An "ideal" design IMO would be to include through-holes right next to SMD components like I have seem some modern PCBs so a through-hole component would be easy to install if an SMD component fails.

The transistors, especially.

I am actually willing to try and learn SMD component replacement skills, but...

Just a thought.

RussM

Perhaps we all should start cutting our teeth on something like this, so we’re ready?

https://www.tindie.com/products/MakersBox/smd-challenge/

I am interested in possibly purchasing a Scooby but where can I play one in the Maryland/DC area? I live on Kent island and work in Bethesda area. Anyone nearby? Thanks

Ocelot brewing by dulles airport

I am willing to try my skills there too on something not critical. Removing the SMDs with a soldering iron is definitely doable but would be easier with a hot air rework station. All the videos I have watched show that is an easier, faster and cleaner solution for SMDs.

Just put down my deposit for Scooby CE 1241. CANT WAIT!

Look under the hood of other companies games and things are not quite so easily identified or accessible and certainly not thought out with the customer in mind in terms of maintenance like this is.

It certainly takes some skill, desoldering ability, patience, etc.. invest in the tools and time to practice on old junk removing components with an airflow tool and you're good to go. Spooky can't just keep reproducing boards for this game and swapping for 1 bad component for the next 20 years. At some point stuff fails. If we can't be bothered to learn basic maintenance on a machine then probably shouldn't own a machine.

I think Scooby Doo looks super clean underneath. I have had many Sterns and JJPs. I work on them. When I lifted Scooby for the first time, I was very surprised at how clean and organized everything was.

Curious, was your order through Spooky or a vendor? I’m #1179 and my deposit was made the last week of March at TPF. They have only sold 62 additional spots in six months? Figured sales would have been close to the 1969 final build number by now. Possible no wait time for a collectors edition purchase in the next three months or so if your deposit was direct with Spooky.

I purchased directly from Spooky. They estimate End of Year for delivery.

I agree that you need some basic skills, but to assume that many people will have ability to solder small SMD chips is taking it a bit far. As I mentioned in the original post, what is the root cause. If the MOSFETs are being blown everytime a coil burns up, it seems there needs to be more protection built in that doesn't require that level of soldering skills.

I have commended Spooky on their support, the ease of debugging and the ease of replacement. They have done a great job there. However, there is always room from improvement. If we think that everyone should be able to make this level of repair (replacing SMDs), we will be putting another nail in the coffin of what has helped keep pinball alive, home ownership. Many owners will not be able to replace a MOSFET, ever. Replacing boards and soldering coils is sometimes a stretch for many. I am convinced I will be able to do it if necessary because I am an engineer by trade (granted software and networking) and I tinker with new tech for the hell of it.

Let's not go too easy on making sure manufacturers practice continuous improvement. If this was a one off thing, I wouldn't bring it up but there have been numerous folks that have had this experience. Based on the participation of Spooky in these threads, I am sure they are taking my feedback the way it is intended; as an end user feedback to help with future development.

Current limiting resistor on the coil circuits could possibly help with the mosfets not blowing due to current surge of a shorted coil winding.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for the detailed information. Made it easy to accomplish the post move.

Now, I just wish that Spooky had put one of the "slidable" posts in as we're faced with either way to open and many frustrating drains or a bit too closed so that the ball rarely drains on the left. I'll take the latter for now so that I can go deeper in the game.

Looking for some concensus on an "issue" I am having that is VERY minor but I would like to get it corrected.

On Scooby, when I am trying to do a "live catch", many times if I catch the ball too late (flipper not yet at end of stroke), the flipper will give a good bit in the downward direction before going back up and completing stroke. I have not seen this on any of my other games.

I haven't lifted the hood yet nor have I dealt with this before but the engineer tells me that it is either:
1) The EOS switch is activating too early on the stroke thus reducing coil power such that the flipper doesn't hold strong enough while still in the latter part of the stroke.
2) The low coil hold power needs to be raised to help it hold better (I really doubt this is the answer and not optimal since it will increase the power and heat potentially leading to coil failure).

Anything else? I am pretty sure it is not coil stops as I checked those the last time I was working underneath.

I understand wanting something "in the middle", especially for the left outlane.

Here is one possibility.

Use a 6/32 threaded bolt and a narrow plastic post. The correct ring and larger post diameter puts the opening about a "middle value".

Make sure it doesn't close the inlane too much.

Make sure the 6/32 threaded bolt doesn't go past the bottom of the t-nut too far.

Experimentation is fun!

RM

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I have mods coming in daily, but i can't bring myself to install them....

Please return my call or email me Luke or AJ :'(

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Just wanted to report that I received #910 last week and got a bunch of games on it over the weekend with no major issues to report. It is a great game and a ton of fun with these really creative modes they put in. Loving it.

Hell, I ordered mine in Jan, I’m 1102

I would just keep calling at different times of the day. I know AJ is just back from an extended leave and probably still catching up, but I was able to get through and get my situation on the way to resolution by calling a couple times. This was a couple weeks back when he was still out.

Now is the best time to install them. Waiting until after it is fixed we further detract from play time. They will get you fixed up, no worries.

Unrelated to the warden board issue - looking at the translite in your picture I noticed there was the Spooky and Scooby-doo logo in the bottom left corner along with a dash in "Scooby-Doo Where are You!"

Had to go back and look at my machine but sure enough, I noticed that mine doesn't have either of those. Thought it might be something they changed in the production line but then saw a listing at a lower number that also has it. Anyone else notice this on theirs? I'm definitely not mad about it, just more so curious how many ended up without.

