunk before passing it on to the distro's?
 
Ringtail said:
So basically what you're saying is unless there is some unforeseen cost for importing the machines into the UK directly from the USA, Electrocoin the middleman is taking a large chunk before passing it on to the distro's?
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EC are the uk distro they didn’t want to face off to consumers so another commercial level was added decades ago in the likes of pinball heaven that take their cut before games get to us. Ideally EC should employ a couple of people and face off to consumers with a one year stern warranty
 
Kelsbells said:
EC are the uk distro they didn’t want to face off to consumers so another commercial level was added decades ago in the likes of pinball heaven that take their cut before games get to us. Ideally EC should employ a couple of people and face off to consumers with a one year stern warranty
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I remember dealing with EC back in the early 2000's, bought a few NIB pins from them. I can also understand from Stern's perspective having a single company to deal with and ship to is preferable but if they're adding in what looks like a £1000 handling charge per machine if we're going by @Kaufmanised figures that's a bit much.

Everyone needs to make a profit granted, but the lions share should be for the companies dealing with the public, not the middleman.
 
Kelsbells said:
EC are the uk distro they didn’t want to face off to consumers so another commercial level was added decades ago in the likes of pinball heaven that take their cut before games get to us. Ideally EC should employ a couple of people and face off to consumers with a one year stern warranty
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For what it’s worth I’ve been given EC pricing before and at the time it was higher than Pinball Heaven.

I also doubt they have any interest in hiring people to sell pins to home use market when the current set up works just fine for them and it’s a small fraction of their overall business.
 
Ringtail said:
I remember dealing with EC back in the early 2000's, bought a few NIB pins from them. I can also understand from Stern's perspective having a single company to deal with and ship to is preferable but if they're adding in what looks like a £1000 handling charge per machine if we're going by @Kaufmanised figures that's a bit much.

Everyone needs to make a profit granted, but the lions share should be for the companies dealing with the public, not the middleman.
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EC's handling charge would be factored into the RRP value, just as KMS appears to be. The extra £1k is the EC Tax ;)
 
Well i did a small experiment to see if i could clarify this duty charge issues here. Albeit on this occasion its only £6 or so so not really worth the hassle to sort out, but i thought i'd give it ago

- No online query system,
- Phoned number on package slip, got through to some department, a surly operator on the end asked me why i was asking her about duty queries... Gave me another number..
- Phoned second number, got 'we are busy, phone back later...
- Phoned second number again, got put on hold....

Gave up

:p 🤣

I hope whoever is being used for pallet courier services out of germany is better than DHL/ParcelForce ....
 
Kelsbells said:
EC are the uk distro they didn’t want to face off to consumers so another commercial level was added decades ago in the likes of pinball heaven that take their cut before games get to us. Ideally EC should employ a couple of people and face off to consumers with a one year stern warranty
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I for 1 am glad Phil decided to do this for the last 20+ years because without him stepping up non of us would have been able to buy any stern new without loads of hassle

2007 nib Spider-Man . Electrocoin said no!!! Imagine that still….

Stern should just allow him to sell direct and electrocoin Can keep the bs trade stuff.. they’ve had enough chances
 
Not too keen on buying from Electrocoin, if anything PH and Retro buying direct from Stern would be best, works for all the other manufacturers 🤷‍♂️
The retailers deal with customers, trade ins, sort shipping, warranty, stock spares etc, Electrocoin aren't doing much for their money, cut them out.
 
kev a said:
Not too keen on buying from Electrocoin, if anything PH and Retro buying direct from Stern would be best, works for all the other manufacturers 🤷‍♂️
The retailers deal with customers, trade ins, sort shipping, warranty, stock spares etc, Electrocoin aren't doing much for their money, cut them out.
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I'd say as Stern has decided to send a message with an RRP this time around that depending on EC's willingness to move that might be the case going forward.
 
I've just spoken to another European distributor separate to the KMS query above.

They have confirmed their prices will be honouring Stern msrrp, including for le models.

I asked if Stern had reduced their cost to purchase to support a lower price point and the sales executive told me on the phone that they had not, this is directly impacting their profit margin and bottom line, but they're running with it in the hope that it generates more sales and more revenue and thus more profit.
 
I know everyone bashes Ec all the time about there tax but look at it in there eyes too they have running costs just like any business there bill for storage alone at Hadfields must be expensive factor in they probably have in excess of 500k of machines in stock some have been for years and realistically you will have to sell some at a loss if you want to get shut
It’s all good and well saying that they should have other distributors but stern would want you to carry lots of stock of all games some of which you will struggle to sell so you would have probably quarter of a mill plus of stock and most isn’t going to be a quick turnaround
Stern will not be interested in just fulfilling your customers current order ie the latest title
They want to be able to supply the end user with whatever they want at the time they order
 
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