Quoted from WestCoastAussie:

Hi.
$15,550 for my GZ Prem (Aud). And the balls aren't the only issue with this "new" machine. The bridge was catching badly and getting stuck down, when not in Bridge multiball, and then hurry up and wait for ball finder if you hit the ramp. I had to take the bridge out to move the plastics because the loctite on the screws required so much pressure to undo, I would have bent the assembly if I didn't. Like the balls, this is a quality control failure at the factory. They know this happens, but don't ensure their line assemblers do it right.
Then I've got building VUK for multiball issues. Yes. I've done the washer fix. 3 different times, with increasingly larger washers. You can really see a bend and it's still failing 7.5-10% of the time. And by that I mean, 3 shots on roof per multiball, so I'm counting individual ball failures. This is after the building didn't work on delivery at all. Then, once it was going, 50% of shots failed. First fix, 25% fail rate. 2nd 15%, now 10%ish. I've got 1 more shot at "fixing" this before I have to concede defeat. Yet again, Stern know about this. My machine was built in Feb 2023. So not the first production run.
Now, as I'm getting better at the game (when I play it, I'm anxious when I do waiting for it to fail, so I don't play as much as I used to) I'm really finding the shooter lane is just crap for skill shots. Fine, I'm never going to beat Keith Elwins score any time soon, so the missing points aren't overtly important. But. Stern know about this shit. And they have not fixed a known fault in their product in 2 years, being first released in 2021. This is yet another, "known" problem on their product they refuse to fix. OK, so I've hit 4 problems.
Let's go for 5 then shall we? Yes, I'm also getting the rejecting of (soft shot) balls at the gate leading behind the 3rd flipper. And other times it goes through without being recognised as doing so. Get the skill shot and it's even not counted territory.
I'm soo pissed off with all the issues I'm having with my GZ Prem. To a point that I've started going through regulators to come after Stern. If I paid $5 I'd live with it. $15,550? You can fuck right off and fix the KNOWN PROBLEMS WITH YOUR MACHINE...... THAT EVEN YOU KNOW ABOUT. West Australian regulators are licking their lips in preparation at getting into Stern. And Australian regulators have a lot more teeth than US ones. They're talking about Stern having to pay to fix every Godzilla machine in Australia. Of all 5 known issues. Because they knowingly sold a faulty product into Australia.
But. If I pull the trigger on this complaint I'm locked into a course of action, and I'll lose the ability to negotiate. Not to mention, that Stern may well have to freeze all imports to Australia until every GZ has been fixed. And, I'm not sure I can live with denying my fellow Pinhead Aussies their new machines.
Thoughts people. I'm so shitty, yet still undecided.

Quoted from jonnyqtrek:

Sorry, can I ask which VUK issue you're having? I'm asking only because I thought the "washer in the coil sleeve" solution was about the bridge coil, not the VUK (?).
The more common VUK issue is the ball taking multiple tries to pop into the roof, and that was typically solved by changing the coil power in the settings.
The other common VUK problem was the ball being caught in a gap between the building and VUK entrance, and that was typically solved by placing a small card (eg business card) the gap...
Apologies for my confusion, cheers...

Quoted from madamyates:

A few people asked about flipper counts on 31,000 plays.
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Quoted from teppinball:

Cleveland you’re up next! For any locals looking for a good time, come visit us at Collision Bend Brewing today to see our new GZ topper in action and for your chance to win some awesome giveaways!
[quoted image]
We’ll be hosting a tournament with some sweet prizes for the winners as well. Event starts at 1pm with the tournament starting closer to 1:30/2pm. Hope to see some of you there!
-Rob and Alec

Quoted from maroot:

I lost a screw to my bridge today (found it under the playfield), but checked the other screws and some were loose on the back side…the hard-to-get-to side. What is the best way to get to those? I have a right angle screwdriver, but one is almost impossible to get to. Any recommendations?
Thanks!

Quoted from BadBrad97:

Is anyone else's lockdown bar on their GZ Pro too wide?
Mine hangs over the edge on both sides about 3/8". That doesn't sound bad but after a while, it starts digging into your hands. I have reached out a few times to my distributor without a response. I can get a new lockdown bar for 99 from Pinball life, but I want to make sure that it is not going to be just as bad.
I have posted about this here before and got no response so I am trying again before I pull the trigger on a replacement.
Thanks.
[quoted image]

Quoted from SiN13:

I have about 1/8" gap on both side, and the lockdown bar measures about 22 and 3/16" from end to end.

Quoted from BadBrad97:

Ok, thanks. That is exactly what mine measures so I guess a new one won't help. Measuring across my cabinet, it's 21 3/4" so that is a pretty big difference. I have never seen a gap like this on a B\W machine or a Chicago Gaming machine.
Are all the Stern machines like this?

Quoted from Mully911:

Hey what is the fix for the ball getting stuck between the building and the VUK entrance? I tried adjusting the building in settings to no avail.

