Depends on your preferences man. If you can afford the premium, IMHO it's worth it. But if it's a choice between pro or none, go pro!

I had a pro, and quickly upgraded to a premium. I'm a big fan of the real ball lock.

I have a pro and love it. There is so much going on with this pin, you are not wishing for more when you play it. Crazy good game, definitely pick one up.

No question go premium or LE. the hammer,light show and spinners are worth it! Mine is for sale in RI for $5600

Awesome price for a premium,, If I didn't have one , I would buy it even though I prefer road case . have not seen a roadcase for sale under 6700 and that is when I see one for sale , as none of the roadcases come up as often as the Monster edition one/ premium all the way

I had both at one point and sold the premium.

I personally didn't see the value in the premium. I also didn't like the inconsistency of the hammer.

You can't go wrong with either. Metallica is one of Stern's all-time greats. I actually prefer the gameplay on the Pro, but the bling on the Premium is nice too. Now that the hammer issues are largely fixed (i've heard) and people have successfully swapped out the 'block' for a captive ball, the Premium is looking more appealing than before.

Yeah but roadcase has the fugly translite. That's why most go with the monsters even if the art is a bit 'busy'.

Rob

I was avid pro plays better. But then I swapped the block for the captive ball and the premium plays as well as the pro now and had some of the coolness of the added features. I think metallica is one of the greatest games ever made. You can't go wrong either way.

Thats why Pinball Refinery sold me a Pro trans to go with it // Roadcase plus Pro trans = win for me

In my opinion the pro plays better. It seems to have better flow. I wouldn't pay the extra for a premium.

The hammer is whatever, it's fun, but no big deal, and motorized cross is even less of a big deal. I like them both, but nothing worth paying for.

The closing snake jaw is a game changer, it's better for sure.

The spinners are fun, I enjoy them.

The killer feature for me (I have an LE) is the lighting. The RGB inserts make the game so much clearer, and the GI is just so great. It does so many things, and I'd miss all of them. I could never go Pro now unless I was just so jammed for cash that I had to sell me LE and buy a Pro or something. Rather have a Pro than no game. But if you can afford it the Premium upgrade is totally worth it.

And I have my block swapped out for a captive ball, great and easy mod.

The makes zero sense by the way. There's nothing about the Premium that flows differently. Unless you maybe miss the way the captive ball rebounds things. And that's a $10 mod.

I love the pro…that said, this title will be next game to come into my house but it will be a premium version.

There you go, so it does make sense. $10 mod plus the big chunk of cash extra for the premium.

I definitely prefer the pro : the hammer, raising cross, lock balls and snake mouth are only cosmetics and do not bring improvement to the game. However, I don't like the hammer in the center of the playfield and I like the visibility on the pro. I also prefer the captive ball on the pro instead of the ugly square piece of metal on the premium/LE.

How well integrated are the spinners in the code? I hate when stern leaves spinners off the pro...I feel they ignore coding for them.

Which has f**k all to do with flow.

Nothing wrong with the Pro! Still a great game. But it doesn't somehow play "better". And that's including the Prem/LE with the stock block. The captive ball is cool, I do prefer it, but the game played just fine before it too.

No offense, but if you're lumping the snake in with the cross you've never spent any real time playing a Premium or LE. The snake mouth absolutely improves the game and is not cosmetic. The mouth has two states, and they're both interactive. You shoot the game differently than on the Pro, which only has one state.

I wasn't a huge hammer fan either, don't blame anyone for that, but I've adjusted to it so I don't mind it. The effect is great now with the new code and a shaker, it's pretty satisfying when it hammers down.

The lighting is really the biggest upgrade for me. And if you don't care about that then hey, save the money. For me it's a huge game changer, I'd miss it a ton.

And my LE has the captive ball, again, it's easy to swap them. Anyone who cares can do it any time. It is better, I recommend it to everyone.

The hammer is one of the coolest ball locks in pinball. The snake jaw adds dimension to the shot. The spinners flat out need to be there. And the motorized cross adds a more immersive feel to completing multiball. Take all this and add the lighting effects... Psssshh the premium is far better. Now weigh out the price difference and the fact that the pro is still a great package... And it's hard. I'm not a tournament player, I play pinball for fun and imo the premium is simply more fun. Either way your buying one of sterns best.

