The blue one looks best to me.

Just read the last month’s worth of posts here, good info and I have a good feel for what to do when I get the game (if I can find one). I’d probably have to sell my JP Pro to finance it and open a slot. I’m not crazy about selling JP, but I’ve had it for 20 months and I’m ready for a lineup change.

My buddy and I played about 20 games today on a location Premium. The sound was almost all the way down, and there were 4 young kids playing a free-play shooter next to us the whole time, but we still really enjoyed it. As an aside it was funny to hear a 6-year-old say “fuck!” And then hear his dad come by later and say “come on, ya little shit stain”. Total Cousin Eddie moment.

The TK lock only worked once to lock a ball to the backboard, but we still got several TK MBs with what I assume were virtual locks. It reminded me of my JM glove that would sometimes just disable itself. Hopefully this one was a fluke. Other than that, man what a fun game! We had several games between 50M and 120M, and then I finally had a 350M game with Total Isolation. I love a pin with an achievable mini-wizard mode (my Stern JP is lacking in that area). Flow was great, and I found all the shots easier than on JP. However it’s still a tough, fast game. Gotta get that Spell of Protection as soon as possible! The right orbit rattles a little, but I still made the shot about 75% of the time. Overall, it’s a well-designed layout. We had 3 ball hangs on the one-way gate leading to the Mystery shot, but I’m guessing there’s a fix for that.

STh will make a great league game. We played EHOH after STh, and yeah it was really pretty and fun, but man what long ball times. Ops should be charging double for EHOH, given the cost and how long it plays.

Yeah, I was very happy to have the chance to pump some dollars into a location STh Premium at My Parents’ Basement in Decatur. It was a popular game while we were there.

Munsters for sure. The ramps are like butter and much easier to hit than on GOTG. Guardians isn’t “clunky”, but it doesn’t flow like Munsters does because the shots are tighter. I don’t own either game (had GOTG for 6 months), but I’ve played a lot of both.

I just read this in a Pinside ad:

“At this point, this game is not on Sterns build schedule to be made again”

How likely is it that Stern won’t run more STh Premiums for the foreseeable future? I’m planning to call my distributor later today to see what’s up. I wouldn’t mind waiting 6-12 months, and it seems unlikely that Stern wouldn’t put this back on the line, given how fast the premiums were snarfed up here in the southeast.

I found a NIB LE nearby, but it’s $11k. Just a bit over the “I can’t afford a divorce” price point. I could sell 2 pins to raise the cash though....

When I upgraded the flipper coils for my LOTR, I bought a few of these heat sinks - they work well.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081636Z2H

This isn’t the exact one I bought, so check your coil width. You can stretch them a bit, but not much.

Those are cool. They filmed the mall scenes 5 miles from my house, good use of a sad dead mall.

I’m looking to join the party with a Premium or LE in the southeast. I’ll go back to lurking in this fine club now.

Check the voltages coming into the main board. It’s possible that the power supply is flaky. Fingers crossed here that’s your issue.

I’m surprised that none of the toppers use the mind flayer (that multiple-tornado-looking thing on the cabinet). There are plenty of demagorgons in the game already.

I got in another 20 games on a location Premium today. I finally got dialed in on that right orbit to the pops, and now I feel like it’s easier than the “O” and “S” shots on my JP. I only got to Total Isolation once, what a great multiball mode. I forced myself to play 3 games on an AFM (a nice one), and I couldn’t wait to get back to STH.

I was able to light extra balls pretty regularly by starting the 3rd mode.

Any pro owners here? I want to join the few, the proud, the brave. I was thinking of replacing the factory ramp sticker with this graphic.

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Nice, thanks all! I look forward to modding the crap out of my pro, especially the A/V thanks to this thread.

Here’s a funny story. I drove about an hour to my new distributor today to get a Pro. He told me a while back that he was out of Premiums and LEs. So after a few frustrating weeks of searching, and dealing with a flaky LE seller in Florida, I talked myself into a pro. I walked into the distributor’s warehouse, and he took me back to an impressive storage area with at least 100 NIB pins, and 12 STH Pros alone. He looks up to the 3rd tier, about 10 feet over our heads, and says “huh, what’s THAT doing there?” There it was, a lone STH Premium.

