Feedback on www.5stardeal.com

[tmack]

Well low and behold I just recieved a tracking number this morning. So payed Sat afternoon, recieved tracking number Thursday Morning. Hopefully its actually shipping out today, Im in a neighboring state to 5star so if its all true I should have it by tomorrow. Ill keep the thread updated. And once again thanks for all the response, I dont feel so lonley now

[fronzdan]

I hope you guys' machines show up in great shape...their auctions ARE very tempting because of the price.

[Tulsa]

Well low and behold I just recieved a tracking number this morning. So payed Sat afternoon, recieved tracking number Thursday Morning. Hopefully its actually shipping out today, Im in a neighboring state to 5star so if its all true I should have it by tomorrow. Ill keep the thread updated. And once again thanks for all the response, I dont feel so lonley now

I'm sure it's a different Lisa. Gameroom Warehouse is out of Wichita Kansas.

[websherpa]

My Neo Pharaoh Zetz from 5stardeal.com (via eBay) has arrived!

I guess they shipped it very shortly after receiving my money order, but there was no communication and no shipping confirmation, oh well, at least it's here .... and apparently in one piece.

Other than the usual scuffs the bottom tape had come loose from one side, but nothing fell out. It's one of those nice strong double thick boxes with handle cut outs (IMy UPS guy and I really appreciate those cut outs! - After 4 machines, he gets excited to see what the new machines are like too.) The box was stapled and taped, no extra padding on the spin handle (tsk, tsk, I had asked for it).


Crowned and rooted in bubble foam supports with the coins in a hole in the supports at the top. It seemed well packed to me.

The 500 used coins are very used, nickel plating warn through on edges and raised faces ... I'm spoiled by my new authentic parlour coins from LizardKing (Dan Posthumus).

All in all it looks like a successful delivery for a good machine at a very good price.

....Now to turn it on ..... OH! Wait, it's freezing out - I'm gonna let her warm up to room temp before turning this one on!

P.S. It arrived with a good generic Pachislo Set-Up manual, that was in English AND French (now that you don't see every day...coming from the US.)

[scooby_doo_m2002]

glad your pachi got to you safely. heres to many more!!!!!

[websherpa]

No, more pachislo no .... pachinko me wants now! :amish:

Just a quick follow up for those considering 5stardeal.com. I checked the bottom of the box and in fact it wasn't taped on the bottom and only a couple staples were left, loosed, precariously holding the bottom together! This thing got here just in time! They really should tape the bottom of the carton too, otherwise my poor machine could have been....oh I can't even think about it.

The machine works great, but the Rest Key does not (Someone else here had this problem). It looks like a retro-fit switch lock, so if worse comes to worse I could replace it myself, but I am waiting for the 5staddeal.com service people to get off a break to ask. The key has no teeth, and the lock turns easy, but no Reset Mode, just always in Play Mode.

Also, the machine was otherwise clean, clean, clean as a whistle (a little bit of easily taken care of rust on the coin mech parts) and obviously from a non-smoking parlour (smells nice, and ashtray un-blemished). Very clean unscratched reel screen. 4 speakers - it's loud and will require volume controls, but not King Camel deafening - in fact in use it could be louder (it's trying to acheive a nice rumble effect for a cave-in, could use larger woofers me thinks). Keys came on a nice key chain attached to back. Cabinet paint job is semi-gloss so it's nicer and less "grey" than the flat black treatments.

Delivery cost to Canada was on par with others, but a tad more (including tax and brokerage I paid US$130 to Stealth, and US$155 to 5stardeal) - no complaints considering the bid price.

All in all it was a very good deal, very nice machine - ELvision is cool - look for the Museum review once I get her a new power cord (oh why do they not substitute a grounded cord?!) and volume controls.

[bf_of_pf]

Websherpa:

The Yamasa Neo Planet, Neo Magic Pulsar, & Tekken all have 2 dial volume controls - 1 yellow, 1 red. Doesn't your machine have them as well?

[websherpa]

Websherpa:

The Yamasa Neo Planet, Neo Magic Pulsar, & Tekken all have 2 dial volume controls - 1 yellow, 1 red. Doesn't your machine have them as well?

Thank you, terrific I missed these (wasn't expecting it). Pretty cool. Say I put the volume on '1" and played - ok level. But then I hit the token cashout button and WOW! full volume bells and a very nice Japanese lady wishing me well (or so I think) but at screaming volume! Are there any other volume surprises that I might need to account for nighttime play?

Thanks!

