I never thought to wipe the metal rails too is that recommended with that type of Stuff; so the Novus 1 or Marcos CCP

I definitely need to get my hands on that captain marvel ramp fix if anyone has any leads or if it’s still being made

Also if there are solid coil coolers recommend that work well with the game…. I want to play long games I think I’m going to go with the Tibetan breeze 3 they look superior..

Specifically I mean the metal entrance piece to the Marvel ramp, the part that curves upwards from the playfield. Polish that along with the playfield - it's important that the ball has as little friction as possible on that part specifically.

For the left side ramp fix, you can just cut a piece of lexan plastic yourself and attach it with double sided tape. I did that on mine.

I also put Tibetan Breeze 2 fans on mine - before that, the Marvel ramp definitely became unmakeable after about an hour of play.

Diddy's Captain Marvel Ramp Fix mod is still available, I just bought one a couple of weeks ago:

https://pinside.com/pinball/market/shops/1310-diddy-s-pinball-mods-/04871-captain-marvel-ramp-fix

-Brannon

you could also buy this one, which I did, too.
https://pu-parts.com/avengers-infinity-quest-captain-marvel-rampen-upgrade

OK - finally got to try a Stranger Things Pro yesterday at the Golden State Pinball Festival. Played one game and hit just under 1.1 Billion... Didn't really know what to do, but probably won't be looking to add one in place of AIQ in my collection.

Got to try a bunch of newer machines and Foo Fighters is probably at the top of my list of what I played and don't already own. It reminded me a bit of AIQ with the combos and flow. I think it would have long play times in a home setting similar to AIQ as well, which may be a slight downside. The band isn't one of my favorites (I don't really dislike them either), but the way Stern did the theme is really good in my opinion.

I again just can't seem to like any of the JJP offerings as there seems to some delay, even though very small, in pushing the flipper button and the flipper responding. When they do respond they are fairly weak. None of the gameplay really reached out to me either.

If I do move away from AIQ, whatever replaces it is really going to need to check all the boxes though...

Hey guys, need some help. I have a problem where the drop targets occasionally aren’t registered as being down. This has happened about 7-8 times now and today it happened after knocking them all down in soul gem with no flank attack left to progress the shot. I know this is probably just a simple switch test or something but seeing as this is the first time I have dealt with a switch test, any help on what I need to do would be greatly appreciated.

Anyone doing a plastic protector for the front pop bumper cap? Mine has broken twice with the mezel mod sanctum. I’d like to find a thick protector to hold things together.

79004113-20BB-47C2-9E09-909B2E797831 (resized).jpeg

So if I play for hours at a time is this a machine that really benefits from the flipper cooling set? Kinda like mandatory to get a set? Or is it just a gimmick ?

I heard with this game because of long play times it will be worth it does anyone know the difference between pin monks $210 flipper coil set versus $300 set?

Am I correct in that this game only has 2 different sets..

Many thanks guys

AIQ can definitely benefit fron flipper coil fans if you play long games and/or sessions.

Pinmonks plug and play offerings will work great, but you can go the DIY route for much cheaper if you are a little mechanically inclined.

I have a DIY Pinball Flipper Coil Fans thread:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/diy-pinball-flipper-coil-fans

Yes, start in the switch test mode. Search for more info on that if needed, but basically open coin door and use the right pushbutton switch to access different tests, settings, audits, etc. Left and center switch to move left and right, right switch to select.

Also re-seat all connections going to the drop target opto switches and associated node board under the playfield.

Looks like I'm joining this club - possibly as early as Thursday. It's encouraging to see notes about long play times being a problem. Encouraging because in the games I've played at a local arcade with an AIQ LE, I get my ass kicked most of the time and games are brief. It's a tough game. I love its verticality - and the ramps are the best in pinball.

My drop targets are not resetting. When I go to test it the coils will fire. In addition they will reset some of the time. Feels like the issue arrives whenever I am in a gem mode however. Anyone have some ideas?

The long play times come from the multiballs, once you get good enough at the combos to get lots of portal locks consistently, plus hitting Captain Marvel to light Mystery for the add-a-ball, also winning the Time Gem to extend ball savers, and also the mini-wizard avengers-assembled modes that each last several minutes. You're not exactly going to have hourlong games just button-mashing out of the box.

Yeah I agree there. I want to like JJP, but they just don't click; the widebodies feel slow and boring, Dialed In and GNR have badly balanced scoring, TS4 feels like a kiddie toy with the ipad hogging half the playfield, and I can't stand Wonka for personal reasons (the movie gave me nightmares as a kid.) Haven't played JJPOTC or Godfather yet.

