The fact that JJP grandfathers pre-orders into older prices (at least for direct purchases) may put some competitive pressure on Stern to do the same with their distros.

Mine said he got allocation for the Oct. run back when the machine was announced which, if true, means he got allocated well before any price increase. If I was a distributer, I wouldn't be too happy with Stern if they didn't honor the price when I received allocation and sold pre-orders/deposits to my customers, who would be just as likely to be angry with me as with Stern for a bait-and-switch move like that.

The BM66 price increase was retroactive and I don't think you have anything on order with Stern until it ships and they ask for payment from the distributor. So I guess you may be able to take it up with your disti but at a 1k price increase they would be eating the cost increase to sell it to you.

This is all conjecture but based on past experience they won't honor your old pricing.

I don't disagree that it's what Stern did in the past. I'm hoping competition is putting some pressure on Stern to change their practices.

Fortunately my invoice specifies a charge of the remaining balance (original price minus pre-payment) when the machine is ready to ship, so changing the amount I would be charged would void the order and should trigger a refund for the pre-pay amount.

It puts the distributors in a very bad spot if the prices for the number of games allocated to them by stern for specific production runs can go up. Customers that put down deposits on games will either be pissed off, cancel their orders, or both. Now if they took pre-orders for games beyond what they were allocated then that's on them unless they made it clear that the price wasn't locked in for those orders.

Agreed. According to my distro, he sold units that were allocated to him (at least to me, and he's been upfront about creating a waiting list, took pre-payments after confirming his allocation, and communicated which production run each customer was slotted for). Distros who sold outside of their allocation put themselves in a bad position.

Agreed. If you didn’t pay and are just on a list somewhere you likely have no protection from a price increase. There is probably a stampede of customers trying to get cash payments in to their distributors before the increase comes into effect. Do we know when the increase comes into effect?

Or if they prioritized customers out of order and shipped to later ordering customers that were squeaking louder assuming they’d get a bigger allotment than they ultimately received. If Mando Prem is off the line and not going back on till after the price increase and Stern doesn’t grandfather them in there will be a lot of angry people.

I guess I just missed that this already happened with EHOH. Apparently there wasn’t a big enough uproar about this then so Stern is contemplating doing it again.

I’m reading and learning all the things that are needed to take care/clean the machine. For HUO normal to clean/wax after 200 plays?

Also I see a lot of recommendations to change out the stock pinballs to something better. Since the pro doesn’t have magnets, is it safe to use ninja chrome or titan super shiny? Or better practice to just use the carbon steel balls?

I've been waxing after 500 games, and noticed the wax gets a bit thin at that point. That said, I tend to apply a thicker than normal coat and let it cure over multiple days before playing, which may help the wax last longer.

Is my relatively small deposit considered a partial payment if I got an invoice?

I guess we'll find out sooner or later. Imagine the shit show if some distributors honor the old price and some don't for people that ordered back in May.

Gave Mando a bit of a facelift and some upgraded sound.

It's a shame Stern uses the stock speakers they do.
The sound is so much better with upgraded speakers.
Makes me feel bad for their audio engineers that I'm sure put a ton of work in.

Side note: Doug (@dougfreez) at Speaker Light Kits puts out a really nice product.
Solid guy to deal with.

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I’d check the coil stop. I remember what came with Sterns used to be junk not sure if they ever fixed that.

What speakers did you use? This is one thing I’m looking to upgrade as the sound leaves a bit to be desired.

On my Pro, the ball often stops or slows down when passing through the orbit. Seems like the ball hits the posts with rubber rings. Is this the way it's supposed to be? I find it annoying as it reduces the flow.

The welds on our diverter broke at league last night. Apparently welds are expensive. We have our Mandalorian launch party on Sunday. Nothing like having a broken machine for a launch party.

The operator is going to try to get them to overnight one......We'll see how that goes.

Go Stern!
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Zip tie it back together. It will hold until the replacement arrives.

Picked up my Mando premium. Build date 8/29. Code 0.97. No insider connected.

Roger that, Thank you for the info.

Stern mostly uses Kenwood on the LEs but honestly you can use almost whatever you want.

Take it to a local welding shop and have it re-welded.