Quoted from SiN13:

My cabinet measures 21 and 15/16" from the outside edges of the side rails. It seems like your cabinet is 3/4" narrower than mine, which doesn't sound right. I don't know how your playfield would even fit in there at that point.

Quoted from RonSS:

15/16 - 3/4 is not 3/4

Quoted from KneeKickLou:

This is why sometimes people can get out of hand with worrying about the number of plays a game has. These things are designed to be played and played a lot.

Quoted from chuckwurt:

Bad luck exists with all NIB purchases. Only way to guarantee a solid game is to buy used so you can inspect before buying.

Quoted from RoadQueen:

If you’re talking about the ball getting stuck in the gap between the subway and the VUK then this washer fix is an option.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stern-godzilla-official-owners-club/page/316#post-7199283
Another option is to cover the gap with a business card.

Quoted from Mully911:

Thanks for the info! My ball gets stuck exiting the building to playfield on slow rolls out of the building. There is a small gap at the building exit and playfield.

Quoted from Bikerjoy:

Got my Premium NIB Friday. 53 games in.....
I've always thought myself a "theme guy", frankly not a Godzilla fan. But dang! This machine is something else!!
[quoted image]

Quoted from lakerone:

you sir are a very good player, I haven't even sniffed 1B yet......

Quoted from BadBrad97:

Is anyone else's lockdown bar on their GZ Pro too wide?
Mine hangs over the edge on both sides about 3/8". That doesn't sound bad but after a while, it starts digging into your hands. I have reached out a few times to my distributor without a response. I can get a new lockdown bar for 99 from Pinball life, but I want to make sure that it is not going to be just as bad.
I have posted about this here before and got no response so I am trying again before I pull the trigger on a replacement.
Thanks.
[quoted image]

Quoted from SirMachismo:

Ok, take this all with a grain of salt. I personally believe Stern shaved a little off the cabinet width (ever so slightly), but I only believe this because Stern has also discontinued using the the playfield alignment brackets. People have also complained that the glass on newer Sterns is hard to remove, my GZ was so tight I had to buy a suction cup to get the glass off. After months me hoping it would get better and not strain my injured shoulder, Stern sent me a new polished piece of glass that fits wonderfully. My GZ also seems to have some extra space in regards to the lock bar but not a much as yours (my buddies is very similar to yours). Again, take this with a grain of conspiracy theory salt, the lockdown bar my be fine...it may just be your and others cabinets are a little smaller. I have yet to measure my cabinets or try mixing and matching other lockdown bars, but your post got me thinking.
More research may be required.
Lb

Quoted from weaverj:

btw, installed my freddy's shooter lane fix. this thing is money; highly recommend. i had to clean mine up a bit (it was filthy), but definitely worth it.

Quoted from Bikerjoy:

Don't know about that. Something about Gz just works. I can keep the ball alive for much longer than other games. Shoots super smooth and I feel like most of my shots hits something cleanly (not necessarily what I aim for but still).
On my FF that I've had for a couple of months now about 400 games and still floundering around 800M. Lots of missed / rejected shots, MUCH short average ball / game time.

Quoted from weaverj:

btw, installed my freddy's shooter lane fix. this thing is money; highly recommend. i had to clean mine up a bit (it was filthy), but definitely worth it.

Quoted from CapeCodPin:

Could you kindly take a pic and share here? Love to see it installed.

Quoted from Buckeye82:

I've had just the opposite experience. My GZ was so "loose" that when I'd remove the lockdown bar the glass would start sliding out on its own. Over time that has quit happening, but its still very easy to remove the glass. I have two recent builds, a GZ from June '23 and an EHOH from Feb. '23. On both of them the playfield has some slop as it sits in the cabinet. Its much worse on the EHOH, to the point where I have to pay close attention to where the playfield is positioned to align the shooter rod properly. It also has no alignment brackets on either side. The GZ has one bracket on the left. My thought is its simply inconsistency on the builds. You would think the cabinets should be identical in dimensions, I'm sure they're using jigs and templates for all the assembly, but my EHOH cabinet is 1/8" narrower than the GZ. What does it all mean? Beats the hell out of me except despite them building hundreds of them each week there's still variation. Or perhaps because they build hundreds of them each week. Maybe we should all consider our machines unique and limited.

Quoted from Buckeye82:

I've had just the opposite experience. My GZ was so "loose" that when I'd remove the lockdown bar the glass would start sliding out on its own. Over time that has quit happening, but its still very easy to remove the glass. I have two recent builds, a GZ from June '23 and an EHOH from Feb. '23. On both of them the playfield has some slop as it sits in the cabinet. Its much worse on the EHOH, to the point where I have to pay close attention to where the playfield is positioned to align the shooter rod properly. It also has no alignment brackets on either side. The GZ has one bracket on the left. My thought is its simply inconsistency on the builds. You would think the cabinets should be identical in dimensions, I'm sure they're using jigs and templates for all the assembly, but my EHOH cabinet is 1/8" narrower than the GZ. What does it all mean? Beats the hell out of me except despite them building hundreds of them each week there's still variation. Or perhaps because they build hundreds of them each week. Maybe we should all consider our machines unique and limited.

