As an LE buyer who has not received his game yet, I can already fill in a few negatives for you. After all, this is Pinside!

1. Stern quality. There are bound to be issues out of box with all pins, but Stern goes the extra mile here. You might hit the jackpot with a splitting cab or parts that aren't even attached etc. Who knows how the game will hold up over time.

2. Physics of the machine, which is closely related to quality. The ball launch not making it smoothly up the loop is likely going to be an issue with all copies of this machine over time. Stern has cheaped out on their launchers for quite some time. They are always weak in my opinion, and this will not change, even if you pay 20k for a super-duper pooper-scooper LLLLLE.

3. Theme. Some will nearly have a stroke listening to Maiden while they play. Luckily, my older brother was a skid growing up, and I received a good dose of Maiden, Priest, Manowar etc. I can easily see many not liking Maiden at all.

4. As you mentioned, the tight ramps. Most of Stern's ramps of late are this design. It's okay, but it takes a lot of flow away. If you look at a game like Iron Man, the ramps are bit easier, but it does not make the game itself easy. I don't mind this, but some others likely will.

5. Lack of a major interactive toy. The sarcophagus on the Prem and LE is great, but it's not a major toy. On a JJP machine, this would be considered a minor toy. How about a ball lock that goes into a plane that moves down the PF like the car in police force, a system 11 game.. Or maybe a full sewer system? Batman 66 has way more going on than maiden.

All this said, I love the machine and look forward to getting it next week, but there's always room for criticism.

Why do you WANT lollipop rails???

Don't worry, the game is fantastic. Quality, check. Physics, check--ball launch is perfect and doesn't get old. Theme, check. Ramps, excellent. Lack of toy, doesn't matter. Home run! I have BM66 and they are great together.

I hope I'm as lucky!

Actually they just changed them not too long ago to Williams style. I had an original Met Monsters with old style and changed it out for the new style. It works WAY better and seems more reliable.

Yep. A bunch in my case, but I documented some earlier in the thread so some tweaking will make it solid. Agree for $9k is should be plug and play, but they do bounce down the interstate in a back of a truck handled by people who don't give a shit, so switches can fall out of adjustment easily. Switches I can give them a pass on. Missing washers from a drop target assembly gets no pass.

That's great news about the launchers! Totally agree about shipping and minor adjustments. I'll be quick to jump on here and commend Stern if my game shows up and only needs small adjustments. Fingers crossed!

Premium will look exceptional in person. Again the photo's don't do it any favors.
Rails and T-mold will be easy if found necessary, no problem.
QC all basic switch adjustments so far.

Keith and team nailed the design
ZY smashed the art
Absolutely sensational !

Go for it !

pr 1 (resized).JPG

pr 3 (resized).JPG

pr 2 (resized).JPG

For one they help prevent ring dings in the decals for players who like to slap (like me). Also, if you notice, many of the LEs have them, so if just gives it a little more of a substantial look. IMO of course. I'm sure you see things differently.

I like the lollipop rails better too. Is this black finish on the Premium a standard Stern finish that you could get stock lollipops in? Or is it something you would need to get new rails and then have everything re-powdered to match? I wouldn't bother if it was the latter. I think the black looks cool with the Premium art and only plan to replace the yellow t-molding.

I’d rather have artwork personally. To me it just looks better. In home use there is no worry with button wear. I also don’t wear my ring when at home or slap the sides anyways. I do shake the shit out of the game nudging it, but never slap.

Stern's powdercoat (non black) sucks for this on their lollipop rails. My TWDLE powder coat started rubbing off because of wearing a ring when I played it. Now I make sure to remove my ring whenever playing that game or my ACDC Premium. On the non powdercoat games I've never had an issue with wear on the cabinet. I think the mylar flipper button protectors are the best option in that they prevent wear and allow you to see all of the artwork.

I added them to my TWD premium and LOTR and both match perfectly.

I tend to slap more than nudge, I'm not sure why, but I do better slapping then nudging. I'm a terrible nudger. I try to take my ring off as well before playing, as I have games without protective rails, however I occasionally forget.

Not a big difference in light show, just the beacon on the top right playfield I think.
I waited until after playing the LE and ordered the premium. It’s funner to play with the lift ramp and I felt I had to have that feature.
I think the art looks awsome especially the translight!
I’m super excited as it’s a great game and a dream the for me and will be my first NIB.
Congrats on your decision!
Up the Irons!!!

I have those on my STTNG for almost eight years now and I agree they work very well. I still like the look of the lollipop rails on some games...not all.

I like lollipop rails as well. Though I nudge more than I slap I never take off my ring when playing. Also I dont ask or expect any guest to take off their rings when playing either, especially if we are having a party. I like the extra protection and not having to worry about permanent damage or wear.

That's true for the stock "black" Stern lollipop rails but if you have a Stern LE game with colored powdercoat it will rub right off if you wear a ring over time causing permanent damage. Mylar is a better option.

There are also always these which are the inbetween of the mylar button covers and the lollipop rails. Havent tried them but seem like a good idea.

https://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=4182

Yeah but those screw into the cabinet and are more to cover up damage.

