I'm contemplating joining the club with a NIB Metallica Pro purchase. However, there are rumours that Stern is late/behind on their usual production runs and so it seems uncertain when they might next produce Metallica Pro.

For interest's sake, can someone who's recently purchased a Metallica Pro respond with the date of manufacture on their machine? Trying to date the latest production run.

Any sense here of how often Stern has been running Metallica Pros over say, the last 12 months or so?

Thx.

Yeah, I got some quotes last week and one of them said it would probably be into June before it was built. Might have some merit if late May is now June due to delays at Stern. Or, just as likely, it's just something the distributor said that didn't sound too far off but wasn't next week either to try to close the sale.

Hi all!

I'm thrilled to join the Metallica owners club with the arrival of my NIB Met Pro yesterday!

One question I have is regarding the clarity of the clear inserts on the playfield. On my machine they are all "bubbly" with little speckles in the finish or plastic itself. I was a bit taken aback when I saw this as I expected them to be crystal clear.

Can anyone comment on whether this appears "normal" for a Metallica playfield (you can ignore the black spec that's in my camera lens)?

MysteryInsert_(resized).png

PopBumpersInsert_(resized).jpg

When I set up my NIB Pro last week ( ) one of Fuel gauge insert lights was intermittent. I ended up fixing it by pushing a metal scraper blade into the slots on the back of the socket where the wires go to push them in a little tighter (power off, of course). That fixed it.

Those fast connect sockets Stern is using these days remind me of the fast connect light-switches in my house that I've had to gradually replace due to connection failures over the years. I worry about their ability to standup to vibration over time.

Those look really nice. If I wanted to color match the inserts for each type (snake, cross, switch) to these, what led bulbs for the Pro inserts would be a good match for the colors you used?

FYI I created a new poll thread for the "crazed" clear inserts on my NIB Met Pro: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/is-my-nib-metallica-pro-playfield-defective

If you don't mind, please go vote based on whether or not your clear inserts look like mine or are perfectly clear.

This is just for interest's sake.

Thx.

What is the consensus on plastic protectors for Met?

I got the full set of flourescent green ones but am finding it to be a bit too green...

I was thinking of removing all but the slings and ball guides, and extended sparky one of course.

Anyone have any horror stories of other plastics breaking without additional protectors on this game?

Thanks for responding.

I'm wondering if I need to bother with additional clear protectors for the plastics other than the slings and ball guides at the bottom?

Anyone ever have one of the upper playfield plastics break?

Thx.

That is sweet! Love it!

Someone should make a transparent lcd that fits there so you could animate the shadow figures and still have the regular lighting effects. Bugs and worms could crawl out of the skull eye sockets, etc.

Picked up my NIB Met Pro in late May. Same deal, was looking to buy used but nothing readily available that made $ sense to me, plus my retailer had one in stock and I was worried with the Stern delays recently that I wouldn't get one until the fall if I didn't pull the trigger now.

Initially I was put off by all the crazing on the inserts on my playfield, but it seems like this is very common and you do get used to it. I also had issues with my clearcoat chipping off of the drain hole after less than a week of home play which was *not* cool at all. I made a thread if you haven't seen it: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/is-my-nib-metallica-pro-playfield-defective

If you get one, protect the drain hole, shooter lane, around the magnets, under the ramp drops, and the Mystery hole before you play a single game if you are fussy about stuff like this. Stern's current clearcoat does not hold up at all anywhere there is anything but a flat surface.

The game itself is amazing! Full adrenaline rush and always makes you feel like you left points on the table everytime you finish. So I'd say go for it if you're so inclined, but wear protection!

Yeah, welcome to the Stern NIB "lottery"...

Any chance you could inspect the game before you buy at the distributor?

Others who have had similar chipping issues claim that applying mylar stops it / prevents it. But if it would bother you a lot, you're probably better off finding a used game where you can see it doesn't have the chipping issues before you buy.

I had the same issue almost immediately on my game.

I contacted Cliffy regarding a protector for the drain hole and he said he is working on it as he needs it for his own Metallica as well. Not ready yet AFAIK. I'd put mylar there and make sure you cover the inside edges of the playfield in the hole as they chip off in no time at all. Stern is sending me a "repair kit" but I haven't received it yet so don't know what it contains.

I put the Mantis protector that goes inside the mystery scope on mine but I can already see the clear is starting to chip at the top edge of the hole anyway so I'd just put the cliffy on there and be done with it. Stern's clearcoat is ridiculously fragile on any edges it seems.

For the shooter lane I've read folks having problems with the metal cliffy's there interfering with the normal ball flow. Folks using Mylar there report no wear so use that instead (looks better with mylar too imho). You might still want to get the metal protector that goes on the black wood rail beside the shooter lane.

I used Avery self-laminating sheets instead of mylar everywhere except the drain hole and it seems to work well and is easy to apply and can be removed or replaced anytime. Others have also reported good experiences with it preventing wear over an extended period. Plus you can pick it inexpensively at a Walmart or office supply store.

