They used the opposite wood on my BM66 to yours.....mine is dimpling just like any other modern Stern I've seen! Consider yourself lucky.....or is there a playfield protector installed that you may not be aware of??

Lol. No.

Stern uses the softest/worst wood in years. CPR, Mirco, JJP all use noticeably better playfields as do the Sterns from 4-5 years ago. Look earlier in this thread for some horror stories on early Batman 66 games.

Are you sure there isn’t a playfield protector on the game?

Just messaged the seller - there is a playfield protector. I never would have known! It plays normally. I've used a playfield protector on an older EM before but never on a new pin. I'm sold!!!!

Stern use pretty young/soft wood, it’s fsr cheaper than old wood that’s matured, but alot of the dimpling is worsened because the clearcoat is given ALOT less time to dry than it should.

IMO a lot of those really bad playfields that look like the surface of the moon are from soft clearcoat, this is kinda backed up when people spot posts on their playfields that have sunk into the clear during assembly.

The newer thinner protectors (like for Batman 66) are great. I put one on my LE early on (not Day 1 because they weren’t available then). If I buy another Stern NIB I won’t play more than a test game before I put on a protector. In the grand scheme of things it’s very inexpensive insurance.

OK. I just spoke to the guy who sold me my BM66. He was confused when I asked him earlier - he thought that I wanted to know if I COULD add a playfield protector. There is no playfield protector on my BM66 - AND NO DIMPLES!
I have a unicorn!

Photo's? Mine looks like it hasn't got dimples until I catch it at the right angle and under the right light, but they are definitely there, just not as obviously visible like some other Stern's I've owned.

I sent a message to CF the other day and he indicated he will have prints and materials there to purchase!

Yeah, I had heard he was going to be there, hopefully there will be some show specials. When he finally had some more BM66 posters available online he about tripled the price......

I am debating installing a playfield protector ( from Playfield Protectors) on mine arriving in March. I have never done it and am not very handy. Is it a difficult task? I couldn’t find a “how to video” on YouTube.

You essentially have to remove everything from the upper side of the pf.

Definitely something that requires some skill and planning.

I personally wouldn't want to do it. I understand that benefit of it, but I'd rather not take a new game apart, and I don't like changing the feel of the game, even if ever so slightly.

I've never been in a thread so much for a game that I don't even own haha.

Seriously though this game has really intrigued me since the code got reworked. The theme is a dream for me as I grew up on this stuff and I like the idea that it's some good light-hearted family fun.

And how can you go wrong with a Lyman code!

I really need to decide what game I'm going to sell so I can get this one!

That won’t be easy as you have a mighty fine collection of fun titles but you won’t be wrong on BM66. A top game in our collection. If you asked for a vote your Walking Dead Pro would be the low hanging fruit in my opinion. Good luck with Your decision.

You definitely don’t have to take everything off the top. You certainly can, but no need to.

This metal Bat Gadget Selector beats the heck out of the sticker that came with the game. It's very quick to install and an obvious appearance enhancement.

Bat Gadget Selector (resized).png

Thanks, I agree....it just arrived today!

Easy decision, you have two MM. keep the best condition one, and get a BM66.

OK. Here are some pics.

3057E11D-C142-4E69-86EA-DF63CAF76501 (resized).jpeg8538B521-4FB8-4AA0-84EB-D21B203DFC3C (resized).jpegD2C69A70-1F46-417B-9703-1B218234CC3C (resized).jpegE8B3B630-A4A1-4A7E-A131-F967721B8521 (resized).jpegF862C7AA-BE49-4FCD-A9D2-BEB737F631D7 (resized).jpeg
Upon closer inspection though . . .
There are some dimples, although a lot fewer than I would expect for this many plays. They are just extremely hard to see because the pin (was delivered with) has Pinsadium lighting. I realized that the pinstadiums really wash out the dimples. I had to turn off the pin and use a flashlight to see the dimples.
So . . .no unicorn.

Well, at least you didn’t resort to using a magnifying glass! Enjoy your game!
0F75F934-FF82-405C-B5C1-62D5123CB0FD (resized).jpeg

Did you keep the Bat Gadget selector sticker on the game?

I really want to find a “Bat Gadget Selector” sticker for my game. The armor was power coated to match an SLE, and that and the “Bat” sticker around the button were replaced with the nice metal 3D versions. But because this pin is ALMOST an SLE, I’d like to replace these with the stickers to be closer to a stock SLE. Chas can get me the “Bat” sticker but not the other. Anyone know where I might find one? I know it’s a stretch, but I have to try.

