Everything is driven by the factory. If there is no new game at Expo, it is because the factory schedule is full and no new title needed to fill production.

I suspect programmers have very little effect on game releases, and BM66 is a great example of that. They demoed it non-playable at expo, and obviously we're all familiar with the state of the code a year later.

Rumour is Lonnie is on GOTG

If true BM66/Lyman is unlikely to effect GOTG reveal. Honestly I'd rather GOTG be delayed so Lyman can code it, the theme needs an adventure feel to it like SM, TWD and let Lonnie code the next non adventure music pin.

I had to google GOTG. You would think a person with almost every super hero pin would have known this...... And I call myself a super hero fan.

edit: Despite being a dream theme for me, I will not be ordering.

Thanks for the info and the pics! I decided to get off my butt and install mine this morning. Here's how I installed it and my mini-review of it.

The crane mod I got was free from a fellow pinsider but it was an earlier version of the mod and was modified in a few ways. This version was originally taller and was cut down a little so it wouldn't protrude lower than the existing front of the crane. The current mod you can buy is the proper height and doesn't need to be cut down. The top of this one was a bit rough from being manually cut down but all of that is hidden once installed. I think my install approach could still be used with the current crane mod available at Mezelmods. Here are 2 side pics of it installed on my machine.

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There are two wires (green and white) that run along the length of the crane and interfere with biasing the crane mod all the way forward. I cut the 3 cable ties holding the wires to the side of the crane and 2 more cable ties holding it to the other wires and to a plastic before going down the playfield hole near the pop bumper behind the crane. Under the playfield the white and green wires go to a 2 pin connector which you can disconnect. Once disconnected you can pull the 2 wire harness up through the playfield hole.

At the front of the crane the green wire terminates to a ground tab that is held by a screw/nut at the front of the crane. If you want to bias the crane mod right up against the front of the crane you need to rotate that ground tab.

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Just loosen the nut a little bit (8mm wrench works) so you can rotate the tab 90 degrees. Then re-tighten the nut to hold it in place. you can now push the crane mod right up against the front of the crane.

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I added some double side foam tape to the top of the crane mod so it would stick to the top-underside of the crane. I then ran the wire harness through the center of the mod. To ensure the mod didn't fall off over time I also added a cable tie to the front corner of the crane. There was an empty hole there so it was the perfect spot to secure it.

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I added another cable tie on the back end of the crane using the existing middle hole that previously held the wire in place. This cable tie is just holding the crane mod to the crane. Its not holding the wire harness here since the wire harness at this spot is above this hole.

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I added another cable tie on the last hole to hold the wire harness in place. I pulled the wire taut before tightening the cable tie so that the wire wouldn't droop into view under the crane. I then put 2 more cable ties in the same places as the previous ones were to secure the wire harness to the other wires and the plastic
just below the crane. You want to make sure you have a little slack here since the crane needs to move freely. I then ran the wire down through the playfield and reconnected it.

My approach takes a little longer to relocate the wire but I like that the crane mod is centered under the crane. If you don't move the existing wire harness the mod will still fit under the crane but it won't be quite centered. You would need to bias the mod to one side so it fits alongside the existing wire harness.

I like the extra bit of detail this mod adds to the crane and think it looks great. Since this one didn't come with the dome light cover for the top of the crane I'll have to ask Mezel if he'd sell that one separately. You can buy the crane mod from the great folks at mezelmods here:

https://mezelmods.com/collections/batman-66-pinball/products/batman-66-pinball-crane-upgrade

Same here, the whole experience with BM66 and the complete letdown that was SW has me looking at TNA, JJP 4 or Houdini.

Stern can certainly win me back as a customer but they need to get their shit together, decent launch code, good code/bug support first 12 months of release and full featured playfields, a sat nav and bobblehead don't cut it!

Dam you Doc with all your write ups and mod ideas, your costing me a Fortune!! Thanks for the Awesome lamp and detailed write ups! Now I have to take mama shopping so I can calm the house and get back to pin upgrades.....

