my personal opinion is they need to do another horror theme,  like friday the 13th,   or funny horror theme like Army of Darkness.

To get Stern's attention you need $$$$.   Show up with 500 confirmed purchases and they'll make alice in wonderland....

If you share in Stern's risk, then they'll listen.

Quoted from scbadboy

my personal opinion is they need to do another horror theme,  like friday the 13th,   or funny horror theme like Army of Darkness.

The Evil Dead series would be hilarious.  I would love to see that.  I would also like to see a zombie themed pin.

  It's funny that guys think that Stern would actually CARE what you think, .  

There are so many factors that we can't even comprehend that are involved in the picking of a theme over at Stern that it's not even worth speculating on.  You want a machine with a specific theme, at this point in the game the only way its EVER going to happen is if you do it yourself!  Take a page out of Tommy's book if you want something done, do it yourself.  No matter how many people you get involved or how many people say they will comit to buying a machine, Stern will do what Stern wants because that is what it does.  

You know what I would like to see, Stern finish the software on the games they produced and future games.  Theme means nothing if the game plays like a POS.  TDK was a great theme, tons of great toys and a really good layout, but the software is so crappy it makes the game terrible.  

Stern could pick any theme you could think of and if the design is bad or the software isn't finished you end up with another crappy game.  

With respect to previous posts;

Yes I realize that Stern will probably not listen to one person or a small group but at the same time this particular audience represents individuals who are knowledgeable and passionate about the product that he sells. A good business man knows that he has to give his customers what they want or else they will not buy the product. We are pinball ambassadors (how is that for hubris!).

As we all know, basic marketing begins with surveys and finding out the target markets needs. Here at MAACA we are one of those special groups and it does not mean that he will build the exact machine that we envision, but it will be good marketing information for him that he should consider. All the other business stuff like licensing, advertising, production, etc... are his challenges to work out.

If more of us want zombie pins, then he should not do a sound of music pin. That's my other 2 cents.  

Stern doesn't care, there might have been a time back in the day when Bally/Williams existed when what the market wanted mattered.  But Gary Stern doesn't care what we think, he said it publicy he doesn't care, even the people who have worked for Stern have said he doesn't care.  

That's just the reality of the current situation.

Stern is going to build for the operators, especially in times where he doesn't want to invest money in development. Put a package together with a theme that Stern thinks ops will want and that is the extent of development. You just have to look at NBA for example.

Building to satisfy the home owner takes a hell of a lot more effort. IMHO Stern will take the path of least resistance and build for ops. Less new innovations and less software development. Photoshop together some new art and put in a few new sound tracks and in Stern's view you have a new pin. Let's face it they were lately counting new titles out of rehashes of old stuff to make their three to four new games / year forecasts. For Gary to say he didn't care about home buyers is insightfull into the direction he was going as he said this at time when home buyers were fifty percent of his sales.

Personally my top pick would be licensed to coincide with the release of the new Tron. It would be done with a lot of neon, black light and flourescent paint.