I just went through every sticker in the Batman Premium/LE/SLE decal set.

No “Bat Gadget Selector” or lockbar Bat logo for the button.

Wonder why those are the only two missing.

TWD and I have such a love/hate relationship, but I haven't reached LMS yet (been close a couple times).

I'd moreso let this one go because I have young children.

My remake is already spoken for

Id be TWD Pro or either AFM or MM. Personally I'd keep MM over AFM, so between AFM and TWD Pro. But game taste is so personal it's pretty pointless me suggesting anything.

Except that you really need Batman 66 in your collection.

Isn’t it funny how many of us in the Batman 66 club thread say the exact same thing?

And people wonder why there aren’t HUO games for sale

BM66 is hands down my go to game in my collection. That's after over a year - staying power. Lots of fun. Everyone needs BM66 in their collection if at all possible!

I debated back and forth on PF protector and decided against it after seeing two of my friends with them on their Bat66 tables. They look so bad and the installs were very good. It looks like there is a film all over the table. No matter how hard you try, air bubbles happen over time all over the PF. Looks worse than some tiny dimpling for sure. Can’t really see dimpling on my table unless you shine the light just right. It’s part of pinball and looks right. Just like a Pantene that develops on leather over time. Looks good and is normal.

The Protector causes the playfield to rise higher than it was designed to play, so the ball does funky things. My table plays circles around theirs in every way. The best playfield protector is the one that’s ripped off and thrown on the ground. Lol

LEDs are dimmer and nothing pops on the fab artwork. It’s like putting plastic seat protectors over your nice leather car seats. Remember when people did that? Was horrible! My grandparents drove their car around for ten years with miserable hot plastic all over the seats. 10 years later the car was worn and rusted out, but hey, the seats looked brand new! Lol!!

Hahahaha, you made me laugh on that one, as that's exactly what I did with my AC/DC Luci VE protector. Here's a pic of it on my concrete basement floor.

Backstory: I was installing it on my NIB machine, and sawdust that must've been hidden in the seam of the playfield window cut out, and dust from who knows where, kept appearing on the backside as I was reassembling the playfield with the protector in place. I kept carefully lifting and reaching under it to try to remove the particulate. The final straw was when I reached under, and scratched the protector on the bottom side with my hand (I had no ring or watch on), and put a very noticeable scuff in the protector, that you could easily see at all times. Did a finger nail do it? Who knows? I tried to polish it out, but that just left a big cloudy area with a slightly less noticeable scratch. I was pretty enraged at that point, so out came the scissors, and I cut the protector out and threw it on the floor. I never played a ball on it.

Based on the above experience, I don't know how these protectors don't end up a cloudy and scuffed mess with all kinds of particulates and dust on the backside.

20180428_163633 (resized).jpg

I put a protector on a year ago mostly for resale and to avoid dimpling. It does work. For instance, the magnet looks perfect and while there are dimples, they are less pronounced. Now that I’m keeping the machine, I’m not sure that I really care that much and may just let it dimple to the point that it is smooth again, like all playfields. Did the same with IMDNLE, but may not bother in the future. Cliffy’s yes, protectors...maybe if you want to sell quickly.

My BM66 LE has had a new style playfield protector since day 1 and it looks like a sheet of glass! It lays perfectly flat and the game plays lightning fast. I am picky about my game play and if the PF protector ever so much as slightly altered the path of the ball or was bubbling up I would cut it off in a heartbeat!

Ditto.

Given the pictures and reports of massive playfield damage on some early games I wasn’t about to gamble that I had a good playfield or risk Stern not making good on a replacement if mine was a lemon.

I have a few spots under mine because I made the mistake of waxing the playfield before the protector went on. At some point they’ll get cleaned off but my game is smooth and fast and the art looks fine. If it starts looking bad or impacting play I’ll cut it off, clean the playfield and install a new protector. Given the insane price Stern charges for a new playfield I could do this five times and still come out ahead. And I’d still have the LE playfield signatures.

In general I do not like playfield protectors and Batman 66 is my only game that has one. But I’m not going to risk exposing what may be a defective playfield just to be a purist. And until Stern proves their newer playfields aren’t total crap, any NIB Stern for me will get a protector.

If it really looks like film then I’ll bet the residue from the protective film/covering wasn’t cleaned off well enough. My protector looked like glass when it went on and was almost impossible to see unless you looked at the edges.

