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The Avengers Infinity Quest: First Impression

Cary Hardy·video·30m 12s·analyzed·Sep 2, 2020
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.027

TL;DR

Avengers Infinity Quest announced by Stern with Pro/Premium/LE tiers; Premium/LE significantly outperform Pro mechanically.

Summary

Cary Hardy provides an in-depth first impression analysis of Stern Pinball's newly announced Avengers Infinity Quest machine, breaking down the Pro, Premium, and Limited Edition models. He praises the mechanical design, artwork by Zombie Yeti, and complexity of the Premium/LE versions while noting significant feature gaps in the Pro model. Hardy expresses frustration that TMNT (released recently) received fewer accessories compared to the newly announced Avengers game.

Key Claims

  • Zombie Yeti is the confirmed artwork artist for Avengers Infinity Quest

    high confidence · Cary Hardy identified the art style and confirmed it was Zombie Yeti, who also did Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

  • The Premium and LE models include a motorized pop-up disc scoop, subway system with 3-ball lock, and Captain Marvel ramp absent from Pro

    high confidence · Video trailer analysis showing clear mechanical differences between tiers

  • Limited Edition units are already sold out or nearly gone

    medium confidence · Hardy states 'LEs are gone. There's no way. there's no way that anyone's going to be sitting on le's they are gone if you have not already called your distributor'

  • The game is designed by Keith Elwin

    high confidence · Hardy references Keith Elwin's design signature on LE edition and notes familiarity with Elwin's design philosophy

  • Stern released game accessories (topper, side armor, art blades) simultaneously with the Avengers announcement, which is unusual practice

    high confidence · Hardy explicitly states 'this is something that Stern has, I don't think have ever done, to my knowledge off the top of my head, to release a game and accessories, including a topper, with it'

Notable Quotes

  • “I honestly thought that this was a home pin for when it comes to pro because at first angle right here this is the very first impression that you're going to get as it pans up right here I honestly felt it looked a little barren”

    Cary Hardy@ 5:20 — Initial reaction to Pro model appearing sparse compared to Premium/LE

  • “This is what we want to see in pinball guys. we want to see more mechs more things to make our eyes go man that looks cool that's awesome just more mechanical stuff this is what you don't get in your virtual pinball machine guy”

    Cary Hardy@ 11:13 — Appreciation for mechanical innovation differentiating physical from virtual pinball

  • “LEs are gone. There's no way. there's no way that anyone's going to be sitting on le's they are gone if you have not already called your distributor by all means try try but chances are they're already gone”

    Cary Hardy@ 21:09 — Indicates extremely high demand/low supply for Limited Edition tier

  • “the subway system and all that kind of stuff premium is the way to go pro i'm i'm sure the pro is fun to shoot and you're still going to have fun but the premium is going to have a lot more”

    Cary Hardy@ 24:39 — Explicit recommendation that Premium offers significantly better value than Pro for this title

  • “now you're just shitting on everybody that just bought a game from you merely a month or so ago because now you've got something even better and greater coming out”

    Cary Hardy@ 28:52 — Frustration that Avengers received more launch accessories than recently-released TMNT

Entities

Avengers Infinity QuestgameStern PinballcompanyCary HardypersonKeith ElwinpersonZombie YetipersonTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT)gameMarvel ComicscompanyThanos

Signals

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Immediate high community interest evidenced by messages flooding Hardy's phone/PC upon announcement; expectation of rapid LE sell-through

    high · Hardy notes people messaging him with questions about game immediately after announcement; predicts hype will continue with gameplay footage

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Marvel-licensed game positioned as mainstream entry point via Marvel.com publication rather than gaming sites like IGN or Kotaku

    high · Hardy explicitly praised the decision to publish on Marvel.com as strategy to reach mainstream comic book audience unfamiliar with pinball

  • ?

    licensing_signal: Possible licensing constraints preventing equivalent accessory support for TMNT compared to Marvel-licensed Avengers property

    low · Hardy speculates 'Licensing issues? What? What's going on?' when comparing accessory availability between TMNT and Avengers announcements

