Thanks for the heads up, snagged that set on my way out the door earlier!

Does it by chance hit the bubble level? I’ve had to slightly move a couple of those over the years for this exact reason…

I haven’t played an LE/premium yet so maybe it’s even better, but the pro is a fantastic game on its own merits.

It’s your game, set it up however it let’s you enjoy it the most. Increasing (or decreasing) pitch can have a remarkable effect on how it plays, so try that first. Move in the outlane posts, play with the sling power, change to a different type of rubber, etc.

If all else fails go ahead and put it on 5 ball, assuming you can take the roasting you’ll get from others.

If it stays up when the machine is off, that eliminates electrical. This is either a mechanical or magnetic issue.

1. Lift straight up on the large end of the flipper from above the playfield. Is there a little wiggle room, will it go up and down a bit? Compare with the other two flippers. Is it about the same? If not the flipper is too tight up against the bushing on the bottom of the playfield (this is very common and the odds on favorite to be your issue).

2. Switch the coil stop with one from one of the other flippers. It could be magnetism (the plunger magnets to the coil stop) that is holding it up. You may find that the issue follows the coil stop to the other flipper, or that neither has an issue after doing this. If this fixes it order a couple spares so you have them on hand, even if they don't become magnetic again they're notorious for breaking in newer Sterns.

I've always assumed it's because people play a game or two, suck at it, then walk away saying there's nothing on it. It's the shots that are the payoff on this game. If you can't/don't make the shots and/or you're a bigger fan of gimmicks (upper/lower playfields, toys, etc) than pure gameplay then it's not going to be a very fun experience for you.

I owned a pro for 1.5 years and upgraded to Premium a few months ago. Despite what the masses will tell you, the Premium is not a completely different game, head and shoulders above the pro. The pro is really good, the premium is somewhat better.

Really only 3 differences that matter:

1. The EM spinner is undoubtedly awesome. But it's not up a lot, so the game really does play almost identical to the pro for the most part.

2. The upper flipper ramp is cool. Is it better than the stand-up? Well yes, but again it doesn't come into play super often because that shot is among the hardest to hit in pinball. And believe it or not, the stand up IS satisfying to hit. It's just like the train shot on Addams, it goes in there, recoils quickly off the standup and is out of control horizontally back and forth quickly coming back at you. It's a FUN shot regardless of ramp or standup, just in different ways.

3. The light up song list on the back wall. This is nice to have, but it's not really that big of a deal.

If you want to save the $, go pro with confidence.

Oh you’re right LOL, good call! I had the expression lights in my pro so I completely forgot. Yeah those are VERY cool and if I were going pro I’d buy them again

The lights wouldn't be a problem at all with the playfield in, but the kit comes with art blades too so taking it out is the way to go