Hi everybody, this is my "first time, long time" post. I have read all 149 pages of postings in this forum / thread. And wow, what a great community of folks that help each other out. That alone (knowing ALL pinball machines are going to have problems) gave me confidence to take the plunge and buy my VERY first NIB game: a Wonka SE (which was a stretch for me, love the theme and luckily my wife does as well which sealed the deal). I bought it without ever seeing one in person, but knew I would love it. Purchased from Jason at Classic Gamerooms in Georgia (I'm in Austin, Texas but could not locate any NIB SEs within driving distance).

So my machine arrived this Tuesday via Central Freight at 7PM. The box was in perfect shape (delivery guy was fantastic, he seemed surprised it arrived in such good shape, he personally helped me inspect every square inch of the box to be sure there were no visible issues). I have a two-story home, so I left it in the garage overnight and knew I would have to get creative with getting it upstairs (I'm cheap and stubborn as well). Two months ago I had a disk issue in my back that prevented me from even being able to sit in a chair. Fast forward to now ... my wife's back went out trying to get the thing up the first step on our stairs, so we regrouped. Long story short, I managed to get that machine (which my wife swore must be a cardboard box full of anvils) all the way up our stairs by myself using a winch I removed from a boat trailer and rigged up to a ladder wedged in a door frame, with the strap attached to an appliance dolly I used as a "sled" for the pinball machine. Real redneck engineering, but it got the job done (although the process was terrifying).

Finally the big reveal came, opened the box, unpacked everything, and wow, haven't been this excited in decades. This machine is beautiful inside and out. Mine arrived with a yellow paint mark on the glass which I saw was from the Gobstopper toy (I remember seeing that before), but no issue there (nobody will ever know unless they get out a darned microscope). And there were a couple of minor blemishes by the flipper buttons from being tightened, although I put black protectors in that area so no issue for me at all. The machine did have some errors when powered up, ALL ultimately which wound up being simple plugs unplugged (three of 'em) ... which I was totally prepared for thanks to this forum.

Note that my machine was "born on" 2/12/2020. The playfield is absolutely spectacular. I do not see any of the dreaded issues that impacted customers previously with older playfields. I certainly don't blame anyone for wanting perfection, especially for those who purchased the higher-priced units. But regardless, I also saw that Jersey Jack stands behind their products and again, this forum gave me confidence in that.

So after turning it on and fixing the errors, I played 3 games. 7 of the 9 balls drained on the left side, and I immediately knew I was going to need to "cheat" and install the additional pin in the playfield (which I swear 47 different people have asked "what's up with the extra hole" / blah blah blah). After that, my very next game I gathered a Golden Ticket, scored 500K no problem, and was afraid I made it too easy. And then my next game I scored about 5,000 points total, and am now seeing that this is an incredible but very tough game. Which I plan to keep forever, so that works out well for me.

Finally I want to mention that I have already bought lots of mods (Mod Couple, Lermods, and others), also already bought and installed the shaker motor, and man these improvements really are fun to do and add lots to the game. Anyway, I just wanted to thank everyone for this amazing treasure trove of information. And I know when (not if) I encounter some screwball situation or error, no doubt I'll have a great group that can assist, and I'll try to pay that forward as well. Happy Friday to all, time to enjoy some pinball!

Same here, I installed the cheater post (upper position, "super cheater", thinking about moving it to the lower one though), all I did was slide the original rubber on the center post down a bit (below the main groove) so it contacts the ball at a lower point. No issues with the ball hanging, and it still has a nice bounce from either post when it contacts the rubber. I do wonder if eventually that bit of rubber will stay put since it isn't in the groove; time will tell. But certainly just removing the rubber from the middle (to the right of the cheater) would ensure no balls are stuck.

Interesting, mine definitely was hanging with the upper cheater post position installed (see first photo). But I realized I did not put on the washer (wasn't sure if I wanted to keep the post in that position and didn't want any contact with the playfield), but I now see that the washer elevates the post just enough to eliminate the binding issue (but wow that is a tight fit for the ball, but yep it does clear).

In other news, I've got a box of ModCouple toys heading my way, can't wait to check 'em out ... at least in the photos the little factory looks A-mazin'

That looks pretty sweet, well done sir! I hear you on the Pinwoofer thing. As a new owner and having read back through this entire thread's messages, I saw lots of discussion about the sound quality for the machine ... and I thought I would be fine with the stock setup, but absolutely needs some more ooomph in the audio department (low frequencies anyway), so an inexpensive external woofer will be coming soon.

