I have no interest in the bickering, but reading "actually something possible in real life" and "a stalker that could not be killed" in the same post cracks me up

Those holes are generally used two different ways: (1)The way you mentioned which is the flipper bat resting "just above" the hole. And (2)having the bat pointing directly at the hole, which would be a tad lower. It makes no sense to me to have holes in a playfield and have different pins/manufacturers use them differently, but I've seen both. Generally, I'd always just adjust the bats to be as straight as possible based on the ball path so when the ball rolls onto the flipper the path doesn't veer at all. In this particular application that's a little bit trickier.

Alright, I've had my Halloween for a week and am enjoying it as much as I'd hoped! I do have some questions/comments for you all:

-When the ball drops into the bottom left hole on the middle playfield, is it supposed to trigger the Pumpkin? Mine does, and it seems odd.
-I get a decent amount of video compression artifacts/"blocking" in the video, especially on the right side of the screen. Anyone else?
-When lowering the playfield, it drops onto one of the latches AND the coin box. I have to manually manipulate both to get the playfield to drop properly. Is this part of that "Spooky Quirkiness" that everyone talks about?
-The coinbox looks like it shouldn't be there. It barely fits in there, and looks like the cabinet wasn't designed for it.

A fun game, and I'm finally getting a grasp of the code. I look forward to seeing it develop and refine more over time!

The video compression I'm referring to is throughout the game. A good example is at the start of Hedge Multiball, it gets blocky. I noticed it playing one on location, too. I assume it's software, but it seems really unnecessary.

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'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.

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

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.

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!"

But...there will be punch and pie.

This is why I hold out hope for Spinal Tap, even though the first time I played Thunderbirds (knowing nothing about it) I declared "There's something reeeeally off with this game."

Trolling is self-serving. Crapping on other games is self serving. I myself am just trying to stick with the "self serving" of enjoying pinball, wherever it may be.

I think put simply: "If you want to own pins...of ANY age...be ready from day one to supply the labor to repair it. Either you're doing it, or you need to be willing to have someone else do it - paid if necessary. That's the agreement. $300 pin? Yup. $30k pin? Yup. 80 year old pin? Yup. A pin with your living room still covered in cardboard? Yup - after all, that was the agreement per the warranty from the NIB manufacturer. If you don't like that, I recommend voting with your wallet and not buying it.

I discovered recently you can gain a HUGE few inches off the ground by teetering the back of the cabinet up onto something. I use my 2" thick plastic tool case. It's soft so it doesn't scratch, and being able to get your fingers underneath it with the first two inches of lifting done makes a big difference. Lifting Wonka off the ground almost killed me, hence this solution.

And to sympathize a bit: it absolutely SUCKS to be responsible for fixing a brand new $9k anything. But that's the deal.

They do have three documents actually. They emailed them to me when I asked, but I believe they're also on their site but poorly labeled. Yes, a manual seems like a pretty standard ask for a complicated pinball machine. Them NOT having one available is actually a red flag to me overall.

It's simply the warranty. If my new Spooky pin breaks, they'll cover the parts during the warranty period. That's it. They don't promise labor or technicians or shipping back and forth or anything else. Per their site:

Q – What is your warranty?
A – We’ll cover mechanical, wood, and electronic parts in your game for in home use for 1 year for the original owner of the game. This does not include normal stress wear parts such as rubbers, lighting, or plastics. Warranty starts when the shipping company confirms the game has arrived at your home (or immediately if you pick it up in person). Location use will be 90 days (same as those big pinball companies). We like customers that customize their games, but please understand if you’re tapping into the wiring or board somewhere, you’re doing so at your own risk and voiding your warranty.

This is an odd post. Everything not explicitly covered in the warranty likely won't be provided for. They don't mention labor, Snickers bars or backrubs. Therefore, not provided. Saying "Well, you didn't say you WOULDN'T provide maintenance" is a silly (to put it gently) sentiment and as someone who's been around pins...and new general consumer goods...for awhile you know this. As for "is there more that you have not posted?", wtf are you talking about?

