Hear hear. He’s always been super helpful and is excited about the games, and to my tremendous shock, actually has stayed on Pinside despite.. well... Pinside being Pinside. Rosh too. Their enthusiasm has kept me engaged .. oh and also they put out a kick ass game!

Mine often snags a good bit on the left hand side in the back, when I try to raise the playfield. On the right it can sometimes as well, but not as much. When the protectors snag, they buckle.

The AP art blades are the best look for Houdini. I just wish they were printed on vinyl like the Stern ones rather than paper that is damaged much easier. I wonder if you could get some very thin mylar cut to shape and put that on them before installation. It would make them similarly durable to the Stern ones.

The protectors may buckle a bit but the artwork stays safe. A must have for Houdini.

The American Pinball people definitely love what they are doing. You see them at a show or at their company, they have a high level of love and excitement for their work.

I don't know if they give factory tours. When you see them at a show. Dhaval, Joe, Josh, Barry, Jim, Nirmal and his side kick, and maybe others I don't know. Talk to them and ask about their games.

You'll be glad you did.

LTG : )

Apparently it’s not needed in Australia... but by the sounds of things I’m going to have to fork out for it. About $350 AUD

If its working fine would you buy the power supply add-on?

Back in college was at opening night for a new bar, it was 6 for 1, did 6 shots of Tequila in less than a half hour, and this was back before I knew to drink quality stuff, only time I have ever gotten sick from booze.

The ones on Oktoberfest are better quality, and they are also included, so not like you need to worry about buying and installing them.

You might have you coil strength on the pops a touch too high or did you put real chains on the locks mounted on top?

My own opinion. I would. Then never have to worry about it, just in case you wish you had.

LTG : )

Problem is it’s not working fine and I’m getting frustrated that my film mode isn’t starting when I make that shot when lit. It’s a great game still just frustrating

We didn't have any problems per-se, but the the additional power supply made the coil firing more consistent across the board. I'm happy with the upgrade.

Haven't changed the pop coil strength from factory (can't recall the setting off hand). Everything was working fine until the top of the pop went plop (good rhyming skills here). Probably have about 2000 games on it at this point. No complaints here. It'll be an easy fix once the new parts show up. BTW, these were the chains I was considering replacing the plastic ones with. Do you see any problem with them?

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I think you need to go bigger.

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Did you try aiming the catapult by loosening the screws and rotating the mech?

Then adjust the power up or down?

Run the catapult 20 times and see what it does, adjust as needed.

220v in AU, yeah you shouldn't need any power upgrade on a 48v game.

But the upgraded power supply has more wattage available for the game. More than twice the power of the original.

This has the effect of stabilizing coils, flippers and the catapult.

So during a game, with a lot of coils and magnets firing, the catapult will not change and fire as it should.

I bought it and 99% of the power related issues are gone.

I highly recommend it.

These were very nerve wracking to install, and I used wet. These were much thinner than blades from tilt and pingraffix. I got some Middle Earth blades from a source in UK, and they were even limper than API's, and I ripped one.
By the way, it would be great to ID all the characters in the API blades. Some are mysteries to me. I like Lon Chaney's Phantom Red Death, obviously, and Nosferatu's shadow. And there are some famous magicians in there, including Mac King.

Nice catch seeing Mac King! That is a deep cut for sure. I would have loved to see somebody like Dai Vernon or Robert Houdin too

It's a bit of money, but you at least get a code for $150 towards parts or a knocker.

So, it's not horribly terrible in that respect.

Agree, figured i am going to buy few items for my Houdini so why not buy the power supply, get the code and then order what I want. In the end I am getting the power supply or additional parts (however you want to look at it) for no cost.

I will 100% do that next time we are in Chicago

Funny how regular people understand how this is an incredible customer service move on the part of AP.. and others just want to crap all over it. I mean I’ve seen worse thinking but that spin is definitely a head scratcher

Does the price of the tour include 4 hours of playfield assembly work?

No. They want good help on their assembly line.

LTG : )
Disclaimer : I believe that is called "ZING"

Hey guys. I'm looking at a Houdini tomorrow to possibly add to my collection. It's a great game that I've had my eye on since Pinagogo 2017.

Couple questions please.

Is there anything in particular I should look for? Known problem areas? Known wear spots? Catapult issues maybe?
Also, how to tell if it needs the upgraded power supply?
Any help is appreciated.
Thank you pinheads!
Nick

If your power is reliable (doesn't fluctuate 4-5v or more during the day), you probably don't need the add-on supply. That said, having it smooths out the consistency of the coil firing in my experience, so I'd recommend.

Things to look for:
Does it have cracking/chipping at the lip of the scoop exit on the right?
Does the stage open and close reliably? (the early ones had servos that self-destructed at an alarming rate causing the stage to open or close unreliably or not at all)
Does the inside have art blades? If so, are the edges torn up or ratty from the playfield being raised/lowered. If not, that's $100 a future purchase since the art is awesome.
Does the game have a hardwired EOS on each flipper? This is a worthy upgrade and bonus if it already has it.
Does the game have a hardware knocker. Another worthy upgrade that is a bonus if already installed.
Is there a naked woman on the plastic that covers the skill shot targets?

I got the power supply although my trunk shot was extremely reliable, don't ever remember seeing it miss, but I could notice it vary some. Without it, it really is a function of how well your house line voltage varies. So our area must fine, but get it and never worry about it again. If the line voltage is low, the ball will shoot low, too high and the ball could nail the top of the upper lip of the trunk opening. Of course, it's not an immediate requirement. I didn't want to take a chance of the ball dinging the trunk paint if the line voltage ever did start to dip. A few people complained about the $150, but I'm more than happy w/a $150 AP credit at their store. Plus with a $150 credit you could get a shaker which I think is $100, a real knocker ($50), or it would come in handy reducing the pricey MagicGlass (which really does make a diff).

