I have my deposit in on a premium. I just couldn't justify the huge jump to the LE price for how little extra is on the LE. I'll just do some tasteful modding to my premium, like adding a shaker motor on day 1.

Premium.

I just have to figure out what to sell to make room. Most likely Stern Star Trek. I just think they may be too similar to have both.

When I was watching the video it looked like the ball jumped there from an airball during multiball at least part of the time, then went back and forth and fell out. There has to be a way for the balls to come out on their own if they don't make it all the way around, but kind of a bummer its right down the middle if they do. I hope it won't be a big issue (I'm in for a premium).

The software issue could be if a gate didn't open etc and the ball just went around until it slowed down and then fell out.

If it's very thin and flexible I would think it's clear coat. Plastics would be fairly thick and stiff, especially such a small piece.

Check under the apron where the balls enter the trough. I'm not sure what colors are down there, but that's a likely place.

So after playing SW Pro for a couple hours Sunday with my wife, we are just thrilled with it. I didn't tell her about any of the pinside drama and we had to play a few other games before SW opened up. I did explain picking characters, tie fighters, bonuses, etc as we played the first few games and quit hitting the button for her when she started whooping up on me.

Long story short her first comment walking up was it seems a little empty "like Star Trek", but by the time we left she stated she was glad we had GB to make us better players and there was just so much to do on the game. She felt it had more game play and options for playing than any other game we have (and we have a few). I think it may be her new favorite (characters matter a lot to her too).

Our highest scores were almost 2 billion (10 million away) and we got over a billion several times. This was on the newest code too.

Now I just have to wait for our premium although she mentioned getting an LE, but I didn't want to spend the extra on that.

Yes, yes I do... That's the problem, I hate letting them go until I'm completely bored of them, but always seem to want more

Mine apparently shipped out this morning. Must be one of the first batches after the LEs. Looks like Tuesday/Wednesday for me...

It's here. Now to get it setup.

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Star Wars is setup and playing great after I adjusted the right flipper. The EOS wasn't making good contact.

First impressions is it's a looker. I was going to do a custom black/metallic/starfield powder coat but after getting it I may do a metallic white. The white tmolding looks good and white or maybe all chrome will pop. The Ramps and all the metal are flashy and just begging for mirror blades so that may be my next purchase.

The game is almost as fast as the pro I played. The only thing a bit slower is hitting the horseshoe from the right side provides a momentary pause sometimes for the fork ramp to come down. I don't think I'm going to mind that pause it provides a chance to breathe. During multiball I haven't noticed it being a problem. Just control the balls and don't put one behind it if you're trying to hit the Death Star shot. Adds an extra dimension.

The fork ramp for the Death Star shot is smooth on my game. My son and I played several games and he backhanded the Death Star ramp on his first game. I was able to backhand it a few times and was able to shoot it from the right flipper without any issues. The hyperspace ramp is a rush when the ball goes around. The Death Star definitely grabs the ball and sometimes drops it back down the ramp. A nice changeup.

All the shots feel smooth as others have said and the play is so fast it's a little hard to look up and see the screen but it's possible.

The right diverter to the plunger is kind of pointless right now (just do a ball save like AS). I'm guessing it will come into play more like on TWD as the code progresses.

The playfield and cabinet are perfect. There are extra braces on the cabinet like the LE had. The sound is great and so loud if you let it be cranked up.

Btw. I just don't think this playfield feels empty when you play it. I know it's an opinion but I'm thrilled with the game. There are Ramps, a lockout, a horse shoe loop, pops with gates on both sides, drops, every place the ball can hit is a switch, the mini screen and targets under it and of course the tie fighter which is fine. You actually barely notice it since you have to spend all your time watching the ball.

I most likely will narrow the outlanes by moving the posts so everyone can enjoy it s little more but for now I'll leave it. Doing a skill shot right into the left outlane is going to take some skill to avoid.

That's my take after about 20 games. I'm sure it will morph but I'm having more fun with this then I did with the pro on location. Now back to playing!

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By morph I meant I might like it more or even less after I get more time on it. I used to love Stern ST. Pretty boring game for me now. Things change and I'm cool with that.

As for identical play. Not quite. Very close but the Death Star shot on the premium does a few things. Instead of always being just a horseshoe going around it feeds the Death Star obviously. From there it can catch the ball and drop it back out the front or send it around the habit rail and return it to the right flipper or even catch it and shoot it back out the front (seems to anyway). Plus the loading balls for hyperspace multiball. Then when it's down you have the horseshoe. A little more variety in play. Mostly a show piece though.

I will agree if you like the pro you'll like the premium/Le. I prefer the metal Ramps and the extra bit of possibilities with the hyperloop. I also liked the premium art better first time I saw it all. The LE did nothing for me.

It's easy to change. Simply pull out carefully and snap new molding in. Then cut with good scissors or a razor blade at the end.

Just google online. Lots of places sell it. I always just bought from the place that had the cooor I wanted. Black should be easy to find.

I may do chrome later if I decide to go with chrome trim.

