The right/orange ramp and the left loop entrance can be a little tricky and rejects a bit more than others, although the only tight shot is the kickback. Nothing unfair, just needs a bit more accuracy. I would also recommend swapping out the foam on the six main standup targets for firmer weatherstrip foam which will cut down on airball rebounds significantly. That foam swap, minor polish on the plunger rod to smooth it out a bit, replacing the ground loop isolator going into the amp, and a zip tie on the RPM light connection to the PCB are the only things I've had to dial in on my table. Very minor compared to what recent Stern and JJP tables have needed.

There isn't a lot for toys, but the table is really fun with a good fan layout. Feels and shoots fairly similar to Starship Troopers, which makes sense. HW has a very approachable ruleset with some easy to reach rewards, and a significant challenge to unlock everything to reach the final wizard mode without it feeling impossible.

Really cool RGB lighting, upgraded/amped sound, and a bunch of extras included like blade art and on the inner part of the apron for the outlanes. Best part is the overall price is well below any other table available right now, and might still include a shaker motor in the price.

Can't recommend this game enough. GOTY for 2020 and definitely has that "one more try" addiction factor. This one isn't leaving my collection for quite a while.

You may need to dial it in a bit for the shots for the following:

* There tends to be some ricochet to the glass from hitting the stop lights at times and the ball gets a little wild. I don't mind it but it can cause some wear and tear on the stop lights (you will see what I mean in the game when you get it). I actually like it but ended up lowering the table a bit. I tend to like things high and fast .

* Yes, the flow is easy to get into. Worse case do what I did: Set the game to five balls and play that way. Also remove the tilt bob (I have not done that but hey, it's your machine and do what you want to improve your game with it). I am back to three balls and sometimes if company comes over I just set it to 5 balls and they have fun.

*When I purchased the machine over a year ago (it has been that long? wow), after looking at value for shots and building up skill, I spent a lot of time just getting to Redline Mania (play the game and you will see what that is ). Doing that alone, done repeatedly over and over can build your score up quickly.

* The game is configurable so the ability to knock off the dinosaurs or start at a higher position in the racing modes can be set in the control settings if you want to get a taste for what you are shooting for.

*The American Pinball team follows these forums and has been nothing but spectacular - every single employee that has responded on these threads - for support and suggestions.

*Like a lot of pinball machines, if you play the one over and over you will get the sweet spots on the flippers to hit it just right to get the trigonometry right to get the balls in the appropriate lanes. You have MM, right? So, same deal where you have practiced to death to knock off the trolls when they pop up, or shooting the castle, or launching the catalpult, etc - stuff like that.

Best case is to try it for about an hour (bring about $20 in cash and quarters) and see if you like it.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Well, you owners of this machine better start paying attention to the ratings, because another poster just came in and shit all over it with a 2.325 rating which is ridiculous! Time to start red flagging these B.S. posts! They don't even leave an explanation!

Anyone ever have an issue with balls not kicking out to the trough? Runs fine in test but won't kick balls out for a game.

Ball trough optos all work in test ? Balls not magnetized ?

Next up. The plunger at the end of the ball trough, check if it's sticking up a tiny bit too high and not letting the balls roll down into position for the kick up right. The plunger/coil assembly is on a bracket. This bracket is secured to the end of the ball trough by four screws in elongated holes on the outside. You can loosen the screws and move the plunger/coil/bracket up or down as needed. Not too high, not too low.

This is the Williams ball trough, and though rare, this problem can pop up on any pin using the same ball trough.

LTG :

This was exactly the problem on my friends new Alien remake!

Agreed, it’s a winner with staying power. Great flow, lots to shoot for, non-linear gameplay. One more game type of pin

Introduced an avid pin player to this game last weekend and he said it was a Winner. Have another friend coming over today and I expect similar sentiment. This is an excellent game.

If AP game #4 plays and shoots as enjoyably as this one I will be very pleased. Looking forward to the next release from AP.

More Mods... It's my first print on my first printer and the only model i ever made so far. Damn it's so exciting to watch it grow. For sure it's far from perfect but i like it ! Love that game i am just a terrible player.

I will add it for further improvement when it works. I am a total 3d printer newb.

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Draven’s tower! Incredible! It would be great to see it installed. Hopefully you also post a video of it to your YouTube page! :-p

I want one of these.

For sure... Yesterday i put it in the pin and it looked really good. I just need to paint it...

The model itself has some weakpoints while printing, i probably have to redesign some spots. But it shouldn't be a big thing, i will upload it as soon as i can for everyone.

Glad that you like it, it also could be a little bit more like the original, but hey... I never did anything before, so i am really happy.

Greetings Daniel

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I think it looks amazing! I must admit, I envision this placed near the lower drop target if it is feasible to do so. Technically, the lower scoop is the shot for 'Draven's Tower.' Now sure if there is clearance in that spot. In any case, great job - very creative!