You'll also want to apply mylar around the magnets and under the ramp drops. Using the self-laminating sheet material I just went ahead and covered the whole area in front of Spary's feet past the magnet since it sees so much action. Can't really tell that it is there.

So I added the PinGraffix Snake Mod to my PRO awhile back (original 2D). I really like the look of it but was frustrated by how the extended plastic behind the snake head blocked my ability to see the rollover lane lights and 2/3 pop bumper flashers. Seemed like a high price to pay for a few inches of "snakiness".

I considered doing what some have done and either add a reflective surface or another set of lights below the right ramp but couldn't figure out a good solution. While adding spinners to my PRO yesterday (which involves cutting the plastics), I decided why not reshape the snake plastic a bit so the rollover lanes are still visible while preserving the snake body effect.

Using a pencil and some tape to draw the new shape on the plastic:
Using a pencil and some tape to draw the new shape on the plastic

Using a wheel grinder to cut the plastic away (this technique is awesome, btw, if you ever need to cut plastics in a very controllable manner) - note this isn't the snake plastic shown in this pic:
Using a wheel grinder to cut the plastic away

The newly reshaped snake plastic:
The newly reshaped snake plastic

The modified snake plastic on the game:
The modified snake plastic on the game

I think it turned out really well, when viewing and playing the game the snake looks fine and being able to directly see the lights and flashers is a big improvment.

I love the pro, faster gameplay, no ugly huge hammer blocking your view!

I always assumed Stern used the 2 ball captive ball to avoid patent infringments with Williams, but recently heard an interview with John Trudeau who stated it was to avoid making the switch inaccessible due to having to wait for a single ball to return to the rest position.

Not sure if any other Stern games use a typical single ball captive ball or not though...

This ^^^ !

If you are into adding mods yourself the Met Pro is a paradise machine. However, if you'd rather just play the game the Premium might be your better choice if you really want the improved lightshow, etc.

Having said that, they are both awesome games stock so if you bought the Pro and did nothing to it you'd still be having a blast!

But the Premium lightshow, etc. is really sweet...
Shit, now I can't decide either!

Kidding, I went Pro and am modding it up over time. I'm too damn cheap to splurge even more for the Premium.

Hi all, FYI I'm selling a really nice Met Pro LED with a bunch of mods, etc.

Machine - For Sale

Metallica (Pro) LED (Stern, 2016) + Extras Archived

HUO - Documented (Home Used Only) - “I'm selling my like-new Metallica Pro LED. This home-use-only game is less than 6 months old and still has that new pinball smell! Needless to say, it is in perfect working condit...”

2016-09-08

Airdrie, AB

Fytr

6,900

Archived after: 33 days

Viewed: 793 times

Status: Not sold: Decided to keep game

That *does* look nice. I do like the extra light they provide though. I wonder if it would work if you moved them over to the top bolt on the outlanes instead. They'd be more out of the way there but still throw some useful light. Should be able to route the wires up the GI light socket hole near there.

So the spotlight is still mounted on top of the playfield?

Have a pic?

Okay, suddenly my grave marker opto switch is constantly on. I inspected the switch, opto alignment, etc. but it all looks fine.

If I unplug the opto sensor from the opto board, it still registers as on, so it's not the opto's themsevles.

Any suggestions?

Thanks for the tip. I was able to determine that my opto sensor that plugs into J4 is bad.

Not sure where you are but I have one for sale that's not NIB, but only a few months old, HUO, with mods.

https://pinside.com/pinball/market/classifieds/ad/39003

Going from memory:

1. Remove two screws that hold the plate that holds the coil for the post in (not the coil stop).
2. Remove the plastic tipped post from the coil. The spring will come off the post as well.
3. Mount spring from plastic post to new metal one.
4. Insert metal post and spring into coil.
5. Screw the coil plate back into the base plate.
6. Check to see if the top of the metal post is level with the playfield when it's down. Adjust height as required with screw in guide at opposite end from the coil stop.

A picture would help but there's not much to it.

The only song that I've noticed sounding lower is Master of Puppets. I think that's just because of the way it was mixed/levelled in the studio originally.

If you increase the music attenuation in the game settings (which means the values go greater into the negative range, like volume on a tuner), you can make the music louder vs the sound effects and speech. On mine I have the music at -12 and the speech at +12 to make the music more present in the mix and the speech less so.

There is a sw bug though if you adjust the music attenuation to anything other than 0 the music will often quit playing when you lose your ball. This seems like bad math programming on Lyman's part when the game tries to lower the music during the post ball presentation sequence. I would bet $1 that he's not aligning the signs and ends up with a very low music attenuation value that is too quiet to hear.

You're saying Stern has renewed their license with Metallica?
Do you have a reference for this?

Dude, you're missing out on so much! Why so many Stern's? Only buy NIB?

Yep. They are too prominent in the mix by default, the music needs to ROCK! But I wouldn't turn them off, either.

