I've owned mine for over 8mo and the best I've done is still only 3 ciu (@1.7 though) I can fairly consistently get 2 now @1.8
I still havent broken even 200,000,000 (so close)

I’ve been looking for a Metallica Premium and am having a tough time finding one in stock. I have seen a couple places on line that show they have one but they have their prices too inflated.

Are you aware of the super skill shot? You can break 2MM without flipping by holding down the left flipper while plunging, then let go of it as the ball enters the orbit... if you touch the nothing the ball should bounce from the left flipper to the right flipper into the mystery scoop, awarding the super skill shot, do that on all 3 of your first shots and you will be over 2MM every time

So this appears to have helped me. After going to the metal up/down post I saw zero improvement on the bounce back situation. A few months back I came up with a tweak that made things a lot better after looking closely at the ball wear pattern on the playfield as it approaches the post. I noticed based on the wear patter the ball generally hits on the high side of the post hole (away from the player), so I adjusted and bent the coil bracket so the post came up through the hole a little further to the low side (closer to the player) in order to get a more off center hit and deaden the blow rather than a perfect rebound. That definitely helped a lot, but it wasn't until last night that I saw the post above and swapped out the coil sleeve for a shorter one. I again tweaked the bracket now that the sleeve doesn't come all the way up to the playfield. Also, any time you bend or adjust the bracket you need to look from above and make sure it is not rubbing and more importantly you need to adjust the coil stop so the plunger is flush with the playfield when it is down.

Hopefully most people can fix this issue with just the metal post, but at least there are a couple more steps that can be taken. My game appears to be running with at least 95% staying in the pops now. I refuse to say 100% even though I have not seen a bounce back in ten games! As I mentioned previously in this thread, it does appear Stern has gone away from this design and back to the more expensive controlled gates. This is a much better solution...

I looked into getting the metal post but shipping was ridiculous to Canada. I'm also slightly apprehensive to do the post swap because I feel like every other Metallica I play will play differently than mine.
Mine has ridiculous bounce back rates though. I'd say 9/10 bounce back.
Has anyone tried these sleeve tweaks on factory hardware? I'd be happy with a 50/50 ratio.

I tried the metal post, and it didn't make a difference in bounce backs for me either. However, I did find a fix that has made the left loops shots divert to the pops at least 99% of the time. It sounds rather ridiculous though, because all it was is a piece of adhesive felt that I placed on the wire form behind Sparky, LOL. No joke. It simply keeps the ball from rolling to the left along the wireform and out the left loop after the ball hits the post. The felt is far enough away from the outside loop wall so that it doesn't interfere with left or right loop shots or super skill shots on plunges, and I've never had a ball hang up caused by it in the location I've placed it. On top of all that, you really can't see it back there when the play field is in place. So, as ridiculous as that all sounds, it works, it's cheap, and it's easily installed and fully reversible.

I'll post of picture of it when I get home (I'm at my office for the next 30 minutes), just in case any of you guys that haven't had luck with swapping posts wanna try it, and hey.. a pic of a cheap-o and easy fix like this might be good for some humor at least.

Jeff R.

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Very aware....and that's the only skill shot Ishoot for unless CIU is lite up or extra ball BUT I have totally flubbed that shot MANY times.

Does someone know the best way to reach out to John Borg or Lyman Sheats?
I was told by David at Stern that my pro playfield is indeed being made just for me, making it quite possibly the last pro playfield ever made. I'd like to see if I can get one or both of these geniuses to sign my playfield.

That would be cool, good luck!!

I'm not up to date with social media contacts. I dont even have Facebook. I'm a phone guy still lol. But if anyone has advice let me know. If it means getting Twitter or Facebook or something, so be it.

I'm a phone guy too, have FB but don't text. If you've made it this far without texting don't start now, it could kill you.

Call Stern directly.... either they will connect you to them, pass on the message for you, or allow you to leave them a message.

I tried this tonight and it didn’t even come close to working.

LOL, so did I!
Thought I had been missing out on something

Your orbit, shooter lane or flippers need a tweak. The game is designed to work the way he mentions above. I can get the super skillshot on mine 98% of the time with no effort.
I did at one point have to tweak the leftmost part of the orbit. I started having balls knick the left sling on the way down. 1min fix, 1 time.

