A bit OT, but I have played my AFM more lately and got to "rule the universe" early this month. I think on the 5th. Since then, it's been needing some love:
- Rebuilt the 3 pop bumpers. Hate to do that on any game. Dropped down the whole bracket assembly underneath and replaced the coil sleeves and cleaned them up. Someday I'll need to take the ramps off and do the pop bumper skirts on top. Way too much trouble, but it needs to be done. Eventually.
- Left Slingshot power wire fell off the coil. An easy fix.
- Right popper (the SOL hole VUK) was firing for no reason, even at attract mode. Put it in on switch test and had a look. Shined a flashlight at the optos and it registered. So the receiver was good. Re soldered the wires to the transmitter and it was back to normal.
- It has the Bill Ung Mini-Saucer LED kit fitted. Two LEDs on a mini ship were out. Replaced the LEDs. I had used dots of superglue to hold them in and had to carefully break the old ones out.
One nice thing about the LOTR LE, or perhaps any newer Stern:
Now that it has gone through all the teething troubles, there aren't many maintenance tasks like the above lately. Is this a direct result of how much it gets played? Don't think so, it just seems to have become quite stable lately. No one in my house has complained about problems and it plays well. It's just a shame the same can't be said about me.
Favorite mode since adding the shaker motor:
Gandalf vs. Saurman
Already liked this mode, but love the way it starts with the doors slamming shut. And the way it ends when you make all the shots. Second favorite: War of the Ents.
Easiest modes (for me) to complete are:
Escape the Ringwraiths and Attack of Shelob