Now that I have the left "cheater post" installed in the upper position, the outlane drains feel pretty balanced. But I noticed that the right lane has an upper post that looks adjustable, and from the factory comes in the most "difficult" setting. Anyone played with that right lane post adjustment (lowering should make it "easier")?

I hear ya: play better! My game works great at about a 7 degree incline, flipper strength perfect at the factory settings, only adjustment I made was a slight boost to the slingshots strength. My nudge skills are terrible, so certainly agree that is the best (and most fun) place to focus ... play the game, right!

But in this case I'm not talking about adding something to make the game easier; I was asking about what appears to be an adjustable post above the right outlane. Just like there are difficulty settings in the menus, you can adjust the coil settings, etc ... from the factory you can adjust the playfield by design. I have seen umpteen messages about the left post, but didn't recall seeing any discussion about adjusting the right post. Not planning on messing with it, just wondering about the experience of others with that.

I was thinking you just need to drill 4 holes in the floor a couple of inches, but whatever works!

Seriously, congrats, CEs are just beautiful, LOVE my SE for the money but certainly if the budget is there the LEs and CEs are worth it. Truly a special game and one that I think will stand the test of time.

Good to know, figured somebody out there must have played around with it ... I noticed last night what you said: there are TWO adjustables on the right side. I'll enjoy my game as-is for now, but nice to know it can be adjusted to best meet the needs of the player. Yep I'm sure the whole family can appreciate it, nephews cannot wait (just waiting for a better COVID situation) to play it!

Thanks DaddyManD and @rodcom, yep good info to know from the manual (if all else fails, read the directions, still working on that one!). Since I plan on keeping this game for good, I decided to bump my "cheat post" on the left to the lower instead of upper position. Funny enough the ball clears for me with the rubber slid up on the post for the center-lane divider (so I still have rubber on both posts, I know that is not the experience of others but works on my machine although just barely). And funny enough for my very first ball to test I doubled my previous high scoring game, go figure. Just loving the game, now fully going down the mod path.

Posting this in case it can help others. So the first mod that I ordered for the game was a set of pinblades (well, actually PinGraffix which I bought via eBay). I read on the forums how to install these, and watched videos, and to say I was concerned about getting a clean install is an understatement. But somewhere earlier I read a post by somebody who said they simply removed the entire playfield, didn't have to disconnect anything, and that they (with help) set it on sawhorses right to the side of the machine and then had full easy access to the inside of the cabinet.

I paid close attention to the margins on either side of the playfield, and they literally scrape when raising and lowering the playfield (not the actual playfield sides, but the upper clear ramps on the left side of the machine drag the edges, and there isn't any way to adjust those to get out of the way). I saw the solutions for the plastic shields you can insert each time you raise the playfield, but felt those were pricey and was not confident I could even squeeze them in. Plus just one more thing to worry about and store somewhere. I saw another post from someone who lined the edges of their playfield with felt, so I went that route. Plus I lined the edges of the plastic ramps so they would slide smoothly.

Since my wife has bad back trouble at the moment (due to trying to help me get the machine upstairs), I "had" to figure out how to remove the playfield by myself, and found a super easy solution. I propped up the front of the machine to lessen the angle a bit. Then I raised the playfield up and set the front overhanging the front of the machine. But on the back, I wrapped a towel around a board, simply lifted the end of the playfield up high, slid the board underneath the rails below the playfield so the playfield just sat on top of the machine, giving full access to the inside of the cabinet (and made SURE it was on sturdy and would not slide down or to the side). Then it was super easy to install the blades, didn't need to mess with Windex or anything, just lined 'em up, used painters tape to hang them in position, and then undid the backing and installed them. The type I purchased were great about being able to lightly stick, then pull up, then adjust until I had them perfect, then I just used my hand to press them in and iron out any bubbles and they turned out perfect. While the playfield was up I used the 3/4" felt tape and lined the entire machine (every surface edge that could possibly scrape the sides), lowered the playfield back in, and it slides in and lifts up smooth as butter, nothing binding, nothing scraping. Took me about 30 minutes taking my time for the whole operation. Anyway, there are different ways to do this, but this method sure worked well for me. I LOVE the blades, and it feels like it helps brighten things up just a tad as well. The quality of the blades is very good, fairly thick vinyl feeling, had precut holes for the hinge bolts, and look better in person than the pictures.

