So true. I've never played another pin with scoring that was so "All or Nothing". You basically have to collect a specific set of patches, lock as many balls as possible, play through up to four pre-multiballs and get the jackpots, then start a song (which is where the concert experience really kicks in), then get band frenzy going, and finally finish the entire song, at which point you have like five seconds to collect the massive applause jackpot! If you fail at any of this your score is almost pointless! Definitely not for everyone, but for those who give it time to understand how the journey works, it's a fantastic experience!

Sorry, way off topic for Ultraman thread.

Honestly, if I could get my standard spot sold for what

Yeah, I just paid 6900 for a nib stranger things pro which is the last run. I also bought the uv kit, shaker, shooter rod and art blades. Into it at 7700 which is crazy to think it’s a pro. Oh well, hoping it’s a keeper

Only difference is Godzilla LE's sell for 3 to 4K above retail used and 6k NIB. Ultraman is - negative on most all sales. Not disagreeing on the sales part but there is a difference.

Absolutely this….RaM spots were being dumped at a loss early in code dev. Then code came along six months into production and BOOM spots were selling for $2500-$5000 profit. Not that value is everything but, it’s definitely reassuring. No one wants to lose money on a purchase when it comes time to move onto something new. IMO folks that are taking a hit and selling UM/HWN at a loss are foolish or at the very least compulsive. Spooky will not drop the ball on these games. They know how important it is to bring these games all the way. They will both be FIRE when they are complete.

I would think Rick and Morty is in a different ball park compared to Ultraman in regards to viewer demand. It is a very current/2020's ++ up to date theme with a ton of followers.
Rick and Morty broke Adult Swims record, 11 million viewers on April Fools’ and has about 2 to 3 million viewers on average. Not so sure Ultraman has that.. I could be wrong.

Oh, I wasn't claiming they were selling at a loss. Just that a lot of them are moving through there and that is typical for a new machine. Good, bad or neither. Not every buyer is going to be a Bolt it Down buyer.

It also doesn't help the people that decide to sell when there is one asshat with a megaphone out there, undercutting pricing with a patently fake ad.

I don’t think UM/HWN will ever hit for hot spot flip either. But I do think that they will maintain their original value or increase slightly over time mostly on account of supply demand and continuing pays shortages AND that both themes are cool unique fresh take alternatives to other modern pins

Hopefully Spooky goes full force fast on both these pins HW and UM and in 3-6 months the for sale ones will be gone. If not there could be a concerning amount of them in the market place. That could pose a problem for Spooky based on the time it takes Spooky to build vs the amount of people that might rethink it, move on to something else or cut losses. Hope it works out and fast for them.

They’re pre-sold, at least with deposits. This doesn’t affect Spooky at all in the short term. Now, if the reputation of these games doesn’t recover by the time their next game comes out…pre-orders will shrink to AMH levels. Not all people pre-order to flip, but they expect their games to BE GOOD & HOLD VALUE…that’s the “deal” for taking the risk. If Spooky games no longer offer that deal, pre-order is over.

Just so many pinballs competing for a buyers attention, it’s not impossible to believe waiting for a product for over a year someone would have second thoughts.

Godzillas seem to have flippers sales going on now. But those are games in hand not pre-sales or so it appears. I think a distributor or Stwrn would just cancel your order and resell it for Godzilla LE I would guess.

Maybe this gives buyers a pause in preorder ideas.

To say Kaneda is low balling the game effecting other sales, for God knows why, is not really true, clearly if you want to sell your CE you have to take a $1k loss now, for a BSE at least $500 and I would guess for the rare standard you like have to take a $500 hit too.

People just don’t want to be committed to $7k game for over a year when so far it has not wowed people. I mean it’s a pandemic too that has to have some people nervous too, lots of uncertainty out there and this game is not going to flip for a profit - sorry - likely ever.

Buy it because you like it. But preorder for a year to get your game, that sucks.

I agree - a person shouldn’t lose money, if Spooky wants to save this game let people get a refund with a small restocking fee.

Yes, pre order sales of 500 at 2k is 1m in regards to UM. But the bean counters at spooky know you have to get to the finish line 100% and complete the sale to see the 4m to 4.5m give or take. That is where the company money is. That is where you make profit. No good business would rely on non-refundable deposits. Well some in this hobby did.
Done for now wishing the best outcome for Spooky as alway. Time will tell.

There's a "seller" offering a slot for under $1k. Sure, we know it is fake. But. Not everyone does. It is absolutely affecting the asking price of other sellers.

There is no arguing with that at all. It is basic market factors. You can't ask 20-30% more than another seller for a preorder spot. So, they take the bigger hit.

Worst part is, he is trolling the Marketplace and doing it to hurt others and Spooky. No other reason for him to refuse to sell it to any number of potential buyers.

Lot of conspiracy theories getting thrown around. The market is the market and there is just more supply than demand right now. Even if one person were indeed trolling and had their spot fake listed for say $1, the demand would just work their way up the list until they got what they wanted from a real ad/seller.

I think the game has potential, but collectors seem to be in a wait and hold pattern on the code, even if the distinct layout resonates with them.

PS This is coming from someone who recently sold their spot.

PPS I didn't buy the spot to flip, just decided to go in a different direction since a CE ended up on route near me and felt I could sufficiently experience it there. Incidentally, the last time I was at that location UM and HWN were easily getting the most plays in a fairly strong lineup of games. Was talking with a bartender who is a casual player and he said HWN was his current favorite. Take that for what it's worth.

Would think UM/HWE will be Spooky’s best deep coded games ever. Because if they aren’t, there will be no more preorders happening from the community ever again. No one will trust the preorder process and everyone will wait and see until the code is finished, to know if they want to buy or not. Spooky’s preorder model is hanging in the balance big time on this one. More than ever before.