Just launch a ton of balls while watching them closely to see is the are getting jostled around somewhere

If the machine needs to clear a ball out of the shooter lane, even my auto plunge makes the super.
(Like if there was a ball in the lane during power up. Itll fire the ball, make the super, then kick it out before I can start a game)

Super minor...but if there is ever another code update it would be cool to have the song selection wrap around from the first song to last song and vise versa.

Is it really a Super Skill shot if all you're doing is plunging the ball hard? Seems like you're just exploiting the shot and code then making tweaks to the pin when the shot no longer works.

I didnt design the game. Watch a video of Borg playing. You are supposed to be able to dead flip the scoop.
The reason I had to tweak my game was because at one point it started to go sdtm on skill shot attempts because it was knicking the left sling.
(So slightly it wasnt even triggering)

If I want a real super skill shot I have iron maiden. That's some hard shooting there

The real super skill shot is actually hitting the flashing insert which not only gives you the score but also makes that shot ready for the hurry up. It auto lights cross, snake, chair and coffin inserts for that shot without having to hit those items

My 13 year old son set a new personal best yesterday.
Soon I better watch out

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Mostly because the plunger sucks balls.
My manual plunge has quit sending it around the upper loop.

I've heard this alot. So far I've been lucky with both manual and auto plunge. Fingers crossed

Skillshot 1 upper rollovers (wasteful)
Skillshot 2 mystery scoop (easy and lucrative)
Skillshot 3 lit lane (varies in difficulty and lucrative)
I only really go for skillshot 3 if it lands on the right side of the playfield.

None of my friends will give a crap so I'm venting my excitement here....
John Borg and Lyman F Sheats Jr are signing a translite for me!!!!!!
I contacted Stern to see if they could sign my playfield as it will possibly be the last one ever made. I was told a translite would be much easier for them so they are sending me one free of charge. Now the question becomes, do I put it in the game or frame that sucker?

That’s awesome. I personally would frame it, but either way you choose it’s great.

Put it in the game!!

In the game! I put my Dirty Donny signed Monsters translite in my Pro game.

Plunging the upper rollovers with the left flipper held down gives the most points I believe...

And for Skillshot 3, my fav is the gravestone lane, drop catching off the orbit can be tough but it is the lane I always go to clear out first.

Do it!

I seem to end up collection that one first as well but it is my least favorite to collect. I can hit ramps and orbits all day but as more crosses drop, that shot becomes more difficult.

This is correct. I think it's 2x whatever the regular super skillshot value is. One thing I am not sure of, if you soft plunge with the left flipper set, do you get more points by landing on the selected rollover without manually switching the lit lane?

I do like the catch and grave shot, but my favorite is the full orbit dead bounce off the left flipper and immediate hit off the right flipper into the right ramp (not sure the fancy pinball term for this kind of shot). I can consistently hit this shot 90% of the time, but strangely enough I cannot get the bounce direct into the scoop.

Don't forget skill shot #4 into the piston target which auto lights the 2x shot.

Has anyone bought the Laseriffic topper for Metallica? As far as I've been able to tell, their topper is the only one that seems to be available commercially now. It's a little pricier than most of their other toppers. I was curious whether it is game-interactive at all, or if it's just a lighted topper whose colors can be changed (possibly with a remote).

Leaving the club, will be posting a nice HUO Metallica Pro Led with total light show, external sub, shaker, service rails, lollipop side rails and cliffys soon. PM me for details

Before you plunge, if you put it to the right top lane, it’s 4x. If you put it to the left top lane, it’s 2x. And hold in the left flipper like you mentioned. I think. Haha.

This one was just added to my Pinside shop, and it should be available at Mezelmods in the next day or two. Munsters will be added by next week.

