Definitely in for a Premium but no idea when we'll get them over here, distro is still unsure on allocation.
Settling in for a long wait and many pages of viewing jealousy before i can get my hands on one.

I'm also down for a Premium. Sounds like post Feb at this stage as I've heard nothing more since I last spoke with the distrib not long after launch.

Agreed. After putting a fair amount of time on it at Pincinatti, I'm back to being ok with sucking up the price hike on an LE and confident it will land somewhere that will make me happy. We're all going to get a year of random Tuesday Christmas-like excitement for unexpected code drops.

What WILL be interesting is to see how long this run goes, and how many wind up out there. This License isn't cheap and won't last forever; between the very real possibility of folks being put off by early code, a massively bungled launch, and supply chain issues limiting how fast they can even make them - not to mention the backlog of other things they need to build....

Glass half full-Premiums will have the most advanced code.

Virtual guarantee imo

Looking forward to seeing the first pics of an unboxed LE. I'm curious if they still have the extra artwork above and below the divers window.

There was a video this week of a premium at Little shop of games and looks to have different art below the window and nothing but a black pad above. Can’t quite make out what the art is but looks different from stern photos.

You are correct. I just looked up the original posters. That is very interesting. I’m wondering if back then the movie production company couldn’t secure the rights for a Bell 47? Do you need rights to show a picture of someone else’s product?

This LE reminds me of GBLE. Sold out quickly, but then everyone complained about the code, etc. Resale was at original cost and sometimes below. Today they bring 2-3x original coat. Be interesting to see what a NIB 007LE will be in 5 years. Mine might just stay in the box.

Yeah I've seen the premiums but I thought were described as show only prototypes so I was hoping the official LE's which are shipping now would have the full artwork there.

I listened to GG and the hold up is that the video clips music and code have to all be shown at the same time that is the issue. They want to see how their assets are being used so it is more complex. That is what I understood him saying.

same with stranger things le. bunch of pissing and moaning from the usual self-proclaimed pinside “experts”

Also bear in mind, the six 1.5” ones are just around the base of the rocket… so choose color wisely (in my case, yellow doesn’t look amazing, likely switching back to black)

Sounds fun!

They likely have approval of things that aren't programmed yet, this all takes time. So they might have lot of movie clips, audio, music, etc ready approved, but its just not in the current code yet and being still implemented.

Eh to be fair this pretty much applies to like every game recently? All these Sterns that would be sitting in dealers inventories for weeks/months unsold, readily available and even sold used at discounts, now with the pinflation period and once they are discontinued, you got these former turkeys selling for 2-4k over original asking. In a couple months once last run is done, we will see TMNT going for way beyond asking when dealers have had stock sitting around left and right.

Thank was hyperbole. My point is that everyone loves to trash new games and then spends 2x as much after the code is complete. They complain about delays getting the game and then complain about the code even though it takes owners and players to let stern know about code problems and that takes time. BM66 is another example. They went as low as $6k and now $11k is the norm for a premium.

Yeah, I feel like this is the rare game where i'm going to prefer black most places. Probably transparent at the slings and any other larger bands with lights behind them, but black everywhere else. Maybe red?

Ahh I’m with you now, and also agree.

Bond is a fantastic layout with Gomez behind it. I’m surprised anyone that’s been in the game longer than a few years is really questioning the positive outcome here.

I went with yellow and I think it looks pretty good. But agree, red would look great. Black looks fine.

928B73AA-D432-4C4F-9D82-5EBBCEDE558D (resized).jpeg

More pictures, please

Me?

33034123-6757-414B-85C5-A646791EBC48 (resized).jpeg

741FA8DE-6BE2-476E-A7B8-62A2F75851EB (resized).jpeg

A539DD2F-DFEE-44DB-A970-B1F7CC815926 (resized).jpeg

I may have missed it, but curious as to where the Thunderball launcher is to send the ball? Is it to go all the way into the pops? On mine it does that maybe 20% of the time, but mostly hits the first pop and sends it back into the playfield.

ShortCorky How did you replace the rubber rings on the rocket? Did you just pull them up or did you have to disassemble/remove it first? And what size rings does that use?

Also, thanks for the photos. It's always good to see various color schemes that people try out.

Can a clean hit to the rocket gate loop around and hit all the SPECTER targets?

Sure thing!
The rocket rubbers are 1.5” and yes, you just roll them off from the base to the top (get your minds out of the gutter… ha)

This game was SO simple to replace all the rubber.

I seriously feel like ease of rubber replacement should be a pinside rating category. Swapping out rush still brings on a headache when I think about it.

Yellow is definitely not for me, but doesn't look bad at all. Didn't realize that was just a bunch of rings around the rocket...guessing there's no way to light it from underneath, but man it'd be cool to do it in clear rings with some comet fire flashers...

Mine hits the tank target 90% of the time and ricochets back to the upper flipper. Odd time bounces back into the kickout.

Thanks, mine was just stuck in there good and needed a little bit more force to remove. Outpost now dropped down, and clear titan in it's place.

Waiting patiently for our LE.

