(Topic ID: 220286)

Reach for the Stars!.. Stern Stars club.. Space travelers welcome.

By o-din

5 years ago


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  • Stars Stern Electronics, 1978

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There are 576 posts in this topic. You are on page 5 of 12.
#201 3 years ago
Quoted from Shapeshifter:

Anyone think STARS is better than Quicksilver?
Trying to figure out whether to abandon QS search and go for one of these.

Stars is a great game but not better then QS. My recommendation is own both and you don't have to compare. Actually just own all of the great classic stern's.

#202 3 years ago
Quoted from newovad:

I’ve looked at videos and I’ve looked at the photos here. Are the Advance Bonus When Lit rollovers just never lit?

They get lit after pop hits, then the inlanes and outlanes

#203 3 years ago
Quoted from Chalkey:

They get lit after pop hits, then the inlanes and outlanes

Tracked it down to the Q4 transistor. Thanks.

2 weeks later
#204 3 years ago

I think this is my best ball 1 I had dropped all the targets and made it to special and had one target to get the special. Just couldn’t get it.

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2 weeks later
#205 3 years ago

Does anyone have any of these plastics below in used unbroken condition that they would sell me?

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#206 3 years ago
Quoted from DK:

Does anyone have any of these plastics below in used unbroken condition that they would sell me?
[quoted image]

Did you get one? I saw you had posted in various places for a while looking to get one.

#207 3 years ago
Quoted from DudeRegular:

Did you get one? I saw you had posted in various places for a while looking to get one.

I did! She's an ugly duckling but it's better than nothing!

#208 3 years ago
Quoted from DK:

I did! She's an ugly duckling but it's better than nothing!

With these older titles a bit of wear is to be expected. Anyone who turns their nose up at my well played Stars can get the heck out of my basement!

#209 3 years ago

A damn fine game.

Steve Kirk's book was written before he worked for stern and when you read it, this game makes even more of an impression.

I love mine, it's a true player!

1 month later
#210 3 years ago
Quoted from DK:

Does anyone have any of these plastics below in used unbroken condition that they would sell me?
[quoted image]

BUMP. I'll also take a nice playfield lol

1 week later
#211 3 years ago

Hello for the first time in this club

I picked up a beat up Stars this weekend and look forward to getting it running. It is my first Stern and I was very pleasantly surprised that the stern 100 MPU that is in it is basically a -17. I knew they were similar, but it appears that are identical as far as I can tell at this point. The original nicad battery was still installed and did a lot of damage that I will have to work through as the game doesn’t boot. I have a few -35 that work but want to fix it of course.

I do have a few game specific question for Stars owners that can help me.

Do I need to have U2 and U6 installed to get the game to give the first few flashes in addition to the cpu pia etc? Bally games don’t need both but not sure how Stern game vs Bally code works

The flippers were stripped, and I have the base plate and the coils only so have 2 questions there. Are the stern stock rebuild kits enough to have snappy flippers or do you recommend an upgrade or downgrade to get the kind of performance you like? Also I see there are 2 kinds of flipper bats type 1 which look like 2 piece flipper bats and type 2 which are 1 piece. Is there any reason I wouldn’t want the 1-piece flipper bats? Are there others I should look into?

If I need to burn some ROMS are the 2716 versions of U2 and U6 on IPDB.org good? Has anyone doubled them up with success ?

Thanks, and look forward to getting this game running so I can see what I think.

kenny

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#212 3 years ago
Quoted from KJL:

Do I need to have U2 and U6 installed to get the game to give the first few flashes in addition to the cpu pia etc?

Yes. Unlike Bally, all MPU-100 Sterns need both functioning U6 and U2 ROMs installed for the power on self test to function.

#213 3 years ago
Quoted from KJL:

Do I need to have U2 and U6 installed to get the game to give the first few flashes in addition to the cpu pia etc? Bally games don’t need both but not sure how Stern game vs Bally code works

Yes, you do. The 6800 reset vector is in u6 and it points to code in u2 on Stars.

Quoted from KJL:

I see there are 2 kinds of flipper bats type 1 which look like 2 piece flipper bats and type 2 which are 1 piece. Is there any reason I wouldn’t want the 1-piece flipper bats?

The only real upgrade would be from type 1 to the offset type 2 (on the baseplates) - but you don't need to do that IMO. As for the bats themselves, the 2 piece while a heavier bat vs. the one piece plastic will flip slower, but the stiffness of the flipper gives you a solid whack to the ball. If you want a zippier flip you could upgrade the coil to the 450's. (Stock is 500 IIRC). Just rebuild them first before you worry about upgrades though, stock flippers are more than fine for this game.

