We have decided to leapfrog our Banzai Run playfields (that used to be coming out in 6 weeks) over top of our Playboy playfields run, and make it the next CPR playfield release. We passed Banzai Run into clearcoat instead. Thus they will be coming out in 3 weeks instead of Playboy. This is due to another situation of duplicated playfield efforts in the repro world. While we do have a substantial preorder group to serve, we made enough that we're also going to throw them into our Store, for immediate public purchase as well. So regardless of preorder or not, these will be open-season a few days after we start the Preorder Mailouts, in that you won't have to wait for an email to proceed if you don't want to.

Since many cheer the concept of competition on the same item, then this is where (I guess) the rubber meets the road. Everybody interested is going to have a choice. So with choice comes differences (because it's not always apples to apples, folks).

The main choice is going to be whether to buy the digital printed version that's available "right now", or the genuine 15-layer spot-ink silkscreened version that's available in 3 weeks.

Not just silkscreened, but CPR's artwork is from the ORIGINAL WILLIAMS FILMS - so the *exact* Mark Sprenger artwork. Not a reprduction redraw.

We could get into differences in methodology, clearcoat, completely different gameboard wood stock, original or repro inserts, colors, etc... but we won't. It really just comes down to that main choice right now, really. We'll let the market decide. Some guys have been waiting years for this to happen, as it took quite a while to meticulously collect 100 names to justify/build this run and do it the uncompromising way. Some may say the "right way"

So we'll see what happens on this one.

The inactive ordering page can be viewed now, for anybody who wants to check out pricing and options for financial planning, when the page goes active:

https://classicplayfields.com/shop/pinball-playfields/banzai

As always, bundle-discounts will be in effect for anybody wanting to combo with Banzai Run plastics sets (laser-cut, not robot drillbit cut), or backglasses (which will include a new crystal clear acrylic inner liner).

No, the upper playfield was never part of the plan here, but maybe you can buy that elsewhere now. Easy fix.

Banzai Run will switch to the one-off digital printed model sometime after our rollout beginning in 2019, when we begin the "On-Demand / Made For You" playfield model, for all past CPR playfields all the way back to 2004. CPR will ONLY digital print playfields that are one-offs, not our master runs.

To the preorder group, and newcomers who will come aboard, thank you for supporting this playfield run.

KEVIN
Classic Playfield Reproductions
http://www.classicplayfields.com

banzai-homepage.jpg

Thy will be done, eventually. Almost to the 100-person mark, which will make it a contender to the others that have passed-the-post.

At this very moment, I don't know who you ('Squeakman') are in real life, but I can tell you all emails into that Sorcerer Inbox are all safely kept to this day. If you want, you may shoot another message in there from the Preorder Page on the web site. Duplicate messages don't do any harm. We don't count 5 emails from the same guy as wanting 5 playfields. Some persistent folk have emailed into a Preorder Inbox over 10 times across the year(s), to make sure their intent to buy is well known

Good ol' Gene... it's amazing you bring him up, because we were recently talking about him when working with the original Banzai Run films. These were once Gene's , in a tube at his house Now they're here with us, all these years later. If only films could talk. Quite an adventure they have been on, passed place to place over the years.

Now the original Williams artwork has become laid in color inks, finally, once again, for the first time since 1988. Just that added authenticity factor we really appreciate, and we think other people appreciate too.

KEVIN

They all came out of clearcoat today. They go up on the site tomorrow.

They are on the site right now. Proceed at will if you like. Or you can await the poke via the emails being sent out. Yes, a reminder and instructions will be sent to everybody on the Preorder and Standby List. Thx.

No... we got deadstopped emailing the preorder group a little past halfway down the list, because all the playfields left at that point had a twist in the gameboard panel.

So all these remaining Banzai playfields "would have" been mainly golds - but they had this mild twist. Two opposite corners are down, two opposite corners are up 1 inch. Cosmetically, the fronts ARE golds. But I cannot ship somebody a playfield like this with Gold stamped on it. I don't consider it fair. So for the first time here, a major section of a run got stung by humidity shift thru the fall like this, we didn't know what to do. In the interim, we allowed people to take these as Silvers, at the Silver discounted price. Many people have.

We took a 90-day hiatus to run an experiment. To see if we could get these back to flat, thus golds. To environmentally humidify this final third of the run (as recommended by the mill that makes our gameboards). They have been humidified for 70 days at constant 80-90% humidity, all kept as a separated/flat stack under significant weight. Then allowed 20 days to dry out to 15-20% humidity... and hopefully relax/fixate into that position permanently. We just broke the pile this past weekend. Didn't work. Not one panel has changed much. A little, but not enough for me to do a victory dance.

