(Topic ID: 168177)

Where are you buying balls from?

By mrgregb123

7 years ago


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  • 618 posts
  • 172 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 2 years ago by chooch
  • Topic is favorited by 108 Pinsiders

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    There are 618 posts in this topic. You are on page 6 of 13.
    #251 6 years ago

    Just from experience,If Zitt has them,then,thats where to score!!From 1 John,to another!!!

    #252 6 years ago
    Quoted from PinRob:

    The website says chrome but I talked to BallBaron personally and the sample Ninja ball he sent is carbon steel. He needs to ramp up production before adding the stock to his website.

    Oh, cool. When will they be in stock?

    #253 6 years ago
    Quoted from hawkmoon:

    Just from experience,If Zitt has them,then,thats where to score!!From 1 John,to another!!!

    Agreed Zitt has some awesome products, I personally own all of his Stern Star Trek mods and they are some of the best quality mods out there, but those balls are twice the price of the pinballwizard ones so a comparison would be good to see if there is any obvious difference in quality.

    #254 6 years ago


    Quoted from Pimp77:Oh, cool. When will they be in stock?

    He didn't say when they will be back in stock

    Added over 7 years ago: They were chromium steel

    #255 6 years ago
    Quoted from J85M:

    Agreed Zitt has some awesome products, I personally own all of his Stern Star Trek mods and they are some of the best quality mods out there, but those balls are twice the price of the pinballwizard ones so a comparison would be good to see if there is any obvious difference in quality.

    They are expensive because they are expensive to me. I sourced them for my STLE because it has a magnet and Pinball Life doesn't seem to be in a hurry to restock.

    If another vendor can do better pricing more power to them and I'll start buying for them.

    #256 6 years ago

    Ball Baron's official release of a -chrome- core ball that matches his G10 quality is imminent. Carbon balls simply cannot: A) be shined like a chrome ball B) stay shiny and hard like a chrome ball.

    Chrome balls that get magnetized generally do not affect gameplay....most of the issues lie when they fall into older dimpled troughs, they don't roll to the end and tend to stick in the dimple. You can solve this problem by replacing your older busted trough with either an OEM replacement or Mantis' much better version: https://mantispinball.com/product/williams-wpc-95-trough-upgrade/

    Stay tuned for chrome ball announcement.

    #257 6 years ago

    Hope he can keep up. There will be a lot of demand.

    #258 6 years ago

    Alright I just got in the final version of Ball Baron's upcoming "Ninja" ball, which was designed to be as close to the G10 balls that sold out as possible. We went back and forth with many sample balls until he nailed it. I can tell you with 100% confidence that these are indistinguishable from the G10s with a naked eye. You'll be thrilled with the quality.

    I went ahead and did a 4-ball comparison for the ball connoisseurs out there. LOL

    I should point out that all of these balls in the test appear shiny to the naked eye. None of these balls would be considered "crap" by anyone's standards. Upon closer inspection, you can see the difference between the two on the left and the two on the right, for sure. But good luck telling the two on the right apart without a zoom lens.

    This photo uses what I call the sun reflection test. Basically, the more the sun's reflection is refracted across the ball, generally the less smooth the surface is. This test, again, brings out flaws the naked eye can't see as easily so the two on the left look much worse than in person.

    IMO, I put the Ball Baron standard on par with Titan's super shiny. The G10 and Ninja are in a league of their own. The Baron tells me both the standard ball and the Ninja will be priced fairly with great pricing in orders of 10+.

    Expecting the Ninja to go on sale in the coming weeks. The standard ball is available right now at ballbaron.com

    balls-compare (resized).jpgballs-compare (resized).jpg

    #259 6 years ago

    Those look awesome!

    All my games have magnets, so I have been eagerly waiting to see what the ball baron comes up with to see which magent friendly ball is the best and these look very nice.

