I love the game (it's tough!). Not sure I want to dive into $1000 topper territory for no extra mode either. My son and I might get creative. I have no idea how this will turn out, but in theory there will be a fading greens led strip(s) and then another white strip activated by the pops. Crude animation attached.

I'm not sure if I can pull it off but part of me wants to try.

Side note, if someone every decided to make a homemade blank topper mount that secures into the existing Stern holes, that'd be the best damn creation.

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I think I found my base. I bought 6 DMD glare guards years ago. They were disappointing and never used them. A little bending and some silicone and I think this will make a stable base for like $18.

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Those statues are awesome. Combined they are worth more than $1K. But they surely look a million times better than the one stern is selling.

Actually they're only about $50 each. They are based on the opening credits of the 1988 cartoon which is why they have the rooftops. I didn't want figures. No reason to have them ever move.

Oh my bad. I thought those were the Sideshow collectibles. Which run about $500 a piece.

Which ones are those?

If I added some lights and rooftop looking based, and the logo, I’d have a pretty sweet topper, these turtles were $25 each.. not metal head, he’s an original and didn’t cost anything

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I made also my own topper. Original was to expansive.

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PCS Collectibles 1:8 scale TMNT Statues

They're based on the '88 cartoon. Lighter green, which hopefully matches better than some others out there.

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Soooooo much better!!! Stern came through on this one. Very happy.

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Nice. I'm at about 2 months with no word on mine. Hoping to get one soon.

Got a delivery notification from UPS today, for delivery tomorrow, for mine. Hadn't heard a word in months.

Only reason I had communication last month was because I moved. Had to get confirmation that my address was updated in their system.

Those figures look really good. Stick the white accent light slightly in front of each of the turtles and have the pops cycle through the 4 lights.

Still hoping I get one of these "delivery notifications" soon. I was told in October that I'd get an unpopulated when they next run the Pros. Seems like it's happening...

Here is some inspiration for a custom topper. This is the one I put together. I have it mounting by using a very thin piece of plywood and used the existing holes in the top of the back box and machine screws.

I put flashers under each character that are tied to the pop bumpers for the bad guys and the turtle flashers for each one of the turtles.

You can see my build process here: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-club2020-cowabunga-its-pizza-time/page/7#post-5724387

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Man o man.... I have been tweaking and tweaking to get this thing to be playable... The cheap drains were horrid... I changed rubbers / removed rubbers / altered settings / ball saves / etc...

I would have games, where two balls - would drain - three times each (two on ball save and one for the final drain) without me even touching the ball.
Launch - into the pops - out - into the slings - *snap*snap* out.... twice..

I lowered the slings to "18" and it finally feels like you can play the game. I also had the rubber donuts off at the top of the outlanes.
Now I have them back on.

Anyone else have this issue?

Yeah, for sure, increasing the slope of the playfield seemed to clean some things up for me, specifically some of the cheap drains and also consistency with the inner loop and center ramp. It sounds counterintuitive because the game is already lighting fast and it might just be placebo effect, but something to try if you havent already. I have my playfield bubble set at the the top marker, whereas before it was dead center.

It's a dirty little secret that increasing the pitch of a game actually makes it easier in many ways. Nothing wrong with that though...some games simply play better that way.

As for the slings, nothing wrong with turning them down a little. I can't remember if I have TMNTs down a bit, but I know some of my games had to be turned down for sure. Most modern games have them way overpowered to the point where airballs and literally tossing the ball into the sidewall and outlane becomes a problem. I'd consider it a standard adjustment to make the game play right. Slings should be dangerous, but not violent insta-death.

That looks really nice.

It's a tough game. That's not to say you shouldn't try stuff to make it more playable. My biggest gripe the lair. I get too many bounces into the outlane after the Start Training lock. That's annoying.

Change it in the settings to give yourself a ballsave in that situation. Makes a huge difference!

Thanks to everyone who gave me advice on my new in box pin, it’s working now. I now know that I was running into both a bug in the code and a problem with the connector in the door. My flippers no longer just temporarily shut off.

Thanks a bunch it’s such a great pin!

I'll check it out. I have the Mezelmods Technodrome and mutagen cannister coming today so I'll adjust on the install.

3 settings I change from default are lair ball save, battle again change with flipper instead of slings, and half shell challenge always qualified.

I second that. They seem like such no brainers to me that I'm surprised they arent the default options.

I started into this hobby putting Titan's on all my flippers as per most peoples suggestions. Since taking them off and putting stock rubbers back on, my games all have more control and are more likely to make wide orbit shots.

