The Art of Pinball T-Rex is awesome, but I'm not really a fan of his signs for the two ramps. I like the ones Mezel has more, but even they get it wrong IMO. The circle for the light on Mezel's should have been removed and the names "ADVANCE PADDOCK" "EXTRA BALL" etc, should have been translucent so the actual words light up when that's available. With no circle, the lettering could have been bolder and larger, too.

That above my creative pay grade I'm not familiar with those signs, but these are really high quality. Definitely an improvement over the stock signs

Both versions are way better than stock, that's for sure.

Yep before I got this game I would have agreed with you. I'm 54yrs old and have been playing pinball since I was about 10 and have had a small collection at home that I have moved a few titles through over the last 8 years. I also often play at friends places who have larger collections.

I have always prided myself at keeping factory setting and not dumbing my games down. I play reasonably well and have won a few local comps over the years and have my name as GC on various games.

So I think I have enough experience to be able to call JP an outlane drain monster compared to most other pins.

I have noticed that many of the top YouTube streamers will now slide machines across the floor to save a SDTM ball. I used to think this was cheating, but after much debate here I now agree that if you can do so without tilting then that is fair play.
My game is on carpet, so no sliding for me. But have been able to modify my gameplay so that I can push on the machine and flex the legs enough to save a SDTM and get a warning but not tilt. That skill has made me a better player on all games.

On my JP my average game would be about 300-400mill with my GC 1.250billion
But even after 2000 plays I have never got to the Visitor Centre (have been a couple of shots away fom it) and that is mostly due to the huge wide open outlane drains.

JP left outlane measuring the gap diagonally between the rubbers is 4cm that is huge. My Pin-Bot is 3cm which some also call an outlane drain monster but I find with practice I have some control over. That extra cm means that some balls heading for the outlane go straight through without touching the rubbers at all even when I give the machine a sharp push at the exact time resulting in a warning but still a clear drain.
This results in me feeling cheated by the game. (With the new posts the gap will still be more than Pin-Bot)

Yep I could play better and never miss a shot so never hit the slings and never get an outlane drain from them, how do you go with that?
Sometimes I can nail combos 6 shots in a row or more that are perfect and progress through the game quickly. Then I can get multiball and can lose three balls all at the same time. IMO good games depend on luck too much.

I wonder how many players that have GCs over 1 billion can get high scores like that consistently? or do they have some games when the slings send all their balls to the outlanes in less than 2mins.

IMO these outlanes have been designed with operators in mind, not home owners. I enjoy a fast and difficult game, but JP is just a bit too difficult for my liking.
I have sold previous games because my average game went for 45mins on them and they become easy and boring. Getting the balance right is hard.

I would love to be able to get through the wizard modes of this game without modifying the outlanes and I will keep trying to do so until my new posts arrive which will probably take 2 months.

But as others have said and I am now starting to agree with, these are our games so we should do whatever pleases us with them

I was a doubter, but the Trex is a MASSIVE improvement over stock

RTBB is putting together a custom order from Pinball Life for me with their next order

I will say I agree with your thought process, and if you want to see deeper into a game there is no shame in setting it to more than 3 balls temporarily (and you would probably agree you want to reset or reload your prior high scores after you set it back).

The coop modes that have become fashionably fun are giving the team a 12 ball game really........and the challenge is still pretty real even with that many balls on those games!

Waiting for what he does with the raptor!!

I can't wait! Huge fan. Trying to find time to get my signs installed. The ONLY thing I don't like with Elwin's designs is his use of the signs. I never notice them when lit. Granted thats a me issue.

Unboxing my NIB Prem tomorrow I’m not usually into cosmetic mods, but got loads of them for JP.

I read through the first 150 posts in this thread, but want to check if I’m missing any proactive “maintenance” I should address on the playfield. I’ll be adding a Mylar ring (thanks Pinmonk!) and PETG washer to the post by the third flipper, and sounds like I may need to make adjustments to the 180 ramps if they’re clunking as well as check the T-Rex calibration.

Other than bread and butter prep (install Cliffy’s, wax playfield, replace OEM balls & flipper rubber, etc.), anything I’m missing?

I’d use blue Loctite on that post by the 3rd flipper. Damage happens around that post when it comes loose over time from ball strikes. I don’t think the washer and Mylar ring will prevent it from coming loose but the blue Loctite does.

You should check the left screw holding the tower flap to the playfield by hand to assure it does not contact the ball as it rolls up the flap and against the guide. If so, you’ll need to grind the head a little bit.

The post should have a nylon lock nut, I wouldn’t use loc tite on that type of a nut. Just make sure it’s snug and it will be fine for home use, if it seems loose over time you can tighten as needed or replace the lock nut with a steel nut and loctite.

Turn the trough kick out down to its min setting, it should still kick the ball out but less potential to damage the shooter lane. If yours can’t kick the ball out consistently on that setting then raise it from the min setting until it can.

Are we waxing brand new machines? For some reason I thought they should be left as is and use novus 1 for any cleaning.

Yes.

How? I just got my first machine a few weeks ago.

It’s a personal preference - make sure you use new balls (check each one out for nicks and dents) no matter what you do!

For me, I will wax during the first time it needs a light cleaning (usually after a couple hundred games), then clean/wax again when necessary. vid has a great guide on that in the forums

IMO it’s personal preference for a NIB, home use only machine. The clearcoat should obviously be in excellent condition unlike an older or sited machine. You’re unlikely to put enough games on a NIB to significantly wear the clearcoat.

Some people prefer how a waxed game plays and so keep it waxed for that reason.

Just don’t use too much wax!

Loving my new JP born this May 2022. A little stumped on not being able to launch ball with the action button. I know it is working, as switch test, and entering nits has action button working. Can't seem to find a setting to correct it either. Any ideas?