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Oh man, got a long list of mods coming:

Mod Couple
- Factory (fits over the "butter" container thing)
- Burp / tube (like the look sitting on top of the bumper)
- Wonkavator (just the static one fine for me to help fill the void for the SE)
- Top hat (for the ball kick-out / return lane thingy)
- Not ordered yet but probably will get the Augustus-in-a-tube mod and put it on the "shelf" at the back of the machine

Lermods
- Backglass light (just the plain white)
- Upper playfield RGB
- Lower / trough RGB
- Main playfield interactive spotlights

And I already have:
- Added a shaker (this is a MUST do, so easy and gosh what a difference!)
- Pingraffx blades (also LOVE the look, much more impact and nicer looking than I even thought from pictures)
- Self-made large mushroom field near the factory on the left and small mushroom field on upper playfield shelf at the back of the machine (I made identical plastic parts so I could preserve the originals and freely mod the new ones as needed ... used wooden large mushrooms, plastic small mushrooms, green sheets for grass used for jewelry cases, and Gorilla double-sided tape and a hole punch to make perfect little circles to affix the small mushrooms)
- Large candy lollipops (x 4) to cover up various switches and lights, from a Korean stationary store, they are made of rubber and are actually erasures so not worried if they get hit by a ball

At some point definitely a subwoofer mod is coming, probably just an inexpensive alligator clip solution to a Goodwill cheapo sub, but I do like the fancier solutions I have seen posted here before.

Wow, I feel almost ridiculous with that list of stuff, the machine out of the box is amazing but just got the bug to customize it!

Very good! Truly a great mod, I am surprised how much I love the look. And really was easy to install the way I did it, plus with the felt (felt tape came from Amazon, I think it was like $10 or so, WELL worth it) I feel confident I won't be ripping it any time soon when I raise / lower the playfield (knock on wood!).

Ha, yes mods are not a good "investment", I plan on keeping this machine for good but no illusion that aside from the shaker, other mods add near zero resale value. But I'm good with it

I posted about this before, but my NIB SE arrived earlier this month with "born on date" Feb of 2020. Perfect shape, playfield has zero issues (and I read all of the posts on this forum and have seen the pictures of pooling / etc ... which honestly didn't look THAT bad to me, but I totally get wanting to make sure that the issues don't get worse over time). I was ready to fight the playfield battle, but it looks amazing and literally I couldn't find a darned thing to complain about. So I have been enjoying the mod bug and just having a blast with the thing!

Nice! My SE was born on 2/12/2020! Got it NIB and had it for about 3 weeks, absolutely love the machine, been doing mods, plan on doing a writeup soon for my latest ones. Great machine and this is such an amazing forum, people are so helpful.

RobbyIRL5 , I sincerely hope this is not annoying for you but I have to ask: are you THE Robby McGehee? As in THE Indy 500 rookie of the year? If so, I don't follow the sport closely like I used to, but I was a fan in the stands many times in Texas when IRL raced there in late 90s and early 2000s, and I remember one Mr. Robby McGehee battling at the front in some races (confess I was a Jeff Ward fan coming from a moto-X background, but I was a big fan of all the insane guys strapping themselves into those machines for my entertainment). Those cars were so fast in person that they were literally a blur going by. Sorry off topic here, and I hope this question is not bothersome, I'll delete this post if so.

I will use full restraint to keep this from turning into an Indy Racing League forum, but everybody: Robby was a danged beast on the track, the race in Texas in 2000 was an A-mazing, those last laps had the crowd on their feet yelling and screaming watching that battle to the end that was just epic (my brother and dad were at the race, was my dad's last sports event he attended before passing away but he loved it, still have a great family memory from that largely due to the show Robby and Scott Sharp put on those last laps). Anyway, sounds like an incredible and blessed life from racing at the highest levels to family with triplets and a Wonka machine, very cool the diverse folks that this hobby brings

Yeah really cool right?! June of 2000 was the crazy finish I was talking about, race was the Casino Magic 500. Every fan in the stands was going nuts I assure you!

The blade protectors are a great idea, but just as an alternative: I made a post a couple of weeks back on this forum / thread about my solution to install blades and ensure they are protected ... bottom line, you can easily lift out the entire playfield and prop it up on "top" of the machine (without having to disconnect anything), install blades freely (if you didn't have them), and then simply put a felt tape layer (1/2" width works, probably < $10 from Amazon) around the edges of the playfield and anything that could contact the sides of the machine and you're good to go. I have lifted my playfield up and down probably 50 times in the last two weeks trying to install mods and figure out some wiring issues, and my blades look brand new. But for occasional access and for not having to install the felt, the blade protectors seem like a great and simple solution (my original plan was to use posterboard and make my own, but I didn't see how I could get them to squeeze in the tight gap that my machine has). Good luck!