Long story short, he offered to sell the Premium to me for a reasonable bump over MSRP. But what did I do? I went with the Pro anyway! After getting it home and playing 20-30 games, I’m super happy with my decision. The game already feels perfectly dialed in, and it’s a flow monster. The orbits feed to the flippers without hitting the slings, Burn It Back feels amazing and the saucer feeds Burn It Back at least half the time. The demagorgon shot was perfect for about a dozen games, then it became difficult, so I’ll need to look into that (may need an updated ramp). My game was born February 2020, just before the SHTF with COVID. I couldn’t be happier with it, and I already have a buyer for my Jurassic Park pro (a friend).

Here’s my modest first-day GC (I already moved the outlane posts to the middle position):
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Yes, it’s 1000% worth it. It’s integrated really well.

I like that there are just a few gameplay features unique to the Premium/LE. It should makes scores fairly comparable across all versions, right?

a) lock 2 balls during MB to get 3x scoring (Pro: 1 ball, 2x)
b) swipe a ball for non-TK MB modes (Pro: no swiping)

I had to adjust the switch for Burn It Back on my Pro, but otherwise it’s been perfect so far (knock on wood). My thoughts after the first 40-50 games:

I love the music more than I thought I would. I may still swap in 80’s songs for a few modes, but what’s in there now works really well. The callouts seem fine to me, but I’ll definitely swap out the “X is lit” callouts (thats what the inserts are for, ha). Needs Eleven saying “bitchin’” in there somewhere. And definitely needs a few Erica callouts. “You can’t spell America without Erica”.

The shots are all awesome, there’s not a single one I hate. Right ramp is tight but I’m getting dialed into it. The gameplay really reminds me of IM, which I’ve been missing. Fast, high-adrenaline multiballs. Smooth and repeatable ramps. I like the right orbit shot, now that I’m playing a game that feeds back to the right flipper and not the top of the slings.

The left lock target on the left ramp should have a sign, “this way to right outlane”. Missing that ramp with the right flipper punishes me pretty regularly, as it should. On the other hand, the drop targets are way less punishing than I expected. It’s pretty easy to recover from a quick rebound, since you’re expecting it.

I’m looking forward to getting my UV kit, so I can switch out all the violet GI for white. I really don’t like colored GI. Joyce’s face shouldn’t be purple. I love the Pro cabinet and translite artwork. It’s season one, which is the only season some people are familiar with, and the best one IMHO.

Overall, my favorite Stern in a long time, and I think it’s fair to call it a “flow monster”. The left orbit ending at the right flipper is awesome. Looping “Burn It Back” is awesome. “Man, that’s pretty cool.”

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.

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.

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)

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.

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).

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!

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)

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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.

I mean, thematically it makes complete sense. You can’t hunt for quarters when you’re dealing with demodogs.

I say this very sincerely, the very best thing about getting a new game is joining the Pinside club and finding people who love the game as much as you do. I haven’t been this excited for a pin since I started the Metallica thread in 2013 (and I still have it). Community is great.

I respect that. But as someone who lived in that era, I’m probably going to pick songs that resonate with me. It’s no knock on your choices, which I think are already great.

Is this the first game since Space station to have dedicated colored GI strings?

As cool as that is, the purple always being on bugged me, because it changes the art on the plastics. I thought I’d try swapping them out with white (I had some spares from changing GOTLE to warm white). Here’s the result. The game was actually too bright now, so I dialed the GI brightness back to 60%. Of course, this is going to destroy the Upside Down mode until I get my UV kit. So I may swap it back for now - easy to do if you make changes from under the playfield. Thoughts?

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EDIT: kept the purple LEDs everywhere except the slings and lane guides. I’m happy with the look now.

Interesting, I never noticed that. Stern did thoughtfully use violet wires for the lamp sockets that are supposed to be purple. I might keep the slings and lane guide white, and switch everything else back to purple (i.e. factory).

Has anyone noticed sounds from other pins? The Upside Down award sounds are definitely from Iron Man, and I think I even heard some Wheel of Fortune sounds at one point.

