Stay tuned.... and thanks for the interest!

-Joe

Pinball Life sells the 3/8 " super band. I have several on my pins. They look great.

And they are badace too

I was thinking how good Bally Atlantis might look with all blue bands.

More importantly, even if they make rings, given that the little mini post rings are like a buck a piece, does that mean that like a slingshot ring will be like 5 bucks?

I would not want to see this at all. Black / white rubbers play differently. I don't mind mods if they are easy to remove, but what a PITA it would be to buy a game with "superbands" on them just to have to tear the game apart to take them off.

So, since none of us have had the experience of playing with these in the game.....What if they are awesome in the game? The clear ones look badass on the mini posts and play great on the nudge for the lanes. I just don't think we can make that comment and judge yet based on not having them on any games.

Pinball life sells clear rubber. I used it on my SST. I like the way it looks and plays

http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=catalog&parent=359&pg=1

How they fell doesn't matter. If they don't feel original, they are not awesome to me. That is my 2 cents.

I don't get this. If black and white play differently then you already have a 50% chance of having to take a game apart right now, since people use both. Swapping the rubber out on a game you bought seems like a non issue to me, just one of those things you might need to do.

Yeah , and I guess "old rubber" plays different than "new rubber" when you switch them like for like, so what's the big deal?

I think I understand where you're coming from here, but I'd also point out "original" white rubber - like the ABC branded stuff that was around in the 90s and earlier - doesn't feel much like the white rubber most vendors are selling today.

Superbands are easier to clean, last longer and play great. Also come in colors. Win win win win to me.

"Original" isn't always best imo. In fact, making something totally different and new after it was made the same for 20 some years can be pretty cool.I'm always a fan of innovation and improvement, which I believe superbands are for flipper rubbers.

Now, if the regular rubbers make the ball do crazy things I probably won't buy, but based on the flippers I'm fully in.

Most of the time, games I pick up have the correct rubbers on them. Sometimes not.

I agree, I like them more...and I don't have to clean them every 20-30 games. Clear ones are awesome!

FGY Orange Flippers.jpg

Looking sharp!

So... that's a no?

Nope, that's a "coming soon"!

The White Rubber Marco sells is much closer to the original ABC recipe. Just put some on my Wizard and it plays with a lot of bounce.

I put the clear ones in my Creature and Junk Yard, and they look great and stay clean.

Are the clear ones actually rubber or some different material?

They are the same material as the colored Super-Bands. Polyurethane.

http://jcspinball.com/Pinball-Super-Bands.html

DAMMIT! I literally JUST tore apart half a dozen games (and have 3 more pulled apart now) to shop them, GI LED them, install plastic protectors, and change all the rubbers. Now I'm going to have to pull them all apart again.

Screw it, I'm not gonna be so anal this time and maybe I'll only change the rubber rings I can reach...

Superbands? I am going to have a ton of haters with this post but this is a forum with more opinions than eyeballs so...

First of all, I am all for innovation. However, I just don't see an improvement upon what already exists.

Second, if all you want is for your machine to look cool, you can do whatever you want to it. Just don't expect everyone to share your joy.

Third, I tried them out on a SS Bally and they started to show wear and break down after less than 100 plays at a pinball show last year. No better or worse on wear than any other new rubber from my experience. Plus, they cost more. Even if they prove "slightly" more durable (as claimed by operators), you would have to do percentages on actual costs to get a full perspective on the true "value" in using them.

Fourth, I really can't stand the way that these flipper rubbers effect ball control. Personal preference? Yes.

Fifth, the Superband colors mean nothing. It is confusing from the pinball player's perspective because for years now, the different rubber colors used on a pinball machine mean a different composition and "bounce"/shooting response for each unique color. Is this the case with the Superbands as well? The reason I ask is because with the 5 or 6 different colors that I have played on a variety of machines thus far, Superbands all "feel" and grip exactly the same to me.

So, I can say I probably will not be buying any more current Superband-like products offered. However, I would be seriously interested in a product that improves upon the solid black/yellow/red and BNOD rubbers that always seem to wear out the fastest on machines I play regularly. A true innovation that is needed IMHO.