I have two playfield related questions and gladly expose my lack of knowledge on the topic ... what say you wise experts?

Q1. These machines come with two half-circle Mylar clear protectors in the cash box. What are you guys doing with those (if anything)? My machine will realistically get 500 plays per year tops, and while I plan on owning it for good, I don't know if it is necessary or helpful to install these. Are they intended to go in front of the slingshots, and should I install them? Funny that some parts of the playfield have protectors, others don't (ex: outlane switches are bare, inlane switches protectors).

Q2. Especially when "booting up" my machine when ONLY the backglass is lit, I see a bunch of tiny pock marks or indentations in the reflection on the playfield. None of these seems to impact play nor can I feel them, but just wondering if this is common and considered normal wear (seems to be on other machines, but with how new my machine is I'm surprised to see these). In the photo you can barely see a few of these marks (they are probably 2mm wide, TINY). Playfield probably has a couple of hundred of these marks / "dents" total.

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Great info, your response is very much appreciated!

Good point, I did a quick playfield scan and couldn't find anything from the top. Since it showed up SO early in your game's life, it is possible it was an "extra" unused thing from assembly. My NIB I got a month ago had a loose coin door bolt that wound up attaching itself to the magnet on the speaker (the bolt was an extra, not something that was missing).

I'll be on the lookout for that; I can see that over time that could be an issue if the adhesive stops working on the back of the tape or if something catches and pulls it off (mine so far is smooth as butter, we'll see how it holds up).

Aaah of course what LTG said! 100% confirmed on my machine, just look underneath the diverter ("butter box"), that's where the brass screw is. Mine has the Mod Couple "factory" mod to sit over the factory "butter box" cover that ... err, comes from the factory ... ANYWAY, that appears to be the spot.

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Yeesh that sounds terrible! Curious since I'm already "all in" on the felt tape method for blade protection, did you experience issues immediately or was it down the road as the adhesive lost grip? So far has worked amazingly well for me, but I'm only a month in and a few dozen lifts of the playfield. I used 3/4" tape and although I used it everywhere, I put in a little overlap on the areas I could see would most likely bind when lowering the PF.

That install error is lousy, no ideas but hopefully starting from scratch will fix whatever hiccup happened. I used the USA download link today with no issues (well, don't get me started on the Mac headaches, I spent an hour trying command line crap to get the Mac version of unetbootin to work, apparently there are issues with the latest version of OSX ... I finally gave up, booted up Windows, and was SO easy to do, so zero issues with Windows). Just be sure to give your the image plenty of time to write to your USB; mine stopped at 87% complete for about 15 minutes, then continued, so just be patient (exactly as advised in the JJP directions). And I didn't read all of the forum comments first, but I can confirmed that high score, settings, AND all audit data are completely reset with the install (now it appears my machine has never been played ... good to know this when shopping for any used JJPs in the future that the eyeball test is more important than the # of games played according to the logs). After a couple of plays I have seen subtle differences in the code, seems a little more polished, music and sounds definitely changed a little for the better (nothing major but there were some sounds that seemed super repetitive that I'm not hearing nearly as much now). And yep high scores are no longer just initials, you enter your name! Really neat seeing the new features rolled out for WiFi and BT; look forward to testing those at some point.

Took me about 15 minutes to download 1.34 (Mac Big Sur, Chrome browser, 100Mbs cable modem that is "ok"). US mirror site. Oh yeah, 16GB USB (some cheapie no-name brand).

Wow this Mac solution is SO easy, nice! And also thanks to you guys for the other Mac alternatives, both which also look pretty darned easy. Amazing community on Pinside.

LOL yall are funny, yeah I got stuck trying to do my own command line stuff on my Mac (epic fail), clearly zaphX is operating at a very high level here But his solution is quite elegant and makes total sense when you read the comments he shared for what happens with each step.

As LTG said, backup needed to retain this. I updated without backing uo and everthing is 100% reset including high scores and all audit counts (number of games played, etc). Lucky for me I have only owned the game a month and have accepted that I sorta suck at this game (no heartache over lost high scores), but LOVE it and will back it up before I upgrade again

I have been meaning to ask the same question, always seems strange when you hear the saucer reference.

