Shrewsbury, NJ
Quoted from mrm_4:Hitting him works like the pop bumpers, the character changes on the lower playfield
Guess I never noticed.
(Topic ID: 35407)
Linked Games
Transformers (LE)
Stern, 2011-
Transformers (Pro)
Stern, 2011
Topic Gallery
1 month later
Officially joined the club yesterday. Going to give it a good cleaning and change out old dirty rubbers for new silicones (personal preference). I've already swapped the flashers for LEDs and installed color DMD. Any other suggested mods/fixes? Curious if adding colored leds to the back panel instead of white would look good or make it too dark/funky.
Quoted from Crile1:Officially joined the club yesterday. Going to give it a good cleaning and change out old dirty rubbers for new silicones (personal preference). I've already swapped the flashers for LEDs and installed color DMD. Any other suggested mods/fixes? Curious if adding colored leds to the back panel instead of white would look good or make it too dark/funky.
Cliffys has a complete set and are very nice, gotta adjust them, though. Also, Pinbits has a set of plastics protectors for it. They make me feel better being such a fast game. Replacement plastics are hard to find. I would want white on the backboard, dark game. I did put a purple led on the decepticon on the backboard, go clear dome , for more light. I have had mine a few years, even with upper titles that I own, TFLE is a favorite. Color dmd helped a lot.
On rubber, you can’t go wrong with Titan. If you like toppers, Tilt Toppers makes a good one for this. I got one, adds a lot.
Quoted from HIPPY:Cliffys has a complete set and are very nice, gotta adjust them, though. Also, Pinbits has a set of plastics protectors for it. They make me feel better being such a fast game. Replacement plastics are hard to find. I would want white on the backboard, dark game. I did put a purple led on the decepticon on the backboard, go clear dome , for more light. I have had mine a few years, even with upper titles that I own, TFLE is a favorite. Color dmd helped a lot.
On rubber, you can’t go wrong with Titan. If you like toppers, Tilt Toppers makes a good one for this. I got one, adds a lot.
Thanks! This game is just fun so far. Hits that nostalgia button for both adult me and my teenage son, especially with the recent Bumblebee movie.
Quoted from Crile1:Thanks! This game is just fun so far. Hits that nostalgia button for both adult me and my teenage son, especially with the recent Bumblebee movie.
I think they did a great job on the audio on this, too. Great game.
My Megatron scoop cliffy caused ball hangups on the back side super skill shot. I got an early run of the TFLE cliffy. I emailed with cliffy several years ago and I think he might have changed the design for future runs? Anyways after fiddling with adding layers of Mylar as a “ramp” I couldn’t keep the ball from hanging up on the cliffy before falling into the megatron scoop from the back side. I eventually cut that part of the cliffy away and reinstalled it.
Whats up. Ive been the proud owner of a autobots le for awhile now. Im getting ready to do some maintenance and just figured i would pass on the few issues Ive had with the game (not many). I do get hangups in a few spots. Sometimes optimus prime will catch the ball behind his leg. I plan on putting something behind it to stop that (shouldnt be a big deal), i also get caught up behind the starscream character but I think that is a simple ziptie fix.
the main issue im having is that my bottom pop bumper is sticking down. it will last one game or so and then the white collar will get stuck down. I'm wondering if anyone else is having this problem and how did they fix it. Im hoping there is a simple fix because I really don't want to have to remove everything to change out the whole pop bumper. what could it be hung up on? when its not stuck its working the way it should.
If take that pop apart, under it, there is a spoon looking cup that the bottom of the pop “skirt” pokes into, the spoon maybe dirty enough or have a mark in it that is holding the skirt down, these pops get ALOT of use on TF. Far the most of my pins, I have all the parts to rebuild my three here soon. I would rebuilt them periodically.
Thank, yeah Ill get in there and mess around with it when I get a chance. Im just hoping its dirty because it looks like the only way to change it out would be to remove all kinds of things and I really dont feel like doing that if I dont have too. Thanks though, Pop bumpers normally dont give me too many problems so this will be the first time Ive had to work on them. They are the key to high scores on this game though and when Im only playing with 2 of them working it really changes the game haha
Only take you two mins to tear it down. Just use the others for reference. They come apart from the bottom anyway, get a Q rip with alcohol to rub the spoon piece, while your at at, change the sleeve in the coil anyway, probably been hammered quarter million times at least!