Wow Doc, amazing and detailed instructions, plus the pics...you're crane looks very very nice!

Thank you Doc
Regards

I'm pretty sure Stern will have a new game at expo.

Or they could do a major code drop for BM66 and show it off as a new game.

Cold, but correct you are. I'll be curious if they have one there to play, period. If they do, it most certainly will have a major code drop in it.....if they don't?...well I think they even are fully aware of what could happen.....

Believe they posted on FB last night again that they were " hard at work" on it or something. I believe they've made a bigger mistake than calculated leaving this high profile, high priced pin stay dusty this long...

I doubt Stern will have the game there, but someone will.

In all seriousness- if there is no code update, what's going to happen? Not like enough Batman owners are going to be there to make a difference.

You didn't use the dome utility light for the top?

Not saying to do this But if someone wanted to make a point to Stern one Could bring their Batman 66 to the Expo, keep it turned off, and put a sign on it that says "Display only as Stern sold them." lol. Have to say That would be a slap in their face with a pin unveil soliciting new customers. lollol.

Another pinsider gave it to me and it was just the crane part without the light dome.

Last year Batman WAS Stern ...all through the tours, signings, etc. I believe it would have serious repercussions on any new model being shown at expo. We are small ( BM owners), but the hobby is small. Can't imagine how they could host any type of fanfare for any other machine with a # of people saying something.

Distributors aren't happy, people are vocal about switching pin dollars this year, and they are even ( mildly) trying to address several on FB.

Expo started it, they are a smart company, and expo is going to expose a serious crack in the Stern machine if they don't code by then. This was a very high priced, very highly marked, boutique pin. I think it would actually cause a purchase ripple far greater than the QC questions of the past.

I actually am convinced it drops before expo, this way, a machine can be there, and all swept under the rug, given Lyman coding, and as beautiful as the machine is.

.....Here are some cool playfield mods that look great on the Premium Batman 66 games. These are the licensed Batmobile and Batboat that is seen from the factory in the Super LE from Stern. They are both mounted on a clear acrylic plate with metal hex stand offs. These are mounted in the same location as the Super LE. These and other fantastic mods for BM66 and many other games can be found at www.modfatherpinball.com Explore the website , hundreds of different mods for all kinds of games. Check out the custom paint section, always interesting to see.

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Some of your mods use the incorrect Bat symbol, your decal set uses the 89 movie bat symbol as well as your SLE pin gulp. Key chains use the bat symbol from Batman Forever, just a little friendly feedback incase you want your designs to be more show/theme accurate.

I think Stern did a great job with the Batman66 LE/SLE topper. Of all the toppers they've done I think this one really compliments the machine. The only issue I have with it is the rotating beacon on top. To keep the design simple Stern uses 10 LED's that are lit an unlit in a way to simulate the rotating beacon on the Batmobile. It looks OK but is a bit slow for my tastes. Stern also uses white LED's which tend to make the beacon look a bit pink. If you just replace the white LED boards with Red ones its a big improvment. However that doesn't fix the rather slow rotating pattern. Here is the Stern Topper in action.

I first got the idea to replace the innards of the Stern beacon when I saw a used Rescue 911 rotating beacon at the Saratoga pinball show for just $1. I went ahead and bought it to see if I could make it work with the Stern topper. The pic below shows the Stern LED assembly which is easily removed.

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The rotating Rescue 911 beacon did fit inside the Stern housing with a little trimming but the big drawback was that it was noisey. Being mechanical in nature, it mades a noticeable "whirring" type noise when turned on.

I decided to try one of the more modern "simulated" rotating beacons instead. The Wolo Hawkeye 3010-R looked like a good candidate.

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It uses 108 LED's to simulate a rotating beacon and since there are no moving parts its totally silent. The pics below shows the Wolo with its 6 LED panels with 18 LED's per panel. It also has a switch that can be used to set the type of rotating pattern you want.

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I was able to fit the LED portion of the Wolo inside the Stern housing. I had to space it up a bit with some standoffs so the LED's would be centered within the slots in the Stern housing. Even though there are a lot of LED's in the Wolo you will still see them distinctly if you don't diffuse the light from them.

