Congrats on the new game! I would recommend the scoop protector, shooter lane protector, put a piece of mylar around the Sparky magnet and get the plastic Sparky protector from Pinbits.

Oh, I would also pickup a couple switch protectors from Cliffy for where the ball drops down from the habit rails near the flippers.

For the mylar around the Sparky magnet I would recommend just putting a 2"x2" square piece of mylar right over it and then cut out the center over the magnet itself using a sharp model knife. I remember at least one person on Pinside posting about artwork chipping around the Sparky magnet on a new MET Pro LED. I wouldn't trust one of the smaller mylar rings alone to protect that area. A slightly larger piece of mylar and the extended plastic Sparky protector from Pinbits will provide you peace of mind against any damage in that area.

+1 Very good advice. You can get two types of Mystery Scoop protectors. Cliffy's or Marco has one. I preferred using the Marco's as I didn't want the protector to be obvious (NIB doesn't need to hide wear) but they both work fine. Another area to mylar is the ball return under the apron at the edge. Others on here noted some playfield chipping as have I. Put some Mylar to protect the edge. 1000 games played since June on the machine with protection on from first week and all areas: shooter lane, scoop, magnet/playfield, and ball drop at habitrail all look perfect. Pro owner here, but still applies.

Congrats on your new machine. You will have a blast playing it... Follow the advice of those who posted before me and you should be fine.

I know you are looking for protectors but I thought I'd give you my advise on the speaker upgrade. If I were you I would not install the pinball pro speaker upgrades. I would send them back and get your money back and buy a polk audio psw10 external sub for half the price. I have had the pinball pros and as they give a tiny amount of an upgrade they are definitely not worth it and the polk is a way better upgrade and will make the playing much more enjoyable!! Just my 2 cents. Enjoy your MET it is awesome

Congrats on a great game! Do not use the cheap pos balls that Stern provides. Order some new oh so shinny ones from pinball life or other suppliers.

You made the right choice. 1st thing you have to do is get Sparky custom painted. Everything else comes second.

YES perhaps the most important thing to do!!!

Biggest thing to do- not stress about it too much. No matter what you do, you're going to end up with dimples, an errant ball is going to scuff a plastic, you drop the lockdown bar against the cab and ding it... all that kind of thing. When it happens don't let it ruin your enjoyment of the game. It's like buying your first car, eventually you realize that spilling coffee in the cupholder isn't the end of the world. Well, maybe it is for some people.

Protect stuff so you feel OK about it, but play it too!

I put all cliffys on including switch slot at ball drops . Also mylar around magnets , shooter lane, ball launch drop point, uder apron edge, scoop kickout and in front of captive ball. Id also highly recommend the extended sparky plastic . I have over 1000 plays and game still looks new .

Wax the playfield right away. Wish I had that HUO TZ you passed on.

It depends on how much you are going to play it. Will it be just you, the fam, people over all the time playing it?
I have zero protection on mine and it looks great, but I don't play it all the time so there's that.

Pinball life has some pre cut mylar. I don't find it necessary on a nib game
Put in new balls, maybe a mantis style scoop protector and sparky plastic protector and play the heck out of it!

I would replace the rubbers on the flippers and slingshots with nice green polyurethane ones. I have heard that the black ones can rub off on the ball and end up staining the play-field. Also, if you plan to add a shaker I would rotate one of the weights at a 90 degree angle to the other one. They come 180 degrees apart and although I love the effect it does shake bulbs loose and I have had the pleasure of them flying into the ball drain. You still get respectable shake this way. Nice score on your Metallica!

Get the sparky protector first thing, it saves a ton of airball divots.

I'll go ahead and agree with what's been mentioned already.

Personally I prefer the mantis style scoop protector & the clear plastic Sparky protector. I also added a set of Pinbits clear plastic protectors for all the plastics, and bought a sheet of mylar and just cut out a custom circle sized piece to put over the Sparky magnet, and in the shooter lane.

As far as optional upgrades (but are mandatory in my opinion) are a shaker, ColorDMD & set of translucent silicone rubbers from Titan Pinball. The LEDS shine through the translucent rubbers & give a really nice effect.

Get the Pinbits Plastic Protectors as well. I doubt you would break a plastic, but it can happen. However, you are not buying them for the protection the provide. They just look really cool! The lights catch the color of the plastic protectors and looks really great on the edges of the plastics. So you get protection, and a snappy look.

