HarrieD's ratings

So, I purchased the machine last week and played a good 50 games on it. My preliminary verdict on the machine:

Art is great, cabinet, backbox and playfield.
Layout of the playfield is impressive. The VAN targetbank makes me think of whirlwind, the ball travel is refreshing and the flow is very, very nice. As a mediocre player i think the shots are doable and not too tight. Table is fast, really fast but for me this didn't result in any additional drains.
The music is not my cup of tea, the most songs don't annoy me but you'll never find me at a live concert of the band. That's a downside for me, but I set the music attenuation to 20 so the music is dim over the callouts. This is acceptable.
Theme, is this a band pin? Is it an alien themed pin? I always said (after Aerosmith and Rush): no band-pins for me anymore. To motivate this purchase I tell that FF is an alien themed pinball machine and that says it all.
Rules: spell V-A-N with shooting white shots, select a city and then follow the colored inserts like guardians of the galaxy. Like it a lot! Several side games need to be explored by me.

So:
Pro's:
- artwork is great
- playfield layout
- flow flow flow
- shots are doable
- overall look and feel
- surprising ball paths

Cons: (my own perception)
- Music
- Theme, is it Foo, is it Alien? It's a plus for me, I really like the theme, but the integration is fuzzy at best
- Machine rebooted twice in different occasions yesterday, I hope a future sw release will fix this (Have 0.94 running)

My verdict: good table with a lot of potential. Hope it will last like some other table I own and if so, this will be a keeper.

[Update 02/02/22]
Still wow. What a great game, what a great shooter, what a numerous of excellent shots. I got the pleasure of owning this machine from day 1 with the old code (0.84 from the top of my head) en installed all the updates. Now version 0.90 is the best, many new features, better scoring, added secret combo shots, added many excellent features.

If you find one in the wild, play it! If you're into the hobby and you can pick one up, DO IT! None of my friends found it to be dissapointing.


[Original rating]
Wow!!!

I recieved this machine yesterday and it was highly anticipated. Read the reviews from other forum members. "Great flow", "Superb gameplay", "shoots like butter", "Elwin outdid himself" and many others. That got me worried because I consider myself to be other minded than most people. I myself like the obscure, mostly have a whole different opinion than other people.

But this one, wow, what a great machine.

I bought the pro for 2 reasons:
1. i am a cheap mofo, why pay 2K extra for some extra mechs which might break and give little extra (on this machine I think that's different though)
2. I could purchase a pro on short notice, prem will not be available in the near future, nor will the LE be.

Now that prices go through the roof I think PRO is sufficient for me (one has got to draw a line somewhere) but on the other hand the extra mechs on PREM/LE are worth their money. That sinking building, the bridge and rotation mechazilla are a great addition. Don't know if this slows down the machine though. So sad machines are getting that expensive.

So, my thoughts on the machine after a 20 or so games:

The good:
- what a shooter, what a flow. You need to get your head into this game as it is brutal. Such a fast game,
- it surprises, a few 180 degrees turn arounds. "What just happened???"
- great ruleset, after a game or 5 you get the hang of it
- shots are doable and rewarding
- she's a looker (I added convolux to it so it looks even greater)
- it draws you to it
- music is raging, it gets the old adrenalin pump going.
- played it with a friend last night, made us laugh, made us cry, made us glad and mad. Made us connect.

The bad.
Well, I guess, well, no, nothing.

The takeaway.
Play it! You will not be dissapointed.

Mods I made (and these are mandatory for me):
- Convolux, I added the yellow ones.
- JBL Studio 2 bass speaker in the cabinet for that extra oomph.
- Illuminated starposts
- Illuminated flipper buttons
- Illuminated speakers
- Mirror blades
- Transparant silicone rubbers
- Power supply quiet fan
- Shaker motor
- Scoop illumination

##PRO Version##

I bought this machine just "from the folder". Did some research on youtube but because of the possibility of upcoming import taxes, shortage on electronic supplies and raising (or is it racing or even raging?) prices I decided to buy one of these. My distributor had one ordered as a spare machine so I was able to grab this one.

