I couldn’t find any there’s one listed on eBay for $900 no thanks.

Great American Pinball - $765

The topper interacts with a lot of things in the game. Not sure what you are asking?

Up until recently they had them in stock at Marcos and Pinball Life and they're both out now. They're going to be very hard to find soon and they're limited to 500. There is one for $999 plus $50 shipping on eBay...

Sorry, to be clear I though they were all sold out and I wouldn't pay that much for one anyway, I was wondering if someone had made something similar as a mod for less money that still interacted with the game like the official topper? I'm guessing not, so I was wondering what others have done instead as a topper?

If you look at the image gallery of this thread you will see several alternate toppers others have done. None interact.

Thanks mate, I should have thought of that!

Any distributors have the topper in stock?

Looks like my semi-local distributor might have some:

https://www.orangecountypinballs.com/product-page/copy-of-star-wars-pinball-stern-accessories

Perhaps call them to verify, but I was able to put it in my shopping cart.

$600 shipping lol

Wow, I did not even look at that. Yeah, scratch that option. Back to the drawing board for ya.

Glad I bought my overpriced Topper when GAP had some in stock with $50 shipping. $600 for a topper???

It’s a drop down. Drop it down and pick stern accessory and it changes to $25.00

I emailed them 3 times. No response. Ill call tomorrow

.

We have Star Wars toppers in stock, newest run, ready to ship.

Flip N Out Pinball
[email protected]
812.457.9711

Really nice looking work. I'm interested in them as well. Assuming you painted the 3d prints to create the data effects?

Hey Zac,

I’m a bit confused here?

I tried to buy one of these toppers about a month ago and they were sold out everywhere. Maybe one or two still showing as available from remote suppliers web sites. I had assumed that all 500 limited edition topper had sold out.

Now there’s “new stock available” and a few distributors appear to be restocked. Does this mean Stern only trickle fed an initial run but are still rolling these out, while sticking to 500?

Same goes for the JP topper, supposedly limited to 250 build and also supposedly sold out within two weeks.

Is this part of sterns campaign to create hype around limiting supply? Inflate prices on flea bay? Trickle supply chains ? Give people a taste? Keep them guessing? Justify high prices? Am I going to miss out? Really... if I don’t buy one now am I going to miss out?

We can’t expect distributors to all
have the answers. It’s also understandable that production is Going to be a bit weird in times like these. I’d like to hope that anyone who wants one doesn’t have miss out, or falls pray to the chumps selling them on flea bay for $999 It’s a chunk of huge change and some people probably need time to save up, deliberate throughout the factory defect issues? sell their one of their organs or take up a paper run (sorry they don’t do those anymore) just to be able to afford one.

Anyway... just a bit of food for thought. You may know something most others don’t.

Because they were out of stock does not mean Sold out of the run nor did I see them announce that. Seems like they just followed business 101. Build 500 of something they are not sure will sell or build several batches at intervals dependent on sales interests. May not be available at the moment we want them but if there is demand and they have not reached the 500 odds are they will make more.

We as dealers aren’t given all the production details of machines or accessories, but I do know that similar to machines, toppers often have ‘runs’. Star Wars was released and they produced a run (I don’t know how many). Let’s say Flip N Out Pinball purchased 40 initially. We may get 20 of those initially and then another 20 when they do another run of them. Same with Black Knight. We could order 20 and we receive them spread across however many runs they do. I’m not sure the reasoning behind the runs, could be a sales thing, could be a parts/supply thing, not sure.

I do know that Star Wars topper will receive no more production. Thus, whatever is out there is out there. We have some in stock and would be happy to ship out anyone looking for one. Hope this helps.

Okay thanks for clearing that up guys.

I think I understand their marketing approach and sales philosophy now. I guess it’s tough nuts to anyone who paid $999 thinking they were sold out, unbeknownst there was a second, third or fourth rollout for a production run not to exceed 500.

“That's the trick in this business: if you want longevity, just keep people guessing a little bit.”

Kelsey Grammer

Maybe you should answer your emails ZMeny !

Sorry for the delay we are looking into the barriers to selling across the border

Shouldn't be any. Just bought the JP topper from LSOG less than a month ago. Shipped fedex or USPS can't remember. No issues. As long as it's not UPS I am ok!

Is stern building these or is it a third party?
Seems like anytime there is anything more then plastic and lights, they can't seem to figure it out.

Hi all, myself and another SW owner in the UK wish to buy 2 SW toppers, delivered to a US address which will forward to us here in UK. Paying from the UK is at the mercy of the exchange rate so we use Transferwise.com for all larger international payments as suggested by the main UK pinball supplier Pinball Heaven. To make the payment we obviously need bank details of the recipient but a US dealer with toppers in stock has been burnt by scammers before and has pulled out of the deal because they insist that I pay through their online facility or use a credit card and this will keep their bank details private and they have never heard of Transferwise.com.

