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Spooky vs Stern - More First Machine Waffle

M

mac49uk

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Joined
Feb 6, 2025
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52
Location
Birmingham, UK
Hey folks

I am very much in the market for a home machine for my 50th - but holy mary mother of jebus - this is a tough purchase.

I am just so bloody conflicted.

Evil Dead is a dream theme for me. D&D maybe not far behind. Two things at once when I am shopping for my first machine.

Just often feels there is quite a bit of negative sentiment about Spooky Machines. Online so... maybe a big pinch of virtual salt needed but...

Seems folks say they are harder to maintain, break more, are not as playable as a Stern etc.

One comment I read about Scooby Doo was that it was just so hard - I want my kids to play etc so... want something that flows and is good fun.

Just so tricky without playing either but seemingly, if I wait till then, will be sold out.

I am not Elon Musk though so I can't really afford to get a 10k machine wrong.

Any spooky owners? Any thoughts on Stern vs Spooky?
 
I wouldn’t dream of buying one until you’ve played them if I were you. Massive chunk of money to spend without ever playing one first.
You say you want something that ‘flows’ - some pins do flow better than others as far as shots coming back to the flippers or setting up the next shot nicely but ultimately flow comes from being a reasonable player & being able to make shot after shot in succession.
 
Spooky, love of 3d printed mechanical stuff. Questionable engineering leading to unreliability. Stern good build quality lacking in code early on.
Do you really want your kids playing evil dead?
 
I would not buy a Stern pin that isn't code complete (currently UXM, DND).

In fact for your first pin I would strongly advise buying a good condition second hand game - you will lose much less money when you move it on, and any teething issues will have been sorted by the previous owner. Don't hesitate to ask about a seller's reputation on here.
 
Stern all the way, they are more reliable

Spooky are problematic and if its your first and with no experience with pinballs you will be at the mercy of paying someone to come fix it
 
I can only really echo what the others have said really.

Stern are more reliable but as Andy said, you should try and play a game before buying so maybe get down to Tilt if you're in Brum.

Also, Thomas' advice about buying a second hand game is spot on because it will be tuned up and have decent code.

Maybe a second hand Jurassic Park, Avengers Infinity Quest or a Deadpool? I think I've seen all three for sale recently and I doubt you'll lose much money if you then want to upgrade and get a NIB.
 
Andydn said:
I wouldn’t dream of buying one until you’ve played them if I were you. Massive chunk of money to spend without ever playing one first.
You say you want something that ‘flows’ - some pins do flow better than others as far as shots coming back to the flippers or setting up the next shot nicely but ultimately flow comes from being a reasonable player & being able to make shot after shot in succession.
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This was my original plan - but all the ones I have played and like - are seemingly impossible to get hold of.

I really seem to enjoy the Williams ones the most - Attack from Mars, Monster Bash etc - but... I could see how I could get bored of those to some extent as less deep.

But for the house, if it is going downstairs, which is the plan, the theme has to be a good fit as well.

I definately feel I can't buy one till I have had a good go and fallen in love with the machine though...

Maybe I just have to wait...
 
Epotech said:
Spooky, love of 3d printed mechanical stuff. Questionable engineering leading to unreliability. Stern good build quality lacking in code early on.
Do you really want your kids playing evil dead?
Click to expand...
They are not too young to be fair - youngest is 13 and they have all seen Evil Dead 2 so no worries there. :)

Looks like I am not going to go that route based on feedback.
 
Gonzo said:
I can only really echo what the others have said really.

Stern are more reliable but as Andy said, you should try and play a game before buying so maybe get down to Tilt if you're in Brum.

Also, Thomas' advice about buying a second hand game is spot on because it will be tuned up and have decent code.

Maybe a second hand Jurassic Park, Avengers Infinity Quest or a Deadpool? I think I've seen all three for sale recently and I doubt you'll lose much money if you then want to upgrade and get a NIB.
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I think this is good advice - will go this route!
 
I'm in Derby, so often go to Tilt in Birminham. For my first pin in late 2023 i was torn between Bond or Godzilla. A few plays on each led to my preference in Bond.
My mate has a few pins, so having played Elvira at his, led to me buying an Elvira off here.
You need to play the games a few times before you buy, as they're so expensive.
Around the time of buying Bond, I was also thinking about a Scooby Doo, but all feedback was so negative re Spookys build quality. I'd say go with Stern mate.
 
Bigr1ch said:
I'm in Derby, so often go to Tilt in Birminham. For my first pin in late 2023 i was torn between Bond or Godzilla. A few plays on each led to my preference in Bond.
My mate has a few pins, so having played Elvira at his, led to me buying an Elvira off here.
You need to play the games a few times before you buy, as they're so expensive.
Around the time of buying Bond, I was also thinking about a Scooby Doo, but all feedback was so negative re Spookys build quality. I'd say go with Stern mate.
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Cheers. Will do!
 
Pooman2084 said:
I like your parenting style.
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I am pretty much of the opinion that horror films are about 100x more fun when you are young.

My youngest (just 13) has just got into them, part due to us being huge horror freaks, part due to his brother (18).

He has done things like Nightmare on Elm Street, the first five or so Friday 13ths, Evil Dead 2, Scream series etc - it is all pretty timid to be fair.

I mean, my home office / gaming room has like a Jason mask, a freddy glove, the box from Hellraiser etc (soon a pinball) so... horror stuff is kind of in his DNA.
 
