Consider it a badge of honor. Duncan Keith of the Chicago Blackhawks lost 7 teeth on ONE PLAY in the 2010 Playoffs. He didn't bitch about it. He was back in the game in less than 10 minutes. Get back in the game. Get your teeth fixed in the off-season. SMP_9546.jpg

I think it's more of the same quality issues from Stern. Love my SM, but it feels less quality than any B/W pin I own or have owned.

I plan on installing lubricated condoms to cover my snake teeth.
I think the extra rubber and lube will keep things safe and smooth.

Oh and btw, if you are considering buying a NIB, be aware that your playfield WILL dimple.
BUYER BEWARE

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/playfield-dimple-reality-check

Wow...

It's a plastic snake head over a scoop. Unlike the Freddy glove, this has nothing to do with gameplay. If he came from the factory with no teeth, no one would even care. If you call or Email Stern, I'm sure they'll send you a new one. Put some clear epoxy on the teeth of the new one and call it a day.

Has the op contacted stern yet? Anxious to see what they say.

Probably the same thing they said when they ran out of LEs.

I've had it with these mother fu@kin' snakes, on these mother fu@kin' games!

Anyone have their 555's pop out on the Metallica yet? I've seen it happen, that's pretty bad...

Do you think Stern will send me my new snake on a plane?

Having just watched Clay's Avengers video for the first time, all I can think is, buyer beware. I love my Avengers, and I disagree that it "feels cheap". When I play it it feels fine. Tight, smooth and solid. I don't really care if a piece of plastic wobbles a little after a relatively heavy steel ball hits it. It seems logical that it could. Maybe it shouldn't though...and so...

What now really bothers me are the three pages of Stern quality issues Clay cites at the end of the video. As a new (recent, first time) buyer of NIB machines I'm concerned. From the gauge of the wire to the quality of some of the assemblies to the seeming carelessness (negligence?) of some electronics decisions...I think it's clear that Stern is on the edge of making truly faulty machines and until people stop buying these games upon their initial availability Stern will not rectify these issues. If they cannot stay in business delivering a product with higher quality components - I mean, the wiring issue is pathetic, shame on them - then that is a larger issue and buyers can base their purchasing decisions on that reality. If they can, then the market has to vote with their wallets.

I really was interested in MET and looking forward to Star Trek as possible acquisitions...but maybe ill pass in the hopes that others will too in the name of Stern improving the quality of their components...not just their play testing. It will only get worse until the market demands it get better. Its a hard decision to make in what feels like a fresh era for pinball....but i dont want shitty wiring creating frequent - and potentially confusing - problems with my game. What a bummer.

I'm curious as to why this wasn't found out to be a problem during the testing process...seems like a huge oversight IMO.....

Doc

I say we get lawyered up and file a class action suit regarding this whole snake thing!! It is completely ridiculous that even though it does not affect game play one iota, I might have to look at a broken piece of plastic and just have my world crash down upon me at the very sight of such obvious negligence!!! This could possibly rise to a criminal count if someone freaks out enough to hurt another human over such an oversight! We must have justice, FOR ALL!

/sarcasm off Relax people, its a piece of plastic no longer that 1/2 inch long. If you are really that worried about it, I would hate to see you react when something actually matters.

Im simply going to buy a spare, crack both teeth off in due time with gameplay and when i go to sell it, if I do, will replace it. Easy peasy..

Seems like a lot of us have wondered about this from the start. I understand that it is not a huge problem, but why have an easily preventable problem at all?

I hope someone points it out in their comment section.

Has this happened to other met machines, or just to OP...possibly just a random bad casting? I will grab my torch and pitchfork with the rest of you if needed but need some convincing first

Hasnt happened to my game yet but I full expect it to any day now.
I've felt the teeth with the glass off and there's no way they will last.
Especially during multiball and having multiple balls in the scoop.

It's merely a matter of time ... dun dun dun

Yep. Happened to one up in Grand Rapids, Michigan to a game on location. The game is about 3 weeks old.

Guess i better start sharpening the pitchfork...

How about applying GOOP to the fangs. The stuff is like rubber cement on steroids, its tough, yet bouncy and clear. I bet this would protect them. I've used it on fragile things before to make them tough.

As seen in the OP's picture, the fangs hang down below the top of the scoop. So, a hit to a tooth, and the top of the scoop acts like a knife, severing the incisors.

A redesign of the top of the scoop where there are two reinforced metal "fangs" behind each rubber snake fang to at least keep the teeth from bending back and getting cut.

Or possibly running a full metal tab behind the teeth, But it would have to be pained black to keep it from looking like braces behind the teeth. Just a thought...

You cannot buy extra snakes heads or sparky feet unless it is broken. Just found this out from my distributor. So I thought I would just buy backups and in this case I cannot.

