I still have the box from my MET premium. I removed the staples from the top of the box and slid the machine out from that end after laying it down. I've got plenty of room in the garage, so it's not a burden keeping it around for a while.

I would have about 15. 3 more on the way. They do make a great fire.

Have my LE paid in full and hope to see it here in a week or two. Getting very excited. Check out the poster that’s going on the wall next to it.

I also had an idea: why is the demogorgon on the pin just the head/mouth? I picked up a Pop/Funko Demogorgon at the comic book shop and am wondering why couldn’t it look like this? Arms and legs and body with still the ability to shoot the mouth. And, while we’re at it, couldn’t stern figure out a way to have the demogorgon on some sort of hinge so that all shots push him back slightly, then back towards you, then when he’s hit enough or you make it in the mouth, he shakes a bunch and then falls backwards as if he died? The next time you battle him, he springs back up?
Just spit balling.

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youve been waiting! excited for you

Thanks Definitely tons of excitement in the house. My son can't wait. First thing I'll be doing is checking the pop post mech and one way gate to see if there have been any changes since mine is supposed to have been built this last week. Will post pics once I get it.

Pardon my ignorance but what is the pop post gate and why would it change? Just curious. Ive noticed the right orbit gets a little sketchy unless you hit it just right, but not sure if this is what you are referring too.

The pop post thing is the ball stop post on the pro on the left ramp. It's been coming loose because it is not pinned and popping out. The one way gate near the demegorgan has been coming loose because it's cut too short causing balls to forever lock. I'm guessing both of those issues are easy to resolve on the line so hoping they have been looked at a month into manufacture.

I gotcha, ill check mine when im home later today. Mine was manufactured on the 14th, so technically not first run. I havent played a TON, but quite a bit, no issues, and never got 1 ball stuck outside of user error, I accidentally put the right ramp back on incorrectly, so when I hit the left orbit and it circled to the right, it got caught at the ramp lip, completely my fault.

Also, I am sure this is normal but if you are moving the out lane posts you cant remove them even after taking off the bottom nut, TIGHT. A deep 1/4" nut driver, or deep well 1/4" socket removes them easily. Probably common knowledge for most, but lets just say the ones on my Metallica are pretty eaten up.... needle nose pliers are NOT a substitute tool in pinball as they are in many other applications, lol.

On the topic of hitting the demogorgon, and I know this is useless for most, as im sure many machines have slight variations. With the naked eye, the ball was hitting high, so I took some slow motion vids. In reality, it was skimming the bottom lip, bouncing up hitting the upper lip which again, could not be seen with the naked eye. So in my case, turning the flipper power up to around 200 helped, but im still skimming the bottom lip, but it tends to have enough momentum to go in.

Eagerly waiting on someone with more experience to run into this and share their thoughts, but I certainly dont want to monkey with it without proper resources.

Broken record alert : adding damage kills will take away 90 percent of the frustration with this game, and take it to the next level.

What is stern doing about the defective lock post and gate? Have they changed their design yet?

I get mine Thursday and will let you know

Good to know. My munsters it was not a huge deal to move the posts as they just popped out after unscrewing it.

Checking in with the club as a location player. The Barcade in Philly brought in a Stranger Things a couple of weeks ago and it's the most hooked I've been on a pin since TNA. And that's with an effectively unmakeable Demogorgon shot. Hoping that gets adjusted at some point and definitely looking forward to code updates, but even in its current state I am having a blast. Thinking about going back tonight for more!

I did two things that helped.
1. I put a small washer under the left post buy the drop targets that the ramp flap assembly rest on. That lifted the hing point just enough that I could make the shot. Now the tricky part was slightly adjusting the switch for the ramp. There is a fine point to get it to sit flush. It took some tinkering and at points I didn’t know if I was ever going to get it ha ha. I have heard the one guy that shimmed up the whole thing put it’s a pain because you have to remove ramps and all that to get to the 4 screws.
2. The demogorgons front rest on a hex post. Mine was a bit far off of it and I found that the wires going to him were tight and keeping him pulled backwards. So I gave it some slack and he tilted forward a bit more.
Hope this helps and works.

Hi everybody,
i`m located in germany (bavaria) and i get my StrangerThings/Pro last week.
Awesome machine...I like it, really.
BUT: Demogorgon-Shot impossible!! 30 times 40times... F***!
By the way, i`ve got a playfield protector (for a little bit "dimple-security", only a little...)

And now my solution: Power (FlipperFingers) to 240 (left/right), and the shot is much easier.
Power 180-190 ---> no chance to hit his mouth. 240 ---> it works!

Machine works properly.

what incline do you have it set at? Flipper power is going to be highly dependent on playfield angle I would think. I asked Mike Vinikour what tips he had in the last stream for it 1:09:17 into the stream https://www.twitch.tv/videos/535665069. Level playfield, 6.5 degrees. Mike answers about 1:11 and he says that if it is hitting high to reduce flippers a little and to make sure the ramp is sitting flush when it is down cause that can make the ball hop if it's not flush when down.

Not sure; mine isn't defective...Come to think of it; my Pro works perfectly...Isn't this thread for Stranger Things Owners???

This is my favorite post.

Looks like LE's are imminent! Payments are being collected by distributors now.

He is an operator and is getting one. Why be a dick about it?

I paid in full since two weeks back. Does that mean I get it first?!

This is why SDTM is my favorite pinball youtube channel. The wire trick is some great low hanging fruit! I too had a gap between the demo and the post. First game 3/3 in the mouth! Highly recommended.

