The issues has been resolved. Apparently it was a GI short. So apparently weak flipper might indicate GI issues.

First game after update...

Match animation and high score board have both changed and I think they're pretty darn cool. My previous high score was in the 400,000 range so they may have made it easier. I started modes I never started before.

Awesome game has just gotten more awesome!!!

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Show some more pics (or video) of some new animations please!! So awesome!!

Match Sequence...

Super cool!

Not long ago I thought the animations are the only weak point of this game, but they are getting better and better. And now this Match Sequence looks awesome! Well done Stern!

I've never ever ever ever ever saw dimples on any of my nib games upon opening. I would be pissed if someone opened it and would not want it if they did. Sucks that op is in on a scarce le with limited options. As op waits for his machine others were enjoying it...

Yeah, the scoring seems a LOT looser. Got 300+ Million on a test game where I wasn't even trying, just making sure the update didn't break anything.

so awesome!! Wow!! Thanks!

Geez, I guess Stern wants to sell a crap load of these, I cant remember the last time a new game recieved so much coding love right out of the gate from them.

Maybe Oribitor 1?

Been inside the damn game more than I've played it.
Mummy captive ball wasn't recognizing hits. Tweak the spoon under it and found the switch too close. Fixed that. Then when there was a ball locked behind the captive ball, the back switch wouldn't detect hits. Had to stand on my head and take metal subway out to adjust that switch. Fixed that [NOT fun].
Whew. I can play now. NOPE. Middle drop target stops resetting. Reset! Reset! Reset! and the middle one is always down. WTF? Take the assembly off and Stern missed the washer on the middle drop target and spring worked it way thru the slot and target wasn't pushing forward to catch. Fixed that with a new washer. FINALLY!! I can play a game.
NOPE!!! Have 1 ball locked behind captive. Go to lock second one and the damn plastic divertor falls down in the middle of the playfield. Screws weren't tightened - still sitting where they came out.
I quit. Maybe I can play a game tomorrow???? What else does the future hold???

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I'm impressed with your tech and diagnosing skills. Stern should hire you for assembly quality control.

Stern quality at its best....

I work for one of their distributors. I'm glad I got this machine and not one of our less technically inclined customers. My dream job would be in QC at Stern!! But then I'd have to live in Chicago. LOL

Posting here not really to bash Stern but provide solutions should anyone else run across them. I'm sure I'm not alone. Hehe

when we went through the tour @ expo, we were assured that each and every game is fully tested. I don't think so. plain and simple they may test every one of a certain part (but I don't think that's even true)

it's pretty sad that out of the box, people are still having issues like this. given the number of independent mechanical devices within each game, and the price that stern charges, there is absolutely no reason that stern shouldn't up their game and start testing their machines a lot better before they are boxed and leave the warehouse. I do not know of any other manufacturer that has the amount of "out of the box" failures that stern's products do
it almost appears that in their haste to ship games, the quality control has dipped to that of the batman 66 levels

one quick question for all of the LE owners that have received their machines. everyone keeps clamoring about all of these extras that are not on the matrix that are supposed to be included, but nowhere have I seen one owner pipe up with what they are. I'm guessing this was just a lie?

Hey, don’t talk about my Batman that way!

So its takin about as much time to tweak and fix as blabbing out that long post of yours? with added pics. Like it or not thats the nature of getting a new pin these days. Ive seen worse.... much worse.

My theory regarding this was that a distributor or someone close to them saw the LE promo photos in advance and thought that the Orb target also involved an un-announced magnet, prior to understanding how that works...but who knows.

I appreciate the post, thank you. If everyone does this, pretty soon all the solutions to tweak any new game can be found.
Hope you have a better day with your new pin tomorrow!

I think he's been fixing it a lot more than playing it...

9 total, but 8 were with the mummy captive ball not working properly and #9 had to stop on ball 3 when the divertor plastic flew off. It will get a work out this weekend hopefully.
In love with the game. Just need to sort out the little quirks.

You are here >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> the point of his post to help others is over here

I really wish Stern didn't feel the correct business model is to keep increasing their profits while decreasing the quality control of their products. We are all a bunch of stupid SOB that we keep buying these pins despite them making no efforts to improve what goes out the door. And yes, I'm going to likely buy this pin too...I have a problem

I’m a first time Stern owner with BM 66 a few months ago and excited to get IMDNLE next week. One of the things that kept me from getting a Stern sooner was the perception that there are quality issues. Turns out the quality is super high. Yes, I had to tweak the turntable. And accidentally shorted the motor control board, which Chas quickly diagnosed and replaced. But isn’t that the fun of pinball, to make it work even better than excellent? I’ve had to tweak all of my machines. 10 Bally/Williams, 2 CGC remakes, 1 JJP, and 1 Stern. Isn’t that why we are in this hobby, to make it awesome? Honestly I’d be bored if there weren’t things to make better. And the quality on my BM66 has blown my mind. It’s amazing and plays like driving a sports car. These comments about it being clunky...what?! Smooth, fast and furious. Right next to my MMr, and BM66 gets most of the attention. Lyman Sheats is some kind of programming genius. IMDN is gonna be amazing too. The reviews don’t lie. And ask operators which machines hold up best. That answer changed my mind.

