It does stink. I understand the supply chain/labor issues, but it would seem they would have to slow down their release schedule to catch up on existing orders. For the record, I have two machines on order (one is DP Premium) that were suppossed to be delivered by the end of the year. My hopes are running thin as Stern has no real incentive to deliver more this year; starting 1/1/22, they will be charging more. I will have to seriously consider whether I would be willing to pay the price increase due to a month or so delay.

I am in no way stating that they are just sitting on parts and not building them to collect more money post 1/1. My point was that these machines share a lot of parts. Sharing and re-use is essential to a profitable business model in almost any industry. However, by releasing a new title like Godzilla (which I also pre-ordered), it is going to require a lot of those shared parts which can put further strain on getting the Mandos, DPs, Stranger Things, etc built in a timely fashion. Godzilla already has the new pricing model built in.

In the end, we can just all speculate and see what the future brings. It would just stink to have to pay 800-ish more for a DP Premium because it was built in Jan instead of Dec. We can probably all agree on that.

I am really not being a conspiracy theorist here. However, Stern can acquire every piece required to build 1000 LE Godzillas with a brand new BOM yet they can’t get every part necessary to build the Mandos, Deadpools, and others that have been back ordered for many months? It just doesn’t add up. I get supply chain issues but it should also be affecting the build of their brand new machine as well. The parts for the others have certainly been on order longer than parts for Godzilla.

Anyway, back to Deadpool. We don’t have to see completely eye to eye. The whole truth usually lies somewhere in between.

I sure hope you mean 100M, not 100K.

And savings to cover the 1K more that it will cost. I am in the same boat

My distributor also told me a couple days ago that Stern confirmed a mid-December build of my Deadpool Premium... at least as it stands now. Can't help but visualize this scene...

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There is a Mando Premium run coming too. It moved from October to December.

I have one due in December too. However, if you do get a December build, it will have IC. All builds now are including the IC - the recent deliveries of JP Premium to a few folks in the JP thread have the IC integrated. The full price increase won't occur until January which is why I am hoping that my DP and Mando December deliveries stick. Not holding my breath though.

I can’t even wrap my head around the explanation for this. Delaying another 8 months a couple weeks before production was planned? It can’t be supply chain and if it were, they knew a while ago that December wasn’t happening.

Oh well, what can you do. Waiting for the notification from my dealer.

Money saving tip, get the pinball life version that has all the same functionality at half the price.
https://www.pinballlife.com/stern-spike-2-headphone-jack-assembly.html

I use it for adjusting the external volume (without having to open coin door) more than I probably do for headphones and their volume.

Add me to the list of unexpected surprises. My DP Premium ships from Stern tomorrow.

I ordered in summer. Was told I was on track for December build as recently as early December. December builds got bumped and next planned build was July-ish.

I guess due to Rush delays they squeezed in enough Premium builds for at least some of the folks that were expecting Dec 2021 deliveries.

That’s as much as I know.

Finally got my DP Premium from the small late January run. FedEx decided to take a scenic route to get it to me since they thought it was best to attempt delivery to my dealer rather than the drop ship to me that was clearly labeled. They admitted fault and got it here safe. Huge props to Rob RBradley at Mad Pinball for getting this to me, dealing with FedEx and my paranoia when FedEx had to reroute. He is very responsive at all hours and provides great customer service.

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My Mando had a flaky opto on the right ramp exit. Stern got me a replacement but it took a bit. Like you, I was impatient and orded a set from CoinTaker. I think they were about $20 total. $10 for receiver, $10 for transmitter. I am willing to bet that my only problem was the receiver as it sometimes didn't register shots and never falsely registered a shot. I now have a spare set for any future game.

Yes, the ramp that goes up and down over the upper part of the shooter lane.

If you are asking if you can make the left orbit work like the premium where it loops all the way around to the right flipper rather than being dropped into the pops, the answer is no. The pro has a one way gate at the right side of the pops which makes the left orbit drop in the pops. The premium has a coil activated two way gate there that can make it act like a one way or two way gate. Also, the premium has a mech right after the shooter lane that can lower a ramp so the ball goes up and over the shooter lane and placed on the sword.

Both of those are not present on the pro.

That wouldn’t be cooler when you are battling sabertooth. On that battle the gate prevents the ball from traversing the loop and drops it in the pops. A lot of the damage to sabertooth is dealt from the pops. I guess the auto launch would put it back to the pops since the pro does have a two way gate on the left of pops. Would be very strange to be honest. But you do you.

Balls occassionaly flying off the sword from a fast orbit have been around since the beginning according to this key post:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/deadpool-owners-club-free-chimichangas-for-all/page/31#post-4768803

With that said, I didn't see anyone post what kind of foam was used. I like the post idea... if only I had a post lying around to try.

I assume that you also replaced the existing screw with a longer one for the post sleeve?