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Pro vs LE

ScoobyPrints

ScoobyPrints

Registered
Joined
Jan 12, 2022
Messages
25
Location
Leicester
Hi all, I’ve always loved playing pinballs when I was younger and one thing I always had in mind is owning one. Put that together with my comic book childhood and 15 years later I fell in love with Stern’s X-Men machine… I knew first sight that would be the machine I would buy.
I’m finally now in a phase in my life that I have somewhere to put it and the funds to make it happen. I started my research a few months ago.
I’m avid with tinkering and repairing all sorts of stuff (Engineer for living) so I guess I’ll handle well diving into this new hobby.

Enough with the chat let me go straight to my point.

I did find the feature/game play differences in the Stern lineup between Limited Edition vs PRO.

My question is more about the parts/ maintenance and robustness of the parts.

Is there anything different in the construction of the PRO machines that would make it better for maintenance or less prone to failures?
One would think that a lineup for constant use and abuse would be more robust…. Or in fact the construction and components are all common, what makes the LE/ private ownership more longevity as you would expect less games per month/year?

I understand perfectly that owning a pinball machine is like (or worse) than owning a car… like any other machine maintenance is key for longevity. Just want to understand a bit more.

Thanks in advance.

Alex - ScoobyPrints

Ps. I’m really into 3D printing and modelling so once I’m familiar with my machine I hope to make use some of my other skills to help the community. If you’re in Facebook search my profile and you can see my creations mostly for the car/mods community.
 
I'm not massively knowledgeable about these things but I'd imagine the pro machines are more desirable on location because there's less to go wrong. The Godzilla pro for example has 3 less mechanisms but I couldn't attest to the reliability.

People do tend to pimp out pro models with mods to garnish them and make them look better. Maybe take a look at what Mezel Mods do for each machine and it may give you some inspiration of what can be created.
 
If don’t think there is really much in it but I own 19 Premium/LE’s and 2 pros (One GOTG the other Godzilla). on both pros I had to replace the coil stops well before 1000 games. On the others - nothing. But this is a recent issue with Spike 2

on X-Men (SAM) this pre-dates any of this recent BS and you’ll be fine one way or another but in my view you have to go LE on Xmen and you have to go Magneto! But hard to find!

38A067EC-80C2-4D27-941E-088703149AE1.jpeg
 
The construction is identical the differences are just added features usually.
The actual quality of the wood and parts is the same, infact they are the same parts.

I think the only exception is maybe Mandalorian where you have a metal wire form rather than a plastic one but to be honest I think that's more about aesthetics than quality with regards to durability.
Many LE or Premiums have plastic ramps still.

Pros are more likely to be on site where public play them so they have to be durable 🙂
 
It's not like owning a car. There's no maintenence except for cleaning it and changing the rubbers every time you see a shooting star. These are commercial arcade machines built to run all day long and be hammered on by the public.
 
Sometimes it just really depends on the pin.
For me, I buy for fun factor.
I really don’t understand the concept of buying a pin to constantly be fixing it.
That’s like buying an MGF because you know in advance about the head gasket failures which potentially can shag the engine 🙄

I would prefer a premium / LE pin over a pro to get the extra features…
However, if that meant I was gonna constantly be dealing with a PITA mech due to a poor design, then I would avoid and go for a Pro in that case, especially if that was still considered an excellent option and I wasn’t losing too much in gameplay.
IMDN for example, I’d say it depends.
Hope this helps.
 
Sako-TRG said:
Sometimes it just really depends on the pin.
For me, I buy for fun factor.
I really don’t understand the concept of buying a pin to constantly be fixing it.
That’s like buying an MGF because you know in advance about the head gasket failures which potentially can shag the engine 🙄

I would prefer a premium / LE pin over a pro to get the extra features…
However, if that meant I was gonna constantly be dealing with a PITA mech due to a poor design, then I would avoid and go for a Pro in that case, especially if that was still considered an excellent option and I wasn’t losing too much in gameplay.
IMDN for example, I’d say it depends.
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

What's PITA mean please mate?
 
