(Topic ID: 134430)
Linked Games
KISS (LE)
Stern, 2015-
KISS (Premium)
Stern, 2015
Topic Gallery
Charlestown, IN
Lmao!! I see Gene got Stern to put a flyer inside pimping their KISSteria road case. Looks great and can't wait to see some video. Congrats!!
Congrats Iceman!!! I have a Premium Kiss on order myself..
After looking at your photo of Gene's head, I'm really surprised to see that the painting detail on it seems to be a bit sloppy in the teeth. Who ever painted the teeth used a brush that was either too big or just didn't care and slopped the paint on. They really did a pretty crappy job.
I had read that the poor paint job on the Gene head was something that people had complained about on some of the early Pro models. I am pretty surprised this was not addressed and corrected by Stern's Quality Control, especially for the LE/Premium models.
but maybe I'm being a bit too picky...
Quoted from S3G:but maybe I'm being a bit too picky...
Nah, the paint application on those heads has looked like shit in just about every photo I've seen. Sparky never looked that bad, that's for sure. And that was a more complicated paint job.
Not hard to fix though.
I want to hear if the cabinet decals and mirrored backglass are nice. It's the same art, so hopefully they're worth it in person.
Quoted from Jared:Epic.
Priceless. 
Sorry, for not having time to do a video, I was having some minor technical difficulties with the game, and by the time I had it all tuned up, I had to catch a redeye to LA. I'll be back Saturday and try to get a video then. In the mean time here's my short review of the game.
The Good:
The artwork, metallic decals, mirrored backglass are outstanding. No picture does them justice. You can kind of see in a couple of pictures how the faces on the cabinet have kind of a 3D, lifted look to them. When the light hits the flames, they also have a realistic look to them. "Luci" was my favorite artwork package of recent Stern's. Not anymore. KISSLE is amazing. Lighting is also great, the only game that has better lighting is Star Trek.
Sound is also the best I have ever heard on a pinball by far. I have always liked the sound on AC/DC premium, but this is whole new level of clarity and depth.
The not so good:
As expected the code has a long way to go. The game can seem clunky at times, but this has an upside. The game rewards you for well placed shots. It makes the good shots feel more rewarding. This ain't no Steve Ritchie game!
This is my first "Spike" game. While the jury is still out, and I know this system adds a lot of possibilies for the future, I'm just not a fan yet. The system seems like "Papa SAM" and "Mama The Pin" had a baby, and they named it Spike. I know it's the future, but it just seems cheap. Flashers don't seem as bright. Coils don't seem to fire as hard, and other things I just can't put my finger on.
Some more important details:
Now, this is the most important takeaway if your on the fence about a pro or LE/premium: that one little single drop target in the Star child area. That little addition makes the whole area more fun and rewarding. Depending on the code, it stops the ball from exiting the area too early, or it pulses and kicks the ball back up into the targets or saucer. When I saw the feature on the game description, I thought it was just there to block your first shot to Star Child, but it does a lot more than that. It makes that whole area more fun! The floating ball is cool but it is kind of just window dressing, except for the fact I think it makes it easier to start Love gun multiball, as it is much easier to hit the right ramp than it is to hit the star child area.
The other important difference, is the real ball lock for demon multiball vs the virtual lock on the pro. When demon multiball starts, the balls are rapid fired out of Gene's mouth, machine gun style, and with force! It is a trip! I have had no SFTM shots out of his mouth.
Bottom line: if your happy with your pro, don't play a premium/LE. Kiss is not as different as AC/DC PRO/premium, but it is more different than MET pro/premium.
Artwork. 10
Sound. 9.5
Lighting 9.0
Code 5.0
Game play 7.0
Quoted from Indypin:Just curious about the "action figure" movement and the interaction of the amp beside it. Can you describe and thoughts of it?? Does it also make the jump from a Pro to Premium/LE worthy??
Basically Paul just twitches, barely enough to be noticeable. Definitely not a reason to choose premium/LE.
Nowra
Quoted from Aurich:Nah, the paint application on those heads has looked like shit in just about every photo I've seen. Sparky never looked that bad, that's for sure. And that was a more complicated paint job.
Not hard to fix though.
I want to hear if the cabinet decals and mirrored backglass are nice. It's the same art, so hopefully they're worth it in person.
Looks Like a Job For Back Alley, to repaint some gene heads.
Congrats on the Le, I had one on order but cancelled and went with a premium, 1500 cheaper (artwork backglass number) not worth 1500 extra imo
Pincades
JT
Quoted from bdaley6509:Is it a keeper, in your opinion, or too early to say?
Definitely a keeper. I'm sure the code will be fine in 2 or 3 years! I don't think it will be better than AC/DC, but it has huge potential.
what happened to the "demon" and "star child" boot side rails that the LEs were supposed to come with? did stern drop those (without dropping the price on the LE), forcing you to make and additional purchase of 3rd party armor?
looks nice (and hopefully plays a lot nicer than the pro on route near me), but I simply don't agree with your statement that the KISS LE has more differences then its pro counterpart than the Metallica LE/premium does compared to its pro version sibling.
Quoted from j_m_:what happened to the "demon" and "star child" boot side rails that the LEs were supposed to come with? did stern drop those (without dropping the price on the LE), forcing you to make and additional purchase of 3rd party armor?
looks nice (and hopefully plays a lot nicer than the pro on route near me), but I simply don't agree with your statement that the KISS LE has more differences then its pro counterpart than the Metallica LE/premium does compared to its pro version sibling.