The exact amount on the invoice in $ would go via Transferwise and directly into their account so I'm not sure how giving me details how to pay them could lead to me ripping them off, in the UK most invoices have the recipients bank details on them for payment! Nevertheless the choice to not move forward is theirs and I respect that, but if any dealers do have SW Toppers in stock and are familiar with 3rd party international payment companies please pm me to make a sale! Bonus points if you find a dusty GB Topper at the back of the top shelf!

Just got my topper yesterday. Now, I'll be giddy as a schoolgirl when it lights up and whistles, but what an overpriced piece of junk! I'm no engineer, but I could have improved the design with about 12 cents worth of hardware, let alone the cosmetic flaws and basic design. You can look around, I don't bash Stern but again, holy shit, this is a cheaply made bag of monkey dung. I can't wait to have power so I can play with it!

Sure enough, I plugged it in booted up and R2's head is grinding and stuck in one place.

Easy fix? Asks idiot who is still looking for one of these pieces of sh1t because, quite frankly, I'm a bit of a bellend!

Possible easy fix, but unsure as of yet. Stern is sending me a part.

Had the same thing happen, bunch of loose and falling out screws for me. Little bit of Loctite and good to go.

Thank you! The entire servo assembly was loose. I held it in place against the motor, tightened everything down and it is working.

Ok,

Topper ordered and inbound, Thank you Game Room Guys, very easy to deal with. Any advice on these toppers please? Should I dismantle and check all screws before I install? Anything specific to look for or test? Thanks in advance for any tips!

All mentioned in this thread already.

Yeah, go ahead an get your RMA # for a return for topper being defective

Definitely take it apart before installing. Three major things to check.

1) That the roller on the motor shaft is positioned correctly and that the set screw is tight. There is a great detailed post in this thread on how to check. This can cause the head not spinning/grinding issue.

2) Make sure the strap clamp holding the motor steady is tight. If it starts rotating in that clamp it can short on some screws and blowout the motor control board. This can be the cause of the head not spinning/grinding issue, and then the head not moving at all issue. At this point also check the motor position. The shaft is offset, the motor should be positioned so the roller is against the ring that rotates the head, but not so tight against it that the motor is leaning in the bracket. This is important especially if you tried out the topper and already had the motor rotating issue.

3) Check that none of the flasher lamp sockets are contacting or close to contacting the metal cover, can cause lighting issues.

All in all you are looking at about 15 mins of prevention to save a lot of potential headaches.

EDIT: Link to Yelobird's post on the motor shaft:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stern-star-wars-topper/page/22#post-5461847

100% this. I would add get some adhesive weatherstripping material (.5" is a tight fit) to put inbetween the spacers that hold the topper together to block the light bleed from the drooping center.

Thanks mate, saved me wading through 25 pages to find out anything, really appreciate you taking the time to find that link too, top man!

Yeah I put mine right behind the frame, had to cut some out to flex it btwn the posts and frame. Thought they put the wrong sized spacers on it or something.

Now having spent some time with R2 in game and in attract mode, I do wish he was coded into the game better, but I love having his overpriced, poorly made, loud little ass up there.

Who needs a topper? But seriously, I wanted one for a long time but gave up after a year and wasn’t interested at the price point.

2261FCC2-B8F8-4E19-A1B1-81B21FD2D1FF (resized).jpeg

who wants a topper if you have sutch a great sider!

so i've been looking around for the R2D2 topper and it seems everywhere i've looked, it's sold out.

anybody have a line on one? or a random corner of the interwebs i haven't tried?

and......is it worth it? i absolutely LOVE the munsters topper and couldn't imagine the game without it. just curious if those of you that have the R2D2 topper are happy with it.

thanks.

(i've thought about getting the LPM hologram topper if i can't find the R2D2)

It's cheaply made, loud, and I love it. Try Tilt Amusements http://www.tiltamusements.com/

What a wonderful response

Hey guys we still have Star Wars Toppers in stock and ready to ship

Flip N Out Pinball
flipnoutpinball.com

I’ll send you a message here shortly. Thanks.

I got my topper in from ZMeny this week. Quick delivery. Solid service.

And I have to say, your description was spot on.

It’s loud as all hell. And it’s absolutely awesome.

Yep, the toppers mechanical noise blends in nicely!

Selling my topper. Asking what I paid. $750. Pm me if you are interested. Thanks

My topper went in for repair to stern came back out and now spins well most of the time but when he goes to do a 360 gets stuck. Best ideas for repair/adjustment?

Take it apart. Most likely suspect is the roller is loose on the motor shaft and is now blocking full rotation. Unplug the topper until you fix this unless you want to completely fubar it. Look in this thread for Yelobirds post on taking it apart and what to look for.