LOL "shoot the VUK!" Yes I can sort of see how that spot could informally be called a saucer, at least during the design phase ... aaah well, gives it a little personality

Wow that looks incredibly useful; watched a little and am looking forward to soaking in the whole thing. I'm really hoping to get a little more insight into what the 6 "other" magnets do and how they relate to the little light burst / cluster areas on the playfield. Thanks for sharing the video yall!

Yep all good here on new code as well.

I didn't see that video quality option yet, not sure I understand what that would do, is it just changing the resolution / real estate taken up on the screen (which to me is completely different than "quality", can't fathom why you would want to actually adjust the true "quality"!)?

Same here, delta upgrade literally took about 2 seconds (so fast I thought it might have not worked), rebooted, and confirmed I'm on 1.35. Play time!

Gobstopper switch is the only thing that continues to give me issues on my machine. Don't have a 3D printer, but I think I can take a tiny block of wood and my Dremel and craft something similar (appreciate at least seeing what the part looks like, thx for sharing this info!). OR maybe this is the reason I "need" to get a 3D printer, hmmmm....

Brilliant, thank you sir and much appreciate you sharing the photo as well.

Thanks a ton DeeGor , I'll go with the quick electrical tape fix, but I super appreciate the offer (once again I can't get over how great this Pinside community is!).

Hi Rick you probably already saw it, but there was just a discussion about that switch on the previous page and at the top of this one ... it sure seems without a doubt to be a super common issue, but there are lots of ways to fix it ... I used a similar approach to the electrical tape quick fix referenced before and so far it works great Anyway, just click back to "page 166" and scroll through and you can see some of the solutions (which I know have also been mentioned many times before earlier in the forum as well). And definitely do a full update for 1.35, congrats on the machine, amazing and fun pin that is a keeper for sure!

I have SO much trouble with this shot, more practice needed

I hit my all time high score of a little over 6M a few days ago, even finished the Wonka Office mode, really cool, quite proud of myself. And the day after my VERY next game score: 6,470 (or something close to that, under 7,000). Made me wonder if I hit an all-time lowest score? Some days this game seems really cruel. Love it though!

Great info, I tried multiple USB wifi adapters (I review these things and have a bunch sitting around), NONE worked except the Archer Nano AC600. Fortunately it is very inexpensive at $13 on Amazon, works great, connected right up.

100%, true dat!

Man! ILM, Pixar, or maybe James Cameron should hire you as a CGI QA guy, good golly that is an eye for detail! I am sincerely not doubting you here, but honestly I watched your clips and the only hiccup that was clear to me was the Game Over candy backgrounds at 2:16 mark. I know it would be a pain, but perhaps you could do some side by side video to help your case with JJP ... I assume the video from the game is 60FPS, so maybe slow both side-by-side feeds down to half or fourth speed to make the differences more obvious? Wish you luck on this, does sound like a software thing if you are seeing 1.33 as smooth, but glad my eyes aren't bothered by it though

Aaah makes sense, yep your eye is probably even more trained more than you realize (more than the average bear, although Pinsiders seem to be on the upper end of the bear spectrum). But certainly JJP should take a serious look; they might learn something that could prevent bigger issues down the road for Wonka or other machines (imagine say a code release for Guns N Roses that causes video to be jittery, that could go bad really fast). Good luck and keep us posted!

Wow you work fast, YES great job on that, the video slowed down makes it much more obvious. Also thanks for posting the JJP response, which at this time I think was reasonable on their part. Hope the next version release is back to buttery smooth animations.

I added a comment to your tweet, you made a fair case with the video, I doubt they would have had time to figure it out in time for this release, but perhaps the next one.

Play style question: does anyone use the two-stage feature of the flipper buttons during play to not activate the upper flippers? I mash the heck out of the buttons every time which activates the upper and lower, but seems easier to time the shots with a firm press. Curious if anyone has improved their scores by mastering a more finessed technique, or if it just a bit of a wasted feature.

Aaah, that makes perfect sense, thx

Good luck, LOVE my SE, truly a special and spectacular game!

100% agreed. I consider it a minor issue that does not impact gameplay, but it is something certainly worth mentioning and that JJP should address (and they should want to figure out why this happened so it doesn't have a more serious impact down the road for this or other games). It is more noticeable to me than some (not all) of the playfield issues that people are so upset about.

Just for fun I enabled the Beta builds. I am running 1.38 which installed wirelessly without a hiccup. However, the beta versions download, but each time errors out saying the build cannot be verified.