Lol! This same reaction happens a lot when the mighty blinding Metallica enters a gameroom. If you stick with it for a bit, you'll figure out that all your other games are actually just too dim...

Yeah this bug is really annoying if you like to increase the music volume in the mix, and who doesn't - am-I-right?

Easy fix too I'm sure, here's hoping!

Well, it is possible that they will do a bit more.

Metallica is probably their finest overall achievement in recent memory, and has to be approaching or already become the most sold game they've made in the modern era. With a contract extension in place, new album by the band, it would be cool to see another set of feature adds to push it way over the top! + Lyman knows this is probably his life's masterpiece.

Perhaps, but finding a really nice STTNG is a lot harder than finding a nice MET these days. I'd say you might want to grab that STTNG now, you can always grab a MET later if you want.

Why not find a nice used one then that you can inspect prior to purchasing? That would be my recommendation if you don't feel like playing the Stern NIB lottery.

That is the beginning of it lifting, the light colored areas are where the clear is starting to seperate from the wood.

You're going to want to cover that area with mylar or a cliffy asap to stop it from rapidly becoming worse.

Certainly not a big deal if you get it protected. Sorry.

I've circled the two spots where the clear is starting to separate, you'll want to cover it with mylar as soon as possible to avoid those areas expanding and eventually chipping off completely.

IMG_0661 (resized).JPG

With some work you could route the wire straight up the backside of the post out of sight. That is sweet!

Looks perfect now! How did you do it?

Those things are sick! Vince is the best!

I use this stuff also instead of mylar for most areas. Goes on easy, practically invisible when applied, no glue to mess around with, can remove it anytime instantly, dirt cheap to buy, etc. etc.

Can't really say how effective it is long-term but I've heard good things from others in this regard.

Word to the wise, my Metallica drain hole starting seeing damage in the first hundred games easily. I would not play it without mylaring the drain hole unless you are not concerned. Sorry, but it happened to me.

Based on how beat up my "factory cliffy" in front the snake is I'd seriously consider putting it back on again. If even Stern decided it was a necessary expense, you know something's up.

Double scoring is not FOR the average player.

Good to know! I wondered what the logic was that did that, always hated it when all my hard work disappeared. I kind of thought it was happening after a couple of CIU's were played...

So what is the benefit of completing Seek and Destroy then? At least try to save it for after you complete End of the Line? Though I suppose it is pretty much impossible to avoid it as the captive ball shot is so important for other things.

Nicely done!

I think it might look good also, even with just the original coffin, if you had it lying flat like the original pic, but at a bit of angle, just slightly elevated off of the plastic about 25deg or so. And of course, you could make it so that it starts almost totally flat and then elevates to vertical when coffin multiball starts...

...might be another job for TimeBandit !

Didn't see this here yet, check out these totally sick looking custom sculpted and painted replacement hammers for MET Premium/LE from @spinny-vinny: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/new-metallica-hammer-mod#post-3642218

Yeah, sadly there are a number of 'mod' shops that aren't above putting a ridiculous markup on readily available items, ala that Modfather coffin post earlier. It pays to look for stuff on ebay and amazon for sure, if you're at all handy.

It's one thing to produce something truly unique and creative for the pinball community, which I heartily applaud, but if you're just re-packaging something and marking it up 24X your cost well, I guess there's a sucker born every minute...

I just replaced a colorLCD with the new colorLED in my Met Pro. I really prefer the LED in this game!

The color LED looks like an original DMD when the game is off, looks like what a true color DMD would look like it, had they had them, IMHO, and the animations, etc. were all created for this format (individual pixels/dots), so look great. I also prefer the display quality of the LED, absolute black when pixels are unlit, vs backlight glow with LCD (noticeable in a darker room), higher contrast, and extremely bright.

I'm a bit of a traditionalist, so I prefer the dots look in this game. Others go for the hires mode, which is fine too (I'm just being nice, hi-res is the toupée of pinball display modes).

More thoughts and pics here: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/colordmd-lcd-versus-led/page/7#post-3648882

Looks sharp! Is this available for the original run Mets, with the wooden backbox?

Sounds fun! I think we should start a pinwiki section, or something like that, for "do-it-yourself mods". So many mods can be created/crafted yourself with a minimum of cost/skill/effort with a few basic instructions, and doing them can be rewarding and you can end up with something totally unique to your game (if you want).

You can try to nail the first one or two while ball save is running off the plunge. Otherwise I backhand them off the left flipper for the first couple at least. You can do them all by backhanding of course but I like to shoot the grave marker itself from the right flipper as I find that more fun/satisfying.

FYI I completed my project to convert a set of Creeping Death light bars into home-grown stadium lights for my Metallica Pro (at a fraction of the cost of the Pinstadium kit).

Details here for those with do-it-yourself tendencies: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/poor-mans-stadium-lighting/page/7#post-4433790

It’s amazing how much removing the stock spotlights over the slings and the light bars opens up the playfield!

664C1AD9-79E9-47C4-9718-C851C9FD0D12 (resized).jpeg