If you take into consideration the license, the artwork, the heritage, and the amount of time put into making this game 'perfect' by Stern, it's definitely a keeper. This game is really well thought out and SOLID. Gameplay (if you understand the ruleset) is cohesive yet open for interpretation and will last a lifetime. It fits the gamut of players' intrigue as it's freaking TMNT. The gameplay is better than GB (IMO) and will be a grail pin for some in the years to come.

Back in the club! I had an le previously and just bought my buddy’s pro because my son missed it. Pro is pretty awesome!

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The Pro is solid. I'm typically a Premium buyer of Stern pins, but I lucked into a TMNT Pro when a nearby buddy bought one NIB, but ended up not being a fan of the game. I decided to take a chance and quite frankly, I love it! I've had it for a year and have played it more than any other game in my collection during the last year. I'm sure that's partly because it was new to me, but it really is a fast and furious John Borg playfield design, and Dwight Sullivan did a great job on the ruleset. The ability to choose your turtle, level him up, and retain the level with IC is pretty awesome. The modes are all varied and cool. It's just a great game, and it's challenging.

Oh, and it sure does look good thanks to Zombie Yeti's art.

I grabbed a pro for $6k. Added the glider mod from mezel mods and the party van from lermods and the Neca Krang figure(adding that soon) from eBay for $50 and it looks really good. Those mods really fit the game well and fill any gaps there may have been on the pro looks wise.

The pro is a great fully featured game, it really doesn’t seem like anything is missing. I’m sure the premium is nice, but with the crazy prices all around it really seems like the pro is a good value.
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Good price! I paid 7400 with the topper so mine wasn’t a great deal but local

That official topper is super cool

I strongly recommend playing both. I played a Premium after owning my Pro for awhile and did NOT like the Premium. I remember one of the toys was blocking the view of the playfield (a pet peeve of mine) and I didn't like the small changes in flow. Sometimes the Pro is better!

It does block it somewhat but I did enjoy the different flows it created over the pro. It’s not worth the 2k difference. I’m happy with my pro even after owning an LE and putting 700 games on it

Very cool seeing people who sold their tmnt circling back to it. Yes it can be frustrating, but i feel like i would very much miss it.

Does the topper add any modes like the toppers do on JP and AIQ?

No additional modes yet. I feel like for a cool G, it should do more than move side to side. I don't own one, but if I did, I'd be seriously underwhelmed.

I'm so thankful for this thread! I'm two months in as the second owner of a Premium and have been making my way through the various recommended fixes in this thread. I finished replacing the Servo last month after Stern wouldn’t give me a new one.

However, I want to tighten the screw on the glider but can’t find an angled Phillips head screwdriver short enough to fit. What do you all do to tighten this? (Red arrow in picture)

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I have it and it has a lot more to it than my JP and stranger things toppers. I guess that’s why its 1k but you’re right it should do more for a grand

The topper is awesome fun!
(Wish Dwight Xaqery would add a topper mode for example: light all four turtles, then Technodrome for a special Technodrome multiball.)

Per Dwight:
The topper does over 20 different routines. Some routines are more involved than others.
All routines have light shows, and the eye at the top of the Technodrome will move about.

Sometimes the eye moves randomly and sometimes it looks in the direction that makes sense.

It uses the 4 turtles in the front of the topper to show which Turtle the player is thinking about choosing at game start.

It will celebrate with the player when they make some of the pinball staples:
Extra ball
Replay
Jackpots
Super Jackpot
and more

In addition to those celebrations the topper will go into several different background states.

In the attract mode:
The game cycles through various blink states.
The eye looks around randomly

Cool, thanks for this!

IC is a game changer for TMNT. First time I’ve ever completed 4 TMNT levels and Nutrino Pizza Party. It makes it a keeper, since there are now more ways to approach this game. Such fun!

Happy to join the club, my first post on pinside. Totally new to the hobby. Have been lurking on this forum for a while and tried to soak up all the info.