The Wolo comes with a diffusing lens that surrounds the LED's. This lens unfortunately is way to big to fit within the Stern housing. To make it fit I had to cut the top of the lens then a cut a chunk out of its side. I then reformed it into a smaller diameter and glued it in place. You can see the glue seam in the pic below. it looks rather crude but once its in the housing it looks fine.

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TO control the Wolo lights a used a great little mod called "T.I.L.T Mods basic F2S board" You can get them here:

https://www.timspinballmods.com/collections/mod-designer-tools/products/t-i-l-t-mods-basic-f2s-board-5v-version

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I had Tim make me a 12V version so I could use it to to drive the 12V Wolo and not have to bother with getting 5V to Tim's board. The way the device works is you give it power and a trigger. The trigger in this case is the flashing bat logo on the topper. Whenever the topper is on that bat logo flashes and will in turn activate the Wolo. Here is the board and a pic of it installed under the Wolo.

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The video below shows the new and improved beacon in action.

Ironically enough as I was finishing the mod tonight I had MeTV on in the background and tonight they were playing the Batman66 False Face episode. That episode uses the "False Inflatable Batmobile" gadget which also happens to be the gadget version on my Batman66. Holy Bat-coincidence!

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Superb Doc!

You are the man docquest

Great job on the beacon Doc.

Damn it doc I was happy with the idea of changing out the white leds for red, now I'm going to have to change the whole thing, your before and after is too good to ignore, now I've seen it I have to have my beacon like that

Awesome work as always doc you have really added some nice finishing touches to BM66, between you and MK and with Lymans eventual code BM66 is going to be a top 5 Stern.

Doc, that looks great!!!!

You guys are killing me with all these cool mods. Going to try and make my own crane mod.

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bm66 will hold the record of mods made in between code release.

Doc...looking at this closer you are now killing me....looks so much better!!!. Question: do you think final code will ever separate the strobe, bat logo, and of course, the beacon independently? Would this impact your mod ( being its triggered from the logo)? A lot of wires going up there, and I've hesitated looking at electronic gizmos for this reason, until Lyman finishes the code.

Also, will Tim be willing to offer more of the 12v triggers as opposed to the 5v version? I use voltage triggered devices all the time in my world, but most won't fit under the beacon...again great job!!! ( hoping to have ramp flowing to show by next weekend)...mark

Probably guessed 50 times by now ( and no inside information) but feel pretty good about a big code drop in the next couple of weeks or so. W expo on 10/11, I just can't see Gomez handing a USB stick at the show, like TPF. They will want to get this out, and some of the fires calmed prior, if they plan on showing another game. More than a hunch....a pretty reasonable business move, imho....just throwing it out there....

I can make more 12V boards if anyone needs them. I can custom load any of my T.I.L.T. Mod boards to fit most any voltage variations. Just send me a PM if you need something.

That beacon looks awesome docquest!

PM sent....

I agree, even the biggest marketing fools in the Galaxy would surely not show up at Expo without taking flagship game BM66 to some decent code after a year in the wilderness. Could they really be that out of touch? Because BM66 has non-working inserts and is so repetitive, I consider it currently Alpha code, though it is strong as it stands, though I grant no excuses after a year. Stern needs a massive update or Expo will suck for them. What a hell of a mess this is, and it's all Stern's fault. I'm so angry with them that I actually find myself hoping they crash and burn. How sad is that?

I have no idea what Lyman has in mind regarding topper inter-activity. Hey Stern, if you are reading this would it kill ya to give us a tease as to what to expect? The suspense is killing us!

If Stern made the logo light all the time in a future code update you could use other topper LEDs to trigger the beacon. For example, you could used one of the LED's on top of either of the side stalks. Those probably only turn on when the beacon was meant to be on. I just picked the logo as the trigger because it was an easy location to solder an extra set of wires. Tim's mode has screw terminals so if you decide to switch the trigger source its easy to just unscrew the wires and replace them with others.

