I could not disagree more. First of all, the upper PF on Aerosmith absolutely blows and the Pro version of that game is way better. I think the majority of people agree with that opinion too. Second, the foo upper playfield does not play like the aerosmith upper pf at all. The foo fighters playfield is way more fun, and not risky like Aerosmiths. On foo, the targets are layed out in a much more interesting way, has a fun repeatable loop and a spinner! Aerosmith is just boring, cradle the ball, mindlessly bash lame standup targets, shoot down a hole or take the risky loop shot thats hard to hit because it starts 2x points. No thanks. Not even in the same universe.

The “no brainer” upgrades are taking a little step back. Stern has figured out pricing and product where we are a little bit annoyed as we make payment arrangements on these games but still go ahead and buy them anyway.

Those who got in years ago had a good run. Years ago I thought pinball was undervalued. Not so much anymore though.

What is most important is we were and still are in what my friends and I call “The Golden Age Of Pinball”. I mean look at what Elwin did and what Jack Danger just came out with?! Seriously!

And I don’t think AS upper Pf to FF is the right comparison.

Hay Hay guys... Still cracks me up...

What data are you using for this? A JP LE is around $14-15k. JP premium is around $10k per Pinside market.

He means, JP LE msrp was lower than a run of the mill premium, today.

That JP was NIB pricing.

And with comparisons so much depends on the person.

Forget about Pro to Le, there are folks out there who love and get more enjoyment playing their Firepower compared to someone else playing their GDZ LE.

There is no perfect scale of love and enjoyment on any game. All different. It’s really up to you.

Ah, I got cha.

Hell Tron Le was only 5k when it first came out. Our Dollar is worth so much less today than it use to be.

JP is 2019, why stop at Tron when you could go back further than over a decade? Also, Tron predates the Pro/Prem/LE model. I think AC/DC LE was the first of the 3 model pricing system and the MSRP of the LE was 8500 and by contrast Mandalorian was 9200. It's no big surprise every company is recording record profits but also claiming inflation is the only cause of price hikes... the two are not equal and it's called greedflation. Although in this case it's just market adjustment as we are still paying faster than they can make them.

I've been a Pro buyer on every Stern we've had come through the house - for us, we'd rather save that extra couple thousand and put it toward more options to have in the garage. I tend to get excited about adding aftermarket mods to go for a "Promium" style pin, but eventually just start playing the Pro and having a blast with it as is.

I think FF is going to be in this same category, and it'll make it that much more of a treat to find a Premium out on location.

Good to have opinions, I couldn't wait to unload the pro, and the premium commands a very good price compared to the pro. Personally, I think the prem aerosmith is a better game, as I think the prem foo will be the better game. Buy what you like,,, guess I meant small and fast, not black knight size with nothing to do, or like scooby

Have any of you that attended the recent shows asked the Stern folks what the status on the Expression Lighting kits is looking like? For those of us in on a Premium… are we looking at “months” or “years” waiting for them? I know several Rush owners that have waited a damn long time.

They just recently announced availability for Rush. Not sure a) when they will arrive to folks and b) what that means for Foo

Expression lights will be the next $5000 topper in the secondary market.

You’d do best to just ignore expression lights even exist and then be pleasantly surprised when they do.

I don’t have a reserved spot for my premium thats on the way but that Mutha “Foo”ker is gonna go somewhere in my pinball room!!!

FF was pretty awesome! Lots of cool paths, loops and ball returns.

Godfather was fun, the most striking thing is how many light years JJp is ahead of the competition with their LCD work.

I loved how retro PF was! Even had crappy low quality voice. Outlanes pretty brutal as was the horizontal ball action.

Very true .I still miss that game more than any other we’ve had .The kids didn’t like it .The old “nothing to do “ was what I was told .I think it’s a true pinball machine and will have one again someday .

Which magnet are we talking about ?

Agreed, even TS4 makes amazing use of the LCD. All JJP games have shined here since WOZ.

The one under the overlord.

Can someone tell me what these are for and if they are a worthwhile investment or not?

https://www.marcospecialties.com/control/keywordsearch?SEARCH_STRING=Foo+fighters+plastic

There isn’t a whole lot of description and can’t tell if they are in the must have/probably a good idea/ or not remotely needed category.

Also, only really worried about the shooter lane from an immediate protection standpoint. I’ve seen other threads where people mention cliffy’s, are those kits just usually precut mylar for places like that?

Thanks in advance.

The left ramp has a deflector above it which has broken in at least 2 examples that I've seen. the plastic is pretty thin and the ramp is so close to the flippers that the ball can really slamp into it from underneath.

