OK, so the two metal rails are a little too close together. I unscrewed the metal piece farthest left and pushed it back to the left to create more space for the pinball to go through. This worked for about 10 seconds. I couldn't put the screw back in because when I moved the rail, it was out of alignment with the hole, so I left screw out. Didn't work because the impact of everything caused the metal rail to go back to its normal position.

I guess I'll have to make a new hole to keep the rail as close to the wall as possible to create enough space for the pinball. Has anyone ever had to drill holes in playfield before? Big deal? Any other options?

Curious is this everyone else’s lowest scoring game amongst their lineup?

I've got an EM machine so no. haha.

But yeah, this game does tend to score low in a lot of ways, but there are points to be had. Multiballs can be very lucrative, especially the Ninja Pizza MB. If you can find your way to Neutrino Pizza Party, there can be a ton of points there too, plus it now has a ball save so you can get a couple of shots in before draining and ending the mode.

I still think this game could really use some score balancing but, at this point, it just isn't going to happen.

Really impressive

So I just spent hours playing turtles, trying to get Cowabunga. I was playing with all 4 turtles, finally I got to Cowabunga and got 28m, yes! I thought, finally I am the Cowabunga champion! Alas, I was not, I did not get to enter my initials.

Can you only get Cowabunga high score as a single turtle?

Would the scoring feel more standardised if you could add an extra zero to the end of it?

Yeah! I was playing the other night with a mate and I ended up posting here if TMNT is everyone else’s lowest scoring game. It’s noticeably lower in the scoring department for my non pinball friends to notice.

Hey guys : Pro Issue

The up post that holds the balls in place for the pizza Parlor lock (under the van) on the Pro seems to be messing up. Often I hit the shot and it knocks the locked ball out and doesn’t register that a ball was newly locked. It is happening so often it renders the progress to be quite difficult.

What can I do?

Are you guys using cliffys or mylar on the switches? I noticed ball drops right on the switches when coming off ramp near flippers

No, it's not that the scores "are low." It's that they lack balance. You can score 100M or 200M, which is a reasonable number for a "good score." But when you can get like 30M from a MB or 50M from Neutrino Pizza Party but only like 10M from completing 2 or 3 Episodes, it shows a lack of scoring balance. Throw in all the side features: 1-2-3 Foot, Krang Kombo, Weapon Hurry Up, etc. and the difficulty of completion compared to actual points scored.

So while I have many terrible games where I score under 1M points (mostly when going specifically for training modes), I don't think adding a 0 and scoring around 10M is really any better. Again, in my opinion, better score balancing so you actually score a reasonable amount of points for things other than MB, would be a better solution to the issue of low scores.

I had a similar issue
If i remember correctly, I fixed it by bending the bracket slightly so the post would be more upright and come through the hole a little more. I barely bent it, but the problem went away completely.

I will give that a try!

They still need to prestage Raphaels skill shot on the glider, occasionally I can hit it and it whips by before the glider can catch it. And I've got my flippers nerfed too. All in all the game is great fun but there are some polishing points still needed IMO.

Last call on the CNC’d Aluminum replica Ooze Canister.

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I have a Ninja Rap newspaper I can throw in the deal too.

$250, PM if interested.

I moved the flat plastics, and the truck.
Added a shell.

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That's a cool turtle shell for the action button. Where did you get that?

Just picked up a premium and I’m really liking so far.

What are peoples thoughts on the Stern topper and shooter rod. I’d like to order them up, but damn. $1000 for that topper seems a bit steep. Is it that cool?

I also recently picked up a premium. I added Sterns art blades, shooter rod and topper. The entire package looks very nice but the topper is priced too high even for Stern pricing. That said, I expect it to add value down the road when it's time to trade it.

I personally like the alternative turtle head shooter rods. Doesn't stick out as much. And the topper was always too expensive for me.

Just cut the shell off a figure and drilled a hole in the middle

Looks good. Which figure did you buy? Would like to replicate.

From the NECA cartoon collection, came in a pack with shredder

I have Matt’s from Back Alley. I like it quite a bit.