Bigr1ch said:
I'm in Derby, so often go to Tilt in Birminham. For my first pin in late 2023 i was torn between Bond or Godzilla. A few plays on each led to my preference in Bond.
My mate has a few pins, so having played Elvira at his, led to me buying an Elvira off here.
You need to play the games a few times before you buy, as they're so expensive.
Around the time of buying Bond, I was also thinking about a Scooby Doo, but all feedback was so negative re Spookys build quality. I'd say go with Stern mate.
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Yeah, it is no joke. But I do like the idea of a second hand code complete stern or one of the more classic older layouts (I am a sucker for the dot matrix screens rather than the LCD etc).
 
As @Gonzo said I think a used Deadpool pro could be an excellent choice.

You said you like MB, AFM etc Deadpool is a bump up from that in terms of code depth but it’s still easy to understand and doesn’t have so much code you feel like you never see half the game. It also has great humour like those 90’s games. It’s got one of the best audio packages ever imo, it just leans into having fun.

You will eventually get bored of any game if it’s your only machine though so don’t expect to just be able to sit with the same 1 forever.

Also as you’re abit unsure about maintenance stuff, off the top of my head I can’t think of any unique mechs in DP pro which should make it easier to get advice on fixing things when they do go wrong.
 
Jib said:
As @Gonzo said I think a used Deadpool pro could be an excellent choice.

You said you like MB, AFM etc Deadpool is a bump up from that in terms of code depth but it’s still easy to understand and doesn’t have so much code you feel like you never see half the game. It also has great humour like those 90’s games. It’s got one of the best audio packages ever imo, it just leans into having fun.

You will eventually get bored of any game if it’s your only machine though so don’t expect to just be able to sit with the same 1 forever.

Also as you’re abit unsure about maintenance stuff, off the top of my head I can’t think of any unique mechs in DP pro which should make it easier to get advice on fixing things when they do go wrong.
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Thanks man. Deadpool is kind of cool as well. Could be a good one.

I am happy to learn maintenance as well - but would rather spend my scant spare time playing than fixing (as much as possible).

P.S. I fully intend to get a second older one as well and then maybe get into swapping them out etc.
 
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As everyone else has said avoid Spooky for a first pin.

Also ALL games come up again sooner or later. It’s easy to get suckered in by FOMO.

If you like horror then the walking dead is a great pin.
 
Like asking what food to get
Everyone has totally diff opinions and taste
All pinball manufacturers have good vs bad
You have to like the theme firstly
And at least there's plenty of advice on forum if something
Ever goes wrong with whatever you end up with
Good luck hope you find something you like
 
If you sell it

I took the first pin at home plunge on a BM66, NIB, having never played one but read about it online and watched videos. I don’t regret it for one moment. There was zero buyers remorse from the off.

I’ve had a small number of others in and out, but BM66 won’t ever leave. It was the first one, is a theme I love and is an amazing, deep and relatively trouble free game.

Given how into horror you are, Evil Dead is almost a no brainer, but it’s barely been played and reviewed, there’s not that much video online and spooky are definitely more trouble than Stern. If you’re lucky, and the game is actually an amazing shooter and better built than previous spooky games you could have a keeper with a dream theme. But it could feasibly be a broken half the time clunk fest.

For a minimum risk start to owning pinball at home, I think you should pick your favourite theme and potential game style out of recent Stern and go from there. Jaws premium would make for an excellent home game - deep code, not too hard to shoot and also sort of horror…
 
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My advice is the same as what has been said already. Buy Stern if you are worried about reliability.

But I would definitely try and play any game before you buy, unless you cannot live without the theme. I have bought a load of games blind and only one has remained (Big Buck Hunter Pro), all other games I have bought blind have been moved on.

I would head out and play some machines.

I would also say that I have seen every single Spooky game come up on the secondhand market here, some not long after release, so you will find one if you don’t get one brand new.
 
Buy second hand. Don't over pay and move it on for something else when bored. Any NIB your going to lose a grand plus on so need to be absolutely sure it's the one for you. I say this having bought two new in box without ever having played them. Luckily both were superb (Jurassic Park and Iron Maiden). I'm a one machine at a time guy so it's important to be able to move them in and out quickly because you'll definitely get bored no matter how good the game is.
 
JAG555 said:
My advice is the same as what has been said already. Buy Stern if you are worried about reliability.

But I would definitely try and play any game before you buy, unless you cannot live without the theme. I have bought a load of games blind and only one has remained (Big Buck Hunter Pro), all other games I have bought blind have been moved on.

I would head out and play some machines.

I would also say that I have seen every single Spooky game come up on the secondhand market here, some not long after release, so you will find one if you don’t get one brand new.
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I've yet to see a Spooky TCM or LT up yet unless I've missed something
Sterns last 2 release DND and uxm have had their fair share of problems too
And also maybes this is because if more people boycott NIB
then it has a knock on effect on used market too
Supply/demand also the fact that so much choice now with over saturation
Is having a part to play along with slow code updates
This is all manufacturers problems
JJP have 2 release a yr
Stern 3
Spooky 1
Cgc 1
ÀP 1
Pedretti 1
Barrels of fun 1
Sure I've missed other's and that's 10 and counting
 
Chaggers said:
I've yet to see a Spooky TCM or LT up yet unless I've missed something
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How many people have bought either of those Spooky games though? I haven’t heard hardly anything from UK owners of these games. I played at Pinfest and they were terrible.

Every other Spooky game has come up secondhand pretty soon after release.

My point being, you don’t need to panic buy NIB on any game (unless you want a Stern LE)) as they do come up secondhand.
 
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