The more the merrier in the club thread. Tell your friends! Haha

Guys, I'm a Christian, believe in God and Jesus and go to church on Sundays.

This isn't the place for it. It's a forum for a pinball machine lol.

Some Christian's are just super sensitive on this topic, look, I get it. But there's a time and place and a thread about a Stranger Things pinball machine isn't it.

I take it this started it.

The way I read this is that many people use that as a saying without any negative intention. Same way people say "Jesus Christ!' when certain things happen. I give Levi a pass here.

I think many of us Christian's need to relax and stop being so sensitive. Makes us look bad.

I get ya. Enjoy your day.

Thanks man you as well and have an awesome weekend

Pass the scotch iceman44

What in the wide world of sports are you talking about???

Pinball was created by the devil, so I'm surprised any true religious people would even touch it.

"Stranger Things projector? I haven't seen anything this faint since the Shroud of Turin!"

There is so much more that can be taken offensively in your statement than anything posted by Levi. Leave your nut-bag B.S. out of this forum and spew it somewhere else. Carry on Levi.

OMG I don't know what to say anymore.

Stranger Things Holy Ghost Trinity Projector Easter Egg!

There..back on topic.

It wasn't just a shift from one to the other... routes were shrinking, the fixed location arcades were going away, etc. Fighting games, games like NBA jam, etc were booming, but within a shrinking footprint. TZ was peak of 'excess' and it's complexity and cost to operate turned away players and ops. Pinball had lost it's simplicity and 'walk up and play' appeal.. and it was largely a downhill roll from there.

Next Gen consoles hurt location play probably more than anything.

This isn't the place to talk about your imaginary friends in the sky. Asking random people on the internet to cater to your individual beliefs is pretty arrogant in itself, and is not a good look for your tribe.

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Using obscene euphemisms that include references to Jesus and God in an attempt to sound cutting-edge and forceful is not a good look for your tribe.

I mean..I get it, I think the guy needs to come down a few pegs in his dramatic rhetoric, but this was hardly the breaking point.

I came to this thread to get some insight for a friend who is interested in this pin, never mind I forgot where I was at for a second, now back to listening to Macho podcasts

Macho podcasts are all you need to know about this pin.

Welp, we're now at 0% chance Stern is going to include the Stairway to Heaven Backwards Wizard Mode in the Zeppelin pin.

Thanks guys.

Well, I think we can look at the recent 10-15 posts or so and come to a simple conclusion...

We've ran out of things to complain about the game at this point

Not complaining, but I am anxiously awaiting for the code to mature. I really want to like this game. The music is incredible so far.

I came to this thread to learn about Stranger Things pinball and learned that I have daddy issues and then became a born again Christian.

What would be your favorite and least favorite things so far? I respect your opinion a lot man - so i'd love to hear your honest take on it so far.

Back on topic of the game. I think it's cool Stern tried something new by using a projector. However, my opinion is that at this price point, I'm not that interested in a non-physical gimmick which doesn't interact with the ball. LCD screens on the playfield impress me more and work well in all lighting scenarios.

At a 1/4 the price, if I wanted a screen projected on the playfield, ramps, bumpers and have virtual interaction with the ball, I'll play Pin2k.

I recently bought a Star Wars Episode One pin, just because I could. It's popularity here has been a big surprise to me. My wife was shocked she actually really enjoys it (hates the movie) and says it's probably a long term keeper. The other night my 19 year old daughter had friends over to watch movies and I let them have the basement. I heard her male friend exclaim, "Now *that* is really cool. That's wild!", when first seeing the pin.

I don't see the same wow factor with Stranger Things' projector feature.

Maybe you should drop to one knee and propose. Either way thanks for the lunch break laugh.

I think many of us are truly interested to see where this goes and if it gets better...there just isn't enough information to really talk about it. Throw Sterns history into the mix and the outlook is dim.

Back to the topic at hand.
I consider myself a newbie even though I have lucked into collecting a few of my favorite themes over the past couple of years.
Trying to talk the wife into getting a Stern Stranger Things as we love the show!
I am hesitant though because of what I've read about the excessive dimpling and pooling (whatever that is).
Thoughts?

Ultimately you have to ask yourself if you like Stranger Things enough to have a 6k paperweight. That is worst case scenario. For most people, the dimpling and pooling isn't really a 'play' issue. It's a cosmetic/resale issue. The same people who say it isn't an issue, are the same ones who will try to drive the price down if they were to buy one with these 'non issues'.

You cannot expect Stern (or apparently even the devs) to be honest about it now as they've clearly stated it's normal. It may be less of an issue for operators, but it is a completely different story for the home use market. A market where people spend thousands to bring old games into like new pristine condition...and stay that way.

