I agree...especially Superbands. Sure are pretty, but man...almost unplayable. I do have to say that Pinball Life's "Perfect Play" is an exception. I tried a set out awhile back and they are great...very close to real rubber. Maybe a little grippy at first, but after a few plays they break in (or more likely get slightly dirty) and feel great. Worth a shot if you are ever interested in something that looks better and lasts longer.

I don't think TMNT fully gets the love it deserves, as the theme seems very hit or miss with people. Picked up an Avengers about a month ago as I've heard all good things on the code, but finding the actual gameplay on TMNT to be so much more captivating and it keeps drawing me back for more. The music, the animations - all great (except for awful April)! Got an order in on a Mandalorian now as the shot layout looks so unique and excited to see what Dwight will do next and if the code follows a similar structure (which I think is a winner).

I've tried them all. Titans and Perfect Play get the "bounce" more correct for me compared to Superbands, as you noted. The thing that still throws me off is the coefficient of friction between the steel ball and silicone just feels different to me versus rubber, and it throws of my shot trajectory off the flippers. This trajectory change may be slight in some cases, but it's enough for me to notice and I have difficulty compensating. Now if I just made a wholesale change across the board on all my games to Titans or Perfect Play, I'm sure I could compensate for this trajectory change, but man... I've got so many pins I've have to make that change to, it would be a pain.

Yeah...I definitely understand. I agree it's the friction that makes the big difference. That is where I felt like Perfect Play "wore in" after a bit. The first few games I was ready to take them back off, but after a few days I can go between one with those on and one with regular rubber and not notice much if any difference. But your mileage may definitely vary, and I can see why rubber is still king for many people.

Superbands are a hard no though. When I see those on a machine at a tournament or league I cringe. I can't for the life of me see how people can use them. Just terrible.

Can you share what they charged you? Assuming your wife isn't on Pinside and will see this post.

It almost seems like the game kind of got skipped over by a lot of people because of the timing of the release. It shoots really good, the call outs and music are great, and it's quite a challenging game overall. I think the game could still use some balancing for both scoring and objectives but what's there is pretty fun to play.

I have the following on mine.

- stern katana shooter rod - not a must have but it’s cool
- flasher ooze vial - it’s pretty cool
- left ramp pipe - helps with any issues with balls falling off
- character select frame - looks good
- shooter housing decal - I bought with other stuff but it’s another nice add.
- flipper toppers
- speaker lights - I like them a lot on premiums but I have the le ones

Pics provided

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Is there a particular set/type of speaker lights that people recommend? I don't know much about them, but recently played a machine with them for the first time and found they were quite impressive! (Is there really any difference per pin, or are they universal?)

I think it's the initial difficulty of the game. It's a punishing game. So I can see the casual player not being as on board with the game.

I want a hard game. I want it to take forever to master. And the theme is perfect. My dream theme.

My getting to Cowabunga on three balls with one turtle may indeed take forever. Or never! I finally made it to final battle on coop last night and it felt like quite the accomplishment.

Well I can barely make it to team up with 4 player co-op so you're doing pretty good for yourself. haha.

Last week I made it to teamup for the first time with having beaten four episodes. It felt amazing! Since this is really the only pin I play now, I'm hoping all the talk about how difficult it is means I'll be able to do well on all those other pins once things open up to play again.

I think you're right. To address the difficulty, I would like to see a few more ball save opportunities added. Episode start ball save for example, possibly a pop bumper exit left outlane ball saver, maybe additional ways to re-light battle again. They don't necessarily need to be on by default but I think having them in the adjustments would allow people to tweak the playability for all skill levels.

For both the TMNT and Avengers sign I paid $1000. Which I thought was an absolute steal considering the Stern topper, which I don't care for, is $1000 alone.

Nice looking game! Those are some cool mods, will check them out.

Thanks.

I was at a bar the last weekend and played some coop on TMNT with two other friends. We had an absolute blast and I just placed an order for a Pro. Excited to join the community and learn the game better!

Congrats! welcome to the pizza party

Awesome!! It's such a fun game. Co-op is a game changer.

