All of them still standing I hope.

In the mid 90's when manufacturers started closing, it was like dominoes falling. One after another until only Stern was left standing.

I'd hate to see that again.

Because a man like Gary Stern sacrificing to keep pinball going, isn't likely to happen again.

LTG : )

In 5 years:

Stern is alive and still thriving making safe theme choices. They will hit peak "bland" in two years, then begin to take risks again with a very edgy "Maroon 5" band pin. Stern maintains dominance in the market.

Barrels of Fun continues to be a feisty upstart and takes the throne as the new "true" challenger to Stern, but makes the questionable decision of building a "Watership Down" pin. So much bunny-related trauma is dredged up, millenials begin to question BoF leadership. Despite this, they remain on a generally positive trajectory.

Pedretti and CGC are "around", surviving on remakes and 2.0 kits. CGC is still working on pumping out Pulp Fiction and trying to position Cactus Canyon as the new "21,000 units sold" game. Pedretti gets smart, makes Rollergames 2.0, and gains notoriety for making a truly successful 2.0. (Pedretti pls - RG2.0)

Dutch is hanging on for dear life doing Dutch things.

JJP obtains Spooky or AP after one of the two begins to falter to the point of being incredibly cheap to acquire - the other will fold with assets being sold to a third party. JJP is otherwise doing fine - they will continue to corner the grandparent market with "Smurfs", "WKRP in Cincinnati", and Billy Joel themes. They begin looking to the next gen of grandparents with the cutting-edge themes like "Family Ties" and "Charles in Charge" - Steve Ritchie's final design before retiring. Overall, not a bad place to be as they are still filling a niche and making a nice product.

Homepin pivots into selling blenders and crappy home exercise equipment through QVC, despite still being openly hostile to selling to Americans.

My basis for these predictions: half a bottle of wine with dinner and too much time on my hands.

Isn't this happening now? If it's not, it should be.

Here are the predictions from 18 months ago.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/is-there-room-for-this-many-manufacturers

In 10 years, pinball becomes the basis for global society a la Wyld Stallyns and it becomes illegal not to own a pinball machine thus there are thousands of manufacturers and still supply can’t meet demand.

5 years-

Alive:
Stern
Spooky
Barrels
Dutch

Hanging on for life:
JJP
CGC/playmechanix?? (pinball divisions of course)
PInball brothers/Pedretti

Dead:
AP
Homepin
Haggis
p3
Pinball Adventures

10 years-
Alive:

Stern
Spooky???

Thats about as far as I can guess that far out. Plus don't forget we have more manufacturers coming. That will muddy the waters even further

I predict I won't be giving any of them any money, but will have amassed the ultimate collection of collector quality original B/W by then.

Unless they come up with a dependable, user fixable Board Set thats standardized and non proprietary I don't see any of them surviving.

This has nothing to do with it. The manufacturers only need to make a machine that lasts long enough to earn back its cost on location. As long as that's true there will be operators buying them and it doesn't matter if they fail later on. And all the current manufacturers go well beyond that - typically NIB games hold up well past 20k plays and often 50k or more. There will be occasional individual lemons but the vast majority keep ticking away on location for years with no node board problems.

No more classic Sterns? Come on!

Only stern will outlast this shit show.

I just want a mass exodus from the hobby so we can go back to 2010 pricing. To be 100% honest they can all fail as long as Stern makes it to throw a couple new games per year out.

Wow. Remind me to never order anything from http://www.callperformance.com/ - Rooting for people to lose their jobs for the sole purpose of saving a couple bucks on a pinball machine is something else

I sell nothing and have the same exact view. It isn't that we WANT people to lose their jobs, but this situation is unsustainable, and that's how business goes.

In what world can a company that’s literally never turned a profit in its entire existence afford buying out their competitors?
I like the JJP guys, they’re swell people and I wish them no ill-will. However, the fact remains that JJP isn’t in the business of making money. As long as they keep making big-money themes that appeal to their deep pocket clients, they’ll be around, not because it’s good business.

Lame. Take that crybaby cancel culture back to Facebook or Twitter. By boycotting him, aren’t you encouraging the exact same thing?
Pot meet kettle.

This strategy is outdated.
LE machines are collector items.
Heirlooms that can be passed down, if operating systems can be maintained.
Everything else is pretty standard or can be fashioned.
Spike boards/ not so much.

You got one of those with the kung fu dudes on it?

Before all these companies supposedly go under or merge, where’s the dragonfist remake?
No? Ok, maybe just a non mirco playfield.
We can figure the rest out later.

96B0553C-A700-44CC-A341-3B00698AA4D5 (resized).jpeg

That guys foot is positioned wrong for that kick

Positioned good for a ballerina.

LTG : )

Why is p3 in your dead category, out of curiosity?

What if you only had one wish left?

Screenshot 2024-01-31 at 4.42.05?PM (resized).png

Let me start of by saying I have absolutely no ill will whatsoever to the p3 platform (or is it the multimorphic platform? I don't know, its confusing). I think its pretty neat to be honest and I look forward to getting on them any time I'm at a show. That said, I'm just being realistic. I'm kind of shocked Gerry hasn't pulled the plug already. I know he truly believes in the platform but it just will never catch on. Its been around for how long now? Probably about as long as AP and I bet still less units sold than them. At some point you just gotta understand that the idea, good or not, isn't ever going to have enough appeal to gain widespread enough appeal. I just can't see it lasting too much longer without a substantial increase of people willing to buy into the platform. Thats a tough ask. Its too bad, because what they are doing appeals to me more than what some of these other companies have on offer, but its just too different to survive.