Hello Hot wheels owners,
i really love this game and with owning it i started to modify my game. Thats the first mod, next one will be finished soon.
I love cars so much, small ones and big ones. I like the happiness while playing Hot Wheels ! Here are some pictures...

I used a diorama set from a different brand, here its the ford edition

20210131_151200 (resized).jpg

20210131_151221_HDR (resized).jpg

20210131_151230_HDR (resized).jpg

Cool as hell!!
I want one!!!

Are the flashers on this game 12v, they look to interact like the 5v GI.

Wow, well done!!!

WOW, I'm loving this game!!! Now that I've got the rules understood decently, it's great!! Super fun game!! American nailed it!
I turned down both my left and right flipper power 3 notches and it seems to play fine. I was getting too many air balls on default setting and pitch is at 6.5. Also, I love how American makes the default settings colored green so you know what default was. That's how my Hobbit and ACNC are. This menu system is much nicer than the Stern Spike 2.

Yep, they did a great job! Once you get the rules down and know what to shoot it really becomes super fun

Used a hot wheels car to make a shooter rod.

DD5B393B-99AE-4184-BEC5-6CD6D8EC46A6 (resized).jpeg

LOL!
Cool!
Did you drill and thread the car? Or epoxy? I might do this too!

Drilled slightly smaller than the rod, applied epoxy, and pressed in. I had a spare rod laying around that was the same size.

How does that feel in your hand?

I love that shooter mod ! Awesome

Feels about the same as the original and spins freely so you can position it as you like.

I purchased Hot Wheels unseen in person and unplayed. My first impressions/comments after maybe 50 games or so:

Cabinet art is awesome. The colours and graphics really pop in person compared to photos. Well built and a real solid machine. Super easy to set up and mine is playing 95% out of box. Just a few minor tweaks needed.

The layout and shots on Hot Wheels I really enjoy. To me it really does feel like a shooters game. If you just flail randomly you will be punished. Once you figure out the shots they are satisfying but still no gimme’s on this one. They are tighter than they look. I like this. That left drain is a bloody monster. I love that it is not as easy as it looks. Nothing floaty for me here. Love the speed.

The sound effects, music and graphics are also really well done. I love the campy clay-type animations. They draw you into the theme and the game. It’s really funny actually. Sounds and callouts are immersive and I have no complaints here either.

The light show is great but I find not bright enough in a dark room. The middle of the playfield is exceptionally dark. I’m not sure what can be done there. I love playing my games in the dark but not Hot Wheels. I have to turn some room lights on or lose the ball in the middle especially tough during multiball.

The code and gameplay is really thought out and I like what is happening. That being said I really hope that it can be improved. There is such a great start but I think a few things would really enhance the gameplay for players like myself who really like to “accomplish” things. Here are just some suggestions I have... sorry if this have been mentioned elsewhere... I hope they have been:

- combo shots. Please give me some satisfying sounds and points for stringing together some of the awesome combos. I like to go 10th, 9th, 8th, 7th in a row. I’d love a combo callout “combo pass 2 cars, 3 cars”, etc. How many cars can I pass on a combo? Fun!

- track building/races. I’d love to see the full huge track I could be building. Right now they all are just so disconnected. Not satisfying. Have i built 5 tracks or 10 tracks? Can I see them all together or complete various courses out of the tracks? Something just seems missing. The same with races. Couldn’t races be different? Maybe as the races get harder you slip back a spot or two or three if you don’t improve your standing in time. 2nd race harder than the first and times out quicker? Or maybe you build a track and race that track? Again it just feels there could be something so much more than just the same race over and over. And also only one time to beat as opposed to multiple races and race times.

- red line multiball. Please crank up the thump and the shaker on the start of this mode. It is so so awesome but feels like it needs to pump just that much harder.

- wizard mode? After 50 games or so I needed to still collect one more car - the battle against Draven. I was close but didn’t do it so I can’t comment on the code completion.

I know those are picky things and I am in no way bashing here. I think the code has a great foundation and reading the forum here it does seem American Pinball really is going to continue to work to make it better. That is partly why I decided to purchase.

With the layout, sounds, theme and everything it has going for it I believe with some code polish and expansion Hot Wheels can be a top 20 game for me for sure.

Overall I was SUPER surprised at how fun it is. This is not just for kids at all. I agree it has an amazing ability to make you want to play it again and I think it would do really well on location. Thanks American Pinball for a job well done.

Shit... sorry I didn’t realize I typed that much!

"Overall I was SUPER surprised at how fun it is. This is not just for kids at all. I agree it has an amazing ability to make you want to play it again and I think it would do really well on location. Thanks American Pinball for a job well done."

That would have done it if you wanted to be brief. Glad you like your game. This is a very fun game for sure. Enjoy.

Thanks.

Good review! You should post it in the review section!
As far as the light issue, I like having an unfinished basement ceiling where the trusses are exposed. This allows me to use cheap clamp lights off to the side with 25 watt equivalent soft white LED bulbs. This solved it mostly for me on all my games including HotWheels without lighting up the whole room.