  • $

    market_signal: LE units appear to be sold out or nearly sold out immediately upon announcement; Hardy strongly advises calling distributors immediately as stock is depleted

    medium · 'LEs are gone. There's no way that anyone's going to be sitting on le's they are gone if you have not already called your distributor'

  • $

    market_signal: Pricing is higher than typical Stern releases; Hardy notes 'the price is a little bit higher than what we typically see on our machines' due to theme and license

    medium · Hardy's observation about premium pricing without specific price points stated in video

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.091

0:00
Well, Stern has officially dropped their next title, guys. We've got video and we've got pictures to go through. Let's get started.
0:13
So, the Avengers Infinity Quest is the name of their next title. We're going to see if we can get through this without getting bothered too much via messages on my phone or on my PC. so it's going crazy right now i'm already getting people asking me what do i think about it so let's just get this knocked out and we'll see how it goes the trailer we'll get to that just a second let's talk about the way they describe it this is actually on marvel.com which which praise thee that it's not on another website that they've had before like ign ad central so this is good that it's on marvel.com this is such a great thing guys when it comes to this title and the content theme is that it's going on a mainstream page like marvel.com this is going to bring hopefully another spectrum of people into the hobby all right because you got comic book people and that's what they are so if you combine the thing that they love with something that they're probably unfamiliar with like pinball maybe there might be a bit of a marriage there i don't know let's see what we got going on here the avengers are set once again to do battle against one of their greatest foes thanos with the infinity gauntlet in play the stakes have never been higher and this time the battlefield is a series of new pinball machines available from stern pinball based on the superheroes and supervillains of marvel comics avengers comic books avengers Infinity Quest takes the battle against cosmic threat of Thanos to a new level. The stage is set as the Avengers race to hunt down and recover the six Infinity Gems before Thanos can bring them together and unleash chaos on the universe. It's up to the keen-eyed pinball players to stop him and his loyal minions, the Black Order, from succeeding in his action-packed pinball adventure. Avengers Infinity Quest pinball machines will be available in Pro, Premium, and Limited Edition models. The brand new pinball machine features some exciting new features across the pro, premium, and limited edition models, including the interactive Dr. Strange spinning kinetic sling ring disc with dual direction velocity detection. There's a lot of fancy words right there, guys, to make that thing seem cooler than it actually is. You're just trying to win at Scrabble at that point. But aiding players on their journey to opening portals and starting Infinity Gem Quest. All models feature a gravity-defying Avengers Tower magnetic lock ramp with gravitational vary target and magnet hold, capturing pinballs in midair as players unlock Iron Man multiball. In addition to distinct hand-drawn artwork, all models feature an Avengers Computer Bingo Grid 3 drop target bank, A Thor captive ball, Hulk spinning target, custom intricate wire form ramps, and three full-size flippers. The Premium and Ellie models feature an interactive Doctor Strange motorized pop-up disc scoop, transporting pinballs into an underground portal, a visible subway capable of holding and staging up to three balls through custom playfield windows accentuated with dynamic RGB lighting effects. These models also include a custom-sculpted Thanos Infinity Gauntlet integrated with atmospheric light-up gyms, a Captain Marvel Inverse Gravity custom wireform ramp, and a Pym Laboratories vertical up-kicker. For you hardcore pinball fans, the limited edition model is 500 units. The limited edition includes additional unique features such as an exclusive mirrored back glass, exclusive custom themed pinball artwork, a custom autographed bottom arch, exclusive custom art blades, upgraded audio system, anti-reflection pinball glass, a shaker motor, and a substantially sequentially numbered plaque. And you will also notice that the price is a little bit higher than what we typically see on our machines, which is kind of a given due to the theme and the license. They've got pictures here on their website. I've already got them all downloaded as well as the trailer video. So let's go over the trailer video right now, actually. All right, now I've got to stop this video every once in a while just to make sure I'm abiding by fair use. they'll flag me of course but uh let's go over the pro model first what they're going to show you on this game right here so let me pause it right here and this is where you get a good view of what the play field looks like make sure i've got this in view yeah you should be able to see everything right here I gotta admit guys the first time I watched this trailer I honestly thought that this was a home pin for when it comes to pro because at first angle right here this is the very first impression that you're going to get as it pans up right here I honestly felt it looked a little barren I was like man is this a home pin or is this an actual full-size machine but after going through it a few more times pausing it and going further into detail and observations no it's got a lot in there when it comes to your wire forms and stuff like that but the premium decimates the pro all right let's continue the video so when it comes to direction of where the ball is going to be going on the pro i've already got it typed out here the right ramp is look at the right ramp right here this is this is pretty interesting the way that he has this designed with a nice concaveness to it on the outside it's wide and this is for a couple of reasons i feel that he wanted it this way because he wants it to be backhandable and forehandable as well as being able to make it with this upper flipper shot right here because this is something that i haven't seen before at least i mean i could be just dumb in my mind right now but i do not recall being able to do a loop but utilizing a ramp at the same time because this is how and so here we go more messages yeah i get it i know i'm working on it but like you have the ramp this right ramp you feed it is going to come around and drop down right above your upper flipper and guess what you can rinse and repeat that over and over again so the right ramp is going to be backhanded four-handable feeds the third flipper and you can rinse and repeat that shot over and over again above the flipper the upper flipper right here is the Avengers tower cool magnetic ball locking system I think they about to show that off Yeah So here the ball locking system right here and this is the Avengers Tower That's pretty cool looking. That's interesting. That's something that I have not seen them do before. Hopefully this works better than what Stranger Things telekinesis ball lock did. So I'm hoping that works out pretty well. so here's an above view of your spinning disc and you can see the pattern how you should be able to make it up this ramp and then it comes down the wire form feeds it over and over again i'm kind of curious if you're even able to make the uh this ramp right here using the upper flipper as long as the spinning disc is not in your way interesting so let me go back a little bit here the right orbit feeds to a wire form over here on the far left of the machine and that wire form is going to be feeding to your right flipper the left ramp right here is going to be feeding to your left flipper this is something that i like and i think Keith likes this also. He likes metal ramps and wire forms. And I would say a majority of us in the hobby prefer things to be metal and wire forms other than the plastic option. People say that the plastic ramps are smoother and faster, but the thing is, when you have wire forms, they last longer. And it's just aesthetically more pleasing.