Yeah, the best is speakerlightkits.com. I like the deluxe on prem and pros

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I prefer the 5.25 kit for the Prem/Pro because at the same time you are upgrading the $1 backbox speakers that are in those models.

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Ditto on the 5.25 premium upgrade!

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Those speaker lights look awesome! Can I use them with the factory speakers or do I need to buy after market speakers?

Care to share the sign maker? Maybe they can make me a good topper for my STNG.

No. The stock speakers I believe are a 4" full range. Honestly, they are like a $1 speaker. They are crap throw away speakers. With the upgrade, you can move up to 5.25" coaxial. MUCH better. I use the Kenwood KFC-1366S. They are the same ones Stern uses on the LE. They aren't actually great speakers (they are ok), but they are shallow, their tweeter is flush and the cone is silver which shows off the speaker lights nicely. Even though they are low/mid-end coaxial speakers, they are still FAR, FAR better than the stock speakers. Add a sub like this: (I used the pinnovator sub out to make things easier on the Spike pins)

https://www.adorama.com/kpr12sw.html?sdtid=14976494&emailprice=t&sterm=2bNzpqRNzxyLR2JwUx0Mo389UkB2WIQNR1GpTc0&utm_source=rflaid62905

and you have a completely different sound system. I don't actually have a TMNT yet. My pro arrives next Tuesday....but I have over $700 in mods and upgrades sitting in my basement including the speakers and speakerlights. So I don't know specifically how much better TMNT will sound. I upgraded an original Iron Man (with the customer TeddyB fw with AC/DC), Star Wars Pro and Stranger Things Pro (Cleland sound mod) to these subs and they woke up. Those pins all had previous external subs but the Klipsch is much better than I had on them previously. For the price, those Klipsch subs are fantastic for pins. (I bought 5 of them)

I like them too but I like LEs lights on my LEs and the rectangle lights on my pro/prem. All preference. Both great options

Wow, thank you so much for all of the information! I'm going to take a look into those speakers as well as the Pinwoofer super kit. Thanks again!

The guy I bought mine from upgraded the speakers already so I'm not sure which ones are in there. I do like the look of the LE speaker lights. Haven't been a huge fan of the triangle lights for some reason.

Here is something Greaseman wrote up comparing the two speakers:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/led-zeppelin-le-thread/page/55#post-6158857

We've evaluated the KW's. After putting the KW-1366S's in I didn't even finish the first ball. I've seen knocks on the Pyle but they are a great speaker all things considered and they cost less. The Pyle have a larger magnet and voice coil and that's where you will hear the improved midrange and high bass. Pyle also has a better sounding tweeter. You pay for the KW name.

You'll get about 25% improvement swapping out the speakers alone, but the remaining 75% is owing to our amp and power solution. The Spike amplifier is similar to what you'll find in a flat panel TV and that's what you'll mostly hear.

I'd recommend getting the 5.25in LE style plates and colored acrylics from Doug (and the correspinding light kit), and we'll provide you with the LE spacer mount for Pyle's and you'll have a perfect fit.

Good luck!

Thanks for the info! The Pinwoofer kit looks great, going to order one for my TMNT premium.

Sorry if this has already been answered in the thread (tried searching) but how do you level up your turtle? Are the training modes actual modes with certain shots to hit?

More like mini modes. Hit the Lair shot when training is qualified, then you'll have a couple hurry-up shots to hit.

Thanks! Do the hurry up's / shot requirements change the higher the training level?

the first Training mode you need to shoot the right ramp then the left ramp
the second Training mode you need to shoot: right ramp > right orbit > left orbit > left ramp
the third Training mode you need to shoot: Right Ramp > Krang Loop > Centre Ramp > Left Ramp
The whole mode is timed, the LAIR mono-target adds time, shooting the proper shot should add some time as well I believe. They're not really hurry-ups, just normal lit shots, one at a time.

Thanks! Much appreciated. The training modes sound like a cool mode idea and add another layer of depth to the game.