Also, NEVER had this happen on a single player game, but first time I played a 4 player game on 1.38 there were three false occurances of the Gobstopper lock registering a ball. Just randomly happened and even started an "unearned" Gobstopper multiball for me (family accused me of rigging the machine at that point!) I am guessing there must be a touchy switch or sensor (dirty optical sensor maybe?). Funny enough it has not happened again on single player games, but I am guessing that is just a coincidence. Thoughts?

FYI - 5th time's the charm: update to Beta 3 worked tonight. No Beta 4 available to me.

Did a quick visual check this morning: no changes, still stutters a bit.

Exact same thing happened to me (all over a good wifi connection), same error message. Finally worked on about the 5th or so try, but was frusturating. I went from 1.38 to beta. So keep trying, good luck!

UPDATE: oops, saw you got it working, good deal!

Good to know, I ran into about 5 failures but it finally downloaded. Will try this for the next update!

I am now on Beta 6 (= 2.0), and briefly was on Beta 5 and noticed that for both versions random multiballs seem to get inserted. I am running the default settings through except slightly stronger coil strength for a couple of coils. I thought it might have been a hiccup or even my imagination (no pun intended here) but now I have Beta 6 and have spent a little time playing it, the machine just keeps launching "free" extra balls for no apparent reason, or at least I haven't seen a pattern. When it happens I shut off the machine because I don't want a cheater high score. Sometimes 10 minutes will go by with nothing, and other times almost at the beginning of the game suddenly an extra ball will appear, with no reference or audio/video cues to indicate why. Seems like this has happened to a couple of folks ... could this be the code update and is intentional, a bug, OR possibly some bad switch or something else hardware related? Aside from the mysterious extra ball situation, I LOVE the code updates, lots of polish and game is TOTALLY awesomely fun.

Upon further review, Mr. McGehee had answered the question about the random balls being launched: solution being to reflow the tough optic board (apparently just a coincidence it started happening with code update). Unfortunate that this seems to be a manufacturing defect, but at least it is fixable and a known issue. I haven't had to reflow solder since I fixed my old PS3 in the oven (spouse was quite puzzled at what the hell I was doing, but it worked).

Sounds good, keep us posted if that fixed the issue for you. Before attempting the reflow on my machine (which I would rather not do), I opened a JJP support ticket and they have been very responsive and are going through a series of tests with me. So far the trough opto switches seemed to test ok, although I'm wondering if the switches work "most" of the time but as soon as they lose contact maybe that is when an extra ball is triggered (if so that makes sense that the reflow would fix it - or just a new trough opto board).

Final resolution: JJP confirmed that the random balls are indeed due to a bad "trough jam opto" and needs to be reflowed or replaced (they are backordered but will send one to me at no charge except for shipping). Good support from JJP, plus it confirms everything that the Pinsiders have stated about this issue and how to fix it. Carry on!

Shoot man, I am sorry to hear that. So I could get back up and running quickly, I decided to take a shot at the reflow (per JJP instructions I didn't even need to remove the board), and so far that seems to have solved the issue for me (no random balls in about 5 long games). They should be able to take care of you though, although they did warn me that the trough opto boards are backordered (hence why I decided to take a shot at the reflow). I did add a little solder as well.

Exactly this, thx JJP for the support (Ken helped me out)!

jetmechinnc I say you surprise the spouse with a new Mac (maybe hold on a few more months until Christmas), everybody wins And absolutely get yourself the WiFi dongle (like $20 on Amazon) and once you get the code updated to the new version, you'll never have to worry about downloading to the USB stick again. The WiFi update feature is amazingly easy to use and SO much better than the USB updates (as a Mac users I experienced a little pain with that as well). Good luck sir!

Fantastic. You guys that are about to unbox are in for a treat. I snagged a SE early this year NIB and felt like a kid strolling into the Magic Kingdom for the first time when I opened it up. The game truly is magical. I will never sell the game unless I upgrade down the road to a LE or CE.

Alligator clipped speaker wire to bottom cabinet speaker, ran wire to a cheapo Goodwill sub ($15 I think) that accepts speaker level inputs, and it sounds amazing now. I also was surprised at the lack of low frequencies with the original setup.

Running 2.03 code and finally found some time recently to enjoy the game, but I noticed that the shaker motor seems to be used much less with the newer code (ex: Wonkavator Multiball only vibrates a few seconds, same for Wonkatania Mania). Or is that purely my imagination (lame pun intended)? Shaker motor set to high (not extreme), also I have an SE so the shaker is aftermarket.

EDIT: I ran the shaker motor test sequence this morning; no errors or issues (the test runs for about 7 or 8 seconds). Still thinking it is the code update.

