Small adjustments should be expected out of the box as well as thru the course of ownership. The wiring issue is pretty concerning and I've owned quite a few nib games and never had that occur. Your distributor should work with stern to resolve that for you and the responsibility shouldn't rest in your shoulders as that's clearly a manufacturing defect.

Return it.

If I were you, I would not touch the wiring issues. If you try to fix the wires and cause a bigger problem, they may try and get out of fixing the machine at all. It is a defect from the manufacturer and as stated above should be the responsibility of the distributer to work with Stern to resolve the problem.

All NIB games from all manufacturers have a percentage of games that have issues right out of the box.

3 and 4 are very minor and issues like that are relatively common. 1 and 2 are unusual, but probably something relatively simple like incorrectly wired connectors, which your distributor tech guy might be able to address. If they are local they may be able to come by your place and sort it out.

The wiring probably isn't wrong, one of your node board cables is probably plugged in slightly off. We had that issue on a deadpool on location. I think double checking the connectors is all it took to fix it. All the other stuff is just minor tweaking to be expected on any game. I will double check on what we did to fix the lights lighting up incorrectly but yeah I think it was just a loose connection somewhere, if thats the case, also a very minor thing.

Every new game is going to have some issues, but Stern QC has gone down considerably in recent years. Most of the issues are coming from most parts being sourced from China now. Just wait until switches, coil stops, flipper buttons, node boards, weldments, etc just start falling apart or failing.

The other is the build quality of the game themselves. They kinda play test each one quickly, but they don't really play them in the traditional sense. Getting a game with ball guides too close that a ball won't pass through, switches wired incorrectly, connectors not connected and other things.

I mean this is all part of pinball ownership. At least you're getting some maintenance and repair knowledge right from the beginning. So there's that.

Good point. If both pop bumpers and Dead Pool targets are off, that would be both CN12 and CN10 on Node 9.

Yes, typical for stern. Similar experience on my two nib sterns. More than adjustments, I’m talking things wired and assembled plainly wrong. Things that should be on a QA checklist before allowed out the door.

Just about every pinball machine NIB I have received over the years regardless of manufacturer has some sort of issue and requires tinkering
Just part of being a pinball machine owner/collector.

Pretty much all companies these days sadly.

I got a latest run DP with lots of issues as well. Though the FF Prem I got earlier in the year was perfect out of the box. I will say that Stern technical support has been quick to respond.

You would think more of this stuff would be caught with a play test though. Not sure if 100% of games get playtested. A more in-depth quality control sample playtest everytime they switch the line over to a different game would be wise I think.

There's gotta be a tradeoff between play tester headcount and technical support headcount. If you ship more games without issues you don't need as much technical support resources on the flip side.

What dealer did you buy from? I know most in our area. I could makes some calls to help you out.

check/unplug/replug all those connectors going from the black boards under the playfield there. I'd start with the rectangle shaped one right in the middle, since thats node board 9. Make sure everything is tight and theres not one thats like moved over 1 pin left or right. Maybe start with the ones that Paul mentioned, they are likely labeled right on the board.

Are the wire colors off as far as what shows in the manual vs. what is soldered, or possibly which pin is in which position in the connector?

From what I've seen it's not uncommon for them to mix up things like left and right ramp targets, etc. This happened on my STh out of the box. Often times people are able to just swap connectors. In my case I can't remember the details but I ended up removing the pins and swapping them in the node board connector.

Buying used typically means buying a machine that someone else has already gone through and fixed all the mistakes that Stern made on the line. That’s the value. Like buying a car that’s already been “broken in”. Only negative is you don’t get to brag about buying a brand new item.
Personally, I’d prefer one that works!

Any chance all these issues are assembly error?

Any chance at all you are running the Premium or LE code on the game? The DEAD and POOL lights are addressed opposite of each other for Pro and Premium/LE according to the manual. So if running Premium/LE code on the Pro you would see the behavior you are describing. Doesn't explain the pop bumpers, they seem to be addressed the same, but something to look at.

The issue you are having just seems so weird. If it was a hardware thing you'd have to have two completely different led boards and/or wiring harness messed up, which is possible but seems unlikely.

