Hi. Another pinsider sent me the link to getting replacement chips. I ordered them but they are Way to small for me to solder. Here's the link
https://www.mouser.ca/ProductDetail/726-TLV493DA1B6HTSA2
Hope that helps.

I am so excited I can’t wait any longer posting “new game day” is hopefully coming soon! I have thoroughly prepared the game room, the armor kit has already arrived and shooter assembly is currently somewhere up in the air between Memphis and Europe. I hope for the pin including topper, art blades and shaker to arrive at weekend (I HAD to go “all in” regarding accessories, still haven’t heard anything about the cliffy protectors). Now my fingers are crossed, can hardly wait any longer joining the fight against Thanos!...

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Just passed over Bermuda now, shouldn't be too long now. You have some nice Mods awaiting you machine. Enjoy

Welcome to the club! This really is a top tier machine! I take it by “all in” that you got a premium? The mods will make it even better! I ended up going “all in” with playfield mods also. Definitely love this game! Enjoy!

Printing completed. Now I just have to glue it together and wait for the LEDs to arrive.

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Thank you! I'll get a few of these ordered in so I have some on hand. If you're worried about soldering, I can take care of the soldering for you and test the board. Least I could do for the link.

I'm a little worried that the rod falling and spinning on the IC could've shorted something else on the board out, so there's no guarantee that it'll work, but I'd be more than happy to give it a try.

Nice Job GranpaDave ! I was wrong and I stand corrected.

To those who feel the need to point it out, yes I understand this is not the intended behavior of the game. I'm not interested in modifying my game to pull this off.

I just thought it was an impossible shot, regardless of flipper strength, due to the geometry. That is all.

Hi Scucci, I appreciate the offer but I think I have found someone locally that can solder it, Roanoke ,Va area. The pinsider that told me about the chips had already repaired a couple of them and was successful. His were damaged same as mine, the rod went down far enough to eat thru a little of the chip but did not go thru and damage the circuit board itself. So evidently nothing else was shorted out. I have figured out how to stop it from coming loose so hopefully I will never need to use the 2 extra I have.

That is really great looking. Can these custom toppers enable the extra mode that comes with the official topper?

No, but if you have Insider Connected and the latest code, the extra mode is available.

There is some discussion of this in the comments not too far back in this thread.

I was the one who sent the link for the part to cam24175 and was able to repair my magnet sensor board. As long as the led is blinking, the board should be fine. The only thing to worry about is the traces because the part was torn out of the board. The part number was given to me by Stern so it's a direct replacement.

I noticed that when the disc shaft touches the sensor chip, the value indicated in the diagnostic menu is over a thousand. Whenever I boot the machine, I now check quickly if the value is whitin limits (<500-600). It saved my ass once. I asked Stern to add a Technician Alert when at boot this value is over a 1000. Never heard back though.

Thanks for the part number guys. I may order a few chips and try to fix my broken one (light still blinks). My soldering hand isn't as steady as it once was. I asked Stern to put in some code to allow the portal spins to be relocated to a spinner (or anywhere) in the event of a sensor failure. I love this pin so much i just played to practice shots while it was down, since no progression could be made. Thankfully Stern did send a replacement quickly.

You actually can make progression anyway, if the portal can still physically open. Get two portal locks by shooting combos and lock them. If you then light another portal lock, it shortcuts past spelling Strange and will open the portal to start the quest.

Granted, the rest of the game won't be much fun without the disc (you can't win the Mind or Reality gem quests, and progressing towards Iron Man MB is a pain if the disc can't cycle the outlane lights), but playing most of it is still possible.

I have never tried this, but I makes sense. Thank you!

This dude vikingerik knows the nuances of AIQ even more in depth than I do - which is saying something... maybe even more than Elwin!

So I've found myself playing AIQ very little the last few months and, upon further reflection, I think the main issue is that a "good" game on it seems to take very long and I'm not ready for that kind of commitment. If going for progression through the game and trying to get to Battle Thanos, extra balls seems to present themselves at exactly the right time to keep the good times going, which, to perfectly honest, is a job well done on the programming side. Anyways, I thought about the issue and decided to turn off extra balls and see if I can get to Battle Thanos on a legit 3-ball game with no extra balls. It's been a challenge so far but it feels within reach and my games are, obviously, shorter without extra balls so I've been playing it a lot more often.

Damn is it a fun game, though it (like any game) could use some extra polish, hopefully Elwin and team have a chance and the interest to maybe take a look at a few things, especially because Elwin mentioned that he had a longer than expected break between cornerstones.