Seeing as there's apparently no comprehensive rule sheet for Halloween, how can we crowd source this? I know there's the flow chart on the Spooky site, and there's going to be updates to the rules down the road, but how hard can this be? A Google Doc we all access? Or a post here that's sticky and updateable?

Yeah that happens during shipping.

Kidding aside, I wonder how many "that happens during shipping" issues were really like that from the factory. I'd like to think they're all from shipping, but man there's an awful lot of them.

This is a great question. I've played three different machines and they all played differently. How is it "supposed" to be? It always feels a bit frantic and unrefined, which might be by design on account of the whole "running from the murdery guy" thing.

I think there's zero excuse for this, but having said that I have no idea if any of the LEDs in any of my start buttons work. I just don't look or notice. Which is good I guess if I own a Spooky pin

Rules question: At the point right before Sanitarium Multiball starts, there are two shots lit on the middle playfield that seem meaningless - the right standup, and the upper right "headlight hole". The right standup gives minimal points and no progression, and the headlight hole does nothing more than just letting the ball drop into the bottom left hole. It seems at this point there's no reason to hit any shot - just let the ball drop to the main playfield to start Multiball. Am I missing something?

Also, if someone could post a video of the "Butt Pretzel Shot" being made, that'd be amazing. When I hit the Michael spinner, the ball rarely makes it around that tiny right orbit. Spooky said it should go around that orbit, roll off your still-raised flipper, through the other spinner, and then back to the flipper.

PXL_20220905_155114355.jpg

To be clear, this is what I (and it seems others) are experiencing:
-Hit drop target, that lights drop target
-Hit lit drop target, that lights scoop
-Hit lit scoop, that lights both standups
-Hit both lit standups, that lights scoop
-Hit lit scoop, glass shatters
-At this point, ANY shot that gets the ball off the playfield scores 1m and starts Sanitarium MB. This is my point - why are shots lit at this point if ANY shot starts MB? I can hit that lit right standup over and over but there is no progression, just some points. See attached video that I'll keep up for a short time.

(Also, by "quad" do you mean the upper right insert and hole? I'm not sure what that word means in this scenario.)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FSGFKBpWZ-x-fGFMzs6fiB6LMm7HbdSa/view?usp=sharing

They do not look the same. Here's a screen shot of Spooky Luke's. It's definitely lower, and is exactly the same as mine (probably because he put it there at the factory, haha). Jesse, yours is set higher. I don't think it's "wrong", and I fully plan to adjust mine to match yours and see how it goes, but I can tell you at Luke's/my position mine will not make that orbit.
pasted_image (resized).png

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Actually, Spooky 3D prints all of their parts and provides the data files so you can always print a new computer in the future.

Except for the CPU power supply heat sink. They're still working out the kinks on that one.

The Pumpkin scoop? I've played three different Halloweens and have never had that problem.

For anyone who doesn't think their upper playfield is flowing well, watch this video and see how they match up.

If yours is clunky (like mine was), check your orbit ball guide. Mine was misaligned to the left quite a bit. An email to Spooky and ten minutes later it was MUCH better. See pics.

I believe you, but have had zero problems and can't find that guide despite spending the last ten minutes looking. If you're easily able to link to it, awesome (and if not, no problem). I'd love to know what the problem and fix was. Oddly I was just thinking the other night "Man, this scoop is much better than my Dialed In phone scoop..."
Incorrect.jpgPXL_20220912_153539246~3.jpg

I think the problem isn't any one of these things, it's all of them taken as a whole. Many people are experiencing an unreasonable number of issues, many of which seem 100% avoidable. The fact that a pin company can stay in business with all of the things you mentioned being -common- is a testament to their customer service. But I can't imagine any other company having THIS many issues and people still cheerleading them along. I really hope their next pin has more of the demons worked out, but I won't be the first in line to find out at this point.

Being able to 3D print a functioning computer (with a blistering hot heat sink!) was a joke. But per the Spooky site:

"Q – What about parts? Will I be able to fix this game down the road with you being such a small company?

