BIBLE's cloudy window didn't cause the price to drop. As much as some people REALLY want this game to be worthless...it won't be. Premium is the same game, but there will always be people who want the LE and didn't get it at pre-order. It is what it is.

What's causing the captive ball area to wear already? Is the core not even w/ the playfield? Show some pics...I'm curious what this wear looks like. In any case, I was planning on cutting a mylar circle to protect that area anyway.

Blocks your view of what? What is it that you're struggling to see with the hammer there? I've found pinpeople's concepts of "view blocking" to be very strange. Like on X-Men - Wolverine never blocked my view of anything...the ice ramp never blocked my view of anything.

Usually wear is caused by the ball grazing the surface in an abrasive way. I imagine wear would be caused from the ball hitting the wood lip if it's not flush with the magnet core. I don't see how the core itself going up and down would cause any surface wear.

Well, I'm gonna pick up one of those x-acto circle cutters and make a really good mylar ring to put around that magnet when I get my game on Thursday! Wonder why Stern doesn't do this at the factory.

Metallica LE/Prem has 6 color changing inserts...the arrow ones w/ the spider. Code prob just isn't programmed for them yet.

I'm not really a fan of the full-cover magnet mylar...it seems to affect the way the magnet affects the ball (at least on Spidey). What happened to the Ironman protectors that were a ring around the magnet? Pinball Life used to have them...Marco has them listed but sold out. You'll definitely need that style for the hammer magnet since a full cover won't make sense there. I dunno, I'm just gonna cut them myself w/ an X-acto compass....I'll post some pics so you guys can see how they come out.

Plllllease tell me how he's "blocked" !?!? The hammer is hovering. You're shooting UNDER it. You can see your flipper...you know the trajectory of the ball based on where the ball is when you flip...you know where Sparky is as he is clearly visible. C'mon! This is silly. Nothing is blocked.

How does that affect gameplay though? It's not like Tommy where blinders cover your flippers. It's not like someone's putting their hands in front of your eyes. It's a bizarre complaint which seems to have popped up recently. Things blocking your shot when they really don't. Seeing your flipper and its target (in this case Sparky) is absolutely the same even if there's a hammer floating in there somewhere. It doesn't change how you gauge a shot. Same w/ the X-Men ice ramp. If it's hovering over the middle of the playfield and all your shots are up high...it doesn't "block" your shot, your vision, the ball, or anything lol. I dunno...I'm glad I'm not bothered by stuff that bothers others. If you don't like cool toys, get the Pro

Sorry to be all brokenrecordy, but wtf does the ramp "block"? It's in the middle of the playfield and all your shots are complete visible. That's like saying the artwork in the middle of the playfield is blocking your shots LOL. No one complains about Avengers Hawkeye ramp blocking shots. OH NO, but it's right in the middle of the playfield! I can't see anything beyond it lol

This is the dreaded wear!??!!?

Look, I'm all for Stern using more clear, putting mylar where it belongs, etc...but c'mon...

Hoby1 - you shouldn't be using the Pincab protectors on the legs. Stern games now come with "leg protectors" that keep the leg from touching the cab....those Pincabs will crinkle your cabinet decals...I'd remove those ASAP.

Edit: Although I suppose the Stern protectors will also keep the Pincabs from touching the decals....still...you don't need them.

Cheaper. Accomplishes the same function and it's covered by the leg...so it's not like anything anyone would notice once the leg's attached.

Yeah, well...lol.

If we looked at every nickel and dime in these games we'd go insane.

It comes down to this: Do I want this cool game with this cool art and cool music and fun layout and (hopefully) cool Lyman rules? Yes. Am I gonna not buy it cuz it has plastic leg protectors instead of metal ones? F*ck no.

Superior? C'mon...it's a great Pro but it's still "less than"

LOL I was gonna "OH PINSIDE" YOU! Beat me to it...

..and speaker M's

You wouldn't want to do that. It's a newton ball (cube). You need the transfer of energy from the cube to the ball so the ball hits the target. Also, you want that satisfying THUNK. Deadening that area with foam will make it feel shitty and probably make it so the captive ball won't get the impact energy to hit the target.

Don't worry about it. It's a metal newton cube. It's supposed to be hit. Mine has a "streak" on it just like any other metal-on-metal thing in a pinball like ball guides. It's not even remotely visible by the player as the Hammer is over it. If it bothers you, remove it and replace it w/ a newton ball like on the Pro. You still won't see it lol.

What will putting foam on it do? "Protect it" while removing it's actual function? C'mon.

Cut a mylar. Done. ~200 games on mine w/ mylar ring...all is spiffy.

The bigger issue at hand is the sensitivity of the magnet core and how it doesn't like to catch the ball when you smash the captive ball (too fast? too much movement?). We'll see if they can come up with a software solution...if not, I wonder what the physical solution would be. Could there be a better material for the metal core that's more conductive/sensitive? Would there be a way to augment the sensor board to "amp up" the ability to sense the ball at faster speeds?

That stuff might be too thin, though...any of the online pinball parts stores sell good playfield mylar sheets.

