That's why I am surprised these owners cannot even endure having the game in their lineup until after it's out of production. It is what it is though. I'm completing my purchase and the game is coming, for better or worse. Sometimes the red-headed step child games end up connecting with me anyway, but i'll be sure to be candid about the experience here.

There are many ways to approach the game, different modes and ways to progress. I seriously don't understand the knee-jerk reactions of some people. Unless they were flippers with little interest in the theme...

After the success people had flipping Rick and Morty, it’s easy to see why people hopped on the bandwagon to try again. Granted two totally different themes, but a lot of this hobby has seemed to turn into people taking shots in the dark to make money rather than to purchase the themes that truly speak to them. To be clear, I don’t have problems with people making money. Do whatever makes you happy but for me, this hobby is about seeing our favorite themes come alive in a world under glass. Halloween is a dream theme for me, and while I have my concerns with things I’ve seen and read, I’ve also played a couple games on it and enjoyed it. If Halloween does not stand the test of time with me and my family, it would be the first time ever that one of my dream themes would be on the move.

I’ve noticed some very aggressive sales prices with them not flying out the door. I figure it is because those who actually wanted to own the game had the chance and are already on the list or have it in their gameroom. 1,250 isn’t exacty rare compared to previous titles.

My guess would be that the bottom was six months ago. With more code coming and Spooky’s excellent customer service I believe the price will come back up to original msrp or surpass that by the middle of next year (when code will be complete complete)

So I'll start this by saying I have no intention of selling my game, period. That being said, the code bugs are getting to the point where I don't even like to play anymore. I'm tired of having good games ruined because of these bugs. Like the new one where if you drain right as shoot again is expiring (I think it has something to do with Hedge MB) the game will eject the saved ball then crash out.

If you have limited space and are tired of dealing with the rough edges this pin has then I can completely understand why you'd want to dump it so quickly, especially if you're suffering from FOMO on another pin. Spooky seems to be trying desperately to address the more vocal issues about modes and flow but what's the point of that if there are bugs everywhere? I've never coded a pinball machine so I have no idea how it's done, or how difficult it is compared to other software, so I'm not going to say these are easy fixes. I just wish we could have a bug fixing release only, just bugs, no additional modes, no tweaks to the rules, just fix the bugs. Otherwise, this pin isn't ever going to be the hit that it absolutely should be which is sad because the layout is extremely unique and the artwork is indescribably good.

I don't intent on this post coming out negative but as I read it back it seems unavoidable. On the positive side, Spooky support is awesome and they've been right there (even after hours) to help with the few mechanical issues I've had (no better or worse than any of my Stern/JJP/Dutch titles). I'd buy another Spooky pin without hesitation if the theme was what I was looking for.

Jeff

The pinball collecting crowd is fickle. There are ~55 Godzilla machines on the market and ~25 Halloween’s. A lot of people own a game for a few months and then move on.

The GZ’s have held their value. The HW’s dropped significantly. I largely blame the K-man. I think it’s tough to recover from bad initial word of mouth. Look back at STh ad archives…a lot of premiums were listed for around 6.5k.

That said…K wasn’t necessarily wrong with anything he said…it’s just that he seems to whip the pinball crowd into a frenzy and has (or had) too much power to shift momentum.

HW is unique compared to most of my pins. Not sure how to describe, but it seems more methodical. I like it and plan on keeping it. I wouldn’t, however, fill my gameroom with pins of this style.

It's not a traditional feeling pin, it's not gonna appeal to tourney player crowds, and it really did have a rough launch with what appeared to be pretty lackluster code and presentation felt bare bones. You can see it's getting better for sure, but folks are scared off easily and theres now constantly something big and new coming around.

Once the units have all been shipped and it's sold out, and if the code keeps getting better and better, then this is gonna turn around. The machines are flowing in at a much faster rate now than other boutique makers which seem to only get out a small batch of pins shipped every few months. Spooky is pumping out a bunch of units each week so the market is seeing a good flow of this pin at the moment moving. Not everyone is going to keep their pin purchase no matter how good it is, even the high rated stuff gets tossed up for sale often.

Also it seems various distros have open slots on this game now as customers backed out, which makes it harder for folks to sell off their used pin. You can go various distros and still find Halloween now with opened up slots and open preorder slots offered online by other users. You want to sell your used pin you gotta price aggressively right now. The demand right now isn't there as supply has become plentiful

To note same stuff is happening with the Alien pin, seeing lot of negativity, cold feet, units being tossed up for sale, but that's also a pin that seems to be taking longer to get as it's from overseas and not a consistent flow, but we are seeing the game being tossed up pretty regularly now and for cost or below at times.

