Holy crap do I want this! I have a red molded translucent one in my ironman and was already wishing I could get an orange one for metallica. Will order immediately when available.

Followed up with Stern tech today regarding the replacement spider inserts RGB driver board that I was supposed to have received for my new MET Premium.

Part is on backorder and no info as to when it will be in.

Can someone please explain the FUEL lane to me. I have a firm grasp of the rules now, but this aspect of the game still confuses me. I know that sometimes the shot will start double scoring, but I'm not sure when. Also, what do the three inserts represent?

The inserts represent the corresponding pop bumper.

Okay, now I'm even more confused. What does the fuel lane have to do with the pop bumpers?

I'm not sure how this works as well.

There are some here in my LED thread - https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/an-improved-stern-metallica-pro-led-map-and-list

If you look at the dmd while it's hitting the pops, it counts down the hits from 10. After 10 hits the corresponding insert will light. After all 3 are lit you will get a blown piston if you hit the piston target at the end of a combo. 10 blown pistons = extra ball.

Easy to figure out if working or not. Take glass off and go into switch test.

Thanks for that explanation! I never knew what the deal was with the counting down on the DMD. Now it makes perfect sense. So you basically wait for all three lights to light, and then go for the fuel shot. When else should you go for that shot? How do you know when double scoring is available? It seems like you would obviously want to stack that with a high scoring mode or multiball/s.

Double scoreing is lit in the fuel lane after lighting a spot on the fuel gauge in the center playfield. You do that by spelling fuel at the fuel targets.

So 4 hits to fuel lights another spot on gauge and lights left shot for 2x scoring.
You can keep hitting thenlane during double scoring to reset the counter to ?30? Seconds.

It also is jackpot during fuel mode

Thanks, guys! I think I got it now. The code is very impressive on this game. I guess Lyman doesn't f**k around.

what is the problem?

None of the spider inserts light except for the right orbit, and that only lights a constant blue. Checked the circuit connections from the LEDs to the driver board under the playfield to the CPU board in the backbox. Stern tech thinks the driver board is the issue.

sound like board.. I had problems on my first and second premiums.. that board is a POS.

I own a Met Prem - which I have modded a fair bit, colour display, snake decal/ramp lit speaker inserts, cut-out Metallica side rails (backlit with EL paper) etc. etc.

Played a Met Pro at a show the other day and there were a number of things that struck me.

Playfield is so much more open without the hammer, easier to line up shots for Sparky.

Other than that, the Prem is just so much more to my liking.
Really missed the spinners, the captive ball lock for coffin, the light show, but most of all did not know just how attached I had come to the colour display. Playing a machine with just orange dots seemed so old and boring.

I was considering swapping the colour display over to my WPT, but now know I'm going to have to buy another.

For those condiering whether to go for a Pro or Prem - it's got to be the Prem, if funds allow. You'll only end up spending the money long term trying to get it to look like a Prem anyway

I ordered a premium, and it was lost in transit. (Though R+L Carriers has yet to admit defeat and start the claim process) Wanted to update my situation with better news like a pic of it in my game room, but I've lost all hope it will be found. Shit, it will be 30 days since it shipped this Friday....

I've been toying with the idea of downgrading to a pro since I believe JJ has them in stock, but keep thinking about exactly what WJxxxx posted above and just can't do it. I'm now left waiting for his next shipment of premiums, hopefully that is soon as I'm jonesing to get my hands on this thing! And I hope they had plenty of playfields on hand before all this ghosting crap started, that has me a bit worried about a newer one as well.

Anyway thanks for listening, feels good to get it out. You guys are now my lost pinball machine support group whether you like it or not!

That sucks, but in a year from now you will have forgotten about it and jamming on one of the greatest pins ever! I'm willing to bet your lost premium "fell off the truck" somewhere, they do come out of Chicago after all.

My condolences man - that truly sucks. My driver board issue is minor in comparison. I hope you are able to get this resolved and enjoy a shiny new MET Premium in your gameroom very soon!

Most likely to be in jersey... at Bada Bing's office!

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Tracking indicates it made it to Los Angeles, RL says it never made it to their delivery terminal there from LAX. All they've done is request additional dock checks again and again, and again. Could just be sitting in a corner somewhere with no paperwork, could have been placed onto the wrong truck and was delivered to the wrong place (in which case someone seems to have kept it for themselves) etc. etc. Who knows, definitely not RL Carriers.

I think it time you put your foot down and demanded action or your going to get your lawyer involved. This has gone on long enough.

