At the point of decision, the difference for me was $2200 for the Premium. If I wasn’t planning to put this on location at some point, I might have been tempted. But I think a location Premium would be a headache.

I disagree. If I buy a NIB game, especially one for $9K, that thing needs to work perfectly.

I have been in the hobby a long time. I would strip every single game I bought to the bare wood and I've never had a game that required as much care and feeding as this game. (all of my games were 1992+) The very few NIB games I've bought, were open box, setup, play. No issues.

I can only think of one game ever that I had to work on getting dialed in and it was 1 specific shot. That was Theatre of Magic and the left orbit. Game played fine when I bought it (it was over 10 years old when I bought it), it was when I put it back together that the left orbit had some issues. But I fixed it and it was done. Again, this issue came up after I had taken it apart.

No other game I've owned (and almost all of my games were used) has had issues like this. Don't get me wrong, there were other issues, (Bridge rectifiers and burnt header pins were a common theme on WMS) but ball flow was not an issue.

I've had to rotate and drill new holes for both up-posts on my game because the post would rub against the opening and get stuck. I've had to adjust the left lane guide because ball ejects were going SDTM. I cut the compression spring on the up-post to "slow" the up post so that it doesn't hit the ball. This is a great game but the QC team dropped the ball on this one big time.

And I don't even have the problems that Premium/LE owners have. I love the Pro on this game. You don't lose anything game play wise by going with a Pro. The projector is cool as hell, but to me, it doesn't do anything but ooh and ahh. Magnet...ok. Again, cool if it works, but don't need it. This isn't like Avengers IQ where the Pro is quite different.

My advice....if you are not mechanically inclined do not buy a NIB Stranger Things. Buy a used one that someone else has had to fix.

But after all of this, I still love this game (but I also hate it).

UGH! I wish I had read this thread more carefully before I nose dived into a NIB LE! damn it!

My LE plays great. Demogorgan is spot on. TK lock needed some adjustment, but I often get all 3 balls locked on the backboard/magnet before starting multiball.

You are getting a LE! Be EXCITED!

Look...the game is, IMO, the best Stern game. I am biased towards 90s WMS and this thing is a modern 90s WMS. (It is sooo much like AFM and MM)
What's done is done. Fixing the issues will teach you more about pinball than you ever thought possible. So, don't dwell on the past and enjoy it.

It is really annoying that is for sure, specially when the game is new and you want to play it... I was on the verge of selling it and I actually did try and got some offers to trade but I resisted... I am happy to keep it longer now.

The issues discussed here don’t sound too much different than the ones I had with my GOTLE diverter and 2-level VUK. For me it was worth spending a week getting my GOTLE working right. It’s stayed dialed in for a few years now, so I don’t have to think about it. And you’re all in good hands here with chuckwurt and others on this thread.

Cant be any harder than that damn well walker switch

The worst part of owning my LE is cleaning up all of the spit spray from all of the f bombs, general cursing, and excited yelling through gritted teeth.

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Which is something I don't understand. I had bought a NIB Stern SAM in 2006 and it was perfect. I got an Iron Man original in 2010 that was just out of the box. That too required no adjustments. Is it because Stern is just cutting corners? The price of an LE has far surpassed the rate of inflation compared to what I bought those SAM Sterns for.
If Williams could deliver games that didn't require adjustments in the 90s and Stern could do it in the early 2000s, why can they no longer do that? (Probably a rhetorical question). I guess if people keep buying their games, they can cut costs on QC. Fix the ones where people complain and forget about the others that don't.

How exactly do you know this for a fact? Were you buying NIB Wms games in the 90's?

Operators didn't care. Open box, put game on location. Collect money. They weren't going over their games with a magnifying glass and worrying about where the ball ends up when it comes down the right orbit. If it works good enough it'll make money.

Times have changed, more home buyers now, but the manufacturing is still geared towards industrial/commercial operation and not towards the OCD collector.

Seems like most people expect their pinball machines to behave like a video game. 100% repeatability and no variability whatsoever. Those people should just get digital pinballs. Those always play the same.

Now I'm not excusing the obvious big ticket blunders and incorrect installations. I think as the competition gets more serious maybe we'll see some better QC that's geared towards the collector as opposed to the operator. Stern is still the lowest priced manufacturer right now and I guess we know why they cut corners.

I know a lot of folks use the "If I spend 10,000$ on a pinball it better be perfect" reasoning. Cost has no bearing on this. As it stands, a pinball machine is a commercial piece of equipment that was never intended as a consumer product - otherwise they would have removed the coin doors/income tracking software a long time ago. If the craze/resurgence continues we may see this change.