Got about 10 games in on James Bond 007 (Pro) at thePLAyNone Cafe One in Ormond Beach, FL.

After hearing some meh reviews, bad code reviews, can’t make the shots reviews, etc…. I was getting antsy that an investment into a JB may be a mistake. You can fix code, not layout/shots.

THE SHOTS ARE ALL GOOD and my 14 yo son hit each of them in his first game. The layout has mixes of flowing shots (left orbit is great and center around to upper flipper to Bond girl or henchman are great also) and pauses into the scuba eject or inner lane pause for videos.
You can hit all the shots without issue, the toughest for us to get consistently being the double ramp on right (thought this was supposed to be the “Gary ramp” )- tips?
The code/video assets are obviously pretty darn early, the out-lanes can really get you, and every once in a blue moon the car eject can roll over the car into the out lane. That’s it. The shots are there, the potential is there (it’s James Bond for goodness sakes), and reports of its demise or failure are vastly overstated. It’s a solid addition to any collection in my view and was really happy to keep playing.

Big shout out to Karl who runs Cafe One in Ormond Beach - great machines, fantastic food, really nice staff. Every pinball follower should stop by if they are driving down/up 95 on way to Orlando or Jacksonville in my opinion.

Patiently waiting for the arrival of my LE, should be any day now!!!

Should go into the pops. If your pops aren't popping enough and you have dead-ish balls in the pop area that just mostly fall through, you may need to adjust their sensitivity by moving the switch blades closer together under the playfield.

Man the rusty ball talk on Bond was NO JOKE. ALL the balls had rust on them in the Bond Pro I just unpacked. Made a mess of the silica gel pack, too. Worst I've ever had with a NIB Stern. More cost cutting or bad lot? Crazy.

If you have a Bond coming, make sure you have some balls available because the stock ones might be unusable.

rusty-balls-bond-pro (resized).jpg

Bond Code name sticker..."Stick"

bond_code name (resized).jpg

So, I had read about the spinner coming off on Bonds. Tonight mine decided to try to go for a swim...
spinner_27_plays_sml (resized).jpg

Stern needs to maybe make the lead a little longer or bend the outside edge of the bracket in more aggressively so the spinner rips don't free the spinner from the bracket completely and send it flying.

Here’s some hold up. On the .70 code. They are still waiting on various approvals…

51B749BE-0F04-4928-AFAD-F81C54160C75 (resized).jpeg

I almost wonder if they are TOO sensitive. It will graze the bottom pop which immediately fires and sends it back into the main playfield area. Just curious if that launch path could be adjusted so it goes in a bit more to the left...

That is ridiculous.

Its been mentioned that they started shipping LE's on Friday so some lucky owners should be getting it in time for X-mas.

I know the poster below is not the right Bond for this game but it has "A Christmas Present From James Bond" on it.

The-Man-with-the-Golden-Gun-1974-X-mas-advance-one-sheet-poster (resized).jpeg

Is your pin level, left to right (check with a real level, not an app)? Is the pitch at least 6.5-6.7 degrees? Those are both important for correct play.

If that's ok, then you can test pop bumper sensitivity with your finger with the glass off. See how much you have to press the skirt before it triggers. Just come in low with your finger so you don't get smacked when the pop bumper triggers and the ring comes down. That test will tell you if the pop bumper skirt is too sensitive or not enough and you can proceed from there.

Also, you could replace the blac rubber up there with Marco Specialties white rubber. It's the mostest bounciest rubber out there. If you want a very active game, they have the best white rubber of anyone in my experience. Black rubber is always less bouncy than white.

Covers mech gate
Looks quality, looks like belongs imo.

Zip tied

0CF79F7A-F717-4FA1-90EB-B062DD210D70.jpeg

8C3E1B49-5478-4E92-837B-44D56E6C3330.jpeg

B80585A9-BB9A-49F9-AB82-44F81351491B.png

If you're going that route, I'd cut a piece of PETG to the shape of that plastic under the back of where you're putting the gyrocopter, drill a hole underneath where you want the gyrocopter to rest and screw the gyrocopter bottom to the plastic mount you made with a recessed flat head screw to get a good mount. Then screw that clear PETG mount to the two screws visible just below it so the plastic doesn't shift. Much cleaner look. Not much effort.

And add lighting and revolving blade action that's interactive with the YOLT mode!

Not so simple to do, but there was a similarly cool motorized Batcopter BM66 mod that a Pinsider made/offered for sale at one point.

.70 is still pretty buggy. For example, if you're in a bond girl mode (and I think Villain mode, too) and you do a "Karl, Karl, Karl, Karl, Karl" it doesn't erase the screen properly and that "Licensor approval" message is overwriting the progress meter from the mode that was running in the game that was restarted. It stays that way until the screen changes.

restart-bug (resized).jpg

Send it to them. From the readme:

HELP US, HELP YOU! If you have any suggestions, questions, need technical
advice, find errors or have comments, contact us through our website:

http://www.sternpinball.com/contact.shtml

or call 1-800-542-5377. You can also email bug.report [at] sternpinball.com to
report any software problems.

Already done. Just sharing it here.

Would this fit where the premium Bond on a Wand is going?