Actually I had a new idea that might help the magnet sensitivity thing. Turns out it doesn't need metal on metal contact...I put a bunch of paper over the magnet and it still caught the ball. So, I was thinking - maybe putting some kind of non-slip grippy adhesive disc on the magnet core (something like the Tron disc material) might help give some traction to the ball when you're slamming the captive ball, and perhaps result in more consistent grabs. I have some adhesive felt circles at home...not that I'd use felt as a permanent solution, but maybe I can use some just as an experiment to see if I'm onto something here.

So far this is what I've noticed.

-Spider inserts are white when "selected" and turn red when you complete them w the coffin hurry up

-Fuel lane turns purple when ready for 2x scoring and pink-purple when 2x is active.

-GI has various color fx. Red "burst" when a ramp combo is started. All blue when Grave Marker Super Jackpot is collected....a few others.

My first inline drop snapped off tonite.

I don't know if they're the same shape, but maybe the black TNT ones from AC/DC would be better. Those take straight-on powerful hits and I don't think I've heard of them breaking on anyone's games. Mine's had prob over 1000 plays and everything's groovy.

The rubber ring isn't really support...it's there so the ball has something to bounce off of when the target is down. The target is still getting slammed with a metal ball and getting slammed back into the wood (then it drops because the plastic lip is pushed away from the metal surface it's resting on). So - yeah, I'm just guessing the black plastic is more durable or flexible *shrug*

That doesn't look like the Metallica target. The Metallica target is identical to that AC/DC one, but white.

Yes there is. There's a clear plastic over Sparky's feet...if it were redesigned to extend further, PAST his feet, it would act as an anti-lofting shield and you'd never see another airball off those feet again.

Yay, Pat Powers @ Stern is sending me some new drop targets! Pat rules!

Seems there's a bad batch from suppliers...they're on it.

That's happened to a bunch of ours...I just pressed it in w/ my fingers on the section "above" the opto and it's been fine since.

Black, but you're seeing the metal orbit lane guide under it.

It's not stuck on a plastic, it's stuck on a metal wire-guide.

That's like saying all pinballs remind you of other pinballs lol ...how on earth is Metallica like Avatar!?!?

-2 Metal ramps vs. 1 plastic ramp
-Ramps return to opposite flipper vs. Ramp returns to same flipper (assuming you're not backhanding)
-2 kickout scoops vs. none
-"Side pocket shot" vs nothing
-Sparky up the center vs. a Robot with a 3-bank to the left
-Inline drops vs. nothing
-Dual orbit flow vs. left orbit only flow (Avatar has a 1 way pops gate if you shoot from the right)
-Hand drawn art vs. photo art
-2 Magnets (3 if Prem/LE) vs. 1
-OK, they both have a newton captive ball...but Avatar also has a captive ball lock

So, my conclusion is...you either haven't played Avatar or you don't understand the nuance of pinball design at all.

LOL. Your'e right, why would I deny this. I'll put some Mattel Avatar toys on my game and get it over with!

How would you know? You've clearly never played it.

Stern doesn't hype the games....the hobbyists do!

People want cool themes and cool themes sell...what should they do, make a Thunderbirds pin?

Classic fan layout games are selling for 10-20k now. They got shit for doing something unique like WOF. Why wouldn't they use popular designs?

Nope. Never has happened. Where exactly is it getting stuck? The Fuel target bar has no room behind it to get stuck, and the Fuel lane is plenty wide. Is the wire ball guide on the left of the Fuel lane flush against the wood "wall"? If not, maybe that's what's doing it on your machine.

Zdoor - try the Tallica Sux font with a fine point Sharpie...it's much easier to match the Donny-style font w/ a pen vs. a paint brush. Sparky.jpeg

Couldn't find any pics to go from.

Here ya ago...this is the reason I did the whites in the eyes to make the Donny U-shaped pupil

Donny_Sparky.jpg

Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland ...Jpop's pin due in 2042. What...you DIDN'T PREORDER?!?!?!?!

Hey, good for you for living with such optimism! It's healthy!

Well, with the first game not done yet...I don't see the 2nd being done early next year but hey...TO OPTIMISM! *clink* Cheers!

I think they do that cuz it's waiting for you to hit a ramp or scoop shot to reset the targets. If the targets were to pop up while the ball was over or behind them, that would be bad news. The game can't drop them during ball search so that would F everything up. That being said, yeah - maybe if you hit it while it's still up it could be some kinda hidden award like the old "Sneaky Locks" or something.

No. Take out the plug, put in a Tournament button. You need to put on a diode and solder one of the wires.

I went into the Magnet test, and it would not activate/sense while there was a ball in the coffin. As soon as I got it out, it all worked again. So - it seems logical that a magnet bug could happen when you reset with a ball locked.

-Shooting a shot lights the spider arrow
-While that arrow is lit - hitting Sparky, Cross or Snake will light up the insert on that shot.
-Light all the inserts and that shot will pulse...shoot it, that starts the Coffin Hurry Up.
-Get the Coffin Hurry Up and that pulsing shot is now "collected" (Stays solid)
-Collect them all to start Seek and Destroy!