Do you have a video of this? I'd like to see that.

I have made that shot a few times as well, no video here just saying its possible, I would not say its an easy shot though.

I make the shot easily and often. I will try to take a video but holding the camera with one hand making the shot with the other is hard.

Look, I'm not talking about tearing the game down to wood every 300 or so plays. But spending about 30 seconds wiping it down, 30 seconds rubbing some wax on, and 2 mins buffing it off every 300 plays is hardly that much effort. It's a shame that you refuse to keep your games playing and looking like new. My Metallica is tons faster than my tron. Both are regularly cleaned and waxed.

My 24 and Metallica have the same flipper coils and I have not had the problems you fellas are describing so far. I can usually do some fairly wacky backhanding too.

Maybe it might be a good idea to check to make sure that the flipper bat is not too tight to the nylon playfield bushing? (ie - should be a little bit of play up and down). Maybe when the Stern folks are putting them together they sometimes flub a flipper installation job slightly?

While your filming, go ahead and throw a digital level between the flippers after you make the shot. So we can see the pitch you have it set at. Video often doesn't tell the whole story.

It's also a shame that a basically brand new game that still looks showroom clean can play like an old location beater. But I won't deny I'm lazy. Much prefer playing pins to working on them, which is why I'm willing to pay a premium for NIB games.

Anyway, after playing Metallica at Enchanted Castle tonight, I can confirm the location Pro blows my HUO LE away. Fast & fun with snappy flippers. I played one game: 223 million.

I have about 1000 plays on my AC/DC and never had a problem with either of the flippers. I was playing Thursday when I noticed the left flipper wasn't falling back down. I raised the playfield to find exactly this. The flipper was too tight and was binding against the bushing. Why after 1000 plays did this just happen? I don't know, but I adjusted both flippers and all is well.

Hope this helps.

Weird. Exact same thing with mine down to the left flipper. Adjusted it and all is well.

Something to look forward to with my AC/DC in about 500 plays I guess.

Pinball comes with a cost of ownership. It doesn't matter if they are bought new. There are maintenance requirements. Many of the suggestions you were given were to solve your problem. Especially the decent voltage reading suggestions by phishrace that you refused to take. If you have an issue but refuse to take any of the steps towards diagnosing and solving it, then it can be concluded that you only want to complain and dont want a solution. Now that you've seen several other metallicas playing properly with stock coils, you should take steps to solve your problem or shut up and live with it. If you want to solve it we are here to help. If you just want to bitch, move along.

Sounds like you should call your distributor and/or Stern and get a pinball tech out to diagnose your problem. A new game that looks showroom clean shouldn't need wax to nail shots! While I'm sure wax can help, it doesn't sound like a solution to this problem (especially since you have a Pro on location to compare it with). I have to imagine your pin is cleaner than the Pro on location!

Quick question.. you said earlier you keep your game Level Cranked up.... What level is Cranked up?

So many happy & helpful folks in this thread! Just because I complain that I shouldn't have to fix the flippers on a NIB game doesn't mean that I'm never going to try. Maybe I just don't have time to troubleshoot the voltages immediately after captain asshole suggests it upthread. Maybe I'm frustrated that a $7k toy plays like a dud. If this isn't the place to vent that frustration, where is?

Over the weekend I had time to clean & troubleshoot it. Cleaning helped a little, but the clear cause was poor factory assembly. There was virtually no up-down play in both flipper shafts. Regapped them using the white tool, and it's now it's faster than fresh out of the box. So crazy fast that 80% of direct hits to drop targets just bounce off, which is the next issue I need to fix.

I wouldn't be surprised if many other new Sterns share the issue to some extent, since adjusting mine made it faster than any other Metallica I've played. They clearly aren't measuring the gap during assembly. Seems like you get somewhere between "barely enough" and "none at all" from the luck of the draw. Mine was on the low end of the scale.

You're welcome yancy

I often regap nib stern flippers using the white gap tool. Good call.

Mind the GAP ; )

NO

The tool isn't necessary if you've worked on pins before and know by feel how much up-down play flippers should have, but I'd recommend one for your first game. Too bad there isn't one in the goody bag instead of like, the alternate coin door decal.

Credit cards work great...1/32". After reading this thread, I checked all my Sterns (MET/IM/TRON/Sopranos/LOTR/ACDC) and they are all gapless! Flipper strength hasn't been a huge issue, but it does seem like adding the proper gap improves the strength by ~10-20% on average.

And he kept it real classy.

When in Rome.

We had to regap a Tron LE during the middle of a cincy pinball tournament game.. UL flipper started sticking up. No gap whatsoever from the factory... I think they just shove the flippers in and tighten them up...

Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. Now that I've played a few games and the playfield is no longer perfectly clean (although it still looks spotless), the flippers feel sluggish again. And once the coils get hot after about a half hour of play, it's impossible to complete an orbit shot from a trapped ball. Who needs an orbit post when the ball drops into the bumpers on its own?

The coils are definitely underpowered if they're only strong enough on a just-cleaned, cold machine. I've played 2+ hour sessions on a dirty Tron LE and never noticed a lack of oomph. Almost every filthy location WPC I've ever played is faster than my Metallica LE.

Weak-ass flippers are just one of several things that bug me about the game, but I'll keep this thread on topic. The honeymoon period with Metallica is definitely over. My friend Nick might get to buy an LE after all.