Yes I've had them in and a friend of mine also had them in. I also liked the integrated part. There was a little bit of difference in the sub(not much) and unnoticeable difference in the back box speakers. If you turn them up loud basically all it does is make the glass rattle. We both were very disappointed right away but left them in. We met a guy while buying a pin from him. He had all polk externals below the cabs and we were blown away at the difference and how much better it was. Immediately went home and ordered the polks at half the price and ripped the pin pros out. Made the game so much more fun to play. Now I won't go without

There is one way to ensure that sort of damage doesn't happen - don't play it.

Otherwise, yeah... Don't obsess too much over everything as a played game will get some wear. And that's okay.

Just remember to play it if you have any time left over.

I put small mylar area around the flipper buttons so you don't get any wear by the buttons on all of my machines. You can get some already cut from pinball life.

I bought the Cliffy for the mystery hole, round Mylar for the magnets, and Mylar protectors for around the flipper buttons but have yet to install any of them. Having too much fun playing the game and just adding other mods. I have not noticed any wear yet but I suppose I should probably install them just for piece of mind that there is some protection. Has anybody installed the clear Mylar button guards? Do you have to remove the flipper button or just fit over the button? I agree with the Polk PSW10 tho, sounds awesome and better than the speaker upgrade set.

Depending on how old your kids are, you might want to mess with the default audio settings. I always wince a little when a five year old walks behind me at the arcade while the machine is screaming "JACK FUCKING POT".

Bump
Post some pics of your new game

I wish the setting just deleted phrases altogether. The " beep"/censor is just stupid.

Cliffy makes 2 new rings for Sparky and Cross magnets. They are made of carbon fiber. The metal ones would curl due to the magnet pulsing. It's still safe to use the metal cliffy for the hammer magnet since that one just holds the ball and doesn't throw the ball like the other two.

Glad to hear you went with the polk sub!! It truly adds so much more fun and adrenalin to the game. In my opinion met is one of the best games whether it's a pro or prem! You'll have endless amounts of fun with it! Enjoy

Just un-sissify those settings!

Here is a list of some of "baseline" things I did with my MET Monster Premium (late production run) to "bulletproof", modify corrections from the factory, or improve the game which may be helpful for you:

1) Metallica Deluxe Pinball Topper (Private custom, not copied)
2) Pinball Side Mirrors
3) Metallica Cliffy Protectors (Full Set)
4) Cliffy In lane Protectors (All lanes)
5) Pinball Pro Speaker Set with modified subwoofer + sound isolation kit (necessary to prevent vibration issues, speaker damage, and cracking) (NOTE: personally, I do not believe in "external" sound mods, although I have the PCB)
6) Anti-Rattle Tape (mostly for the subwoofer and shaker motor, the glass coating does the rest)
7) ColorDMD (TM) + Clear Bezel + Bracket Standoff kit --->This is a MUST HAVE if you are serious about this game, the dot animation coloring is outstanding
8 ) Invisiglass (TM)
9) Metallica Master of Puppets “Cross Mod”
10) Keyed alike locks for both coin door and backbox (to match the rest of my collection)
11) New Pinball Premium Balls (Stern pinballs are trash)
12) Sparky Coil wiring Electric Chair Mod (Blue)
13) Metallica LED “Mini Speaker” Mod
14) Metallica “Snake Tongue” Mod
15) Metallica LED “Cemetery Arch” Mod
16) Stern CPU Pinball Power Tap (for LED backbox display)
17) Metallica “Snake Fang” Mod
18) Pop Bumper “Ride the Lightning” Mod
19) Metallica LED backbox display (Replaces Fluorescent Tube) (No flashers or additional effects on the one I built)
20) Metallica Plastic Protector Set + Additional Specialized oversized Clear Plastic Protectors for other plastics (most notably the hammer, snake plastic, and the back of the playfield)
21) Stern Target Splints (All Targets) (necessarily if you do not want "leaning" and target damage)
22) Metallica “Snake Plastic Mod and Decal” Mod
23) SAM remote controller PCB kit
24) Metallica Fluorescent “Dress Slings” and “Sparky Spider Web” PETG Protectors
25) Cross Drop Target metal slide Reinforcement Pads
26) Metallica Gel Inserts
27) Metallica LED Sound Controlled Speaker and Playfield Interactive Kit
28) Metallica Acrylic Speaker Stars
29) “Speed Shifter” Pinball Shooter Assembly
30) “Tachometer RPM” Mod
31) “James Hetfield Guitar” Mod
32) “Metallica Emblem” mod
33) Ball Trough Magnetization Protector
34) Stern Modified 12V auxiliary cabinet 8-way PCB board (necessary to clean up the wiring and make the game look professional)
35) SAM System LED PCB board (custom independent board for specialized LEDs effects outside of of the factory installed)
36) Cabinet rewiring to clean up factory mistakes
37) Modified LED anti-vibration bulb sockets
38) Brite Buttons (Red)
39) Metallica Chrome Star Pop Bumper Caps
40) Stern “REAL” Knocker Mod
41) Customized Sparky
42) Customized Hammer
43) Stern Black Metal Powder-coated Cabinet Half Moon Flipper Button Protectors (Upgraded side armor arrived, need to install)
44) Chrome Backbox Trim
45) Shaker Motor
46) Chrome Backbox Trim
47) Skull Speaker Mod
48) COMPLETE Purple “Candy Coat” Pinball Armor
49) Repainted Snake
50) Repainted Cross
51) "Boney Finger" Flippers (SS) with modified inlanes.