There are no other flippers you should change them to - vid1900's flipper guide recommends changing all flippers on all older games to the WPC style but that's some mid-old school thinking that I don't agree with. All the parts for classic stern flippers are available in repro now or people have used originals that are still good - I can see when there was a parts dearth in the early 2000's for this stuff "upgrading" but not anymore.

If you ever want to test code from ipdb to see if it's ok just try it in pinmame it will tell you if the file is corrupted (checksums won't match). 'piname' romsets are normal romsets just named so that pinmame can load them, they're exactly the same as 'normal' romsets.

#214 3 years ago

Thanks slochar and Quench for the guidance. I have started to buy some electronic parts to get the board starting to give flashes and once sorted out then will decide where to go as we play it and see what I think of the game. Thanks again. Will not spam with progress but will let you know when something major happens.

Kenny

#215 3 years ago

NEW RELEASES
Stern STARS Reproduction Playfields
Stern STARS Reproduction Plastics

Some of you have been waiting years for these - another one of the old CPR Boutique Zone playfields has emerged! This playfield only collected a few dozen names across 3-4 years, but now it's viable to produce under our current production model.

ALSO - STARS Plastics are now released as well, so along with the STARS Backglass we've had out for a while, complete restoration "Trilogies" are possible under the traditional CPR Bundling policy. Take plastics or backglass (or both) with your playfield shipment - and get $60-off and $70-off each, respectively. Plus savings of combined shipping, rather than buying and shipping separately later on.

First playfield batch has emerged from clearcoat as of friday, ready for shipping now. A second batch is close behind, making its way through clearcoat among the most recent production load... they are about 3 weeks away. We'll see how these go, and decide if and when to produce more in the long term.

The PLAYFIELD can be found in the Playfield section of the web site, with Bundle Configuration Tool for combo-shipping glass or plastics.

The PLASTICS can be found in the Plastics section of the web site, for those who just want to replace smashed plastics.

https://classicplayfields.com/shop/pinball-playfields/stars-kit/

https://classicplayfields.com/shop/pinball-plastics/stars-2/

Thanks

KEVIN
Classic Playfield Reproductions
http://www.classicplayfields.com

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#216 3 years ago

Thank you CPR for making these!!!

#217 3 years ago

So now I'm looking for a Stars lockdown bar - I know these are impossible to find at this point, it's the one with the two pins. I would consider the newer style bar as well with the receiver (which I know Mantis remade, but if anyone has a complete one I'm interested....)

#218 3 years ago

Cripes I want one but so damned expensive

#219 3 years ago

I hope they didn't butcher the fonts like they did on Meteor.

#220 3 years ago
Quoted from A_Bord:

I hope they didn't butcher the fonts like they did on Meteor.

Well before you decided to get that little jolt of satisfaction to post this jab... did you take 10 seconds to go check the picture gallery, to find out? Serious question.

#221 3 years ago
Quoted from KevinCPR:

Well before you decided to get that little jolt of satisfaction to post this jab... did you take 10 seconds to go check the picture gallery, to find out? Serious question.

Honestly, I did. At the given resolution (low) some number densities look too thin (7000 for example) and the type kerning on every instance of "LIT" is wrong, but these are just nitpicks that only a font wonk would notice so that is just my personal hangup. The majority looks very nice.

Hope there is a fixed Meteor available someday. I'd love to replace my worn out one.

Edit: and I'm not just trolling you. I love the art (even the era-specific font anachronisms) on these games and want them to be the best they can be.

#222 3 years ago

Beehive Pinball is also producing Stars playfields. They recently updated their site with details and pictures.

https://www.beehivepinball.com/product/stern-stars-reproduction-playfield

#223 3 years ago
Quoted from kickabit:

Beehive Pinball is also producing Stars playfields.

Wow, I just learned something today. Another playfield maker is out there? Looks like a little biz set up by some obvious Classic Stern fans (if you look at their protector section). Says they sold out of their first Stars playfield run, and they're collecting a list of names for more. Never heard of any other Stars playfields being out there. Just did a Pinside search - not a peep. Maybe they're similar to Wade Krause... just making little runs and quietly selling them without announcement or fanfare. Dunno.

The Stars playfields look good except the main blue is far from deep enough. IMHO, they're way too daytime-sky blue. At first I thought it was because they were outdoor pictures in the sun, and it was blowing out the blue... but our pix were also done in the blazing sun.

#224 3 years ago
Quoted from A_Bord:

I hope they didn't butcher the fonts like they did on Meteor.

Butcher the fonts? Bro, start with having 100% of the playfield text included.

#225 3 years ago

The beehive playfield looks surprisingly good. The blue is a little light, but maybe that’s just what we are used to. What do they call that..... color shifting?
Anyway, the orange on beehive looks spot on. The CPR appears to be tangerine in color. Maybe it’s the angle or lighting. Glad to see these remade.

