Quoted from bigcat68:Questions for owners:
1. Which Mystery hole protector is best? Cliffy, Mantis or Marco. And why.
2. Best pinballs to buy to replace stock stern balls?
3. Best magnet protector? Mylar, carbon fiber, metal cliffy?
Please let me know as I've got a NIB on order I'm planning to protect.
I bought a Mantis protector for the Mystery scoop, thinking I would benefit from its "lipless" design. Thereafter, the eject was whacky. I was confused at first. Then I realized the ball was actually striking the protector on it's way out. I tried to finesse its position, but the steel was just thick enough that no matter what I did in terms of position the ball still collided with the protector. So, I took it out and put a nice thin Cliffy in there. Problem solved. I also put the two Cliffy protectors in the shooter lane and they were fine.
I installed the mylar magnet-surrounds from Pinball Life and they went down well (no bubbling) and looked fine. If you have a Premium, you may want a true Cliffy on your Casket magnet surround, rather than simple mylar.
I replaced my stock balls with Ball Baron's Super Ninjas. They are my favorite balls - mostly for their polish.
I also installed a set of Pinbits plastics protectors. I recommend them. They offer clear or fluorescent green.