Good news is the total lightshow is available for 300 and even has more lightshows than stock plus all the stock premium lighting. Also spinners are available for 100.00. So for around 5 k (use to be 4600 nib)u can have a pro with them 2 nice features and a premium is/was 6400. U cant go wrong with eaither but i have a totally modded pro with color dmd, total light show,spinners, powder coat, creeping deathmod, hooked caps, topper, cliffys, shaker,speaker lights/inserts, sub and much more for price i wld of paid for a stock premium . Its a awesome pin in any for tho

Check for the correct wire colors
On those inserts very closely. I had one miswired on my premium.

Also, check each of the pins inside that cheapy Ethernet port. On mine, when I pull the cable one of the pins will pop out of its little slot (no idea what to call it) so that when I reconnect the cable there is no contact. I have to take a tiny screwdriver and reposition the pin into its slot before reconnecting.

It's a stretch but worth a look.

I figured I would post this for anyone else who may want to change the "Sparky" insert colors. Since the led lights for the inserts are mounted on the control boards, you have solder in wires to power the colored boards. The first picture shows the two wires that I attached to the lighting control board. Stern was nice enough to have connection points on the board to solder the wires in. I simply solder the other end onto a colored led board and mounted the board to the insert. Came out pretty nice.

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Thanks. The insert LEDs actually worked for the first few days that I had the game. I'm going to take another look at the components this weekend since I'm in limbo with Stern.

FlipperMagician - that really sucks but you will get your pin. Shippers obviously messed up and are responsible. I would just keep calling them every single day. Talk to as many people as you can and put a fire under their butt . Let them know this is no small box and definitely not cheap.

Joined the club. Hoping that there is no ghosting, unlike my SMVE.

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I recently took delivery of a brand new MET pro LED. The playfield looks great. There is no ghosting at all, and the clearcoat is smooth as glass. Some of the inserts have minor scratches on them, but it's only noticeable if you look closely. Overall, I couldn't be happier.

Best game ever!

Placed my order for a premium. Hope it ships tomorrow.

Some day I am going to join this club...The game is so fun!

Indeed this has gone on long enough but making petty threats just isn't my style, not that I have a lawyer in the first place. I'm a customer service manager myself so I tend to be as polite as possible when dealing with the people trying to help me. I deal with enough assholes and their crazy demands I'm not about to become one of them.

I'd probably be a little more impatient if my distributor had any Metallica Premiums in stock, but they don't so I'm simply left waiting until they receive more from Stern. The lost shipment is between them and the shipping company, there's really nothing I can do to speed up the process. Or maybe I'm just too laid back to get worked up over something that doesn't have an immediate fix.

That sucks, dude. It will all be worth the wait, but I can't imagine how frustrated you must be. Out of curiosity, how long have you been waiting for the game? When did you first put your money down on it?

I actually put a deposit on Ghostbusters Premium back in March, then switched to Metallica when I heard JJ had some on the way and GB was being delayed. GB wasn't grabbing me like I thought it would anyway and I've wanted Metallica since the release, also wanted to get in on one before they stop making them. So technically I hadn't been waiting that long for Metallica, was only about a week and a half between the switch, final payment and shipment.

I had a very good experience with Hemisphere Amusements when I purchased mine. Kurt quickly took care of any issues I had and was quick with responses. What company is JJ?

Colorado game exchange

First off, are you out any $$$??? That would dictate my next response..

I see what your saying, so maybe you should start getting on your distro more then?

I posted this on Instagram and FB the other day.

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Did the same mod to mine, used 2 green ones.

Does anyone off-hand know what the bulb replacements are for the fuel gauge on Met Pro LED? I'd like to match the art with red, orange, yellow, green. The folks at Stern also mistakenly put a red bulb in the right gauge on mine.

2 are #44 (bayonet) and the others #555 (wedge). Factory uses 2smd bulbs. I bought mine from comet to do the same. Yellow ended up looking very similar to orange, though.

Ordered some from Pinball Life, we'll see how they turn out.
Thanks for the bulb response.

I have a METLE and I had to replace 4 LED boards (one longer one and three smaller ones) as mine all died when the 12V rectifier blew. It took a fair while to get the kit from Stern and it cost me a few hundred quid in all. On the plus side, you may be lucky as an error on one board can cause strange behaviour with the other ones 'upstream'.

Ideally you want someone local you can swap boards with to diagnose.

Just got the call... my MET Premium will be delivered tomorrow!

I don't know about everyone else, but I just realized that you can disable the orbit diverter post. Holy crap what a difference. The game plays 3x as fast, it's like figuring out that the parking brake has been on for 6 months.

The problem with this is that you are missing out on a ton of pop bumper hits. The rules are specifically designed with the orbit post in mind.

Good to know , but it sure is fun wingin' that ball around .