The game I bought has a Megatron air ball plastic on it that does not have the thick plastic pieces on the sides underneath. The seller included the airball protector that came in the power pack with the thick plastic on the underside. Since the one on the game is worn, I switched it out with the new one. But that won't allow the ball to travel beneath. Any suggestions?
Quoted from Crile1:The game I bought has a Megatron air ball plastic on it that does not have the thick plastic pieces on the sides underneath. The seller included the airball protector that came in the power pack with the thick plastic on the underside. Since the one on the game is worn, I switched it out with the new one. But that won't allow the ball to travel beneath. Any suggestions?
I got a stored nib, it hadn’t any of that on it, that was a Stern update. Go to Marco & search Transformers update kit. I got it there recently. You can compare to their kit what is missing. By the way, I didn’t know about it until an airball cracked my glass.
Quoted from Crile1:The game I bought has a Megatron air ball plastic on it that does not have the thick plastic pieces on the sides underneath. The seller included the airball protector that came in the power pack with the thick plastic on the underside. Since the one on the game is worn, I switched it out with the new one. But that won't allow the ball to travel beneath. Any suggestions?
Take some pics and show us the area and we might be able to help diagnose the issue. I’d be happy to send some pics of the corresponding area of my game.
Quoted from Rickwh:Take some pics and show us the area and we might be able to help diagnose the issue. I’d be happy to send some pics of the corresponding area of my game.
Sure thing. Will do it post holiday weekend.
Here is the issue I was talking about. First picture is how it came, which works fine. Other pictures are with airball protector with thick plastics and ball hang ups. Messed around a lot and could not get ball to pass smoothly underneath, plus the thick plastic blocks the all spark target.
20190902_184554 (resized).jpg20190902_174141 (resized).jpg20190902_172858 (resized).jpgThat's really odd. The parts look correct but yours diffidently sits lower. Has to be something with how Megatron was reinstalled. On mine that plastic actually angles up while yours looks like it angles down or is flat.
Quoted from Crile1:Here is the issue I was talking about. First picture is how it came, which works fine. Other pictures are with airball protector with thick plastics and ball hang ups. Messed around a lot and could not get ball to pass smoothly underneath, plus the thick plastic blocks the all spark target.[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]
I installed mine many years ago w/o and issue, so that's odd. Check images here. Maybe you need a visual to help? https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/fs-stern-transformers-le-autobot#post-500975
Also, not in English, but this guy seemed to do a "step by step" installation tutorial.
http://flipperdilla.blogspot.com/2012/02/transformers-le-technical-update-kit.html
Turned out that the fix on the megatron ball trough (2 nuts) lowered the hex post by 1/4 inch. So spacers and longer screws to the rescue! Thanks guys. Now to figure out how to take apart the ramps to give this game a good cleaning.
Man, this game is fun! I like that the shots are easier to hit than some of my other games and rules are pretty straight forward. Had a great time playing with my son last night. He blew up Megatron multiball and transitioned right into Optimus multiball and beat me. We are even re-watching the first three movies. Re-living some nice memories as he is now a teenager.
Glad you are enjoying. IMHO it's an underrated game due to a miss in the hype at launch.
Ramp removal is actually pretty easy on this game with the hardest part being getting the lights out of the domes in the slings. The mini PF is a bit of a PITA to remove though but you can clean under it pretty easily once the ramps are out of the way.
3 weeks later
Quoted from Crile1:Still new to this club, but gotta say that Fast Scoring from Mudflap and Skids is one of the best pinball moments ever for me. I have an LE with shaker and ripping the spinner in this mode is AMAZING!
Dude get megatron ready to go, start fast scoring and go into multiball, 3 or 4 balls in those pop bumpers will make the game almost tilt itself out. Its insane!
2 months later
Anyone ever mess with changing out the led boards? I got tired of the crappy insert lighting and changed out all the little LED boards with new pieces from Cointaker. Turned out really nice. So I decided to rewire the inserts in the middle to work the same way. Just jump the wiring off the existing lights board and put some electrical tape over the original bulbs. Will finish up the wiring tomorrow, but this is what it looks like so far.
IMG_5967 (resized).jpgIMG_5968 (resized).jpgI'm tuned in. I hate the insert lighting on TFLE. I bought all the cointaker boards as well, lifted the pf and realized it was integrated into multiple lights per board so put the lights away. Curious on how it turns out.