I have a TMNT premium for a year now and currently trying to install a few mods/protective elements. I was able to install plastic protectors at the slingshots and the outlanes. Pretty stoked about the results.

Furthermore, trying to switch the standard rubber with Titan. So far so good, but I am stuck at the post sleeves. Not totally sure how to approach those. Have been looking for videos or posts, but was unable to find what I was looking for. Any tips and tricks that you can give me?

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Best tip: Don’t switch to silicon and stay with the Stern rubber. TMNT plays 10 times better with stock rubber. I tried silicon (Titan’s) they made the game so much harder than it needs to be. Constant spinning and English on the flipper bats were so frustrating on an already fast game. Plus erratic bouncing off posts from silicon, also frustrating. Stock rubber does not do that.

We did it by holding a matching bit in place with a pair of pliers and turning it from the side with the pliers

For some, you can just remove a screw or two and carefully bend the plastic away just enough to slip the post sleeve off and on. Some require a non-trivial amount of playfield removal to access unfortunately. I did a playfield protector and did all the rubber at the same time. There are a few rubbers near the ramp entrances and in the pops that are annoying to access.

I have seen this tool suggested in the past.

https://www.amazon.com/Neiko-03044A-Ratcheting-Screwdriver-Close-Quarters/dp/B000XYOUS6/ref=sr_1_6

Looks like it would work, but i didn't take the plunge and buy it. I just used needle nose pliers and twisted the screw.

Thanks for the comments. I will give it a try and do the easy accessible ones first and test how it plays. Based on the results I can still go back.

I also pulled the trigger on a STh pro, which I will take the route suggested by plasticbugs. Install a playfield protector and do all the other stuff at once since I already put the effort in.

Well I pulled the trigger and bought me a new tmnt pro they are shipping Monday. I’m excited to get it I’ve done order 500$ worth of mods for it. In a couple weeks I’m ordering pin stadium lights for it man it’s going to be sweet. Now I’ll be waiting for ELVIRA IN DECEMBER if it holds true. Thanks for everyone for answering back to my questions it really help in my decision.

Anytime I'm disassembling, I take a picture of the part/screw/nut as I'm taking it off and place them in order on a tray. When it's time to reassemble, I go backwards through the pictures. I've never got stuck doing that. And I also end up with a ton of pics that are occasionally helpful.

Interesting improvement with IC concerning Nutrino Pizza Party. Now I have access to a very hard mode to start, with a level 3+ turtle powered up. Before, just getting to level 3+ was challenging by itself. Then hitting dimension X left/right side targets, plus left ramp, without starting any other mode, presents a challenge all on its own. Now I only have to do the 2nd part and its great fun to access new music, callouts and NPP challenge. IC for TMNT is great fun! Think NNP was programmed with IC in mind from the start.

I agree with the stock rubbers, I switched to Titans and after a few plays they wear terribly and give some crazy bounces. I switched back to the stock and the game plays so much better. Also changed the flippers back to the stock rubbers. way more ball control

The scoring potential of NPP is overpowered so early in the game. Without persistent Turtle levels, the potential for lots of points is balanced by the difficulty/reward in getting there, it also adds another dimension to the game with the Training Modes which are simply removed from the game when your Turtle starts fully levelled up. Overall, it feels like 1 step forward and two steps back as far as code development, but that's just my perspective.

I do believe that persistent levels was planned from the beginning or at least early on to be included as a Stern IC feature though. Some of the perks themselves can be very difficult to utilize if you start at Level 1 every game.

Agree and thanks for the information CypherPinball that we can reset the turtles leveling by holding in both flipper buttons. Good option Dwight (He thinks of everything).

There's an option to reset training back to level 1 if you hold the flipper buttons and scroll through, as if you were selecting half shell challenge or final battle.