“i would not settle for a pro on this one the premium looks like the mechs involved are pretty damn cool and intricate”

Cary Hardy@ 24:21 — Strong negative recommendation against Pro model due to missing mechanical features

game_character
Circus Voltairegame
  • ?

    announcement: Stern Pinball officially announced Avengers Infinity Quest in Pro/Premium/LE tiers with detailed specifications and trailer

    high · Cary Hardy analyzed official Marvel.com listing, trailer video, product images, and specifications released by Stern

  • ?

    product_strategy: Significant mechanical feature gaps between Pro model and Premium/LE tiers: Pro lacks motorized pop-up disc, subway 3-ball lock system, Captain Marvel ramp, and Infinity Gauntlet sculpture

    high · Detailed video analysis comparing playfield layouts, toys, and mechanical systems across all three tiers

  • ?

    product_concern: Insert artwork opacity issue where light bleeds through black areas of inserts, creating visual quality concerns Hardy previously experienced with Getaway

    medium · Hardy notes 'the ink for these insert decals, or the art in general, is not opaque enough. Meaning, it's bleeding through light. Which is a little bit of an eyesore for me'

  • ?

    business_signal: Stern releasing game and accessories (topper, side armor, art blades) simultaneously at announcement, which Hardy indicates is unusual practice; suggests aggressive accessory monetization strategy

    high · 'this is something that Stern has, I don't think have ever done, to my knowledge off the top of my head, to release a game and accessories, including a topper, with it'

