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Stern's Next VE is TRON...... Maybe.

Fintan Stack

Fintan Stack

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So Tron is up next for the VE treatment according to a few people 'in the know' over on Pinside.

Anybody here care? Anyone going to buy one if it's true? It seems a pretty popular game over here these days.
 
I'd love one if I could scrape together the cash, Tron has a fantastic sound track and the type of gameplay that keeps you coming back because it is hard, but not stupidly hard like IM. If they did a Vault Edition though I'd like to see them include Daft Punk multiball (software, easy to include) and the lightwire that the LE had rather than just 'ohh its got LED's and a fancy new slightly tilted display!'

Still likely it would also work on the new SPIKE system as well would would be a bonus. I'm not putting a huge amount of stock in this, not only is it just rumours on Pinside but the guy who is talking about it supposedly also said that the next Stern was "definitely going to be KISS or Game of Thrones" and then it was Wrestlemania instead.

Also the fact that Tron has already had 4 runs out the Stern factory so likely they have used up their leftover playfields/cabs etc on those unlike IM which likely they had a lot of NOS parts to make up the VE's from. I can imagine something like LOTR being next instead. Just have to wait and see :)
 
"I'm looking to buy a Tron next...Let's start some rumours to drive the second-hand market down" eh? ;)

(That's at the Pinside rumour-mongers, not Mr Stack of course).

LOTR would be an interesting choice from a marketing perspective as well - "Here's a choice - JJPs unimpressive Hobbit vs one of our most popular pins ever for your Tolkien fanbucks". Might be issues licensing-wise though for that one though.
 
RGV said:
"I'm looking to buy a Tron next...Let's start some rumours to drive the second-hand market down" eh? ;)

(That's at the Pinside rumour-mongers, not Mr Stack of course).

LOTR would be an interesting choice from a marketing perspective as well - "Here's a choice - JJPs unimpressive Hobbit vs one of our most popular pins ever for your Tolkien fanbucks". Might be issues licensing-wise though for that one though.
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I like Tron but not enough to buy a new one. Not enough to buy a used one at the prices they command either for that matter!

LOTR would indeed be a more interesting choice with the Hobbit coming out. Also, I love LOTR! One game I would love to own again one day. If they did a VE of that it would probably be the first time I would really consider buying a brand new game.
 
i can't remember if it was already stated or not - these VE thingies, are they making them the same as the originals, ie through-hole soldering, boards not mounted under the playfield? or are they going the MMR route? just interested. there's no way i'd be interested in anything as a VE, i don't even particularly like Tron so far, but i know plenty that do.

for me, Tron the pin was like Tron the second film - much anticipated but a big letdown after the original film. i preferred GrizZ' original version.
 
cooldan said:
i can't remember if it was already stated or not - these VE thingies, are they making them the same as the originals, ie through-hole soldering, boards not mounted under the playfield? or are they going the MMR route?
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@Moonraker might be able to answer that one owning an IM VE.
 
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these VE thingies, are they making them the same as the originals, ie through-hole soldering, boards not mounted under the playfield? or are they going the MMR route?
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IMVE is the same as the original in terms of boards, playfields toys etc. The differences from the 2010 version of IM are:
  • LEDs instead of incandescent lamps (inserts, GI and backbox)
  • Cab decals are on a shiny material rather than the matt screen printed cab of the original
  • The head box is the new Stern shape and made of metal instead of wood (like the head on the new Star Trek)
  • The Iron Monger figure has got an LED in it's chest (original didn't have this)
  • DMD panel has got a sticker on it instead of being plain black
Think that's it, I've got some pics of mine that I meant to post up but forgot about. I'll stick them up tonight if I can dig them out :)
 
I never liked the film, have only played the pin a couple of times, but not a theme that grabs my imagination
 
Civil wars have been fought with fewer causalities than the Tron VE discussion on Pinside...

A late announcement of TWD Premium and the fact an IM VE exists seem to be all they have to go on though.

Another run of Tron would be nice, seeing as there appears to be some demand out there (and here with me, i'd like to buy a Tron), but the buying public want the features of the Premium/LE - particularly the integrated ramp lights (not to **** on Eli's mod, but it isn't as integrated) and the extra mode. Seems daft [punk] to have all that cool stuff working so well on the Premium/LE, but completely remove it for the majority of games out there and any future production versions. I could lose the drops targets though, less things to fix :)

I had a lead on a Tron LE last week - the guy wanted £15,000! Used. For a Pinball that cost about £5-6k new. It's this greed that makes me wish a Premium model upon them. PPS did it with MM. Sadly, if Stern did make a Tron Premium, it'd still cost about £6.5 over here, and then there's the mods on top... Or they could sell a Pro for £5k and offer the mods as optional extras, probably running into triple figures for the ones we all want.

I'm saving up my pin funds to see what happens while enjoying what i have now. I definitely won't be buying any games with incomplete code and waiting years for them to mature.

Fintan Stack said:
LOTR would indeed be a more interesting choice with the Hobbit coming out. Also, I love LOTR! One game I would love to own again one day. If they did a VE of that it would probably be the first time I would really consider buying a brand new game.
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Would Stern still have the rights to make LOTR? It was over 11 years ago.
 
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Monkeyboypaul said:
Would Stern still have the rights to make LOTR? It was over 11 years ago.
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I would guess not. But that doesn't mean they couldn't acquire the license again if they thought it would worth their while. I think a lot of our American cousins would buy a LOTR VE.
 
