Agreed..
just got home, so I won't get to play mine again until tomorrow...will have more info after that...think the big video demo is tomorrow anyway (?)
Some final takeaways from today ( and limited play):
Positives:
a) The machine is beautiful in its bright campy, color and theme. You really have to see one in person. No pics I've seen to date do it justice.
b) The LCD screen is really sized and incorporated well into the game. Looks like it belongs. All the video is very crisp, scaled properly, and with further coding, is going to be unbelievable ( imho). Zero glare on the play field from it
c) Playfield- glassy, nice coat of clear, and no noticeable defects from first round of inspections. Light show was a great mix of flashers, GI, and inserts looked great.
d) Gameplay- A lot of fun right out of the box. I set mine up full tilt, and will probably back down to 6.5 tomorrow. Minimal air ball activity. Ramps flowed great, plenty of speed, and game had a nice " pace" to it. The crane toy is solid and awesome ( think everyone knew that already). The turntable will prove to be a great multi toy, nice lighting under spinning bat mobile, the bat phone looks cool as shit when it glows and rings, mini LCD will prove to be intriguing over time...anxious to see updates on this.
e) Overall, the machine exceeded my expectations from a " theme deployment " standpoint.
f) ADD- the music was f**king spot on...went from cool jazz sax lines, to pure tv themed stuff...really, really liked it.
g) ANOTHER ADD- The signed Topps card looked great ( yes, it's legit, as I was watching him sign a shitpile of them at expo). Gomez and Lyman's signatures placed well on outlines...also looked great.
Negatives:
a) basic code- to be expected, but obvious there is a lot more capability for gameplay.
b) No spots on central characters in the middle of the playfield made that area a bit dark. Kind of a shock to me, as Sterns tend to glow in the dark. The turntable toy could use a bit more light, as well. Suspect 3, well placed spots cures this.
c) Glare from translite- The LCD doesn't reflect at all, but the translite is BRIGHT. There may be a brightness control for it ( kind of doubt it, but didn't have time to tinker much), but the glare on pf glass was pretty strong at the rear of the playfield. I'll throw a sheet of PDI in there tomorrow and tinker a bit.
d) Those 2 scoop areas will have to be dealt with, to prevent wear ( both pretty large). I'll go with Cliffys or Mylar, but definitely need protection there.
e) No topper w game ( not really a negative, just confirming others statements). I'll call Mike tomorrow to see when they might ship.
This is the game I wanted for my lineup...looking forward to some extended time on it over the next few days...mark