12
#226 3 years ago

I was planning on doing a proper announcement next week with better unwashed out pics but I guess the cat is out of the bag. I wasn't planning on cpr (or anyone else) doing these. I've been working on Stars and a few other titles for the past 12 months or so. Here's a couple teasers. I'll be updating my pics shortly, the blue is much deeper in real life and looks very washed out on the site. Thank you kickabit and everyone else for your support.

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#228 3 years ago
Quoted from Thrillhouse:

I was planning on doing a proper announcement next week with better unwashed out pics but I guess the cat is out of the bag. I wasn't planning on cpr (or anyone else) doing these. I've been working on Stars and a few other titles for the past 12 months or so. Here's a couple teasers. I'll be updating my pics shortly, the blue is much deeper in real life and looks very washed out on the site. Thank you kickabit and everyone else for your support.
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]

The playfield looks amazing. Your oranges are spot on.

I see the playfield is dimpled. Are you going to be placing a dimple for the center flipper post, or are you expecting the user to measure and still after making the final flipper placement?

#229 3 years ago

Ha the kirk post is always the question. The CPR has the non-centered placement so there's a decision to be made either way it seems

#230 3 years ago

Has there always been an alternate playfield or is this original? I've never seen that before. Looks cool. Would like to see one in person.

#231 3 years ago

Those both look awesome, strong work

The Kirk post needs to be centered between the flippers. On both my stars I think it's slightly off center from the artwork.

#232 3 years ago
Quoted from ectobar:

Has there always been an alternate playfield or is this original? I've never seen that before. Looks cool. Would like to see one in person.

Come play it! Been on location since December at Kiitos Brewery in Salt Lake City. Might be a bit of a commute tho.

For those wondering about the post the artwork has been adjusted to align in the center of the compass. More pics and info coming this week, thank you for your support

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#233 3 years ago

That looks AWESOME.

3 weeks later
#234 3 years ago

Some questions for the club.

I've found a seller for a Stars that is several hours drive away. I'm interested because I've heard lots of good things about the game and do have some interest in a project pin. This would be the oldest pin I've worked on however.

Looking through these posts I have some general idea of what to look for:
1. Playfield (obvious, that's every pin)
2. Cabinet (see 1)
3. drop target function
4. board function, especially battery leakage
5. Backglass and backglass frame

The Stars I'm looking at only has pics of the cabinet and some non-useful pics of the coin door internal components. The cabinet is definitely rough, I think it had a lockbar across the coin door to prevent theft (giant holes there). Lots of paint scrapes. There aren't any pics of the playfield shown, this makes me nervous about the playfield for sure and I've asked for pics. The back glass looks good and likely usable but I realize that may be unreliable on just a pic.

My questions are:
Are there any big issues specific to Stars I should look for? (particular areas of the playfield that wear, notorious electronic faults etc)

The seller is asking quite a bit for this machine but from the looks of the outside aone it looks like its going to need some work. I was thinking $500 but even that may be high. For those of you who have put a lot of restoration into these (full boards, LEDs, painting, playfields) what's a price that becomes untenable? I realize that's a tough question but maybe some of you have a price you paid that you feel was worth buying it and then doing the work.

Thanks everyone

#235 3 years ago

Stars suffer from the usual Stern issues....I can;t think of a specialized item or anything.

PF wear, all keylimes blown out, raised inserts for sure
Take out the glass, open the head door, turn on and make sure the MPU blinks 7 times and starts up. If you are able to start a game it's working.
Rectifier boards are often roached, have wires soldered to pins (located in head on this machine on right side). New board is pretty cheap -under 70 bucks.
Of course battery damage for sure

As for painting...that's up to you. Can touch up with createx sides and PF...don;t know how that factors in for you.

#236 3 years ago

Fasten you’re space pilot belts cause I’m ready for take off!!

Sorry, 11 hours of driving and pickup have me loopy

I’m going to need some help so glad there are several of you active on this post

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#237 3 years ago

Joined the privileged SK crew today. Been on the hunt for a while, she’s far from perfect, but she plays... happy days!.

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#238 3 years ago

Has anyone used a beehive playfield before or know what other playfields they produced in the past since it looks like we have two choices to pick from? Both look nice

#239 3 years ago

Thanks for the reply TheLaw it was very helpful when I picked up the machine. It's overall in good shape but going to need a lot of help.

Last night I evicted the remnants of a small creatures home in the cabinet. I was able to find some useful stuff in the floor of the cabinet: extra rule cards, the actual manual for the game (a couple chew marks), and what looks like the keychain that came with the game.

The cabinet on my machine isn't too bad for a 42 year old machine. several scrapes but acceptable. I'm realizing that if I ever do want to repaint the cabinet I don't have to worry about it looking professional because I think I could do a better job than the pros. They must have really cranked these through the factory because centering and overspray of their stencils doesn't appear to have been a concern.