Quoted from 85vett:I'm tuned in. I hate the insert lighting on TFLE. I bought all the cointaker boards as well, lifted the pf and realized it was integrated into multiple lights per board so put the lights away. Curious on how it turns out.
Hope to have it done tonight. The rest of the inserts look so much nicer with the colored boards.
So I finished up the wiring last night, then realized I wired the boards backwards. All of the drives should have been jumped together, not the grounds. Fixed that tonight when I got home and powered it up. The reds have a big improvement. The purples aren't as good. I may switch those out for white boards at some point, but there is a bit of improvement over the stock lighting. I also took shots of the small inserts that I changed the boards on. The blues for skids and mudflap are much brighter and bluer.
IMG_5980 (resized).jpgIMG_5981 (resized).jpgIMG_5982 (resized).jpgQuoted from 85vett:That's a lot better. If I get some courage I may give that a try too.
I will try some white pcb's to see if I can get the purple better, otherwise I may have to double up on the led boards for those inserts.
Quoted from Kawydud:I will try some white pcb's to see if I can get the purple better, otherwise I may have to double up on the led boards for those inserts.
Maybe for next person, mount the extra led boards to the left and right side and Keep the original board - so you have 2x leds per square directly lighting up the insert?
Quoted from cpr9999:Maybe for next person, mount the extra led boards to the left and right side and Keep the original board - so you have 2x leds per square directly lighting up the insert?
If you used white leds that might work. I used red and purple for each side, so the white wouldn't match correctly. The red really looks nice, just need something different for the purple.
1 month later
Big shop out tonight!! Might take me two nights. This thing is Joe Dirte!
Adding the cliffys I’ve had for a year and a half while I’m at it. Clean the black filth, new sleeves and such in what needs it, clean up the pops, they get so much action. Rebuild the flippers, change the balls, some titan rubber.
2F91BF91-44D7-4043-9665-BF088A357332 (resized).jpegBe glad you dont have an LE then 
That megatron and mini playfield assemblies were major pains. You'll be happy once done.
Anyone have their pics of adding their cliffys?
I have like 7 pieces. Feel like a dumbass, don’t know where most of them go. Anyone snap pics as they were adding theirs? I’ll also when I get them in...
Thx in advance
I recommend cutting the Cliffy for megatron where the ball drops in.
Should be 3 pieces for shooter lane.
1 for the drain area.
1 for the All Spark shot with mylar.
1 for Megatron.
Quoted from northerndude:I got the Megatron, all spark big ones.
Now I still have all these!![quoted image]
Top one is mylar for the all spark shot. It goes on the area that is just wood grain to help protect the clear coat.
Next one goes on right side of shooter lane.
Square with 3 screws goes on the underside of the All Spark shot where the ball sits. The washer is for that switch, to help it clear that protector.
Under that one is for the drain.
Bottom 2 are for shooter lane.
Check out Pinball Supernova YouTube. He goes over how the cliffys get installed.
Look at pics for Batman 66, to see how the square one with 3 screws gets installed and where the washer goes.
Quoted from Trekkie1978:Top one is mylar for the all spark shot. It goes on the area that is just wood grain to help protect the clear coat.
Next one goes on right side of shooter lane.
Square with 3 screws goes on the underside of the All Spark shot where the ball sits. The washer is for that switch, to help it clear that protector.
Under that one is for the drain.
Bottom 2 are for shooter lane.
Check out Pinball Supernova YouTube. He goes over how the cliffys get installed.
Look at pics for Batman 66, to see how the square one with 3 screws gets installed and where the washer goes.
Yeah, thx a lot!. I've been sniffing through cliffys site looking at a couple newish stern pins. I think I got the shooter lane area figured.
Autobots......
TRANSFORM!!! Blak, blak, blak...blak!!!!
Well, don’t want to rip this bitch apart again, ever..wow.
Flippers rebuilt. Pops rebuilt, yokes broke, sleeves fucked. All cliffys installed.
Needed it....BAD. Added some glass sealer foam piece in the all spark, hoping it will help out with balls coming right back out
Cleaned, waxed three coats, new balls.
She’s all shorn you’re and ready to flip.
Check out, the translight has never been off glass, was black between them.
3404D713-1B8D-4414-B2F5-B5119E21D187 (resized).jpeg37E50F3B-13E6-4893-ABFC-586BD9055230 (resized).jpeg
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