    • 9:15
    All right, so now we're going into our premium edition. Now, off the bat, I'm liking the premium artwork better.
    9:25
    I'm liking the black, and the way Thanos looks on this back glass is just very menacing. Zombie Yeti is confirmed also to be the artwork person for this game. It was pretty much a given when I saw it. I was like, that looks like Yeti, and I called it. and so yeah it is and it looks like he's done another great job two games in a row for zombie yeti now he had turtles and now he's got avengers been a busy man all right going on with the premium look at that back glass or translate in this in this in this okay in this Or Translight. The Translight on this is very, very good. I'm loving how menacing he looks right there. There is no doubt that he is considered to be a villain. I mean, it looks pretty good right there. And I'm liking the way the artwork on the side. It's a very smooth-looking game when it comes to the artwork on this cabinet. I'm loving it.
    10:36
    All right. we're going to get another view here of the premium play field all right nothing new here this is new this is something that i don't recall seeing in a game not recently but when i first saw this the immediate thing i thought of was circus voltaire and i'm sure a lot of people are gonna correlate that with this effect and correlating it to circus of all terrier is not a bad thing this is a good thing i'm glad that they are starting to do things with things coming out of the play field again this is what we want to see in pinball guys we want to see more mechs more things to make our eyes go man that looks cool that's awesome just more mechanical stuff this is what you don't get in your virtual pinball machine guys this is what you don't get right here you don't get the really cool visual gravitational pull that you're going to get with actual mechanical physical machines moving on starting to go on a rant there so this is something i'm even more excited about and i want to give almost a round of applause to stern for what do you see here guys you see a freaking subway we haven't had a subway on a game in a good while and we got a three ball lock system that feeds from the mech up here down and it's going to be eventually using the vuck to feed the right flipper a subway guys a subway the premium has got so much more in it and this is what sucks guys i settled for the pro for turtles because i was looking at what they were in like adding to it for the premium and le and i was like yeah i don't really see it being worth that much or it doesn't really change it that much i'm not it's not going to be worth it but then i see this and i'm like damn it because for you home guys premium is the way to go pro is going to be great for locations to get them out there for everyone to play and experience the game but you premium users and buyers the premiums are going to be selling like crazy because it's got so much more on it let's go for you haven't even seen all that this thing's got compared to the pro so this gives a good viewpoint of look how convoluted that is i mean i know the layout but i'm just saying that looks like a damn mess in a good way they got wire forms going everywhere that is so awesome this is what we haven't seen in a game in I don't even know when because this is great you've got your infinity gauntlet here in the back that they talk about kind of hard to see that on the screen from where I've got it plotted but each gem will individually light up I'm guessing as Thor not Thor Thanos collects these infinity gems then each one of those is going to light up and I can only imagine what happens when he gets all of them when he gets all six of them is he going to snap his fingers and you lose or do like half of your points go away. That's going to be pretty interesting to see how the coding is going to work for this game. So something they don't even really show off very much on here is the Captain Marvel ramp right here. This Captain Marvel ramp, it goes vertical, loops down, and feeds back to your right flipper. This isn't even in the Pro. This is nowhere near what is in the Pro. The Pro still has the Newton ball right here, but it looks like a little ball locking system that can go in and loops around. Nowhere near as interesting as what you're seeing here with the ramp and the wire form. So, that's looking good.
    14:40
    Alright, let's go back to that, because I don't think I've even seen that very good. So, yeah, here is the Thor multiball system right here. I'm guessing every time you hit this Newton ball, and that's gonna come up here, hit this target, and eventually you're gonna light up Thor and activate a multi-ball. There's Black Panther, guys. All right.
    15:04
    Look at that Got your spinner there it is and there something that they don really highlight in any of this video or even really good pictures is what's going on here with this drop target system how is this going to work I'm curious to see how this is going to be integrated it's a they call it a bingo system so I'm going I'm not even going to assume because there's so many options and the abilities for them to be able to do here but they're drop targets they're not stand-ups it's not a single big target for you people out there that don't like those three separated drop targets that's cool all right moving on and there you go that's the avengers infinity quest going over the pro model Here we have the front artwork.
    16:03