Star wars isn't my theme. I don't love it, I don't hate it, but I have never seen one SW movie. In fact, I keep mistaking SW for Star Trek and vice versa. So, me wanting the machine wasn't that strong as it might be for like anyone else on this planet. In fact, my distributor informed me the delivery was being delayed by two weeks and I was okay with that. That was a whole new experience for me I must say.

So my machine arrived, I unboxed it, put it in the basement, played one or two games and I found it to be okay. Nice machine, lots of shots, nice playfield layout, lots to do, good music and callouts. I really like the clips from the series and the theme integration. I thought the child would annoy the hell out of me but I really like it.

In the following days I added mirrors, a shaker motor, convolux, some leds were replaced and I added a sheet of invisi glass. The looks of the machine are way better now, I really love to add convolux and mirrors. I replaced the leds under the plastic blue diverters near the child with blue ones and that adds so much refinement to that area.

Now, after a game of 40~50 I must say this is a great game. Very nice shots, I love the upper playfield, I love the hanging target, this is very rewarding, and there is just a lot to explore.

My verdict on the machine:

[+]
Very good playfield layout
A lot to do with nice shots
Rewarding shots
Playfield is filled with stuff, targets, toys etc but not too crowded. The pro version has a sufficient amount to gimmicks
Theme integration seems to be great, I don't know the series so I cannot judge this one with high confidence.
Great music, call outs, animations (clips from the series)
Plays great, lots of mulitballs, rules are relatively easy to learn/understand.

[-]
I don't like the orange cabinet. This is personal, but I think the color scheme on the LE version en soooo much better.
The biggest draw back on the machine are the plastic ramps. I hate them and they will be replaced with metal ramps as soon as they're available. Many inserts are unreadable thanks to these ramps crossing each other over an area with multo insertso. Luckily they are easy replacable.

Conclusion:
Great game, it surprised me a bit because I had no love on forehand for the theme. I think when you love SW and the Mandalorian series this is the machine for you. If you haven't played it, find one on location somewhere, it will not dissapoint you.

Wow, I bought one of these because I could get a cheap one. At first I liked the theme, looks, feel etc. But after a couple of weeks i got bored to the bone. I really hate the fact that this machine has no return lanes. There are 2 positive things about this machine I can mention:
1. The soundtrack, this is what cought me I guess. It has that deep bass and has something special
2. The fact it left my gameroom. Bye bye, till never again.

This machine has a strange atmosphere IMO, I don't know what but I really dislike it.

If I must review it without my personal aversion I got for it it would be something like this:

Pros:
- great soundtrack
- condition green is well integrated, I added led lighting so that was extra green and a nice to reach goal
- shots are tight but doable and therefor satisfying
- if you can enter your initials you are treated with a very nice lightshow in the backbox and wonderfull soundtrack (for that era!)

Cons:
- no returnlanes which make it feel like a very odd machine
- very shallow ruleset
- boring

So, I don't dislike owning it, I love system-11 machine, but this is one of the worst sys11 machines I owned and played. The only time it made me happy is when someone else picked it up.

#####
That someone else who picked it up though is a close friend. He wanted it and the machine had a huge surprise for me. I am a pin repair guy and I always provide warranty on my sold machines and for sure I did for my friend. The moment it got into my friends house the machine started acting up. Blown fuses, coils burning, transistors burning, condition green GI not functioning, switches broke.
I HATE that machine. My friend had it for more than a year and I must have made repairs on more than a dozen occasions. After a year it was stable and the machine was sold. My friend sold it to an acquaintance of me and he sold it to one of my customers. My customer sold it because he wanted a new machine and now it's out of my sight fortunately. I hope I never see it again.

Heard about the game but don't care about the theme. I think I will ever find the patience to view the movie but only because this game makes me curious about the movie. From a friend I heard this game is something else so I played it at his house one time. He has a LE version and although I hate most powder coated crapp out there I found this to be a decent looking table. I even loved it. The game appealed to me from the first time and I was able to set a decent score (I thought).
A few weeks went by and I was selling my TMNT i didn't care for. After selling it I ordered my Avengers PRO. (I'm a pro guy, prems and LE are way too expensive for what you are getting). This week it was delivered and the journey began. I added some mods to make it pop some more (invisi glass, shaker, mirrors, subwoofer, convolux and some other nicknags). But dahamn what a supernice table. I think this is one of Stern's best themes until now. I got a Guardians of the galaxy next to it, a Stranger Things and a Jurassic Park. I think the lineup is complete now.

