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Wanted to start a separate thread for this because in past years it has been fun to answer questions and interact here on Pinside during the sale.

Direct link to sale: https://www.cometpinball.com/pages/black-friday-sale

Black Friday Sale: Starts at midnight (eastern time) on Friday morning (ie: a few hours after your Thanksgiving).

Save up to 30% on the following items (no code necessary):

• 2SMDs are 49 cents each (when bought in 25 packs or 100 packs)
• SMD Retros are 45 cents each (when bought in 25 packs or 100 packs)
• 8SMD flashers are 99 cents each (just the normal flat ones, not towers or flexes)
• Trough lighting kits are $5.49
• Pop bumper discs are $2.99
• Blinking bulbs are 99 cents each

Everything else is regularly priced.

Sorry, no rain checks - when they're gone, they're gone. Quantities are limited in some cases.

As always, all orders over $99 get free shipping.

If you spend more than $199, you get to choose a free gift! Choose from:

• Comet T-shirt (now also in black!)
• Spotlight Kit
• Illuminated Flipper button kit
• Matrix sampler kit
• Kangaroo coin purse
• Clip on Work Light

Limit one gift per customer.

If you already have items in your cart, you will need to refresh your browser once the sale goes live to see the discounted pricing.

FAQ:

Q: Will [name of product not listed above] be part of the sale?
A: Sadly, no.

Q: Do I get candy?
A: Almost certainly (unless you order a single bulb or something, or you're outside the US).

Q: Will Nemo The Shop Dog be picking orders?
A: No. He will be sitting in the aisle, getting in our way.

Q: Is international shipping free if I spend $X?
A: Sadly, no.

Q: When do you play pinball in the office?
A: Never before the mail goes out at 5:29pm. Currently we have a Funhouse and a Wizard of Oz.

Q: If I spend $398+, can I have two free gifts?
A: Sadly, no - gifts are limited.

Q: If I forget something in my order, do I have to pay for shipping again?
A: It depends. Your order confirmation will give you instructions for how to add to your order. If you haven't received a shipping confirmation, then we haven't packed your order yet and you are free to add to it. However, once you've received the shipping confirmation email, it's too late, and you'll need to place another order and pay for shipping again. Please follow this guideline so that your package is not delayed while we track you down and make you pony up for shipping.

Q: That sounded like a threat. Are you threatening me?
A: As of this time, we have yet to employ hired goons for any reason.

Q: Do you eat candy while working in the Comet Pinball office?
A: Ryan will occasionally partake, but only if he hasn't eaten in several hours. I've never seen Greg eat candy, as he is dissuaded by the picture of the aching cartoon tooth that lives in the candy bin. We're currently in possession of a full sized gummy pickle that has gone uneaten for weeks.

Q: Will you run out of some product during the sale?
A: Almost certainly (but hopefully only a handful of our 1000+ products). No matter how hard we try, we cannot seem to satisfy your appetite for bulbs!

Q: You ran out of Trough Lighting Kits, now what?
A: Buy a 10SMD strip of your choice, and then add a 12 inch Matrix wire. That's it! (All you're missing is the brightness adjuster, which are totally optional, but sadly it looks like we're going to run out of those).

Q: What does Retro mean?
A: We use the term "Retro" as a synonym for "same brightness as an incandescent bulb". It means nothing more, and nothing less. We have various styles/colors of Retro: bullets (shape/height of an incandescent), standard (shape/height of our standard sized bulbs), frosted, and clear.

Q: Are these real questions, or are you just making them up?
A: Yes.

Q: Do you have any other sales during the year?
A: No. Anything is possible, but it hasn't happened thus far.

Q: Is "anything" *really* possible?
A: No. It's impossible to put a Cadillac up your nose, according to Steve Martin anyway.

Q: How much longer will this FAQ go on?
A: As long as it has to.

Q: Okay...so it sounds like you've run out of questions, haven't you?
A: Yes.

Put a request in your order notes and we'll do our best. It kind of depends on what we have and how busy we are.

Who do we side with?

(You could also ask for no stickers, but our setup doesn't really give us an easy way to have a universal note like that displayed every time we are filling an order).

You'd want something 12v. Click on our 12v category and look around in there. Opmax would be the most diffused light that spreads wide, and some of the others will be more harsh and/or focused.

