I would check to see if your guiderails are hitting either the coinbox or lockbar latches. Those are the two most common areas it can catch. They can be bent a bit, but don't push too hard or you will likely rip out the #8 screw. Also probably best to avoid moving them to where they touch a coil mounting bracket.

I think that battle mirrors HWN house MB: knock the drop target down on the top PF and shoot the crossover ramp to defeat Micheal Jirah.

Think they light up as you play pumpkin beta capsule modes. maybe they pulse (or not) to indicate success/failure

might be the right side lockbar latch.

Nice, thanks! It's a bit hard to see, but the target & insert in front of it turn purple when it's ready to defeat Jirahs - the LCD still says "Shoot Spinner & Avoid drop target". Anyway - I did it, I defeated him - and it starts a multiball with the Japanese kids singing the Ultraman song...so funny. I love singing in games...Japanese singing might be a pinball first.

Typo on the instruction card. Although Kaiji does seem like it could be plural for Kaiju…but I looked it up….nope.

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Perhaps in Italy.

who is getting an Ultraman in Australia ??

I agree. There seem to be a lot more Stern snobs in the hobby over the last few years. I love Stern games too, but I am in no way put off by games/flippers that feel different from Stern. It's actually kind of refreshing and adapting to the differences has always been a part of pinball. Some people also don't like upper playfields or any amount of stop-n-go, and they are very vocal about it. It seems to me like there's plenty of room for different styles of design, but it can be hard to cut through the static sometimes. On the filp side, it's good to hear a positive review from someone who has, understandably, been a little skeptical about HWN/UM.

What’s funny is, when I started in this hobby - the snobbery was all about B/W 90s pins, and Sterns were considered inferior in every way. Even though many of the B/W people were involved, Sterns were shit on - even the good ones. People would buy LOTR & TSPP for the depth, but still insult them & had to feign shame for owning one. Even though I love B/W pins, sometimes I’d state that I find myself playing my Sterns more. During the “bad years”, when I professed how much I enjoyed Iron Man & Avatar, I was ridiculed by many collectors. It’s interesting to see how tastes and tastemakers have changed.

Avatar has ALWAYS been criminally underrated. It's got what is honestly my favorite multiball stack in all of pinball.

Yeah, it’s a simple game - but had some really satisfying shots & great Lyman code nuance. Great movie assets, music & voice makes it really cinematic. Only reason I sold it is cuz I also had Iron Man & Tron, which are similar games from that era.

AAAAMP SOOOOOOT JACKPAWT!

Gets me every time.

Mmmm I don't recall this at all. People were certainly still crapping on Whitestar as opposed to WPC (flippers and sound were inferior) and also Stern's newsprint-quality cabinet art, but even back then folks recognized TSPP and LOTR as great games. They were happy Stern was finally making something worth buying (Monopoly was a good start but ehhh).

Thanks for sharing your game impressions and insights!

I sure hope Spooky develops the code and graphics to the collectively desired level. Seems to be LOTS of second guessing on pre-orders in meantime.

Weird bug, my son is playing and the multiball just keeps going and ejecting new balls whenever he drains. Not sure how he got into this but it’s been like a 10 minute multiball with a whoooooole lot of drains.

Well there, you just nailed it. B/W fans would buy and enjoy them - but they couldn’t stop talking about the sound, art printing quality, the flippers are too loud, they’re clunky…

Kid mode

Exactly. And all that complaining got us SAM, which fixed the sound and helped the flippers. Cab art still sucked for years after but complaints eventually got that fixed as well. Not sure what "feign shame" means but the complaints were basically "this is good but can be better" not "I'm embarrassed for owning this." Maybe CA had a weirder vibe but we in midwest pinball central were very happy to get our hands on LOTR/TSPP.

HS2 Getaway had the underrun bug causing the ballsave to roll back to 255sec. Wonder if this has a 16-bit underrun, 18 hours of ballsave!

The other typo was Benular instead of Bemular. I reported that last year, did that get fixed on yours?

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There was just this vibe in the air that collectors didn’t want to admit they actually liked Sterns, even though they did & still got excited about each new game.

Mine still has Benular.

My first 2 games were NIB LOTR/TSPP (after seeing them in a "Sharper Image" store in Los Gatos CA). At the time, I wasn't a pinhead/pundit...just someone that wanted to play (and could care less about comparisons). Loved both of them...still have LOTR.