I actually did move away from my AIQ, traded it when a Godzilla deal came available locally and I couldn't pass that up. Actually I want to get an AIQ Pro again sometime in the future. I feel like the Pro is actually a more strategic game, since there's more variety in what to do with the gems, instead of everything being dominated by the Marvel ramp multiplier.

I have a deposit on a 2nd run Foo.
My wife is a big fan of the band and I think I’m the same as you - they’re ok for me - but the pin looked great so I threw my $ in.

Played 6 games on a pro and had a 400m and 600m game without really knowing what I was doing. Which was basically 3 cities and thru the first mini-wizard mode.

I think it will be like DP, which is the easiest game in my basement. But 1) that’s a plus for the wife & friends that are casual players as they can see more of the game and 2) it still seems awfully fun theme-wise like DP to where I’ll still play it. The upper PF adds some to the challenge re: premium / LE.

That said you are 2-3x the player as me so take that with a few grains of salt.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/the-aiq-pro-sanctum-protector-

My coin door 48 v power cut off switch is not working anymore. I am just asking if anyone here knows the best places to check for a loose connection without going through a full trace and figure it out the long hard way ? (I have also seen some people have had problems with the power relay control board being fried on similar stern machines in the past)

Relatively new machine <1 year.

Can’t help with that but it is worth a look, if you haven’t already, to see if it’s still enabled in settings. I thought I had this problem when I updated or switched code, just to find the setting had been changed.

I don’t get why long play times are a “problem” for some, for me it’s great to have that on such a fun
flow master of a machine. If you want shorter play time, you can always play the challenge mode, which is really fun mode all on its own. Also, one thing you can’t change about a game is the layout, and AIQ is one of the best!

I like long play times as well, so long as it is advancing through to greater depths of the code. From what I gather, AIQ is a deep game. It's going to be interesting to learn more about how to play it. Right now I just "follow the lights" but I really don't know one ramp or target from another. Should be fun.

A summer project is going to be watching all the Avengers movies with my kids so we can all appreciate the game more.

Believe me - I still love AIQ! It's a great flowing game and the code is excellent and deep! Lot's of different strategies can be used, because of the nature of the code. The Captain Marvel loop shot may be my single favorite shot in pinball!

In my particular case, I've gotten to the point in 2 1/2 years of owning a Premium and ~3,800 games played that I have essentially done all that the game offers many times. Any particular time I play the machine, there's a decent chance I will play for 60+ minutes.

I don't know if I actually consider that a problem, I'm ok with deep long playing games, but if I only have a limited time to play, it basically eliminates AIQ from being played. Sure I can play the challenge mode, and I do sometimes and enjoy it. I wish Insider Connected had it's own stats and achievements for the challenge game!

I think I've just hit the saturation point a bit with my AIQ. I still play it every few weeks, but I kind of hit that point with all my machines I have at some point, so don't take that as criticism of AIQ.

For me “how a game shoots” and “the excitement” I get while playing are the most important parts of enjoying a pinball. Do the shots “feel” good to hit over and over, to combo, to hit jackpots? Are they satisfying and exciting to hit? I could play a long player without getting bored or hit start over and over on a harder game if the shots feel good on each. The modes and rules usually fall into place for me if these two criteria check the boxes and for me AIQ is one of the best around for this.

After playing my FF continuously for weeks I was doing very so so on it I finally took a break. FF is good and fast but a little clunky on the shots. The shots “feel” slightly off for some reason to me?? So I took a break from FF and played AIQ Sunday night. AIQ felt like I was eating comfort food. Felt way better hitting each shot than FF which is what I like in a pin as mentioned. So after playing and enjoying AIQ Sunday it was back to FF last night and I blew up FF with almost 1.4 Billion scor by far best ever score and progress. I never came close to this before. Perhaps AIQ helped me recenter and shore up my shooting that I was missing on FF??

Folks talk about modes as the best part of the games but for me it’s the feel of shots and excitement I get as I work on the modes. That is why AIQ is for me and it felt great to get back to a couple of nights ago. But we are all different when it comes to pinball.

Well observed. Part of the reason I'm buying an AIQ is to improve my overall game. At least, that's my instinct and intention. It might turn out that I simply suck at pinball, LoL, in which case I'm in for a whole lot of frustration...

Any Elwin game will force you to improve your discipline if you want to get anywhere in it. They almost all have hungry out lanes and punish you for missing shots.

Yeah I think of AIQ as a “shooting gallery” type of game as I shoot the many ramps and loops. Other Elwin’s tend to be like this also. I like IMDN also very much. If I make shots the modes will be completed naturally. Just me. Took me a while to figure out “it’s all about how the game shoots” when I decided if I like a game or not.

Oh and we all tend to suck at something before you get better pinball included. Enjoy your AIQ!