This is hilarious. That's like saying: I like ice cream sandwiches, except for that cold white goop in the middle.

Please refer to question 1 of the above FAQ.

Damnit, you win this round!

Yes! This is not unheard of. Our whiteboard says "62 Days Since Last Single Bulb Order", meaning it happened most recently on September 26th. It was a 1SMD blue bayonet bulb, with a clear top. We miss that little guy.

A few years ago, someone wrote in saying that he only needed a single color changing bulb, and asking if we could reduce the shipping cost. He was in Alaska. Sometimes I wonder who he bought that bulb from.

What do you think is the ratio of joy vs rage when people see what candy they got? Is there a giant mountain of uneaten candy spread across the households of US pinheads? Should we open up our store to a market that's thousands of times bigger and just sell candy (that comes with a few free LED bulbs)?

We live near a lot of college kids, so the feds would come knocking if we tried sending out their "candy" to customers.

It's rare, but I have eaten a tiny gummy hotdog out of our candy bin...so you may get your wish.

You'll have 95...assuming you didn't give any to Charles or Sarah. How many did Sarah start with?!? I'm going to have trouble fitting this into the FAQ.

Q: I had my cart all loaded up and ready to go, but now it's empty. How screwed am I?
A: Not screwed at all (, probably)! PM me or email us with the email address you were using and we may be able to do a "cart recovery" for you.

I haven't actually used them yet personally, but I think the regular sized ones should be great (https://www.cometpinball.com/products/retro-smd-bulbs). What do you normally use?

The caveat is that we don't recommend the Retro Bullets for backboxes. They are taller, and thus closer to the backglass/translite, and thus more likely to create a focused spot of light (where generally you'd want light in the backbox to be evenly spread out).

Edit: Also, always go with frosted in the backbox.

So yeah...it seems like the cart won't follow you across devices. <insert smiley face vomiting icon>. This may be something we can fix for next year, but it's not going to help right now for anyone who found out the hard way. I'm so very sorry for anyone this happened to, but I'm not sure how to properly atone for this.

These are awesome suggestions, thanks! I think we will try setting up something like Remember My Cart after the sale (as I'm too nervous to mess with things right beforehand).

For GI, anything works for any era...it's more a matter of taste. What other games does this customer have? If they're all incandescents, then I would go with Retros. (The Bullets came about from requests from people who really wanted the bulbs to be the same height as incandescents...so the look was the same and for some EMs the sockets are sunken pretty far into the playfield/backbox, so the taller ones are easier to grab). If they're all modern games with LEDs, then I'd go with 2SMD (or 1SMD, if that's what is already in them).

This is adorable.

Thanks for the question Murphy! This is our bad for not making it clear enough. All our strips come with connectors (wedge, bayonet, and alligator clips). But...things are tricky with JJP games. Those use 12v for lighting, rather than the 6.3v most other games use. So, you would need to get a 12v strip (https://www.cometpinball.com/products/lighting-strip-12v), which only come in shorter versions. And...it can be difficult to find a place to connect to. One simple option is the coin door, though this means you'd need enough wire to run it to the back of the cabinet and then up the playfield (so that it's not in your way when you lift it up). You could replace the coin door light with this: https://www.cometpinball.com/products/quick-connects and then get a few feet of wire: https://www.cometpinball.com/products/matrix-extension-wires

Does that make sense? It's starting to get trickier with new games that use different voltages and custom light boards with surface mounted leds (rather than socketed bulbs).

Yes, both styles of SMD Retros (bullet, and standard) are on sale. Really curious how these will do...they're new enough that we don't have a lot to go on in terms of projecting how many will sell during the sale.

That's it...no candy for you! (I realize now that I forgot the word "dinner" at the end of that sentence)

This is what we did on our TZ: 50smd strip (attached to the underside of back part of the cabinet...right near where the top edge of the glass slides back into place), 36 inch extension wire, and a brightness adjuster. You can see what that looks like here:

Give me a little more info about what you're trying to do. We have blinking bulbs (and in our Addams Family kit, we used different speeds and brightnesses to give a lightning like effect on the weathervane in the backglass), but I'm not sure that's the right suggestion depending on what you're going for.