Great choice of first machine - my first new in box purchase was Xmen Pro back in 2011, still own it and not going anywhere.

What I would say is that at the time, I was toying with whether I could justify the extra £2k for the LE but was very glad I didn't as have since found that for me, the Pro flows and plays much better and the two main extra featurss of the LE - namely the pop up night crawlers just get in the way of the ramp shots and the moving ramp is temperamental and just slows up the game.

Good luck with your search, they don't come up very often and were going for around £4-£4.5k for a very nice one a couple of years ago but be surprised if you could get one for that now with way prices have gone recently.
 
I think the car analogy is a good one, but these more modern machines won't need too much in the way of maintenance in a home environment, other than cleaning, balls and the occasional switch or light adjustment, most 'maintenance' will be people fitting mods, trying out combinations of LED's, fancy rubbers etc, rather than actual fixing, that's a big part of the hobby for many of us, so there's plenty of scope for tinkering if you wish.

Stern SAM games are a nice era for machines too, the platform is very robust, without node boards that have to be swapped out if they do fail.
 
Sako-TRG said:
Sometimes it just really depends on the pin.
For me, I buy for fun factor.
I really don’t understand the concept of buying a pin to constantly be fixing it.
That’s like buying an MGF because you know in advance about the head gasket failures which potentially can shag the engine 🙄

I would prefer a premium / LE pin over a pro to get the extra features…
However, if that meant I was gonna constantly be dealing with a PITA mech due to a poor design, then I would avoid and go for a Pro in that case, especially if that was still considered an excellent option and I wasn’t losing too much in gameplay.
IMDN for example, I’d say it depends.
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
I think ‘restoring vintage pinball machines’ is a slightly different hobby.

I currently have two second-hand pins:
  1. Our FT is a ‘project’ - it was purchased with the topper missing and has more deferred maintenance than our 140-year-old house. It has numerous minor intermittent faults and my intention is to eventually strip and replace the playfield, fix/clean-up all the mechanics, and re-cal the cabinet with those funky JJP glossy decals.
  2. Our LoTR is immaculate and has had one fault so far (a broken plastic on the auto-plunger - probably because my boys pull the launcher too hard). I’m heavily modding it, because I like mods, but there’s nothing *wrong* with it.
I’m due to get a NIB pin next week and am planning to get another NIB pin (hopefully an MMr in 2023), but my ongoing hobby will hopefully be finishing the FT and getting a new restoration project (probably a BK2000 or a BH). I wouldn’t find owning FT as fun if I wasn’t constantly planning how to restore it to ‘super-mint’ condition someday - for me, bringing old things back to life is a huge passion of mine.

I think if you focus on Pro, LE/Prem NIB pins, you’re interested in playing pinball machines that shouldn’t really go wrong in your home - at least, for a couple of years. However, I also think you’re missing out on a huge catalogue of amazing pins that may, or may not, require ongoing maintenance. There have also been some ‘super-mint’ pins for sale on here - lovingly restored and (hopefully) without any faults.
 
IMHO if you're looking at X-Men then the only reason to go LE over a Pro is for the awesome art packages (either Magneto or Wolverine, with Magneto being the best). As Greg says, the two additional mechs on an LE are not worth specifically seeking the LE out for as they're both a bit sh*t :D
 
Thanks all for your comments. The LE editions on X-Men look amazing indeed (and I’m a huge fan of Wolverine and Magneto)

But having played the Pro only I’m happy enough. All the “reviews “ I’ve seen on the LE additional features are matching to what you guys are saying. As an automotive engineer I know the meaning of less means more sometimes.

I was prone to the PRO due to that main factor, but it will depends on what I can find at the time of the purchase.

Thanks again guys! Very helpful, I really think this is a great community!
 
