Slot protectors go open end up on Wonka, otherwise you get stuck balls.

I'll give this a try. I tried the suggestion of being out of view when hitting the start button, to no avail. There is some observable logic to this suggestion, as I've had the machine take photos of someone who walks up beside me.

Cliffy's can be a b*tch to install depending on what you got... Most of the time its common sense to take some stuff apart. Then install the cliffy and then reinstall what was taken apart.

The shooter lane can be annoying to get just right, especially that slim piece that goes under the right side wooden piece (forget the name of that piece haha. Rail?)

Ah, is that it? I took mine out because 2 balls kept piling up there. I'll give it another try.

Don’t think there is any formal docs. But many YouTube videos are out there, and if you have any questions just ask here or cliffy. My only suggestion is take your time and don’t rush it, it is ok if you have to take things apart so you get things set right.

For anyone who has the black plastic plug in the top cheater hole - try removing it. I can't believe how much it was forcing the ball into the outlane with it in. In hindsight it was like a magnet was pulling the balls to the left and out. Now they move naturally.

I -think- I understand your issue. The pin takes your pic earlier in the game as a backup, and if it doesn't get a clear shot when you hit END it'll use that previous pic. And, it uses the best face in the camera frame available, so if your friend is clearer and more "in frame", they may get the limelight. My wife uses a wheelchair and if I'm watching too close at picture time it'll show my face instead of hers. She's real impressed with that

First time collecting all the golden tickets and making it to pure imagination. Pretty cool. My son was more excited than anything. Good times. Put up $30million

Congrats! That’s a great pinball moment and especially shared with your son.

Here is a fun challenge for those who need a new goal after Pure Imagination. Complete all five kids (complete, not just qualify), start kid multiball, get the kid golden ticket. My 12 y/o pinball wiz actually did it. I’m working on it. It’s a pain because it’s easy to insta-fail if you drain during a kid mode.

I was having an issue where shots to the Gobstopper weren't registering, while subsequently having the pops activate the switch. After reading through the forum, I presumed it was the switch arm causing the issue. Instead, I figured out that the 3 allen-head machine screws that hold the hinge in place were slightly loose. Pivoting the switch forward gave enough room to tighten all 3. Not only do hits register more accurately, but I get fewer bricked shots.

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and don't move around. Give it a second or two to find your face and make sure the whole face is visible or it won't find you.

I’d have to see it to believe it. If true that’s incredible.

Finally got to see Pure Imagination…and it was well worth the effort. Man I haven’t played Wonka in a few months but I’m definitely going to try to get to “PI” again. I had lots of extra balls to get me there and they’re definitely needed. Can’t believe I thought about selling Wonka.

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Hi Pinside WW Owners
I used to own a WW LE, and kinda miss it... thinking about getting back in the club. My WW used to come out of the Pops and go SDTM. Do many of you still find this, was there a fix in code (not sure you can fix this in code) for this... or just suck it up and play better haha .
Thoughts on this?
Thank you

Fantastic game, but that's our biggest complaint too. Just feels like there's no way to nudge or do anything about it. I tried replacing the rubber next to the pops per advice here, but that didn't do anything.

I'd like to know if there is a fix of some kind for this too

I changed out the rubber ring to the left of the pops and the post rubber on the right and it made a really big difference. I'd say prob 2 of of 10 are sdtm now.

Mine is of the newest batch, mine does not do this often

Ditto. And ditto newest batch (nov 2021)

Nov 2021
It happens but not alllllllll the time. 3ish out of ten. Just refer it as being Lawlored.

I’ve had an original wonka LE for a few months. Sure it happens but not to the point it seems unfair. Just have to be always ready to react.

I just changed out the rubbers from around the pops today and while I had the ramp loose I decided to check out the ball guide that feeds the pops. I ended up loosing the two screws that hold the ball guide down and pushed it as close to the rubber as possible and retighten it. Before this adjustment I probably had about 40%/30% balls go straight down the middle from the auto plunge and the spinner shot with the upper left flipper. So after I finished putting everything back and played it for a while I would say it definitely made a difference and balls going down the middle almost went away completely and now when I rip the spinner I’m not scared of a cheap drain. So if you’re having lots of cheap drains from the pops try adjusting the ball guide so it’s closer to the rubber(close as possible)and enjoy ripping that spinner without being puckered up…lol

Something I haven't seen mentioned here is the pop sensitivity adjustment. NIB mine were not very sensitive. I tightened up all the switch gaps a LOT and (predictably) it was then -too- sensitive. Backed them off a little, and now they're perfect. AND, it helped with the STDM problem.

So I finally signed the standard form of contract, and my Wonka LE shipped out today from the distro! (Thanks, Automated!) I’ve been circling this pin for years, and I’ve owned four other JJPs. My young son and I have been watching the 1971 movie lately and that clinched it. He doesn’t know it’s coming. I nearly missed the boat on nib, I’m guessing few remain. I’m a huge fan of Lawlor pins like DILE, and of JJP, and of the Wonka theme. Very psyched to join the club. This one should be a keeper!

Congrats on pulling the trigger on your Wonka. You and your son should have a blast exploring Wonka it’s such a good game with crazy/cool mini wizard modes.

Congrats! If you love the film you’ll love the pin! Keeper for certain!

What a wonderful surprise your son has coming. Way to go Dad!

Given all that, you will really love this pin!

