Finalized my order.

Got the:
Munsters Premium (Color Edition)
HD Glass
Shaker
Cobwebs Side Armor
Side Art Blades
An extra lower playfield window
Generation 2 of the topper

Very excited for this one. Haven’t been this excited since AFMR.

Yeah, all Haunted House has on its lower playfield is full size flippers, a real pinball, a drop target bank and stand ups ...

I enjoy the Munsters lower PF - love the way it fits the theme as a shrunken pinball machine in Grandpa’s lab and it’s fun to shoot - but its still a novelty that can interrupt the flow of the game that can get in the way if you don’t like the action being interrupted.

But it seems many missed the main point of my post - Premium > Pro because you can play the Premium with or without the lower playfield.

You're joking right?

Congratulations, you are going to love it!

Was that ONE pinball you mentioned? All in fun...

The lower playfield is not a novelty that interupts the flow of the game. Its another mode to an already great game and the shots are meaningful and valuable and worth trying to do good while you are down there playing the lower playfield. And as a bonus its a shitload of fun to play also.

Im not a fan of lower and upper playfields but this one is fun as hell and its the best lower playfield ever.

Has anyone heard when the toppers will be shipping?

Again - missing the point. Premium > Pro. Because you can have both modes of play.

Yes, the lower pf is a lot of fun. But if you like the fast and furious action of the Pro, dropping to the cellar interrupts that. That should be pretty obvious to anyone who has played both models.

Go back and read the post by Puffdanny

Emailed stern. Paid for the topper a month ago. Stern says they should be receiving stronger springs for cuckoo clock door this week. So I imagine it will be at least a few weeks

I always hear people talk about the gameplay being interupted on certain games but i just dont find that to be a big deal. I mean yeah it gets interupted but i get to play grandpas laboratory so to me thats worth the interuption.

On IMDN Premium people say the sarcophagus lock interupts the "flow of the game", but for me its awesome when it goes in there and it gives me a chance to take a drink of my beer. When you are having a good game it's a welcomed break actually.

I think most people just try to use the interuption thing as a way to justify their purchase of the pro model more than anything. All of these games are a blast to play, regardless of which model someone owns.

The distributor I ended up going with says the Stern factory is right next door to them and they said it they are in production now and will be ready in the next week or two. Distributor was confident enough that they are waiting for it to arrive to ship it with my table we’ll see...

I don’t know if I’m more excited for the clock or the lower playfield!

Having played the pro without a topper it’s exciting to think I’ve only experienced half the game.

Lower playfield is awesome. I have an LE. Can’t imagine the game without it. It’s a good game. I be been waiting patiently for my topper. I think Munsters is fairly difficult. Got to 2nd Munsters madness once. Happy with it

Don’t be upset if you don’t get your topper with your game. Stern told me next week almost 3 weeks ago. Today they said maybe next week. Oh well. I just want the topper to work. I would be more annoyed if I got it and they didn’t work all the bugs out

Make sure you turn your lower playfield flippers down they don’t need to be on high power otherwise the ball bounces all over the place

Turned mine down and they barley make the shots especially towards the end of the flippers so it’s back to 100 % power for me.

I hear ya. I told them I am 100% fine with them shipping separately.

They want to ship them together because it’s cheaper and less chance of damage.

But yeah, I don’t want to wait a month or more for my pin.

Yep i like the lower playfield flippers on soft for sure. It makes it feel like you're playing real pinball. I didn't like it at all on the default setting.

You are going to need this tool to retrieve stuck balls in the lower playfield dashv so get one now before your game arrives. Always turn your game off before sticking this in there. You can raise the playfield up on its rails and stick the magnet in between the fins of the lower playfield and retrieve the ball. It doesnt get stuck often but when it does you need this. I got mine at Pinball life.
Screenshot_2019-08-20-22-53-46-1 (resized).png

I don't feel that way about it. It does not interrupt flow any more than the video modes on a pinball.

Way back in post #3584 I addressed the ball getting stuck in the lower play field.

I made 2 plastic dams from .010 Lexan to block the ball from getting trapped.

This pic is a staged pic showing one place the ball likes to go to to end a game. I have a dam sitting behind each flipper. I have not had any balls trapped since making these rough looking pieces. They are ugly but they are invisible from the player's position. Stern should incorporate these into the pin at the factory.

c12e6350de6d34a3a45b3159eea146834f8d5e34 (resized).jpg

LE since day 1... never had a stuck ball. Should I be worried?

Thanks for the tips cottonm4 and Who-Dey !

^Ditto^ "\_("~)_/"

Well i think getting worried would be a little extreme but i would order the tool that i showed in my post if i were you because i can pretty much guarantee you that its eventually going to happen lol.