Stern quality can be high, no question about that. The issue in my opinion is Stern cannot consistently put out quality products due to poor QC.

Examples. Your game is fine and another has major issues. This guys cabinet is perfect and another is splitting. Another person's cabinet decals are fine and someone else has theirs wrinkling.

A 10 - 15 minute final quality check would prevent these issues. Hell maybe that is occuring but the games are shipped anyway. Who knows. For $6k - $9k there's no fun in fixing quality related issues out of the box.

My point is that this is the nature of the beast across all manufacturers. But there should be no lemons. Have you had any of those, that didn’t work with adjustments?

The drumbeat goes on. Just cut and paste your reply so you save time typing it out hundreds of times over and over.

This ridiculous comment implies that 50% of the games have issues like this.

Stern produced 10k pins last year. Some have issues that get fixed.

Your whining and crying here is going to do nothing. Get on the phone and call Stern and register your complaints!

And thanks for the heads up Dgoett and input, getting my LE next week!!

Give if a break, dude. Every. New. Stern. Thread.

Speaking of cabinet decals:

WHEN WILL WE FINALLY SEE THEM?! (Premium)

Unplayable, separating cabinets ... Not what I had in mind for my first nib !!!

Is it better to never have lived if you're afraid to die?

That's not really the case. These machines are very reliable and fun to work on regardless of any occasional problems that come up. There is a small group of home collectors that don't know how to do mechanical things but if you are one of them buy from a distributor in your area. If anything happens, have them come by or call another local resource. Go for it!

I'd agree with you if uh, the exact same QC issues weren't being reported on this game as well. It's one thing if it's old information and quite another if it's still happening.

I guess we're not supposed to talk about it. Interferes with the de-nial, de-nial, de-nial.

I'm an operator and always plan on spending a few weeks out of the gate making sure everything works, and always expect to have to fix one thing or another... or work it out with the manufacturer. I think a lot of people are just now getting into this world of pinball not really knowing what to expect, and get freaked out super easy. The simple reality is, and Charlie over at Spooky says it often for a reason... pinball is hard! With the amount of components, wires, connections, boards, etc etc, something is ALWAYS bound to be broken or off alignment. But that is also why pinball is fun. It's one of the most challenging hobbies out there. Unbox, play, fix, play, fix, fix, play.... the cycle never ends. As long as you have a game you will be maintaining it constantly no matter how well it was put together.

De Nile, my favorite river... Seriously, problem solving is part of the fun and a good reason to have these forums.

Yep!

I agree that pins are rarely made to spec. Take a look at older W/B machines. Different copies of the games can play vastly different. I'm still working with JJP to get my DILE fixed up to spec, but I ordered an early one and expected to go through the process of replacing parts and upgrading parts. Now, all this said, Stern is known to run the tightest ship with regard to cost and profits, and this is only slightly changing due to competition. In my opinion, they still deserve the criticism of using cheap components and running less diligent quality control. Pinball is hard, but Stern is also cheap.

That is right but there are things that don't fall into this with a new game, that could happen from time to time and usually your distributor or Stern will take care of.

For me a new game should need less fixing (when properly initially adjusted) than a 25+ year old game.
That's not allways the case but for me I owned 2 NIB Stern and never had Problems after little initial setup.

Just saying for the money spent on a new machine, It should actually play correctly out of the box and not have to worry about the cabinet falling apart!

FTFY.

For the money we pay for cars we should never have to take it to the dealer to get fixed

You should be able to at least leave the parking lot first !
Still excited to get this game! Mine (pro)
Is coming the 19th!

but just how long would a car company or an appliance company last if their QC was as wishy-washy as stern's? I don't understand why it's the norm to expect every single other consumer item that you can purchase to work right out of the box, but when people start complaining about the lack of quality of a pinball machine, it's time to bring out the pitchforks

yes, we could vote with our dollars, but truth be told that's never going to happen. there are way too many people that will line up and put their money down for this product [sight unseen] and then bitch and moan, but continue to do the exact same thing again when another machine that fits their desires is announced

we, as a community are our own worst enemy and until everyone (and I mean everyone) takes a stand about the lack of QC, it's going to continue to happen

Hey, I like working on games almost as much as playing them.

Sure, most games will need slight tweaks to switches and such out of the box to play their best. I'm talking about issues like a $9800 LE with a front decal with a giant fucking wrinkle/bubble in it, and cabinets that split spontaneously. Replacing decals and cabinets on my new high end pin is not what I'm into.

To me, bottom line sales are the biggest indicator of how truly bad the issue is.

And Stern is kicking ass right now

So the sky is falling mantra is way overblown

Not to say it would be nice if we got 100% defect free but that ain’t ever gonna happen in the real world

I’m thrilled with my Stern pins and looking forward to Alice and Potc

It’s all good. Pinball is great. Think positive and don’t sweat the small stuff

Iceman, if Stern put a fork of a forklift through your cabinet I think you would say "don't worry about" it at this point, lol. Stop getting so defensive when someone questions Stern quality. At these prices a vast majority or customers want a quality product without issues.

Can't argue with that. I wish they still silk screened cabinets like Williams did.