I got my number 2's today. Put them on MET and MB. The difference is very noticeable and almost feels like I put stronger coils on the pin. These actually grab better than regular rubber. I really like these a lot, but I won't be surprised if some people think they are too different from regular rubber to the point of not liking it.

Personally, I'm hooked.

I have the #1s on my Shadow now, tonight the ball just stopped in the middle of the flipper and hung there, they're definitely stickier. I nudged a little and it broke free and rolled back down to the trap.

That answers the will they work on Lightning flippers question I guess.

Clean those Doctor Who flipper bats!

Someone asked what games they were tested on. It's kinda of all over the place. Stern games, Williams and such. I don't have the exact details but I would say maybe 30 different games.
We decided to go with 3 levels of harness so that hopefully everyone can find one that play's they way the like with a given game.

were these on games that are on route in pittsburgh just before PAPA? The day before PAPA a few of us went down to the 'district' and bar hopped down the strip to play pinball and drink. I pointed out to my buddies that the rubbers on those games was different.

Just an FYI, there is a slight break in period. It's residual release agent wearing off the rubber.
I'm not surprised to hear that the grip improves after a few games.

Whysnow, I don't think those were ours.

Looks like it took a few balls for the *grippyness* to kick in on the above video!

I put a set of red Medium hardness on Pinbot and the difference was amazing. Better ball control and just "feels" better. I'm putting them on all my machines.
I would say buy a set and put them on your favorite pin. Then decide for yourself as everyone has their own idea of what is better or worse.

Seriously. A couple bucks for something that could really bring something to your games, why not? Worst case you hate them and you're out a Starbucks latte.

They look great, with the LEDs and modern shine we're bringing to machines they really feel right at home.

I would suggest buying a pair of all three hardness, then try each pair on one game and go from there. Folks are mostly talking about colors, but you need to also consider hardness. These 3 choices have very different durometer specs. One size (hardness) will likely not fit all games. For the sake of the player, please also consider hardness. You don't want your game to look good, but play like crap.

I'd also recommend installing the rubbers with the number up. The single small number doesn't attract dirt, like the lettering on old rubber does. That way you or other players will be able to quickly see what rubbers are on what game.

Those are the wrong size rings to put on those gottlieb flipper bats. Gottlieb bats with the groove in it require rubbers that are only 3/8" tall and not the 1/2" tall (the most common size) rubbers shown in the bag

Thats not really good. if thats happening you are dragging the ball up the PF on the flipper when you hit it. thats just going to grind the PF at the flippers.

So I put a set of green on my attack from mars and avatar then a set of blue on my stern Star Trek. They feel great as far as game play. And the green florescent looked amazing with a light strip in front of it. But the tips of the rubbers are really starting to wear. I brought the games to the Portland pinball show. They have about 200 plays so far each. Looks like they are no more durable than the crappy purple rubbers for durability . One of the blue slipped off the left flipper on Star Trek and ended up in the ball trough. I am concerned this might be very problematic for routed games. image.jpg

Markmon, can you tell me what number they are? 1,2 or 3?

I had the same problem on my route Met. Tips wore out pretty fast. I had to put my Pinballlife orange ones back on before the last monthly tournament.

SK8ball, what What number presented this problem? Did you purchase 1,2 or 3?

Sorry, I have no idea. Josh sent them to me to try out. I like the way they played but they did seem to wear out pretty quickly. To be fair this was a couple months ago (around PAPA) and am not sure if this is your final formula or a prototype.

Looks like a 1 on the right side (after brightening up the pic a bit).

ill play beta tester if someone wants to send me a set for tron. I also have TZ and stargate if your looking for specific games.

That sucks, I was hoping that these things would really last.

I ordered the middle bounce ones that were suppose to be like red rubber.

Markmon try the JCS Super Bands. I have had these on my route games for about 6 months including AFM, MM, STTNG, ME, and ACDC. I have yet to see wear or damage. Thats crazy that those are starting wear and break like that in such a short time frame.

We used the new custom "IFPA" Saturn bands (maroon) for our Suburban Shootout tourney over the weekend. (By the way, thanks, PPS for hooking us up on short-term notice!) Because this custom band version of Saturn bands are designed for competitive play, my review will be in that context.