I know this won't help you now,but it should help with your next pin. Check Pinside's secondary market for your next purchase. The pin is likely to be dialed in for you,and a lot of times it has low plays. Plus no one will be as careful as you are when picking up your game. No worries about a fork lift driver plunging a hole in your new cabinet
I just picked up a great deal on a JPP,and the previous owner added close to $2,000 in some very tasteful mods. The game looks like I just unboxed it last week. I also had a great experience with my Metallica Premium I bought two years ago from a Pinside member, it also had very low plays.

I love Stern games, but their QC isn’t very good.

I prefer to buy HUO when available. Typically, the machine has already been sorted and you do not have to spend as much time troubleshooting.

Go into the service menu splash screen or look when you power it on.

Pretty sure Stern hires local repair people in the area to come and fix warranty issues if the owner is unable to fix them. Did you call Stern tech support and tell them about the issues you are having and to ask for local help?

There probably would be other weird behavior, but it is low hanging fruit as something to eliminate as a cause.

Currently, I have NIB JJP (GF CE) and Stern (JP Pro), received both 1-4 weeks ago, and both had QC problem. JJP issue is bigger and still have not figured out what the problem is. It's frustrating after spending $7k -15K for NIB and have these issues but I learned to be little more patient with these machines.

Congrats on the first buy!

Pinball warranties are usually parts, not labor.

Some distributors help their customers.

LTG : )

Yes,unfortunatly a lot of Stern's pins are horrible NIB!! I received a B66LE that the turntable wasn't even all hooked up! However,your Dealer SHOULD make it all right!! Sorry,welcome to our addiction!

I just received a DP pro from the August build. Katana ball lock was dragging on the wood which was an easy fix. What I wasn't thrilled about was the front decal was placed a bit too low and was over the bevel on the cab. I took a razor blade and did my best to trim it.

Also had to ditch the factory balls and I always use them. Had two serious cuts in a few of them, starting noticing scratches on the playfield and found the culprit.

It shouldn't have left the line, but I'm not surprised anymore.

BS QC issues aside, DP is a great game and not every experience with a new game is this bad.

got a DP from a pinsider and it was well-sorted. i got a NIB GZ last yr and it was 100% without issues. just data points

I just got a Deadpool Pro from the same batch, zero issues.

Interesting, I just checked my brand new Deadpool Pro from the same run and see the same thing on the DEAD and POOL lights. When you hit D1 (first D in the word) it lights up the last D in the word and vise versa. When I hit the D2 (last D in the word) it lights up the first D in the word.

Is that expected?

QC needs to be better, I was crapping my pants waiting for my GZ premium. It was fine out of the box thankfully. That said, there are so many machines on the secondary market that I would never buy NIB again.

I guess I am lucky. I got 5 machines over 2 years and 4 of them were Stern. Zero issues out of the box.

Same here, my Deadpool lights are backwards….

Last two NIB pins Led Zeppelin Premium (Broken wire gate from shooter lane, Iciris inoperable, start button broken) out of the box. 89 plays later game ends randomly while playing. After 5 calls to stern tech and robbing boards from my mando to finally determine network port on CPU is bad fixed by moving to spare port. Wasted 10 hours fing around with that issue. Foo Fighters Prem - Flipper switches screws stripped out and right flipper failed in under 2 games. Ramp was mal aligned and trapped balls. So last 2 Stern Pins not great. A couple weeks ago helped two friends buy godzilla premiums. Both worked well out of the box. I guess it just depends on what day of the week they are built. However at 8-10k a pop one would hope to have better QC. Glad I'm fairly handy at fixing pins but if I were not I would be very leery of not having a dealer to support a NIB machine.

I have the backwards DEADPOOL lights as well. My only other issue was a bad screen. It has a line out in the middle. Oh and the clicking during booting up.

Dana

Wow, $7K for this....?

Oof.

Threads like this further make it that I'll probably never by a NIB pin. Let the OG owner get it all worked out.

Next time you buy new in box from the Pinball Pirate take them up on their pre inspection option. They unbox and test the game in the shop and then bring it to you. It's free and can save a lot of headaches

Chris & Pinball Pirate are great. I buy all my pins from him. Just got a TMNT Premium a few weeks ago and they already came back out to fix a disconnected coil for the van diverter. Also replaced a faulty LED board on a Star Trek Prem NIB a few years back.

Currently on his waitlist for a Godzilla Premium. Someday, someday…

Many places want to charge $1K for that service. Nice they do that for free.

Chris and Scott will take care of You.