Ya it would suck if it started to rubb off on powdercoats and in that case youre right mylar would be better. Id just worry about potential ring dings though.

Do most people ask others to take off rings before playing?

Im actually waiting to see if stern puts out the side armor and what it looks like. Though their side armor is always so damn expensive!

True that. I wonder if some double sided tape might be enough to hold it on. One that can be removed without damaging sideart. Again ive never used them just ran across them.

2 wood screws and 2 bolts hold the side rails on. only takes about 10 mins to swap out each side

Yeah the lollipops are super easy to put on. I don’t need them on my games and don’t really like unless there screwed to the cab like the ones that came on my Spiderman.

Am I overly crazy about the premium artwork? No, but given the choice, none of the different packages would be designed and laid out the way they currently are if I was in charge. But I'm not, so it is what it is. I like the additional features that the premium offers over the pro, and for that reason I'm going that direction. Put in my order this morning on a Premium.

I have an issue after upgrading to latest code. Worked great yesterday then this evening I started it and it is auto-loading a score of 300K+ and auto-launching the ball. Does it for each player. Reset to factory default and it is still doing it. ANY IDEAS fellas?

Yet another switch error ?

Switch test

Rings are harder than Stern's powdercoat. This was within a couple hundred plays on a HUO game. My last game with Stern's crappy powdercoat.

IMG_20180518_182940 (resized).jpg

Ouch! That really blows...sorry to see that. Ya the mylar would definitely be the way to go for that.

Get rubber Qalo rings ! Won't lead to an amputated ring finger if you have some sort of accident, just Google 'Ring Avulsion' and see why metal rings are bad for yourself AND your pinball machine decals

Switch was getting stuck closed. Re-gapped and it seems fine now. Can't recreate sarcophagus problem. Will monitor both.

Bigger ixsue... when I powered it on, got a clicking noise from power supply and game wouldn't boot. Powered off and back on. Same. Powered off and back on again and it worked fine. Hmmmm...

Having a blast with the pro. Mine came with the old code and I haven’t updated it yet. I’m having way too much fun and don’t want to spend two minutes updating the code unless it really brings something to the table. Please advise. Thanks!

Anyone had this happen? I’m at work so can’t check it out for a few hours.
EA37B826-E119-44DA-A4D4-84D41BEAEF8C (resized).png
DD775569-FBA0-4D7E-87B0-FB0468311F44 (resized).png

Yea it does; more animations, more display effects, better score balancing, wizard modes implemented and polished, better choreography. Do it!

Power off with the switch, wait a few minutes, then power on. There's a lockup bug in 0.97 that shows up after a long time on, this might be related. We have to reboot ours ever couple days or they will lock up and/or start doing weird things. Stern is working on the fix.

If it's not that, sounds like the power supply is bad or outputting less than 48v.

New code is MUCH better. Upgrade at once.

#110/500, here, working well, no apparent issues.

51F5E370-F40C-43D7-B6F2-0820AFCDEDB0 (resized).jpeg

Good to see you enjoying the hobby again Russell! Maiden is a phenomenal game.

image (resized).jpeg

Man, there is a big dark spot in the middle there. Usually Sterns are burn your retina-bright all over.

They gave it a shot at the location. No luck restarting it unfortunately

Sounds like the either the power supply or Spike2 board may have died.

I just got my LE up and running. The Mummy captive ball doesn’t seem to be registering hit. Is there supposed to be a second ball inserted behind the fixed ball? Is this a Newton ball mech, or just a single captive ball. I see that there is a diverted that seems to be able to put balls in there, but I can’t activate it. Lots to learn, just making sure I’ve set it up right.

Put it in switch test and bang on the mummy captive ball to see if it’s registering. Mine was gapped too tight and showed closed when resting a lot of the time. I re-gapped it and it’s fine now.

Also note it does not advance while in modes

Spell mummy once. The anubis looking guy on the gate opens on the left ramp. Shoot a ball in there and it will lock into the sarcophagus, behind the fixed ball there. Then spell mummy again. Now you can knock the second ball out of there if you hit it hard enough to start mummy multi ball. Hope that makes sense.

This was exactly it. Quick fix. Thanks.

I need to get a few more games in, but my initial impression is that I’m very impressed by the LE. Lots of impressive details. e.g. the handle in the back of the playfield. Fantastic.

I just got wind of folks not being happy with the screws in the backboard.

I have an abundance of gold screws (6-32 7/16" long). I looked in the manual, but I don't see any info on the backboard or how it is held together. If anyone is interested and wants to check to see if these screws would work...check it out and let me know via PM.

I'm guessing the screws I have may not be long enough for some of the locations, but for others they may work. You may also want to check...my screws being to long (7/16" long) might be an issue, but then again...maybe them being a bit longer wouldn't matter.

In any case...if folks are interested in using gold screws, you are welcome to check and see if the size I have will work in any of the places that would be wanted.

Doug

Is there a setting to turn the music all the way off, but keep the call outs, etc.?

Second question: I’ve heard there is a way to replace the existing music with whatever you want. What product is it that allows that?