For what it’s worth, we have them for 499.99 on our website.

flipnoutpinball.com

No

Yep. They will all burn out eventually. Probably quicker than you think. They are cheap Chinese garbage. ENJOY

If you own the game, I would buy one without question. You can always resell the projector later, but trying to sell a STh Prem/LE without a working one will cost you a lot more in the long run (assuming you could find a buyer). Buy it while it's in stock because it will be discontinued one day. In this case, it is insurance you can always recover and quite possibly make a profit on later if you dont need it.

Has anyone ever had or heard of a projector failing? Just curious.

People had them fail and couldn't get them for over a year if I remember correctly

I think, this proyector of the link, it's the same.
https://www.curionseter.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=56

If you think it will sweeten the pot for the next buyer to get a NIB projector thrown in then go ahead; but I doubt it.

I believe this was tested and it Needs to be flashed with Stern code and it will not work otherwise.

yes.

Better to have it and not need it rather than need it and not have it.

Plus one less excuse for folk to not want to buy the game off yiu if you want to sell.

At $500 I’d say expensive Chinese garbage!

Well, hang on...it looks like there may be a few interchangeable projector models according to this correspondence:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stranger-things-club-join-our-party/page/303#post-6971556

But some other commenters were saying the stern projector may have custom firmware, so an off-the-shelf model won't work?

It seems a little odd to have custom firmware made for an off-the-shelf projector.

[edit]: It seems this may be the reason for custom firmware: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stranger-things-club-join-our-party/page/293#post-6892939

[edit2]: But apparently there is no custom firmware according to this? https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stranger-things-club-join-our-party/page/326#post-7173696

I dunno. It seems this will take more reading to determine if you can get one of these off-the-shelf projectors for $300 or so.

[edit 3]: Ok, so it does sound like the off-the-shelf projector is actually different after all. Some different guts and different firmware, but for some reason, still considered the same model. Go figure.

Long-term node board availability once a title comes out of production already had me nervous on Spike2, but these pins are just so darn fun that I caved on my original intent of never owning any. I really wanted a STh prem and had one on order, but I cancelled. I might would have rolled the dice prior to the price increase, but with the new MSRP combined with adding the UV kit and an extra projector for insurance made it a no go. Seeing that failures already occurred makes me feel better about my decision because the Force is very strong with this title for me.

You have to stock up:

giphy-3.gif

doesn't seem 100% conclusive to me. I'm going to order the $200 one and see if it works. Also see how the firmware is put on it, could be flashable if there is firmware, my money is on it being exactly the same and it just needing some config changes.

I wouldn't bother. I had a premium on route for years. On for 12 hours a day and the projector worked perfectly fine the whole time. The machine will never get that level of use in a home environment.

Just buy a Pro and don't worry about it.

Regarding the whole unofficial replacement thing... couldn't you just cannibalize the part that breaks (likely the light source) and keep the PCB with Stern's secret sauce onboard?

Spec sheet says they use LEDs to project, meaning lower power, no bulbs to change, shouldn't 'wear out'. That said, I'm guessing Stern doesn't give schematics for it. Has to be at least one board in there and it handles a lot. HDMI, USB and SD card inputs, supports six different video types, three audio types, four pic types and projects 1500 lumens. That's a busy little box.

Don't have one, but if I did, I'd be tempted to leave it disconnected unless company was over. Neat toy, but too expensive for a backup.

I’m going to live on the edge and not buy a spare. What a thrill.

I’ve never heard of one dying yet. I had to replace mine in the first few months I had the game, but it was due to a flaky hdmi port.

not looking good. emails to both vendors bounced! will try to call them1