The dimples on my playfield looks like their starting to smoothen out a little! Starting to blend in maybe?

the dimples do start to even out. I remember after the first 50-100 plays on my munsters I was really concerned about them but now after almost 1500 plays I have to bend down and really try to find them with the light. They are there but not noticeable while I'm playing. This machine definitely has more air balls due to the demo hit than my munsters and you will see some deeper dimples in that. Probably as bad as the ghostbuster machines a good while back with the slimer mech and those dreaded pop targets. I just recently saw on the playfield protector thread that a guy with the ghostbusters machine even a thick extra piece of plastic over the entire playfield didn't stop the dimples.

You have to remember that all of these materials are less dense than the steel balls flying around. While it is an eye sore at first it will look better over time

What I am more concerned about is the metal. The demo ramp on the one near me has some pretty nasty dings in it visible when the ramp is down. The metal ramp transitions are also quite dented. I really hope Stern provides cheap replacements for those metal parts cause I can see me replacing them once it gets to be a huge eyesore. Those transitions will be a real pain to replace at some point. The main ramp should be pretty easy assuming there are replacement ramps available

Any word on when PRE are going to ship? I'm about to jump out of my skin!

Just means you paid way before stern actually needed the payment from distributor. :p

Probably not until late feb early March.

Picking up a Stranger things on Thursday!! Excited! It will be home for a few days then go on route at my local brewery.

Mine is on this picture somewhere. I'll have to wait for a vast 2 weeks i'm afraid.

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Man that’s awesome! Glad it worked! Makes the game so much more enjoyable. And thank you for the kind words!

LE should be any day now!

I couldn't find the wire fix in the video.. Can you post pics of what you did?

Pardon my terminology. First things first get your head down low and look under the demogorgon, there is a tiny chrome post that limits the forward motion of the toy. In my case there was a small gap, so if i pushed the back of the demogorgons head it would come forward, ever so slightly. Releasing it, would result in it "springing" back. Now look at the back of the demogorgon, there is a wire connected to it, that routes down through the bottom of the playfield. I personally didnt go under the playfield, but just gently pulled this wire up so that it gives some slack. The demogorgon should then rest freely on the post, rather than leaving slack.

Hope this helps.

Mine has arrived and is in the house. I'm just waiting for the glass to no longer be freezing cold before I pull it from the machine and complete setup. My wife and son are both home sick with the flu and this definitely brought their spirits up. Also funny I went to try and find the code update and it wasn't on the main page. Had to search for it. Appears they put it under 2019 year lol

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LOL, powered up and it's got the latest code on it but everything is in austrian. Trying to find the language menu setting. Mine is NOT showing the 48 volt warning on start up. Only when I open the coin door

Wow, so its upside down and down under at the same time. Unsure how to handle that.

At 180 and 190 flipper strength, could not make demo shot. Upped to 210 and it’s better and still no airballs. Going to raise it incrementally from here to find the sweet spot of limited airballs and consistent demo shots. At stock 255 I hit it consistently, but too many airballs.

All up and running. It does look like the one way gate was modified from pictures that I have seen. The slack outside the mount is at least 4-5mm in length. It's not easy to see the end of the ball stop. Will take a look when I don't have my son breathing down my neck to play it Started at 200 for flipper power and we have not made the demo shot yet but neither of us were accurate in the shot on the first game. I would not have expected any of mine to go in from where they were hitting. Looking forward to many games today on it.
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I love how you have the vpx version next to it.

I like your feedback about 210, im hovering around the same and finding the same. At that power I personally noticed the ball hitting low, as sounds to be your case as well. Have you tried the wire slack trick Hollywoodbone suggested? It certainly helped me. Ive never hit it so consistently since ensuring the demo is resting on the post from underneath it. The wire if too snug, restricts its movement.

I've been messing with my demo as well and you really do have to find the sweet spot between power and pitch for the machine. For me it ended up being exactly 6.5 degrees and 195 both flippers. My son made two shots in a row and I've made about 5 but not in a row yet The second demogorgon after you drain the two balls in him you have to shoot the every shot as they are all lit. My son was so excited he shot it twice he drained right away so not sure if those lit shots are jackpots or what but you are clearly still fighting him in that multiball

I took a look at the left ramp ball lock rod thing and it has not changed on mine. Same press fit.

The VPX one is great. Been holding us till the real one came in

Agreed, once my son is done playing with it and I get a chance to take the glass off again

Anyone else finding the right out lane “clunky”. If I hit it just right it goes up and into the pop bumpers , but many times it will rattle around. Hard to explain.

It does look narrow. I’ll see what others are saying. Maybe it’s an easy fix.

So my son was hitting the demo but I was still unable to drain one. He also started to have a dry spell. We've seen it go in probably 15 times since we got it setup but I wouldn't say it was easily makeable. I guess he's much better than me lol. I asked the guy I bought from if he had any suggestions and he said the biggest thing he's found is that the bubble needs to be between the lines.

So I took a look at my pitch again. I set it to 6.5 with an inclinometer but the bubble looked like the attached.

I made the adjustment to my machine to get it between the lines. It meant closing the rear levellers completely and bringing the front up about 4 full turns. That got just the tip of the bubble on the top line. I'm not taken the glass off yet to see what that is at but the first shot I took I made. Then second, third, missed fourth (bad shot), and landed the fifth.

It does make the game a bit more floaty though. Going to play with pitch some more to see if I can find a middle ground between floaty and making it reliably.

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