And a whole bunch of other stuff and tweaks, well over 100+ things changed now.
A lot of things are "invisible" because they are below the playfield or in the backbox.
I ended up stripping the playfield TWICE, and gutting the cabinet ONCE.
That is just off my memory.

Protectors are important on this game, plastics and magnets get hammered from flying balls even with more air ball protection.
Its not "putting plastic on a couch" as some less inspired people would say, unless you like to spend $200 for Premium NOS plastic sets while they are still available.
I do not.

The game will eventually probably go down in pinball history as another collectors machine like Twilight Zone, not just for "Metallica fans".
The code is now excellent, and if anything else is added will finish the the game with a lot of additional polish.
Its is still NOT a "10/10" however, and never will be IMHO.
Good effort though, Stern.

Look into the creeping death mod as it adds to the game alot imo

http://pinballrefinery.com/store#!/Creeping-Death-Lighting-effects-for-the-Cabinet-Artwork/p/30141856/category=5707242

You can, understand the operators menu.
Review your manual.
The feature is adjustable, just like the ability to install it as an aftermarket function.

You really cant turn down the strength in the menu but you can change how much it is used during game play

There was no adjustment that I was able to find to turn down the shaker. Mine was crazy strong, so I took the weights that were at 180 degrees to one anther and put them in the same plane...to weak. At 90 degrees it is much better. It is easiest to take the shaker out to make the adjustment. I think it was adjusted by an allen wrench. There are separate threads on pinside about making this adjustment.

Can you share photos of this beauty?! Sounds epic!

Preparing a video based on request to provide documentation.
Photos will be uploaded.
I have not done this type of "overhaul" in a while but this title seemed to deserve the treatment.
Pinball is always about time and money, and no one has enough of either.

Looking forward to it!

Wow, and I thought I had a modded Met pro. Let's see

1) pin grill
2) pin blades
3) changed backbox speakers
4) changed cabinet speaker
5) led backbox kit
6) ledded speakers sound controlled
7) acrylic hand for speakers
8) plasma balls as topper
9) smartdmd
10) protectors for plastics
11) protector around flipper button
12) cliffy all around
13) Metallica belt buckle at popbumpers
14) keychain
15) added skeleton in bike
16) led between flippers
17) time bandit gi theater mod
18) orange protectors in outlanes
19) shaker
20) anti rattling tape
21) illuminated eye in fuel
22) changed a lot of bulbs to led
23) painted sparky by Geert Koop
24) anti airball plastic at sparky
25) invisiglass
26) lighted flipper buttons
27) led strips on ramps
28) creeping death mod for pinball refinery
29) snake tongue
30) snaked eyes ledded
31) snake ledded from the bottom
32) coffin sticker
33) ...?

You win

Look forward to the video

I installed the playfield protector from Best of Pinball. Total protection (zero divots). Some folks don't like them, but I have them on several machines and absolutely love them.

Anything can happen to a new pin....and you can't protect everything. The foot broke off on Sparky

IMAG0127_(resized).jpg

i think thats the only thing he could do

or buy a new one for about 300$