No. I'll have to pay more attention but I know it can feed the right flipper. The magnets will also catch it even when looping around and then return it back down the ramp backwards.

Often if you shoot it to start a mode it will catch the ball and then feed it back down the ramp.

There may be one other place in the back but I'm not sure. I remember hearing that but haven't seen it yet.

Mine hasn't fallen off the bottom at all. Only about 40 games in though (had to feed the kids). Damn some are quick games

I don't see anything in the back. So feeds flipper on right ramp or comes back down the Death Star fork ramp.

It's possible your distributor dropped the ball or who knows what else. Our distributor got two shipments of LEs. All they ordered before they got a shipment of premiums.

Plus come on. Stern is producing pins on multiple lines. They made the LEs first and then started running premiums. Maybe some armor was late getting to them or who knows what else. They aren't going to stop all production to make sure all LEs get out first. I had money down on a premium day one so I'm sure it's one of the first since the order went in with the LEs.

On a fun note. My wife made it home and screamed the first time she got a ball in the hyper loop. I may have failed to explain what would happen. I wish I would have been recording it.

IDK. White might work on the premium. I'm inclined to get all chrome but the price is a kicker. Beginning to think stainless steel might be best on my premium if I can get it.

Here are some pics of the premium plastics.

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I added a few ships from the Star Wars Xwing game. They look great. Drilled a hole, used piano wire and super glued it in. I'll probably add a few more but don't want it to nuts.

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I have a variety and usually just buy the K&S music wire you can get online or at most hobby shops. It comes straight so I don't have to worry about straightening it. The sizes I used were 1/32 - 1/16 inch in diameter so somewhere around .03 - .06. The slave 1 was heavier so I used the heavier wire. I just drilled 1/16" holes about half way through the ships (no matter wire size) and super glued the wire in after it was formed and test fitted. May be over kill but I want them to survive an airball.

Now all piano/music wire is tough spring steel. It will take a good pair of needle nose to make a loop for the screw (or a triangle) and the right angle so the ship is above the screw. It will take a larger pair of wire cutters to actually cut it too.

I also added an extra washer above my wire loop and left the original washer between it and the plastic. If the screw is to short then I used a little longer screw too.

None of it's hard and pretty fun to do.

i think it's absolutely part of the game, if the ramp is up so you can make a death star/hyperspace shot, the ball can go around the back via Hoth and hit it. If the ball stays there the ramp will come down to let the ball out. It may even go up when Hoth is lit so you can start Hoth that way (not 100% sure on that, but pretty sure).

It does seem if you hit the Hoth shot when the ramp is up, there is a code problem where the ramp goes down to let the ball out, but if the ball bounces back a bit and settles then the Hoth modes can be started. That's what I would expect them to fix up. Don't lower the ramp when Hoth modes can be started.

My game is working just fine for the ramp and the hyperspace shots. Only issues I've had are actual code bugs, but I expect those to be there and get worked out since the code is so early.

I believe so. The seem on the head is on the bottom of the head, so you could pull a small piece out just to make sure, but that's the normal size.

Impressive and congratulations. I'm not sure I'll get there the way I have the game setup, but definitely enjoying the game big time.

It beats the stock Stern ones, so I'll be trying to get them on this weekend. Thanks.

yep that same shot is 5.2 million with 40x.

Exactly. Kills my wrists when I do it by mistake for too long.

I hit that shot often enough to say it's not an issue on my premium. It could be the guide or a rubber is slightly out of whack and giving the ball more of a tendency to go away from the ball guide and then down the middle.

Adjustment can be as easy as leveling or even bending the guide slightly if needed.

I doubt seriously if it's a design flaw since stern knows how to build a flowing pinball. Especially with Steve designing it.

They could have just updated the manual after the reality.

I may have to actually add the post. My wife got so pissed playing last night when she shot the ball into the outlane and then the auto launcher did the same. It just kills the competitiveness of the game. Game is hard enough without the autolaunch sending balls straight down the side.

On the fork ramp. I had the problem where mine wouldn't go down even in a ball search after adding the new code. I then went into test and saw there were multiple switches showing on when the ramp was up (one was the down switch). After adjusting the down switch so all the switches registered properly when up or down mine has been working just fine.

Yeah, you have to put the fork all the way up (or down) and get a screwdriver out to loosen the switch plate fro the switch(es) and rotate it to make or not make contact. Then tighten it back up and test all the different positions.

It's the standard switch adjustments one hole is elongated so the switch can be made to open/close sooner/later.

That sucks, the other thread is having reports too. Wonder if I should play my star wars or not now. I really don't want to fry something...

I'm undecided on it so far, my wife and kid seemed to like it as something different. I think it's simple and goes for quite a while, but I guess I can lower the time later.

Wonder how long it needs to soak in test to make sure it doesn't burn up a board?

Honestly, I expected Hoth 1 to be a different mission from the video mode. At the very least it needs to appear to be a different video mode. However, I don't think we're going to get that. Already feels like they are trying to wrap up SW to move onto something else...