    Side. This is not a very complimenting picture. This is 1080p resolution, guys. I mean, this is... I kind of feel like maybe they should have put this picture on here because this picture looks like it's got the grainy artwork that people were concerned about on their Turtles games. It might just be a little bit of emotion in the hand that someone took the picture, but this one's not a flattering image to show off for your game right here, in my opinion. I mean, the way, I don't know. It could just be the picture, but that doesn't look too good.
    16:46
    Now, this gives a good full image of what the play field art looks like, and it looks good. Once again, Zombie Yeti with his color popping that he's got going on here so much going on the play field this is actually got more than what you would see on the turtles and who knows what small little nuances that he's got in place that we can't even really see just yet but this looks this looks really good and then for the back view the The back glass on this one, it looks good too. I'm not going to say it doesn't look good. I prefer the premium over it, but this still looks really good. Man.
    17:34
    Then you start getting these images of what you're not going to be getting when you're comparing the pro to the premium. You're getting just the image of the gauntlet. More than likely, these probably still light up with a system behind it in place. You're just not getting the actual physical molded glove. then let's see here like i said before you're missing that entire captain marvel ramp let me see is the playfield art the same okay yeah the playfield art is the same okay you're just not going to be getting the ramp for captain marvel okay they haven't done like different playfield artwork in a while for different models all right so yeah the pro So, for what I'm reading, you're not going to be getting the motorized pop-up disc on the Pro. I'm kind of curious if you still, what's the play field look like?
    18:33
    I wonder if they've got anything else going on up underneath this to light it up. Because technically they would have to have different play fields. Because on the Premium, you can see through the play field and see the balls locking in there. but if they still have the subway system and everything in place or the artwork is the same then technically you will be able to see through this on the pro but you're not going to have the ball locking system that goes underneath for the subway because there's not even a buck for it to shoot out so that is my main question is that are we still able to see through the play field right here and it looks like we can and i'm guessing they're probably going to have like some sort of light up system right here.
    19:21
    All right. And that's what I'm seeing for the Pro. Let's move on to the Premium. Here we have the Premium.
    19:31
    I had to think about which one I liked better when it came to the side artwork on the Premium or the Pro. And,
    19:39
    hmm, honestly I'm kind of in between when it comes to the side cabinet art for the Premium and the Pro. At least from these images. It's difficult to say which one I like best. I like the back box artwork better and the back glass for the premium better than the pro. I might even like the pro artwork better. Hmm, interesting. Didn't know that about myself. All right, let's see here. More close up images of the inserts. Man, if you compare these play fields, you can see how much more the premium is going to be offering you guys. Man. Yeah, we've seen that. That's the VUX system from the Subway. The motorized pop-up disc. And you can definitely see that underneath the play field, it lights up the way it does for that Subway. Now, of course, the Ellie is going to have the powder-coated rails and stuff like that, and they've gone with yellow on this. Makes sense to go close to the color of the gauntlet and what Thanos' colors he had on him in the comic books and stuff.
    20:59
    That looks badass, guys. Not going to deny it. That looks very furious and menacing. Ellie's are gone. There's no way. there's no way that anyone's going to be sitting on le's they are gone if you have not already called your distributor by all means try try but chances are they're already gone close up of the glove all lit up the avengers tower ball locking system and you've also got the art blades you can see ant-man right there and adding the art blades is going to be a must if you don't have the art blades the same thing i figured out with my turtles the game looks even more barren if you do not have the art blades so those are going to be up for sale more than likely you can snag those up for this game which i can already tell you i recommend you do and this is a much better image of a plate filled right here i would have dusted it off a little bit come on guys but that looks good yeah i'm getting a very circus voltaire feeling every time i see this which is a good thing guys like i said i'm loving this because the bright colors and the motorized disc it brings me back to the good old days all right so i think what i'm seeing when it comes to the art is basically the inserts, the black is not opaque
    22:30
    enough and it bleeding through on the inserts This was the issue that I did not like seeing on my getaway when I decided to do clear inserts guys This is what was bothering the crap out of me and it bothering me now is that the ink for these insert decals, or the art in general, is not opaque enough. Meaning, it's bleeding through light.
    22:53
    Which is a little bit of an eyesore for me. Let's see here. That looks all real good when it comes to the characters.
    23:03
    Captain Marvel. I'm not going to name them all off, but yeah, that looks really good. And then you have Keith Elwin's signature for the LE edition.
    23:17