For reference, I believe the hardness of the IFPA is supposed to be between #1 and #2. IFPA rubbers were installed on MET, ACDC, DW, and STTNG.

Summary: good, consistent feel. Made pins much more controllable, primarily due to the very high level of tackiness of the Saturn bands. Depending on the setup difficulty of your pins and the skill level of your players, you could be in for a long-playing tourney.

Details:
Bounciness -- they were definitely more bouncy than the typical blacks rubbers, but not nearly as bouncy as the red rubbers that were used at PAPA16. I liked the level of bounce for local competitive play, but might not be bouncy enough if your aim is to create a difficult set-up to challenge expert players and reduce ball time.

Tackiness -- Wow. You could rename these rubbers "Super-Grip" rubbers. Depending on your preference, this could be a good or a bad thing. Live catching was MUCH easier -- too easy IMHO -- with all the added grip. Post traps on a full speed inlane return were much easier. And opposite flipper "fluttering" to slow down a rolling ball on the opposing raised flipper to get a cradle was remarkably more effective. Last, the increased grip was noticeable enough to me that it felt like it significantly slowed down the ball on a high speed inlane return where you're wanting to hit the combo shot on the fly -- namely, hitting the R ramp on DW for Sonic Booms. The ball speed seemed to slow down considerably once it started rolling down the Saturn super-grip flipper.

Break-in -- bands were installed the evening prior when the pins were being set-up / tweaked / repaired. This was apparently enough play to break them in, as I saw no difference in flipper play from the 30 minutes of casual warm-up play on the pins prior to the event starting to the finals, which was around 6 hours later.

Durability -- no issues, but not necessarily a good test since it was just a one-day event with a relatively small player pool. I didn't check with the event host on audits to be able to detail exact # of games played.

I installed these on a couple of games over the last week with no issues. Played about 10+ games on since installing. I really liked the stick feeling and I agree with others live catching the ball was much easier. Now that I gave these a trial run, I am getting them for all my games. can't wait to have a full colored set on a game.

IMG_3374.JPG IMG_3373.JPG IMG_3375.JPG

The transparent red ones appear to be out of stock, is there an estimated time when they'll be stocked again ?

This kinda worries me. As another poster mentioned... if the ball is being held by a "tacky" flipper rubber - then when shot it may be being dragged along the PF near the flippers. I'd rather have a less-grippy rubber that would ROLL the ball along as the flipper fires. You could beat up the PF down by the flippers pretty good if the ball doesn't roll well with the flipper.

Smoother with less grip would be harder to handle but would be easier on the PF I suspect.

Or maybe I'm overthinking it and it's not a huge issue? Still...

I kinda feel the same way, Manic. I installed the IFPA rubber rings on 4 of my pins. I also hosted league the day of install, so I was interested to see how they played. For at least one game, WCS, they played really great. I liked the way they handled on that game.

AC/DC - I felt that it was more difficult to make the left orbit with a backhand. They do feel tacky, I don't know if it's not rolling enough to give it the proper trajectory for that particular shot? Not all that big of a deal, I still did manage to make it, but it was slower, and ended at the rollovers. Also, it makes a loop pass much more difficult. When the ball comes back around, it just clings to that right flipper, rather than hopping over like it normally would with traditional rubber.

PinBot - It seems that the ramp was much more difficult to make than it had been with traditional rubber. I have a mylared playfield, and the more I think about someone's observation about the ball being "pushed", I start think that may effect ball speed in itself, plus add in the friction of the push over the top of mylar.

The shots do seem to be more consistent. I think that since the ball doesn't roll off the flipper as much, shots are more precise. I think the amount of bounce is lessened, and it does feel more controlled down by the flippers.

I hope that they may lose a little bit of that grip with some plays. If they do, I'd definitely get them again. If not, I'd still check out some of the options to see if there's a formula that plays right for me.

Uh oh. Well, I guess we'll find out more if these rubbers are used at Pinball Expo next week. Thanks for the information, Colin!

Don't forget, you have number 2 choice, maybe Less sticky, last longer, little more bounce. Then you have #3. Observations will vary with game and player.

Yes..I have them on my BDS

Get ready for some disabled left loop action in Avengers! Doubt Trent is gonna take the time to change rubbers on the new sterns but maybe classics...