I don’t mind reused sounds if they’re cool. But I’d definitely like to remove the WOF sounds.

I like frequent but subtle shaker action, which is what we have here. It’s not going to rattle the glass, but it’s definitely there a lot if you set it to “Maximum”. In a world of $600 toppers, it’s kind a no-brainer $110 purchase.

New owner questions (I did search the thread first for an answer): what causes the “Burn It Back” insert to come on, and what does it mean when it is lit? And, does anything special happen if you loop this shot repeatedly, or is that shot always the same (awarding 1 BIB no matter what)?

Haha. Yes, I’ve read that rule sheet about 5 times, nice work. I still don’t know why there is an insert for BIB though.

Note to Stern: give us something cool for looping this shot repeatedly, even if it’s just a callout. Like when Steve Ritchie says “You’re on Fire!” in No Fear. Actually that callout would be perfect!

Ah, got it. The insert lights to indicate that an award is waiting (Light 2x scoring or Spell of Protection).

This is true for the Pro too. The demogorgan shot won't be reliable until you do this upgrade (I still have not). I had this exact same problem with my LOTR in 2004, and RC car motor heat sinks seemed to solve the problem. I'll try borrowing those from LOTR and report back (although, I do love PinMonk and his products, just ordered the red-to-orange brackets).

I just spent 5 hours in Pinball Browser bookmarking callouts and music. I only stopped when I got a 500 error and crashed the app If someone can sync bookmarks and let me know if they see them, it will make me feel like less of a loser. I think I labeled at least 200 sound scripts.

I'm trying not to get too excited about the possibilities I hear in the callouts: super modes as rewards for finishing chapter modes (e.g. "Super Ramps").That's what I love so much about Aerosmith, and that's why even though it's simple, it never gets old. I had to decide whether to sell AS or JP, and my beloved Aerosmith is staying.

Lots of great audio assets in the code. I'm looking forward to playing with it and replacing the instructional callouts with snippets from the show.

I hate to gush about a new game, but man I love my STH Pro. It’s been a great journey from Iron Man, to Guardians, to JP, to STH. I don’t know whether to be happy or concerned that my scores jump from ~100k to ~500k after I’ve had 2-3 beers. I seem to be much better at the right ramp in particular.

I rewatched all 3 seasons this past month, and it’s really enhanced my enjoyment of the game. Thematically, Stranger Things is a trifecta for me: SciFi, small town America and “Coming of Age”. Stern did a great job with the theme integration, and Cleland took it up a few more notches. Will we ever get another game with callouts from kids? I’m still hoping for The Goonies, but this is even better.

beelzeboob I’ll probably own an LZ at some point. I need more time on it, and I’m thinking of buying a Premium for a location - though the Pro looks good to me too. Such a great time for those of us who love simple flowy layouts.

@panzerfreak, come over to the dark side. It’s fun here.

I had a chance to grab a Premium for $2200 more than my Pro, and I passed. But I’m still happy for those that got Prem/LE for MSRP or less because they knew this game was a sleeper.

My one shot at a Premium was $8100 IIRC, not at all unreasonable. I know I made someone else happy by leaving it there.

It’s always the case with *every* Premium (and even some Pros). If you’re up to the challenge and reasonably handy, you’ll be happy with a Prem/LE.

Only 2 tickets for 1.5B? It should have made a pile of tickets on the floor.

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Hey now, that girl has a name: Eleven, or “Elle” to her friends. And you’d better respect her, or she’ll hurl a Cadillac at you.

Thanks for confirming the sync. The music was the hardest part, going back and forth between the game’s DJ mode and my PC to find a match. I should have time this week to tag the rest of the callouts and sounds. I’ve only done this for games I plan to keep for a long time (the other one was IM, I think).

I remember how much grief people gave IM when it came out, calling it “stripped down”. But it did well enough for Stern to make it their first Vault game. Another parallel to STH: there was very limited supply of the 2010 Iron Man, and at one point it was selling for $6k when other used Sterns were fetching mid-4’s. I don’t regret selling mine after having it 4+ years, but I still play it whenever I see one on location.

Funny, there some “TK lock” callouts in the code. I guess they decided they could abbreviate “telekinesis” for normal people?