Yeah i also thought the draven droptarget would be the perfect spot, but the tower would be way smaller than this one. But for sure it's worth a try... Let's go

Finally got my Cliffy’s installed today.

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For the API folks here, any timing updates for the next code release? Looking forward to the RLM music defect and stuck insert lights going away.

Can someone measure the maximum height from the plastic over the draven target till the glass ? My pins are not at home unfortunetely...

Stuck lights are not a code issue. Please check all the cables on your light boards to ensure they're connected snugly. File a support ticket if you continue to have issues.

I like Cliffy protectors, but be aware that if you start having auto launch problems, remove the ones in the shooter lane. On my Start Trek pro, these caused the auto launcher to loose it's power and multiballs were a disaster!

Never had that issue with my Star Trek Pro and it has had Cliffy's shooter lane protectors on it for 6 years and it has been on location the entire time with thousands of plays, never an issue. I also have them on my Metallica, Iron Man, and Star Wars again never an issue. Cliffy makes great products. Are you sure yours were installed correctly?

Yes, and I'm not the only one who had this happen on Stern Star Trek either. I also have them on my Hobbit and Deadpool with no problems at all. And keep in mind, I'm only talking about the shooter lane Cliffy's for Star Trek. I highly recommend them on the Star Trek plastic ramps.

So was talking to my distributor about ordering a Hot Wheels, and he said the Shaker motor is no longer included. He said that was only for the first 500. Is the shaker worth it for this game? What about the knocker?

The shaker is used a lot in this game, lots of tight choreography with the fun animations. The knocker only gets a little bit of use, not nearly as much as on Oktoberfest or Houdini, though we’ll still be looking for places to add some extra knocker effects in a future code update.

Is the shaker specific to AP games or could I recycle one from another pin?

I can confirm -- We sold through the first 500 units of Hot Wheels with the free shaker awhile back.

Your existing shaker likely won’t have the same connector to be plug and play.
Shaker runs on 12v

Thanks for the reply! This is good to know if/when I snag a HW.

Alright, finally got out to a location with a Hot Wheels today and it did not disappoint. It kinda bums me out this pin doesn't get more hype because it's a ton of fun. The shots can flow but also be punishing, and for what looks like a standard fan layout there is so much to shoot for in the code that it doesn't feel boring. The magnet wasn't working, but that didn't bug me. Music and lights are rad, but could use a couple more directional callouts imo (unless I was on old code). Had one game over 900 million and a couple shorties, and I definitely wanted to keep dropping coins.

Other newer pins onsite included LZ (also a lot of fun, but didn't pull me in as much as HW) and Mando (honestly a big "meh" from me but can't really pin down why). Of those 3, HW was easily my favorite, but it could've been confirmation bias because I was excited about it going in.

All in all, this game is firmly on my shortlist now. I'm likely gonna wait and see what we get for the next AP and Stern releases, but I could easily see snagging Hot Wheels and getting plenty of life out of it. Good, good stuff.

I 100% agree...
I have Zep and HW. Very happy with both, and love the contrast in my newbie collection.

LZ is a flow shot game. HW is flow to fast back to flow...love my HW, and like you said underrated

Just like to add AP really has great support, and looking forward to their #4...hurry up guys

Thanks for the kind words, folks. So happy you're loving your games. Please feel free to leave a review in Pinside's reviews system... your rating won't affect the overall score in the Top 100 list unless/until you've reviewed several machines (10?), but at least viewers can see your thoughts in a central place. (Or go ahead and review a bunch of machines, that's fun too.)

@ onemilemore - I told you that you would like it. Hot Wheels is a great game and you would enjoy it for a long time. When I have non pin playing guests at the house and we do some pinball, Hot Wheels is easy enough for them to understand, they have fun playing it and enjoy it. Likewise some of my experienced pinhead friends have all been impressed right off the bat when they get exposed to Hot Wheels for the first time as we have been getting back to playing. It hits the sweet spot for a pin that everybody can enjoy regardless of experience. Shoots well, is fun and great use of the theme and well implemented.

Hot Wheels is one of my favorite games, and I have a pretty nice collection. It's top tier for sure. Home run in my book.

Hey guys, I'm wondering if anyone has had an issue with the monitor on hot wheels going out. We've had one out on the route for about a month, and twice now the monitor has gone black. All we need to do is open up the back glass and hit the power button on the screen, I haven't been there personally but I told the guy who went today to make sure nothing was pressing up against the power button, and he says it doesn't look like there's any way the power button is getting pressed. Any ideas?

Should be permanently on. Motherboard or something in the game isn't doing it's job of powering it up.

LTG : )

Take a blank usb and plug it in next time it happens to pull the code

The machines USB female cable for updates and code is inside the coin door. I'd open a ticket, then when they respond, email them the code.

I had a little issue and the support was great. They may call you to get a visual inspection but it all happens very quickly

PM sent this morning.