It seems some people bought it to flip, but a LOT of people bought it for the theme. Once they get it and see how...unique...it is, they are often not caring for it despite the theme. So they're selling it. That's my best impartial observation.

If you decide it's a turkey but decide to hang onto it anyways, good luck. That's a tough technique to execute and be glad you did. It's like the pre-order guy I talked to who didn't want to take a $1800 hit on his deposit and laughed at me. Now, when he takes delivery of his $9500 NIB pin he'll take a $2k++ hit when he goes to sell it, while dealing with all the packing/unpacking hassle.

None of this is a judgement of the game. I like it, you all like it. But the pin world, as a whole, is not caring much for it. That's reflected in the current resales.

Some good points here and I appreciate the thoughtful feedback from all. I do agree that the demand for other new games seems to have recently softened somewhat, outside of a few select titles. The pump and dump just seems to be especially strong with this game. I hope that issues with the code are what is holding it back the most, as those are at least things that can be corrected over time.

I’m with you….makes no financial sense at all. He was a real “hype machine” for the game after he got it. Looking back I guess that was all fake. Weird.

One thing that hasn't really been said is that there isn't much step down from a CE to a BSE. So, if you can wait a bit you can get a NiB BSE with warranty for about the same price as the deeply discounted CEs right now.

The code has a lot of bugs…….but that will be addressed.
The gameplay is great for a home environment but terrible for tournaments and on location is questionable.
As far as someone having it at home and not seeing the potential and loving the game, well I’m lost on that one?

Thanks for the measurement! I'm barely 2" short to make this damn thing fit...my luck.

You may be able to disconnect the motor and still have it on there, just not doing the stabbing.

Interested in why that is?

I’ve seen it used in a few tournaments (inc one last weekend) .. didn’t see any negative feedback about it.

rd

Bugs make any game terrible for tournaments. Glad your TDs didn't run into any issues.

Another (minor) bug: in house, shooting the crossover ramp just after the other ball(s) drain results in the ball being held in the metal thing til a ballsearch frees it.

This is definitely something I've wanted a simple bug squash release stop with the updates stop with the added content get the game stable and go from there. But like you I don't know how coding works in a game so it might not be that simple.

Ah ok. They’ll get sorted in time.

To clarify - it was not my tournament I saw it at, I believe it was Kickback in Pittsburgh (the old PAPA crew).

rd

Are these bugs getting reported to Spooky directly, or are we hoping that they are seen by staff as they read through the thread?

I've seen boobs, and I feared the Reaper. But I haven't seen any bugs. (I may suck too bad to get that far!)

Well I’d love to be wrong about that but Halloween can have long ball times and it requires knowledge of the code to score big points.
I could just see first time players hitting the center ramp over and over again and getting lost/frustrated.
Most of all it’s “buggy”

If no bad feedback however, even better!

Isn’t that the case with all modern pins these days though?

I mean, good luck to anyone playing someone like Escher on any of the new Stern pins - those guys know every nuance of the game.

Knuckleheads like me know how to start a Multiball and that’s about it!

rd

Same here……. It’s not out of the ordinary for me to have a 400k game on my TMNT… ouch

It’s not even that buggy anymore at 1.08A I’ve hardly had an issue at all and I play deep into the game and complete everything in the code frequently.

Yep, the glass slides in just fine!

https://www.pinballlife.com/anti-rattle-tape-12-x-25-ft.html?Category_Code=

Thank you. Love pinball life and will order this week!

I’ll say I really like the game. Horror themes are my jam and I love John Carpenter. It looks amazing.

The layout is faster than you’d think, with some depth in the modes.

All that being said, I’m just not sure it’s that fun to play over time. I get frustrated because I complete modes and want to see the videos, but because there zero places to park the ball while a video plays, I miss lots of visuals. That’s my biggest complaint. Hard to see all of Linda when I’m flailing to keep the ball in play, you know? And given the layout, not sure this can ever be fixed.

Great theme integration, beautiful pin. But man, there’s something about it that makes me not want to keep playing. I dunno.

So I get why some folks are trying to unload. I’ve got the room to hold onto it for a while and see what happens. The market is saturated with FS Halloweens, so not much of a chance to sell and not lose money. I’d trade it immediately for a Monster Bash if I could. Lol.

Great discussion though.

Different strokes different folks. I wouldn’t ever trade my HWN for an MB. Mostly because I’m bored with basic fan layouts and I like a difficult game to struggle with. HWN and ACNC are keeping me so occupied I hardly even play my Godzilla, Jurassic Park, Stranger Things or TMNT anymore.