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Mine is 784 and it has the backglass with the dash in Scooby-Doo and also has the logo. What number is yours? (Nevermind, see it is 80) I went and looked at Pinside Marketplace and all of them seemed to have the dash and logo. Even one that was CE 64. Very odd. Yours might be the "Super CE". One of a kind.

Does anyone have a picture of the back of their cabinet? I believe two of the feet off of the back of my cabinet were somehow sheered off? They weren't in the shipping container so I assume it happened before boxing.
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Mine showed up the exact same way, except the sheared off feet were smashed into the carboard between the back of the game and the pallet. I just pulled the bent nails and installed new feet.

It’s counterfeit

I did see at least one other like mine in some of the pictures posted from very beginning of this thread. Must’ve just been a few in the production line. Let’s call it a “special mod”

Super pumped- #958 is shipped! Hopefully I will be seeing it this weekend-

Have to admit, I checked out of this thread for a while. I was following this everyday but then became a bit jaded with all the major/minor QC issues, code issues, what seemed to be too much upper PF usage...etc. Started to question whether I should take a hit on my deposit and just move on.

Still having not played it, I went down to Pintastic over the weekend to see if I could play one. I actually got to play two! I have to admit, though I was half-looking for a reason to bail, I F'ing loved the game! Tied for my favorite game I played that night (and the other one was stupid rare and I'll probably never see again).

I'm back in baby! Get this code done, iron out some of the build issues, and ship SE #1920 up to NH!!!

(...and if it hasn't been considered/implemented yet, consider disabling the bookcase flipper at times so you can't live in the upper PF forever.)

Yoko2una I was in the same boat as you- Luckily Electromagnetic in Pawtucket has a Scooby CE- My daughter and I played it a bunch and absolutely loved it-

Mine should be shipping soon.....Keep me posted when you get yours....

Congratulations! Please post a photo of it after you have it home and set up.

Paid the balance on mine, a couple of weeks ago. Mine is #1063, so I don't expect to see it until late October, but I do feel your excitement!

Crazy...looks like a prototype backglass.

yes hawkeyexx and Master_of_Trolls I will keep you guys posted when it arrives and setup- We are very excited to park it next to Halloween -

#1072 no butter paid. Can’t wait to see how far the code has come!

My wife said the same thing...Scooby-Doo will be parking next to Halloween.

Awesome! I must say that I am really enjoying the game as well. The variety of modes really makes the game fun to play. I know it is criticized for its pretty regular fan layout. There really isn't that "killer shot" that just feels so good like other machines. However, there are plenty of those "killer moments" in the game. Like unmaksing at 3x with the risk/reward. Finishing the Black Knight mode which I feel is the most difficult mode. The integration of the video assets into Shaggy Sandwich and Scooby Malt shop. What I really like about those modes is that you can use the display for the modes, but Spooky also incorporated the insert lights to help you as well. For Shaggy sandwich, I rarely look up at the screen as the viillian and charter mode inserts can tell you everything you need to know.

You can tell a lot of love went into the machine and rulesets. I find the game very fun and very different than my Sterns. Refreshing to have variety.

I've had the game 5 months and never felt like the bookcase flipper needed to be disabled.

I guess if you're skilled enough to start Cutler MB every time you go up there without draining, then hell yeah, turn it off. But trying to start MB is the only reason why you'd wanna spend any considerable amount of time up there, and if you're not good enough to start MB every time you go up there, you're definitely not good enough to keep it from draining. Plus there are times when it's useless to even be up there when all shots are deactivated.

I'd love to hear from anyone who's had the game a while who feels the bookcase flipper should be deactivated and when they feel it should happen. Would also like to hear if you still feel this way after owning it a while and learning the rules.

Why would I want the flipper to deactivate on this game? It makes sense in Rick and Morty based on the dimensions. Sometimes the flippers reverse or all of them fleeep together. Scooby Doo is not that kind of game.

Yoooooo! You're gonna love the latest code compared to what you were streaming early on...stoked for you man!

Two things ...
1) Congratulations on the purchase. It is wonderful to have Scooby at your home. Everyone wants to play it.
2) Remove the center post from the upper playfield if you want it to be more difficult.

+1 for this suggestion. Personally I love being able to play around on the upper PF and would not enjoy having it disabled. I've spent a good deal of time honing the art of using the back of the bookcase to get a 'double tap' on the lower entrance to the Black Knight loop...massively satisfying when done successfully!

Did they just contact you today? I’m 1102

I ordered my Scooby Doo BSE back in December 2022. I’m number 1804. Hoping my time gets here soon enough. I haven’t gotten a chance to play one locally yet but from what I’ve seen it looks great!
I’ve already made room for it in the game room.

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I see enough room for at least 5 more pins.

I know right! Just have to convince the misses. Lol

Pinballstar and my invoice was actually due 8/31 but somehow missed the email.

Yeah it’s cool counterfeit was a joke

Any chance we might be able to have an option to enable the scooby theme song in the attract mode? The attract mode has the video intro from the show playing and it would be cool if every 10 min or so the song would play along with it too.

Also, maybe I am missing it but can we get a disable option on the Match after each game?

This game is a blast!

Set the Match percentage to Zero?

RM

Ah, I ordered mine straight from spooky.

There was some talk about possible attract mode options and I (along with others) had suggested MP3 jukebox as well. I have a more detailed idea that I've posted to the Halloween thread as it would allow us to be creative, especially if the random MP3 playback in attract mode is set for FREEPLAY only, that way anything 'concerning for others' would likely be only played in a home setting.

For me it’s the dead bounce pass. Flipper just seems “flexible”? The ball absolutely dies. Often drains. Could be related issue?