    And then a real close-up shot of the awesome-looking back glass artwork. And then another shot of the play field in all its glory. I'm loving that So my initial impressions on this game I have not seen it shoot I'm sure that's coming up probably even today Or tomorrow They're going to be showing this game in action here pretty damn soon There's no way that they're going to let this fester for another week Because the hype is already up They need to continue that roll But I can tell you right now LEs are gone They are going to be Dropping orders on TMNTs people are more than likely switching over to this game now do i regret getting a tmnt pro and getting this one instead well one i didn't know this game was coming out two if i was going to get this game it would have to be a premium i i would not settle for a pro on this one the premium looks like the mechs involved are pretty damn cool and intricate and it doesn't look like there's going to be a i just i would go premium there's more on this game i feel that would appeal to the cost that you're getting involved in here the subway system and all that kind of stuff premium is the way to go pro i'm i'm sure the pro is fun to shoot and you're still going to have fun but the premium is going to have a lot more and i think it's just going to be overall just a better experience i mean because the pros are designed and built to be like you know issue proof because the majority of the times the pros are going on locations this is a given it's well aware that that's what it is but i settled for a tmnt pro because you still had pretty much all the features you weren't missing any ramps like you are on this one you're missing ramps on this one for crying out loud so you're missing a subway system you're missing the motorized disc i mean that moves up and down the fuck i mean yeah there's so much more that you're going to be getting in the premium and when people want to argue whether or not people should get the pro or premium i feel that the legitimate reasons behind getting a premium on this is valid other games i'm willing to say yeah you'll be fine with the pro and you still will be fine for the pro i'm sure on this game i'm sure it's gonna be fun to play it's keith elwin i haven't played any of his games is two that he's made that have not been fun so chances are even if it is pro and you are missing some of the components it's still going to be a blast to play i cannot wait to see it in action like i said we're probably going to get that here in the next day or so and until then my first impressions on this is that it looks good i don't believe i'll be getting one unless i've watched the gameplay and it just looks so amazing that i may have to but don't know if i can negotiate with the wife on getting rid of a game to get it i don't know doesn't mean i won't try like now that we've seen the game and the layout and the look of it and everything now it's kind of up to code also to see how it's coded will we have co-op why would we not have co-op i mean turtles was a given that you should have up to co-op because they always work together. The same thing takes place here. The Avengers work together. So it only makes sense that we should be able to cooperatively work together to accomplish a task to take on Thanos. I mean, are we going to be able to pick different characters and each character is going to have certain perks and stuff like that. Captain America is able to, I don't know, do better on pop bumpers. Like the one is shield and how the shield ricochets around. I mean, stuff like that. I mean, I've thought about things, and I'm thinking that this game should and better have co-op. If it doesn't, then that better be coded in, Keith, because it makes sense, and it's going to help you sell even more units. But that's it. Until we get some gameplay footage, I'm thinking that's all I've got to say right now for this game. Well, guys, it looks like Stern just keeps dropping these things. Like, during my editing of this video, we just got a topper for the game. That's right. This is something that Stern has, I don't think have ever done, to my knowledge off the top of my head, to release a game and accessories, including a topper, with it. Check this out. so my guess is that just like the game is going to mimic when you obtain an infinity stone that topper is going to light up very similar to the custom toppers for like totan where every time you got a jewel or whatever then it would light up now we're getting a topper you're getting a better look at the art blades and then we're going to have a look at side armor with the Avengers logo on it here in just a moment. Yep, that looks awesome. I'm not a big fan of the Polar Rod, but it still is an accessory that you're able to get for your Avengers title, which all those accessories are available for your game where's my tmnt stuff guys you gave me side art we know there's a topper in the works you haven't shown us that what the hell guys now you're just shitting on everybody that just bought a game from you merely a month or so ago because now you've got something even better and greater coming out i wasn't getting i wasn't getting mad about this game coming out but now that i see it's like you're more you're getting i need to calm down nickelodeon versus marvel it looks like marvel is gonna win which is fine granted yeah i mean i'm not dissing that this game should be better i'm dissing the fact that they've given all this stuff to their new game that just got announced whereas this game isn't getting much love.
    29:40
    Licensing issues? What? What's going on? Anyways, alright. Until next time, guys. Peace out. you