Appreciate everybody’s responses - seems like the process is different if ordering from spooky vs a distro. One thing Specifically mentioned in my email was basically that there’s no way to push the order since they are almost at the end of the run. It’s been almost a YEAR! I thought more like 7 months. Crazy.

Here's an example of the video compression I was talking about. This is a screen shot of the very first moment the video comes on. It happens every single time this (and several) scenes come on screen. It quickly sharpens up in the next few frames, but seems needless.

IMG_20220812_122402749_BURST019.jpg

I for one hope they don’t stage balls in this game. This one is hard enough as it is!

We'll just have to agree to disagree. Saying that you can't add to a team (or individual) programming in a framework and be more productive, regardless of where you're at with the project, just isn't true. It's done daily in the programming industry. Programmers get poached/quit etc. like crazy. Yes, you have to train the person, but that's like any job. Pinball is definitely on the lower end of complexity, and adding a guy or two would cut down the time significantly.

Are we really at/near the end with a year left on the programming schedule?

Fair enough. I’ve said my piece. You may ask the JJP team how this strategy is working.

Maybe they should do it for competition mode

The orders opened last July. Everyone has had plenty of time to arrange payment and sell off other machines or figure out if this title is for them by now.

Would you say that Halloween has more maintenance issues/repairs than a Stern or JJP? I’ve never owned a spooky game. Can I order direct from Spooky or are they sold out? The dealer I use is not a Spooky dealer. Anyone in Virginia or close by looking to sell? I’m on the fence w this one, but the more I see of it the more I am convinced I will like it. I’m mainly interested in a NIB. Thanks!

If you’re looking for a CE NIB, Nitro still has a few available.

https://nitropinball.com/collections/pinball-machines/products/halloween-collectors-edition-ready-to-ship

Love the game, but so far it's been the most fiddly pins i've owned requiring me to tweak and open her up a bunch to fix things. Beautiful machine but it feels also a bit fragile compared to others IMHO. It's good for home use, I kinda wonder how it would handle in a public use situation though.

For me no. It’s my first Spooky pin. Unfortunately most pins need adjustments. Especially with Sterns QC as of late. I bought a NIB GOTG and on first play a pop bumper was locked on.

EHOH had a gargoyle target not registering out of the box. My Halloween I had to loosen the screws on the metal flaps because the flaps would not lay flat. And had to fix one of the drop targets.

Unfortunately part of owning pinball. It’s not maintenance free like a video game.

This is my first Spooky pin and I'll start by first saying YMMV... My game has been pretty much rock freaking solid except for the drop target shield and a few small tweaks here and there but my game really hasn't ever been "down" (minus a software upgrade snafu that Spooky and this forum helped quickly resolve). Now my friends Halloween has needed a lot more TLC and I do me a lot more than mine.

In the interest of fairness, there isn't a game in my collection that hasn't had an issue here and there. I wouldn't say, based on my specific experience, Halloween has required more work than any other game in my collection and there are others that have needed a lot more TLC than Halloween has to date. It's pinball on top of being an imperfect world so you just have to roll with the issues that come up and learn how to fix them.

Jeff

I dont think he implied it was bad, not how I read it anyway. Just kinda passing info. I got the same email saying no pushing back and payment was due.

Correct, I was not implying this was bad, of course it makes sense - just passing along the only other bit of info I had.

Numbers seem all over the place but getting up there

pasted_image (resized).png

I'm #1050, for what it's worth,and my email came yesterday.

How is this jerkoff not on mega blast?!?! I mean what an A hole.

Btw Butter email was last week. Invoiced yesterday from PinballStar. Final payment due by Wednesday the 17th. Any insight to the time frame of when people got there pins after they made final payment through PinballStar. Sooooo close now. Can’t believe #955 will be here by Halloween….hopefully.

Get it, it’s f’n awesome. Spooky is sold out but there may be a few dealers sitting on NIB. Don’t sweat the maintenance, it’s more than Stern (because there are hardly any unique mechs in stern games) and equal to JJP I’d say. Mine has been great after 500 plays. I’ve only had to replace one servo and it took 5 mins.

100 plays and no issues whatsoever out of the box. I haven't even lifted the playfield yet.

It's a great game and find new unique things every time I play. People selling these for a loss are going to be sorry.

I hit my blast quota for the month. I figured what he wrote was so ridiculous that I’d just let it speak for itself.

I'm surprised no one is saying this. Perhaps our loyalty is clouding our thinking: Spooky is known to have a lot of quirky issues. I know an operator that's been struggling to keep it running, with numerous oddball issues that keep popping up. I've heard this from numerous owners about numerous Spooky titles. After having mine for a couple weeks I can say it's head scratchingly difficult to understand how a new pin can leave the factory like mine. The playfield hits multiple things when you lower it. My back box and backglass all need to be manipulated/shifted to open and close properly. This isn't a custom mech that needs some tweaking, these are basic (and generally interchangeable) components to every pinball machine.