Alright, I haven't posted a whole ton on pinside - though I've lurked a bit.

Picked up this machine as my first NIB - took a chance on it in part because of all the conversation in this forum. I've been playing pin since my teens, and I'm currently closer to 50 than I am 40. I gotta say, I'm not sure I've had this much initial fun on a machine in.. maybe ever. So I thought I'd post this mini review up for anyone else debating taking a chance on this machine.

This plays so fantastic. It's addictive. I keep going back for one more game. And get punished for it, so decide to play another. Last night put up my first real big score of 6.8B and then immediately had a <100m game. It's that kind of fun that will keep me coming back to this for a long, long time.

I've put on 169 games since it was delivered on Jan 18

Loves:
- there are different scoring strategies, with different risk/reward possibilities
- the variety of multiballs is pretty good, having a good game means having to shift your approach during the game
- it's not a one shot game at all - or at least I haven't discovered a rinse and repeat strategy
- it's a challenge to string things together just right for those giant scores (use of turbo is critical)
- the flow is fantastic, reaction flips and just keeping the ball going normally does good things
- playing trap and shoot is equally as good
- the light show is awesome
- the sound is good
- it's both hard enough for a "serious" game, and fun enough for anyone to immediately pick up. The boys I live with are all about trying to get into a better spot on a race, and they love_ this game
- I can't wait to play this in competition
- There are some really crazy things you can do for scores .. my highest skill shot score is 180m ..

Dislikes:
- I cannot keep my cars from falling, half of them are just tucked inside the pin now
- Twice I've had to plug back in cabling, once for the RPM stack, and once for the right lane lights, just an irritant when it's happened

Possible improvements, but all pretty minor
- someone above mentioned changing the difficulty of the race, I second this suggestion, doing it a second time doesn't change much
- some sort of bonus tied into race position
- randomize super skill shot

Overall, this game would fit right into anyones collection IMNSHO. It's fun, fast, strategic all at once and I'm not sure what else you'd want in a machine.

Thanks for the kind words and for trusting us as your first NIB! Glad the whole family is loving it.

Perhaps try different Velcro (should've been some extra in the goody bag). If all else fails, try zip ties (clear ones are best aesthetically). It's funny, back during development, Joe Balcer showed me a Velcroed Hot Wheels car that he put on an arm on a power drill, so it was spinning at some serious RPM, no problem staying on. Then sometimes you just nudge the game and one falls off. It's weird.

I know there’s a tire stack you can buy but I enjoy making my own mods if I can. I think it turned out pretty good. The tires laying flat in the front are rubber from a model car kit. The rest are plastic ones I bought on line in a pack of 20 pretty cheap. The first picture is before it was complete to show what it looks like from above.

0559CCC5-914B-4E20-871C-4FD166260006 (resized).jpeg50511CE0-9B39-44D3-AFF7-383DFA35A086 (resized).jpeg9B054F7C-F908-40A3-8382-FAAE06B87AFA (resized).jpeg20855CB0-FA23-4964-8FA6-AF6055895B61 (resized).jpeg

I have tried the other velcro (the boys wanted to swap some hotwheels in and out), I'll give the zip ties a try.

The skillshot was fun to discover.. but starting turbo boost, and immediately into redline, and a full rev/3rd level super skill * turbo boost

Make sure you really squeeeeeeze the Velcro. It gives a pretty definite click when it's engaged.

And then the left orbit for the Super... still, gotta do all that at a higher gear to get 180M out of it. Nice job.

First thing I did was pull off the crap they used from both the cars and the platform mounts and clean with alcohol. Then replace it with Velcro. It's soft and fuzzy on one half while the other half is the plastic spikes/hooks. Since I did this, not one has fallen off! You could build a house with this shit!..... This stuff right here!

https://www.amazon.com/VELCRO-Brand-Fasteners-Perfect-General/dp/B000TGSPV6/ref=sr_1_21
81eAAVvLGpL._AC_SL1500_ (resized).jpg

I tried this and it didn't work! It looks like you used some other brand because it's not Velcro. It's like two sides with teeth and no fuzzy side for the teeth to grab. Everyone is having problems with this. You need to change it!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NDZNHBC/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1
81UqhPsDEML._AC_SL1500_ (resized).jpg

I haven’t had any problems with the Velcro from the factory, but I’ve bought extra cars to swap out. Instead of trying the reuse the Velcro pads, I’ve been using these sticky dots. They’re cheap and very sticky.

https://www.amazon.com/Stickers-Removable-Waterproof-Festival-Decoration/dp/B08NYDBXFX/ref=mp_s_a_1_3

B6230ACD-39CA-4EEE-A460-D575744EDD2C (resized).jpeg

I had two cars fall off the first 5 games. Pressing on it didn't help either.

<blockquote cite

Send me your address and I’ll send you some of these to try.

If you have swapped cars that don’t have a flat bottom, these don’t stick as well because you’re not gripping all of the pad. The more surface area you have, the better the hold.
http://s4.american-pinball.com/img/support/2020-7/HW-car-attachment-instructions%5B6658%5D.pdf

If you’re using cars that don’t have significant sentimental/monetary value, you can file the surface flat to get better surface area. I’ve also seen operators have good success driving a machine screw through the bottom of the mounting plate, into the car.