I don't want to open up a can of worms here, but our Cool White Flux bulbs (https://www.cometpinball.com/products/1flux-bulbs) have a hue that distinctly bluish compared to other families of bulbs. But, they're over 2x more expensive, you're paying for functionality you don't need, and they don't have a frosted option, so they will be pretty bright if you have a direct line of sight to them. How's that for a sales pitch?

The flashers are 12v in that game, so if you're connecting to one of those, you would want a 12v strip. We do have colored 12v strips (https://www.cometpinball.com/products/lighting-strip-12v), but they're very short (only about 2 inches long). We have longer ones, but they're in white only. I could see us eventually carrying longer colored strips in 12v, especially since those would work for GI in JJP games.

Amazing - thank you!!

And if that wasn't a clue to everyone else, the sale is live!

Yours is up for consideration. Maybe I'll look back after the sale is order. There have been at least one or two in that range before. But we're humbled nonetheless.

They were so infrequently ordered that we dropped the color ones (but are still stocking whites). There are some colors left, just not red unfortunately.

What were you using them for primarily?

I've got 'em in mine!

Actually, the Retros don't have anything special in them. For the inserts on Paragon, you'd need the Altek board (which I don't have any experience with), or you can use the early Bally/Stern adapter boards, which we carry: https://www.cometpinball.com/products/bally-stern-flicker-eliminator

Which ones? We don't have fast blinking Sunlight, in bayonet or wedge, because those didn't arrive in time. All other types should be in stock. Send me a PM with the link and we can work it out.

New Q & A:

Q: It won't let me order X bulb, what gives?
A: Some products don't have all possible combinations available. For example, red & blue blinking bulbs are only available as slow blinking bayonets. (We don't yet carry them in wedges, or as fast blinking. Should we?). If you've set the dropdowns, and it won't let you add to cart, it's because either: we don't carry that, or we're out of stock. However, if we're out of stock, you will see a button to click that will let you enter your email so that you'll be notified when it's back in stock. Sorry about that!

Really sorry about that.

There were a few bulbs that were unexpectedly low, and this was one of them....but it's also the most substitutable bulb there is: warm white, yellow, and pink are all great substitutes. 1SMD and 1SMD non-ghosting are also good substitutes. As are clear bulbs, instead of frosted (which we do have as 2SMDs).

I know you're overseas, but there are enough workarounds that I don't think it's worth missing out on the sale for.

If you're having ghosting issues, the only type of bulb that is going to solve it is a non-ghosting bulb, so 2SMDs would not be a good choice. Non-ghosting bulbs are never put on sale unfortunately, because the economics are different.

Oof, those went quick. The SMD Retros are so new that we didn't have enough data to estimate quantities very well.

Sorry to disappoint. I'm not sure I would wait till next year though. The last few years, the only things that have been consistently on sale are the 2SMDs and 8SMD flashers - everything else has changed from year to year.

That was one of the other problem bulbs. There were a few items that didn't arrive before the sale...but product is coming in today. So, sign up for an email notification, so you'll know when they're back. If we haven't sent out your order yet, then you can place a new order without paying for shipping and we'll combine them.

Unfortunately some are, but not all of them.

They're basically the same...but if you're splitting hairs, the SMD Retros probably are a hair brighter. The LED style (which are discontinued but some styles are still in stock) don't last nearly as long (probably hundreds of hours), but the SMD style will be thousands of hours.

Hey daveddd14 Conveniently, these arrived today. You can do an add to order and get 'em!

What are pop bumper kits?

Also, if you must post about things we're out of...please be more specific so you're not misleading others. Do not condemn an entire family of bulbs just because one specific type is out!

Yeah, awful timing.

You can still add them to your order without paying for shipping if it hasn't gone out yet. Message me if you don't know what that means.

Are we talking about the pop bumper discs or something else? We don't call anything a "pop bumper kit". Just wanted to make sure there isn't something I can help with!

Our pleasure! Things are moving really fast today as you can imagine, so just trying not to mess anything up!

I shan't scoff at $200 - that's awesome! We really appreciate it. Lunch for the team all weekend is on @rustylizard

For those of you following along at home, that was a four month supply gone in less than 24 hours!

I'm...speechless.