    I appreciate the time and effort you have spent going back and forth on these mrgregb123

    #260 6 years ago
    Quoted from J85M:

    Those look awesome!
    All my games have magnets, so I have been eagerly waiting to see what the ball baron comes up with to see which magent friendly ball is the best and these look very nice.
    I appreciate the time and effort you have spent going back and forth on these mrgregb123

    I know I've beaten a dead horse with this, but unless you've actually had issues with magnetism, give chrome a try. I own TAF, Metallica, Dr. Dude, and Dialed In - all have magnets. All have either Ball Baron's or Titan chrome balls I had left over. I have never experienced any issues with magnetism. I believed the stories too about avoiding chrome balls, then decided to give it a try - worse that can happen is I wasted 3 or so balls. Hasn't been an issue.

    #261 6 years ago

    Just got my "Ball Baron Ninja" today. I couldn't tell the difference between these and the original G10 version. Can you?

    20170911_180400 (resized).jpg20170911_180400 (resized).jpg

    #262 6 years ago

    Let us know how the ninjas hold up after some playtime please.

    Quoted from mrgregb123:

    I know I've beaten a dead horse with this, but unless you've actually had issues with magnetism, give chrome a try. I own TAF, Metallica, Dr. Dude, and Dialed In - all have magnets. All have either Ball Baron's or Titan chrome balls I had left over. I have never experienced any issues with magnetism. I believed the stories too about avoiding chrome balls, then decided to give it a try - worse that can happen is I wasted 3 or so balls. Hasn't been an issue.

    Due to being in the UK, I would order bulk so ideally I would like to grab some balls that I know won't magnetise to avoid the need to replace a large/expensive order.

    #263 6 years ago
    Quoted from DeeGor:

    Just got my "Ball Baron Ninja" today. I couldn't tell the difference between these and the original G10 version. Can you?

    G10 on the left?

    #264 6 years ago
    Quoted from DeeGor:

    Just got my "Ball Baron Ninja" today. I couldn't tell the difference between these and the original G10 version. Can you?

    Reflection of the ball on the right seems a tad crisper however they both look great.

    #265 6 years ago

    I also received a single 'Ninja' from Ball Baron. Visually (similar to previous posts) I cannot tell the difference from his G10 ball when new. Both look very good! His customer service is outstanding.

    IMG_20170911_142022782 (resized).jpgIMG_20170911_142022782 (resized).jpg

    #266 6 years ago
    Quoted from Cursed:

    G10 on the left?

    Quoted from BoJo:

    Reflection of the ball on the right seems a tad crisper however they both look great.

    The G10 ball is on the right. Both look great.

    #267 6 years ago

    I've had issues with chromium balls in my STLE.
    Basically; when dislodging the ball from the magnet under the vengeance - I have two chromium balls still up there even when the magnet turns off.

    So; no... Chromium balls do not work in this game.

    1 month later
    #268 6 years ago

    I just wanted to post a little more about the Ball Baron. Iv'e been following this thread for a while trying to order a good set of pinballs for all of my machines. I finally decided I didn't want to wait any longer so I ordered 4 carbon balls for my Met from Ball Baron the other day. This guy is great. Shortly after I place the order he calls just to let me know the carbon balls are not as shiny as the G10 or the standard chrome balls he sells. I told him I understood and that was why I was only ordering enough for one game while I wait for the Ninja ball to come back into stock. He proceed to get very technical regarding the different metals and why he is having a tough time polishing the carbon to the standards of a chrome ball. Long story somewhat shorter, he tells me he's going to send me two polished carbon and two unpolished carbon so I can see the difference. When I received the package there was also an extra standard chrome ball so I could see the difference. Here are the pics of the pinballs. I don't see much of a difference between the polished and unpolished carbon, but I do see the standard chrome is a bit smoother.

    Polished vs Unpolished Carbon (resized).jpgPolished vs Unpolished Carbon (resized).jpg

    Polished vs Unpolished Carbon 2 (resized).jpgPolished vs Unpolished Carbon 2 (resized).jpg

    Carbon vs Chrome (resized).jpgCarbon vs Chrome (resized).jpg

    #269 6 years ago

    Agreed - he's a good guy. Myself and many others on here can vouch that he's done everything possible to earn our "ball" business. The Ninja balls are due to arrive in mid to late November and I believe he will have 10,000 units at launch. His "regular" chrome balls are certainly better than a lot of the "premium" balls you find elsewhere. The advantage to the chrome balls is they are not only shinier but they are harder so they hold up to pitting and scratching better than the carbon balls. Carbon balls are also more prone to rusting.