A – Can you get every unique part for every game ever made? Odds are with us, you will! Many of our plastic parts are 3D printed. Need a new one? Shoot us and email and we can make one for you now, or 20 years from now. As long as those files exist, the parts are available. We’ll always have ramps on hand for spares, and playfields / plastics can be re-made when demand is needed at any time. The bulk of our common pinball parts (flippers , pops, slings, targets, etc) are available at www.pinballlife.com and are very familiar to you if you’ve ever worked on a game. Our power supplies are readily available as well should one ever fail. We kept all these things as simple as possible just for this reason."

I was wrong when I said they "made them available". I misread the above when I first read it.

I should have said "I can't imagine any other company having THIS many issues FOR THIS LONG..." I understand wild optimism with the first pin. And maybe the second. But if Pinball Bros is making pin #6 and still getting wild optimism despite continuous severe/oddball issues, that would blow my mind. And, good for them if that was the case.

Someone said there was an adjustment guide somewhere in this thread. I cannot find it. I also would love to know the problems and the fixes because mine has been excellent until recently where they occasionally bounce out, hit the knife and drain. Super odd, and it's happened a few times this week. It seems like such a large, open hole that any shot would just drop in.

I never had a problem on my (used) Halloween, but my Deadpool had that problem. I "choked up" the springs and they've worked 99.9% of the time since then. I hate how the springs look, but it's under the playfield so whatever.

Yes. It was like infinite sex - at first I was like "THIS IS THE GREATEST THING EVER!!!" but that quickly changed to "I have things to do..."

I'm getting zero points on that shot, only 100k from the 2nd ball launch. Are you sure that's giving you 1M?

I'm not sure, but it's the same sound system in all three editions.

I own both. Both are good games. But if a hundred random people play both, they'll likely think Valhalla is more fun. Because it is, if you don't want to learn rulesets, or you're playing in a loud and bright environment, or you like lots of action. Halloween is a great pin, but it's simply not for everyone.

I've had the ball get stuck UNDER that plastic 3-4 times now.

I feel like every 50 plays my Halloween becomes a new unique . The ball never got stuck there the first 400 plays. It always seems like it's changing, more than my other other pins.

I gotta say, this thread is getting to be a bit of a slog. Some of the posts seem to be endlessly in anticipation of their machine or new code. Ok. But many of the posts are defending the honor(!) of the pin when people share pretty neutral truths and opinions about it. I also love the gross mischaracterizations about people's statements. It's the only owner's thread that I've visited where it's (at least recently) it feels like a job getting through the posts. To empathize and summarize:

-I know you're eager for your pin. So was I. So is the next guy. We know.
-New code is coming. It's always been coming. You're excited. So am I. So is everyone else. We know.
-Halloween has a lot of issues. Many are not typical. It doesn't ruin the experience for most owners, but it's clearly not just "Every new pin has kinks to work out..." Let's just call it what we know it is, and not paint it into something it's not. Either way.
-You don't have to argue that last statement. It's ok. Take a breath. Unclench your fists.
-While I'm sure some people "hate" the pin because they're ignorant/inexperienced/brainwashed/whatever, lots of people just don't like it. Period. That's OK. It's a unique pin. That means there's a good chance opinions will be diverse on it. If people post a negative review about what they thought after playing it, that's not bogus. It's their freaking opinion. They have one, just like you. Just like me. No one is attacking your fun-but-imperfect girlfriend's honor. Put the beer down, unclench your fists again, and relax. We like your girlfriend. She's our girlfriend, too.

Ok, that ending went sideways but you get my point

"End of story", haha. Well that settles that!

I've never even contemplated waiting to beat a pin before reviewing it. I had to think that one through. And I have to disagree - I've spent many hours on many pins that I really like and feel pretty comfortable a) making a review, and b) hearing others' if they were to do the same. If you don't think that person should make a review, ok. I disagree.

I liken reviewing pins not to finishing a film, but eating at a restaurant. If I experience a quarter of the menu and really love it or hate it, I very likely don't need to "eat everything" to make an informed opinion about it. There's also this rampant mindset of "You don't agree with me, therefore you're ignorant". I'm sure many people who review Halloween understand it, they just don't like it or appreciate it like we do. If every reviewer waited until they fully understood every aspect of the game and beat it before reviewing it, there would be 90% less reviews. And Halloween wouldn't necessarily be any higher.