You can use pretty much any 5.25" speaker...
The one I purchased here (in red) seems to be sold out on Amazon but this is essentially it:
https://www.amazon.com/Audio-Systems-BE524-Range-Speakers/dp/B06W2G8K2Z/ref=sr_1_3

You'll need to clip the soldered connections off of the standard Stern speakers and I used a few crimp connectors to make it easy to slide the stripped wire over the positive and negative connections on the new speakers.

If you want to blow the doors off, you can go with a Pinwoofer system where Dan will sell you a full set with a replacement cabinet sub and backbox speakers.
Did that to my GnR and JP machines and it's pretty amazing.

No matter what you change, the sound will be greatly improved!

For context the speakers in the Pinwoofer kit are Pyle Blue Label, around $20 a set.

https://www.parts-express.com/Pyle-PL53BL-Blue-Label-5-1-4-Triaxial-Speaker-Pair-267-080

Grab it mate!

I can say first hand that these speakers are also WAY better than the stock speakers in any Stern Pro or Premium machine.
(these are the ones I have in my JP)

It's an inexpensive and easy upgrade that is worth it IMO.

Hello Everyone, I am not the first person do to this but I don't see it recommended enough as a possible solution so I thought I would post with visuals.

Problem:
Mando Pro upper playfield ball releases sometimes can dribble out when you can't get a good nudge to bounce it over to the flipper, so you never get a single shot.

Possible Solution:
Remove the two screws holding a plastic guard that stops the ball dead so it can dribble out (see photo)

Video of possible fix:

I was debating trying other things to get more rubber or nudge on with the plastic still on but this seems to be really working well to always get it to the flipper.

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Does the spike audio system have good power for them or is an external amp needed to really get good sound out?

The Pinwoofer amp makes a big difference if you want to dial in levels for sure but there's such an improvement in the better speakers alone, it is worth the investment.

If you think of it, the LE machines have 5.25" speakers in them without any additional amplification. All I've done is replace the stock 3.5" speakers with the larger drivers.

Note: You'll need new mounting plates which I purchased from Doug and SpeakerLightKits.com if you're doing the upgrade. (Lights are optional but look cool... )

Well yeah. The speakers in pros and premiums are like $1 a piece.

I’m more than happy with the kenwoods in my LE stern. Just added an external powered sub, and it’s really really good.

Alright, fine, you've convinced me! Been sitting on this for a while but couldn't decide if it was worthwhile.

DugFreez you can send Ponzie the commission on my Deluxe 5.25" Speaker Light & Plates Combo.

Appreciate the response! Yeah I found these speakers to be pretty lacking. I have done some vpin builds and was a bit surprised the pro speakers are kind of….junk. Off to get those brackets as well!

Also finally got GC on the table. My girlfriend was holding the GC score until today!

Anyone know where this piece goes? Couldn't find it in the manual but it says -38.

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Cheating seems strong as you are assuming the design intention was to not feed the flipper. If you like it that way that is totally cool but I think they intended the ball to make it to the flipper as on the Premium it goes directly to the left every time.

It's not difficult though, it's annoying. The left ramp is the easiest shot in the game and made with ease from both flippers. When you don't get even a single shot it makes it chopping wood when the Encounters are the most wood chopping the game has to offer already.

I feel exactly the same way. And besides the animated groku, I'll have a green force spot mod sitting on the parts shelf. Will an extra 500 - 1000 make me miss a mortgage payment. No. However, I'll never be able to accept my game was delayed just in time for a price increase.

This point

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I may have missed it but is anyone making a foundry mod?

https://pinside.com/pinball/community/pinsiders/tdiddy

I have one as well but not quite ready to ship. If you take a look at our mod thread you can read about it there.

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Thanks.

Are you satisfied with the wizardmod addons?

T Diddy mods yes you missed it and he has other cool mods

Flynnibuss you are wrong on this one!!!!!

https://pinside.com/pinball/biz/directory/1912-diddy-s-mods

Yep very happy

I noticed this plastic on my NIB Mando was raised up on the end slightly...they must have started putting something under this plastic to raise it. Build date 7/22/21.

That is interesting. Could you give us a peak at what they are hiding in there? The foam has been working just fine for me, but maybe there is a better solution.

I will try and get a pic tomorrow. Well it's tomorrow now, so later today...lol.

This is the day! LE #200
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