Thanks, Dana

Is the autolaunch coil working? Plunge a ball manually and let it drain. Does the game auto launch the ball after ball save?

If it working, the. Go into game or standard setting and look for center button launch or lockbar launch setting. It’s in there.

Do you happen to have a plastic lane protector installed?

Just installed these and they are very well done.

https://cfengravingservices.com/products/Jurassic-Park-Dino-Slingshot-Mod-p471325509

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Easiest to remove the entire sling plastic and attach them just like the original plastics. Then put them back on as a whole.

My glass is incredibly hard to remove/replace. I made sure to take any tension off the legs in case the cab was twisted. I also loosened up the side rails in case they were contributing. Any other suggestions?
It’s in there scary tight.

Regarding waxing a NIB, it’s personal preference. The balls slowly wear away the surface of whatever they’re touching. If they’re on the clear, then they wear away at the clear. If there’s a layer of wax over the clear, then the balls wear down the wax instead.

But it’s a slow wearing down process, and you’re not likely to wear through the clear on a NIB in a HUO environment.

For wax preference, I like Blitz, and any quality carnuba paste wax would do. I’d stay clear of silicone waxes. They may go on easy, but the silicone will seep into the wood and may make it impossible to refinish/re-clear coat your playfield in the future.

Yes some of the latest JP’s built seem to have this issue, there’s quite a few posts reporting the issue (search the thread for glass and scroll to bottom 20 odd posts)

Here’s the solution found by one of new owners https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/what-is-on-the-line-at-stern-pinball-delays/page/54#post-6960101

The post to the left lane where you trigger the computer sequence (power up the park, etc) keeps drifting down. It eventually creates a crater where the post comes through the playfield that is the perfect size to catch the ball and the ball will sit in it. I have to frantically shake the machine to loosen it when that happens. I learned the hard way that when the machine goes into "search for the ball" mode, it shoots that post up and launches the stuck ball into the glass.

Any thoughts on why it keeps doing that and how to prevent it?

There’s an adjustable metal adjustment rubber stopper underneath the post that allows you to change the height with which the post sits when it’s down. Adjust that and tighten it down so it’s flush with the playfield. It should have a lock nut on it to keep that rubber stopper in place.

Yeah, I've tightened and adjusted it a few times now and it always seems to drift over a couple months. Don't really want to put loctite or anything there though

But that’s what you need. . That or more elbow grease. If your adjustment keeps coming loose, you’ll have to fine a way to tighten it better. Lock tite is easiest. Blue should do it. Or put more torque on that lock nut.

It’s certainly worth a try as it requires little effort, but based on the OPs description it sounds like what I’m dealing with on my DP premium, and this is not a solution

The issue seems to be the glass channels, and Sterns official solution (at least in my case) was to wipe a little Pledge inside. This has little effect and my “solution” was to buy industrial strength glass suction cups and pray

If your situation is anything like mine on my Mando, then the suction cups will work wonders.

I actually like using them so much that now I use the suction cups on all my pins. It avoids finger prints under the glass, and I just wipe off the cup marks with non-ammonia glass cleaner after reinstalling the glass.

Maybe I'm just imagining it, but the glass on my JP seems slightly thicker than the glass on my other games. It doesn't have that "Made in the USA sticker" either.

The plastic channels themselves aren't really the problem. They fit into a groove routed into the cabinet and are a standard size, so replacing them isn't going to fix anything. I can only speak for my specific game, but the tighter the screws on the side rails, the more it pinched the plastic channels vertically. I loosened the 2 regular screws and the 2 bolts at each end on each side and the glass can now be removed without suction cups.

Hey all, hoping to be in the club soon. I had a quick question on updating code...

I realize I can do this via USB, but can I also instead just pull the SD card and upgrade that with the card image instead?

Yes. But it will wipe all settings. I would save all your settings to a usb then do the sd card rewrite. Then upload the settings back onto the game afterwards.

Thanks for clarifying,
I'm assuming settings include all custom adjustments, coil strength, HSTD etc?

yup!

Should the pinball connected to the truck touch the playfield when rotating left or right? Or should it be just off the playfield the whole time? Mine seems to touch the playfield on the right side but not the left.

Definitely NOT supposed to be touching. Take some pictures and post. You may be missing the THRUST bearing or the rod that runs through the playfield is damaged.

Have you tried swapping the glass from one machine to another? That’ll quickly confirm if it’s the glass or the JP cabinet

Or throw a digital caliper on there and measure the thickness...

Yes, I considered that before loosening the rails, but all my other glass has anti-rattle tape. The thickness looks to be the standard 3/16'' off a tape measure, but I don't have a way precisely measure it.

I guess I could try the JP glass in another game.

Edit - glass is good. JP glass slides right into the Mando next to it.

a hair dryer will break down blue loctite very quickly if you ever need to simplify the removal of it.
A counter nut/jam nut is the next step if that fails.

Loctite is the only way to go around this. The machine should have come with it from factory but some of these assys did not have it. Once adjusted, you will never touch this again, likely, for the next 30 years.

Hello, I put a deposit for a JP more than one year ago to a reseller in France. I was wondering if it was a wasted effort and should ask for a refund by now or if Stern will ever do a new batch of this nice pinball and I should just be patient.

most likely next year! buy something else in the meantime.

JP side armor for sale. Brand new in the package.
Not cheap as it was difficult and expensive to come by -just giving a preemptive warning.
If you would like to investigate message me.
I will donate to Pinside if I sell on here.
Also willing to trade for a playfield.

CED9447A-2300-44D1-8A66-397A5C6D1FB5 (resized).png

Just post them in Marketplace with a price....

Word is they will be making more of these.

Post in the market place...not sure why u posted no information....I heard stern is doing another run of these by the way