I am officially a member of the KISS army with the addition of a KISS premium to my lineup. This is the game that got me into pinball a few years ago. A friend and I would go hangout at a local bar, drinking beers, and flipping the KISS pro they had. Our goal was usually just trying to get a demon multiball and a love gun multiball the same game. It’s funny how goals evolve as we go down the rabbit hole that is pinball, but I’m starting my third year of the journey and looking forward to many more.

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If anyone has a Stern topper they'd like to sell, let me know. I'm on the hunt for one.

I saw that! lmao...not looking to drop a grand on one. I saw someone post on here about selling one (within in hour or 2 of the post), and when I contacted him it was already gone. Not holding my breath on finding one that's reasonably priced.

I've had my premium for a couple months now with zero problems. Gene only spits the ball SDTM about 10-20% of the time and there's a 2 second ball save, so it's kind of no harm no foul. Love the game overall. Fast paced, some tough shots, some easy shots, and a fun ruleset. Underrated in my opinion.

Just had a 491 million game the other day. It felt amazing! Nice score.

Has anyone replaced the standard black rubbers with other colors or clear? I need to start swapping some out and I am considering putting on come reds and clears from Titan. Tired of the constant black trails always needing cleaned up. They just stick out like a sore thumb.

I'm basically between the Titan reds and the clears. I like the way the red looks, so I'm kind of leaning red.

I just don't have the STDM issue with Gene...maybe I'm lucky. I always just raise my left flipper and it tips right over to the right flipper. I do that every time with all 3 balls when demon starts. Either way, I think trying to fix the issue (like the foam idea lodgingdolphin mentioned is more productive than just complaining incessantly about a problem. Coming up with creative fixes for issues is half the fun of this hobby.

Came home last to my girlfriend telling me "there's something wrong with Gene's head", which immediately worried me given all the issues with that mech. Fortunately after a brief troubleshoot, I found it was just that a wire broke at the solder on the VUK coil. Soldered that baby, and demon is back! Very happy that it was a quick fix, especially considering I've never had any trouble with Gene (no STDM or other issues).

I just installed mine, and it seems like I had trouble finding it to. But then it I finally found it. I think I just cycled through a couple times.

I recently had this issue. The ball would lock, but the VUK wasn't kicking it up and out. I tested the switch and it was recognizing the ball, but no VUK engagement. After inspecting the VUK mech underneath the playfield, I found a loose wire on the VUK coil. Soldered that back and it worked like new.

Good luck on the topper. I've been looking for over a year with zero luck.

So I am doing a full shop job on my KISS prem, and I removed the apron to clean and install a Cliffy on the shooter lane. I happened to notice this sticker on the playfield. Why would an LE numbering sticker be on a premium?

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I was thinking the same. I get that the LEs and Prems have the same PF like thundergod76 said, but that doesn't make the sticker make any sense to me.

and has the Stern topper might make it a tough deal...those things are unobtainium.

LEs are always tough to price. The only one on pinside right now seems steep at $12,500 to me. Premiums tend to be in the ~$6,000-6,500. It does look like one LE sold off pinside but was listed here at $6,800.

Let me know how that Star child stage treats you

This is a must. I didn't even realize my plastic was broken until installing it. And yes, the entire back half has a lot more going on that it appears. I even ended up disassembling the levitating ball assembly trying to get that center ramp out. The stage was the worst though. With only a couple screws holding it to the backbox I thought, "This shouldn't be too bad." But the two nuts are insanely difficult to get a backup on, and then re-installing them was even tougher. I ended up using a box end with some tape on it to hold them in place and slide the wrench down the backbox.

Put the glass back on

capguntrooper makes the Star Child plastic protector. I'm not huge into mods, but the best functional mod I've ever used.

Yes, I don't think the pro has the pop up target that is on the prem/le model. That pop up will inevitably catch the ball, push it up and break the plastic.

Dang those look slick! I have the same axes in red. Need to powder coat the lockdown bar and legs to match.

If you can find one....probably $700.

The last one I found, the guy wanted $700 and I passed. That was within the last year.

Too much to spend on some flashing lights for me. I’m sure someone out there would pay $1,000. Just not going to be me.

ccbiggsoo7 may be your man.