So now after playing it I feel confident to rate it.

Pro's:
Great lightshow
Great sound effects
Great shots
Superb toys
Wireramps (I love those)
Deep ruleset
Not a drainer (unlike turtles)
Great game for everybody
Beautiful artwork
Much different multiballs
Really satisfying shots

Cons:
Well, for me this machine has no cons. I can imagine that not everyone can understand what the hell is going on.
The pro lacks some great toys, the 180 degree ramp is epic, and so is the lifting spinning disc. And that hand of thanos with the gem lights i am missing the most. But hey, I cheaped out so I cannot complain.

Overall: this game is epic. The theme fits the table perfectly, execution is done really well and it keeps me coming back for more.

9/10 for me.

Well, I was a bit reluctant about the theme. And then a friend bought it and I liked it mucho. So I could get one for a fair price and bought it. The machine is beautiful in my eyes. Packed full playfield, wireramps, nice magnet/spinner, superb flow, great callouts, good sound, beautiful art package and lighting.
I added mirrors, convolux, some lighting upgrades, 3D figures and a shaker motor.

So all ingredients for a great machine are there BUT.............

One great downside to this machine is that it's brutal. Can't get upto the left ramp? Let me reward that with a ball drain. Can't get upto the right ramp? Ditto!
Ball drains occur more than ofter. Had one game (5 balls) where I was able to play 5 modes. And of course, my skills are moderate at best but it's no fun to play TMNT for me. I had that with The Munsters as well. There is no chemistry between me and both machines.
So sad, it's looking great. I switch it on, play a game, it annoys the hell out of me and then I am going to enjoy me some other game. So, high points on appearance, low points on fun and lastability.

I didn't know what to expect from this machine. The theme doesn't cut it for me and I really hate the DE version of JP. This is biased because I hate DE machines in general.

I read a lot of reviews, played an occasional machine whereever I could find one and fell in love with the looks and somewhat with the gameplay.

So I bought one and I love it. I really like the artwork on the whole machine except for the cabinet. (PRO). The cabinet is somewhat off in my honest opinion. Too white and green. But hey, who freagin' cares?

My thoughts about the machine: (PRO)
- backglass: beautiful artwork, fits the theme very well
- cabinet: meeh, i'm not too fond of this on the pro version but for me this isn't a showstopper. It's nice but it doesn't appeal to me.
- playfield: wow! 10 out of 10. Very nicely executed, color sceme is superb, good ramps, cool shots, not a drainer, many toys. For me this is a winner. Some shots are fairly easy, some hard so for every player something to do here.
- animations: some people miss the original movie shots, I don't! Very beautifully created animations which fit the machine and the theme
- sounds: greatly executed, I only find "that is Nedry's doing" somewhat annoying
- gameplay: I, my wife, my kids are getting back for more and more and friends are automatically drawn to this machine only
- toys: so many toys in this machine. And you really get kinetic satisfaction. The machine is somewhat more expensive than a e.g. NST or DP but there is so much more going on on this machine that I can relate to the 150 euro's extra. LE and PREM have those extra toys but I don't miss that on the PRO. That animated dino is very cool of course but hey, 2K extra??

Drawbacks:
- Cabinet art, and this is the only real drawback to me. The other really really bad thing is that my other machines don't get any love at all.

Upgrades:
I love to personalise my pins as they come in. JP is no exception so I installed these mods:
- trough lighting (green)
- flipper rubbers and post rubbers (green)
- rubbers silicone transparant (I allways remove those fugly black rubbers)
- Convolux green (and orange for the slingshots and outlanes)
- PDI glass
- Shaker motor
- Mirror blades
- Orange starposts with starpost lighting under the slingshot plastics
- upgraded subwoofer (JBL stage 810)
- lighted transparent flipper buttons (green)

Was planning on writing a whole story but Ockeyhead beat me to it with the exact same review as I was going to post.