I actually like the idea of a real mechanical rotating beacon like the rescue 911 one but it was just too noisey. I still might use it if I can figure out how to make it quieter.

It's truly sad that they have a " goose that laid the golden egg". We bitched about the price, but there were just too many positives in rational thought to believe it would be abandoned as such , hence sold out in hours. To go from 30th anniversary to embarrassing oversight will have a ripple effect without question. This code/ machine is going to be great, and we know it, but times up....they have to be aware their true core credibility is tied to this thing ( I personally think more than any recent release, including SW.)

That makes sense....think I'll jump over to the Alien thread to remind me what beacons they are using. Those are huge, however....

Expo will go fine for Stern whether they have a code drop or not.

If there isnt a code drop by Expo somone will undoubtedly ask a question about it during the Stern talk. Stern will say how hard they are working on it, maybe throw us a quick video clip or describe it somehow then move on to the next question.

Here's what I think people feel like behind their keyboards before the show.

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.









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Here's what they are like in person at the show.

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I wont cause a scene, but can assure you my voice will be heard ( in a diplomatic, business approach). I stand in front of many powerful execs everyday, can navigate the waters.

Calling Mike from Automated tomorrow to see if hes made any headway....

I'll be at Expo this year and will also be expressing my dissapointment about how they handled Batman66.

Maybe we should have a Batman66 support group meeting at the bar after the Franchi Batman66 talk on Friday.

George and Lyman said they are lifelong Batman66 fans, lets invite them with Franchi and drink to the late great Adam West and hug it out.

Where did you get that from?

That new Bat-Beacon was a wonder!! What you guys go through to make such a small change!! Kool,keep up the amazing mods!!!

What he said. I want one

IF TWD is any indication the topper won't really do anything

I hope Lyman surprises us

There can't be any way code doesn't drop before Expo right?

BM66 is definitely the best topper Stern has produced to date, I am not a topper guy at all, never owned one but the BM66 topper is an exception and one of the big reasons I went in on an LE over a prem.

It would be great to see it activate during specific modes:

Beacon on during Bat-Turn
Projector/Bat signal on when Bat phone rings
Beacon and Batman & Robin on after you answer the phone (going to meet the Commissioner)

Just little things like those that mimic and tie it into the actions B & R take in each episode.

As for code Ice, I really hope we see something in time for Expo, my BM66 is back in its box for the time being while I wait for my playfield replacement among other things, I would love nothing more than to re open my LE for its new playfield & new code, it will be like an entirely new game again and hopefully and epic one if Lyman works his magic.

Out of all the current machines this is the one I want the most. I can overlook that it's a Stern but come on...it's BEAUTIFUL! I've yet to get my hands on it but hopefully next year at Pinfest they'll have one for me to pick up...

I know about a dozen people that would like to jump in on a BM66, but the code is the reason they are all standing on the sidelines, how Stern don't realise by now that their piss poor communication and code support is hurting them is beyond me

Note that the projector turns on now when the Batphone rings and turns off when it's answered.

Gotta agree with this.

I know Stern has/had BM66 Premiums sitting there in stock.

Surely it makes sense to hold back any new releases, and finish the games you have now (that you've already spent all the R&D money on) and maximise your ROI? (return on investment)

This would also tell the market "hey, buy a Stern game with confidence, cause we will listen to our customers and get these games finished in a timely fashion" --- thus increasing sales of the next model that comes out.

I think of that every time a ball whizzes over my GOTs right Lord of Light ball save and it makes a sound but doesn't give me my f**king ball back!!!

rd

Reminder to self

"In Lyman we trust"

It will be flat out awesome

Totally agree...I did not realize until tonight that he coded AFM....this explains why this machine kicks ass...BM will too!!!

My LE might be back in the box while I wait for my playfield and code but that's doesn't mean goodies for my LE have to wait.

Look what Hot Wheels goodies arrived today, Batboat and Batcopter not pictured but I managed to take it a step above the SLE and found a set that had Batgirls Batcycle in it, very cool model I had never seen before.

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Looks nice. I think that set was a comicon exclusive a few years ago.