The code is actually really fun and I think it’s deep. Tons to do, I’ve never came close to beating it. I’m excited to see what he does with mando

That's great to hear, glad you are enjoying the game. I was debating between JP, TMNT, AIQ, and Stranger Things for my next pin, all 4 look awesome (would be happy to own any of them). Ended up going with TMNT Premium as the theme just feels fun, there's a ton to do like you said, it has a unique layout with great use of an upper flipper, the code has moments versus just being about points, and the mechs feel like cool interactive miniature versions based on items from the theme.

I agree, and adding the "Neutrino Pizza Party" mode qualified after getting to Level 3 really made the Training that much more valuable to go for. Id still like to see the perks for each Turtle tweaked/reworked. There are some of them that just aren't that useable or valuable. For example, Leos level 4 perk makes Team Up MB valuable, but by the time you get there, you've likely already played Team Up. The level 1 (ie. starting) perks are all pretty good though, so at least that makes picking the different turtles good. Making all of the later perks more valuable would elevate the overall game in a big way, in my opinion.

This is a pro, chucked in aftermarket speakers, added Doug’s speaker light kit and used his mesh he sells. I like the look

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I was thinking the same thing. After the typical initial criticism it started to pick up some steam and then... Avengers came, and TMNT seemed to be forgotten about almost immediately.

I love the game but am struggling a bit getting into a groove with it. I think it's the scoring/objectives balancing you mention. I'll shoot well and hit shoots, look up and I've got 2M. Maybe I just need to be more strategic with my play. I think it's one of those games that make you a better player, similar to XMEN. Still a fun, beautiful, and challenging game.

Once I started playing more for progress and leas for scoring I really started to enjoy this game more. It's a mental hurdle, for sure, and can still be frustrating when you feel like you're flowing and not scoring.

My high score is still only 35M or so but there's just so much to do and so many good shots. High energy callouts seem to be far superior to AIQ, as well. Just a blast of a pin.

Does anyone intentionally try to play for the pop bumpers for the chance to get an extra ball? It seems extra ball doesn't come nearly as often as some of the other options like 'big points' or increasing the bonus multiplier. Perhaps that's just confirmation bias at work? There also doesn't seem to be a reliable way of getting into the bumpers.

Anyone else have thoughts on this?

Additional question: can you get more than one ball this way or is it capped? I can't remember ever seeing it twice in one game.

Now that this game has been out for a while, what level are you all setting your games at? I remember some debate with 6.7 vs 6.5. What's everyone leveling their game to and what is your high score?

Premium over Pro ... worth the 1800 more, what say you?

Borrowed a buddy's premium for awhile and ended up buying a pro. I haven't missed any of the upgrades (balls coming out of the van is fun but unnecessary, and the multiball start on pro actually feeds for a nice ramp shot; glider diverter wasn't something I often used) but I did add a lit Krang to keep the vibe similar. Save the 1800, add a couple mods and call it a day!

I have a premium and love it. I use the diverter a lot. You can get a solid deal on used premiums, but if you can spring for a used LE that's what I would do.

Does anyone know what this black nylon spacer ring part is called? I somehow managed to lose it while replacing my rubber posts. Hope it’s not hidden on my playfield somewhere.

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I just lowered mine to 6.5 after it being at 6.8 or 6.9 for a long time.
Its much more enjoyable now, wish I had done it sooner.

6.7 and my High Score is 87 millions.

I watched laser_los on Twitch 2 days ago and he was able to get a 270 millions score with Raphael (https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1026106282?t=06h24m04s)

Paid $7500 shipped out the door last week for a NIB premium so that may be $1500 - $1700 more then a NIB pro? For me the additional features are worth it on top of the already great pro. The molded moving Glider is pretty damn cool in my opinion, and offers a nice option to setup your next shot. The spinning pizza disk moving either direction is also nice, adds more randomness to the game. The van physical ball lock is pretty damn cool, it fits the theme perfectly and has a wow factor to it. The moving Krang toy while not interactive with the ball still moves and helps add to the theme. The additional ramp flashers on the premium / LE are also a nice addition and help fill out the game a bit more.

I don't think you can go wrong with either model. The game is a blast to play (played an LE a few weeks back) with a lot to do rules wise! Going to install a Pinwoofer Super Kit, art blades, and a shaker motor once mine get's here tomorrow.