I like the style and content of the animations and video if they just fixed all the issues with it.

It's also interesting to hear people talk about which shot is hard - the top hedge shot is a 95% miss for me, and yet I have no problem making super tight shots that others find difficult.

Like:

...being translated to:

This.

On one hand, I'd think yes. But then I see early pre-orders (voluntarily) still not filled and I wonder how many of those are still pending. I'd like to think they're wrapping up very, very soon. But really, I think what you're asking is "When's the next pin coming?"

What do you plan to do to fix that issue? I was about to troubleshoot mine, same problem. I figure the dump mechanism can be rotated clockwise a bit?

Mine is bent in like that, but the ball just laughs as it blows by those tabs. I could bend them more, but I'm hoping when I look closely there's a way to rotate that whole chute to aim it more towards the habitrail. Does anyone have any experience with this?

I'm having that same problem. I plan to totally remove it, bend it until it stays put without the rubber post aiding it, and then put it back on. I'm afraid if I keep bending it while it's mounted I might wreck the mounting holes still holding it on.

Well dude, I'm sorry to hear about all of that. There's a certain point where it's pretty understandable to give up. I can't really say anything more that hasn't been said on here, other than (as you know) this sort of thing just isn't normal with a pinball machine.

And I don't think you're crazy for being done with Spooky. The other day I was thinking that it seems many Halloween owners are like abused spouses - we keep sticking around thinking things will get better, that they're not so bad, that "Hey, he said he was sorry so I'm sticking around", "it's just an isolated incident" (again). It's all pretty unfortunate.

The severe differences between the two don't negate the similarity I'm mentioning. I'm not an idiot. Also, you appear to enjoy/love a pinball machine that is about a guy that's brutally murdered dozens of people. Booo to that, too? No.

I sometimes think about how I can watch a murder in a movie (and pin) and generally be unmoved, but if it's a dog...uh oh. I don't think I'd own this pin if it had that footage, no joke.

This pin keeps cracking me up. When I bought it a month or two ago I played it to make sure all was well. Seller packed it up, I get it home, and find only 6 balls. Clearly there's a ball stuck in the machine...but nope. I look through every inch and find nothing. So I add a 7th ball and play 180 games with minimal issue.

Today, I raise the playfield and tweak a few things, something I've done several times before. When I lower it and go to play, it keeps kicking out extra balls and is acting awfully funny. I notice the balls look different in the trough - like there's one too many(!)

Yup, the missing ball resurfaced. Can't tell you where from, but it made its triumphant return. Amazing I never had a problem or found it until now.

This is insane. Put it on the "Spooky Is Special" List. This seems like an oversight from someone, somewhere.

I think his point is that boards -are- likely to be surface mount at this point. And just like when car guys complained about not being able to work on carburetors and said that the electronics will fail more often, people will complain about the new boards. I understand the pros and cons. If you can/like to work on the boards, it's frustrating. Me? I'll pay $80 to replace a board any day, and I think the manufacturers know that's a common sentiment. But yeah, frustrating to those who want to do the work themselves. And for those of us who appreciate efficiency, it seems highly inefficient to keep replacing entire boards. I have two "bad" Stern boards in my basement that work totally fine, but were sent in an attempt to fix a problem.

Wwwooooooow. Wow. Can anyone think of any other manufacturer doing this? Adding it to a pin that was never designed for it, I could understand. But when the higher levels come with it...eesh.

I was suggesting that when manufacturers offer knockers and shakers as part of a higher edition, they allow you to add it to the cheaper machines without voiding a warranty. But thanks for the quick attack! You seem to add little to meaningful conversations here, and yet are the #1 poster. So I hope you won't be offended when I set you to Ignore and try to reduce meaningless noise on my feeds. I like hearing differing opinions and ideas, but not garbage.

To everyone else: If he says something smart, feel free to let me know. I say all of this not to express a pouty face (I hate saying it at all), but to not look oblivious when it seems I'm not seeing specific posts from ignored users.