Also, to reduce air balls off the car targets and rpm targets, consider changing out the backing foam to a denser black foam. This will reduce the frequency of hitting the attached cars.
https://store.american-pinball.com/products/stand-up-target-backing-foam-10-pieces-kit0008-00
Pinball life also has a similar foam available.

Thanks, but this Velcro is working great! Also, I have some of those already.

Thanks!! I also turned down the flipper power three notches and that seems to have helped as well to reduce air balls @6.5 pitch.

Have been playing my game the last couple of nights after being away from it a little while. When I got done playing I thought again this was the best game I have bought in the last year for sure. Hot Wheels is a great game.

If Game #4 is anything like this "playability" wise count me in and bring it on.

Unless its a car that's valuable just out a small screw into it. I did that with the rpm spinning car

See this post and some others like it:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/official-hot-wheels-club-challenge-accepted/page/29#post-5876205

Robert

I hope AP is going to see a larger market share with JJPs price hike, best value in pinball.

I find they deserve that just by doing what they do now (great pins, great quality, great staff, great customer service etc.). No need to be dependent on other companies 'failures'

Also hope the next game is in the pricing value or structure that Hot Wheels fell in.
Playability, reliability, fun factor and a good price - then count me in !
I was in early on Hot Wheels - I can be in early on game #4 too ... Make it happen AP. I'm ready when you are.

Yeah, 6300 is a great deal on this pin. Even with all the extras I don’t think it’s past 6700. I’d be in too at a similar range

Mine was 6700 delivered with real knocker added! Best value is right!! I got all the extras too! And I love the topper...Thanks American!
Also, thanks to you guys for the recommendation on this pin! You were spot on! Not a better pin to be had IMO!!! The wife and I had a blast playing together last night. She loves this game too! My pinball buddies were thrilled after playing it as well. I didn't tell them about it before they came over so it was a surprise!! Now I can't wait for American's next pin!

I got the Mod Couple pop caps in yesterday and installed them along with their tire stack for the spinning car post. They look great! They use these Double Sided Sticky Dots and you're right! They stick like crazy!! At first I was put off that these pop caps didn't screw on. But I think this will be fine. You just install them right over the top of the original pop caps. I also installed under cab orange LED's and a sub woofer!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SRRY19R/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GD4ZQRS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00

Like I mentioned before, I just plugged this light strip into the (unswitched) service outlet inside cab. Since my external subwoofer doesn't have an auto on/off feature, the pinball machine and the subwoofer are plugged into an external power strip. So I just turn them on/off from there. No need to tie under cab lighting into pinball switch.
DSCN0023 (resized).JPGDSCN0025 (resized).JPGDSCN0018 (resized).JPGDSCN0017 (resized).JPGDSCN0027 (resized).JPGDSCN0028 (resized).JPG

Love the mods,
Let's see what you guys have done with powder coating ? I saw some earlier , any one else .
Maybe a prismatic tangelo or maybe a sharp prismatic blue .

Thank you! I was looking for a name for my new alt-rock band...

Anytime !
Just throw me credit and some royalties when you hit it BIG !!!

Jet bumper mod.

0D07B7FD-07ED-4F61-9B83-CAB93F127774 (resized).jpeg

85EE0405-1D66-447A-A95C-FF276928C6B5 (resized).jpeg

According to the IPDB pinball glossary, "pop bumpers" is Gottleib's name for them, and "jet bumpers" is Williams' name for them. What name does American Pinball go by? Ferret what say you.

Looking good

I've always called 'em "pop bumpers". Hot Wheels and Oktoberfest label them as "pop bumpers", while it looks like Houdini just says "pop".

"Jet" Bumper

noun
1. a rapid stream of liquid or gas forced out of a small opening.
"a high-pressure shower with pulsating jets"

2.a jet engine.

verb
1. travel by jet aircraft.
"the newlyweds jetted off for a honeymoon in New York"

2. spurt out in jets.
"blood jetted from his nostrils"

3. Pinball;
"the bumper thingy jetted the ball STDM!"

I am having a weird issue. I collect WAY to many cars. Hundreds. like 450 in one game. I was thinking I have a leaf switch that needs adjusting, but I did a bunch of vibration testing and didn't find any touchy switches. Any thoughts? What is the requirement to collect a car anyways? Thx

I had this problem also. One of my car targets was mounted too close to the opening so when installed the front was pressing against the playfield, and the gap was too close. When removed it looked just fine. Came from the factory this way. I didn’t want to re-drill the mounting holes because they would be too close to the existing ones. I drilled the holes in the switch mounting plate larger to allow me to adjust the switch before tightening it down. Working fine now. Vibration tests didn’t help me either. I found it by lightly touching the top of each target until I found one that was super sensitive.

Add this to your pinball toolbox.

https://www.pinballlife.com/ultimate-leaf-adjuster-tool.html