does anyone think it is possible for Stern to change the snake head deisgn/material at this stage of the production?

That would most likely require major tooling changes to production equipment.

I heard the fix will be a sneeze guard like in POTC. LOL jk

I wonder if the fangs could be implanted with small screws up through the middle of the fang and into the head.

One of my front teeth is held onto my jaw by a pin .

Now that's Funny !! Braces / Dentures

Polydent it back in place.

WOZ is also dealing with its only problems on location where it has been some technical problems.

First time the GI went out during game play the second time the VUK to the castle stopped working and there still seemed to be some slowing down of the animations during game play even after the major hardware/software update.

Metallica and WOZ will have their problems and they will work it out on both sides. The most important thing to do is let Stern and JJP know what is happening to their games so they can address it.

The ball track in the scoop shows the ball is going to the left side and not down the middle between the two teeth which will certainly break off the left side tooth looking from the front. I don't know if an adjustment that centers the shot from the scoop will end up where it is best for play.

It also looks like a lot of ball scoop wear for just 200 plays.

It is inevitable that the teeth hanging down will be broken either from scoop ejection or ball shots toward the scoop.

You might try using a white silicone to reproduce the tooth shape that will better handle ball hits.
A new snake head will break again given the way your scoop ejects to the left.

Now he's a west Virginia Snake.

Make it metal

Nice one!

So I guess a wise invester would buy up all available replacement heads then sell them in a few years for huge profit?

The danger there is then you could get micro chips on the balls . . . and then destroy your entire playfield. You don't want anything on a playfield harder or as hard as the ball, any pivots in a ball will destroy a playfield very fast.

make them out of brass then. Doesn't seem to effect the ball on TOTAN when your launching the ball into a metal plate.

Really? I guess once the other tooth gets knocked out, it will be a (W)est Virginia snake.

That is a bummer, but like everyone else, I thought it looked inevitable.

Shouldn't let the Harkonnens play Metallica.

Maybe a titanium implant?

They should have made the fang area one continuous molded area painted black with fangs painted on in white.

If they did it in silver, he's look like Flava flave. KEEPIN EH REEEEEL.

Indeed

How the hell could Stern not see this coming???

image.jpg

Yeah, having played both side by side, WOZ *feels* better made, yet thus far with my experiences with WOZ, it always seems like it's breaking, just not in cosmetic ways (though I have seen plenty of dimpling in the clear coat). Every time I have watched a WOZ at the end of a long night of location play (at tpf, and at joystix) I have always seen something go wrong in a big way. The LCD graphics always seem to get slow and stutters as the night goes on, I've seen tons of problems with GI and even insert lighting going bad, and this last Friday, the vuk died so rescue wasn't working. For reference, joystix only "operates" it's pins for the general public 2 Fridays a month from 9p-2a, so that's less than half a dozen route days for the machine so far.

Again, build quality *feels* great, but even with that they have issues to work out. Hopefully the manufacturers or the market will provide solutions to these issues, but one would hope QA would improve to the point where these machines ship without these issues.

Brilliant move by Stern. They will sell 1000s of snake heads!

Better a broken tooth than a broken heart.

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a softer material one will break down too.. just like the rubber rings on your games do. It needs to be non-contact!

I think it's just going to be one of those things that's broken on the majority of metallicas in the future. Not a major deal really, they shouldn't have put any fangs on as anything they do will break in that spot. Does kind of bum me out though when I play a pin and I know theres a part the may possibly break any game I play (even though all pins can do that)

Buy an extra head, keep it in the coin drawer, and beat that snake to bits!!!

I heard the new production games will be fang less ! You early buyers are going to have a serious collector value on your fang Metallica ! Congratulations .

Better put that one in the coin drawer.

I doubt that!

It is an ill wind that blows no good and to every dark cloud their is a silver lining!

Fangtastic

That's what she said! Sorry, had to say it. Hope you get it fixed soon and Stern addresses the problem. Bummer since it is a new machine. Good Luck!

Should have made it from the same material as rubber rings. It could be a groove on the top head piece, so one piece shaped like a horseshoe can fit in the groove and protrude down like two teeth. If it ever breaks you replace the u shaped rubber ring "teeth".
Come on modsters....

Great idea, I wonder if there is someone that can make custom molded rubber teeth? IMG_20130603_063728.jpg

Ok this drawing sucks but you should be able to figure out what I'm thinking. The teeth can be molded out of white rubber like the drawing I shaded over the teeth, at the tops of the teeth have a molded nub shaped like the spade looking drawing in the pic. Drill a hole where the hard plastic teeth were and insert the rubber nubs into the hole. These could be mass produced and cheaply sold. Now if Stern is going the route of no teeth it won't look as cool so you could mod it with these later.

Well you know it is rather odd to be shooting your balls at a snakes mouth!

I was talking about this issue with a friend who wants to get a Met but is worried about this very issue. The answer would be to mold and cast the head in an impact resistant material. You wouldn't want rubber because of of several issues. I have a compound I custom mix up in my shop that I have used in the past for things like targets or bash toys. With that you preserve the look and feel of the plastic part (it would also match the lower jaw better) but with it having a slight give to it, it will absorb the impact vs snap at it. When I mix it up I could color match the green as the base and then just add the black wash and such and it could just be a direct drop in replacement. The problem is I don't have access to one yet to cast. If I can get access to one to cast and make up a few prototypes, I could send them out to a couple of people to test in their machine. After that I could produce a bunch to have on hand.

Thanks!

Just call it Dave Mustaine's Revenge Mod aka "Black Tooth Grin". Nobody will get that.

Hinged teeth works or spinner like teeth even if it is too late to implement.

also, tooth broke off at the Pyramid Scheme in GR.

My LE gets gold crowns.

Thinking of purchasing Metallica. But even though it is a small issue. It would really bother me to have this happen. This issue will hold me back from purchase. Hope there is a fix.

This would actually stop people from purchasing the game?
A tiny detail that is completely inconsequential to gameplay?
Wow.

Really?

It's an oversight for sure, but I wouldn't let it stop me from getting the game if I could afford it.

I was thinking the same thing. Priorities seem way off.

I agree. But isn't the snake on the LE more animated? It'll be interesting what roll this plays on the LE. Can't be any worse than the LE wolverine mounts.

I'm guessing these are getting broken from the ball firing back out. If they could be braced with metal behind them it would not be visible. Guessing that's what cliffs is working on. Though ball may fire out funny

I can understand RobKnapp's position. I haven't played it, I've seen vids... but I'd be hesitant to buy one if I knew that it was going to have a very high likelihood of quick cosmetic failure.

I think the skeptics are assuming/judging that it has awesome gameplay. Maybe some have been able to determine this, but for those not yet able to make such a determination, the expected and repeated failure of a part is troubling.