Go into switch test and smash the flipper button. Check to see if there’s a tight switch triggering from the flipper impact. That’s what this sounds like to me.

Yep. I think the challenge any pinball company has is developing teams with track records. I've been buying Stern games since 2004 and 2 factors dramatically influence my "buy" decision...the license (duh) and the lead designer. The lead designer *usually* has a lot to do with the outcome of a game. The most glaring example of this recently is Keith Elwin designed games.

My decision to purchase R&M (my first Spooky game) was the license and Scott Danesi (who did an awesome job on TNA). I was so smitten with R&M, I took the pre-order plunge with UMCE without really thinking about who was working on it. The license meant nothing to me, but was cool/quirky, so I took the plunge. After playing it @ Barcade in Highland Park with my son, we were very disappointed. Sure, it was early code, but it was scary basic and we found it annoying. So, decided I wasn't in for a "journey" this time around and sold. No big deal...sold to someone who fully understands the "journey" and is looking forward to it. Win/win.

You aren't buying, so why waste people's time? You just like talking a LOT on the internet.
Have you ever owned a Spooky pin?

What in the fuck are you talking about?

Go look at the spreadsheet. I have a Ultraman BSE on order, and paid the deposit, genius. Given the discounts people are selling CE's at, it would make a lot of sense for me to take this effectively FREE upgrade to a CE, and sell the BSE slot later, or sell the BSE outright after I get it....and not have to wait until July or August to play the game.

Hoping???

Whoops that’s top part was from an old post

I was thinking about upgrading to a CE but now I have too many pins coming

Had this happen today on upper playfield.
Seems there needs to be more space. Wonder if a small spacer would be enough to sort this out..

Any idesa?

IMG_2474 (resized).jpg

On an earlier post - I said I had an issue with a ball search not working.

Multi-ball - stucky ball on second tier issue - probably not code. but more of a pitch / adjustment angle.

The subway doesn't seem to be angled enough to force ball to flow into switch area. The reason I think I began noticing this
on multi-ball was a bit of a pileup of balls that happened to fall in hole.

I also had a single ball that didn't have much inertia on it get stuck in the right scoop after dropping from second playfield. It just didn't roll down to the switch / ball detection / opto area? Not sure which option is correct yet.

Ball search - since the ball is technically stuck in the subway it can't find it and nothing is going to kick it out of place. Short of a extreme tilting nudge/shake from upper left cabinet.

Any thoughts. I've thought about adjustments to the pitch, adding a washer to increase pitch of subway or tweaking opto or switch position. Hoping its an opto in subway that just needs tweaking.

I would try some testing with the glass off. Put your finger down in the Beta Capsule scoop and drop a ball from the middle playfield. Try position the ball in different areas and see if you can get it stuck. Is it hitting the scoop protector? Is it catching the hole for the opto? Is there a misrouted wire? Something must be blocking the pathway.

This all reads like the American Pinball Houdini club....

Certainly hope things keep turning around next year. Not always the easiest to read while waiting for the pin.

Can you post a picture with the metal cover where the jet sits removed? There should be a lot of clearance between the wire guide and ramp.

20211230_224544 (resized).jpgpasted_image (resized).png

Rick and Morty had a similarly rough start, and by the time I got my late-production game it was completely sorted (and it's probably my favorite modern pin). Keeping up with this thread feels a bit depressing, but my advice would be:

The Spooky Motto (resized).png

R&M had issues with the geometry/rails, flippers, and other various physical stuff, but the game code was pretty good from the start. Ultraman/Halloween seems to be exactly the opposite. Also, people weren't trying to get out of R&M for 1k losses. But you're probably correct and eventually this will all sort out.

Yep...and developing 2 themes *simultaneously* was a pretty aggressive move. Don't believe it's ever being done before (Shrek was introduced 1 year after Family Guy was completed).

I am getting some serious air off these drops. I have tried adjusting them and my pitch but it still catapulting back to me.

8248E314-F38E-44E7-BF90-E533B14E3661 (resized).jpeg

No it’s on there. Probably the only thing that’s keeping it from hitting the glass.

I am sitting at 6.7 right now but I tried 6.5 and even when all the way up to 7.0.

Is the deflector adjustable? Maybe some hardware came loose and it moved a bit.

I see the deflector flex when the ball hits it. I would not think the ball would bounce like that off the drops.

You need to adjust the drops so they are slightly angled downward.

I unfortunately have angled them down. I was just hoping someone had something similar happen so maybe I could get some hints on how to fix while I wait on Spooky to get back with me.

This game desperately needs a decent stream with new code and rules explanation. Maybe reach out to dontpanicflip to stream it if you don't have anyone with a streaming rig nearby, he owns one but has not done a stream on the new code.

I did the other night but it was my first time and didn't have it set to record . I can do it again , maybe someone who knows the rules well can join .

New mode for Ultraman and Halloween.

Wow is it out ? They made the UI better it seems ?

Hey everybody! 1.05 is going live here in just a few minutes!!!

Sweet ! I'm gonna grab it , I'll stream it tomorrow

Niiiiice!!!

1.05 is live and available on the support page on our website now! 1.05 has a handful of fixes but the main attraction is of course the new expert modes. You can watch my quick YouTube video explaining the modes right here.

As the work week starts back up on Monday we'll be keeping a close eye on any new code bugs and quickly knock those out.

Upcoming after that we'll have Pigmon Multiball for the Ultraman crowd and Jack O Lantern Multiball for the Halloween crowd. Hope everybody enjoys the new modes! Still plenty to come.

Thanks for the update. As more modes are added This game will come to life and once my machine is up and running again I will be updating ASAP.