The mpu was not working, one week led blink followed by a weaker single chime. I've thought about tinkering with it but have decided to go with the Alltek as the boards will definitely be my weakest skillset trying to revive this game. I bought a repining kit with the PBL sale at the same time but the connectors actually all look pretty good, no burns, no breaks.

The playfield does have some issues. It doesn't have a lot of wear except for the middle between the lights. The biggest issue is the outlanes and center drain have paint that is still there but its chipped badly and even the slightest cleaning is going to remove it. I haven't cleaned it yet as I'm pouring over Vins restoration post but the playfield pretty much appears to have no clearcoat remaining. It really looks like bare paint.

Is the general consensus among restorers to maintain the defects (Smithsonian style I heard someone say) or to touch up the missing chips?

I lean to touch up because the center post star is going to fall apart as soon as I clean it up and I'd hate to have that missing. If that all fails I may go the China_Grove route and find a replacement field.

Besides sorting out what I'm going to do with the playfield the biggest issue I now have is finding a lockdown bar for the machine. I didn't realize how difficult those can be to find and how pricey they are. I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out the part number for it but haven't quite figured it out yet. Does anyone have a link to the correct part? Or can someone post a pic of what the dimensions of their bar is and what the posts on the bottom look like so I can have a better idea what to look for?

Thanks everyone, the wealth of knowledge here is amazing.

#240 3 years ago

One of the cooler things I found on the bottom of my machine. Made a good pillow for the mouse in there.

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#241 3 years ago

Fun for all ages

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#242 3 years ago

Breaking down the play field and have a couple early questions.

The plastic spacers under the upper arch. Gray or white? I have one of each

Also there’s some random bare wire(?) posts. One at the R out lane corner. One looks like it should be at the L outline corner. And 2 at the L sling, near the leaf switches. Any idea if these are supposed to be there or what there purpose is?

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#243 3 years ago
Quoted from dtrimberger:

Breaking down the play field and have a couple early questions.
The plastic spacers under the upper arch. Gray or white? I have one of each
Also there’s some random bare wire(?) posts. One at the R out lane corner. One looks like it should be at the L outline corner. And 2 at the L sling, near the leaf switches. Any idea if these are supposed to be there or what there purpose is?[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]

I’m not sure what the metal nails are in the corners and by the slings, but they are on my game.
I have all white spacers and posts.

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#244 3 years ago

Nails in corners by apron are to prevent ball hang ups. Under plastics are to prevent drooping into the mech.

#245 3 years ago

2 at each sling? My R one has a single nail at the lower part of the sling and I don’t see a hole for it.

And anyone know the proper name for them so I can start a search for them? They appear to be the same gauge as the inlane guides.

Edit: found wire gauge on Marco, just gotta figure out the gauge and cut it to size I suppose

#246 3 years ago

For those of you that have changed your drop targets with the hooded version do you find the hood affects gameplay or function much? I love Swinks version but right now my funding for true reproduction drop targets definitely needs to go to other areas of the restoration.

#247 3 years ago
Quoted from dtrimberger:

For those of you that have changed your drop targets with the hooded version do you find the hood affects gameplay or function much? I love Swinks version but right now my funding for true reproduction drop targets definitely needs to go to other areas of the restoration.

I put a set of the hooded reproduction drops in my stars. A lot of hard shots tended to brick off of the drops and leave them standing. I have since refreshed the original drops and reinstalled. Now they will drop from the slightest hit to even the hardest hit >95% of the time. Much happier with the originals back in it.

#248 3 years ago
Quoted from PinZig:

I put a set of the hooded reproduction drops in my stars. A lot of hard shots tended to brick off of the drops and leave them standing. I have since refreshed the original drops and reinstalled. Now they will drop from the slightest hit to even the hardest hit >95% of the time. Much happier with the originals back in it.

Can you post a pic of the originals and the hooded ones? I’m quite certain I have reproductions, and they brick, but also am not quite sure what originals look like.

#249 3 years ago
Quoted from desertT1:

Can you post a pic of the originals and the hooded ones? I’m quite certain I have reproductions, and they brick, but also am not quite sure what originals look like.

Look at post 232 with the alternate Stars playfield art. There are 5 original targets, they have the stars on them and look like a tombstone. The 3rd target in is a reproduction target with a flat ridge on the top.

#250 3 years ago
Quoted from chubtoad13:

Look at post 232 with the alternate Stars playfield art. There are 5 original targets, they have the stars on them and look like a tombstone. The 3rd target in is a reproduction target with a flat ridge on the top.

Ah, ok. Thanks.

So is there a difference between original Bally drops and original Stern drops? The term Bally Brick makes me think that Bally has the issue and Stern did not. Is the reality? If there is a difference and original Stern drops were in fact the best, I wonder what the physical differences were that caused that.

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