So the final half of the preorder group (and waiting list) still sit awaiting instructions. We're mulling over what to do with these. The twist is very mild physically, and can be pushed flat with very few pounds of hand push. But these remaining ones are the most twisted of them all (the Silver buyers got the better of the twists).

Looking at doing an "ungraded" Banzai blowout, at a flat, deeply discounted price. An announcement and mailout coming soon.

Will allow anybody interested to have a gorgeous genuine (not ink jet) silkscreened Banzai playfield in exact solid Pantone spot colors, with original tooling Chicago inserts and pigments (not repros), on the heaviest hardest gameboard stock in the hobby (Canadian hardrock maple + Ash), printed from the one-of-a-kind physical Williams original films (from the former IPB archives) burned to our screen frames (not scans of the films, layered in Photoshop, and digital printed as dots). Everything done right, the right way, the hard way, the way we always do... except these don't rest completely flat. They will populate and sit in a cabinet flat, but I cannot stamp Gold on a playfield somebody opens and it's not flat. I just won't.

Our Banzai glasses are actual tempered panels - not plate, or not "unbreakable" plastic facimilies. Our Banzai plastics are laser cut, not bit-cut on a CNC machine made for wood. We have the Banzai mirrored bezel, as well. Also on actual tempered panels. Even a cool custom Banzai Topper. All these can combine together at deep combo-discounts when put in the Cart on our site using our playfield Shipment Configuration tool. Often tallies up to $100-$300 cheaper than the alternative Banzai source.

Sure, one can run to an alternate source for the robot-made digital stuff. Some of you already have. Fine. But there were certain tradeoffs in doing that too.

These playfields CAN be re-climatized long term, or used as-is on their back going flat in a cabinet. It's up to the end user. But we concede we just don't have the time to make this all happen in any reasonable timescale at this end. We're long onto other runs now. These need to move along. They look great, and they will install and play great. I just want to be upfront about the current results. We're only talking a few dozen playfields left at this point.

What I predict we'll do is blow these out at a really reasonable discount price. Hundred(s) less than what Golds were, and call it a day. We shall see. Going to try to come to an internal decision across the next several days. Once done, it will be put on the site. I'll try to come back here and follow up too.

KEVIN
Classic Playfield Reproductions
http://www.classicplayfields.com

**THIS IS AN OVERALL UPDATE TO EVERYBODY AS FAR AS THIS RUN/RELEASE GOES**

For all those who raised their hands over the years on the CPR Banzai preorder list, who were not yet contacted, a version of this update (and final buying instructions) will be emailed out tonight. To everybody left. Approximately the final half/third of the original group.

Since our Banzai Run shipping hiatus, just over a month and a half ago, as we hit "only twisted playfields left" (as described above) ... we now RESUME contacting the rest, and offering up the remaining playfields. These are the remaining "more twisted" Banzai playfields, as the "least twisted" ones have already sold out and shipped under the (stamped) SILVER category during the hiatus period, to those who opted for them and got the better ones early.

We have decided, these remaining few dozen will have $210 - $250 clearance discounts applied, and allow the remaining group to make their decisions. These will be UNGRADED (not stamped). We are offering three price points, based on the theoretical front/face grade (had these not had the twist). In other words, the cosmetic overall result of the silkscreen print, as graded under our traditional categories.

Full details, and updated Store page, found here:

https://classicplayfields.com/shop/pinball-playfields/banzai-playfield/

- - -

The other components (Plastics, Backglass, Mirrored Bezel, and Topper) are all still available at bundling prices, no quality caveats, all good there.

I'll try to get some new pix (to show the twist) and add them to the Gallery at the site, in the next day or two. As requested.

If some want to move on and this determines their choice of buying at an alternate source, then so be it. Completely understand. The idea of twists may make some leery, while others have a future plan of attack in their minds to handle it for themselves. It all depends on the end user plans and their skillset. Some will look at alternative source, and determine that paying +$300 to +$500 more than this offering, to get a BR shipment with a flat playfield out-of-the-box... realise that these playfields, once populated and on their back in a cabinet, will eventually rest flat in the end anyway... thus seeing no need to cost their BR budget any further.

So that's it. These remaining playfields will draw down until they are eventually gone and done. In year(s) to come, we can always revive the BR title within our "one off, one-at-a-time" Digital Print format - if need be. But for the time being, it's finding homes for these last Genuine Silkscreened versions, made exclusively with the physical Williams films, and 15 individually laid spot color enamels. We won't be making them this way again.

THE CPR BANZAI RUN PLAYFIELD - Remaining Stock Blowout

KEVIN
Classic Playfield Reproductions
http://www.classicplayfields.com