Gotta have the Hammer,i love that Toy...Smashing Balls into the playfield Coffin getting ready for multiball is awesome i love the sound of the Hammer.

snake is a game changer love it !

Spinners

Changing color lights is a must (for me )

One of the Best Stern's ever made,Sparky is the Coolest Toy Ever !

Don't worry about the square metal block on the premium.. You can't see it anyhow because the hammer blocks the view!

Rob

The hammer smash with a subwoofer is a VERY satisfying sound effect. BOOM!

Rob

The 2 biggest things... well 3.. that I wanted were the physical ball lock, the moving snake jaw and the LED lighting. Shaker effects are missing for the cross rising though...

Rob

I have no regrets from getting the Premium, I love everything about it, but the Pro is a very good value for the price. You really can't go wrong either way.

Since your opinion is the only one that seems to matter. The Pro seems faster to me. I have played them side by side. As I stated in my first comment it was only my opinion. The Hammer and the snake are cool but they slow down the game play. I like fast game play and that is why I picked the pro. I have the Pro with led's. Again it is my opinion.

It is, sorry….. Premium/LE all the way!

If you can afford the premium/LE I would go that route. IF you want more games and don't have a ton of extra dough, the pro is awesome. Either way it's a great game. I'm happy as hell I picked up a pro, but if I had more money to spend I'd pick up a premo. One of sterns best games.

Slows down the gameplay? How is a quick reject off the (closed) snake jaw during multiball slower than an unqualified shot that goes in the mouth and needs to be ejected because you didn't have 4 guitar picks? Or does the pro just give 2x playfield regardless of the picks?

Rob

Curious fellas, we have a couple club members up here that are experiencing hammer PCB board failures. I remember reading about this on Pinside earlier in the year. Has this issue died down, or is it still a problem?

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/magnet-board-old-and-new-w-pics-metallica-le

Not trying to stoke any fires - just letting potential new buyers know that this issue has not gone completely away. It is NOT just a fuse blowing in some cases. Can anyone clarify this?

Just FTR, this was not the sole reason I went Pro. I went Pro due to a REALLY good deal from a fellow pinsider, and there was no way I was paying almost $2000+ for the cross, jaw, and hammer. The light show, I'll admit, almost made it worth it, but in the end, I am 100% happy with my Pro.

i cannot vouch for everyone, but I have never once had a problem with the hammer. I would however like to point out that mine did indeed come with the updated magnet board.

I sold my metallica master of puppets and bought a pro...!
I didn't like the hammer, it's just better without the hammer

I just sold my Metallica LE and other all song on this game I have no regret
I like the band but the game seem to go no where for me I don't like the feature of the game maybe just not my kind of gameplay
Try it before

I played a Premium and loved it, but I just couldn't justify the extra cost for the extra stuff(which IS awesome BTW). I've been nothing but thrilled with my pro(my first NIB), and truly feel that Metallica(Pro or Premium) will have legs and go down as one of Stern's best...

I thought for months about which version id rather have. In the end, I had to have spinners with the best spinner sound in pinball. I also think MOP is one of the best albums ever made.

Someone posted that adding a captive ball on the LE.Prem version means that shot won't interact well the magnet. True or not guys?

I've had no problems so far personally.

Works fine here.

If you're suggesting the premium/ LE snake is significantly better than the pro snake, I think you haven't spent enought time playing a pro. They play very differently and in some ways, the pro snake is better. You can park 2 balls in the snake during MB while 2x scoring is running, for starters.

MET pro is easily the best value available right now. Not even close. The LE's and premiums are fun too, but if you're on a budget, don't hesitate to get a pro. Stern's best pro ever by a huge margin.

No denying this...

tumblr_lm2ynxiiLI1qaikizo1_500.gif

So what you're saying is that the pro takes less skill to play then...

Rob

the price Tigerlaw has on it is only one K more of a price than a new Pro .. Not alot of cash for the RG lights Snake Jaw spinners cross ect.. way worth an extra thousand for all that extra all the more enjoyable stuff/ if MET is going to be a keeper for anyone the LE/Premium is the only way to go . End of Line

TSPP though was only made in a pro was maybe the best Stern / Others may say LOTR in any event i dissagree with best pro ever statement of MET / i am fond of the ST pro

Premium/LE all the way. Sure, some of the things are cosmetic, but it just has more LIFE! More things moving, smashing, spinning, and the color changing GI FX are the best in pinball! Sorry WOZ!