A week or so ago an extra ball showed up in my machine. Tonight, ANOTHER extra ball showed up. That means for the first 180 games or so it had TWO extra balls hidden away where I couldn't see them. I can't make this shit up.

I don't think adding venting will help - that's a pretty beefy sub we're working with and it's bound to shake some things on this cabinet. Adjusting the amplifier settings will help quite a bit - there are some recommended settings somewhere in this thread that worked quite well for me.

v1.08 is the code version. H78a sounds like a Canadian version of the game.

Haddofield '78, eh?

Mine is like this. I figure that metal flap is really there for a hard/airborne bounce back, not a roll.

This is pretty cheap and works great:
https://a.co/d/dFFvXJE

Mine definitely has never done that. But, give yours a month and it might change. All of those "automatic" shots never seem to last due to the machine settling/changing. I used to be able to just keep the left flipper held up to catch on the plunge, and now that doesn't work anymore. Pins are dynamic creatures!

So the official answer for Spooky (and most manufacturers) is no, it's not transferable. They owe you nothing at that point.

Having said that, every manufacturer I've dealt with (including Spooky) has helped me as the 2nd and 3rd owner. A lot. So go into it knowing you might be on the hook for things, but that they'll likely help you for at least some of it.

Sure, several times. It's very exciting the first couple of minutes. The first time.

Try reseating the audio cables to and from the amp. I found several issues: a bad solder joint IN the amp (I don't recommend taking it apart), the RCA cables plugging into the amp needed to be twisted a bit to make a good connection, and the 1/8" stereo plug in the backbox needed to be twisted also to shore up the connection. If any of these were making "almost good" connections I can imagine the hiss you're talking about.

Jason was really killing it last night...

PXL_20221030_011108550.MP (resized).jpg

I'm curious: Who here doesn't care about the Halloween theme but loves the pin?

Says the guy with the Michael Myers avatar. You crack me up!

Well, you get an award for the first person on Pinside I've seen that was genuinely upset over a low price. If it makes you feel any better, buy mine which based on simple math should be a similarly screaming deal:

SOLD!

Machine - For Sale

HUO Halloween CE Butter Cabinet Archived

HUO - Undocumented (Home Used Only) - “Excellent shape, plays great. The butter cabinet really makes it pop! I'm happy to take more pics or videos on request. Also open to trades for super clean pins made in the last tw...”

2022-10-27

Winooski, VT

arcyallen

7,900

Archived after: 31 days

Viewed: 1079 times

Status: Sold (amount private)

Contributed to Pinside

"Glossy and smooth like a brand new car" is how I'd describe it.

If you look carefully, it only saves the ball if it rolls through the lane with the lit blood. You can choose which lane is lit with your flippers. And yes, it'll disappear when (not if) you drain the ball down the center after purchasing. It only took me a couple hundred games to figure out why the purchase "didn't work". Just like when you buy the ball save, it's ONE ball save. Not unlimited, like you might reasonably assume.

You forgot that the guy selling that finely coded game...is buying another one.

If anything, they're simply putting out beta code for us beta testers (aka newish pin buyers) to test and report back to them. For free.

It's a year old pin that's on V1.00+. Review it! If it's not reviewable by now, that's noteworthy.

If it's not always raised like that, I don't know. If it IS, then I'd guess the flap is bent. I've sometimes thought this might happen if you shut the machine off mid-elevate. I imagine taking that flap off and bending it back would fix it. I don't -think- the ball dropping would bend it like that.

I believe that happened to me after around 200 games. It was when the machine discovered the 8th ball. And again, shortly after, when it discovered the 9th ball. I took them out when I found them, and the two ball starts ended. Count your balls!

Two notes to add to Luke's:
-Keep fooling with his suggestions. They worked great on my first amp, but the replacement amp I got sounded different and needed more adjustment
-Take a pic of the knobs on the amp once it's right, print it, and keep it in the coinbox. That way in the future if you want to monkey with it you know what knob does what, and where the settings were when they were "correct".

YOU SHIPPED A DOG TO THE NETHERLANDS??!?