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It definitely is an aquired taste. I was going nuts about getting my upper left flipper shots right but finally got the feel for it (you have to be very fast and almost hit the ball too early). Now I love the game. It's just so much fast action. Also I have zero problems with the pizza disc sending the ball SDTM (seems a lot of people get that).

that worked. The metal is bent from overuse it seems. Bent it back and it is fine now.

Awesome! Happy it worked!

So I ordered one of these for my buddy’s who I borrowed and is having the glider diverter issue. Is it easy to swap out? Do I need to center the servo first because I have no clue how to do that?

Yea a friend loaned me his pin. The difficulty combined with the low scoring makes this a really hard pin to embrace. It will make you a better pinball player for sure but I have Godzilla and wonka and this is the hardest of the 3 hands down

Regarding the pizza disc I really meant during regular play, not the multiball.

Hold my beer ... 1.50 1987 code will include text overlays for extra ball and shoot again videos - thanks for the feedback. In final testing for 1987 1.50 right now, should be posted some time this week.

this is much appreciated

What’s all this 1987 code about?! I’m new to TMNT pinball.

Enjoy

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/tmnt-stern-the-1987-code

I’m on my 2nd topper. 1st one the leds crapped out after 2 weeks.. sent back for a replacement got the new one and after the update noticed the left side is having a led flickering dimming problem now.. I’m working with stern to see what’s going on..

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This has been reported by at least two others in the thread after the 1.50 update. So it’s not just you.

My premium just shipped! Joining the club.

Congrats!

The Stern katana shooter rod has less power than the original rod so your launches will be weaker. Pick up a stronger spring if you get one, the stock katana uses an orange spring. Replacing the orange spring with a purple spring worked good for me.

1987 1.50 code for pro, premium and LE is ready:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/tmnt-stern-the-1987-code

100% the lowest scoring game. they need to add a zero. When i get a 200 million game...most other games are 2bill. when you beat the modes, it definitely adds up, but seriously...i should get way more points for the effort put in!

This looks so awesome!

I might have to pick one up for my office. $50 bucks plus $10 for shipping.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/994170024528297/?rid=10223394728370923&ad_id&rt=1&refID=0&refType=0

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I don’t get why a game would not be as popular because of low scoring,I am not a very good player or a competitor so let me know! if the a game is fun like turtles I don’t get it,I for sure could care less!

Agreed, adding or removing zeros from the score doesn't change how fun it is. Its about getting a higher score than your last score.

Yeah the low scoring complaints confuse me. It's all relative to the game. All games have different scorings. Jersey Jack games are low scoring games.

Scoring is the same within the world at any particular game, since all games stand on their own, within their own unique rule sets. Only relevant universal consistency is whether your score is up or down, within any given game.

So stern got back to me about my topper led flickering and dimming. They want me to flash a new SD card with a 1.41 raw file. I’m using a Mac and can’t figure it out. The instructions they gave me isn’t the same for a Mac.. can anyone help a brother out? I don’t wanna bro k my machine in the process.

Hi Ray,

Here’s a link for the 1.41 SD card image.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q1U6Jkjznp-7NNmu6NWSraGw6be4zz_K/view?usp=sharing

Here is a guide on how to create a new SD card

https://sternpinball.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/How-to-Create-a-SD-Card-for-a-SPIKE-System-Pinball-Machine.pdf

Please follow up afterwards.

While I would normally agree that adding zeros wouldn't make it better, I have a funny story to share.

My nephews visited me late in the summer for the first time since Covid started. While here, they both played the heck out of Turtles every day. One day for fun, I brought them out to the Replay Museum in Tarpon Springs, a big free play arcade with a lot of pinball machines. My 9 year old nephew who is new to pinball naturally thought all games scored like Turtles. For his first game, he stepped up to Black Knight SOR and got a score in the 30 million range. He thought he was the best player in the world after that, and was telling anyone who would listen. There wasn't a Turtles on location there for him to compare, so he just thought the arcade was a magical place where he kicked butt. It was awesome.

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This should help: https://osxdaily.com/2018/01/11/write-img-to-sd-card-mac-etcher/

If you're still unsure and want to do a quick video call/screen share, I can help walk you through those steps. Feel free to send me a PM if the latter, and I'll set up a Google chat with you.