    Having used the G10s from his prior batch for over a month+ now, they definitely hold up better than other balls I've used. They retain their shine longer and have little scratching.

    1 month later
    #270 6 years ago
    Quoted from mrgregb123:

    Agreed - he's a good guy. Myself and many others on here can vouch that he's done everything possible to earn our "ball" business. The Ninja balls are due to arrive in mid to late November and I believe he will have 10,000 units at launch. His "regular" chrome balls are certainly better than a lot of the "premium" balls you find elsewhere. The advantage to the chrome balls is they are not only shinier but they are harder so they hold up to pitting and scratching better than the carbon balls. Carbon balls are also more prone to rusting.
    Having used the G10s from his prior batch for over a month+ now, they definitely hold up better than other balls I've used. They retain their shine longer and have little scratching.

    Any word on these Ninja balls? I'm looking to buy.

    #271 6 years ago
    Quoted from jonesjb:

    Any word on these Ninja balls? I'm looking to buy.

    Talked to him yesterday. 2-3 weeks.

    #272 6 years ago

    I'm his website designer so I can tell you we may open up for preorders soon so he can gauge demand and prepare packaging before they arrive but looking at December for shipments. They are already en route from overseas...but it takes awhile. I have 5 of these balls (part of the prototype batch) in my Dialed In and they hold up VERY well. Not only are they super shiny but the don't get all pitted and scratched easily. You'll love them.

    #273 6 years ago
    Quoted from mrgregb123:

    I'm his website designer so I can tell you we may open up for preorders soon so he can gauge demand and prepare packaging before they arrive but looking at December for shipments. They are already en route from overseas...but it takes awhile. I have 5 of these balls (part of the prototype batch) in my Dialed In and they hold up VERY well. Not only are they super shiny but the don't get all pitted and scratched easily. You'll love them.

    Let us know if you open up preorders. I need some super stealthy ninja balls to improve my pinball play!

    #274 6 years ago

    I'm extremely disappointed with the Ball Baron balls I received after I following a link from this thread. I ordered the product called:

    Pinballs Standard Polished Chrome 1-1/16 inch replacement balls

    They look OK, but in a first for me they got magnetized by an LOTR in just a few days. I've heard of this happening, but it's crazy: The one ring makes these balls into refrigerator magnets and they are totally ruined, rendering the game inoperable, costing me money.

    So I figured I would try them in other games, but they also chip and scratch up just unbelievably fast. I have a batches in Dialed In and DESW that look like they've been in the games for 6 months, and it's barely been two weeks.

    I'm an operator, so I ordered 100 and now I guess I'll just have to throw them away. Marco and Pinballlife balls have always been absolutely trouble free, and I admit I haven't paid much attention to balls. It's no one's fault but my own for not understanding the various qualities of pinballs when it comes to magnetism and chipping, but I guess I learned the hard way.

    Well, actually, my ignorance aside I do believe this: No pinballs should be sold that get magnetized, period. Why do these even exist? It just seems wrong.

    #275 6 years ago

    Those both look great. There was a recent post showing a new factory ball that looked like it went through a garbage disposal.

    #276 6 years ago
    Quoted from DANGERTERROR:

    Well, actually, my ignorance aside I do believe this: No pinballs should be sold that get magnetized, period. Why do these even exist? It just seems wrong.

    They exist because balls aren't pinballs... they are ball bearings.
    Clearly the Chromium balls have a use as ball bearings.

    #277 6 years ago
    Quoted from DANGERTERROR:

    I'm an operator, so I ordered 100 and now I guess I'll just have to throw them away. Marco and Pinballlife balls have always been absolutely trouble free, and I admit I haven't paid much attention to balls. It's no one's fault but my own for not understanding the various qualities of pinballs when it comes to magnetism and chipping, but I guess I learned the hard way.