This game is the best with great shots. Demogorgon is challenging but I must spend some time getting it dialed in. That's the only negative on this game: the demogorgon should be "dialed in" from factory. As mine is one of the first machines I hope Stern will do better on the next production runs.

But this game kicks ass with great call outs, superb flow and beautiful artwork.

Well, let me first say that I'm not a big fan of band-themed pinball machines and that I don't like Aerosmith as a band. My first encounter with AS was bad, I played one game at the DPO in NL (dutch pinball open) like 2 years ago and walked away after that feeling not so impressed to say the least. The machine I played was a pro version. A year ago a local arcade had a premium edition and I started playing that one. I found it to be mediocre. In that period I wasn't into Stern machines at all.
Since then a lot has changed, I bought a "The Munsters" and a GOTG, both PRO and I became addicted to the flow and concept of those new Stern's. I love the several multiballs, the toys, playfield layout, big screens.
After a while I came to like Aerosmith very much, I played a 20 or so games on it in the local arcade before I decided that an Aerosmith might be an option for occupying a space in my gameroom.
So, after I decided my Munsters was ready to leave I put it up for trades. Candidates were: Deadpool, Iron Maiden and Aerosmith where Deadpool was favorite.
Within a week I came in contact with a guy in Switserland and after some whatsapping back and forth we decided to swap the machines and meet in the middle as we live 600 km's apart. We exchanged the machines on a parking lot of a soccer stadium and after shaking the really nice guy's hand we continued out journey back home.

So now I own an Aerosmith pro and I love it. I also own a GOTG pro and those two machines are a carbon copy of each other ruleset wise. And that's fine by me, I really love the Guardians, that machine has everything in it, a really nice toy, magnet, lots of shots, modes, lots of multiballs, mini wizard mode, and lots of fun. I find that also to be the case in the Aerosmith, I love that toybox, the callouts, playfield layout, lightshow, mutliballs.

What I don't love is the overall looks of the pro, the lighting is way off where I just love the lighting of the PREM/LE versions. So I replaced the leds on my PRO to match the PREM/LE versions and now it's great. It went from a mediocre looking machine to a great looking machine.

The breakdown:

Good:
- Gameplay
- Sound (there is an updated sound kit in mine, but on the other hand, I replace the stock speakers on all my machines)
- Artwork
- Toys (and orginality)
- I love the fact that I can decide if I play a 3,4,5 or 6 ball multiball
- Lightshow (after the led upgrade)
- Animations. I know most people dislike the flashplayer animations. I myself find them to be fitting the machine
- Fun, machine keeps getting me back for more.

Bad:
- Lighting, i think the lighting is really bad on this one. It suffers from those dull white GI leds
- Music, I dislike the band's music, so I put the volume down for the music.
- Theming, this is a personal thing, I dislike band pinballs as a whole

Overall: very nice machine of which I am glad it was added to my collection.

This game has it all and keeps me getting back for more.

I hear a lot people complaining about the sound: replace the cabinet speaker with a decent subwoofer and use the Cleland soud-mod. It becomes a whole different game!

Addtion to my comment / 29-10-2019:

I own this game now for 2 months and I surely love it. As I said this game has is all, it really does. I think the PRO version has literally no draw backs to the prem/le version. The only thing I'd like to add is the interactive ORB toy but other than that this game is really good in the PRO version.

Gameplay is awesome, many multiballs, several modes, lots of shots, great callouts, great lighting and great animations. I like the movie but I love this game.

Plus:
- Modes
- Multiballs
- Smoothness / flow
- Animations
- Lighting
- Music and callouts, although this can get some kind of repetative
- Artwork and playfield layout

Mandatory improvements (in my opinion)
- Add the Cleland soundmod, it's way better than the stock music and callouts
- Add a subwoofer (I replaced the stock cabinet speaker with a JBL Stage 2 - 810)
- Some plastics tend to break (orb) or is somewhat loose (rocket). Add a convolux set or some protectors

Bad about this machine:
- The animations are played sequentaily and this can take some time to execute delaying the game. Especially when your time is counting down for completing a mode this can be super annoying
- My other machines get litteraly no play whatsoever :/

So, I was a bit confused when "The Munsters" came out. What the fok is this? Never heard of the show and have no intention of viewing it. But it looks like the Adams family. So I began my little search on the net and become more and more fascinated by this machine. I think the newer Stern machines are such a blast to play because I'm just a mediocre player. The modes, stacking of jackpots, more than one type of multiballs with ballsavers. What a great concept. Where I got bored with Aerosmith and dislike the metal pins overall this Munsters kept me coming back for more. So I had a chance to play the LE next to the Pro and must say I like the extra playfield but not that much I will spend the extra money on it. So I decided the Pro will be sufficient and as of last week I own one and am playing it for so many games until now.
I thinks it's a great machine and am glad I bought it.

