The Pinball Podcast Episode 23 – Three times the awkward silence.

This month we are testing/forcing Jeff’s replacement with a guest host!  Joe Zenkus from Illinoispinballclub.com joins us to talk Top 5’s, sweaty arcade trips and import vehicles.

The Pinball Podcast Episode 22 – Pinsider? I hardly knew ‘er!

Jeff is delirious with hot car exhaustion and Don is as uninformed as ever.  Join us for Episode 22 of The Pinball Podcast.

We already effed up. I started talking about Nick’s suggestion, then said I’d talk about it later and never got back to it. He wants a mod that allows for lane changing on older pins. Me too!

Pinsanity!
Pinsanity!

You could win this great screen print courtesy of Ken Rossi’s EvolveStudios.com!  Listen for details.

Metallica Pro Unboxing

Just a few weeks after Jeff experienced his first NIB purchase, I joined the NIB club with my own Metallica Pro.  I ordered it during the first production phase of the Pro, but it was already sold out so I had six weeks to order protectors and mods and new balls (more on that later), etc.  The wait was just long enough that I started to dream about the game and I was able to play a friend’s LE before my check was cashed.

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The game shipped from Stern on a Wednesday, and arrived at my home at 1pm the following Tuesday via R&L.  I was able to track it online on Wednesday and it made it all the way to Oklahoma (from Chicago) by Thursday.  Then the tracking went dark until Monday midday.  In the meantime, I called and emailed R&L to make sure it didn’t get shipped back (all previous tracking history had been erased), and they notified me Monday that it was safe and due to be delivered on Tuesday.

When the game arrived, it looked fine, but had a hole in the box (see photo).  I didn’t sign until I ripped open the hole big enough to inspect the ‘damage’.  There was a very, very slight scrape to the bottom back of the head, nothing to get worried about, but I had the driver note the box damage on the bill of lading after hearing horror stories of trying to get recouped for damaged items not noted on the BOL.

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We unboxed the game and immediately started adding ‘mods’.  We replaced the plastic leg standoffs with metal standoffs ordered from PinballLife.com, added a shooter lane protector from PassionForPinball.com, added a Mystery scoop protector found on eBay and swapped out the crappy standard NEW balls that came with the game for some ultra shiny balls from PinballLife.  The balls that came with the game were noticeably duller and one even had a nick in it.  Nice, new balls are one of the cheapest ways to prolong the life of your game (they look nice too).  Old balls = rolling sandpaper on your playfield.

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We finally got the game set up and ‘protected’ and ready to play.  First game, the plunger only shot the ball up about 6″ each time.  The autoplunger was set to fire at 30 seconds, and it shot the ball into play.  My first game was somewhere in the 2 million point ballpark as we were just messing with the plunger.  Then we spent a half hour adjusting the plunger. We got it to a sorta workable point, and played about a half-dozen games.  My buddy had to leave, and my twin infants woke up (I was shocked that they gave us an hour to set up the game!), so no more Metallica until later that night.  It turns out that there are multiple ‘patterns’ used by Stern on Metallica, so the lane protector was causing the ball to ‘ramp’ up very quickly for 1/8″ or so.  Once we found a protector that fit this current layout, the plunger problem was relieved!_DSC0261 _DSC0272

 

The first night, I took an hour or two and swapped out bulbs for LEDs.  I’m very happy with the results.  The only inserts I really don’t like are the four GIANT EOTL inserts right between the slingshots.  The lamp bases are about half the size of the inserts, and are just  screwed to the very edge of the insert.  As such, it only illuminates a small part of the insert.  I tried flex LEDs, but they just don’t spread out far enough.  I might try putting a spacer on the mounting screw so I can shine the light from an inch or so away from the inserts, instead of right on top of the insert.  If that makes any sense…

You can also see that I added LED speaker lights on the backbox, and removed the stock grills in favor of some Metallica throwing star ‘grills’.  Really nice effect, in my opinion.

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Cointaker had a sale that offered free flipper LED kits when you spent $100.  I chose an orange kit, and it came out alright.  The leads are a little on the short side, but they worked.  I also added these skull flipper protectors.  Always a little nerve racking drilling holes into a new cabinet, but the lollipop rails offer similar protection and ‘holes’.  I removed the little playfield pegs and added typical playfield slides too.  Drilling more holes, but it is a MASSIVE improvement.