Its like politics, opinions are split 50/50 here. My opinion says I ain't touching a nib stern for a long time and I've bought plenty in the past. My collection proves I'm not a stern hater so take it for what its worth... jack shit.

if i wanted the pin i would just buy it and not worry. most people buy a nib pin complain about the pooling and the dimpling and never even keep the pin over 6 months and go on to the next new pin. so you pay 6000 for a pro with shipping and play it for a year and sell it for 5000 or trade it for another pro of same value, not a bad deal. you spent 1000 on a toy. if you bought an atv a jetski or any other crap you would probably take a 40 percent hit in a year so the same 6000 you would get 3600, maybe. plus the pins seem to sell right away and doesnt take a month or more to sell.
if you are a pack rat and going to keep it for 30 years then worry.

Its fast, similar to AFM in terms of starting modes. I did grew tired of AFM after about a year though. The Demogordon shots are dangerous for SDTM so use ball save and other mutliballs modes to knock down. I like all the different modes from the movie, seem to be randomized for each side. (red or yellow inserts). The Demogordon is a makeable shot, play better. Inner loop modes are cool, more movie clips. Spell Demodog and I think there are 3 different modes for that. Lots of modes. The music is so cool plus subwoofer. The callouts to date are worse than the hillbilly from TWD. I was going to sell TWD just because of that until the custom sound updates came out. The other thing I have going on is JP is kicking my ass, so ST is much more of a shottable game for me right now.

I thought religious talk was immediate reason for post deletion/moderation?

If not, please make it so. It is a sure fire way to ruin/ further ruin any thread.

According to the 'we ordered it so we have to talk good about it' thread, the thread was ruined long before that. It's pretty much all they talk about over there.

Do all the Sterns have these playfield issues? When did they start?
Thinking of picking up an ACDC Lucy edition but don't want to get hosed with the playfield getting torn up in short order.

Luci is good (thank you massive plastic window for the mini playfield).

Luci is great. Can't go wrong with that one if you don't hate AC/DC.

My first attempt to play was a failure. The ball kept getting stuck by the demigorgan (?). Couple that with the cheap SDTM drains and it made for a disappointing experience.

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should normally roll easily to the right there... that game needs some tweaking.

I noticed in the latest code update that there is now a flipper adjustment for strength. When I played the pro at league this week I noticed the game being way to fast. When I hit the ramps they would zip through them too fast in my opinion. The demo shot was also not makeable due to the speed the ball was going off the ramp and smacking him in the face. I wonder if the flipper adjustment will be the fix for this game as far as the demo shot being makeable? I wonder if those games that are makeable had different flipper strengths coming out of factory and that's why some individuals were not having any issues. We should be getting the premium on location next month. Looking forward to it!

Did you read what I actually wrote. I said video games were what killed pinball in the 90’s. It did. I said the pin section got smaller and smaller denoting a gradual decline. Then everyone was inside playing X box.

TAF and TZ were outliers in the B/W lineup sales wise. If you look at the B/W sales numbers 2 years before and after the releases of TAF and TZ they are similar up and down sales depending on title with no very high sales. No immediate sales decline after TZ based on all the other early 90’s titles except excluding TAF. TZ was complicated and broke down more but it was just one machine in a sea of other simple machines for the general public to get into. That one machine had zero effect on the decline in pinball. Again go look at the sales numbers in the B/W chronological list. You will see consistency in the sales numbers from 1990-1997 with the exception of TAF and TZ. The numbers in the last two years dropped off the cliff. Right about the time the arcades around me were closing and next gen home consoles were taking over. It was video games alone IMO that sealed the fate of pins in the 90’s. Even if B/W may have made TZ more complicated than they needed to it had zero to do with the decline. Zero.
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more accurately... the game needed to be built better

I am trying to talk my wife into other things - and it isn't pinball

Anyway, I am concerned about:

1. The projector on this title a lot
2. The demogorgan toy - I think it would have been better to have a full figure and a hole in the chest that you shoot the pinball into. I would just look so much better to be honest. I wonder if a mod can be done to replace it to a figure instead of the head/mouth.
3. Hate to say it, but I am still not convinced that the PF issues are resolved.

I love the art, movie assets, and layout so far.

ACDC premium vaults have had minor pooling issues but nothing like Munsters and Jurassic park.

Exactly why I'm leaning toward not buying any new Stern at this point even though again, I love this theme.
The Stern playfield talk that I've heard is that they "don't make them like they used to".
And until they get their act together, I'll be looking at older titles (2012 and older?) that didn't have nearly the playfield defects these new ones seem to exhibit.

You can get 2012 AC/DC Luci it doesn't have any of the newer issues. You'll get mild dimples, but not craters.

Good idea. If any of these issues bother you, definitely don’t rush to buy. Wait to find a used one you can inspect or just pass completely. You’re setting yourself up for disappoint if you let the excitement of a new game cloud your judgement. Haha

And just to circle back on dimples/craters as you (shapiru) seemed to want clarification on what exactly they are. They are unsightly for sure, but the playfield is still smooth. It certainly looks like they would affect the balls travel, but they don’t. Not sure if that matters to you, but worth pointing out.

When playing premium or LE Stern requires using a Bell + Howell Tac Visor for projected images to be legible on the screen.

Tac Visors will be available in the Stern accessories store. Not sure if they will have limited edition number stickers on them.