Yes, I was going to post this yesterday as a reply to your review.

It’s amazing how it’s turned around.

Remember in 2010 when Ironman came out, Clay did a video review and just ripped it to shreds. “There’s nothing here!! Just a piece of wood! Look at this! This is crap!!” I tried to find that video a while back but it seems to have disappeared.

I guess newbys only know Stern pins now. And every new model is so f**king hyped up … best game ever! … until the next one.

For me - yes, they make some great games. But they’re all very samey. All have the same feel … and most have very similar play. Most code is far too confusing for the average person. I’m happy to play them, but I don’t feel the need to buy them any more. I’ll just play my old ones.

rd

That's how I felt until I got bit by the Elwin bug. For a while, my last new Stern that I still have was Metallica...the last new Stern I bought was Star Trek LE, and sold it relatively quickly. I completely ignored the SPIKE years until Jurassic Park. That was the Stern "game changer" for me, personally. I bought a used Premium. Almost got an AIQ, but the code was too math chess RPG exhausting for me (although it plays great). I bought Godzilla LE, and that was my first Stern NIB since STLE. Very happy with my 2 Elwin's. I also have a Rush LE coming...which, to be honest - if it wasn't Rush, I probably would have passed. Dunno if the code is gonna be a style I gel with, and the design is basically X-Men, which I had and sold already. I'm hoping to put a pause on any new purchases for a while. I still need to sell some games to make room for my new ones...and I feel like I can really dig into JP & GZ for years and never fully uncover everything.

Yep. I have one on order. Just waiting patiently.
Is #89 kind of sucks having to wait so long even thought Spooky have long passed that order number and then the shipping times.

We just unboxed our Ultraman (our first Spooky Pin) and after a few plays....I'll give them props on design and show but build quality is a different story.

First, the subway that the ball drops into from the first upper playfield blew the screws out that were holding the subway to the playfield. This caused the ball to just get stuck at the back of the subway and they wouldn't roll on to the lift. I'll have to either get some larger screws or drill some new holes to hold the subway in place. (I'll probably do both)

Second, the small metal posts that hold down half of the flaps covering the lifts, both of them were loose. I didn't notice until one of them caused one of the metal flaps to buckle up, and that prevented the ball from rolling thru that side lane behind the slingshot. I tightened both of those posts down and they seem to be ok now. If they come loose again, I'll hit them with some blue threadlock.

Other than those issues, the game isn't half bad. Although some of the side shots are a royal b***h to hit, but I do like the feel of the upper playfields. The subway ball lifts are a neat idea, I wonder how well they will hold up over time.

Arh nice, I'm #86 for a CE, supposedly our builds are coming up shortly...I wonder how many are coming in to AUSTRALIA....

Damn...I'm super surprised that a ball falling from the middle playfield had enough force to pull multiple screws from the playfield. That's a lot of force. They are standard #6s, which we use in areas where the ball is not taking a direct shot. Direct shot areas like standup targets use #8s. If you have a raiser on the right side of the subway, perhaps try a #8 in there. Obviously, just don't go any larger then that, or you will poke a whole though your playfield. If you choose to go with repositioning, make sure you maintain a decent downward slope where the ball crosses the opto under the Quick Battle scoop. If it's too flat you can end up with a ball trap.

In terms of the metal post holding down the lifter flaps, make sure you are holding the flap flat as you are tightening. In general I see them buckle up a lot more when they are super tight. They get pinched. The other thing to look out for is that they are not catching on the sling rubbers. I tent to have to set them towards the outlines.

Yeah. Would be interesting to know many numbers of Halloween and Ultraman that are coMing to Australia.

I get why deposits aren’t refundable. Would be so cool if I could roll it to a TNA (if it comes back) or another future Spooky game.

Or just get your Ultraman & enjoy it like me.

That’s the plan. Though this has definitely taught me to wait. I could probably get a CE for cheaper than what my BSE will cost me. Glad you are enjoying yours.

I doubt you are going to be disappointed with your Ultraman.

I don't think that is gonna last much longer, honestly. Kind of a perfect storm of the typical pre-order nonsense and the FOMO created by subsequent other releases.

