After many many months of development and testing, we are happy to announce Saturn(tm) Pinball Rings and immediate availability of Standard Flipper Rings and Shooter Tips, more rings coming soon!

http://www.pinball.com/saturn/SaturnFlyer.pdf

Saturn(tm) pinball rings are specially formulated Urethane Synthetic Rings which we have worked as much as possible to replicate the key characteristics of traditional 'gum rubber' rings, and eliminating the negative issues that are seen with them.

The new synthetic 'rubber' products:
- replace existing rubber rings
- last longer, wear much better
- does not leave bits of rubber on the playfield
- easy wipe off cleaning
- come in 3 different hardnesses (durometers)
#1 - similar to the traditional 'red' rubber, lower durometer, softer, etc
#3 - similar to the traditional 'black' rubber, high durometer, harder, etc
#2 - the 'new' inbetween which shows really good bounce, great wear, etc.
- come in (currently) 17 different colors - including fluoro (UV reactive) colors
- we control the quality, and they are made locally (in the US)

They are now avialable on PPS store and will be at selected distributors (AU, Europe) soon:

http://www.planetarypinball.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Store_Code=PP&Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=SAT

Also, the color can be in any hardness, so NOW you can have black rings with a 'red' hardness on your game, etc.

Some pictures here (sorry, too much flash!):
- Standard Colors: http://www.pinball.com/saturn/SaturnFlipper.jpg
- Fluoro Colors: http://www.pinball.com/saturn/SaturnFluoroFlipper.jpg
- Shooter Tips: http://www.pinball.com/saturn/SaturnShooterTips.jpg

The issues with gum rubber have long been documented, from inconsistencies in formulation, to early breakage, to color variations, etc, etc, etc. Gum Rubber rings are not going away anytime soon, but we feel that these rings are far better in most categories, which will provide more consistent game play, improve operating costs (game uptime and cleaning), and give some more customization options ...

We have been working on these for some time, and have had them on test with IFPA/Josh Sharpe, Pinball Hall of Fame/Tim Arnold, and Jersey Jack Pinball / Jack Guarnieri (see their feedback in the 'flyer') ... so these are some of the tougher critics as we wanted something that was as good or better in most every category that we felt important!

Thanks!
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yes, in a couple weeks ...

rick

They can be made with a shiny or matte finish, we've made them with a little shiny of a surface per some feedback. For now, I think having 17 Colors and 3 Hardnesses is a good start.

The #3 is requires some muscle to get over the bat, but has same durometer as the black rubbers, we see the #2's as a 'new' interesting durometer which has some good bounce to it.

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Tim Arnold (pinball hall of fame) is very high on ABC rubber, but I think the main difference is rubber vs non-rubber - rubber (ABC or otherwise) has so many 'bad' traits relative to the new stuff, it's in a different class. If you didn't see the the comments from Tim on the flyer, here it is (in true tim fashion!) ...

“We have tested these new rings at the Pinball Hall of Fame here in Las Vegas on our highest traffic games in the front row, new Stern titles that get played 12 hours a day every day. They are a vast improvement over the crappy rings being sold now, ALL of which seem to come from the same factory in China. The old rings shed rubber crumbs from the toe of the bat like crazy. This rubber dust is ground into the playfield by ball action making your machines look dirty after just a few hundred plays. The new rings are MUCH more durable and do not wear nearly as much as the old ones. THEY WILL STILL NEED TO BE KEPT CLEAN and rotated. The black stains that turn the old rings to garbage quickly also happen on the new rings, BUT THESE NEW RINGS CAN BE WIPED CLEAN. The stains do not go into the rubber. They do retain the shape of the flipper more than the old rings and must be rotated a few degrees toe-to-heel each time they are cleaned. They do NOT stain the bats like the old rings. No more scrubbing red goo off your clean white bats. We tested RED White and BLACK colors and the colors were pleasing to the eye and consistent across the whole surface. NONE of the rings burst during the test. This is always a problem with the old rings which got old and brittle very quickly. Keep in mind that ANY ring will still need to be cleaned, rotated and after a time, thrown away. This new product is not a license to ignore your games some more.(Standard operator bullshit). I am not a competition player, but the really good players we have here at the PHOF were told they were playing on a test ring and none of them had any negative comments about the GRIP or BOUNCE of the new rings. For far to long this industry has taken the stance that the only thing that matters is lower priced parts from the Orient. Parts that are spec only on price has led to machines that fail on location turning players off to playing pinball. It is time for operators and collectors to step up and pay more for quality stuff that lasts longer and works better. These new rings are a step in the right direction. We buy em, you should to. “ – Tim Arnold, Pinball Hall of Fame

