There should be a little hole in the playfield just below the flipper. If you stick a toothpick in this hole, a resting flipper should just touch the toothpick. If it doesn't reach the toothpick, then the flipper is too high.

Also, if the toothpick is blocking the flipper from pointing lower, then the flipper is too low. But it doesn't sound like you have that issue.

I'll try the toothpick. That's a good idea. I was just eyeing it, but depending on the angle, I can see how the visual could be off a bit.

I've got a HUO Xmen I would trade for a TOM plus cash depending on condition. Pm if you are interested..

You should let people know your location.

Got it working. . The switch behind the flap was jammed. Thanks for the help.
G

Anyone put a pinsound board in a TOM here? There is a compilation on the community boards and I was curious how it sounded. I would love to see some video!

I'd love to hear what's out there too. Pinsound is awesome!

IMO one of the best mods out there! ColorDMD is amazing as well!

Do you download the music to the pin sound board or is it already on there?

I've got one here for sale but no shipping. Working 100% and in decent shape. PM me for more info.

John P. Dayhuff
Battle Creek, MI.
269-979-3836

Hey guys just joined the club this week! Finally got my grail! But she is in need of some pretty significant TLC. Its a re-import from Germany. At least thats what the currency taker is showing me. Check the pics out but there is some water damage on the bottom of the cab and on the back box. The PF is going to need some help and the backbox GI is partially working too. Then I get to see what other surprises are waiting for me! I might be limping in, but hey I'm in! Finally!

(Oh ya I'm in the Shadow club too )

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Let's change this thread up a bit! What are your high scores and strategies? All tips would be greatly appreciated. Currently I have never obtained the grand finale and my top score is 1.729 billion.

High score is 2,982,300,340. It was the only time I've gotten a grand finale. I've topped 1.5 billion 3 or 4 times in the past week, and come close to another grand finale (everything was there except 1 illusion, which was just starting). I usually keep to the left half. I go for multiballs and jackpots, VANISH / tiger-saw multiball, and THEATRE. I realize I have to start making it a priority to start illusions over all other things, and I think if you can keep that up for a game you can probably pick up the rest of the stuff incidentally.

I'm trying to isolate a change of behavior. In the past, if lock is lit, and I knock the ball into the trunk from the center loop, it registers a locked ball no matter what mode the game is in (during illusions, etc). It seems now that this is intermittent, and particularly if I'm in another game mode, if I sent the ball on the center loop and it enters the trunk, it doesn't always register it as a locked ball. It then pops the ball back up again through the trap door as normal.

Has anyone seen this? Is the issue a sensor inside the trunk not registering?

just over 2 billion, got to but didn't finish grand finale. to me it seems the best strategy to focus just on illusions and get the rest while doing that.
but i had a game recently where the trap door awarded me midnight madness two times in a row and i really milked it! quite important in my opinion, got me close to 200 million points alone! so going for the right loop to advance the clock for midnight madness and score an extra ball is quite important too.
love that game
cheers

Yep, for skill shot I will always pick Illusion. I have a rough time with that right orbit, but I hope to pick up a few advances from hitting the captive ball when launching after a lock, or getting midnight madness in the trap door. Completing all the illusions seems to take the most time.

3.5 billion for me. One thing I love about ToM is that the scoring is fair - no real loopholes. To get a good score, you have to play everything well. Completing Grand Finale is worth a sizeable chunk of your score and its pretty easy compared to a lot of wizard modes, but playing the illusions as well as you can really contributes. Midnight Madness can be good, as mentioned, provided you know exactly how your game releases the ball (on my mine I just lean on the left side of the machine and it JUST hits one of the flippers vs. straight down the middle). Jackpots also score pretty well so if you can keep multiball going you can rack up some decent points - and you can start multiball several times in a good game.

There are some insane scores on Theatre out there though. Like guys playing through Grand Finale multiple times...

Mine will very, very occasionally not register a ball going into the trunk (either through the trunk or the loop) and pop it out the trap door when lock is lit. Could there be a switch in the subway that is not adjusted quite right - an opto not working 100% or dirty enough not to spot the ball every time? Mine does it so rarely that I never investigated it - just considered it a quirk of the game. Guess that's not real helpful, but seems like it has to be a switch or an opto fail.

What do you have to do to complete the GF?

You have to spell MAGIC THEATRE - to get a letter you just have to shoot ANY ramp or orbit. So, pick whatever shot is easiest for you - for me it's the center ramp - and blast away. Pretty basic, but for me I either hard drain just after starting GF or complete it, no middle ground. lol

Same here. I've reached it a few times and then drained. If you reach it on ball 2, then drain, is it over or does it stay active for the next ball? I've only reached it on my last ball.

I got so close on my ball 2. I had everything but midnight madness, I just kept shooting for the advance clock and missing 1/2 of the time which is a HUGE drain chance. I lost it all, I was so mad. I have owned this machine since October of 2015 and still can't get the GF.

Midnight Madness seems to be the toughest for me to get. I usually hope to get it as a reward in the basement. I can shoot the left loop repeatedly and knock out Theatre easily. The right loop, I hit that like one out of five tries.