Not a lot of the same sentiment in the Halloween Thread that you are finding in here. Mostly due to a few people complaining about a game they haven't received yet.

The Dada mode is pretty cool. Did you find a way to update without having a PC? Didn’t think they implemented a Mac update yet.

Cheaper...all costs considered? I doubt it, but you can DEFINITELY upgrade for "basically free". I bought my CE slot for 500. There was another one listed for 500 last week as well. I still have my BSE slot. If I forfeit my BSE slot entirely, I'll be in for 2000 on a CE preorder. Same cost as if I had picked a CE to start with. Assuming I sell my BSE slot for *any* amount of money, I'll have paid less for a CE than list cost. If I sell my BSE slot for 500 in a few months, I got the CE preorder cost for half the price. If things bounce back like crazy, and I'm able to sell it for more than 500....then that's going to be a really good day for me, but I'm not sitting around holding my breath on that.

I traded my TMNT for a CE and I too have a BSE on order. I hope I can gain some money back on my deposit but who knows what will happen in 6 months. Glad I upgraded, but looks like I will pay for my impatience.

Oh yeah, I mean if I hadn’t pre-ordered & bought someone else’s spot - game would have been cheaper. It is what it is.

Mine came with 1.05 installed, which has Dada. Very cool mode. Fawzma said he’d send me files for Mac update…says they just go on a USB stick & it will update just fine. Not sure why these files aren’t put up “officially” for Mac users - but I’ll take what I can get.

The Dada mode is much cooler than the HWN equivalent - Stalker mode. But then I think there are multiple things in UM that so far have been executed better than HWN.

I think both modes are better for their perspective themes.

The thing guaranteed to make my wife laugh hysterically is a fake person/dummy falling off a cliff. The final blow in the Ragon mode is just that - an empty costume falling off a cliff lol…I hope the code updates go full screen on “shot made” clips like that. We need to see that dummy shot full screen lol

I bought that other spot. I wanted an Ultraman CE from the beginning, but hesitated and they were all sold out. Then Godzilla came out and Alien, and after getting on those lists I felt like that was my quota of new pins for some time. Well, I won't see either of those pins for a while (fall or later), and when this deal came up it was just enough to put me over the line, combined with a much sooner projected delivery date. Very excited as I was a fan when I was younger along with my brother, and he is going to be pretty surprised when he comes over and sees it in my lineup.

And by the way, most of my collection is older, I really only have two newer pins, Houdini and Munsters Premium (B&W) with the topper. There is no other way to say it, both of those had a similar pinside "reputation" in the beginning. And today, both have had code updates (several for Houdini, and two recent huge ones for Munsters.) Both are great fun to play, and I picked both up on the secondary market for a very good price. Ultraman will be my first NIB in the house - can't wait.

Ultraman has arrived! It’s time to fight some Kaiju.

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Congrats.
I was grabbing it if you didn't. I ended up grabbing a BSE the next day to maybe put out on route.

Very excited for my CE to get here.

Mine should ship this week. Guess I need to shovel the driveway.

What number are we up to? Still waffling if I should get it, it’s a lot of dough. Hoping mine #227 is far enough out that most snow will be gone.

I'm 159 and still have not heard anything.

I’m 141.

Definitely will be doing both! Right now we are trying to tie up as many bugs as possible then after we put the update out it's right back to content! We still have so much more stuff to add. There will be 8 scoop modes. 2 easy, 2 medium, 2 hard, 2 expert. Also a mini wizard style multiba mode for when you progress through atleast 3 pumpkin modes. Then a final pumpkin mode wizard mode to top it off. So 10 at the scoop currently planned (doesn't mean we couldn't add more but this is a minimum goal). Then you have the 3 main story multiball modes and there will be a wizard mode culminating the story. So 4 main modes there in addition to the 10 at the scoop. Also we have alot more to do with a combo reward system, mystery award, blood store improvements, extra ball etc.

The plan is to get 1 major mode into each update. Also we plan to go back and revisit all the older modes and improve them as well as bug squash periodically. Overall a really balanced approach.

Also still working on new animations, callouts, and UI stuff. I think there should be some big surprises in this area if we have our way. This all goes for both games!

You dry your hockey gear away from the pins (and family) right?

They are dry before I store them under the pins but not much can escape the smell while they are drying Lol.