For me personally the Premium B/W is the looker, I would love to own the B/W one over my Pro but PREM B/W is not available yet in the Netherlands and there is a 3000 dollar gap between a new PREM and the Pro I purchased second hand. Maybe the future will enable me to own a Munsters Prem B/W. For now I am going to play some Munsters and enjoy it.

-Edit-
Sold it. Was getting bored with it and I wanted another stern. I still love the looks of the machine and the theme but it got repetitive and eventualy it didn't get much play.
Strange thing though is that I miss it from time to time.

O, and I love the midnight madness mode in this machine.

At first I was thinking this was a highly overrated, hyped machine which is only relying on the theme which must be only attractive to the 60's folks among us. It has an old playfield layout (wtf), only Beatles songs, strange rules, Beatles animations. In my opinion only suited for a happy few flower power believers.

I was wrong (as always).

A local vendor has a gold edition for a few weeks now and I am hooked, completely hooked. Is it the artwork? Is it the music? Is it the gameplay?

I think this is such a well balanced machine, I love the layout, simple at the first glance but so much to do. I love the music, although I can imagine this can be the culprit of this machine, always the same 9 songs can get so repetitative. I love the gameplay, it keeps sucking me back into the machine.

I just love it. The main downside is the pricing. 10K for a pinball machine? Naah, no way. But way to go Stern!

I highly anticipated owning this machine and last weekend I could pick one up for a decent price. It smells like a cigarette factory but that will wear off in time I hope. The machine is a good base for restoration and this will be done once I decide it's a keeper.

So far I got the chance to play like 20 or so games and I must say it is fun. It's not as deep I would have liked it to be. Spell F-I-L-M, shoot 1 or 2 locks and play your multiball. Rinse and repeat. On the other hand, there are more than enough other shots you can play. Miss a ramp? You're screwed!

The artwork is sublime in my opinion, although I don't understand why the popbumpers aren't lit. I just love the backbox art, the playfield art and the somewhat movie reel-like ramp. The ramps are hiding a lot of the playfield, so an extra lightsource here and there will be added.

The music and callouts match the theme, I find the "move your car" sequence somewhat annoying and aggresive. Some humor is in it. Decent and good for it's purpose. Quality is okay.

This machine has a high mod-factor, installing LED's really lets this pinball pop! New clear ramps will open up the playfield somewhat. I added green leds around the playfield, green trough lighting, green flipper buttons, green flipper rubbers and green post sleeves, and boy did that clean up nice. For the big ramp and the swirl cup I will test with green / white or purple leds. The backbox is lit with green/red/blue/warm white and man oh man, that creature just looks like it's handing over the girl right to you.

##EDIT 02-04-2020##
Well, the love is over, like completely over. What a turd of a machine. I really love the artwork, layout, ramps. This game is a looker imho. But what a complete disaster to play. Rinse and repeat, ball drains, no safety nets. I truly hate the gameplay. Sold it a couple of months ago and was glad somebody took it of my hands. Played it two or three times ever since and hated it even more.
And that's a shame because I really love the looks and the potential of this game. Love the film shaped ramp and the satisfaction if you make that shot. Such a shame.

Owned this one and was so excited when I bought it. I added led's, a color display (smartdmd) and some minor mods. Mine was already modded perfectly by its previous owner so not much for me to do.
Then I got to play it and I loved it..... for the first two months. Then it bored the hell out of me, so much I never played a full game anymore and finally I sold it. Now I come across a POTC once in a while and it cannot attract me anymore.

Must say though that the factory setup of this pin is bad, lighting is bad, coloring is bad, display (the led version) is so bad, that ball deflector thing..... damn.

