You may be right. I guess I'd just have to see it for myself.
Good thing though not many new dream themes are going to be out there for me to buy. Unless Stern or Jersey Jack makes a Hardbody 2. Day one SLE for me!!!!!

I think right now thanks to Elvira 3 finally coming out, I'm more interested in the next CGC game. And if its a game I don't want then probably get AFMr or MMr, or maybe my Ghostbusters that I been wanting or a batman 66 catwoman. I think that's my choices for next pin.

Unless Stern makes a Priest or a Dio pin. SLE for a Dio. But, that will never happen. Both bands are about a little less than half the record sales of both maiden and ac dc. So won't happen ever.

Just watched the Cary Hardy review. Now I totally get the vibe he may just have a negative/pessimistic tone about him in general, he makes a point about some things.

I haven't seen him talked about on here much and havent watched many of his videos. Whats the general consensus of him on Pinside?

Don’t know anything about Hardy or his reviews, but pretty sure his ball lock is attracted to the demigorgon.
E588E964-33BD-4B48-9C9E-D29FE1C592A1 (resized).jpeg

I can't watch more than 30 seconds of his videos.

I just watched his review. Man he tore this game up bad! I mean. I get it. There’s been quite a few issues with this game as far as hardware on the game. For instance , the ball lock plunger. I have it on my game where the plastic rod came out of the plunger assembly completely. There’s nothing really holding it in there securely. I took it out and hammered it back in and it’s fine for now. I may have to glue it in there with super glue or something. My distro is sending me a new one but who knows if it’s gonna be the same design. It was made cheaply. And also, I had some wiring issues on my machine that basically made the center ramp useless. It wouldn’t move up or down. But after a couple weeks of troubleshooting, we found the problem. And this was NIB for me. My first purchase like this. But i love the game and am excited for the new code updates. I think it’s going to be a fine game after all the updates come out.

Yes, but for a product with a price you can basically get a small new car for, I can understand that people want it to work properly out of the box.

Watched that review and I’d be pissed as an operator if I had that ball lock issue. I’d be curious to see a poll of how many people had issues with their machine out of the box.

I’d also be curious to know what the ratio of successful Demogorgan shots is.

I don’t know what stern was thinking with that plunger assembly. I mean. It’s so cheaply made that the tech support guy I was working with, he laughed when he saw it on FaceTime. He couldn’t get over the fact that there was basically nothing holding in that plastic rod.

Pretty sure the issues are universal

1. demogorgon one way gate getting hung up. Solution is to bend it some more or remove it. Most will see this issue within the first 50 games
2. Ball lock post coming undone. Solution is to glue or pin. Most will see this issue within a few hundred games or so. I'm at around 200 games and I have not had the issue yet but expecting it any time
3. Demogorgon shot difficulty. It takes tinkering to get it to work. Common recommendation is 6.5 degrees and 220-230 flipper power. We are not hitting it consistently here but do see it often. Cradled left flipper is the most reliable shot.
4. The dimpling is more severe than my Munsters but to be expected I guess. Not a lot of airballs on munsters compared to this. I am most concerned about the dimpling on the ramp entrance metal. The left one has been taking a beating on my machine. No dings on the right yet.

This is now his 5th YouTube video reviewing Stranger Things and now he tells us he has has now played it for an hour. Apparently much of that time the game wasn't actually working due to the well documented plastic rod getting loose from the solenoid issue.

Spoiler alert: playing the game validates all the opinions he expressed in his previous videos before he played it. He says he has now lost interest in the game so maybe we won't get another youtube "review."

In much of the video his head is shown really big in a static image, then there is his name really big, then a video of his head talking. Overall I get the impressions that these videos are about him much more than about the game.

Looking for recommendations for an inclinometer to get the pitch just right for my machine. TIA!!

I think there’s an app that might help you out with that. I’ve seen a lot of users mention it, but have personally not used it.

Try the PinGuy app. Pitch is subjective though. Some like theirs steep others more shallow. This app will get you help with whatever you choose though. It’s nice it talks to you while you’re under the game leveling it.

He is my favorite content creator, he is pretty straight forward with some subtle humor. His tech stuff is really good, if you like working on pins as much as playing them you should check him out. I think because he likes working on pins it keeps him a little more grounded. No one covers the frustration of when things don't go your way like he does, he takes it well though, I would have lit that Getaway on fire already. I enjoy Zach and Greg but the are so focused on new pins and anything new and shiny is just automatically the greatest thing ever, then its posted on facebook for sale a week later.

This is the part that I find crazy. Suddenly a dude with a Youtube show is the final decider of fate for the pin. According to random people on the interwebz TWD was a dud, AC/DC a dud. X-men terrible, Star Wars a waste of money, on and on and on.