So if you have titans, try taking them off and going back to stock.

The maiden LE I just picked up has Titans and I hate them. Need to get normal replacements.

Hi guys, I own a tmnt premium and have a problem with the turtle power multiball. In the first game I get four balls and it ends normally. After that it looks like he has lost count of the balls. After draining the last ball he thinks there is another ball in play and after a ball search the vann opens his door and four balls come into play again. Is this a known issue?

Thanks Jeroen

are you running current code 1.41? A few versions back, stern fixed ball counting problems like the one you're describing.

totally agree. I increased pitch and the Donny shot became more makeable as did the orbits.

My TMNT came with Titans on it and I agree, I do not like them. Waaay too "grippy" for my taste. They're also wildly inconsistent, sometimes the transition from the in lane to the flipper is slowed down so much that it throws my timing off. I have heard the tackiness of them fades after use.

My plastic ramp cover works perfectly! My first one was small and not wider than the screws that connect to the otpos, but the ball would smack the edge of the cover (validating that airballs were indeed the problem). My larger cover (a bit crude) works great.
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Is anyone experiencing a bit 1-2 second delay in the game registering shots to the center ramp? When I’m collecting a Krang Kombo, there seems to be a delay to the game doing the animation/light show that I collected it.

Is it just me or does this happen to everyone else, running latest code, the last game played score is always 48M (and change) when i turn on the game. it's ike it does not register last game played, even if i power off 5 minutes after my last game where i scored more.

That’s weird. My last score is not shown when I boot the game. I would go through the game adjustment settings and scroll till you see that 48 mil somewhere. Did you mod your code at all?

That's weird. I'd try imaging a new SD card with the current code and replace the crappy one Stern includes on the CPU board with that. The SD card may be glitching out.

https://sternpinball.com/support/sd-cards/

Thinking of letting my Turtles LE go after only having it a few weeks...just thought I would post it here to see if any interest before I go to an official ad. Only has around 25 plays or so with a few mods/add ons. Only letting it go to pay off a few things...PM if interested

Yes i am running the current code. Sometimes he opens the door 4 times before the last ball is registered. Is it normal for the Van to be filled during the multiball?

Statues have arrived. Really well done. Look almost “Hot Toys” expensive.
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Sill needs a the manhole background to bring it together plus lighting of course.
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Nothing like spending a Sunday morning putting on some new mods. That burning building really does look great.

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Looks like a good start. Love that picture of Mr. Sandman...is that a tin or poster?

Was under the playfield this weekend and noticed this connector next to the green light up by the pop bumpers. Not sure if I need to learn to solder to get it back on there or if I can just tape it up with electrical tape.

Any tips?

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That's a tin. I have Ghostbusters and Frogger too.

You’ll need to solder those back on. Hold a soldering iron tip onto the terminal until the solder melts — any cheap soldering iron with a wide tip will do. Then, introduce the soldered tips of those two yellow wires while continuing to hold the iron on the terminal. The heat from the solder on the terminal will melt the little ball of solder on the yellow wires. The three will become one. Remove the soldering iron while holding the wires in place until the solder solidifies. Soldering isn’t hard. Just be careful as the tip is really hot and you don’t want to touch anything with it other than the thing you’re trying to solder.

Edit: while that is a fair amount of solder, it should_ stick to the terminal instead of dripping off. That said, be careful because it could drip hot solder which is mostly harmless to nearly everything except your hands and arms.

Can I ask the method that you used to level it? I started getting airballs and confirmed it was the spinner. I think I have it leveled fairly well now using a straight edge and holding it against the spinner/play field but curious what other people have used.

That’s how I leveled my tmnt. You can also run something flat(like a metal ruler)from the bottom side of the disk(as if a ball was rolling over it) and see if it catches a edge, if it catches a edge then try to level it again.

Any recommendations for soldering irons? They all kinda look the same to me.

Hakko is a quality brand. A little pricey but it’s worth the investment. Very consistent temps. I have the FX888D-23BY.

I bought this in 2013. I learned on LOTR, because the VUK switches get hammered and break and hey, I want to play my games.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ANZRT4M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title

Never had an issue. Pricey yeah but it heats up super quick and you won't ever need anything else.

Yep I own that one as well. Works well for PCB board work too. You notice a big difference in temp controlled vs non temp controlled. I have a cheap $20 Weller iron I use in a pinch in the service outlet, but i dont trust it for any sensitive board work. If you own a $5k pinball machine, you can spend a few bucks for the right tool to maintain it. (Speaking from experience)