And the addiction begins!
Congrats on the pin.

Congrats! That's awesome! You should be able to find some unboxing videos and maybe even a few new pin friends in Fairfax that might be willing to help you out. Get some novus 1, 2, lint free rags from Marco's and some blitz wax from amazon. Welcome to the club!

Understand that you’ve “won” something more valuable than a nice used car! Congrats on that alone! And the choice- perfect! A NIB! Just a dream for me! Way cool!

Congrats on the win! As others have stated, search youtube for pinball unboxing so you know the proper ways to unpack it and minimize the chance of damage. Never be afraid to ask questions!

Be sure to post pics when you get it! We love a good unboxing.

Make sure you level the machine before playing it. You can use an app on your phone if need be.

Expect a lot of trash to throw away

You chose a good machine to start out with. The Iron Maiden Pro shouldn't require a whole lot of tweaking out of the box. Biggest problem you may encounter is the auto-plunger not shooting the ball around the fireball loop. May need some adjusting.

Get a few new soft cloths for waxing and cleaning. I personally use playfield cleaner from http://pinhedz.com and use Blitz wax to keep it protected.

You probably only will need to clean it every 3 to 6 months with minimal use. If it gets played hard for a weekend or so it may need cleaned sooner than later.

You can also have pinside send you periodical reminders to change the pins batteries.

That's awesome. A great choice on the pin by the way. The great thing is you can play it for a year and if you decide pinball ownership is not for you still sell it for a very good price (pins tend to maintain at least 80% of their value for a long time).

You should expect a few loose screws,bulbs and a switch that doesn’t register.

Warn your neighbors and invite them over!!
Congrats and enjoy!

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Expect loads of fun!

Get friends to help move and set up. Games are heavy. Take the box off the pallet. Use a heavy duty hand truck to move the box to the area you are going to set it up in and then open the box. Let it come up to room temperature if it was out in the cold before opening.

No need to wax modern playfields. Just clean periodically with Novus.

The balls will come in a bag coated in oil to protect them. Clean the balls with a rag or paper towel and windex before putting in the game.

Do NOT use windex or other water based cleaners on the Playfield. The wood will buckle up.

A foaming ammonia free glass cleaner and a microfiber cloth is best for cleaning the glass, Windex is ok on the glass as long as it does not have an anti reflective coating. A pro model will not have that coating. Ammonia breaks down the anti reflective coating on those expensive pieces of glass.

Good luck and congratulations!

Nobody asked so I will, How did you win the game? Congratulations. Youtube has unboxing videos. Enjoy!

Buy some premium balls to replace Stern balls. When cleaning pin clean the balls as well, check for any pitting on balls if bad replace ball(s).
Refer to Pinside if your not sure of anything but most issues with NIB are usually easy fixes eg loose connections or switch adjustments.
Enjoy it! Love that NIB smell.

Lucky you. Expect to have a lot of fun and to want another one at some point.

Disappointment... J/K - congrats - first NIB is an awesome experience.

I'd recommend pulling the translite before you power up. Make sure all connectors are properly plugged in and seated.

Buy a shaker motor
Easy to install and adds awesomeness.

Unless you're a kook like some of us and find the need to keep all of the original packaging materials. My wife loves that I do that.

Congrats!! I also won a Stern pro in a raffle and I picked Star Wars and paid the extra to get into the premium.

Expect to have a lot of fun calling your friends and family over for them to enjoy it as well.

Enjoy the smell... its better than a new car

But what he isn’t telling you is that he never plays his games. He invites others over so they can play them. Thats fine by me though. You are a good guy Brian.

Congrats on winning a pin! That doesn't happen very often. Like other said, plenty of videos about setting a game up. Nothing hard. Important thing is to make sure the backbox is locked upright so it will not crash down. I'm afraid to say I have had a few close calls. You want to adjust the legs to get it level and the default pitch. You should have keys that will get you in the coin door. Buttons inside the coin door will control volume and get into the service menu. There you can put the game on free play and change any settings of the game. For example, you can make the game easier by making 5 ball games instead of the standard 3. Inside the coin door should be keys to get into the backbox. You will need to access it to update the code if game is not running the latest.

As a first time stern pin owner with just one machine for now, when do you start to need to think about maintenance and what does that entail? Thanks in advance for your guidance.

Something else you can expect: Having to decide what your second game will be, what your third game will be, how you're going to find room for your fourth game.........

I live in McLean, VA and got my first NIB pin (Iron Maiden Premium) in late December. I have learned a lot and would be happy to help you out. Send me a PM. I bought a digital level, vacuum attachments, blitz wax, and just about everything else I could need in anticipation of it coming and I could help you set it up.

A lot of new friends !

LTG : )

Respect from your father in-law

Play it until you get bored and then sell it to pay down your student loans. For the moment, they hold their value better than just about sny other purchase.

Expect some adjusting for sure but don't let it get you down. I think every NIB I've owned needed adjustments... it happens and you will grow your own opinion of that. You'll be stoked! Have fun

I’m also in McLean. Let me know if we need to have a party soon. I don’t have Iron Maiden but I have Iron Man (close in abbreviations at least).

—Kevin

Dimples, dimples everywhere

"A world under glass"

If its anything like the premium my buddy got friday, expect the playfield to be rippled like all get out. I've seen a few sterns where you get ripples in the clear, but this one is awful. Just standing in front of it looks like someone ran a cheese grater over it.

It will even out after hundreds of plays. lol

His Met pro (nib last year) has the ripple if viewed from an angle, but even then not that noticeable. His HUO SW LE has none. None have evened out, although it looks like someone pressed it with pins as opposed to the larger dimpling im used to.

It's a pinball machine. Unless you never play it. You'll get dimples.

LTG : )

Awesome congrats !!

My first reaction when reading your post title was to expect people to email you offering to do you a favour and buying the game from you... curious to know if you got any such offers.

I wish mine were setup this way. How good I could be if the ball couldn't hit the outlane.

Congrats on being thrust into a great hobby. Most of the people here are very helpful, so use the resource if you have questions. Enjoy your new machine!!

Congrats!!! That's so cool! Take some time to learn the rules and stuff. Teach your friends! Practice! Above all, have fun! (And make room for the next one, and the one after that, etc)

Sometimes when you get a new machine, just looking at it... All the little details, can be more exhilarating than playing.

Congrats and remember this feeling...

Chips in the wood???