Nobody wants "home" versions. Everybody wants the real commercial deal but then complain it's not perfect. Can't have it both ways.

The home market is what is killing it right now. Without the home market during Covid, Stern would be in huge trouble.
The LEs are not marketed for commercial. So I am ok with an LE owner having the mentality of "I spent $10K on this, it needs to work". How many pin owners will know how to work on a game? Look at the things I and others have had to do? How many people have the resources to address those? I haven't spent the amount of time fixing ball flow issues on 20 year old routed games, that I've spent on this game NIB. IMO, Stern dropped the QC ball on this specific game.

I was buying games off route. Even after years of being there, they didn't have the PF issues I've been seeing with Stranger Things. And as you mentioned, ops didn't care. Put on location, come back weekly/bi-weekly empty cash box. I had machines that were beat to hell that had no ball flow issues. WMS had far more board issues than Stern. Far more. I am talking about PF. Misaligned up-post. Lane guides that feed SDTM. I never had a WMS with these issues. Even all of my SAM Sterns. I've had a LOTR, TSPP, FG, WPT, IM (original), SpiderMan (original), BDK, Transformers (what was I thinking???) had no issues. None. Ball flowed correctly, coil mechs were properly aligned. I've done PF swaps on WMS games that were just fine after the swap.

The only gameplay PF issues, I recall with my WMS machines were the inlane ball save magnets on ToM didn't always catch the ball (I want to say that someone offered an upgraded sensor to fix this) and the MB Phantom Flip wasn't 100%. That's it. From the good number of WMS games I had, no PF issues that I can recall.

Exactly.

I'm pretty happy that I bought my R&M from someone who had it pretty dialed in.

Sorry if this was discussed before, but what song substitutions have you guys tried and liked? I’ll also check out Cleland’s mix, but I generally like doing my own thing. This would be my “80’s mix” for occasional use (since I like the existing music a lot).

Follow the Compass: “Destination Unknown”, Missing Persons (‘82)
Bullies: “Wanna Be Starting Something”, Michael Jackson (‘83)
Where’s Barb: “Don’t You Forget About Me”, Simple Minds (‘85)
Monster Hunting: “The Warrior”, Scandal (‘84)
Get Me Out: “Love is a Battlefield”, Pat Benatar (‘84)
Operation Mirkwood: “Rock the Casbah”, The Clash (‘83)

Turn Up the Heat: “I’m on Fire”, Bruce Springsteen (‘85)
Lure Dart: “Harden My Heart”, Quarterflash (‘82)
Quarter Hunt: “Pac Man Fever”, Buckner & Garcia (‘82)
Morse Code: “De Doo Doo Doo, De Da Da Da”, Police (‘81)
What Mama Says: “Words”, Missing Persons (‘82)
Save Will: “Owner of a Lonely Heart”, Yes (‘84)

Honorable mentions:

“Urgent”, Foreigner (‘81)
“Heat of the Moment”, Asia (‘82)
“Some Like it Hot”, Power Station (‘85)
“The Boys of Summer”, Don Henley (‘85)
“Never Surrender”, Corey Hart (‘85)
“Photograph”, Def Leppard (‘83)
“I Wanna Know What Love Is”, Foreigner, (‘85)

What's up guys. I'm out of the loop. I haven't been on pinside much lately.

Just wanted to post that I received the telekinesis ramp/lock "fix" from Stern. I asked my distributor to order it for me, and I installed it yesterday on my premium.

I wanted to report to you guys that it absolutely fixed the problems I was having with my TK lock. I couldn't be happier!

If you are frustrated like I was with your TK lock, I highly suggest you order one of these "fix" kits.

Junky

I don't think I know half of these songs or maybe I do but do not know them by name... anyway, this looks interesting to me and would love to see some footage of what it looks like during gameplay.... If you can that would be awesome.

If this was a downloadable image, I would definitely rock this. I've been waiting for an all 80s music mix.

Completely different scenario. You are giving an example of a homeowner to homeowner transaction. My examples were from routed games from an op. Even with your example, you and I (and others on here) are the exception. Most owners will not have corrected these issues.
In the 90s, ops didn't care if the lane guide fed the top of the sling. Nor would they care if the up-post would rub and get stuck slightly. It would "unstick" after a few seconds. Would they fix the up-post nudging the ball a hair which would cause it to come down the lane guide uncontrollably? They definitely wouldn't care if a magnet lock didn't always work. My examples were about routed games I'd get from ops. Ops would never have fixed these issues. And the routed to hell games I'd buy didn't have these issues. Again, WMS had board issues out the wazoo. But PF issues, were nothing.