All of the above are some of my favorite pins. So I have decided to take the radical approach of actually playing it myself instead of letting others' opinions decide for me. I'll let you all know how it works out so that people don't have to make decisions for themselves.

CaryH’s review was legit for himself, and he used video to illustrate his points with said problems. But only 1 hour spent on a broken machine was insufficient to judge game play. As such, I’d recommend he find a working game and one where the DemoG shot is makeable. Yeah he shouldn’t have to go to that effort, but he can note that it is rarely seen dialed in and go from there. Then spend at least 5 hours behind one, a short but sufficient window.

By then he will have discovered a few nuances with the rules and maybe a prem or LE will pop up and that he can try. Bottom line is CaryH wrote STh off before giving it a chance. Had he done so he still might have reached the same conclusion BUT at least that would have been an informed position. Oh no, guess that means expect one more video.

Why because he is dead on with his comments and you are a + + + + + fanboy.

My impression is that Cary was a bit pessimistic from the start, and playing the game wouldn't have changed his mind.

But- I have to say, I actually enjoyed watching his thoughts and going into so much detail. But, I also think he should have balanced it out with things he thoughts were good because it came off as biased.

But I did watch his video on TMNT and I have to admit, it was interesting to hear him talk about it because normally this kind of video would totally bore me but I kept agreeing with what he was saying and really hope he's correct about the machine.

I'll keep watching him from time to time I think.

C. Hardys vid is his opinion of his time playing. He does not have to love it or hate it. I do think he played a bum machine and that is to bad.

He does a good job on his vids in my opinion. Definitely worth watching if you have some free time or not.

More pinball is a good thing.

First time watching any of his videos.. he seemed pretty fair to me.

I was using the pinguy app and an analog inclinometer but recently bought this one

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07R12DZQ9

I got it yesterday and just tried it out. I had set the machine originally to what I thought was 6.2 degrees using pinguy app but the digital one was saying 5.9 degrees. So using the digital one I set it to 6.5 on the dot. On my ipad pinguy app was telling me I was at 6.3 degrees. Tried calibrating and redid it but still said the same. Put the glass back on and played a game and hit the demogorgon 3 times in a row in the same game. I have never done that. Flipper power currently set at 225

Here's where my bubble looks when showing 6.5 on meter
IMG_20200129_113426403 (resized).jpgIMG_20200129_115349009 (resized).jpg

You cracked the code of 99% of YT

Can someone please explain what is wrong with those GI lights (bottom left):

My Maiden and Metallica also have some flickering GI lights. Both had less than 300 plays when this started happening.

I actually find nearly all videos of people yapping on and on unwatchable.

So That’s where I’ll put the inclinometer then would be on the playfield and not where the bubble level is ? I’m kind of confused as to where I’m supposed to set the thing

Anyone have a Beatles Gold they want to trade for a Stranger Things Pro? Has 153 plays on it.

Bulb loose?

Yes probably. Even though mine has bayonette based leds and I have tried to wiggle them. They will work for a while and then it comes back.
I mean this should not be happening on brand new games? Seems to be very common.

I just played for the first time at lunch and I really thought it shot well, which is pretty much expected from an Eddy game with a fan layout. A couple of things that were unexpected at least for me.

1. The demigorgon shot was hard but makable on the example I played. I'd guess I could get it in 1 out of 5. That said this is a dangerous shot and it is only worth 5M. It is possible to stack it with the mode, including modes where you need to hit drop targets but that is impossible when the ramp is down. With the current code and scoring I can see it might be a reasonable strategy to just let this time out and continue to mode after when you need to hit the drops. This seems odd, given the importance of the demigorgon to the theme and this is the main toy in the game. I think this could be improved and probably will be with code.

2. A lot of the points seemed to be hitting targets in the upside down mode. Seemed to be very unbalanced towards this one mode which starts randomly.

I have tried using one of those fan dangled devices, bought one, used it, played the game and hated how it played. I have since tossed the inclinometer and now set up all my games based on feel. Admittedly it takes a bit of screwing around with the leg levellers but at least i get it dialled in my way.

A lot of points are in the modes but don't count out the demogorgan shot. Just because the first one is only 5 mil doesn't mean the second and third modes are not valuable. The second mode, once you take out two of them, provides you with jackpot shots in each of the major shots and can be worth a lot of points. Right now you can't timeout the demogorgan. You have to complete it or drain to end the mode

I imagine the upside down hurry up will be reduced in the next update. I think it starts at 30 mil if you can get all 4 targets very fast and counts down from there. It is very short but I usually get about 15 mil from it. I just finished a 400 mil game and the upside down did not count for much of that at all. Maybe unbalanced for short 30 mil games but not the longer ones

That pretty much sums up every 'podcast/youtube/review'.

