Final payment for CE#312 through PinballStar has been requested as of today. Due by 4/12. Ordered on opening day.

My early impressions after a couple days in with Scooby 181.

THINGS I LOVE:

- Looks even better in person. The playfield and cabinet art phenomenal. I thought I might regret not getting butter since my other 2 pins have it but the decals look so good that I have zero concern.

- Theme integration is spot on. Right up there with R&M.

- Modes are awesome. The light shows, video clips, rules/code, and music all come together so well. Each mystery is its own unique experience.

- Callouts are done perfectly. Really clear what to do without even looking at the screen and picking your character is perfect for mixing it up.

- Plays fast with good flow. (I’ve got the back legs cranked up almost all the way to 7.4)

- The upper playfield is so well done and learning to use the bookshelf is really fun. I underestimated how massive the upper playfield was from photos but it integrates right and I love that you can flow right past it any time by not catching the ball with the bookcase.

- Build quality out of the box is solid so I’m 3 for 3 on pins from Spooky being good to go right out of the box.

THINGS I DON’T LOVE:

- Ball stuck on my very first shot of my very first game, between the upper playfield and the left habitrail. However, bending the habitrail down a bit solved this and I haven’t had another ball stuck since.

- Music during non mystery main gameplay is overly repetitive short clip on a loop.

- Song during Capt Cutter multi-ball is not for me. Not really a big deal but I personally would pick an instrumental version if given the option in the settings.

- Lack of any deep bass is disappointing as someone who has external subs connected to each pin. Missed theatrical opportunity for effects like thunder and certain mode music. The start of sanitarium in Halloween is a great example of this being done really well to set the mood.

- Flipper whine is a bit annoying but sounds like a fix is coming for that.

- Mystery machine shot it a bit narrow and I miss it more often than not. Still easy compared to some of the shots on my R&M. I’m not a great pinball player in general but I’m sure I’ll get it down with more game play.

- Drains through the left out lane seem overly frequent when the ball simply comes down from behind the drop targets. I’m not a physical player but I’m sure a simple nudge would save for those that are. For me, I have to move the post up to the easy kiddie spot .

OVERALL

- I love this pin and I’d say it is overall Spooky’s best so far. The pros outweigh the cons by a long shot. The cons really are very minor and seem easily solvable.

What could stronger springs do ,it’s a magnet so if it can still pull the plunger into The housing on a reasonable strength setting what damage could happen,I could see if you had to crank up the power to get the flipper to work it would get hot more quickly but what could happen,I have lots of springs and am sure I will be up for doing this mod! But I have never played the game yet so will see!

Checks in the mail for CE #322 from PinballStar,no butter estimate 30-45 days before delivery.

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I upped the coil strength by +15 on the upper left. Its still only set to 64 out of 100 if i remember correctly. The upper and lower coils were found to be the same part # and the lowers are set to 100 out of the box. I think its pretty safe but i did want to disclaimer it anyway.

Noted! Also backhand both spinner shots it's easier!

Nice! I remember checks. I think I used one a few years ago.

Front of Mystery Machine. Action button is the spare tire, headlights on either side. No text.

Or what if, just what if someone did that in 3d relief and had the headlights light up tied to the lights in the Mystery Machine toy on the playfield? Honk Honk!

Basically the front clip from the bottom of the windshield down to the bumper…

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While I'm posting, SpookyLuke any more info on a possible JD stream? Rumoured that he's doing one for Galactic Tank Force soon, wondering if there's still one planned for Scooby. Maybe with the next code update?

Still the plan.

Wizard Mod did something like that. Not sure it works on CE very well though as its very different color scheme.

https://www.wizardmod.com/product-page/scooby-doo-standard-bse-pinball-magnetic-wizemblems

Nothing on mine CE36

Awesome! Thanks for the tip.

Im in the 530s and trying to plan when Ill need to sell a game. I like to wait until the last minute! Im thinking I have another 2 months at least before getting invoiced? How many are they doing a month these days?

