Thanks Mike. Yeah definitely wanting the uv kit.

Premium all day. I have never played the pro and I’m sure it’s a ton of fun but there’s just so much going on with this projector that I couldn’t imagine staring at stickers. If it’s all I knew I would be more than happy with it.

I went for the Le and couldn’t be happier. Zero regrets. Love the purple, shaker, hd glass , art blades etc.... by the time you add that to a premium..... $$$ le is great

Pre/LE look amazing, but I've had the Pro since Jan. 2020 and absolutely love it. Still enjoy it today like the day I brought it home - I have over 1,200 games on this (mostly mine)... Installed the UV kit recently, and it's definitely a next-level upgrade.

Def wish I had a projector. TK lock sounds like it would just piss me off.

Same here. I got my pro in January 2020 and even with all the issues I've had with mine I still love it and I have almost 4,000 games on it mostly me. I've had the UV kit since it was released though. Definitely a mandatory upgrade

IMO (which actually means nothing), I chose the Prem. I believe the projector is a must for me, but honestly, it was the overall art package on the game that did it. The Prem package looked better overall; from the cabinet to the translight (though I do wish it was mirrored). As for the other “upgrades”...meh. I bought the tilt graphics blades - which I find much better. I purchased a shaker, the UV kit, the UV shooter rod, Hopper’s suv, Billy’s Camaro, some ULEK store Hawkins signs, cool speaker lights...
***disclaimer - I don’t have the game in my possession yet. Told Player1 I’d wait for the back ordered UV Stern add-ons before they ship my game; that way I’d get them all at once. Have all the mods ready to go though! Lol

LOL!!! That's what I had said too. And then changed my mind last week. I figured I'd get time to tweak it so that when all the add-ons come in I could just add them and continue playing. Turns out no tweaking was necessary. Everything works as intended but flipper fade is a reality on this game - reminds me so much of LOTR. Ordered my flipper cooling kit.

Is bob somewhere in game? He is an hero!

His image is in the pop bumper area. I think that's it though.

I thought they were out of stock? I looked on pinside and on pinmonk's page and both show sold out. I need to get one also because I really noticed the fade the other night after playing for about 2 hours.

All, super late to the game on this...interested in a NIB Premium but looks like they are pretty much sold out (although a few price gougers out there). So question is, what do you all think of the Pro? Really like the projector and really, really want TK lock, but is the Pro acceptable (or more than acceptable?) fun and fine theme integration? I could always wait for a used premium but kinda want to move on this for wife's birthday!

Check with Jason at Classic Gamerooms. I bought mine there a couple of weeks ago, including a UV kit. He had around 10 STh prems and 3 UV kits on hand at the time. Great pricing too.

Of course the Pro is acceptable. But to me, the projector is the single most distinguishing Pro vs. Premium feature on any Stern. It's so central to the theme and the vibe, that I just wouldn't give it up. It's not just the main screen. All the targets, drops, and ramps have projections on them. Seeing the drops change to show each successive word that you need to spell is awesome. To see things animate across the standup targets is cool. To see the ramps showing an animated "JACKPOT" during multiballs is cool. They even project the mode timer onto one of the ramp side panels so you don't have to look up (I'm assuming it's on the LCD too?). No other game has a projector like this.

Also, with the new adjustable ramp cover, the TK lock is reliable and is a really cool effect. It obviously catches/locks balls for multiball, but it also catches them during multiball for double jackpots. Really neat.

If you already know you want those features, I wouldn't sacrifice them. If you don't really care for some reason, or you need to / want to save the money, then go Pro.

Got my order in a few weeks ago just before they shut it down for the switch to the new style. They just shipped it last Friday though.

I got mine from pinballlife 2 weeks ago

Try Pinballs.com. There located in Ct. Ordered 3 NIB from Mike. No problems at all.

I'll probably get flamed for this, but I have the Pro and don't think the projector is that much of a game changer. The real game changer is the UV kit, which works on both models. That along with my sound mod make it a great experience.

I agree

Still experimenting with projector improvements.

Finally found a material that works very well on the ramps (already ordered more to do the whole machine). Darkstar 9 by Elite Screens.