Cliffys are metal protection pieces, the one for the shooter lane, sits on the "flats" so that the ball rides on the metal, not really touching the wood until its launched, I'd buy one in a sec, but the going story is that Cliff, himself is MONTHS behind on orders...
So it seems everyone's recommendation is to turn down the coil strength on ball launch, which does help,
and add some mylar.
I've already asked about where everyone buys theirs...
Use "mylar" as a keyword search here in this group....

First thing go into settings and set up trough eject to its lowest power to help the shooter lane not get eaten up. Do this on all your sterns.
Stick a small square of Mylar down where the ball comes out also.

You can go too low on the trough eject. I had to find the sweet spot on AIQ - otherwise I’d get into multiballs and it would sit there trying to eject a ball but fail.

Why would your shooter lane get eaten up .

Crappy soft wood and questionable clearcoat, I imagine.

Trough eject launches at high power rattling the ball on the curved edges of wood at trough exit.

Does is happen on 100% of games? No. But I have seen it on show games at end of show after 300-400 plays.

I haven’t seen it on my games which could be because I lower the trough eject power before I start to play. Just an easy precaution I do. But one can leave it full power if they want

I’d say there’s about 100% chance it’ll happen on a modern Stern left on factory trough power, and fairly quickly.

Now should anybody care about it / does it affect gameplay? Arguable. But also, pretty easy to mitigate.

Why would they ship it with the power higher than needed , if it's going to damage the Playfield . It might not affect gameplay but people like to show off the shooter lane for some reason when they sell a game .

Operators / location games. There are situations when you need more power. When your power is too light, multiple balls in the shooter lane (or balls not ejecting) can make the game unplayable on location. No money. Just my guess. I'd say they can lower the default by at least 30 and still be ok.

They'd rather the ball make it to the shooter lane reliably, than softly.

I just haven't heard of the Shooter Lane being "eaten up" on other manufacturers playfields .

Go look at any game on route.

Because the minute they start taking the time on the assembly line to test and dial in shooter lane power for every machine, the pinsider complaint emails will switch from "Well why don't you adjust my shooter lane power for me?" to "I see a speck of shooter lane damage with a microscope on my BRAND NEW MACHINE! I want a new playfield!!!"

I'm not going to distract this thread with this issue anymore , but I've owned a handful of games ( including routed games) and it hasn't been an issue .

Was reading the rule sheet, question about the ray gun shot multiplier. Is this permanent or only for the ball you are playing and is the multiplier noted on the play field with an insert?

What is the circle atomic insert for on the shots?

It isn't a real world playability issue. But in the day of "shooter lane pics" and "minty fresh" (hate that one BTW) its the reality of selling games today.

https://pinside.com/pinball/market/shops/1426-pinhead-mods/all
I have these in all my games, simple to install.

My friend’s Godzilla had a chipped shooter lane after first hundred games. I’d use the Mylar and lower coil power. Nothing to lose.

Same. Highly recommended.

have you noticed that many of the games in the market have a photo of just the shooter lane? it's one indication of the overal condition of the game, and a clue to how many plays it might have on it. And that's a big reason people install cliffies and turn their power down, because if/when you go to sell the game, you want a pristine shooter lane.

I also recommend Mylar in the shooter lane, then using an exacto knife carefully cut around the switch. Easy. Turn the auto plunge power down a bit, in my experience you don’t need to reduce the plunge power as extremely as most suggest.

You can buy Mylar sheets off Amazon.

I have discovered unprotected shooter lane damage is hit and miss. I have had new sterns where I notice wear in shooter lane within first 30 games
And I have Stern with over 1000 plays, no protection and shooter lane is fine.
Better safe than sorry IMO.

Foo has earned more in the first 3 days than any other in its first 3 days, besting previous highs from STH/GZ. And did so sitting right next to Godfather- which is also earning very well. And sitting next to other heavyweights too of course.

The Foo drool is warranted.

73FE06F4-99D9-4971-9870-073AE03852CD.jpeg

Jack shared this last night to FB....that upper loop looks so f'ing good! https://fb.watch/jHYS6SeBDg/

Reminds me of Shadow loops....which makes me want a scoreboard count feature for the upper loop!

What thickness mylar are you buying, 3 mil?

75C15233-2DCE-46B4-A4AC-6E1125F7633B (resized).jpeg

Not sure about thickness. Doesn’t say.
Edit added link:
https://www.amazon.com/Scotch-Inches-Laminating-Pouches-SF854-1B/dp/B00J0BPHTE/ref=mp_s_a_1_8

Thx, ordered