This.

I just put the Cleland code on my GOTG, and just having appropriate music and voiceovers makes the game exponentially more enjoyable. You can follow the trajectory of this with DP and the early complaints. Unless people are just learning to appreciate machines over time, it seems that code makes an enormous difference to many pinball fans. If I'm going to have a game in my home, I want it to have depth so I can explore different modes, clips, songs, etc.

The pops sound effect is terrible. I try not to complain about the little stuff, but it drove me nuts the first time I was playing the game.

Since these are coming with rusted balls what is a good source for high quality replacement balls.

Interesting take. Have you played some of the latest Sterns? Pretty fun to me. JJP is clearly going for dazzling lights and no substance.

Also what seems like a great idea to people in a room, might not actually gel with buyers. Releasing the code bit by bit and taking feedback for improvements is standard. Sorry. Id rather have my Metallica with its latest code version, than its launch code.

Same playfield, but code matters. Also TWD DP etc etc.

All of us value different things, but I'm a sucker for interesting layouts/geometry (and tend to prefer 3 flipper games).

Keith Elwins games have energized Stern - his innovative layouts are a big reason why his games are so loved. No doubt software brings the hardware alive (as you say), but a boring layout is hard to get excited about. Both JP and GZ have really fun layouts with unique shot feel. LOTR is a good example of a standard fan layout with exceptional rules/dots/sounds and shot choreography, so it is possible to have a great game with a boring layout (but it's less common).

Just have to ignore debbie downer...most of what he says makes no sense.

Like I said, toys and layout get you to try out the game. Code keeps you coming back

AIQ is a unique Keith layout. But people don't like the code, so people don't care for that game very much (I like that game, but I get why it's not for everyone)

Theme for me. I know its Elwin, I know its going to be a great game, but its TMNT. In a home environment, where you have time to explore, it seems to be bad ass. In an arcade, not so much IMO

no LE's in the wild yet?

If a pop bumper goes off in an arcade and no one is there to hear it does it still make s sound?.....haha

I get mine from Ball Baron. Stern ships very poor quality balls. I probably replace them more than necessary but it’s cheap playfield insurance.

https://ballbaron.com/product-category/pinballs/

I can’t wait for the first allegation that someone’s wife noticed the pop bumpers all on her own and made a big deal out of it.

It’s the next natural stage.

Dr.No, featuring Sean Connery, is local and will check it out this weekend. Im betting its going to be a home run!

Bond and Godwins law, will we get to this final stage?

I played Bond (Pro) again today, and my opinion has evolved positively. The guys adjusted the table; the flow is better. I played better. The ball stays in play longer. The fuzzy bumper sound is out of place, but hey, it's all in the "code." The Pro is still on the bare side for my taste. Although, as previously stated, the game looks well-made. The Bond score lifts the spirits. It's not her favorite game, but my wife enjoys it. If you love your better side, that's all that matters. Neither of us is an advanced pinball player, just for fun. Naturally, the Premium is the preferred machine; Pro is more economically viable for commercial use. Makes sense.

Ref. my previous comment and downvotes. I didn't mean to dampen your Hype. I get it; once you buy a NiB, you appreciate every update, mod, code/ruleset. I would too. I can see how it impacts the gameplay, especially with the new arcade-style games. Not sure if ideal, but I guess that can keep it interesting.

Whether JJP, Stern, or AP, for me, the playfield design and mechs still matter the most. Don't think that code wrangling can change that fact. Enjoying the mechanical aspect of pinball; that's what draws me to it in the first place.

Do I represent the regular pinball customer/owner!? According to the downvotes, clearly not... A bit of criticism and fruit for thoughts doesn't hurt.

I voted "Unsure/will wait to see," though it would be a Premium/LE.

Take it easy. Have a wine/beer and play some pinball.

Luckily for you it has a great layout.

Bond has what it takes, or whatever that means. It's a fun layout and the code will get there.

This isn't as much of an excuse as just what we have come to expect for modern pinball machines. Stern has been killing it lately and I don't see this changing with a Gomez game.

Do you think Stern is prepared to help pay child support and alimony when this inevitably causes irreconcilable differences that lead to divorce?

Joel's streaming Bond Pro right now:

https://www.twitch.tv/flipnoutpinball

Are you referring to when the love rocket goes missing?

Yes. I have no doubt that thing can outperform me.

For those that have spent some time on a Pro - do you think the additional playfield features on the Premium will make a difference in long term enjoyment/playability? Is it really anything more than whatever Bond on a Wand will do?

I usually like the mechs and the back glass & art blades on the LE. But after playing both, if I were going to buy this game I'd get the pro. It's early in code of course, but after playing the premium at Expo and playing the pro at Expo and again on location I don't see where the wand will make much of an interesting difference to game play. And I've kind of liked the way Bird One multiball starts on the fly on the pro vs the physical lock on the premium.

If the wand just moves the ball over target and sits idle it will be very lack luster. If they can make it move back and forth and time it so it must be hit in sequence with jetpack over target it will be very entertaining and a true hurry up challenge. There was mention of jetpack moving so there is hope. TBD

Could have sworn George said it will vary in speed, be able to be dropped in multiple places and at some point in code evolution will be able to be controlled by the user.

Pro on this game for me. I’m not a average collector though, and only care about gameplay and reliability. You have to make a tough sell for me to come off 2k extra.

Sometimes it’s worth it, but not on this game for me.