However, the technical aspect of the machine I find it to be a great machine. Good theme integration, good layout, nice gamerules, nice toys, nice artwork.

But it's sooooooo boring.

My #1 machine. I own one and shopped the hell out of it. I find the machine very challenging from time to time but very satisfying. It had some really hard shots to make and the most beautiful jackpot ever seen. The theme is most appealing to me and very good ported to the pinball. I love the camera shot and the sound effect, I love the ceramic ball (powerball), I love the toys and the fact that so many beautiful toys can be added.
The only thing I hate about it is the old music system, a DCS sound system would have been better. (Yeah, I know, I can add the pinsound thingie).

Underrated game. For me personally, this -and now I must quote Chris Bucci on this- pulls the old heart strings. This is a machine you would find on vacation on a camping site in a very wrong cantina where you could get so freaking drunk. This is a machine which will be screaming for attention. I love the bell, i love the fast balls, i love the simple ruleset, i love the artwork.

I'm getting old i guess.

Owned this one for more than a year, it was my first pin. But i was so sick of it after a year. No more Mr. President for me anymore

Owned one, very fast game but it bores so easily. At first I loved it, played a lot, then I shopped it and sold it. Never thought of it again. Played it once at the guys house but it was definitaly over between me and Tomcat.

Great lightshow by the way.

So, Earthshaker I owned it, I sold it and I am missing it ever since. I got a weak spot for system-11 games. They can't compete against the current overkill of excellent machines but they stood the test of time. I own a whirlwind and that will leave not so easily. (I said it would never leave but I said that for a numerous machines already which have left).

This particular title is one of those titles which was unknown to me until a year or 6 ago when I started watching Chriss Buci's vids on youtube. He is right, Funhouse, Whirlwind and Earthshaker belong together. I had a Funhouse and Whirlwind at that time and after a short search I picked up an Earthshaker for a 850 euro's (900$). I knew I had to shop it so I bought new ramps, flippers, popbumpers, cabinet decals and some other nicknags. I chased down a set of plastics but thanks to my supplier who promised to arrange me a set I got nothing. At that time CPR was out of stock as well. So thanks to that asshole at minstry of pinball I ended up with nothing. (Really people, this guy is an ass!!, I got several other complaints from customers and friends as well about this douchebag)
Because of the lack of space the machine was stationed at a friend of mine where it was played for a year or two. With no sight of getting more room in the house I lived in at that time and the fact I wanted a new machine I sold ES and one of my own. At the time I knew I would regret it and after it was picked up ... well, do I need to spell it out? It was sold with the ramps, decals and the whole shabang. I'm a dumbass I guess.

So, the game isn't that hard, complete the lights on the institute, lock the balls, get multiball, shoot some points. Rinse and repeat. I love the theme, the theme integration, callouts, the toys, layout, some hard shots to make.

The plus:
Really nice backglass
Layout
Theme
Playability

The negatives:
Easy
Repetative
Small ruleset

Personally this machine is all that pinball is all about. It tranports me back to some good memories although I have never played it at that time. It gives me a sort of holiday feeling, warm sunny days with beer, friends and nice girls along the side.

I wish I never sold it and it will eventually added to my collection at one point.

I own WW next to Earthshaker and Funhouse and I must say that I love the three of them. FH slightly more than WW to be honest but my WW will never leave my collection. What a fun pin to play, over and over again. Love those spinning discs, and the fan is friggin owesome.

Who doesn't know FH? Who hasn't played FH. I played the hell out of it and it still doesn't bore me. Is it alive? Yes it is, everyone who ever played my FH is talking back to Rudy. A stupid plastic toy is more alive then Chucky will ever be. Funhouse is cool, Funhouse is fast, Funhouse will be #1 in my book!

Aaah, I own a BTTF. I like the pin, but only for nostalgic reasons. I love the trilogy and I'm a collector of BTTF items. I bought this pin in fair shape, but I shopped it completely and clearcoated the playfield.

The game however doesn't quite do it for me. Sure, it's fun, but so little rules, flow is bad, so little to do. The sound is okay, artwork okay but misses the image of Fox.
But it will never leave my collection.