Using that tool to retrieve the ball is much easier than pulling the glass on the lower playfield to retrieve it. Also as a bonus you can use that tool for so many other things. Its about the best 5 bucks you could ever spend. Its great for retrieving screws that you drop while working on your games and stuff like that, especially screws that fall into hard to reach areas.

Haven’t ever had one stuck ball after installing the right lane EZ install lane protector on the right lane. With that installed, I’m able to use factory flipper settings too and it makes the playfield work well on standard settings in my opinion. Soft setting was needed before installing the lane protector, because the ball would fly above the optos and not register. Here is the link to buy one, if interested:
https://www.pinballlife.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=PBL-300-0093-00

Also, have the two posts installed in the other two areas for potential stuck balls, which comes from the Stern factory now. Zero issues with stuck balls. Has never happened even once.

Try switching on the machine

Never a once either

Stuck balls happen in the lower playfield guys i promise you. You’ve just been very lucky so far. Better get that telescopic magnet or im going to say i told you so!

That cover is to help make sure the balls register on that ramp Thunderbird. I need to pick one of those up, thanks for posting that link.

Any word on toppers shipping yet?

Can you please post a picture of your post placement so I can see if mine comes that way or make the adjustment myself if needed?

Thanks for the link btw. Just ordered 2. In case one ends up getting scratched up.

Never got one stuck. But my lower playfield flippers are on soft. Had it for months

Haven't seen this posted here before but there are some cool Munsters 3D Vacuforms soon to be available at https://www.retroagogo.com/. These were shown at Comicon a couple of months ago.

Munsters Retro a Go Go.jpg

Sorry this photo has lots of reflecting light, but can still see areas. If you’re getting new machine, should have all this except the right lane top plate to purchase from Pinball Life.

E8704462-989F-4EB7-839A-1F0F9500A72D (resized).jpeg

Mine always gets stuck behind "the machine". It has that little plastic piece back there from the factory but it doesn't do a damn thing. I can't really see the cover that you habe behind the machine. Is it a factory cover or aftermarket?

Earlier in this thread someone showed how to fix, bend this in - so you never get a stuck ball there - FYI

Factory cover.

Where in this thread is that? Do you know how far back?

Can you please take a better picture of that for us?

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/1313-mockingbird-lane-munsters-club/page/61#post-4939296

To be fair there are some Munsters games with chipping clear and Stern won't stand behind them either.

This is the first time I have heard of this. Where are you getting this information, please?

Robert Winter's post #59 in this thread:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/continued-playfield-issues-with-jjp-and-stern/page/2#post-5160816

Thanks for the link. I see the pics Robert Winter put up and see the bubbling. But I do not see any chipping and Robert Winter specifically states his is not chipping.

Are there more posts talking about this issue with Munsters? Or is the Robert Winter post the only one?

When this thread started I looked my Munsters LE play field over carefully. I have one small bubble over at a left outlane post. Other than that my play field is pristine.

I definitely be interested in reading more posts about Munsters with this issue.

Got any more?

I have an AC/DC Luci VE with wrinkling around multiple posts and chipping around one, so I was just monitoring multiple threads where other pinheads are dealing with the same issue across multiple game titles, and I remembered this one post about the issue with this particular Munsters. I'm sorry as I don't have other Munster examples that I've seen. Ven mentioned "games" as in multiples in his post, so perhaps he knows of more than Robert's game in my link, and perhaps he can offer more evidence. What sayest thou Ven?

I should also say that I got my Luci a year and 2 months ago NIB, and at the initial inspection, there was no wrinkling/bubbling/pooling around posts of any kind, and I looked over everything with a fine tooth comb. I thought I was free and clear of defects, until all this talk of this issue made me think "I wonder if this occurs over time?", and to my horror, it appears it did in my case. So if you don't have this issue now, keep an eye on it. It's odd how some people have the issue out of the box and some like mine, seem to develop over time.

OK. Thanks. I’ll keep an eagle on it but there is not much to do when happens, I suppose.

I have done the fingernail test in out of the way areas on mine and the clear is hard as a rock.

Opinions are all over the place for the cause(s). And my thoughts remain with that it is a rush to production with clear coat that is thicker than it needs to be.

Call your distributor and try and get it replaced. That playfield is/was defective and they should replace it. No way that a HUO game or any game for that matter should have a chipping playfield in one year.

I'm gonna try on Monday Who-Dey. The bummer is that Luci is no longer in production, so I bet there's no playfields laying around. Maybe if more Luci owners have this issue other than me, they'll run more. Can't hurt to try right?