Fintan Stack said:
I would guess not. But that doesn't mean they couldn't acquire the license again if they thought it would worth their while. I think a lot of our American cousins would buy a LOTR VE.
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Of course. Not sure how the license people deal with possible clashes though (Hobbit & LOTR Pinballs released at the same time from rival companies).

They have more Tron LE's over there too - i can't remember the last time i saw one for sale (other than the recent £15k twat). I'd happily have either game to be fair.
 
I would be surprised if there wasn't a "No Compete" clause or similar in the Hobbit license to prevent those sort of shennanigans.

If not, it might be interesting to watch the fireworks though. From a safe distance.
 
Monkeyboypaul said:
Of course. Not sure how the license people deal with possible clashes though (Hobbit & LOTR Pinballs released at the same time from rival companies).

They have more Tron LE's over there too - i can't remember the last time i saw one for sale (other than the recent £15k twat). I'd happily have either game to be fair.
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I'm sure there are a few pros about but LE's are few in number, I remember @I TiltAlot had one a couple of years ago and he mentioned there is "Only 3 or 4 in the entire UK." but that was 2 years ago, more could have been imported (or deported if there were others like 15k twat man who sold them to overseas idiots).
 
LOTR VE makes sense to me if the demand is there. Maybe JJP have a blanket agreement on not allowing other LOTR related pins but I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't as they are separate themes. At the rate they are going I wouldn't be surprised if the Hobbit is dead as a theme by the time they release the bloody thing. Is it still in cinemas? I feel LOTR has more legs in term of long term appeal.

In the 90s did they get the pins out in time for the film or was there always a significant lag? I've always assumed it was pretty simultaneous as otherwise how the hell did crap themes like Twister and Barb Wire actually get made?
 
Archyta5 said:
I'm sure there are a few pros about but LE's are few in number, I remember @I TiltAlot had one a couple of years ago and he mentioned there is "Only 3 or 4 in the entire UK." but that was 2 years ago, more could have been imported (or deported if there were others like 15k twat man who sold them to overseas idiots).
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I'm sure Phil imported 8 on the pre-orders and I know of at least 2 that were imported from Europe so there are a few in the UK
 
Archyta5 said:
I'm sure there are a few pros about but LE's are few in number, I remember @I TiltAlot had one a couple of years ago and he mentioned there is "Only 3 or 4 in the entire UK." but that was 2 years ago, more could have been imported (or deported if there were others like 15k twat man who sold them to overseas idiots).
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Only 400 LE's were made. Apparently all the one's in the UK have been imported, none were officially shipped and sold here. There were no premium models made. There is a huge demand for them. Both Tron, LOTR and SM are the most sort after Stern's so it would make sense for VE's to be made as they're easy sales.

Oh and I have never owned a IMVE, I only helped someone unpack theirs.
 
I love Tron. My favourite machine. Nothing else gets me wound up more... you get so close to Portal during Sea of Simulation but then gets snatched away..., dragging you back for more. Great theme, lighting and music, particularly after changing the music on mine with alternative Daft Punk remixes. Tasteful mods and upgrades for it too.

A VE edition would be interesting indeed, but considering LED displays are prone to line fail and I hear bad reports of playfield LED boards failing too on latest Stern's, it would have to be pretty special for me to consider it.
 
It certainly always causes chaos on pinside. I dunno tho, IM had one run and became very in demand. Tron had 4 runs, and I dont really see the demand, yes some vocal people want to buy one but the demand for it seems different than the demand that was there for IM. I have a tron, would love to see others get a tron (more users would later create more demand for spare parts and stuff and repro stuff etc)
 
Moonraker said:
Only 400 LE's were made. Apparently all the one's in the UK have been imported, none were officially shipped and sold here. There were no premium models made. There is a huge demand for them. Both Tron, LOTR and SM are the most sort after Stern's so it would make sense for VE's to be made as they're easy sales.

Oh and I have never owned a IMVE, I only helped someone unpack theirs.
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SM have endured a substantial price drop from its highs and are readily available so don't think there is much kudos attached to this title as there has been in the past.
 
I imported a Tron LE from Germany, and it turned out to be a Canadian model. I still have it, and I don't see it going anywhere anytime soon; the integrated ramp lights are possibly my favourite pinball 'toy' ever, I find them totally mesmerizing. That being said, I wouldn't be upset in the slightest if Stern produced a VE with the LE features - in fact I'd be tempted to sell my LE to buy one NIB! The only people who are against a Tron VE with the LE features are owners who want to keep the value of their machine high - personally I'd rather more people get to own one. Then again, I was fortunate to import mine before the price rocketed, and even with shipping I got it for less than it would have cost NIB here, so perhaps I'm just looking at it from a different perspective.

Edit: Speaking of Tron LE, I've been thinking of putting some LEDs in - does anywhere sell an LED kit than anyone would recommend? Also, its still got the German plug on it and I've been meaning to sort that out for ages - I've only had English machines in the past, is it as simple as cutting the plug off and putting a UK one on, like any other piece of kit?
 
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Stern's Facebook page had a teaser on there for the last 2hrs:

Status read: qj poo qao rsqsno xjs hspq gjjf qj qao lkpq
With a picture of the Original Tron movie artwork.

decoded it probably means: To see the future you must look to the past.

Looks like Tron could be the next VE then, or a new game.

And i'm still midway through reassembling my Pro! Stern are ****ers.

Grab from Pinside:

420772.jpg
 
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