You could make all these exact same points about Godzilla. Spooky has indicated they understand they couldn’t do everything all at once, and the production line had to come first, and the code will follow. Easier said than done, natch

They could probably change the bridge crossing video to bewbs instead of Linda filing her nails. There are moments where ball is in subway or after crossing bridge where there is plenty of time to watch video, anymore and it's not really pinball if you can watch the display that much without taking a risk of draining.

Yup, Pinheads change their minds all the time and that's a fact. I have a HORRIBLE habit for years of buying games and loving them and then quickly deciding I want to try something else.
Tron 2x's
Transformers 2x's
TZ 3x's
AC/DC 3x's
AVATAR 2x's
TAF 2x's
GOT 2x's
Deadpool 2x's
Avengers 2x's
XM 2x's
MM 2x's

I have limited space and budget and sometimes chase the newest games coming out. I also also know EXACTLY what I paid for the game and my loss is not what you think. Maybe the original buyer took a loss to me and I just added a little to that loss as their are so many for sale I wanted to get it over with.
I am eagerly awaiting sterns announcement and want to be ready with cash. I can always get halloween again later. Like I have done in the past. Several times.

Then tonight I played 5 games straight of Halloween. Not sure what to do now. Maybe I'm wrong, it's a great game.

Spoiler alert, that's already in the next update.

Ain't life grand.....

I'm not sure all the dislike of the game either. I played ultraman a few times and it was a meh game for me, mainly because the theme doesn't interest me. I liked the different layout and the super quiet subway return got me more than once. I was hesitant so I didn't pre-order a Halloween but after playing it at Allentown I knew I wanted one.

I've enjoyed it so far. I'm the guy who hasn't had any bugs that I notice but that's probably because I'm not that versed in the nuances of the game. The only real complaint I have, if you want to call it that, is the monkey sound that is in the sinister music at the end of ball. I didn't believe it was in the movie till I watched it again and realized the first time you heard that music it wasn't there but it was the second time. For whatever reason, it annoys me and doesn't seem to fit with the animation. All subjective opinion though.

What I would like to see, not really a complaint, would be for more videos and delays in ball return from the subway. I see more video and entertainment when I watch someone else play. It could be cool so see him slashing Judith when you trap the ball under the headstone and then have the second ball get launched.

But, I understand the different strokes analogy, hell, I traded Avengers IQ for my Halloween because after about 40 plays I hated that game with the fire of a thousand suns. Best trade I ever made in my opinion and I'm really looking forward to see how it matures.

The “monkey sound” is the sound of a victim getting her throat slit sooo

Doesn't really fit with the animation, I'd have just used the music. just my opinion.

Get a good laugh every time I hear it, after somebody thought it was a monkey it just gets my goat every time lol.

Love the pin so far, but I agree. I'm sick and tired of explaining to people there is not a monkey in the game. It really has to go

I FINALLY figured out the sound you're referring to! I thought that audio was Laurie walking through the house terrified, maybe when she was bumping into all the bodies Michael had stashed. Damn, now I'll have to rewatch the movie to find that sound...

I thought the sound was when Laurie walks into the bedroom with her friend on the bed with the tombstone over her head. Maybe we're talking about different sounds. I just watched the movie last week and thought "There it is!"

Found it! You are correct!

I'd rather have the scream.

Funny, it works fine when you can see JLC onscreen, but it *IS* a little weird without that visual lol.

Any fears I have about wiring money were unfounded. Confirmed receipt, final payment made. Butter 920 coming some soon!

Yea maybe a different sound or tweak to it would help with the "monkey sound". I've seen the movie so many times I knew the sound immediately but know folks are like "huh" if they aren't big fans.

I do hope we get more movie clips, as mentioned just more stuff popping up animation wise or movie clips popping in and out during play would get great. Heck like the car squealing away sound is in the game, why not toss up a quick clip of the shape driving the car by during that. Godzilla for example has a clip pop up for like every little thing you do, there is stuff constantly going on instead of most of the game stuck on the same 2-3 screens majority of the time.

While I look forward to updated new animations, I do hope we get even more animations and movie clips added to keep the game screen really vibrant.

Excellent. #833 HWCE Butter is on the truck and expected delivery tomorrow. Haute Diggity Dawg!

For the random clips that don’t quite fit maybe an old tv in the living room, like The Thing during the movie.

Hell maybe collect some of the more obscure clips with off the wall combos. Then after a certain amount you can get the monster movie Marathon, like “The Thing” on the tv in the movie. You could go the Elvira route and use a few different public domain movies. A scare if you dare mode.

Another idea for a weird mode would some how have “totally” be a collectible. Get “totallys” could lead to the reffer car scene. Just spit balling ideas.

Pumped for my standard, though been tempted by some of the ce deals.

Dream theme for me, was decoration shopping today. Lowes has awesome blow molds this year.