It would be fun to have a T2 or ACDC like super jackpot where you have a multiball going, and you also have to keep an eye on Bond on a Wand to aim the release onto the dragon target

Now this has me scratching my head. Even if you could control it-that sounds even more lame to me. (still having Johnny Mnemonic nightmares)

Honestly if they can make it go back and forth and you have to time hits with jet pack moving-that sounds super fun to me. TBD

I'm curious if the jetpack could transfer a ball to the rocket gantry wireform or not.

It doesn't seem like there are that many places that would be fun to drop the ball? I suppose it could also re divert to the pop bumper cluster everyone loves...

I was trying to understand how this could work

Yep, it seems like it could drop onto the dragon target (maybe as a timing thing at risk of draining some multi balls with your hand off the flipper) or drop into the pops. I can see how it could be used in those ways but, for me, that's not interesting enough at this point to think I'd favor premium over pro for the $$$ involved in the upgrade, especially with the big widening of the gap between premium and pro pricing.

And I like the game. I like the shots and flow and have had fun playing it so far even on early code.

I don't know if this was posted here already, but...

Another "official" James Bond owners club was created:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/james-bond-official-owners-club

For real this time!

It's in the feature matrix:
"Custom sculpted fully decorated James Bond figure with Jetpack; magnetically grabs pinballs and transports them to start multiball and enhance scoring opportunities. At times controlled by the game software and at times controlled directly by the player."

NEW owners thread is at this url. Old one was deleted due to issues. I manage this and the Godzilla owners thread.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/james-bond-official-owners-club#post-7283452

My take on Bond on wand-
Several ways to incorporate it…
First- having the player shoot a second ball to hit some target that releases the magnet- thus the player controls the “when” the ball drops using a timed shot to another target/ramp/switch. Seems like that’s how it would be incorporated, increasing the back-forth speed with each subsequent capture/drop.

Second- use the action button to release (what we have seen so far) and then “where” you want to drop it changes due to rules.

Third- tossing the ball via software. Timed release to send ball in known direction, no target intended.

Forth- how many balls can this thing pick up? Can it daisy chain them?

Can the machine load a ball onto the wand without the player making the shot? Does the player always have to “load” the wand?

As a real time systems programmer, the aspect of coding the wand intrigues me, but I doubt Stern will put that much thought in how to use this thing or spend the dollars to develop it much further than what we have seen. They might surprise me, but I’m not holding my breath. I figure one more method we haven’t seen will be about the max breadth of their “expanded” use. If everyone is pretty meh about it now and are buying the Pro, they will probably not care that much about developing it more unless the Premiums/LE’s take off like Godzilla.

3-piece powder coated silhouette topper. $125 in my Pinside Shop without the RGB lighting (rgb kit available at Mezelmods for $35).

May take up to 2 weeks to ship.

20221209_104159 (resized).png

20221209_114846 (resized).png

James Bond Topper Close Up (resized).jpg

Selling 1,000 LEs @$13k should be enough for them to put effort into developing the Premium/LE code!
I'm sure they will sell many Premiums, also.

I’m thinking it may be possible to drop it onto the wireform for bird one lock bypassing the shot to the vuk.

Yes, toss it somewhere else useful, not just on the tank.

I know some aren’t excited by it but other than the crane in BM66 is there anything else like it?

Of course it needs to be coded appropriately, just can’t see them putting something like that I. The game just to hit the tank.

Maybe a little wonky that the jet pack and tank were different movies. Doesn’t bother me though.

Gomez should taunt us by enabling the moving wand to drop a ball on a node board, causing the pops to fire independently.

Very similar to the helicopter in Rescue 911, though the helicopter has more action when it moves.

it also has multiple places to drop the ball vs just one main target

Game I’ve never played, looks cool though.

This is the key to the feature being worth it.

The description and Gomez podcast mentions multiple targets and control options.

Tank is known, lock wireform assumed, what else can there be? Pops? Right wireform? Is there a surprise? Does it extend out as well?

In that “not a pricing” turd thread, they are listing R911 as a machine you couldn’t give away 3 years ago, and it’s sort of known as the fruit cake of the pinball world. Nobody ever wants one and everyone is trying to get rid of the one they have, and it’s been theorized that there is only one but it exists in 1000000 places all at once in the known and unknown universes.

Oh, I'm not implying Rescue 911 is a GOOD GAME. It's terrible. But the gimmick of the helicopter on a stick with a magnet predated the Bond on a wand by decades, and BoaW has less action. Gimmick regression.

Based on the videos of the prototype Gomez had it was originally more impressive with a take off and landing motion vs just side to side.

A big challenge is he has the rocket on the left that was in his way so the amount option is quite limited.

It's too bad they couldn't have done something like the Heist crane where it moves left and right but also telescopes in and out. That would give you the opportunity to cover a lot more of the playfield area.

The slimer mech in GB also had some up and down motion along with the side to side motion. Maybe the weight of the magnet coil was deemed too much to do that.

Telescope in and out would be cool.

I’m fine with the mech, it’s different so it’s cool and fits the theme obviously.

If I was wanting to change something it would be the damn scoop on the left. It seems natural for it to have been a subway Underwater/Underplayfield and the ball goes there a ton. Don’t think some of that is coded in here as that’s related to Thunderball and have yet to see any kind of clip or mode to that movie.

Yeah, something like Heist would have been better. If the Rocket/dildo had gone up and down it would have been out of the way for most of the game and opened a lot more possibilities and places to use the Bond on a wand better. But at Stern, cost cutting is king - those profit margins have to keep widening.

There aren't Dr. No clips in the Dr. No machine yet. Or if there are, I don't recall seeing them.