Looking forward to seeing what you dream up Aurich!

I have your Helen translite and it makes the machine look so much better.

I had the option of a Luci when I bought my Premium. Because of my art school past, and being a pendant, I turned it down purely because of the anatomy of Luci on the cabinet side art. I know she's a cartoon, but I knew that the weird way her leg joins her bum with her pants somehow going behind it would forever annoy me. My teacher would have thrown that back at the artist.

Anyway, I have the Helen translite and all is good. And busty

Pinside member Aurich designed and produced her, I bought mine straight from him. I'm not sure if he'd do another print run in the future, might be worth asking him. I also bought a new specially designed LED board to sit underneath to replace the factory strip light which works really well. It's tied into the game's flashers and 'animates' the lava on the translite. Looks very cool. I cannot remember where on earth it came from, I'll dig around in my emails or Paypal history should you want one.

The AC/DC table is part of the Stern Pinball Arcade videogame (albeit as extra paid-for content), which really surprised me as I also thought contracts had long expired and were too expensive or impractical to renew.

I wonder if there was something in the original agreement to allow digital renditions of the machines?

The Premium doesn't come factory fitted with a shaker motor (as far as I know). I put one in mine a month or so ago and the installation is really easy. All the holes and mountings are already there, you just need to screw in some bolts, connect up some wires and you are good to go. Mine even had the shaker activated in the software already. It's good fun (I like the shaking when the multiball is announced!), but I wouldn't say it's an essential addition.

As has been said, the trough opto does come loose occasionally. It's just needs reseating.

If you are getting one of the earlier made Premiums, be aware that the lighting is all LED, except for the flashers which are good old fashioned filament lamps. Mine was a NIB and they still only lasted a month or so. It's worth replacing the lot with LEDs (I think there's eight or so). The red cannon one is a bit of a pig to get out, but just take your time Grasshopper.

My DMD had a missing line on it, which was quickly replaced by the dealer. Might be worth noting.

I'm not sure about waxing the lower playfield, but getting some protectors for the plastics might be a good idea. I've broken one of mine and I keep meaning to detach the playfield and fix it!

When lifting the playfield, do it slowly and carefully. With Bally Williams machines you can put some brute force behind it and it'll be fine. Do that on Sterns, and there is a danger of it coming off the rails and dropping into the machine (trust me on that!).

Don't let any of this put you off. It is a killer machine that they will have to pull my cold, dead hands off before I sell it.