I sympathize with your frustration snyper.....I though have not had any issues with durability. A pair was on a machine at a show months ago of my buddies....the game registered over 400 plays over the weekend...Super-Bands held up just fine....still have the same pair on them now....another 400 more games later.

The play of the Super-Bands should be the same regardless of the color, all the same in my usage (4 different colors have been used).

I know a lot don't like the feel, and to each their own. That's what the forum is for...to discuss

I rate this post six eyeballs!

snyper - Are you sure they were super bands and not saturn rings? The saturn rings had reliability issues. I agree that the way the ball reacts is different but for a durability stance I've seen the opposite with my superbands. My saturn rings are another story. Those things have broken just sitting there overnight on a machine. Not even sure if they still sell them too.

Are you talking about the flipper rubbers/bands or the whole set of rubber rings? To me these look like polyurethane, but they are listed as rubber:

http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=catalog&parent=359&pg=1

I have had Superbands on the flippers of my Stern Star Trek on location since they were announced. So, about 700-800 plays and still going strong. I can't say the same for the minipost rubbers though. I had 3 of those break in less than a week. I also have to replace regular minipost rubbers every week as well on that game, just mentioning it. I have found those to be about the same durability when it comes to getting pulverized like they are in ST. Now for another type of game that isn't as abusive as ST is, they should be fine. I finally broke down and installed posts with superband post sleeves.

I am talking about the flipper bands and the posts that they also make.

http://jcspinball.com/Pinball-Super-Posts.html

The ones you mention from pinball life are rubber...O-rings for sling shots and playfield areas. I was talking about for the flippers.

I have Super Bands on most of my pins. They have been to Pinball Expo in Chicago where they got over 1K plays with no issues. Brought them home and cleaned them, and Now they have been to Ohio Show and Louisville Show as well as had League games played on them here at home still going strong with no issues. Just clean them off and they are good to go! I also have some of the mini post super rings on several of my games and I have not had any wear issues with them either. I have a proto set of super sling shot rubbers on my Metallica, and they have not shown any wear either. They all have been performing well with no issues, and I like the way they play. I think that it is a plus that all colors play the same, no more getting to a show and having the tournament folks want to change flipper rubbers because X color doesn't play like they want it too...Now they all play the same so no more swapping them around. Personal preference? yes I guess but I guess to each his own...I will be using them on my games for the foreseeable future because they don't wear out as quickly as regular rubbers, they clean up easy and they come in lots of colors with difference in play. So IMO those are all pluses! Go Super-Bands!!

Phoebe

My concern with multipost spuerbands (2 star posts on one band, slingshots, etc. is with how tight they are on flippers I'd be concerned with them putting that much pressure on the posts and screws holding the posts. Will they essentially be trying to pull the screws out of the PF?

I agree that it's time for an update!

Thanks for your continued interest in these products! Full ring sets will be available sometime in the near future. I like extensive testing on products before they are commercialized. The latest iteration of slingshot bands are working great. The switch sensitivity is similar to using rubber on the slings. The durability is outstanding, much like it is with the Super-Bands and Super-Posts. I've had many sets in high-use public machines for sometime now with no failures or wear. Lastly, the top of the slings are livelier with these installed.

Molds are being produced for virtually all rings sizes. In the U.S., Marco and Pinball Life will be the distributors once the parts are available. They will be produced in all of the Super-Bands colors (red, black, clear, white, purple, green, yellow, orange, blue).

Thank you for you patience during my diligent testing!!

- Joe

www.jcspinball.com

Go Joe!

Can't wait Joe!!

Nice! Thanks for being so transparent, Joe.

Or red, black, white, purple, green, yellow, orange, or blue.

Joe, once upon a time, Ross showed me a video of a mechanism made for testing flipper rubbers. It was just a flipper at the bottom of a little playfield that flipped over and over and over... Was that your video? If so, can you provide a link? I thought it was awesome!

Ready for clear slings on my T2 bump.....

Pink. Pink. Pink. Did I say pink? At least for flipper rubber and posts.

I find the tiny posts to be more dead than normal rubber. Anyone else experience this? I'm considering abandoning my posts -- and going back to rubber.

Like the center post between the flippers? The clear I have bounce the ball back fine....