    Ball Baron's chrome balls are 100% chrome. A ball from any other supplier that is 100% chrome will behave and accept magnetism exactly the same way. The balls you got from other vendors had to have been part carbon, which would explain how they didn't magnetize. However, chrome balls also resist scratching and pitting far better than carbon balls....so something seems off there.

    Having said that I run Ball Baron's G10 and Ninja balls in all 6 of my machines including games with heavy magnet use such as Dialed In, Metallica, and TAF. The only time I've ever seen any magnetism effect is if the Sparky magnet (Metallica) or the Theatre magnet (DI) capture two balls at once. They will remain on the magnet after it turns off. A gentle nudge breaks them free. I'm fine with that trade-off which happens once every few weeks in exchange for super-shiny balls that hold up longer.

    #278 6 years ago
    Quoted from mrgregb123:

    Ball Baron's chrome balls are 100% chrome. A ball from any other supplier that is 100% chrome will behave and accept magnetism exactly the same way. The balls you got from other vendors had to have been part carbon, which would explain how they didn't magnetize. However, chrome balls also resist scratching and pitting far better than carbon balls....so something seems off there.
    Having said that I run Ball Baron's G10 and Ninja balls in all 6 of my machines including games with heavy magnet use such as Dialed In, Metallica, and TAF. The only time I've ever seen any magnetism effect is if the Sparky magnet (Metallica) or the Theatre magnet (DI) capture two balls at once. They will remain on the magnet after it turns off. A gentle nudge breaks them free. I'm fine with that trade-off which happens once every few weeks in exchange for super-shiny balls that hold up longer.

    Ive also had better luck with the o so shiney carbon ones from pinball life and pinball wizard. .

    #279 6 years ago
    Quoted from bigd1979:

    Ive also had better luck with the o so shiney carbon ones from pinball life and pinball wizard. .

    Pinball life doesn't have stock in pinballs and haven't had them in a while. I lucked out and got 10 of ball barons G10 balls. With my last order from Titan, I tried a set of their G16 balls. They aren't as shiny as the G10s and I haven't played with Titan's yet, but I'm hoping they hold up as well as the G10s have.

    #280 6 years ago

    For those that have samples of the Ninja Pinballs, how are they holding up after a lot of use??

    2 weeks later
    #281 6 years ago

    Edit: just found out they are traveling and yet to clear customs eta a week or two.

    1 week later
    #282 6 years ago

    After months and months of waiting....great news guys.

    The Ninja Pinball is now in stock and ready to ship!

    https://ballbaron.com/product/ninja-super-shiny-chrome-pinball-g10/

    #283 6 years ago

    Note: because I don’t see it in the description but theses can retain magnetism as opposed to carbon core balls. So if you have pinball machines with magnets these aren’t your best choice.

    #284 6 years ago
    Quoted from mrgregb123:

    After months and months of waiting....great news guys.
    The Ninja Pinball is now in stock and ready to ship!
    https://ballbaron.com/product/ninja-super-shiny-chrome-pinball-g10/

    Chrome, so these are not for magnets, correct?

    #285 6 years ago

    I use them in all of my machines including Dialed In, Metallica, and TAF....I have never had issues with magnetism. Some people report it as a major issue, but it's never come up in my games.

    #286 6 years ago
    Quoted from mrgregb123:

    I use them in all of my machines including Dialed In, Metallica, and TAF....I have never had issues with magnetism. Some people report it as a major issue, but it's never come up in my games.

    How many games have you played with them? I wouldn’t recommend a chrome ball to people with magnets in their machines.

    #287 6 years ago

    Dialed In? 350. Metallica? 500+. TAF, 300. Before the Ball Baron balls I used Titan's chrome and before that Pinball Life's ooooh la la balls. Going back about 8 years now. Only magnetism glitch I've ever noticed is if DI theatre or Metallica sparky grabs two balls at once, once the magnet turns off they stay there sometimes. Just a gentle nudge breaks them free. Gladly accept that rare occurrence for balls that are shinier and hold up far longer than carbon. But I'm not here to pressure anyone into buying chrome if they are worried about magnets. Doesn't cost much to try them out in your machines to see for yourself though.