My game coming in March....psyched. Can someone explain how / when/ why the collected gadgets get deployed... what exactly is their purpose?
I have never seen them used/ explained in the gameplay videos that I have watched.
Thanks

They are used to complete a shot for you. During gameplay the shots you need to shoot are lit with the color corressponding to that villain or mode you happen to be in. If you have gadgets to use the gadget button will be blinking yellow. Hit the gadget button and it will complete one of the lit shots you have.

Everything we collectively know about gadgets and rules in general can be found on the tiltforums wiki.

http://tiltforums.com/t/batman-66-rulesheet/2463

A fun new to me rule with gadgets is that they can add shots for certain egghead modes. Another interesting use is that they can open the ball lock diverter for locking the ball.

Thank You !

That is why I went with the protector, to hedge against softer wood. Overall, I'm pretty happy with it but may not put one on my STLE coming today.

Here is Catwoman (Julie Newmar) doing a couple of skydives. Very old school stuff. Two of my favorite things!

WTF are you guys doing when you install a protector to get “air bubbles”

It’s not stuck to the playfield. It sits loosely.

I have them on a number of old pins (saved the dished insert playfields from the dumpster) and have never had any issues. Can’t fathom how someone could fuck up I stalling one of these.

I haven’t put them on my new games because I’m not really anal. I know lots of people are - and if they don’t want dimples, they should use one. Then they can’t complain about dimples.

The new PFs are simply “luck of the draw”. I have 1000s of games on my BM66 and it’s held up pretty well. My super anal buddy has a BM66 premium which he’s hardly played at all and it’s dimpled up to hell. He wants to get a new playfield to install down the line, that’s how anal he is ... but it goes to show how different the timber is piece to piece. I was lucky this time, he wasn’t. Luck of the draw.

rd

According to a distributor I recently spoke with, BM66 sales are flying. If this is true throughout the system, it should be a lesson not to abandon a game ( Ghostbusters) . Rather, work to improve code to extend a game’s lifecycle. I was always attracted to this theme but Lyman’s incredible dedication to code improvement translated into a sale..... and apparently many more than just mine! Stern should look into giving coders and designers a “ per game sold “commission as part of their total compensation.

There is another run planned for next month though I don’t know if that’s delayed because of the recent storm damage. Haven’t heard if the license is renewed so if there is anyone sitting on the fence about the game I’d get one soon in case this is the last run.

What a difference awesome code makes. There was a time I thought there might be fewer Premums than LEs.

Finally took the plunge and picked up a Batman 66.

Really liking it so far, but have noticed one minor issue. The rightmost Cat Woman light on the right ramp is very dim (see video below).

Is there anything I can do to fix this, or do I need to contact Stern?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Contacted Stern, and they are sending a replacement board, great service!

Now, if I could only figure out why that left orbit shot seems seems so tight/clunky (maybe I just need to play better...).

I'm seriously considering a BM66 as I love the theme/integration. I've played it a decent amount on location and while it's fun I find the rotisserie shot problematic. The magnet seems to hardly grab the ball and I tend to drain right after starting a mode a lot which hampers the fun a bit. Is this something that bothers people in a home environment at all? The one on location has been there for a long time so it is a bit beat up or maybe this is just something that you end up getting better at the shot the more you play the game (in other words I'm just bad which is a strong possibility here)?

Aim for the left metal rail guide below it, don’t aim for the opening.....and yes, play better!!

Some people also move the blue ramp nub rubber from the outside of the ramp to the inside to open up the orbit. I never did that on mine as I haven't had issues hitting the left orbit. I have more trouble hitting the right orbit.

If you game is an older used one you might want to check if the previous owner added some of the later fixes Stern has added like: the node board capacitor fix, node board diode ty-wrap fix, ball diverter flap for batgirl plastic, catwoman ramp flap. You want also want to add some inner corner cabinet braces if yours doesnt have them to prevent cabinet splitting.

Thanks for the info! This is a NIB one that I just received yesterday.

I really haven't had too much time on it, but I sort of wonder if I might need to tweak the left orbit guide a bit. I leveled it last night (and checked multiple times) and set it at 6.5. However, when full plunging it will pretty consistently will hit the top of the left sling, or hit the sling at an angle such that it will trigger. I am thinking the angle might be a bit off, which makes the orbit shot more challenging. But, will mess with it more tonight...

The other thing to check with the left ramp shot is whether the cable for the Catwoman lights is getting in the way. I had to reroute mine to prevent it from interfering with the left orbit shot.

Yes, sometimes the magnet may not grab the ball from a fast trajectory. However, having this game in the home environment you forget this and play on. The game is too fantastic and fun!

I did NOT design the art blades with the cityscape and the BAM and POW! Those were created by Kevin O’Conner.