Just installed IC on my TMNT Prem last weekend. So far loving the persistent leveling between games. The scoring feels better, the difference between turtles feels more meaningful and the NPP is a welcome option to keep it interesting. With that said I still can’t get any turtle past L3, even purely focusing on leveling up lol. I’ve gotten to the last shot a couple times but can’t close. Can’t imagine doing all 4 levels in one game. Once got to 3 in one.

Xaqery , had two turtle power multiball crashes in 2 days. Getting nervous about including this game in tournaments and leagues Super fun game otherwise!

Any insight on what else may have been happening at the time that the crash happened?

Not really, sorry. Just an average mode + turtle power MB

Have you tried replacing the SD card?

We replaced ours and have not had a crash since.

Alright my new tmnt shipped out today wil be by Friday or Monday. I’m excited to get it n my mods are on their way to can’t wait to play it.

Agreed. IC added so much to the game. I haven’t started the pizza eating contest since I installed it. I wonder if this is a bug. Have you?

Actually yes, I’ve had it happen several times. I usually play as Michelangelo which gives a slight lead given he starts with a few slices. What I have noticed though is there isn’t a great callout for when you can start the mode. The lights go dark, a certain music starts playing and the pizza light by the pizza target will start flashing, but there isn’t a callout or indicator otherwise.

I just had this happen to me yesterday for the first time ever. Have had the machine ~9 months and played probably 6-700 games so far.

Same. Had mine for a year and just started happening the last few days.

Feels like without Mikey that pizza eating has triggered far less on most recent code. Hopefully just a bug and not permanent, I love eating pizza.

its a bug where if you dont start pizza frenzy before ninja pizza mb, then youre locked out. So aim for those pizza targets and collect some slices!

So to counter my above praise on the IC add-on and persistent turtle levelling, commenting in the Neutrinos.

I was born in ‘85 and grew up with turtle mania loving the show in ‘90 and onward. Had tons of the toys, watched the show every chance I got, couldn’t get enough. For some reason I never remember actually seeing the neutrinos, like ever. They just seem weird and out of place in the pinball game. Maybe their design is was what “cool” was supposed to be at some point? Their style is more late 70s and feel like out of the movie “Greece” than anything early 90s and their lines are cheesy but more annoying than charming. I’m glad to have another multiball mode available to play with persistent turtle leveling, but find their now way more prevalent callouts to be annoying AF. :-\ Wish they would have chosen another more interesting character. I’d take Rat King multiball for days! Or even someone like Leatherhead or Fugitoid.

I don't remember ever seeing the neutrinos either but I looked them up and their representation in the game is pretty spot on.

owning the TMNT Pro a friend bought me the complete DVD series Box. I just started rewatching the series and the neutrinos have their appearance in several episodes (only watched 20 until now).
But yes i understand, either you like them or not

Neutrino Pizza Party is a single ball mode. Am I missing something?

I have not. I’ll do that and report back sometime in the future

They were in Episode 4 of Season 1 and Episode 11 of Season 2. But they made other random appearances in later seasons too.

No you’re right. I thought it would add a ball as you advance the mode but that doesn’t appear to be correct.

My four-year-old started watching classic episodes on Apple TV and I did catch them briefly in an episode. I agree their representation is spot on. Regardless, the “YOU BRING THE PIZZA AND WE’LL BRING THE COOL” or whatever callout will always make me roll my eyes and they’ll always feel a bit out of place to me. but to each their own! In retrospect TMNT had a bunch of super weird ass characters.

Is my left flipper too low? I've never been able to backhand the left ramp and I'm wondering if this is why.

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Yes, its just slightly too low and might help to be adjusted up a little bit. You should be able to backhand left ramp and after adjusting, still a challenge, up your flipper power a bit. After playing for a while flipper fade does come into play unfortunately.

Looks like it's pointing right at the dot to me?? These ramps are steep as hell, I bet if you ask Borg they are not "ment" to be backhanded. Just trap and post pass or dead bounce.