Ok, I was on the preorder list, regardless of the increased cost; changing what was on the machine; all the negativity from fellow members of pinside and other groups. I was a little nervous. Started seeing real pics; gameplay, and people telling us that they love the machine.
#59 showed up Wed. I brought it upstairs and unboxed it.
The last three NIB pins I have bought have had construction issues. XMEN and Avengers specifically. POTC had some scratches and other minor stuff but later found out it was a proto that was tested in someone's office at Stern.
XMEN's cab was not so good. Scratches etc. Avengers was a disaster. For the money I had expected good out of the box experiences. Back box had damage from malleting the trim and the PF was CC over some dirt etc that had chipped.
ST was pristine. I didn't know what to think of the metal Backbox but I really like it. Yea the screws are a pain in the ass, and I had to push down the BB to get the left side straight but for me no wood means less scratches or the potential for accidental damage.
The stickers were cut correctly, and the t-molding was perfect. I could not find one issue with the machine. I did replace the pinballs as I don't like the quality of Sterns balls..haha.
On the inside, the Vengence is a lot bigger that it looks in the pics. It shakes a lot and when you defeat it it sinks a little but when you fight Kahn; it drops. Love the victory laps.
Kickback: Works BUT, as stated in other posts; if it goes really fast down the left it will beat the kickback.
Play: The pin is the fastest pin I have ever played. Period. The call outs and speech are really good. Wish the speech was louder. Maybe a upgrade would help. Sound affects are definitely ST. Call outs from the movie are good and crisp.
Light show is blinding and fun as hell! Some changes in the colors ie asteroids to blue etc will sharpen it up.
Laser show was good except half of it was blocked by the left flipper. You could see it really covering it so it is impeding the show a lot. I will devise a way to make it shoot higher. Maybe raising the mounting of the unit.
Shield apron lights only work in attract mode. They better fix this...same with speaker flashers. (Steve start yelling...)
Didn't see the warp ramp lights come on either. Except in test.
Backglass beautiful and the flashers did come on during play. Except speakers.
Insignia on backbox cooler in person. Worth it. Love the look and sooo different. Nice touch!
Great DMD graphics. I wish there was a video mode. I know I know a lot of you hate that idea.
CC was better than my last nib TAV. Some dimpling but who cares. They all dimple.
Very solid build and a very good machine. If there wasn't a code update I would be disappointed but I doubt I would sell. Unless I was in financial crisis.
Overall right now I would rate it a strong 8.5. I love ST and all the ST theme's. Missing a little something. Urbans code update may push this to 9-9.2
Premium owners, you will be happy!

I'm changing it to 9. I can't go any higher until there are some changes with the code and all the lights are working but wow...just wow.