NO SHIT!?!

I must be playing a freak machine off the line. I’m hitting the Demo pretty much first shot every time.
I love the music, the lighting and sound effects, the heart pumping Upside Down.
It’s fast, smooth and easy to understand.
This is easily my favourite Spike pin to date.

It just hit me that if you're in Australia is the upside-down the rightside-up and the usual state is upside-down?

That dad style joke is the Strangest Thing I have heard in awhile.

I'll be here all week. Tip your hostess on the way out...

Cary is a great guy, like he says its his opinion.
He might not be a croud pleaser, but thats what i like.
Wish Gary Stern would hire him.

no one can deny that stern should be delivering better constructed machines.
Dont get me wrong, they have great games. But the rush them out the door quality is just rediculous!
At least tighten dem nuts and bolts

Ha! It is certainly "dad style"... and I certainly enjoyed it.

The game debut in the top 100 was something like 117, then it dropped again to the mid 150's now its on the brink of dropping out of the top 200 sitting at 198. Its time to just admit the obvious... this game is a disaster!

I keep saying it who cares about the projector, the game itself isn't fun. Nothing else matters.

The playfield art isn't good, there isn't really anything happening, lots of problems. Honestly its time to just move on and see what's next!

If there was EVER a time for JJP to go ahead and release GNR it is RIGHT NOW!

Take advantage RIGHT NOW during this BLACK GAP! (Nothing in sight for 8 weeks)

What are they waiting for they could own the conversation for the next 8 weeks if they dropped the game RIGHT NOW!

Stern fumbled the ball, pick it up and run it into the endzone! Lets go JJP change the conversation from a disaster to who knows but now is the time.

BTW if anyone even cares at this point I heard Stranger Things LE goes into productions this Friday.

stern screwed up this release pretty badly. i mean it stranger things. could have sold thousands of cabinets with christmas lights.
i dont think its going to be easy to turn this around. they should really try though as to gain marketing experience cause there is always one more turd around the corner. it feels to my that stern runs away from a new pin when it doesnt hit a home run out of the box. i dont know if its an ego thing they did the same thing with black knight. announcing iron man ve while sthng is still being shipped is pretty bad.

I understand Stranger Things isn't one of your perfect 10 game like Scared Stiff or CFTBL. Still at 5.5 you ranked it above Tron LE (4.7), Star Wars (4.6), and Fathom (2.6). It may not be as good as TWD (6) in your eyes but I had fun playing it, love the theme, and am looking forward to seeing how the code develops.

I would disagree with this. A lot of games got crapped on by pinside on release (Iron Man, TWD, BM66, Beatles, SW), and turned out to be great - or at least games that I enjoy for whatever that is worth. Stern also releases major updates to code years after release (Kiss, Ghostbusters, GoT, ACDC, Met) even though some of those games were considered mediocre at first.

Yeah, but you must understand that these kind of issues occur in the first run of the production. I guess stern will make alterations to the next production batch so customers will get a more robust machine. That's the price of being the first to own a new machine.

I'm very curious on the stories on how Stern handles these complaints. People tend to only shout the negatives but forget to mention the positives.

Loving playing my Stranger Things, but the feed out of the left hand orbit is dropping the ball plumb into the middle of the left sling. Means the mystery/eb lane and the demogorgon shots are very risky because the resulting soft feed into the left orbit, will dump the ball into the slings and the player will often outlane drain before they get a shot at the feature they have just started.

My game is level and pitched correctly.

Is there any known way to tidy this return feed up so that the ball is returned to the flipper instead of the slings?

A bit harsh. Ratings mean nothing, lots of people likely rating it who don’t own or never played it. Ill rate a game, but never really pay attention to the ranking. It’s actually a fun game and for me personally, I haven’t had any notable issues. I do wish they did a better job with the demo shot, airballs and flipper strength, but it’s all easily adjustable. I also wish they did a better job with code, clearly this and Elvira were rushed out. I mean for gods sake, the house turret isn’t even coded yet in Elvira, a major mech. That’s really unacceptable. St game play is similar to afm, but the modes are better than afm. The game has potential, but games need to stop being rushed out the door, first impressions mean a lot.

Adjust your sling so it’s less sensitive. I had same issue on Elvira, drove me crazy until I fixed it.

That couldnt hurt, but I feel like the ball shouldn’t touch the sling at all, It should go onto the flipper.

He rates 13 games as perfect 10.000. Then for 25 pins, he goes Soviet Judge and rates below 6.5 and down to 2. I'd take this w/a grain of salt.

He also stalks anyone who gives him a down vote and goes through their post history and down votes their posts as revenge. Damaged goods, this one is.