I love the pin, I love the company's dedication to customer service and their spirit, but "low maintenance" is not a term I've heard used to describe your typical Spooky pin.

ps - You can pick up a pre-order spot for an edition of your choice here on Pinside for a pretty good discount - I can't see any benefit to ordering from a vendor at this point.

Remember, multiple pins have recently left the factory with no LEDs in the start button. Not sure how that happens.

Again, no issues out of the box for me. Zero. Read the Elvira house of horrors thread. No different.

Can't really compare Elvira to Halloween. It isn't fair. Lyman coded a feature that didn't exist when the game was being made. As a result, everyone's VUKs needed tweaked.

I can't even remove the backglass on mine. Not enough clearance even when unlocked. The board is low in the head so updates can be installed without removing it, but at some point I want to figure out why the knocker works so poorly.

Spooky does have issues, weird ones at that. The cabinet is built like a tank, but it has all sorts of odd quirks. The latches get in the way of lowering the playfield and the cashbox makes contact with the left support bracket. I love my Halloween but I'm not sure about me buying another Spooky until basic things (that should just work) are sorted out. That includes their powder coater. I received new top armor from Spooky to address the problem I had with my originally set. Spooky's customer service is great, but they are just throwing parts at a problem instead of correcting the issue. I took the old and new armor down to my local powder coat guy and he had a good laugh about it. He told me that the metal wasn't prepped correctly, the application was subpar, and the powder wasn't heated to the correct temperature and or time in the oven.

Absolutely needs staged balls. It would change the flow dramatically and keep it flowing. I could not imaging my STTNG with the same level of pause between the ball appearing again - it is what makes the game so good.

Finally installed anti rattle tape.
Total game changer!
Highly recommend if you have the shaker or not.

1104 BSE got my options email today. Spooky direct. Can't wait!

There are multiple issues with Elvira, not just the vuk. I'm on the waiting list. And playing on locations, I had 3 games end on ball one because it froze when I started a mode. Love both games but issues is a pinball thing. No one is immune.

Be warned. When I brought up QA issues that should not still be happening, I was censored and post deleted "Cause I was a broken record".

I literally have the first one off the production line and have only had the VUK issue and a sticky gate in 3 years. Hopefully I just didn't jinx myself. Congrats on the Elvira. It should play great for you in the home environment.

I have the same exact problem. It looks like one side of the wood rail the backglass sits in got nailed too high so it's impossible to remove it normally.

Ongoing, correctable issues are not a pinball thing. IMO

Hey Roostking - I'm curious, what is up with your avatar? Sometimes it is there and other times it is a black square. It has been like that forever. I don't see others having the same problem.

20220812_174045 (resized).jpg

I don't think there will be too many more blog posts about butter/payment requests as I'm in the 1240's and got my request. Time to get on with the delivery, game play, and code update wishlist posts!

Im not exactly sure. I thought the avatar only showed a pic if you were a supporter. I used to be and intend to support again, after this post lol. But yea not sure why it shows up either way randomly.

I don't want this to be a "crap on Spooky" thread. All pins have problems. Spooky's pins have..."special" problems

Avatar thing seems to be a pinside bug, I've seen it affect various users. Seems like if the site can't load the logo in a certain amount of time it just gives up.

Just change your name to be Black Square and you'll be fine.

Paid up!!

Sorry, still a black square.

Not in the quotes though. It's a bug.

Refund!

It sounds like spooky has good and reachable customer service for issues, so that would be huge for me. All the pins I’ve had so far, stern and jjp, have had issues that were tweaked and fixed. I think I’m going to get a Halloween. I saw the movie in the theater when I was 13. I was scared out of my mind for days!!! So, the theme is great for me. Hoping it has some stressful moments in the game, where you are worried about getting shots while Michael is coming for you? That would be awesome! Artwork and game look really nice also, and I love great looking games. Thanks for all of the input! I may trade if anyone is interested. I have newer Beatles, Mando premium, aiq pro w topper, and Deadpool pro which I would be willing to trade. All are newer runs, w insider connected, 500 or so plays on each. Let me know if anyone close enough to Virginia Beach and is interested. I would also buy nib..
Thanks!

The mini-wiz Stalker mode is exactly this. I think you'll like the atmosphere of the game.

While some people, myself included, can be somewhat vocal about issues, percieved or real, Spooky support is top notch. 920 will land soon and cant wait!!!