So, I figured out that it is the bottom drop target that is not registering, this feels like a stupid question but does re-seat mean just unplug it and then plug it back in?

Yes and no. You don't have to pull the connector completely apart. In fact, one of my pin-techs says you shouldn't. But if you just wiggle them and pull them a little, that action alone can clean the wire connection enough to re-establish the flow of electric current. And, sometimes wire connection just get pushed apart a little over time (they are electro-magnetic after all) so pushing them together also can solve the problem.

Yes, just unplug and plug back in completely. Unless it's a particularly difficult connector to get completely apart, I wouldn't worry about any issues from pulling it completely apart. You want to pull on the connector to separate though, not the wires.

Does anyone know how I can fix my action button it doesn’t work all the time physical switch is ok it has to do with that tab when you take lock down bar out ?

Just a pricing question, as I am looking at potentially joining the AIQ club soon. There is a local (about an hour away) AIQ pro listed at $5700. That seems like a decent price, but is it a "oh my gosh, let me grab my cash and I'll be there asap" kind of price? It's sat on the facebook market for over a month, so it seems like this machine isn't moving particularly fast. Could just be the market right now, I guess. All that being said, I am familiar with the game, and I do really enojoy it, just slightly concerned about the future value of this machine when I'm looking to sell/trade (most likely years down the road, so who really knows). Thanks!

I see Pros for $6k or a little less and some Premiums in the mid $7ks. I have to think that's pretty much going to be the floor for AIQ pricing, and that it will take a while (years) to have a slow potential rise, and at least for the next couple years, if you are looking to sell, it might take a little bit of time.

I think that is a good price and you shouldn't worry about losing to much if you decide to sell it. If you truly believe you are going to hold onto it for years, then I would think you would have no problem getting your money back out of it. I bought mine for about the same price about 6 months ago.

It's probably sitting because it's a Pro. Everybody wants premium for AIQ because of the Captain Marvel ramp.

I'd say go for it if you're on the fence. The Pro is actually a more strategic game, since there's more options with the gem powers; on the Premium you only ever put the soul gem on Marvel for the ramp multiplier.

if anyone will be joining the AIQ club (and I highly highly recommend it, personally it's one of my favorite pins) with the next Stern AIQ run I'm going to add Avenegers "A" to my deluxe armor pre-order which ends memorial day.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/pre-order-for-new-deluxe-easy-install-button-armor#post-7589325

I don't have a mock up design yet but basically I'm going to use the Jurassic park design (see attached picture) I do have and replace the T-Rex with the avengers "A" which will be available in shiny silver, yellow or gold.
if your interested order up on the pre-order on my pinside shop

https://pinside.com/pinball/market/shops/1463-arcade-cabinetscom/08505-pinbawlers-deluxe-armor-pre-order

anyway happy flipping and I wish everyone a great memorial day weekend. and if your not in the USA, just a great weekend regardless

armor (resized).jpg

Selling my stern topper for anyone interested... unlock that multi-ball. Hit me up if you're interested in it!

20230410_161600 (resized).jpg

Thank you to everyone for the feedback, it is appreciated! I've actually played the premium a few different times, and I honestly prefer the pro. I can never hit that Captain Marvel ramp perfectly, and the machines I played spit it right back at me almost every time. But maybe I'm just not very good, who know.

I am strongly considering going for it. The only reason I'm hesitating is a pretty beat up Lord of the Rings (my grail pin) went up for sale around 2 hours away for $7000. Good price for a LOTR, but it was routed, has a rough looking cabinet, and some broken plastics. Supposedly it plays fine (which is what's most important), but do I want to pay that much more for an older pin in rougher shape? Decisions!

Under $6k for pro and under $8 for Prem are “safe” buys. Little loss if you sell down the line. Prices will hold from here and game will get a little more interest when stern pulls AIQ off the line for good. Why? That’s how it works.

AIQ pro is a flow monster. Very fast fun game. $5700 its worth it. Good luck!

If you have never owned a pinball machine before, I would advise the AIQ. An LOTR that has been routed and already shown damage is more likely to have maintenance issues. You could easily spend more days waiting for your LOTR to be repaired than you do playing it. AIQ is a new machine and I'm assuming the one you are buying has NOT been routed. I wouldn't advise buying a machine that was in an arcade. There are exceptions, but in general, go HUO.

Hear, hear. This is the way to go, get the Pro if you like it. Don't listen to all the FOMOers who insist on only premiums. Pros are in many cases better games, including for AIQ, particularly on location where almost every premium won't be clean and fast enough to make the Marvel ramp. That ramp is physically cool but it doesn't make the game better, it makes it worse by focusing so much scoring on one infuriatingly tough shot.