I'm basically in this exact same position! I rarely play AIQ anymore because I've essentially "accomplished everything" many times and good games are 60 - 90+ minutes long.

I still love the game, but I've been playing my other games almost exclusively, especially Godzilla since there is still more for me to experience in it.

I do have long layoffs from playing a pin or two in my collection from time to time, but still enjoy playing all of them. For my first year of AIQ ownership - I played it almost exclusively and have put ~3800 plays on it now after 2+ years of ownership.

I'll admit that the thought of possibly trading AIQ for something else has crossed my mind. Maybe Stranger Things Premium? Maybe something else of similar value since I am at my space limitations? It would be a hard choice, but the thought of a new challenge is appealing.

I may give your idea a try and see if it sparks the desire again... It's similar to what me and my adult son had to do on my Robotron arcade game some years ago. We couldn't play two player games anymore because we were both too good and it would take hours for a single game, so we had to set it to max level 10 difficulty and now it's an immense struggle to get to 1 million, which takes about 15 minutes.

I would think you would tire of STh, as you are a better player than I & at just over 200 plays, I wouldn’t mind seeing it get traded out for something with more going on. But at least it should be pretty easy to sell if you give it a try.

STh I’d say my average games are longer than AIQ. AIQ also takes more mental concentration.

Thanks, appreciate the feedback! I don't have much time at all on one yet... never know how you will connect or not with a machine.

I am out of room so if I want a new to me game, one has to go. I already have one in the garage and one at work. Both I have had for 20+ years!

If/when it comes down to it, I would have a hard time letting AIQ go, but it would bring good trade value.

I'm still playing my AIQ with one particular goal - I'm trying to get that absolute max Space Gem quest score (1 billion plus) and Soul Gem jackpot (would be 2.5B). And I still want to beat that 11 billion game I had a few months ago. Other than that, yeah I've seen everything on it by now. (And I might not succeed in those - my Captain Marvel ramp has been getting harder to make lately and I haven't figured out why.) The games are indeed long, but that's not a turnoff for me, I'm single and I like spending time on it.

I think its resale/trade value isn't that great. AIQ has been in production for years and everybody who wants one has it. When I look at the wishlists for people's trade ads, almost every time they've already got or previously owned AIQ. And the theme is getting a little dated now that the Thanos movies are a few years past. Premiums like ours seem to be going for well under $8k now.

As for Stranger Things - I'm tired of that one even just from playing it on location, maybe 80 or so games total. Same for Mandalorian; those are the only two LCD Sterns that I have no desire to own. They both feel more like grindy work than fun.

Luckily they went with the comic theme and artwork instead of theming based on the movies or actors, making it more timeless. I’d agree with you on the dated comment if it was a movie based game. It does seem like everyone has it or had it though, that’s for sure. Great game.

I haven’t yet and it’s definitely on my list just looks like such a fun flowy shooter. I’ve played a friends prem a handful on times and have collected a few stones so far away from anything like Thanos or black order.

I love my stranger things as it's a completely different game from Avengers. There is far more to do in Sth than Avengers I think and each game can feel really different. One game I may go modes, another just demogorgons. There are so many different multiballs between the TK, Total Isolation, Demogorgon multiballs, the 2 mini wizard modes and then the final wizard mode. Things are balanced well so it doesn't feel like it's multiball all day. I love it but I realize I'm in the minority in a lot of threads. Only down side to the game is the difficulty of getting it setup right. Especially the premium with the TK lock. I don't think my Pro will ever be leaving and I still have not beaten it. Not because I couldn't but because I refuse to time out modes. I love playing the whole thing. Avengers, to me, is by far the easier game especially the premium.

Let’s hope it stays that way.

Does anyone know if there's a setting to have the Dr. Strange disc stay lowered in attract mode?

I thought I remember reading about it in this forum. I went through all the settings but couldn't find it.

I did a forum search here too but couldn't find anything. Thanks in advance!

Thank you for sharing the information.

I was worried about damage to the PCB, but it looked like the rod rode on the heatshrink and just destroyed the sensor and didn't booboo the traces.

Back up and running with several spare ICs for the future.

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Yeah, it seems like value return on AIQ is currently low along with Rush and Mando. We’ll see how that goes as it eventually moves out of production. Which was good news for me! (and still may be if I look to upgrade to a premium).

