JJPOTC #900 reporting in! I got it set up last night right next to its cousin and played it all the way through midnight. What a machine! Very impressed so far.

Believe it or not, I've read through every post in this thread in preparation for receiving my game. I was anticipating having to make adjustments and fixes... But my POTC worked perfectly out of the box.

Still working on learning the shots and wrapping my head around the ruleset- and still getting used to the fact that this machine takes your picture- every high score entry has me making a dumb face at the screen! Ha!

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Yes I did! Joe Newhart at pinballSTAR is great. Very communicative and quick- I received my POTC within a week of contacting him, though keep in mind that the game shipped directly from the factory and I live 2 hours away from them!
I also ordered a TNA which hasn't arrived yet; coincidentally, you are pretty close to Spooky's factory!

My topper is not centered but I don't care about that.

FWIW, the exact same thing happened to me. 1st or 2nd game, the screens died and I had to reboot. Nearly 100 games later, it has not reoccurred, nor have I experienced any other glitches.

(and yes, falling off the ship has a nice *thonk* sound when it hits the cabinet.)

I got mine NIB this month and I've had zero problems

Wow- what a shame. I was planning a trip to Sunshine to test out POTC before deciding to buy mine, but I changed my mind and decided to just buy it sight unseen. Glad I did!

I was still thinking of stopping by to play a bunch of other games I've never seen before, but now I'm thinking twice. Is this a reflection of Sunshine's maintenance and setup capabilities? Your experience is something I would expect from a neglected machine sitting in a 2nd-tier hotel "arcade", not a premier, dedicated pinball parlor.

Also, I would guess that the map disc felt like it had no effect due to the playfield steepness.

There is indeed a foam strip along the rear of the chest, separate from the shipping foam. I'd say you should verify game leveling before attempting to trim it.

Also, about your screen blackout- you are now the third or fourth person (including me!) To experience a single non-repeating instance of this. For me it was after my second game, still has never happened again. Weird!

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I agree ^^

Yes, and I haven't touched the foam at all. Chest worked great out of the box. I'm at 6.5 degrees.