[bf_of_pf]

I found that if I have one control set on 1, and the other on 0, I can play that type of Yamasa machine even at 3 a.m. Sometimes 1 & 1 is just right; sometimes a little loud. You need to experiment a bit, I guess. I'm not familiar with that machine at all, nor with the payout routine. But both on Neo Planet & Tekken, 1,0 and/or 1,1 work great for volume settings for me.

[cwstnsko]

On those machines I like to do a fixed resistor mod so I can run the volume at 3 or 4 and have some adjustability

[tmack]

Ok all, I FINALLY received this machine. Again this is my first slot so I dont know 100% what I am looking at quality wise, but I wanted to give feedback to anyone reading out there. So the box finally arrived 6 business days later (8 days total) and again Im in a neighboring state to 5star. I think its also important to mention this was an eBay auction too. This unit was the Rocky 3 machine with the twin towers on the front. I am a HUGE rocky fan so was in love at first site when i knew this machine exsisted. The unit had noticable scratches and gouges in the top front, the sides were painted black. The key was attached to a chain screwed in the back of the unit, but it must have broke in shipping and my key was in the bottom of the box, and a little more working im sure it would have fell out. The unit was a bit dirty inside and out, so I cleaned best I could without getting to invasive until I know the best cleaning tactics. I noticed when I put coins in the hopper there was a screw completely missing which held the plastic guard in place to keep the coins from landing directly into the coin releaser (for lack of better terms) I also tried to picture that below. I found a screw and nut that fit and fixed that. As far as the unit operation goes it seems really well, the reals are quite noisy so not sure if thats normal, with a whining noise almost. I managed to figure out how to set the skill level to 6 and man it still takes quite some time to hit any kind of a bonus, that sound right? Anyway Im sure Im gonna have a ton of questions but I hope the thread/history and pictures may help someone make a informed decsison on buying from them.

http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/92/img26785iz.jpg

http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/3799/img26798va.jpg

http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/6236/img26826ph.jpg

http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/7994/img26838uv.jpg

[scooby_doo_m2002]

thank you very much for the pics tmack!!!!!!!!! I love pics.....

[Tony Junior]

A late "Welcome, tmack!" Delighted to see your machine arrived safely. It may be your first, but it won't be your last!

[websherpa]

The reel stepper motors on all 4 of my machines are noisey to a varying degree. A couple are more quiet (I suspect better lubed or newer) that others. I have tried re-greasing with silicone oilwith varying results as well (and one wrecked stepper motor to show for my efforts). My jury is still out on whether it makes a big enough difference. It's likely the bearings dry out over time and with a lot of use in smokey environments.

My new Neo Pharaoh Zetz is the noisiest of all, now that I've got the volume turned down you can really notice it (two motors are very noisey, one is more quiet).

[fronzdan]

The packing looks decent. I received a machine from one of the premiere vendors with a couple important screws missing, so it happens. Especially when the seller is shipping out a lot of them on a daily basis.

Good luck with the machine!

[Tulsa]

The good thing about screws that fall out in shipping, you can almost always find them on the speaker magnets.

[websherpa]

I had a run in with my speaker magnets on the Yamasa Zetz yesterday, I had placed the machine on top of my spare Hanabi to test it, not bolted or anything, kind of precariously perched. I tried to take the hopper out with one hand, while balancing the door with the other to keep it steady when POP the hopper jumped and stuck smartly to the speaker magnet ... very nearly lost the whole thing... yikes those magnets are powerful!

[bf_of_pf]

I don't know about the Zetz, but our Neo Planet is THE most unbalanced machine of all our machines. No other machine tilts forward so quickly, if at all, when you open the front door like Neo Planet. I think it has to do with the fact that those speakers in the doors are heavy, along with the El-Vision screen. And the door seems unusually wide at the top; so much so, that it looks like it takes up half the top, vs other machines that are not so top/front heavy.

[slotter]

I have all my machines secured to the wall or to the stands so they are unable to tip. We had problems with them tipping and worried that our daughter might get hurt or at the minimum we'd lose a machine when it hit the floor. They can be very front heavy.

[bf_of_pf]

I have all my machines secured to the wall or to the stands so they are unable to tip. We had problems with them tipping and worried that our daughter might get hurt or at the minimum we'd lose a machine when it hit the floor. They can be very front heavy.

Well, that's certainly the way to do it; definitely don't want them tipping over. Now, if only someone could come up with a similar solution for those poor cows. Sid? Is that your cue?