If you're looking for a less expensive option, my toppers are $125 and if you want lighting, the kits are sold separately (or you could do your own)

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I'm not a topper guy bit I like yours. Good job. I'd get one but my OCD will get mad if Metallica is the only game wearing a hat

that's only one of the super skill shots. you can score 2x or 4x by holding the left flipper button while plunging and getting the ball to go through the left lane (x2) above the pops or the right one (x4)

and just like the getting the ball into the mystery scoop, the value increases with each successful shot. hitting the right lane will net you 900,000, then 1,800,000 (2nd ball) and 2,700,000 (3rd ball) for a total of 5,400,000 on that one shot alone

Ya, the suggestion was more based on the easiest way to get 2MM points, in that you don't even need to hit the ball to score 2MM points if your objective is to get more than that. That soft plunge is a bugger of a shot, in the grand scheme of things though 5.4MM isn't worth it to me, I'd rather full plunge and make the flashing lane to get on my way with CIU.

www.tilttopper.com makes a great topper for Met

My pro is having some weird issues...

It's stopped allowing me the super skill shot option intermittently. It'll pop up the orbit stopper even while I'm holding the left flipper for about 5-10 balls, then stop for another 10-20 balls, then start again. [edit: I just noticed after walking back over to play a game that it's counting the right orbit when coming off the plunger lane. It's never done that before and I assume it shouldn't. Anyone had this happen? What's the deal?]

Also possibly some trough switch issue? I started a grave multiball and didn't kick out the second ball for the longest time, I eventually hit the snake BEFORE hitting the snake and it kicked out two more balls. You shouldn't ever have all 4 balls during graveyard, right?

ALSO, has anyone experienced completed lanes no longer being lit mid-ball? I had my graveyard shots completed and then after a multiball, it was suddenly not lit anymore and I had to re-complete the snake, electric chair and grave shots.

Has my code gotten corrupted or something? Gremlins up in here.

I'm glad some pinsiders have talked about this Super Skill Shot recently.... I have only had my MET PRE since late October and I am working on v1.70 code to learn my own tactics and see how the game played before updating to v1.8

Now, this additional feature is a cool one to kick start the round... Thanks!!

Maybe a flaky launch lane switch?

Sounds to me like balls are magnetized and getting hung up in the trough.

Is it possible that you had completed them all and started Seek and Destroy? That will clear out the lit lanes.

Everything in the game is controlled by switches. I would check each one and make sure each works and only one switch triggered at a time. Also bang around playfield to see if any switches trigger by vibrations.

Grave mb should only be 3 balls with the added ball. I would check trough switches.

Do you mean the shot inserts that were lit are cleared? If you complete all of them (all chair, snake, and cross inserts lit) you will start Seek and Destroy. The music will change and you will see the Seek and Destroy animations on screen. However, if start Seek and Destroy during a mb or CIU mode, the music will not change and not sure if you will see animations. You will still hear callouts of a countdown and things like "c'mon!". Eventually the mode will end and all inserts will reset.

In general, if you are suspecting issues with gameplay, test with the glass off. Manually hit switches and see if things are working correctly.

You're likely onto something here with the shooter lane switch. I've noticed some delays in auto-plunging on ball saves and multiball. Thanks!

Yes, shot inserts that were lit (and completed) were cleared but not all of them, just the graveyard. A few weeks ago the right ramp did the same thing. I definitely hadn't progressed enough to reach S&D either time. I also hadn't started a single CIU at that point with the graveyard incident.

You sure all the inserts were lit and the hurry up was completed? If not all the inserts were lit or if the hurry up was started but not completed, the inserts will reset after a drain. During a ball, any lit inserts should stay lit. CIU modes will use inserts for their own purpose but you should go back to normal after the mode ends. If inserts go out and you have to redo them after having them lit during normal gameplay, something is not right. I have an issue with one insert where the bulb is finicky. Sometimes it flakes out and does not work for a while. Maybe you are having bulb issues? I would definitely test with the glass off and try to duplicate the issue. If there is some goofy things going on and all the switches work, I would reload the latest code. You can also have the game do a memory check on boot - I think you hold both flippers while you turn it on to do so.

I could just imagine what I would look like trying to do this.

If the inserts were completed (all three blinking), but the hurry-up was not completed (hitting coffin), then they will time-out and all three in that row will re-set, even while the ball is still in play.