Also FYI on another topic, I contacted JJP support for separate issue over a month ago and got NO response whatsoever except for the automated "we'll get back to you" email. Appreciate the folks on Pinside for help.

Thx zaphX, good to know, I think I'll just set it to the default motor strength and do some more play testing and see what "shakes" out

Kid Multiball is still the toughest shot for me by far. I like it though because it is doable, and the excitement (especially if you have all of the "kids") of starting up that multiball if you have all of the kids is amazing.

pcprogrammer I made two purchases for lighting and HIGHLY recommend:

#1 - Trough and backboard led light strip combo from @lermods, looks amazing and easy plug and play (you can "make your own" to save a few bucks, but to me it was worth it for ease of installation and wiring): https://lermods.com/shop/ols/products/willy-wonka-and-the-chocolate-factory-pinball-led-strip-backboard-slash-trough-combo

#2 - Wonka Bar style spotlights for the center of the main playfield, also from @lermods, it provides a wonderful amount of light for the main Willy image in the middle of the playfield, not too bright, not too dark, just right, looks great, also plug and play and mounts on the top of the slings (and for the money this is my single favorite mod): https://lermods.com/shop/ols/products/willy-wonka-the-chocolate-factory-pinball-spotlight-covers

This picture was taken in a fairly dark room. Yeah I have gone a little crazy with the mods, but sure had fun making the machine my own. Shaker motor and Invisiglass (I just have the SE model) are absolutely worth it. Love this game and will never leave my collection (unless I find a steal on a CE at some point).

IMG_6283 (resized).JPG

Yep that is the exact product I ordered. Mine are not the holograffix, but they look really sharp; well worth the price for me.

Forgot about this, but confirmed mine also have this small mark. Not a big deal for me and never would have noticed it if I hadn't known to look for it, but it is a little odd.

Thanks! Got 'em at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Skyseen-Wooden-Mushrooms-Craft-Ornaments/dp/B0728J73J9

Also bought some rigid plastic sheets, some green jewelry felt sticky "grass" sheets and made my own replacement part using a dremel for the clear plastic that the mushrooms sit on (so I wouldn't have to mess up the factory plastic). Used Gorilla tape on the bottom of the mushrooms to attch them, although I could have glued them or used small wood screws from the bottom (the large mushrooms are made of wood).

And yes the Kid Multiball is by far the hardest shot for me to make

Congrats, it truly is a very special game, snag you a wifi dongle (be sure to get one that works with this machine, posted several times in this forum), get the code updates, and enjoy the show!

Aaah very nice!

Minimal in my opinion ... a few times during a long session with multiball going the balls have had a LITTLE bit more difficulty going up the ramps, but not enough for me to want to "fix" it. This is a total guess, but if I had to pick a numbers I would say I have never seen more than a 10% reduction in power. For a great player this could be a big deal. For me (total novice) it hardly makes any difference. But that solution looks pretty cool (no pun intended)!

Somehow I didn't see the film until I was in my 20s (so it is not pure nostalgia) ... but for me it IS pure imagination! If you count a film franchise as one movie (IJ, SW, LOTR, etc) this is a top 10 movie on my list.

Yes I meant that without counting say LOTR as 3 movies (and JUST counting it as one) and same for Star Wars and so on, THEN Wonka (the original that the table is based on) is a top 10 movie for me

Absolutely amazing, very cool!

My SE I bought NIB last year also had yellow paint from the Gobstopper toy on the underside of the glass. Mine was not invisiglass and wiped right off, but absolutely anyone getting a new machine needs to double check that spot. By the way, I later swapped out my standard glass for insvisiglass, and WOW what difference!

Fantastic, welcome sir! Playfield smayfield, play the thing

Yes in my opinion the sound is terrible for low frequencies. Mine sounds like a 1980s tv built-in speaker (as in NO bass)! I bought some alligator clips to clip on the subwoofer terminals, hooked up some speaker wire, and ran the wires it to a cheapo external subwoofer (Goodwill $10 bucks) that accepts speaker level input, and it sounds 10 times better. Pinwoofer offers a nice solution that is probably the best if you have the budget, and bossk4hire mentioned a good alternative way to go which is add an amp with a frequency crossover to the sub. Funny my WOZ sound is way better out of the box. If they would add an equalizer adjustment of some sort (I think they did that for GNR?) in the software that would help a bunch.

Congrats! You will love it, it is such a great game. I appreciate the design of this machine more than ever after playing for a year. Only minor "regret" is "just" getting an SE instead of LE or CE. But at the time even $7500 for a new SE seemed crazy expensive! But I love my SE. It is never leaving the house.

