I've owned Stranger Things for a week now, I was going to wait until after adding the UV kit and side art before giving my thoughts but I'm still waiting on the UV kit to be delivered.
When I lifted the backbox to reveal the playfield I was a little underwhelmed by how barren it all looked. I was coming off Jurassic Park, Alice Cooper and Turtles which all had quite packed playfields, 3 flippers, side art and mods. Turtles also had striking, hand drawn, colourful artwork so I was starting to think I'd made a big mistake and I should have kept Turtles.
The plastics instead of wire forms and metal washer protectors on the slings were also something I hadn't seen for a while and gave off a dated, cheap look.
After that initial first impression and powering the Pin on things started to look better. With everything now lit up it removed a lot of my earlier concerns. I'm going to add side art, remove the metals sling washers and replace with Col's plastic protectors. Before Col started making plastics I'd always replace the metal washers with 'Bullet proof clear washers' which look a lot better as they let the light through.
I may also add purple flipper bands and clear rubbers.
Onto the gameplay the atmosphere is great and captures the show really well with Cleland's code adding to this. I've also got one of those Star/Nebula/Galaxy/Cloud LED light projectors which adds to the whole room ambiance when playing. Can't wait to fit the UV kit.
With only 2 flippers the shots are all fairly standard which is why 3 flipper games always have the advantage in creating interesting shots.
The rules seem fairly understandable which for me is a nice change as I've felt a little lost with JP and TMNT. I feel I might have a chance of progressing with this one. I had a monumental 1.5 billion game, it felt like the furthest I've got on any Pin I've owned before. I did have extra balls as a reward and a relaxed tilt bob though.
The Demogorgan is always fun to hit and with a good shot it is going in its mouth so I don't think I'll need to make any adjustments there, although left flipper shots are more reliable than right.
I haven't noticed the flippers losing power, I suppose when I can't back hand the left ramp it will be time to fit my Pin Monk fans. Should you be able to back hand the right ramp, the geometry doesn't seem to allow this unless maybe you have 2 balls stacked?
I do miss Turtles as I didn't own it long, but I've no regrets getting a Stranger Things. The main reason for the expedited change was to avoid the Stern price increase.
I wouldn't call it a dream theme but of all the Pins I've owned it is the closest.
I've got 2 ghosting LEDs which Phil has contacted Stern about but apart from that all seems good build wise.