We are firming up distributors on this, but initially Ministry of Pinball will carry the product.

rick

in terms of plans, we are working on the small flipper 1" ring, so that is next up (TAF, TZ, ACDC, Monopoly, etc)

in terms of colors, of the 17 different colors, I'm not sure how many other 'colors' there are in the gamut, but we are more looking at different exotic things we can do ... if there is an overwhelming 'miss' on a color, we can do that in short order ... the fluoro ones look great ...

then as said earlier we have been testing high break rings right now which is the most critical ... in this sense, helping everyone have rings in critical areas (like slings, etc) that don't break we feel would be the best contribution especially for operating and other high play games - that's why PHOF is so much of a great testbed as these games are played all day long ...

Always looking for additional things to do so any feedback welcome.

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we will be making all rings in all sizes in as many sizes as make sense ... how soon we get to all of will be our challenge, but we are not limited in tooling, so would not leave people with 'incomplete' setups ...

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sorry, that was 'making all rings in all sizes in as many COLORS as makes sense' ...

Hot Pink is already done and will be available possibly this week.

YES, we intend to have ALL the rings ALL in the same colors - we just need to do some work to get the ring tooling all done - we've tested 2" and 2.5" and they work fine and do not break relative to others - we had an urgent request about a common ring that commonly broke quickly - so we did those first and no reports of any breakage at all ...

so with regards to colors you will have investment protection

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yes, we have the slingshot rings down at pinball hall of fame for testing, so far so good.

rick

anyone think that glow in the dark flipper rubbers would be cool? I guess you turn the lights on and charge them up then turn the lights off ...

The transparent ones are just in today! Will put them on the store tonite, limited supply as I wanted to get everyone a taste of all (now 20) colors!

Pictures will be on the site, but same as previously posted picture.

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We will have 'some' rubbers at EXPO, I'm sure I'll have some in my bag as part of the 'Giveaway' portion of our seminar ... As is often the case, not sure how many I will bring and how fast or slow they will sell, but there will be some there.

We have 2" and 2.5" available 'soon' and then the rest after that.

Also, the 1" flipper ring coming next as well.

Transparent Red, Blue, Green are up on the site ... note, anything we run out of is only temporary for a few days, so check back!

http://www.planetarypinball.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Store_Code=PP&Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=SAT

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shinier was the preference from some of the users, so we made them have a little shine ... doesn't really change the rubber, seems to be more of a perception ... we can make them dull as well!

perhaps we should make a 'retro' version that has embeded dirt streaks to make it look like original used rubbers ... lol

Please post your pictures, as then we can start linking various colors to various games that look great! Maybe we will offer a price for most imaginative use of color in a pinball game!

Remember also there are new Transparent Flipper Bats in 8 colors at most distributors (W Logo and Non-Logo), which will really upgrade the look ...

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sorry, yes - I saw the issue and will send you the missing two, I must have fallen asleep filling that!

Also ... I forgot to add into the original ... if the Saturn(tm) Pinball Rings fail for any reason other than a decent wear time (and they will wear just slower than gum rubber ... and will last longer if rotated slightly after xx plays), then let us know and we will replace them no charge.

As this is a new process, I'm sure there will be something breaking somewhere for some reason (and I'm sure this will entertain the counter-insurgencies on the forum ... lol). But if or when they do, just let us know.

We will be at Expo Chicago, so will have some there as well for sale.

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All ... we had some issues with some of the rings coming out of the mold to quickly and creating a breaking point - probably in a rush to replenish on a few different batches ... not good, but more of a production QA thing than anything about the fundamentals of the rings themselves. Anyways for all but the early couple of days there may be some issues and that is why. And as always if there is an issue, we will replace them. We are testing them on every order now to minimize any issue. I guess breakage on a few of these is an issue where breakage on the gum rubber ones which happen often is not!

Anyways, sorry about that but that's about it for that issue, and we've gotten most of that under control ... I guess the price of innovation ...

Anyone that had any breakage issue, just email me direct and we will take care of, maybe also some bonus to help alleviate any pain and suffering!

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