Quoted from BadBrad97:

Thanks for all the input. I guess that there may be no good fix for this issue. My wife got tired of hearing me gripe about this and was playing it last night and said, "There, I fixed it. It won't hurt your itty bitty hands anymore." (or something like that but my hands are pretty big. honest) She stuck a felt pad that goes on the legs of furniture and it fills the gap. Dang. It's actually not too bad. If it was black, you wouldn't even notice it and the pain is gone.[quoted image]

Quoted from Mully911:

No sure how to tell when my Premium was built but the glass will slide out if Lock down bar is removed.

Quoted from Jamwin:

Might have been mentioned in the past but worth making sure the screw circled in the pic is not coming lose. Had mine since October and it was almost all the way lose and about to fall out. Likely from the bridge hitting the plastic and shaking it lose over time. Worth adding to you maintenance schedule.
[quoted image]

Quoted from Killermarmot:

Saucer multiball was huge.

Quoted from BadBrad97:

Thanks for all the input. I guess that there may be no good fix for this issue. My wife got tired of hearing me gripe about this and was playing it last night and said, "There, I fixed it. It won't hurt your itty bitty hands anymore." (or something like that but my hands are pretty big. honest) She stuck a felt pad that goes on the legs of furniture and it fills the gap. Dang. It's actually not too bad. If it was black, you wouldn't even notice it and the pain is gone.[quoted image]

Quoted from Brombomb:

What was the total playtime for a score like this?

I'm assuming destroy X saucers? I haven't gotten that one yet.

Quoted from SirMachismo:

“Itty bitty hands!” I like her!!!

You should have a “build date” sticker on the back of the back box. This one is from my Iron Maiden.
-Lb[quoted image]

Quoted from Killermarmot:

ll

Quoted from Killermarmot:

Wooo, took a while but cracked 2bil.
3 cities controlled, on 4th and drained.
4 extra balls.
Terror of mechagodzilla and monster zero modes.
Saucer multiball was huge.
Destruction jackpot was at 7x. Nutso.
Farthest I've made it and like 650mil over my.previous GC.
Amazing. I'm exhausted hahaha
[quoted image]

Quoted from Buckeye82:

At the worst you could take a Sharpie and make it black. Like duct tape, Sharpies fix many things.

Quoted from Brombomb:

What was the total playtime for a score like this?

I'm assuming destroy X saucers? I haven't gotten that one yet.

Quoted from broada:

Destroy 6 saucers to light Saucer Attack multiball. Hit the saucer one more time to start the mode.

Quoted from reconsider59:

Speaking of Saucer Attack, I noticed something that took me by surprise when I lit it last night. Wondering if anyone else has seen this on a Premium:
- 2 balls locked on the building for Godzilla multiball
- light Saucer Attack - saucer lights are flashing rainbow colors
- building drops - shots to the building are completely rejected
Is this by design? Or just something weird? There's probably a logical explanation to lock the player out of starting Godzilla Multiball, so you can't have both multiballs stacked, but I was just surprised that the building was set up in a way where I couldn't shoot the building, at all.

Quoted from reconsider59:

Speaking of Saucer Attack, I noticed something that took me by surprise when I lit it last night. Wondering if anyone else has seen this on a Premium:
- 2 balls locked on the building for Godzilla multiball
- light Saucer Attack - saucer lights are flashing rainbow colors
- building drops - shots to the building are completely rejected
Is this by design? Or just something weird? There's probably a logical explanation to lock the player out of starting Godzilla Multiball, so you can't have both multiballs stacked, but I was just surprised that the building was set up in a way where I couldn't shoot the building, at all.

Quoted from acedanger:

Plus one for Freddy skill shot optimizer shoots perfectly now!! Finally loool

Quoted from Brombomb:

What was the total playtime for a score like this?

I'm assuming destroy X saucers? I haven't gotten that one yet.

Quoted from math08:

Just got my Freddy's today and installed. Not a single bad plunge shot. What a difference. Freddy rocks.

Quoted from broada:

Destroy 6 saucers to light Saucer Attack multiball. Hit the saucer one more time to start the mode.

Quoted from math08:

Just got my Freddy's today and installed. Not a single bad plunge shot. What a difference. Freddy rocks.

Quoted from Bohdi:

What exactly is Freddy's Pinside handle, and does he have a store? I need one of these.

Quoted from KneeKickLou:

Some might know others might not, when the saucer is lit if you shoot up the right inlane and hit the saucer it counts as 2. Really hard to do but fun to try.