Agree. I decided to go the pro route on that one and didn't regret. The Marvel ramp is really cool and special, but needs a good maintained pin. I don't miss the raising disc and physical ball lock, doesn't make the game better imo, just slower. For decision I had "+" and "-" as well compared to premium... So decided to go pro. Can't go wrong anyway on that pin, it's one that will be getting better and better by learning the rules and just keep playing

Now now, just because you sold yours doesn’t mean you need to bash it. FOMOers? The premium may be more challenging because of the Marvel ramp but is also more rewarding. Is that a bad thing? It’s all personal choice. The premium is great for home use, it literally has everything! It combines STTNG with Simpsons PBP and Circus Volitaire! Another difference is the Antman vuk which I personally prefer. At the end of the day, Stern should not be making so many different versions. The best machines only have 1 version!

Stern makes pro versions for operators so they are missing the really expensive parts to fix so they can buy the machines and run them for quarters. Premiums are more expensive to maintain and make profits because of the abuse of a commercial setting. That is why there are 2 versions. The premiums are generally the home machines and the pros are arcade machines.. in theory.

Alright, alright, alright.

Last Thursday I officially became a member of this club. Spent the weekend playing AIQ with the family. I think its fair to say this machine makes our hearts pound harder than any other. It's a workout! We've still got a lot to learn about how to play it (the YouTube tutorials have been mixed in their helpfulness) but in two games this weekend I collected two gems (better than I had ever done at an arcade) and came close to completing the Soul Gem a few times. My 12 yr old daughter has claim to one of the high scores and my 10 year old son has a claim on another. So... so far so good in terms of their interest.

I think AIQ is a thrill-ride. No question. It's just gonna take longer than most games to learn its secrets. Looking forward to it and happy to join the club.

Different strategies to complete the game vs just getting a quick 100mil+ score everytime.

I just have my wife start 'Yellow' and hit captive ball a bunch to start Thor mb. Hit spinner, yellow shots and hopefully she'll bounce into the sanctum target to get an add-a-ball.

I like the challenge of doing the following steps in order:
Plunge the ball when the bottom left square of the grid is blinking, then immediately hit the middle drop target to qualify iron man multiball. Shoot 8 combos to get 2 portal locks. Lock 2 balls for ironman mb. Start Reality/Yellow. Start ironman mb. Hit spinner to light all the strange letters. Hit yellow shots and keep hitting spinner to keep all strange letters. Complete mode and do victory laps.

I love the fact that you can turn every mode into a multiple ball with 2x,3x scoring with the portal locks.

I don't start with Reality gem if I'm trying to complete the whole game.

I almost always start with mind to get the completions for an easier soul gem on hard mode for 200+ mil. Always take multiballs into the modes if you can. The portal locks are super key to that first billion. I also love taking a level 2 mind gem avenger into reality gem with 2 portal locks and a multiball ready. Thor is great cause after you spin that strange disk 1 hit of the action button clears the mode and all the thor shots. I love it when I can manage that.

Yeah, that first billion

Hey guys, I'm working on some custom score cards that have more info for AIQ. The cards that come with the game are pretty good. They are definitely better than the ones coming out with Insider Connected right card, but I wanted to do something with more info. Especially something as a quick reference for the gems and drops super awards. I've done similar ones for TMNT, I'm not sure it's worth all the time I put into them, but I enjoy (part) of the process and thought I'd have a go with some other games. I've always wanted to get into AIQ more, especially because of the reputation for the deep ruleset.
Anyways, I think I'm done, or close to done them. Here's the ones I did for the Premium. I'm also finishing up an alternate set with even more info for advanced players. This one here is what I tried to edit the info down so it's not too overwhelming (or less so anyways) for the average player.
Test view-prem_Intro2nd (resized).jpg
What do you guys think so far? Any thoughts?

Looks great!

Gem card: Blue Shots - 'action button can collects shots'
Remove 'can'

You can get extra ball with 12 captain marvel ramp shots on premium, or I believe spinner for pro. So I guess you can add 'Capt Marvel Shots' if you want.

This is awesome! Would love to use the premium version if you’re open to sharing!

Thanks!
Yeah, maybe I was over-thinking the mind gem. I think I added 'can' because it only spots the shot that the gem is on, and I was trying to keep these as an 'intro' card. But you're making me think it's not helping. I'll cut it, thanks.
And thanks for spotting the extra ball with capt. Marvel shots. I'll try to fit it in.

Thanks man! I'll have them available on pinside marketplace hopefully within the week. On other cards I decided shared digital versions but it got complicated (and frustrating for me). This way you don't have to deal with the printers, especially since I'll be making them double sided. I'm still tweaking the colors, the 'advanced side' (more info) has a red background and I've gone through about 4 proofs at the printers trying to get it right. Almost there.