First test the optos to makes sure they are all working. If the ball is getting stuck on the VUK then you could have a wire that needs soldered. Check that first as it’s easy to see. I know I had a wire come loose on the VUK, so the kick out just won’t work. If the VUK intermittently kicks out then I think the optos are the likely culprit.

I used the laminate that capguntrooper suggested and it really reduced the black mess that spinning disc gives off. You will never see whatever covering is on the disc, so theme really doesn't matter. I just choose some dark colored laminate.

Man that’s awful to hear. I hope the owner finds the bastard who stole it.

Lots of issues with KISS decals. It's a fairly well known issue. The decals on my KISS are seem to be slightly off where they should have been placed. I had an issue where some of the decal was starting to have slight pull away near the corner of the game by the right flipper. I ended up using a clear adhesive to prevent further peeling and it's been fine since then.

You'd have to send me to the topper for me to know for sure.

Ouch. Say what you want, but I'm only buying stern toppers and not the machines from now on.

The only time I've had this happen it was just a loose wire on the coil. Soldered it back on, and good to go.

I could be wrong, but I believe there is an opto in front of the disc that activates it. I'm having the same issue, but I think my opto is triggering sometimes. I've noticed the disc spinning when the ball isn't even near the opening. Other times the lock isn't lit, so the disc should activate, and it doesn't. Need to check connections and solders on mine, then figured maybe I need to swap out an opto.

I've never tried setting playfield multipliers to carry over ball to ball, but I suspect if I did, billions would be fairly easy. I've made it to colossal bonus lots of times, but never been able to bring in a killer rock city MB to really blow the score up. I think ~550 mill is my best. But carrying the multiplier over ball to ball is a completely different ballgame.

Definitely an awesome score. I ebb and flow on the game from sub 50 mill average, to other times when I'm just really dialed in on it and clear 150 mill every game for a while. Still haven't found that billion point game though. Someday.

So what's everyone's thoughts on LED or LCD for KISS? I'm thinking for KISS, I won't want the scaling. So leaning LED.

Yeah dots would look better IMO. Very few games I think the scaling looks good. Simpson's pinball party...fine it fits the game. But for KISS I'll take the dots. I ended up ordering the LED.

Still on of my favorite mods! Didn’t even realize my plastic was broken until I installed this.

Considering selling my KISS prem. Has the typical decal wrinkling around the studs on the side, but over all in really great shape. Only mods it has are plastic protectors, cliffy's, speaker lights and the KISS acrylics, and the Trooper flames. What's a good asking price these days?

I’m just not sure what a reasonable asking price is on one right now. Kiss always seems to have a solid draw, just not sure where to start. I just need to make some room, and I’m starting to think kiss is the one I can part with.

I wised up from my decision to sell. Just bought some lighting flippers, fresh coil stops, and demon optos (current are not registering). Going to embrace a more masochistic level of play.

I looked for loose connections and everything seemed good. Figured for $20 I’d replace them.

Not really...Just interested in creating a device of pure torture

I've always had mine steep, with short ball save, and open lanes. Thinking I'll add the lightning flippers and make the slings more sensitive bahahahahah

Definitely a great tournament game. I loaned mine to a friend for a tournament once. I had the ball saves on the MBs turned as low as they would go and everything set to f&*$ you. A local guy still put up over 600 mill. KISS is definitely a one ball game with the PF multipliers.

I'm still trying to get to a 5x Kiss Army or Detroit Rock City MB....maybe someday!

Can confirm the lightning flippers are a ton of fun! Brutal of course but definitely kept things spicy. New flippers, coil stops and sleeves. Plays great! This was the 4th or 5th game, so still very playable.

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Where did you order from?

Thanks! I missed the link. Had to go order it.

So glad I happened to catch the posts about the mirrored backglass! Mine is supposed to arrive tomorrow, and I'm pumped. I love mirrored backglasses, so this will be a huge upgrade for a game I don't think I'll ever be able to let go of.

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KISS was the game that got me into pinball. So when a buddy was selling his prem naturally I had to buy it. I looked for a topper for the first couple years of having it, turned one guy down who wanted $600. Seemed insane to spend that on a topper just a few years ago.

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