So it is insanely fast, but it doesn't feel like it has cheap drains (except the occasional ball launch, which I'll be tweaking this weekend). In general you have to be accurate. Great flow doesn't mean you constantly keep the ball going, but rather if you hit a shot it should come back towards a flipper so you can either hit it again, catch it or control another way.

Now if you are trying to make every shot from the tip of your flippers, than that may be your biggest problem. That's going to give the ball the most speed and really make you work to get control again especially if you miss. In general try making the shots with the least amount of power (still have to be accurate, but that will come as you get better/use to the game).

Left drop targets, left loop and the death star shot on the premium/le are all done with the tip of the right flipper.
Left ramp, inner loop (both sides), tie fighter can all be done with the left flipper towards the top of the flipper so it's a slower shot.
Tie fighter standups, right ramp can be done with the right flipper towards the top, again so it's slower.
Right outer loop, kick out hole are left flipper shots.

All of those shots can be made from a cradled ball that you've caught.

Dead bounce passes are kind of my go to move for getting the ball from one flipper to the other, or just getting control on fast balls.
You can also pass the ball by just shooting one of the ramps across the playfield (part of the flow), but if you miss then you're going to have a blazing fast ball to control again.

As a last resort you can turn the coil power down in the settings. I'm pretty sure this makes the flippers weaker, along with the slings, pops, etc. That will make the entire game easier to control, but I wouldn't do that unless you're really frustrated. You'd have a hard time playing somewhere else with full power coils if you got use to that.

Hope you start having more fun. GB is way more frustrating so I'm sure you'll get the feel of SW soon.

There are physical switches around the shaft that moves the ramp up and down. Lift the playfield, go into your settings for the ramp test and hit the button to go up. Make sure only the up switch comes on, hit the other button to go down, and make sure only the bottom switch goes on.

Then adjust the bottom switch so it goes down a little further before engaging switch and I'll bet you'll be good.

If you don't know how to adjust the switches: The switches have two small screws on the side that hold them on. Loosen those screws, and then you can rotate the switch back and forth and tighten them up when it is in the right position. Don't overtighten or you can crush the switch.

Yes i believe that's the correct switch and as long as the test said it was on when the fork was down you're good to go. Glad to help out.

I had a problem with the bottom and top switches both registering in the up position sometimes so I doubt it's unusual for these to not be adjusted 100% correct from the factory, it's a pretty intricate little cam that opens and closes them.

Um, I'll probably never do it all in one game. I still haven't destroyed the damn death star on my premium yet. I'm popping a bottle of champagne the day I do though! I've only beaten Bobba Fett a couple times, haven't won the lightsaber duel (although that's new).

The final wizard mode is probably unattainable for me and I'm an above average player, but I don't play it every day. In a single game I can probably only get half way to the final wizard mode. I suppose if I played just to get to the final mode it'd be easier, but I tend to try using the multipliers a lot to get the higher scores which distracts you from the other goals, but is to lucrative to ignore completely.

If it was the only machine you had I'd think you could get further along, but I believe it will have a lot more staying power with the player path options, the bonuses and the final wizard mode. AS is a great game and GB is a lot of fun, but both will leave my place before SW. Although neither of those are leaving to soon...

So curious on SW when you beat Boba Fett, what are your Boba Fett mode scores like? I'm guessing I need to really try and dial in the playfield multiplier while playing since I'm only getting about 50-60 mil and I didn't even crack the default high score.

I don't think it's an issue at all, especially after you get use to playing the game. Simply put if that ramp is up, you should be aiming for it and not the horseshoe loop from the backside. Yes you can qualify missions and start a mission from the backside, but you'll also start a mission if the ramp is up, complete a hyperspace hurry up or get a jackpot so you shouldn't be aiming for the backside much when the ramp is up.

You learn to pay attention to the ramp and try to capitalize on it.

Now even if you hit it from the back when it's up, the ramp comes down rather quickly especially with the newer code and only slightly delays the ball. Just about enough time to take a breath.

Also keep in mind, the ramp isn't up all the time and when it's not up it's a horseshoe (and I don't have SDTM problems). So you get a change in the physical shots which adds a lot IMO, it isn't always just a horseshoe.

Hmm, you do have a point, I almost always have two modes going at once, but never once use the skill shot to light death star. It's an easy mode to light from the playfield when the forks aren't up (simply backhand). I usually choose Tattoine modes since they are harder for me to light consistently. Of course depends on what character I choose.

Funny there are so many different ways to play the game.

So, way back I posted I didn't usually get high points on Boba Fett (hadn't beat the default), so I decided to start concentrating on making sure the multiplier was going and lined up with the next Fett shot anytime I got a chance to do the mode. Wow, what a difference this has made. Last night I got my highest score yet from Fett. That mode alone gave me 458 million and I had one shot left (if only I could have hit it!).

The shot multiplier is just such a game changer on this machine. You don't need to use it to have fun on the pin, but learning to use it can really add up the points. I'm still not the best player, but I'm up in the 3 billion range for my best games. Pretty sure if I can line up that multiplier right during the other modes I could get higher, but I tend to keep it parked a lot (hard enough to keep the ball in play).