ScoobyPrints said:
Is there anything different in the construction of the PRO machines that would make it better for maintenance or less prone to failures?
Click to expand...
Hi @ScoobyPrints,
All the machines come from the same factory with the 'same' level of build quality (dependant on whether you get one just before clocking off time on a Friday!)
There is zero difference in mechanical reliability or quality of parts other than the usual tolerance variations you would expect from batches of components etc.
@Gonzo mentioned that Pro's have less functionality and therefore less mechanical features to maintain / go wrong.
The forums are littered with posts from owners of all 'levels' of machine specification, lamenting issues and scratching their heads when problems arise.
:)
 
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There can sometimes be differences in quality not related to mechanics - for example the speakers and sub on a Pro vs an LE are very different, the Pro being about as cheap as you can get (they do the job but once you hear the sound on an LE or if you upgrade the speakers in a Pro you notice the difference)
As already mentioned another common difference can be plastic ramps vs wire forms - wire forms being better looking, not prone to cracking etc
Translite/Backglass quality can vary, traditional translite vs a glass one on LE’s usually.
The only other common difference is the playfield glass. With Pros coming with standard glass and LE’s with non reflective glass.

Most of this stuff is cosmetic and doesn’t apply to ‘build quality’ but still worth noting. I’m also referring to mainly Stern Spike System games, I’m not sure if these changes are relevant if you go further back.
 
I've mostly got older machines so not really an issue........but when did the whole Pro, Prem, LE tihng start? A good commercial staregy for the manufacturer Im sure, but life was much simpler when they just made "a game"........not 3 versions off. It brings on major FOMO........

I do have an X-Men I bought off here and wasnt concerned which version it was when I bought it - I purchased purely on the fact that it was mint and had been well looked after.

Whichever version you get I am sure you will love it if its a good example.

(I'm now scanning Neils pic to see what mine is missing)😅
 
marcoos_1 said:
I've mostly got older machines so not really an issue........but when did the whole Pro, Prem, LE tihng start? A good commercial staregy for the manufacturer Im sure, but life was much simpler when they just made "a game"........not 3 versions off. It brings on major FOMO........

I do have an X-Men I bought off here and wasnt concerned which version it was when I bought it - I purchased purely on the fact that it was mint and had been well looked after.

Whichever version you get I am sure you will love it if its a good example.

(I'm now scanning Neils pic to see what mine is missing)😅
Click to expand...
As far as my search goes, the LE includes some Nightcrawler bumpers/mode and the Iceman ramp. Also read about the Magneto spinning magnet but I’m almost sure the PRO I played had that…(you will be able to confirm…)

I really like the PRO art and that is the main reason I fell in love with this machine….
 
Most of the machines are pretty similar in any 'version'. A lot of it is artwork and bells and whistles. You may get the odd ramp or feature change but very little that affects the core play (some non-pro machines have worse gameplay than pro versions!). Some people get hung up on 'version wars' but the vast majority really don't care that much.
All versions will give you a good game and sometimes the Premium and LE versions are simply not worth the money for the extras you get, especially given that you can add mods.

I'll be brutally honest here; when I see a machine in the flesh for the first time I have to go out of my way to work out what version it is or be told. I have never been disappointed that a machine is 'only a pro'.
Sometime I'm curious about a feature on an LE (like the collapsing building in Godzilla) but it doesn't detract from my enjoyment of the game in front of me.

I think @ScoobyPrints hits the nail on the head:
I really like the PRO art and that is the main reason I fell in love with this machine….
Click to expand...
Buy it because you like it. 👍
 
The Stern Premiums haven't had much of a mention. They are the mid-price option. The game under the glass is exactly the same as the LE. The pro has a mech or 2 'missing'. The LE has added flashiness - better speakers and shaker motor (is there always a shaker?), powdercoated armour. I tend to favour Premiums because I like mechs and toys but baulk at the cost of an LE. The Premium can be modded with shaker and speakers.

Each to their own.
 
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