Wow, I need to check mine, still have the originals (roughly 500 games). Figured they would be good to 1K. Is there anything on Wonka that would wear balls faster? Maybe the metal to metal of the newton ball?

Fact: the JJP camera adds roughly 20 pounds and 20 years. Only explanation I have for the horrible photos of some grumpy looking old man that keeps getting high scores on my machine.

I ordered mine last week direct from Modfather. Will pop a photo out when it is installed. I bought a WOZ shooter rod from him and it looks great.

The pin is fantastic. Couldn't be happier after owning a year +. As other mentioned, the theme puts some people off (which pulled me in), but the game is awesome, code is deep and keeps you coming back, the shots are great, the light show and overall appeal to non-pinheads is very high as well ... and while I don't think speculating on pinball machine prices is a good investment strategy, I think if you can snag a WW LE you will not lose money on it. Probably holds the value better than any other "toys" I can think of (boats / jet skiis / cars / motorcycles ... usually are going to drop significantly in value over say a decade, but a WW LE probably will still be worth 10K in 10 years, and would not be surprised to see double). But I say buy it because it is awesome to play and a real work of art!

Got my SE from Jason last year, great transaction, great game!

Sorry to hear that, I had the extra ball launching issue as well, the trough board reflow worked for me but you may need to exchange the whole board (JJP offered that but was quicker for me to give the reflow a shot, no issues since then).

On the screw loose topic, I had a smokestack screw come loose as well.

I bought me SE from Jason last year, shipped Central Freight which I see is now out of business! Shipment was perfect. Jason is a good guy to buy from for sure, if he says R&L is the way to go now then I am sure you'll be fine. Congrats, the machine is incredible!

Awesome, very exciting! I moved mine upstairs by myself, and I swear the thing weighed 900 pounds I used a boat winch (some real redneck engineering) to crank it up the stairs and was terrified it would come loose from the dolly I used as a sled, but no problems. But an Escalera would have been VERY nice to have. Enjoy the machine!

Now THAT is how to kick off an epic weekend! Congrats, this pin is amazing!

I have one coming, I ordered it a few weeks ago and I inquired about the order last week, they immediately got back to me and set the expectation that they are weeks behind so I am guessing it will be a couple of months in total. But from the pictures it looks like it is certainly worth the wait!

Man that looks good, looks like it came from the factory (wink), can't wait to get mine

Kid MB is by far the toughest shot for me (SE made in Feb 2020); the ball almost has to be rolling off the tip of the right flipper to hit it.

Lots of great mod options out there; I'm one who probably went overboard, but I enjoy the modding and tinkering almost as much as playing. For me, lighting (especially lighting at the back of the playfield, and spotlights for the center of the playfield) was huge. I have bought mods from all of these vendors, all great folks to deal with and I have been very happy. I would recommend browsing old posts in this forum and check out these collections of mods:

https://themodcouplepinball.com/collections/jjp-willy-wonka-premium-mod-collection

https://lermods.com/shop/ols/categories/willy-wonka-and-the-chocolate-factory-pinball-mods

https://mezelmods.com/collections/willy-wonka-and-the-chocolate-factory-pinball-mods

My favorite single "wow" factor for me is the little "factory" that fits over the diverter on the left side (fits over the "butter stick container" looking thing): https://themodcouplepinball.com/collections/jjp-willy-wonka-premium-mod-collection/products/jjp-willy-wonka-custom-3d-chocolate-factory-ball-lock

Make it your own and have with it!

Although I have a strong preference with the appearance and ease of installation of the brown one, the white with red pieces from Mezel is cool in that it has a part (the wheel) that moves when the ball travels through the tube. Nice to have a couple of good options.

I have the Mod Couple version. Looks great and fills a nice "void" on my SE for the space. But in hindsight I really like the looks of Lermods version with the spinning part; if I had to do it again I would probably splurge and get that one.

I honestly love it. Perhaps I need help

+1 on this, Derek is one of the most helpful people on the planet. A+ human being, has helped me with Wonka (yes a walking encyclopedia of knowledge) and offered to help with WOZ light stuff if I needed it, great helpful videos, I am a fan!

Same, guilty, learned my lesson I am now in the habit of just pulling back the shooter rod a tad when lowering the playfield. Fortunately you can get extra tips from places like Marcos, or for $7 you can get a 5-pack from eBay with free shipping:

ebay.com link: itm