    #288 6 years ago

    The only reason I ask is because I get tired of people starting threads on Pinside saying something is not working right on their games and it turns out to be the magnetized balls in a game with magnets because they used chrome balls. It is good for people to be informed to keep down the clutter on this forum. I have literally seen at least 7 threads this week having this type of problem and I have responded to the people's problems in at least a few.

    #289 6 years ago
    Quoted from PinRob:

    How many games have you played with them? I wouldn’t recommend a chrome ball to people with magnets in their machines.

    Which would you recommend then? I have GOTGLE on the way which has 3 magnets! lol

    #290 6 years ago

    I thought Ball Baron was going to have a carbon version at some point. Is that right?

    #291 6 years ago

    From what I've read, the majority of people who report magnetism issues indicate they get stuck in the trough. WMS games with the 3 or 4 ball trough are not affected by this because there is a steep hill that forces the ball to the kickout. For newer games with the gravity fed trough, it mostly affects machines with divots in the trough from years of play. Also, Stern games can be problematic because they use switches instead of optos which can make it easier for balls to stick in position. But there is good news - Pinbits makes a cool little piece to solve this issue: https://www.pinbits.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=449

    No carbon ball on the planet, no matter who makes it (including Ball Baron), is going to be shiny after 100 games. Carbon balls are much softer than chrome and so they wear much quicker. They also cannot be polished as shiny as chrome. If carbon is what you want, get them anywhere really. The shiniest carbon balls will look like average carbon balls in 100 games or less. If it were me I'd try everything I could to be able to use chrome balls. Once you see these Ninja balls in person, I think you'll agree.

    #292 6 years ago

    Blacksun

    I use BC Trade for games with magnets. Very shiny when I ordered and you can order different quantities in bulk to save more $ on their other listings for carbon balls

    ebay.com link: Four 1 1 16 Inch Mirror Finish Carbon Steel Replacement Pinball Machine Balls

    #293 6 years ago

    Thank you. I’ve been waiting for these to come available. Just placed my order.

    #294 6 years ago
    Quoted from mrgregb123:

    After months and months of waiting....great news guys.
    The Ninja Pinball is now in stock and ready to ship!
    https://ballbaron.com/product/ninja-super-shiny-chrome-pinball-g10/

    Order placed!!

    #295 6 years ago

    I tried Titans chrome balls in my DI and they kept getting stuck in the trough after about 20 games. Back to carbon.

    #296 6 years ago

    I just put my order in; I'm getting some of the new Ninja and order a few of the chrome type to compare.

    Most of my games are older EM's but some newer games so it will be a good comparision/trial.

    #297 6 years ago
    Quoted from mrgregb123:

    After months and months of waiting....great news guys.
    The Ninja Pinball is now in stock and ready to ship!
    https://ballbaron.com/product/ninja-super-shiny-chrome-pinball-g10/

    When is the Baron bringing his ball for games with magnets to the market? Thought he was working on a super shiny ball for games with magents?

    #298 6 years ago
    Quoted from J85M:

    When is the Baron bringing his ball for games with magnets to the market? Thought he was working on a super shiny ball for games with magents?

    Already tried. But there really is no super-shiny carbon ball. He found it impossible to polish any carbon ball to a shine he was satisfied with. Additionally, he found carbon balls lose their luster very quickly and are too soft. He sells a carbon ball for a good price, but the level of shine isn't close to the Ninja ball.

    #299 6 years ago

    I personally wouldn't put any chrome balls in a magnet game as I had problems with Chrome balls in Stern Star Trek.
    I understand the OP wants to minimize the impact to help his friend out; but I had definite problems.
    Chrome pinballs are nice; they just don't work in Magnet games as has been stated numerous times.

    So; if you want chrome steel to try - go ahead and buy from the ball baron in a small quantity. I think you'll find that YMMV but you'll likely have problems.

    If the Ball baron isn't interested in offering a highly polished carbon steel ball; then others should and will step in to fill that void.

    #300 6 years ago

    If the Baron isn't offering a shiny pinball, then who is selling the best non chrome balls for games with magnets?

    There are 618 posts in this topic. You are on page 6 of 13.

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