Video clip shows both a piece on the ramp and moving one around on the main screen. Both show multiple angles. This material looks great at every angle (must be turned the proper way--spinning 90* will make it dark [an ambient light rejecting feature]).

EDIT: Added a pic of each side during MB.

20210310_155700 (resized).jpg20210310_155743 (resized).jpg

You will never get flamed! All you do is make everything better!!

This might sound stupid but with the projector screens is there anything specific I should use to clean it??? Drop targets and ramps could use a cleaning.

I agree. I was all in on a premium or bust until I played an LE last weekend. The projector is neat but I was over it in two seconds. In fact I thought the coolest moment of the projector was when it showed the pro graphic... I think what I didn’t realize until I played it is that there is still the LCD screen, so the game still feels alive because of it. In fact what I would miss the most is the demagorgon not moving, I thought it was awesome how it was moving when the ramp came down.

Your video is private and can't be seen.

Just changed it to public. Was trying to avoid it being public as I won't be offering anything (thought having the link would let it be seen, but had never tried before). Just an idea for DIY. First material I've tried that really seems to do a magic trick here.

Chuck makes a good point. Honestly, everyone wants to feel good about the decision they made for whatever model they chose. Most of the pro folks are naturally going to say "yeah projector is no big deal and overpriced" while most of the prem folks are going to say "man can't live without the projector, really makes the game". It's a debate that will never be resolved. Everyone makes their own decision, own it.

It's like cars - the reason there are so many options, trim levels, models etc. is because the value judgments vary so much. Stern is just giving us those choices.

Sure I guess, I don’t own any of them...

I owned a pro for almost a year which I traded for a premium a month ago.
I feel like the pro played a little better but that might be all in my head.
I have no regrets upgrading to the premium as it adds so much immersive ness to the game.

I'm officially joining the club! Just ordered a NIB Premium w/UV kit from Jason at Classic Game Rooms.

He had the UV kit in stock?

How are you guys sticking the screen material on the game. I was going to order some samples but wasn’t sure how it gets installed

I talked to Jason a couple weeks ago and he said he was holding his UV kits for sale with his NIB’s. He wasn’t selling them standalone.

They have 15 kits on order said they will ship in a couple weeks.

That’s what I figured he was doing. Smart move on his part!

The pro I played at the local bar funneled nearly every ramp shot to the mouth of the demo. I scored 180M on a What’s That mode. I bought the premium and after about 1 million hours dialing it in, an absolutely perfect ramp shot goes in the mouth, the other 90% of the ramp shots bounce off the demo.

That being said, I wouldn’t trade my premium for anything. Projector and TK lock are incredible! And if I was a better player, the demo mouth shot would be incredible too!

Thanks for the honesty!

I played pro on location couldn't get into. finally said heck with it and picked up a prem. This game needs to be enjoyed alone, not in a loud arcade. Id be happy either way.

I completely agree. This game in any form is a personal experience and needs to be in a dark and quiet room....man that sounds a little creepy...but it is what it is.

I agree, it's unlike any other game I've played. Just dripping in this atmosphere that you don't get at all on location.

Just installed a shaker and while I generally love shakers, they aren’t needed or warranted in all games. It’s awesome in this game.

Have Billies Camaro and Hoppers Bronco. How are you guys mounting it and I want to add some LEDs and tie into the flashers on the ramps. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Since you’re not selling it I don’t mind asking, how did you find just the screen material and how are you adhering it to the plastics/metal? I did a search and all I could find were $3000 retractable movie screens. Looks incredible by the way!

In a dark room with the only the projector and the UV kit the game is magical. I have really been surprised how much the projector adds. The pro plays awesome for sure. I think someone could be happy with either game. Just play!

I've got a couple different kinds of double sided adhesive sheets coming in today that I'm going to give a shot. Provided it works out well, I'll make another update on where I'm at with it and what I did.

For the thin stand up targets, I'll likely use a firmly padded mounting tape for better application over the rivet, and hopefully longer life against wear.

Likely still be another week or so before I get the rest of the material.

Samples of Darkstar 9 are available for $16 each, buy they're rather small. I'll have 5 sheets total to mess with and will see what's necessary to do everything. https://shop.elitescreens.com/store/p127/Sample_Screen_Material.html

Looks promising! How are you attaching the Darkstar to the ramps and main screen?