I agree, but it'd probably just be a matter of time before it just happens again. But regarding what others are saying about it not being a big deal-they very likely don't own this game. You can bet your living ass that if I was to shell out the kind of money that Stern thinks these are worth and I had a cosmetic failure with a month of owning, I'd be pissed.
I'm not a Stern hater (I don't feel I should even defend that statement) but this is the relatively minor kind of stuff that gives that gives a bad rep to a company. Sterns to me have always had a 'cheap' feel to them. I've owned LOTR, AP, RBION and TSPP and all of them had the same feel to me. Not saying they weren't fun games (well, maybe AP) but they really need to step up to the plate and make a 7k machine feel like a 7k machine. Just my .02

Doc

Schudel5 is correct. And when it broke, it got lodged in the right inlane where the gap in the wood is and was holding up balls. The left snake tooth actually broke from a ball hitting it from the front, not from the Snake kicking it out.

That same machine also had the opto receiver in front of Sparky go bad and the display has a faint vertical line lit up from top to bottom on the right hand side. These two issues happened within 2 weeks of it being on location.

I will say that Stern has been really good about sending out replacement parts with no hassles or hoops to jump thru.

That is pretty lame IMO. If Stern releases a pin in which a Toy is very likely to break eventually then the least they could do is allow Pinheads spending thousands on their product to buy back ups.

Get a 15$ whole rubber snake and start cuttin' .

rubber-rattlesnake-fangs.jpg

http://www.zymetrical.com/rubber-yellow-rattlesnake-p-1456.html

I would agree with most that a month in this type of thing is a bummer when it happens. Can any owners tell me if you can raise the head. I know it changes the look but what if you raised the front of the head so the fangs don't hang into the scoop area this would both fix the issue without ruining the look of the snake hole.

Not sure how the head is attached but some plastic spacers could be made to add some space up front if there are any screw holes or posts.

chris

I think that post was sarcasm. Snakes will have fangs.

And to take it further, they should also let us buy the Dirty Donny translite to put on the Road Case version if we so choose.

I don't understand why they didn't just make the teeth a single length plate with the fangs molded into it instead of hanging down on their own. You know? If anyone bitched that it didn't look as cool Stern could have just said, "We had to make it a single plate or the teeth would have broken off in a month" and every one would have said, "Oh, that makes sense."

I think what you are seeing is the reaction by Stern where mod makers are buying up the spare parts availability. Notice how when a mod gets going, all of a sudden the availability of a part dries up? In part because there is limited availability in general... but I think they are trying to protect the market from being sucked dry for mods.. instead of actual replacement parts.

Now does that mean you have to send in your old snake head with a busted tooth to get a new one? I would just soon leave it broke and keep a good one for when/if i sell down the road

You're still in better shape than this guy. 48.jpg

Honestly, just break both teeth off and be done with it.

You guys are acting like it's the Hubble Telescope or something.

Just like your new car, it's going to get a scratch on it somehow.....

I disagree toys on pinball machines should be designed to last especially ones that are that noticeable. After spending 4K+ on a pin and having a toy break after a week is just unacceptable IMO. As others have mentioned designing the toy a bit better would of prevented this from happening. Saying let it go only encourages poor toy design.

And remember to protect the snake that matters.

Well said!

With some creativity you could probably make these work.

legofang.jpg

Or you could use these. Here is a side by side comparison as well

fangsm.jpg fangside.jpg

Just like your new car, it's going to get a scratch on it somehow.....

.

I disagree toys on pinball machines should be designed to last especially ones that are that noticeable.

49.jpg

yea, looks like it stopped people from liking MB, when Dracs feet would break off as soon as you bought the machine. Pretty much the same thing here.

Exactly.

I quit liking MM because the wings would always break off the dragon.

I quit liking WH2O because the bulb would always break in front of Bigfoot (or the paper thin mountains would crack within a day).

I hate CFBL because they did not design the hologram to last forever.

I quit liking Space Shuttle because the wings would always crack on the rear of the shuttle.

I quit liking TOM because the corner of the trunk keeps breaking off.

In fact, I don't like any pinball because the slingshot plastics sometimes break THE VERY FIRST DAY!

Don't encourage crappy pinball design; boycott ANY pin that has breakable plastic over the slingshots.

Damn. The car Walter destroys would make an epic bash toy. Every time the ball hits it would call one of four variations on, "Do you see what happens Larry?" Plus, then, when the fucking thing broke it would just look better.

Fixed that for drama.

That's a beta game. There are no slowdowns in animations on any prod games. You are not playing a production woz.

Neither one of those are prod games. In fact they are ancient and using an old antiquated board set not powerful enough to handle the latest code base. Prod games don't skip.

No kidding. If they want to make the DD an LE, than make it an LE, but restricting sales of the translite doesn't make any sense at all. Don't they understand that this is like free money to them?

Take it to this guy...he's good!

HOLY CRAP! Someone said something worthwhile on Pinside. Won't last.

I totally understand this issue. But man, these beta games are still out there, and they're the impression setters. That's what was at PAGG. I realize the logistics are what they are, but it's a pity JJP can't swap them out for real machines or something so people stop seeing them.

As for the tooth ... plastics break, that's pinball. But that doesn't really excuse Stern from designing something that's basically guaranteed to break in an ugly fashion right away. It's a 555 in the GI kind of stupid call, that's all there is to it.