Mandatory? Like most games, a cliffy on the scoop, maybe in the shooter lane. I got the entire Cliffy kit, but that's all I have installed for now. Another would be art blade protectors for when you raise the PF...there's not much clearance and some have reported damaging the art blades (I think $35 at PinballLife).

One other thing not mentioned much was our pop bumpers were so-so. I adjusted the switches and it made a huge difference. Others installed EOS switches on the flippers, but I have never seen the need. I also hooked up a powered sub woofer - the bass is one area that is really lacking. That was another big improvement. The pin actually has great bass that you really don't feel/hear unless there's a sub. I actually bought a cheap $25 mixer on Amazon, and run 4 pins on a single sub. Here's a nice sub for $100 that is slim, and can set vertical ($100): https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=33829

Barry J, and the rest of the team have been nothing less than outstanding on several issues I had. A+ service. Nearing 5 months since we got, and it's still our 'goto game'

WOW
Vireland and Mbwalker, you guys are great! Thank you for taking the time to post. I appreciate it!

Yeah and I am the second owner of the game. For AP to do this for me as a second owner is even more of an incredible customer service move on their part!

A lot of people use the Polk Subs...... https://www.amazon.com/Polk-10-Inch-Powered-Subwoofer-Single/dp/B0002KVQBA/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa

Has there been a game manufactured date where American Pinball started shipping games that already had the upgraded PS or EOS switches?

Should be that way right out of the gate for Oktoberfest! I don't think Houdini ever had that become standard.

Pretty sure Oktoberfest also comes with a shaker motor and art blades standard at $7400 now.

Why yes there is. Rumor has it there is a second but knowone has posted where she is.

They did give you a great list and I'll add plastic protectors to it, not hard to add-on but a bonus if they are already there. Not that it matters but they did change PF manufacturers somewhere fairly early, the first ones have jeweled inserts and the rest are not. There may have been a time when they were using both, I'm not completely sure about that. I've been told that the later ones (Bader, IIRC) have better clear coat than the Mircos but my Mirco one has been perfect so far. Might also be nice to know if the two ball gates have been replaced with the improved design.

Hey! I didn't get to assemble anything when I had my tour last year.
I guess I'll have to book another visit.

Pinball Camp !

Meet Mustache Gurl!

Wear lederhosen!

$499.00 spend a weekend learning and experiencing the amazing world of pinball manufacturing, hands on!

Nope - only a small % of the homes need the upgraded PS. I believe that Josh stated the EOS switches are not needed but if you insist they make them available.

Got about 5-6 games on it last night and going to spend a few hours playing now absolutely beautiful out of the box !
I had to fix the eyes they were driving me crazy though
The leg is factory, rt is my fix that I’ll refine a little better
Last is with both modified

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Wow that’s awesome! Just some opaque plastic underneath?

But I like the creepy bi-colored, Alien winking! It makes us laugh lol

I cut small foam o’s and stuck them in

Finally playing some games, had a switch issue that needed adjustment and another switch in the lock line of three that wouldn’t let the ball roll past.
Once I got those working I was having some good games for the crappy player I am. Love the game so far and enjoy what seems to be a very deep game. Need to learn the rules.

Really wish it came with a manual though.

So what caused that in the first place?

http://s4.american-pinball.com/img/support/2018-10/AP_Houdini-Service-Manual_091018.pdf

The switch closest to the post was not allowing the ball past, it would trigger the switch but when the post dropped the ball couldn’t get out.
I spent some time adjusting with no luck, had to remove the switch and play with it for a bit but it’s now a little messed up but working 90% of the time. I’m going to replace the switch and see if that helps.
The other switch in the smaller catapult is just really loose but I bent it up so it seems to be working now.
Time for more “testing”

Learning this game is really fun. after I got mine I had played maybe 40 games before I really explored the settings, turns out I was in tournament mode, which is quite a bit more constrained than regular play. It got even more fun after that!

I am a big "manual" guy and promptly bought one for each of my other games as I got them, but they were all serious projects. Having the Houdini manual online is sort of nice, can't get lost, doesn't take up space (or carbon) and is always up to date with the latest amendments.

Ditto above. AP has since updated the manual, so no sense in having a hard copy if it's out of date.

I printed the manual on heavy paper and had fedex/office spiral bind it for $3 included plastic covers !

Installing “easy” is not a bad way to start andy then move to medium one you find your way

I 3D printed a nice curved filler that was almost as wide as the post and tapered down to the left side of the scoop.

It didn't help.

This machine has the add-on power supply and I have the scoop eject as low as it can go and consistently get the ball out. Mine throws to the outside right rail and doesn't hit the inside filler piece. Watching it kick out dozens of times in a row, it would be more consistent if the right rail tapered to the scoop side about 1/4" more - there's too much of a gap on the right and too much free left/right space where the ball kicks out and that makes more inconsistent kickouts. By drilling out the rail you could probably make the adjustment to get very consistent kickouts, but you'd have permanently modded your machine.

Put in the full set of Cliffy protectors and LSOG plastic protectors. A lot of stuff needs to be removed to get to install these, but I found the game surprisingly easy to work on and the install went smoothly. Everything fit snug. The LSOG plastic protectors are really nice too. Its not often I install a set of plastic protectors and don't have to modify something on them or enlarge a hole or two. These went in trouble free. Not to mention they are clear. I really don't like the fluorescent colored protectors that seem to be popping up on some machines.
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