After exactly one week, the game had exactly 150 plays logged.

And now a photo dump!

 

 

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The Pinball Podcast Episode 21 – Passion for Premier Pinball

Jeff visits CAX, Don sits around. Listen for details.

The Pinball Podcast Episode 20 – FS RARE Maverick Contact for ~~Price L@@K!~~

Episode 20 is here, and even though it’s a light news month, we still have plenty of great stuff to talk about in regards to pinball. I want to make a jungle pun in honor of Congo being our featured machine, but I got nothing. Enjoy the show!

  • Featured Machine: Congo
  • Top Five: Favorite Multilevel/Miniplayfield games
  • Virtual Pinball: Champion Pub and Whirlwind are coming to The Pinball Arcade.  ‘Pinball Rocks’ relaunches on iOS.  ‘Pinball Heroes’ coming to Vita.
  • Product Review: AC/DC Total Protection Kit from Pin-Protection

Pin-A-Go-Go Listener Report

TPP listener Dan Fenton attended Pin-A-Go-Go this past weekend and offered the following minireview of the show.

I was there the whole weekend and load in day as well for setup.  I think the last count was around 236 games.  It was two huge halls and a smaller EM room.  The only time the lines were long were for WOZ and Metallica no more than 6 people deep.  There were multiple “A” list titles…  2 MM, 2 MB, 3 AFM, 4 Wh20, 4 ToM, 3 AC/DC, 3 Tron’s so you get the idea.  There wasnt a CV or the p2k games but that was about it.  There was a good Doug Watson collection set up in the back where he was there signing.  I finally got to play a TS.  Jersey Jack was there.  I brought my JD that had the sigma display in it and DW.  Sold the DW and took home an amazing ToM.  What an amazing weekend.  Cheers, Dan

Thanks for the review, Dan!  Jeff and I both hope to check it out someday!

The Pinball Podcast Episode 19 – Taking it Up (or down?) to a New Level

Jeff and I meet up for the first time in years, and bore our listeners with a recap of events.

  • Featured Machine: Mata Hari
  • Top Five: Favorite Multilevel/Miniplayfield games
  • Virtual Pinball: Centaur and Pin*Bot are coming to The Pinball Arcade.  Farfalla for Zaccaria Pinball hits iOS.
  • Product Review: anyPin NVRAM

The Pinball Podcast Episode 18 – An End to the Madness

Pinball March Madness is just about over and now Jeff can finally get some rest. Thank you everyone for participating!

CORRECTION:  On the show, I incorrectly recommended using an emory board to clean contacts.  Joe Zenkus caught the mistake though and said not to use it!  He’s right!  Use FLEXSTONE.  I swear I use flexstone, and just called it the wrong thing because I have a limited vocabulary.  I swear. *cough*  400 grit sandpaper is also acceptable. – Don

MORE CORRECTIONS: 

  • Mike Goss pointed out that Checkpoint was the first game that allowed you to select your music.  We weren’t disputing this, but it may have come out that way.
  • Rob C felt that we were overlooking the Stern Premium model.  We will probably talk about this again, but we were more going to the point of ditching the Pro model, keeping the Premium and LE.
  • Zaccaria made a railroad themed game called ‘Locomotion’, not ‘Locomotive’.
  • Featured Machine: Whitewater
  • Top Five: Favorite Mindless Fun Pins
  • Virtual Pinball: Whitewater and Space Shuttle join Cactus Canyon and Central Park on The Pinball Arcade.  Zaccaria Pinball hits iOS.

The Pinball Podcast Episode 17 – White Spiders or GTFO!

Episode 17 is here, and we’re ready to kick of Pinball March Madness. Brackets are available now, so get your entries in by Tuesday morning. Voting will begin on Tuesday after the deadline. Here are the notes for the rest of the show.

  • Louisville Arcade Expo  – March 8-10 – arcaderx.com
  • Texas Pinball Festival – Dallas – March 15-17 – texaspinball.com
  • Midwest Gaming Classic – Brookfield, WI – March 23-24 midwestgamingclassic.com
  • Michigan Pinball Expo – Rochester – April 4-7 – mipinball.com
  • Featured Machine/Top Five: Ritchie Brothers
  • Virtual Pinball: Dr. Dude and Firepower hit The Pinball Arcade, Star Wars Pinball debuts on Zen platforms