I am not saying that this is all Stern pins. Seems to be the case with this one. I have a Stern Star Wars that doesn't have PF issues.

We can agree to disagree. I personally think that these issues are unacceptable.

No problem, I’ll just use Limewire to download them.

Being serious, though - this may take me a few weeks. I’m behind the 8-ball with taxes, league prep and projects I need to finish to keep my wife happy.

Or even better.....share the file with us commoners.

Cleland was working on an all 80's mix.

I would love an all 80's mix... where do I get it? is there also a way to minimize the game sounds and bump the music up within the game settings?

Yes, feature adjustments #89 and 90. Set the number lower (negative) to make it louder, higher for quieter. I have 89 set to -5 on mine (louder music).

FWIW I heard from Cointaker, my topper order from 3-24 ETA is now June. If anyone else is waiting as well.

A few days ago this happened a couple times by ricochet off the Demo. Guess I will have to print a diversion spike to sit there and block that spot.
Although now it seems I have solved my Demo shot issue, but I will do it anyway just incase.

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Check out this shot. When I did that, I was thinking....I need a picture of that. I opened the coin door so the ball search wouldn't knock it loose while I went to get my phone

Ball stuck (resized).jpg

He will most likely post it here:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stranger-things-cleland-sound-mod

So I finally have the TK lock at about 70% which is great for me. But when it does reject its always SDTM, also when I go up ramp and dont make it SDTM. I assume theres nothing to be done there and its just part of the risk/reward?

Now that TK lock is working much better and I can hit the Demi shot pretty well im really enjoying this game. Shots feel really smooth when hit. Cant wait for the topper to finish things off.

People can say that these issues are unacceptable, but until people actually stop buying pins because of it, the manufacturers will pretty much continue to think they are doing just fine.

That is something I agree with.

I originally had mine at 6.8 on your suggestion but brought it down to 6.6 as I thought it would help get up the ramp into the lock. Would being steeper help sdtm drains?

Ahhhh, I’m such a douchebag. I didn’t know there was a whole thread about modding the music. I’ll put my suggestions there. And can’t wait to try Cleland’s image tonight. Love the “Don’t Mess Around With Jim” choice!

Yea ill try that. Will first need to figure out how to do that! Hehe im sure thats one of the more easier adjustments.

Man that makes me feel old! I know every song in that list!

Here’s a simply fantastic article in Jalopnik about every vehicle in the show.

https://jalopnik.com/the-cars-of-stranger-things-are-as-perfect-as-the-show-1784727336

Fun fact, I grew up in Kenosha near the AMC plant that was making Gremlins at the time, and I have a crayon drawing of the assembly line to prove it. By 1984 I was rockin’ a ‘77 Olds Cutlass that a lawyer tried to screw me on (he said it had 50k miles and didn’t even bother to take the paperwork out of the glovebox showing service at 110k). He gave me $500 back and we were both happy.

Here’s a really dorky purchase for my game, a replica of Joyce’s Ford Pinto (my dad sold his Corvair in the 70’s and bought us a sensible Pinto station wagon; I’m pouring one out now for my dad’s adolescence)

2311A67E-FE4A-4B01-8298-5B4CC3E52579 (resized).jpeg

I think you'll find out that the pin's code isn't suited for "jukebox modes". It's not as if you usually play a mode all the way thru without interruptions like other games. I find many game events will interrupt a mode song and then start another audio track. Like starting a mode, then getting into a Demogorgon or Demidog mode.

In the Cleland mix, there's a few songs for modes - Whip It during the Quarter mode; another song during Where's Barb....drain shortly after starting the mode, and that's the only bit of the song you'll hear.

Certainly try it out and I'd even be interested in trying out your version if you make it available. I find that using the High Score entry and Match scene for playing songs works nicely. My match scene with the attract videos is very fun while it plays 1min30sec+ of Twist of Fate.

Yes, definitely. I find myself avoiding the drops just so the Demogorgon music doesn’t interrupt the theme song. That also seems like a good scoring strategy anyway, so it works out. But Demodog mode is the biggest cock-blocker: you can’t make any other progress until the mode is over.

Apologies to anyone who got this game a year ago. You’re going to have to endure all of us newbs who just got it, and are in “best game ever” mode.