Really? I got an email from Erik at Stern who, after confirming my dealer and order for a premium, told me last week of Feb on Feb 1. That would be very disappointing if true. I feel like I've been excitedly waiting forever for this, my first machine.

I'm about to get my first machine ever. What is the purpose of these things, just protection for weak components/areas? The pinball equivalent of a phone case? The website has no indicator of price and that would be a large part of whether it's "worth it", so do you have a rough price range that you know of?

You didn't sign anything, but the person who sold you the machine did. There's liability in distributing intellectual property you don't own and giving it a monetary value (selling you the machine). It removed the fair use claim and becomes a potential legal problem. That's the concern.
If you don't like it, that's fine. You just seem to have a weird vendetta against it. Everyone else is simply trying to defend the hard work of a fellow community member against your excessive negativity. You don't have to like it and frankly nobody cares if you do or don't. Just like they don't care if I do either. You don't see anything like your "debate" in the entirety of the preceding 200 pages of this thread.
I was sad to see your location, but living here I'm pretty sure I know your type.

Today is the day they start the new run! I'm excited!

I was told by my distro that mine would start being built the week of 22nd. So I'm taking that and getting myself hyped.

Ugh, my distributor just sent me this from Stern:

As you have probably heard if you tune into global news, manufacturing all over the world is experiencing supply chain issues, and our company is no different. The ports along the West Coast are heavily backed up, congested, and causing delays. You can read about it here: https://www.wsj.com/articles/shipping-companies-look-at-sailing-away-from-choked-southern-california-gateways-11612802085

Based on our original schedule, we were hoping to have finished up Guardians Pro, Star Wars Pro and Star Wars Premium by last week, with Jurassic Park Premium beginning this week.

However, at this time we hope to begin GOTG PRO in the coming days, followed by Star Wars Pro and Premium. Jurassic Park Premium is TBD as we await missing parts (hopefully late next week). Star Wars Pin (Movie Art) should be on track for early next week, with Star Wars Comic Pin sliding to the 1st or 2nd week in April.

Thank you for your patience and we’ll reach out when games are ready.

If your goal is to just bang away, make some things light up, get some points and have fun why not make your game last longer? Not everyone cares about being competitive....

I would argue increasing your margin of error helps you learn. It's why we practice in sports. It is not an exact facsimile of a true game, but it allows you to see the facets of a game, learn the rules, learn the skills and learn how all those things interact in a more forgiving environment. Which is what practice is. To say nothing of the fact that the 3 ball standard is a pretty arbitrary historic thing and is only meaningful because it is the standard from which a competitive score becomes comparable. If you aren't competing, who cares if you have fun wracking up a billion points in 3 balls or 5?

Same boat here....

Cool translite, where's it from. Do you run the movie code or the default code? Given the translite I would assume it only goes well with the movie scenes.

There have been a couple reports from a week to 2 weeks ago. Mine is supposed to be dropped off today.

There was a post about grinding before, but theirs moved. There are also numerous mechanical issues in the thread about it not moving that you can look for. A common problem I've seen over time reading this thread seems to be a screw on the underside that comes loose/ falls out.
***disclaimer: I don't have mine yet, this is just what I've gathered having literally read every post in this thread at some point.

Mine showed up today. Build date April 16

Now to add my mods....

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I give up. I've been trying to install the Cliff protectors for a while now. The left shooter protector has me stumped. I know you have to tap out the screws from the underside, but the top one can't come all the way out because of the guide rail. I can't, for the life of me, figure out how to loosen or shift that guard rail enough for me to lift that screw out (and eventually get it back in).

Also, noticed this when putting on my Tower ramp. Any thoughts on what to do about this?
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I feel like my guide is pretty stiff and doesn't want to budge at all. Makes me nervous putting that much tension on it

Is there any way to loosen up that rail? I'm putting ALOT of pressure on it and it won't even bend at all. I'm not a small or weak guy either. It's there a way to lift it some? Get that little peg that's a bit further back out some? Anything to add some mobility?

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Well F me...
In my efforts to install something to protect the playfield I damaged the playfield. I tried bending back the guide rail with a pair of pliers to make room. It bent, but I didn't realize it was dragging the surface of the playfield with. So now the area is "bubbled" up. I guess if I manage to ever get this stupid thing on, it will cover and hold it down? Should I do anything else to protect it? But now that his real is so tight to the surface that, even with the screw out, I can't get the protector under the rail. There is no way this should be this hard.

20210502_160418 (resized).jpg

And now I feel like a moron. I decided to remove the post that is in the outlane to make sure I had as much room as possible. And then realized that the screw that has a nut on it down below holds the guide and not the post. I kept looking for something next to that screw since I thought it was holding the post in, but the post screws directly into the playfield. Great.... and I damaged my playfield because of it.

Both are true. It's like getting the first dent in your new car though...

They've been showing up recently. Mine was an April 16 build date and I got it a couple days later.
Interestingly, down by the "Jaws " sticker, there's an Oct 2020 date which is when I assume the playfield was built?

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?

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