Nope, if you drain during GF it's over. Everything will be reset on your next ball. Brootal. Heh.

I usually hope for Midnight Madness from the basement, but have gotten it legit, too (LOVE how the callouts for the hours get more excited the closer you get to midnight). The advance clock from the captive ball on the plunge really helps - you can pick up a bunch of advance clocks that way. I always go for Advance Clock on the skill shot as well. But yeah, the right orbit is very difficult to hit. The right ramp is pretty tough too - I usually don't even bother for Metamorphosis because of that.

Would love to see Grand Finale get expanded someday on the ROM. Maybe leave spell MAGIC THEATRE the same, after that lock balls toward a final timed multiball (a new trick maybe, a final escape routine?). And, of course, a better end animation.

Tell the guys over at Stern. Those animations look badass. Or maby we could get the color DMD folks to throw in some different stuff. I am holding back on the color dmd because I don't think it's worth $400.

The ColorDMD is pretty darn sweet. I installed mine a couple of months ago, but yes, the price tag is a bit steep. It was a present to myself for some graphics side-work I have been doing for a while. Covered a number of upgrades to my ToM, but without that, as cool as it is, it would be hard to justify.

Try this guys. I played just doing loops for theatre and multiballs, did not try for illusions and stayed away from the trunk as much as possible. Got a couple 100M and a few theatres and multiball jackpots. 3 balls plus an extra ball and got 2.3B score. Risk free, easy going. I only started 3 illusions, 1 via skill shot and did not attempt to complete them. Boring way to play ToM but if you're into scores this is a safe way of doing it.

My highscore on 3 balls is 4.5B approx btw

Hello theatre of magic owners!

I was wondering if there is a cliffy that exist for the trap door? I'm looking at a Tom right now and has a bit of wear there. I was wondering if a cliffy even existed for this. Thanks for any info guys. Thanks!

Per their website, no...
http://www.passionforpinball.com/protectors.htm
Scroll down to Theatre of Magic and it just shows ramp protectors. Yay Google Search. LOL (Actually, I had no idea what a "cliffy" was and had to look it up.)

As of yet I don't believe he makes one for the trap door.

Thanks for the info. Figured this would be a popular cliffy.

Yes I do, I will download it and give it a try.

Could it be your flipper coil is to weak? Mine makes the shot but sometimes it can not get it all the way either.

Need some help looking for the hardware (correct) that goes in the spot where the T nut should be at. Thanks in advance.

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Check to see if this purple plastic is causing problems as the ball starts up the wireforme ramp. I had to sand a bit off to make the ball roll up the ramp smoothly.

Probally have to put the ramp back in to check this though.

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He really wants to make one for the trap door and trunk as well. Unfortunately, he hasn't had access to a playfield to model the cliffy off of! If you can take an accurate scan with a portable scanner, he's said that might be enough to get started. I was planning on doing this myself as soon as I tear down my playfield for playfield restoration, but I'm having too much fun playing the game to take the risk on my first teardown! If someone else wants to step up here, let me know.

What should be there is a t-nut. Are you saying you want to know what size of t-nut?

People have experimented over the years with putting a post in that location of various types, and all that has resulted is the ball getting stuck and it causing potential damage to the playfield. Mine had a post someone had put there so I took it out and replaced it with a t-nut, and now it works very well. On the very rare occasion a ball gets stuck the game releases it automatically when it figures out the ball isn't draining.

I just finished a complete tear down and rebuild (re-assembled about 3 months ago). The playfield was clear coated. It was touched up, repaired and scanned at the time. The trap door area was not perfect but in good condition. The trunk was pretty much perfect. I don't have the scan but I can easily get it from the person who scanned it. I'm not sure about how scale and measurements factor into this. Should I just contact Cliffy directly?

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That is correct I think it's a 6-32 but I'm not 100%. I also need to know what type the bolt is that secures to the T nut.

Nice!! Please post a video - I would love to see this in action - pinsound is awesome!

How much are a set of ramp decals? 4 pcs?
Can't find them anywhere, well I found a right staircase.

Im thinking this is the stud just need a verification,

http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/02-4002-3

The left gate done not come up during the left orbit shot only the right.
Had to take the glass off and close the coin door to check mine while rolling a ball around by hand slowly.
There must be something slowing it before that point, assuming you're left gate moves freeley open and close.
You're playfield overlay should not be a problem, the ball should have a ton of speed going into the orbit as the flippers on TOM are very strong.

RVH

Does it make it partially up the ramp then come back down or not get past the gate at all?

Well, first, let me say again, I don't think there should be a post there. There are a number of threads here on Pinside where this is discussed and the majority of ToM owners would probably tell you it's going to break your playfield. JPop and others have also reinforced this. For a brief time people were modifying it in the hopes it would reduce the chances of a ball getting caught, but it only made it worse. For that reason, I would replace the t-nut.

As for what size of t-nut. I have a #10-32, mainly because the #10 fit the trunk gear assembly box better. However, I've been meaning to replace this with a #8-32 or a #6-32, because I believe it fits the space on the playfield better.

Yes, or you could send them to me, whatever works for you. I know a lot of ToM owners who would love to buy a trap door and trunk cliffy so I'm happy to help.