I think the cadence is still ~30 a week? So maybe 6 or 7 weeks until you get invoiced? Just a wild ass guess.

i like the napkin math and ill use that thanks

There's a delivery estimator in the key posts. It's based on production numbers from Spooky, and pinsiders posted dates. Seems pretty accurate

Looking like early June:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UU-6p9o2M0LIsPZ3J1iiP945FzTDcZKnH1UYVkvWDQU/edit?usp=sharing

Just got #182 set up started one game and it is completely unplayable. First off the machine boots angels the shaker sounds like it’s going break the glass actually scared our customers out of the pin room. Turned off the shaker and it’s still does it. All the balls went into the mystery machine and it just says searching for balls now. Major disappointment

Lifting the playfield with the machine off got it to release the balls, they were all stacked in the mystery machine vuc so we’ll see if we can get a game out of it or not. The shaker still sounds awful on boot up anyone else have that issue?

Lol no idea how I put angels. It boots and the shaker shakes so hard the machine sounds like it’s breaking

That is strange... Have you taken a look at any of the wiring on the shaker board? It's near the amplifier in the bottom of the cabinet.

No, the shaker does not shake at boot-up. Honestly, it barely shakes at all at this point in the code (especially as compared to Halloween). I hope that increases as the code matures. That can definitely wait, but I hope it's on the list.

Sounds like yours is shorted or something else weird is going on.

Just watched Slapdrain stream. Are there really no extra ball opportunities?

Not yet that I've seen in the games I've played. Hope they add that somehow as well.

I sure hope so. I need it!

Looks right I believe

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Matches mine in that area.

After manually removing the balls from the vuc and 4 reboots we finally got a few games in and so far so good except for that extreme shake at boot. It actually causes the machine to walk forward about 1/4 inch. Other than the shake I love it. It’s stunning to look at and shoots well, the only other ball that stuck was somewhere up the middle ramp but ball search got it. Playfield is set at 7.2 pitch according to pinguy app.

So many groups haha, I had been flowing another thread but looks like I found the one I need to now. I have #81, plays great after shooter lane switch and mech adjustment.

I'm seeing the same issue as reported by a few others that the ball doesn't auto launch during mystery machine multiball after a drain during ball save. It sits in shooter lane until I launch it. It isn't an issue with the switch as it launches during ball save when not in multiball.

Never had it not launch a ball but sometimes it sits in the shooter lane way longer than you would expect before it launches.

How did you go from starting a game to ALL 7 balls in the mystery machine? Im so confused.

Agreed. I am hoping code adjustment will reduce this time down a fair because it is far too long.

My shaker does that also. I have anti rattle tape on the glass and yeah the shaker really shakes.

Faster auto launch and ball kickout from the Mystery Machine will be in the next code release.

I would unplug the shaker until you get that figured out. It shouldn't be doing that.

Happened to me also, had to launch it myself. Mystery Machine shot is tight. On a side note, I love the Captain Cutler MB song. So does my wife and kids. Looking forward to code getting rid of coil whine noise.

it went in and did a ball search but didn’t find anything so it put another ball in the shooter lane so we shot it in there to see if it would knock something loose but it just did the same thing so we kept doing it

Agreed, I should probably do that. I was 16th a into my work day and beat by that point lol

Ran across this…

https://www.facebook.com/reel/502244312124172?fs=e&s=9RfQYY&mibextid=wa05Vy

Rocket City Pinball Start and Launch button before and after.

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I swear I'm not trying to be contradictory, but I like the originals better. Alot better.

My shaker does not fire on boot. The only vib i get is when a mode timer is low and its very slight. Similar to the cell phone ringing vibs in dialed in if you have ever played that with a shaker.

Does anyone know what the intended effect is actually supposed to be?

JD streamed GTF with the AP crew this evening. It was painful to watch. I bugged out after 35 minutes. I know that everyone’s just getting home from the show this past weekend and whatnot, but man…it just seemed like they set up the machine a few minutes before the stream and didn’t play it to make sure everything was working and set properly. IDK how many times they had to pull the glass, but someone in another thread said they had to do it more than once. That is not the way to convince people to buy a product. Those guys should have brought in their thoroughbred, and it was clear that the machine they brought was definitely not that one. I know Team Spooky won’t do that, but tonight’s Deadflip stream was most definitely a cautionary tale of overconfidence.

Same

Ok so I booted it this morning and no extreme shaking at startup. First ball fell out of the right rail so my son turned it off to get the ball. Reboot and no shaking again. Wth

Perhaps you need to get those meddling kids to solve this mystery for you