My Burn It Back switch wasn’t registering reliably, and I just wanted to share my solution. I figured out the the problem was that it was resting in the closed (“on”) position, so I added a small washer under each screw under the switch body, to give it a little more travel. So far that fix is working well.

I just noticed that my bag-o-stuff stapled to the cabinet is missing the slingshot plastics. Is that the new norm, or is mine just missing them?

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I was afraid of that. I hope my Ulek protectors come soon. This would be my first new Stern without a spare set - LOTR, MET and JP all had them.

On that note: I usually swap out the metal fender washers for PETG ones, but I won’t be doing that anymore. My LOTR right sling plastic broke, along with the PETG washer that was “protecting” it. Of course this is with the stronger after-market coils, so that’s another cause.

I don’t have a photo, but basically the washer sits between the playfield wood and the plastic base of the switch. You may also be able to fix it by adjusting the switch (I was not).

I’d love to see pics of the purple rubbers. I think I lucked out, because my right and left orbits just drop the ball to the flipper on the same side, only occasionally hitting the slings. Balls have no problem finding the right outlane, though

https://sternpinball.com/support/game-manuals/

It’s on page 35 in the Pro manual. I’ll also include it here so that’s in the club photo collection (refer to that page for ring locations):
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I just ordered one of these guys for $60:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08J5Q4QK4

I’m mostly anti-topper, but if I could tie this into the Upside Down mode I think it would a very cool effect. It should be cool even as an always-on topper. There are some video reviews on YouTube, search for “BlissLights ARK”.

The inability to post-pass on this game is forcing me to sharpen some of my other skills, especially bounce passing and drop-catching. My slings are super-sensitive, but I’m trying to avoid the temptation to adjust them. Finding that right ramp is key, because that shot is the safest way to get the ball to the right flipper, unless you can live-catch from the right “orbit”. Oddly, I’ve found that the best way to make the left orbit is to try to make the saucer and miss. I hit it 3 times in a row this way and started laughing.

Post #10011! Sorry, I couldn’t resist - like posting your odometer when it rolls over.

Yes, it IS possible! Seems like the trick is to keep it released just a few milliseconds longer before flipping again. I’ve done it a few times, will keep practicing.

My best is around 500M, but I’ve been super-focused on finishing modes to get to TI and I think that’s hurting my scores.

It’s a classic risk/reward strategy game. Upside Down 1 is way too lucrative to ignore, but dangerous. Holding multiballs in reserve until the right time is key. Knowing when 2X is just around the corner is key. My favorite combo on this game is when I hit the 3rd shot on the left orbit or right ramp to start my 3rd mode, and jam it into the mystery lane for the Extra Ball that was lit a moment ago.

Would love to hear some “blow it up” strategies from RobT and Erik.

Call your distributor and let them know you have a serious problem. That’s not normal.

I swapped out my flipper rubbers for Titans last night, and it plays pretty differently. It seems easier to make some shots, but my drop-catch game is totally off now. I think the extra grippiness is the reason for that; I may go back to the stock rubbers.

I’m experimenting with the playfield angle and flipper strength now. Appreciate cleland and others who shared what worked best for them.

RobT I’m totally the same way. I can blow up a game without knowing how I did it, but as soon as I learn all of the rules I’m screwed because I’m not focused on just keeping the ball in play. I know you’ve had IM and TWD in the past - would you say STH is in the same league as them in terms of challenge? I’m having Iron Man flashbacks right now, and it’s not just the borrowed sounds making me feel that way.

Oh man, I wish I’d thought of that. Oh well, too late now I think. I don’t want to reset my wait

Except BIB first Extra Ball. I have that set to 10 on mine; I think others have it at 12. “Auto” is too variable.

I’m not as interested in comparing scores as I am in getting to the wizard modes, so I’ve gimped my game just a little bit:

- 4 hits to kill Demogorgon (not 5)
- extra ball at 7 drawings (not 11)
- outlane posts in the middle (not top)

My justifications (to myself):

* If I’m not killing the DG in 1-3 shots already, either I haven’t got my game dialed in right, or the flippers are fading. I don’t want my guests saying “fucking die already!”.
* If you’ve collected 7 drawings, you’re doing pretty damned well and you deserve something.
* Brian said middle for the outlane posts, and the right outlane is brutal enough.