Whenever someone who wasn't/isn't able to get everything they want out of our sale, it definitely hurts! I really do feel really bad about it, and am very sorry. It's certainly not intentional. Although it probably doesn't seem like it, we have been getting a little better at the sale each year...but this year really drives it home that our projections are never enough. We'll take a much bigger step next year. Might require a bigger office.

Totally not your fault. We actually have some maximums in place so that they'd be available for all. In theory.

There have been some incredible threads lately on here and Facebook, where by the time I see them, my comments aren't needed because you all have handled it for us already! It's very humbling and makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Those types of threads get passed around to the entire team (which is 5 and a half people...and the half is moving away in a few days).

But still. Wondering what we should do for next year...8 months worth of inventory? More?

Someone beat you this year by $26.

Interesting idea...we ship starting with the orders who saved the least. Ha!

If Tootsie Rolls show up, you won't know if we're spiting you, missed the note in all the madness, or have nothing left but Tootsie Rolls. Who doesn't like Tootsie Rolls anyway?!? It's not like we're talking about Circus Peanuts.

Thanks for the good attitude. I'm still sad that we've run out of stuff.

Are those flavored Tootsie Rolls any good @daditude?

That's it, peeps for you!

This is still true. Except during Black Friday. I've been the dedicated checker...so if there is anything wrong in your order, it's my fault!

Not sure. I'll get our data analysis team on it right away!

Thanks for bringing this up, I wasn't aware. First, I want to make sure you're not talking about non-ghosting bulbs. Those are wider, but are not necessary to use in the GI (and we're aware that they won't work for lot of 80s Gottliebs).

If they are already not non-ghosting bulbs, then really the only route is to go with bulbs that don't have lenses (like the 1SMD or 4SMD). But those might be really difficult to install, and without a lens, they're going to be harsh if you catch a direct line of sight to them.

The non-ghosting ones would have NG written on the base (and the wedge/555 ones would have transparent bases).

There isn't a way to tell the difference between 1SMD and 2SMD, unless the lens is clear. In that case, you just count the diodes (the flat squares that emit the light).

Haha!

* All fine print subject to misprints.

Unless you're one of the first 100 orders, shipping gets backed up during the sale. We get way more than we can normally process.

Orders that got picked after noon on Saturday would have had this message until at least Monday night (when we dropped off 28 bins!), possibly later. It depends on if the post office used our scan forms or if they just dumped the packages. Also, I'm sure they're completely overwhelmed with mail from Black Friday / Cyber Monday.

So...what will most likely happen is that suddenly the tracking will update, and you'll find it's much closer to your house than you thought.

Your Spider-man looks excellent! What did you use instead?

Some people got a fun, extra surprise. They're just sunglasses.

I'm sure one day there will a grab bag of items that come out of my car. Haha!

It's no bother, you should email us.

We've been hoping our shipping software will eventually allow us to display customer level notes, for example: "send Tootsie Rolls exclusively". It has been years, and we're still waiting for this crucial feature. On the plus side, the lack of this feature provides free low-level psychological torment to our best customers.

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The sale is live! Direct link to the sale page here: https://www.cometpinball.com/pages/black-friday-sale

On sale:
2SMDs (25 packs only), 8smds, 10smd strips, fire bulbs (now also in blue flame!), 4x4 towers, and 5smd insane brights.

Spend $99+ get free domestic shipping, as always.

Spend $199+ get your choice of free gift.

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Many thanks to the crew at https://www.twitch.tv/gametimetelevision/ who were the first to purchase our new Comet hoodies (https://www.cometpinball.com/products/comet-pinball-hoodie)! For now, they've got Hoodie LE #1 & #2.

If you make a third order, I'll be sure to remind you of another thing you missed!

Thanks for all the orders - keep 'em coming!

I was surprised by how many #555 twist sockets we've sold. Like 5 months worth in the first few hours of the sale. So um...we're out of those.

For some reason, my most memorable order picked so far was the person who ordered 8 of every kind of flasher on sale. Why the same quantity of each color? And why 8?!? I like to imagine they needed 8 flashers but couldn't decide on a color? Or that they are making 8 copies of some kind of mod...and each one is a different color? Or each one uses a rainbow of colors?

Sorry about that. It should be fixed now. Thanks for bringing it up!