Not sure if it’s layout or rules where some people find it difficult. It seems casual players have a harder time winning a mode vs. other games, and at that point, they have to deal with placing a gem & don’t understand that. Then if they play well enough & reach Thanos Attacks, it feels punishing.

Some of that probably carries over to people that understand the game and just aren’t Keith Elwins. That same variability and challenge is a plus for a home game for me. The shots are fun and it will take me a long time to score where I want (probably main goal right now = Battle Thanos holding all the gems).

Does anyone by chance have the 1.03 game code for the perm/le lingering on their PC?

Would you be willing to share it with me on google drive?

I believe that's the same as Spider's mod. If so I have that saved on my PC at home.

That’s why i need it

I have the flash card file for 1.03, now i need the game code.

When I first got AIQ I could hold the upper flipper up to hit the target on the first Hawkeye Challenge. Somethings changed and the ball now goes above the target if I hold the flipper up. I can't tell why, I made sure the up-post is level with the playfield as well as the disc, playfield is level and at the same angle and the flipper is in the same position.

I did just clean the game, maybe it's just moving too fast now it's clean and bouncing higher?

Can everyone hit the bullseye target by just holding the upper flipper up when the ball is dropped from the magnet?

. duplicate

Where the ball goes in that situation depends on the setup of the machine for pitch and flipper position. Could the pitch of your machine have changed slightly either from carpet settling if it's on carpet or if the machine got slightly moved from the position it was in?

I was able to go from 1.01 directly to spider's 1.03. I burned directly from my laptop to a new SD card. I was nervous when I saw stern only has 1.06 because I know spider advises to update to 1.03 first, but it seems his software did the update and everything worked out fine. I did get an error of a node not found at first, but it searched for it and corrected automatically and it's good now.

It would have to be an extremely tiny change as my digital level still reads 6.9 which is what it was at before. I'll mess around with the incline a bit and see if it helps. Thanks for the reply

gotcha, ya the aiq i just picked up is still on .93. Stern only gives access to the latest (1.06), which is why i’m here asking anybody would share 1.03

Could also be the gate near the base of the tower if the ball is clipping that on the way down.

I have seen it clip the gate occasionally but I don’t think it’s doing it the majority of the time. I assume that’s just a side to side level thing if it’s happening a lot? And just an unlucky release if only occasional?

Finished the 3D printed topper!

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I’m guessing the cleaning is why. This game is very reactive to cleaning, waxing, ball cleanliness…

Hey guys, I have a weird place for the ball to come off the ball rails. Checking the forum, I haven't seen anyone else have this issue in the same location. Usually at low speeds (1 out of 100 times) the ball will just fall off the ball rail in the Ant Man area. I've tried to video it, but it's to infrequent. When I try rolling the ball down the rail by hand at different speeds I can't get is to fall off. I don't see any burrs. It's almost like the ball hits a plastic. Any suggestions?

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Just for anyone else who runs into this problem. I spent more time changing the machines pitch, re levelling the disc and surround, trying different set ups, nothing got it back to being able to hold the flipper up to get the bullseye target.

Then I remembered I’d rotated the rubber on the flipper when I cleaned the playfield and wondered if that had caused it. I put on a new rubber and now it makes the target all the time. It’s always the simple things after you’ve tried all the things that take time to change!

I’m thinking about joining the club with a pro or premium is the premium worth the upgrade what’s the difference ?

Also is this game beginner friendly or hard at all ?

Also not sure if we are allowed to talk prices but what would be a ballpark good price for a premium with taxes/delivery/setup included

Thanks guys

Finally, the Avengers have made it to my home, too! Took a little longer than expected after having ordered a pin listed as “in stock- delivery within 5 days”, but waiting is part of the game, isn’t it? So no hard feelings anymore…

Before the Avengers could assemble, the pin needed to be disassembled in order to get it down to the basement. The new addition to our game room has then been appropriately celebrated having a feast including Avengers soup.

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I've seen a fair share of premiums anywhere from $7800-8500 in the last few months. Good value on the used market if you can find one nearby. Pros probably $6000-6400. I wish I would have gotten the premium but the captain marvel vertical ramp and the subway can be finicky from what I've seen.

It is a challenging game and it hasn't been a big hit shots-wise nor progression-wise for beginners in my basement. Theme-wise it could be a miss if people are expecting the movie vs. the comic books (though there is movie code out there).

Hey all, looking to join the club! I'm in southern NY and searching for an Avengers Premium. I could buy outright or trade a really nice Judge Dredd with ColorDMD and pinsound, plus cash.

Anyone have one they want to sell or trade?

Thanks!