I promise not to post my scores here.

I was surprised to see that you can earn Burn It Backs during multiball (at least I think I saw this). Given that, and the “gimme” BIBs from the saucer, maybe 20 BIB for extra ball does make more sense.

Unrelated, I really like this game at 6.5 degrees and full flipper strength. I may change these once I install PinMonk’s fans, which I decided are a must-have mod.

As you’d expect, there’s a metric ton of fan art for STH, ranging from bad to awesome. I’ve found a lot of good stuff on DeviantArt (www.deviantart.com), which I keep forgetting about. Here are a few of the better ones. I like the one of Max for a “credits” card to replace the score card. Gotta get my color printer working again.

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These are fun too.

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If you’re having problems with the orbit feeds to the flippers, please include the playfield angle in your post. Mine is fine at 6.5 degrees, but any steeper and I do start to see the ball hit the slings. No QA problems to speak of here, but I know from my experience with MET that the first 50-100 games are more likely to have problems.

[deleted - I misunderstood the problem]

I’m trying to understand what you’re describing. Does it only happen when the ball drops down from the ramp? Or do you mean that the lane guide and flipper aren’t aligned so there’s a bounce at the gap?

Okay. I’ll try to pay more attention to this. I’d probably notice it more if I made more ramps shots, haha. It’s not a problem when you miss.

Nice video. Is the difference pretty obvious between the early/bad ramps and the later/good ones? Mine has a nice curve to it, and I can make the Demogorgon pretty easily until the flipper coils get hot. I’m looking forward to installing PinMonk’s fans.

[EDIT: pic of bad ramp here, thanks @chuckwurt: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stranger-things-club-join-our-party/page/27#post-5457620]

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My last 6 games in a picture (I didn’t even crack 50M on most of them).

Some days the mojo is just bad.

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The more games, the more love the code should get, so this is good news.

One reason I’m glad I got a Pro is that I’m blowing a lot of money on mods. UV Kit, game blades, subwoofer, shaker, flipper coils fans...I’m not going to short-change this game. I just have to keep beating my wife to the front porch so she doesn’t see all of this stuff coming in daily.

No, but considering the price for the one LE that was available to me, I’d need the “new place to live” mod.

“Hey Stern, we want more bullshit!”

Quick mini-review of the $60 BlissLights ARK. It’s kind of underwhelming as a topper, with a low ceiling. But if you can figure out how to place it lower nearby, it looks pretty cool. The rotation is too slow for my taste, and there’s no way to speed it up. You can turn on the 2 effects (laser and “aurora”) independently, so that’s cool. I like the purple aurora by itself, but it gets a bit washed out by the game’s lighting.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08J5Q4QK4

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I’m sure I’m not the first to think of this strategy, but I’ll mention it anyway. The mystery lane spots progress for the last shot made, unless another shot has more progress. So I try to get the right ramp as soon as I can, and combo to the mystery lane. Once I’ve played that shot’s mode, I focus on the left orbit, though I’ve gotten pretty good at finishing that one myself. My favorite place to be on ball 3 is to have the left orbit and right ramp completed, and only 1 shot left to finish both the others.

I really wish STH had “super” modes as a reward for finishing modes, like Aerosmith does. Super spinner for finishing a mode started on the left orbit. Super ramps for left ramp. Super lanes for right ramp. Super pops for right orbit. Let’s put those multi-color LEDs to work!

Exactly. The right orbit is the safest shot on my game, aside from the mystery lane.

Pin_Fandango it is pretty normal to have to tweak things like this with a new game. They just build what’s in the CAD, so it’s important that the designer reviews the shots to make sure they really work like they intended. I can’t recall a new game where I didn’t have to do something, but I don’t mind. Posts like yours definitely help. Thanks for sharing that tweak. I’m going to check mine now to see if I need to do it.

No, it’s a fork in the road. For me, the $2200 difference made the decision easier.