Games I've finally been able to put more time on over the last two weekends (was just getting into the hobby before covid hit):

Hot Wheels
Mando
Zeppelin
AIQ
Rick and Morty
Wonka
JP2

Of all those, Hot Wheels has been the most fun and left me wanting more. It might not be the most satisfying layout to shoot (AIQ/JP2) or the highest on theme integration (R&M), but the total package left me with the best impression. I clearly enjoy pins where the tone is a little lighter/funnier (own MM, TMNT and GB), so this all tracks. Leaning hard toward snagging a HW for the garage soon.

You will enjoy Hot Wheels for a long time to come. You will also find as you put some games on it your enjoyment will increase. It's very fun right from the first couple of plays, and only increases with each game you put on it. Hot Wheels will definitely feel at home in your garage.

Will be putting up my hot wheels pinball for sale I’m less then an hour away from the show it’s huo and has the gorilla pinball mod pm me if interested game will be 6k

I've had the table at home for 2 months now and am pretty consistently having longer games and scoring north of 1 billion, and coming ever closer to the final battle with Draven. Loving the table more and more the further I progress through the rules and scoring. I never feel its getting old or boring with so much to do and to shoot for.

I will also never get tired of yelling "SSSHHHHNNNAAAAKKKEEESSS!!" every time that battle mode starts

But what I'm most proud about with my new personal best of 2.4 billion yesterday was that it came after half a dozen totally garbage games, then downing a pint of 8% double IPA, and only thereby apparently unlocking my true pinball potential.

One other thing: I don't know if this is a software glitch or an easter egg or debug tool. But there's some kind of crazy multiball mode you can trigger after draining ball one. My kids and wife have accidentally triggered it several times. It seems that just after ball 1 drains you hit some combination of both flippers and pull the plunger before ball 2 gets loaded. This sometimes then triggers some kind of crazy multiball that seems like a simultaneous combo of Loop Crash, Car Chaos and god knows what. Its got all the rainbow colors going nuts. It is timed, so eventually you drain everything. But after that any successive balls that unlock any other multiball mode will again trigger back into this crazy multiball mayhem thing. My wife did it again last night, and ran the score up to 1 billion (her previous personal best being 80 million LOL) before I told her to quit so we didn't mess up any high scores.

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It's possible to intentionally stack the starts of Loop Crash and Victory Lap multiball modes, but that's triggered by shooting the left ramp shot. That issue sounds like a bug to me. Might be worth replicating the issue, noting the time, and sticking a USB stick into the machine to get a log file export. AMI's support team might want to see the logs, provided this isn't a known issue or some sort of hidden/partially completed frenzy mode.

TBH... this sounds like the best bug ever ! I really would like to see a video of that.

Greetings !

Daniel

Yeah you bet, I love me some stacked modes, that's where the huge points come from. Loop Crash and Victory, plus battles, EPICs and Car Chaos, hit the Turbo boost a couple of times while you're at it... I dunno how many you can stack but sometimes I go from 600M to 2B in just a couple of mins and I know I'm doing something right

Next time the glitch happens I'll pull out my phone and take a video and do the log dump to see if we can isolate it. We're not yet quite sure what combo of flipper and plunger triggers it, if its partially a timing fluke, or if it has to follow a Red Line Mania or Car Collector on Ball 1 or what. My kids are the ones who trigger it because they jam on the buttons and plunger after a drain, whereas I wisely use that time to take a swig of beer.

We have about 450 games on this machine. We're not really trying to trigger the glitch. Just by sheer accident we've probably seen it about 6 times.

There's not a switch associated with pulling back the plunger.

Hmm, yeah might be a red herring. Does it register on release of the plunger by chance, other than the rollover in the launch path? I'm pretty sure we hit the glitch before Ball 2 has loaded into the launcher because the game just starts firing out all the balls

I' so glad I'm not a programmer! That job would drive me insane!! It has to take a special kind of mind to do this work!!

Yea, it's all gear and tach value driving up the score. If your tach is at 1 during all that work, you're not getting squat for points until you hit RPM targets, shift gears, or kick-in turbo boosts to get the multiplier up. I like to do RLM right away, that way I'm in at least second gear for the rest of the game, and pick up a hero car for the extra ball.

There is a switch that balls ejected from the trough close while sitting idle in the shooting lane before plunging, but that's it. I suspect red herring for the plunger, it's only a spring powered mechanical pushrod.

You have no idea - it's one of those jobs where nobody cares about what you do until something breaks, and then it's THE.MOST.IMPORTANT.THING.EVER when something does... then when you spend several sleepless nights straight fixing, the amnesia kicks in and it's back to nobody cares. Fun times!

Ermigerd, you have no idea... I've spent most of my career as an infrastructure engineer... that's fancy talk for "if it works, no one cares ... if it breaks, you're the most hated person around".

Please do send us logs if you see anything unexpected... we want to fix any problems!