Welp this is the “ruh row” thread.

JFC, props to whichever employee drew the AEW logo in chalk!

They could go about it a few ways. They could have the bookcase flipper disabled at certain times, they could just devalue all upper PF points when it's not necessary (probably the best/easiest solution), or they could have a timer. But if you did the timer idea, getting back up there is just one flip away.

One thing I keep overlooking is how good the topper looks and that it DOESN'T get stuck in Redundant Logo Marketing Hell like some Sterns have.

Games like TMNT, JP...etc. have those logo toppers, then with the logo on the BG, then the logo on the speaker panel tag, then on the PF, then on the apron, then on the cabinet... as if you forgot what game it was while your eyes scrolled 2".

The topper for SD looks great because it complements the BG, not duplicating it.

Wonder what topper this is (resized).jpg
Is this tmnt (resized).jpg

That's true, but the TMNT logo is still plastered everywhere, mostly centered on all items including the topper. Again, it's Redundant Logo Marketing Hell from the licensor who has no idea a pinball machine is a cohesive assembly, not a collection of 9 separate items - each requiring their own standalone branding.

Jurassic Park fell into the same trap, as did AIQ, DP, and LZ. Somehow SW at least skirted it with their art project R2D2 topper. Mando as well.

But SD's topper is totally unique and its' background sort of expands the backglass art similar to great toppers from the 90s (TAF, WH2O, WW...etc.). That's why I love it.

And is that a missing rivet from the ramp flap?

C8D41081-1562-481A-A62A-FA120D52B093 (resized).jpeg

Personally, I'd downgrade each title to their base model and save myself $10K while still getting 3 NIB's. I'd rather have FF Pro, PF SE, and SD SE than have 2 of the 3 in a higher tier model, but that's just me.

This can only work if you create a ton of crazy trailer videos using lots of futuristic buzz words and never answer anyone's technical questions as to what it does.

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.)

Question - Since some CE owners obviously don't need 2 toppers and will be selling off the OG one if they buy this enhanced one, does the OG topper work with the BSE/SE editions? Those are the only viable people who'd buy the OG topper off a CE owner.

Can anyone point to anything in the feature matrix or the trim cards at launch that explicitly states the CE comes with the castle wall and the SE doesn’t???

pinside.f2d98e4ad61f469ed27ec4798dd8cb25721d26d9 (resized).png
IMG_6764 (resized).png

By that logic, the Captain, the Barrel, and the Van should all be missing or flat plastics too.

Fact of the matter is that “sculpts” by name were called out for 6 items (the 3 on the upper PF shots, the 2 mine carts, and Charlie), and those items are expected to be omitted from the SE BoM. Never, not once, is there any mention that the largest decorative item in the game will be missing from the SE.

Don't buy it one F'ing bit.

There were specific "sculpts" (by name) designated just for the CE. By saying that now some are mech-specific is moving the goal posts after the fact. The CE says what it has over the BSE/SE. There's zero mention that there's a differentiation in the castle walls, and I defy anyone to find any post from Spooky that contradicts this. To many buyers "sculpts" were the things listed as "sculpts" in the feature matrix and trim cards. You then can't go to the remainder of items on the PF and just remove 1 of 4 (which happens to be the main focal point of the entire PF) and say it was implied. That's a complete bait and switch.

Also, they replaced it with a flat plastic, and omitted the gate that hides the exposed flipper coil bracket underneath.

But in this case there IS a plastic in its place. This sounds like an after-the-fact decision, or something they were specifically vague about so they could make decisions after they learned how many orders they had. Either way, I think this is a complete BS move from Spooky and would love to hear their take on this.

Again, 6 things called "sculpts" were called out as CE exclusives, the castle wall w/ figure was NOT one of them but it's the largest custom item in the game.

Yup!

Instead we got zero pics of the BSE/SE PF and had to rely on the information present at the time, which made no mention of this, but does bullet point each and every other difference. We put down a deposit in good faith that what were listed as the differences would be the only differences.

Matter of fact, the Apron Mod doesn't say it's for one model only. "...same style as the creepy castle walls already in the game..."

Doesn't say CE exclusive (resized).png
Doesn't say CE exclusive, pt 2 (resized).png

Starting point since this all just came to light last night after they're off for the weekend. TAnd since Spooky employees are very active in this thread, they may see this before Monday work hours.

Public forums don't have to be all kumbaya grabass. The new topper discussion was certainly warranted to get people's opinions, good and bad. If a MFG is perceived as baiting and switching, it's fair game to discuss, especially when there are visuals to help back up a point. They're able to respond to the claims. Still no one has cited anything in writing saying the CE gets the castle wall exclusively. I've presented 4 examples which suggest the BSE/SE would include them.

I agree with a fair amount of what you're saying. People are forgetting that we're bought the BSE/SE blind. We asked for pics (even a 3D render) and got nothing. Instead we got a pic of a CE, and a list of what the CE has as extras over other models. Deductive reasoning then says that if you remove JUST those features, you get to the other models. Heck, my distro sent out those trim cards when it almost time to reserve. To think those are in actuality "partial" lists of things that would be removed is misleading at best.

But there's also a bunch of Spooky brown nose apologists in here, so let's reiterate to these people who are saying "the website says no SE sculpts". Maybe someone doesn't know what that means so they consult the feature matrix which specifically calls out 6 items as "sculpts" just for the CE. So to envision the CE minus those 6 "sculpts" would be logical. Anything else removed would not be expected since it wasn't mentioned.

Spooky also touted that this would have I think 16 sculpts under the glass prior to release. Then release came with the limited info we got, 6 items highlighted. So the number on the SE should be 6 less (what SE buyers were led to believe), or 0 (which some people here think it reads literally, and we should be thankful we even got 1... though no one would've ordered SE if that was the actual case). But Spooky admitted that some items were included, so we know it wasn't 0... but we never were told the castle was gimped. The gray area and the lack of clarity is why many of us aren't happy right now. To then have Back Alley suggest the apron mod matches all models adds to it. All indications were the 6 items which were labelled as "sculpts" were impacted, nothing more.

It’s not trolling when you have a legit gripe. However, you being a brown nose apologist, carry on.

So what's the typical time delta between paying in full and expecting delivery?

Hot damn! That means #1920 is getting close.

Only Spooky can let us know if the entire run has sold out and it's within their right to withhold the production numbers if they so choose. Obviously if all owners were known, one could complete that owners spreadsheet in this thread, but I think it's safe to assume that most, but not all were sold.

CE's were first, then BSE's, and then SE's. However, since BSE and SE's were allotted specific S/N batches on Day 1 and final totals of each model were based on orders that came in after the fact, there's nothing preventing them from more runs of a given trim and filling in some of the S/N's not yet assigned, whether for new orders or for dealer inventory. I'd predict SD production is certainly close to the end, but not over for at least another month.