I just had a game where I was “on”. Extra balls were set to 10 BIB, 40BIB and 7 drawings. DG are 4 hits for a kill, until I can get my head-hole positioned correctly. I finished with 10 drawings, and came close enough to TI2 to smell it.

This game is such a freakin’ blast when you get in the zone. “GOT kicks ass”, yes, but “STH kicks even more ass”.

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I hope something cool happens at 11 drawings, beyond just an extra ball. Even if it’s just a scene of 11 doing her thing to some poor guy.

I spent the whole evening doing more essential mods:

Mylared the shooter lane and the saucer
PinMonk Tibetan Breeze 2 coil fans
Stern blades
Blue Ulek plastic protectors
Flipper rubber behind the DG, to nudge him forward

All that’s missing now is the UV Kit. Here’s the shape I cut for the saucer mylar. I wonder if someone makes a metal sleeve that fits in the hole to protect it - will check Kerry Stair’s site.
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This is what we need for the saucer hole:

https://mantispinball.com/product/terminator-2-protector-set/

I guess I’m used to seeing some exposed wood for an area like that. Same thing exists in my Aerosmith and LOTR.

Thanks, is this the fix that worked for you? I have a bunch of spare spacers of varying heights, I’ll try them today. Is there a consensus that it’s okay to just use the 2 bolts to secure the DG, and leave the hex head wood screw out? I had to take out my entire left ramp to get to that screw.

Regarding the bare wood “landing strip” for the left saucer, this is what my Aerosmith looked like after getting 2,000 plays on location, and after cleaning with Novus 2. I put Mylar down on the STH landing strip last night, but it makes the ball less likely to slow down and stay in the saucer. Since it looks like that area should clean up just fine, I’m going to take it back off. The saucer hole is the part that needs protection.

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The ball comes out of that saucer like a rocket, so I’m going to Mylar the entire path up to the BIB lane, as well as the area in front of the drops.

TBH I’m considering stripping down the top so I can do the entire playfield. This game has more air balls than anything I’ve ever owned.

Ugh. I bought one of those for JM, and it’s thick enough that it created lots of problems. Full Playfield mylar is probably the way to go on this one, especially if I’m going to put it on location eventually.

Nice, it fits the theme well.

True story: we made fun of our stepmother for doing that, but you know what? Her sofa looked new after all us little shits were out of her life. Lol.

@c0untdem0net, great advice. I dropped my DG by 3.5m, and removed the hex riser on the one-way gate. Then dropped my flippers to 220. So far I’m about 75% on righteous kills (with some sloppy misses that I don’t count). I want this game to be perfect for league night next Saturday, and thanks to this club I think it’s almost there.

This is the game that made me believe in mylar:

http://reelsonfire.blogspot.com/2010/10/mylar-removal-complete.html

I wish I’d kept up that blog. I was still excited about every new thing back then, and I did a lot more restoration.

I just pulled my Aerosmith off of a location, and I’m cleaning it up tonight. It’s crazy how much mylar Stern put on this game. The 2 saucer kickouts each get a 1.5”x6” strip of mylar. But Pin_Fandango I agree that with waxing, Stern’s clearcoat holds up really well by itself. You’d never know this game was in an arcade for 4 months.

It’s taking me a lot of discipline to clean AS instead of playing STH.

Okay, you guys have convinced me. No full playfield mylar. However, here’s a no-brainer PSA: turn the trough eject power all the way down, to 176. I forgot to do that for AS, and some clear chipped off in my shooter lane. Not a tragedy, just something that’s easy to prevent.

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I assume the projector uses the CN10 HDMI output from the CPU. With the Pro code, it probably has the same output as the LCD (for streaming). You could try running Premium code on a Pro, but I’d be afraid of unintended consequences.

I had no desire for a moving T-Rex head in my JP, and I have even less interest in making my STH Pro act like a Premium. It’s great just like it is, IMHO.

I tried both 225 and 255, and I notice that I brick the drop targets a lot more at full power. But I also noticed that I made the right ramp more often. I’ll try 240 as a “happy medium”.

I bookmarked a few more hours’ worth of callouts and sounds.

FWIW my distributor (CGR) told me he’s hearing end of May for the Stern UV Kits.