Wahoo, that is awesome! If you love the theme, the beauty of the machine and artwork will thrill you. And then when you play it, you will see it is just pure fun and shoots great. Well over a year after pulling the trigger, I couldn't be happier. Have fun!

I see you have a WOZ too, that was my very first pin. I was new to pinball and wasn’t sure if older pins were reliable (knowing nothing about maintaining them) so I decided to buy something nib and I bought a WOZ in 2016. We loved it. We kept it 4 years, and put about 800 plays on it (a lot for us) but eventually sold it to chase another game. I should have kept it. I do feel WOZ was largely responsible for bringing competition back to pinball when it was really down to only Stern. WOZ took awhile to come to market, but it’s a pretty spectacular achievement, especially for a first game!

I came across someone's wonka on facebook and I was wondering if anyone knows who sells these green lawn/candy plastic covers b/c I like them! I don't have a facebook account otherwise, I would just message them!

If they were done by the individual, if someone wants to create these and sell to me, PM me. Thanks!
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delt31 I saw that same pin on FB. I don't know who did those mods. I do know that TheModCouple has some grass and mushroom mods, but I don't think they are quite the same.

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yeah those look similar. I prefer the lighter green and not in a rush but thanks for letting me know. If others are interested, pm Green-Machine

Someone was selling the grass with some mushrooms for the left side only. I think it was Modfather but I dont see it on his page anymore. I have never seen the other ones for sale. I would imagine someone custom made those for themselves.

The one issue with the grass on the right ramps, it blocks the playfield. You wont want that one there... The one in the back is nice looking but wont work if you have an LE as the Super Ball Lock is taking up that space..

that's us:
https://lermods.com/shop/ols/products/willy-wonka-and-the-chocolate-factory-pinball-mushroom-spotlight-covers

Yes, thats the one! Sorry Lermond, didnt mean to forget about you!!

Playfields are perfect. I got one 2 months ago from a January 2022 build. All is well. JJP added washers to prevent any issues. Go ahead and order if you can find one.

https://www.coinoppartsetc.com/product/games-pinball-machines-pinball-machines-new/jjp-willy-wonka-the-chocolate-factory-le-pinball

I got a December 2021 built LE a couple months back and have played about 450ish games so far. I see no issues with playfield clear bubbling around posts on mine, either. I also haven't had any issues with frequent sdtm drains out of the pops (I feel like that has to be something adjustable even on problem units, but I know some people have tried without great success to resolve it on their tables that do have that tendency). From playing the game elsewhere, I had already developed the habit of nudging the machine as the ball goes through that loop in hopes of getting some chaos in the pops - seems even less likely to go sdtm that way.

Add another voice in support of getting one - this is probably my favorite machine anywhere/ever.

On edit, to not be too breathlessly positive - a couple criticisms :
- The speakers on this game are awful, and I plan to replace them, probably with the jjp pinwoofer kit. The headphone output is great for solo play.
- Most of the switches (slingshots, standup targets) had huge gaps from the factory. Maybe this is normal for NIB games (Wonka is my first), but I found I need to adjust most of them so it doesn't take such a strong hit to trigger them, and some are a bit buried under bundles of wiring and things under the playfield.

My new LE will arrive tomorrow. I’ll unbox tomorrow night or Saturday. Anything unusual I notice I’ll pass along. If you are looking for one NIB, check with Beckey at Automated (Pinballs.com), they had some in stock this week, and they offer 2.5% off if you wire the funds to them. That covered my shipping. If you are in NJ, shipping should be even less for you. It was $300 for me to MI.

I got a December 2021 built LE a couple months back and have played about 450ish games so far. I see no issues with playfield clear bubbling around posts on mine, either. I also haven't had any issues with frequent sdtm drains out of the pops (I feel like that has to be something adjustable even on problem units, but I know some people have tried without great success to resolve it on their tables that do have that tendency).

So, the issues with the SDTM out of the Pops... how has this been fixed in the latest/last batch of WW's?? Just curious... I'm picking up / buying a late Oct 2021 from a Pinsider here, but just curious as I say. Super excited to getting back in the WW LE club for sure.
Thanks

So, how has the "frequent sdtm drains out of the pops" been fixed on the latest / last runs of WW?? I'm just curious... I'm buying a WW LE from a fellow pinsider here, and super excited to be getting back into the club, but curious how this has been fixed??
Thanks

It hasn't been fixed on my later build. The playfield, however, seems to be holding up well! Beautiful, actually.

I have a Nov, ‘21 build. I don’t know what, if anything, was changed on newer runs, but the infamous sdtm from pops is not a problem. When the ball comes around the orbit, it glances the rubber (circled in pic - you can even see the black dust where it hits) and that throws it into the pops and it bounces around randomly and falls out.

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Regarding flipper power, I was having more difficulty than I liked getting up the Factory ramp with the machine directly out of the box, unadjusted. I stumbled on this video

from JJP that suggested adjusting flipper end of stroke switches a bit. Mine definitely benefited from this change - keeps the higher power further into the flip, but still solidly closes the switch at the end to reduce to holding power. After this change, I was able to drop flipper power one point below the defaults while still making all the shots comfortably. That said, JJP games definitely seem to have a looser flipper feel than others, and increasing the power might be right for the way you want yours to play

I don't know whether anything has been changed related to that in production. I might have just gotten lucky with my setup out of the box.

Interesting... how about the back feet/legs. What level are you all raising them to??

Interesting... how about the back feet/legs. What level are you all raising them to??