I don't believe the armor you are referring to came with the LE. If I recall correctly, those were add on items from the Stern store just like their topper and shooter rods.
Quoted from j_m_:what happened to the "demon" and "star child" boot side rails that the LEs were supposed to come with? did stern drop those (without dropping the price on the LE), forcing you to make and additional purchase of 3rd party armor?
looks nice (and hopefully plays a lot nicer than the pro on route near me), but I simply don't agree with your statement that the KISS LE has more differences then its pro counterpart than the Metallica LE/premium does compared to its pro version sibling.
Stern still has their version of Special Armor for the game I just like Pinball Metal's version much better.
As far as my comment about differences between pro/premium, let me rephrase it. I love my Met Premium much better than the Pro, because of the addition toys, but in the overall scheme of things, I don't think the differences in toys affect over all game play/scoring as much as the differences in Kiss pro/premium. Met pro/premium definitely has more differences than the KISS pro/premium.
Quoted from ff6735:I don't believe the armor you are referring to came with the LE. If I recall correctly, those were add on items from the Stern store just like their topper and shooter rods.
ah, ok. for some reason, I had it in my head that those "boot" side rails were part of the LE package.
so, without sounds like an debbie downer for all of the KISS fans, exactly what on the LE justifies the $2,800 MSRP price difference?
looking at the features sheet, I really only see 4 differences (I lumped some of the features together, because they're really all part of the same game "feature")
- lock balls in the "demon's" head, start m-ball and watch them come spitting out of his mouth
- "Demon" 3 ball lock trough assembly with ball eject device
- watch the "starchild" pinball levitate across the stadium at the start of "Love Gun multiball"
- "Starchild's" ball levitating, "Love Gun" ball transfer mechanism on back panel
- "Starchild" single drop target with coil assisted trip mechanism
- animated "Starchild" custom action figure with guitar
- "Starchild" decorative molded amplifier
- right plastic ramp with ball diverter assembly to feed "Starchild" levitation mech or wire ramp
- 4 bank "KISS" drop target bank
- full-spectrum smooth rgb LED playfield 16 lamp grid
Quoted from Iceman5000:Stern still has their version of Special Armor for the game I just like Pinball Metal's version much better.
I agree. you definitely made the right choice on that (in my opinion). the 2 mis-matched boot armor didn't make a lot of sense to me. and it's shame that dino was forced to remove his ac/dc and metallica armor from his store site.
Quoted from Iceman5000:A few more after I got the "LE Armour" installed.
You beat me getting a picture of an LE with the armor installed.
I received my LE yesterday, but I need to take pictures to document putting it on so I can make some installation instructions.
Any issues installing the armor? I don't like that you have to remove the power supply cover to change the right hinge.
Quoted from j_m_:I agree. you definitely made the right choice on that (in my opinion). the 2 mis-matched boot armor didn't make a lot of sense to me. and it's shame that dino was forced to remove his ac/dc and Metallica armor from his store site.
OT: anyone have a pic of what his AC/DC armor looked like?
Quoted from Iceman5000:Basically Paul just twitches, barely enough to be noticeable. Definitely not a reason to choose premium/LE.
Well shit! Okay, thanks. I was really hoping it would "twitch"more. 
Quoted from Syco54645:Looks more like a reboxing to me.
lol right!
Quoted from j_m_:so, without sounds like an debbie downer for all of the KISS fans, exactly what on the LE justifies the $2,800 MSRP price difference?
Quoted from j_m_:lock balls in the "demon's" head, start m-ball and watch them come spitting out of his mouth
- "Demon" 3 ball lock trough assembly with ball eject device
- watch the "starchild" pinball levitate across the stadium at the start of "Love Gun multiball"
- "Starchild's" ball levitating, "Love Gun" ball transfer mechanism on back panel
- "Starchild" single drop target with coil assisted trip mechanism
- animated "Starchild" custom action figure with guitar
- "Starchild" decorative molded amplifier
- right plastic ramp with ball diverter assembly to feed "Starchild" levitation mech or wire ramp
- 4 bank "KISS" drop target bank
- full-spectrum smooth rgb LED playfield 16 lamp grid
You answered your own question.
Quoted from j_m_::/
ok chuck, let me re-phrase. do you think that's justifies the $2800 price increase?
not sure. Games aren't finished yet.
Quoted from Iceman5000:Basically Paul just twitches, barely enough to be noticeable. Definitely not a reason to choose premium/LE.
Is that something that can be fixed with code? Is it a coil "pulling" him? if so, they could hold the pulse and choreograph his movement better. Or is it like Goblin on SM - a coil firing and hitting something that makes him move....but not hitting him enough to do much?
Quoted from Rarehero:Is that something that can be fixed with code? Is it a coil "pulling" him? if so, they could hold the pulse and choreograph his movement better. Or is it like Goblin on SM - a coil firing and hitting something that makes him move....but not hitting him enough to do much?
I'm sure they could change the pulse time, but I don't think it would make much difference.
Quoted from Pinball-Metal:You beat me getting a picture of an LE with the armor installed.
I received my LE yesterday, but I need to take pictures to document putting it on so I can make some installation instructions.
Any issues installing the armor? I don't like that you have to remove the power supply cover to change the right hinge.
No issues at all. The holes lined up perfectly. Three nuts to remove the power supply cover, no big deal. Thanks for the great product! Took me about 20 minutes start to finish.
Promoted items from Pinside Marketplace and Pinside Shops!
Reply
Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.
Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!
Donate to PinsideGreat to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!
