Pinball Life is my go-to.

Edit: Went to look for a link to their "oohhh_shiny" mirror finish balls, and it wasn't on their website. Huh.

My wife's purse

Pinball life

Lol, I knew something like that was coming

Marco 5 pack tube..............Joey

https://www.titanpinball.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=57&product_id=70

Where should we buy them then? I just got some and they seemed ok to me?

Just noticed that... That's a bit of a disappointment... I could never justify the exorbitant amount of money Marco charges for their silver jet balls, so I always bought the mirror finish balls from pinball life. Dang.

Silver Jets are fine for games with magnets. I feel like any magnetization isn't easily noticed, in my own experience anyway. Perhaps it takes time for them to get to the point it effects game play.

Give them a shot in one of your games, it's not like I'm seeing balls stick to each other or having them stuck in trough.

Dang, think I just found my new source. Can't beat that price!!!!

Titan balls are great quality and shiny at a great price. I always throw a few on order when I get the bands now. Normally I get pinball life super shiny or Marco standard. I've been replacing location balls about every month now and just tumbling them in walnut after I get 20 or so and it saves me some $$ and I don't have to let the balls go to waste.

I emailed Terry at PBL about the "oohhh_shiny" mirror finish balls and he said they were having some manufacturing issues with them, but he said they will be back in stock in 6 weeks or so.

I had emailed Terry months ago and he told me manufacturing issues had pushed in-stock status to early August. Apparently those issues are pretty bad! :-/

I find it interesting that there isn't more lively discussion of pinballs. It is the center of the game and people forget about them all the time. I suppose though standardization is key, not A LOT of different options. i guess I am suprized games aren't coming with customized balls more often. This kind of stuff.

http://www.backalleycreations.com/bac%20black%20pearl%20pinballs.html

But hey.....I'm a sucker for just plan ol' standards!

What are the best ones available from a quality and durability standpoint? I'm not worried about cost because this is not something I want to skimp on and ruin my pf. I need to buy all new ones for my machines and used to by Pinbits however they never seem to be in stock. Pinball Life's are nice however they seem to nick up very easily.

i've had okay luck with http://www.bearingballstore.com/ (chrome and carbon steel balls in wholesale quantities).

Only thing i'd say is to do a quick inspect before they go into a game (i've had a few that had defects which i, simply, tossed).

My thing has lately has been not giving a damn about durability and replacing them all en masse every 150 games or so. I've not found any brand to be be MARKEDLY better or worse in terms of taking nicks from regular use (given that ball damage is a rather random process to begin with). As long as the surface is right at install - play em and pitch em when they get shitty.

When i started out - i was buying silverjets and have since stopped that - opting for a more aggressive replacement regimen.

Nifty LED sells Cascade balls: http://www.niftyled.com/cascade-premium-pinballs/

Marco.. silver jets rule.. I wax every 3 days .. fast n aewsome ...

Wax the playfield? Or the pinballs?

I want to try out the new ones from K's Arcade, the Turbo Shotz and Magna Shotz. https://ksarcade.net/turbo-shotz-magna-shotz-premium-pinballs-1-1-16-5-pk.html

Anyone try these yet?

Ebay the one showing camera reflection. They are called mirror balls. Something like that the more you buy the cheaper they are. Quality seems much better.

I'm curious as well. Seems like it might be a good substitute for the PBL ones for games with magnets.

I wax the balls every 3 or so days .. playfeild once a month month and a half...

Anyone heard from Terry regarding the shiny balls? I have an order I want to put in but want to wait for the balls.

I was told a week or 2 ago that they were unsure but hoping for mid to late October.

Funny how you don't even notice a thread like this until you need it.

I am in the middle of an overhaul on my Theatre of Magic. I pulled out my 1 year old Marco balls when I started the process a few weeks ago. They were, surprisingly, rusty... The pinballs I had (probably from them) for about 10 years before that were much nicer looking, so I pitched the rusty ones into a bin, and was going to just put the old, but not rusty ones back in.

Well, tonight I was ordering some parts from Marco, and it reminded me that I really do want to get new pinballs for the machine. It seems like for every place that someone raves about, there are a number of complaints about quality going in the toilet (heck PBL has been having quality control issues for over 3 years on theirs and as already noted *might* have another batch for those daring enough to try them coming in a few weeks).

So I am going to just tag along for now and see what happens. Thanks to those that have shared their experiences.

Titan ones I bought were comparable to pinball life.

I just ordered some magnashotz from K's, so I'll post when they arrive.

$29 for 25 balls. Been using these for exactly a year. no issues with them. I used to buy the super expensive balls , Kens mirror glazed, etc.
I need carbon steel because of magnets, don't want to get them mixed in with chrome steel, so I just buy these and replace all balls yearly , along with batteries, easy enough. Spend almost as much $ on batteries as I do balls now
ebay.com link: itm
JP

I use these in my games. Work nicely. I don't notice any issues with the games that have magnets either.

There is a discount code you can use from The Pinball Podcast for Nifty.

My magnashotz came in from K's. Initial reaction, not really glossy as I was expecting. Will be using one pack in Demo Man, and one pack in Elvis, as they both need them badly.

Every few months, I throw a few pinball balls into my tumbler and let them tumble among the crushed walnut shells for a few hours. Voila! Just like new. . .haven't had the need to purchase new balls in years. Of course, all of that tumbling can be disorienting to those refreshed little spheres.

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New date looks like pinball life will have shiny balls back in stock by the end of November. At least that's what they are hoping for. Their biggest concern is that they are high quality. And that's as of about 5 minutes ago so looks like one more month fellows

I caved and bought those steel carbon balls from ebay that someone posted about. The price was good. I'll report back when I get them.

I just got these. I'm a little disappointed. It has been a long time since I purchased standard pinballs. These are definitely not shiny like the pinballlife ones. Hopefully, pinballlife is able to start selling again soon.

After having the magnashotz in both Elvis and Demolition man for over a week. I can say that they play nice and look great. The original dullness was from the balls still being in the pack. Once wiped down and installed they look fine.

I would recommend these for sure. Would like to try the turboshotz, but the majority of my games have magnets. Maybe on the next game purchase.

Pinball life is back in stock of all the shiniest balls!! Just bought 10.

Just bought 100...

Show off...

PBL is out of stock again-any recommendations?

Just wait a couple days or get your old ones up to the buffing wheel.

Just got a new game. Also-I called and PBL didn't have a time frame for the next shipment. I guess I'm gonna go Titan. Maybe I'll try those silicone rubbers now too. I just wanted to order a bunch of stuff from the same place and save on shipping (I'm cheap like that). C'est la vie

Dang PL just got these back on stock and they are gone already? What's the ETA for more?

I just placed an order with PBL on Monday with 20 very-needed balls as part of it, and then I read this! Luckily I must have gotten some of the last ones, as a frantic call confirmed my order as checked off and packed up.

Games with magnets
http://www.niftyled.com/standard-arcade-pinballs/

games without magnets
http://www.niftyled.com/cascade-premium-pinballs/