Quoted from kevster:

Alright folks, I might need some talking down.
I'm currently in line with SD #401. I've never bought a NIB pinball before. Obviously, reading through this thread has been a wild ride. Lots of issues, which doesn't seem too surprising as it's early. But some of the build quality issues are alarming. And that was just heightened by a podcast episode I listened to.
I recently started listening to "Bro, do you even talk pinball." I find it entertaining with generally good info. On their recent episode, they both just laid into Spooky as a pinball manufacturer. And I mean, they let em have it. Talking about issues their past pins have had, things not working out of the box, shoddy soldering jobs, all sorts of things. I'll be honest; it really got me worried. I know Spooky is active on here and everyone says how good their customer service is, and that's awesome. But how concerned should I be that these build quality issues keep coming up on all of their releases?
Believe me, I WANT to be convinced to stick with my pre-order because I think the game looks very fun. But 10 grand is A LOT of money to throw at a company that doesn't appear to be learning much from their past mistakes.
I don't mean to be so negative. I've been hyped about this from the time I first learned about it. I'm hoping to hear some positive things that will convince me to get hyped again. Hearing what I did in that podcast was a bit shocking though. Am I putting too much stock in the opinions of just a couple dudes?

Quoted from BlackBelt:

Largely disagree. Par for the course is easily documented throughout this thread of basically every employee who worked on this pins hardware or software helping and answering peoples questions…usually after work hours or on weekends.

Quoted from jeffro01:

Except it's neither sad, or true... Some of you really want to run this into the ground...

Quoted from jeffro01:

So you've personally interviewed all owners who have received games, documented each owners issues, then used that data to draw the conclusion you've drawn? Awesome, can I see your source data (properly redacted of course)? Otherwise, you're just making shit up.
This is the problem with confirmation bias...

Quoted from Sethman:

Stern Elvira house of horrors easily surpasses

Quoted from BlackBelt:

Alright! CE#398 assembled and in place. Quick context on me...I'm a 41yr old audio engineer who's been obsessed with electro-mechanical things since the age of 6. I've been slinging a soldering iron/repairing my own gear/building my own studios for nearly 20 years and so far it's worked out. I have high standards for quality because that's what's expected of me. I have 4 kids (ages 12, 10, 6 and 2) who all enjoy playing pinball as much as I do so the stakes are high over here for things to work well as this is our first NIB machine. OK...on to the important stuff...Scooby!
I was late to the ordering game...my initial CE# was 1133. Thanks to a generous pinsider who wanted a later run I did a straight swap for #398. Got notice last week that mine was shipping and picked it up from R+L yesterday. Pin was packed so well and it's a good thing too...looked like R+L tried stacking another heavier box on top on my pin as one corner was noticeably folded in...absolutely no damage to the pin at all! Phew! Signed for an got it home. Waited for my oldest to get home from school to fully unbox/assemble...he teared up when he saw it was here (I didn't tell him it was coming today).
In addition to the steps of assembly provided by Spooky, I had my own short list of things to check before turning on the pin:
- Re-seat and check all cable connections
- Check all solder joints
- Clean flipper ESO contacts
- Check PCB's for potential shorts
- Check trough tolerance (is ball perfectly centered?).
- Check screws for anything loose
Pretty standard stuff for any pin I’ve bought (9 so far). Soldering all looked perfect, no cold or shorted solder joints or melted wire casings. All Cables were seated tightly and secure. Trough was perfectly centered. Of everything I checked there was literally a single loose screw on the apron mount...3 seconds later with a Philips and it was tightened up snugly. I did adjust a few leaf switches that seemed just a tad far apart but otherwise we loaded up the balls...leveled to spec and turned it on. All said from 4pm to 10pm we put 50 games in and not a single issue, fail or stuck ball...it was flawless! I only got to play on location once before this, but I'm loving the layout, flow and speed of the design even more now! The upper playfield is amazing...it's like having a second full sized pinball machine within the machine (honestly more fun upper than TSPP). The loops and ramps are fast and fun to combo. The modes are all very unique and engaging it's obvious to see where the code is going based on what's currently offered and I'm stoked for the character and wizard modes.
My one suggestion at this time would be to diversify the main music. If there was a way to loop the 'character select' music after the main theme for general gameplay I think that would be on-theme and help break-up the repetition. Even so...the sound effects and overall audio package sounds great!
If you're waiting for a Scooby, I'm very excited for you...it's fantastic! We did our best to play as many Spooky pins around here on location while we waited to get a feel for what Scooby might be like. Scooby has very much exceeded my expectations and I'm loving the feel of it a lot...like how driving a vintage sports car is more fun and captivating than a modern commuter or how a Gibson Guitar is totally playable and nice but a custom small-shop guitar has a character and vibe you wont find from the mass-produced. This art, music, mech, code, layout is the total package and I'm really loving it. We're looking forward to a long holiday weekend enjoying this pin. Massive thanks to Bug, DJ, Luke(s), Morgan and all the folks at Spooky...you did a fantastic job and we're thrilled to own this pin!
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Quoted from RebelGuitars:

A chargeback for being a week late?? Come on dude. Matt is the real deal making thousands of mods for nearly every pinball company.

Quoted from beltking:

No as a business owner a f’in hate people who do chargebacks. He will reply but super busy building these. I have one on order it’s taking time to build.

Quoted from BallyKISS1978:

Communication is important. We don’t need another Speakerlightkits.com thing where we can’t ask the status of our order scenario. I understand people get busy but communication is important to paying customers.
If your too busy to communicate to customers, maybe you need to hire some help or not take on too many tasks. I have the apron mod on order and looking forward to getting it. Already have the mine rocks for the upper playfield, and Shannon.

Quoted from MT45:

Gotcha! Simple actually … it’s 12”. See link for more details but you cut your 3/4” plywood in 12”x12” squares, then hold your string in one corner and put your pencil (tied to the same string of course) in either closest corner. Now draw a radius curve from one corner to the opposite. Use your jigsaw to cut and boom - done!
See image and the “x” is the center of the arc, the arc would be drawn by the pencil tied to the string as you move the pencil from corner to opposing corner
https://thepinballloft.com/building-the-loft/building-the-loft-part-3/[quoted image]

Quoted from MT45:

Recommend that you don’t use that material. That’s solid pine and prone to cracking on the grain under the weight of the machine. Use plywood as it’s multiple layers and lots of glue!