Posted on 11/06/2008 1:56:14 PM PST by Daffynition
News hit yesterday that Stern Pinball, Inc. has laid many of its line workers and several designers.
No official press release from Stern yet, but the internet groups are a buzzing with comments from various sources talking about the devastating news.
Does this signal the end of Pinball as we know it?
Sadly, with a good chunk of Stern's revenue coming from private collectors and the economy doing a headstand right now, it's probably a safe guess that Stern might be a casualty of these trying times.
Word is that Stern has been stockpiling machines for a few months now, so there certainly is an inventory to be sold, but if consumers can't afford to buy them, and operators aren't willing to place them the future is dark for Stern.
The devil in me hopes that Stern has a fire sale and liquidates their inventory at rock bottom prices. I could certainly use a new Batman Pin. The angel in me prays that we don't see a posting on some website a decade from now about some guy finding an entire warehouse of Stern pins all sitting there nestled away in their crates waiting to be played.
Best wishes to all those at Stern who's future is unknown.
There’s always Pachinko~!
Crap, I love pinball, it got me started just before Pong came out. At least I have a pinball game on XP here. I even have it on the old Atari. B-P Dang, OBummer is really killing us now. I remember Dad taking my into bars when I was 3, 4, 6 years old and I always played the pinball machine.
Dang. And I wanted to see the Obama model.
The possibilities for the layout are endless.
Bally and Data East good. Williams and Gottlieb bad. Don’t know Stern.
Younger than you, but my Dad always brought me to a bar (his idea of male bonding) gave me a handful of quarters and cup of 7-UP and I would play pinball. Just played some today at the student union. Machines are pretty cheap on ebay and a while ago I saw an awesome Ted Nugent one going for a couple hundred bucks.
I used to love Pinbot, I think it was williams though not stern
It’s Obama’s fault!
They LAID many of thier workers and designers???
Gottlieb made the best electro magnetic games. I have two of them right here in my living room (Super Score and Surfer). They didn’t transition into the digital age very well though.
I love my machines and wouldn’t think of parting with them for anything.
Freudian slip?
Stern is the ONLY one still in business.
And I forgot to add: Sega Pinball bought Data East, then Stern bought Sega Pinball. So Stern is really the old Data East.
Beat me by a couple of minutes. On second thought, what employee hasn’t been “laid” by their company?
And pasta and bread at Tony and Mary's or was it Mary and Tony's? They really took care of the umpires.
-PJ
an Obama pinball machine would be an oxymoron.
(after all, you need to have balls of steel....)
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