ANNOUNCEMENT
New CPR Playfield Preorder System Launched Today
November 24, 2014

For nearly 10 years, we ran a simple "stick your name in the hat" inbox system at our web site to count heads and produce playfields for those groups, at those numbers. It worked like a charm with very few headaches for that decade. What could be easier. Put up a playfield inbox, let it collect emails for 1-3 years, then when it comes production time, peek inside and count how many were wanted. Say 100 people requested 106 playfields in total. Great. Make 120 in case of spoilage. Great. Those 100 people were contacted for payment at shipping time, and for 9 of those 10 years, about 95 of 100 would come through and buy. It worked that well. Pretty reliable and easy-going system. Didn't need deposits. Didn't need anything except their request.

But unfortunately, within 2014, something changed.

For three straight playfield runs in a row now (our last 3 runs) we have experienced only around a 60%-70% sell-through. That means - yes - only about 60-70 of 100 guys are actually buying when it comes shipping time. Leaving a significant piling-up of leftover playfields that are simply sitting here. Representing a lot of time & resources spent that we truly thought were going to end users.

Predicting forward the next 2-4 months, this will likely be the same situation on the fourth and fifth (and likely sixth) run since this trend started, but we will soon see. The old system was pretty loosey goosey, but worked so well it didn't matter. We never took deposits, never wanted to enforce anything, and never batted an eye at the occasional forfeit. After 10 years, and for some unknown reason, the loosey goosey system has turned around and suddenly bitten us in the butt... which leads me to the meat of this announcement:

We must (and have) replaced the old legacy preorder/request process with one involving a type of harder commitment. Where an expectation is set up front. We need to get to a point where if we see 75 preorders for a playfield, we can be accurately sure 75 will sell. Thus we make ~90. It can no longer be we make the 90, and only 40 of the 75 people buy. It just can't anymore.

So starting now, you'll see our former Request Page is back to being called the Preorder Page, and we now are going to make the preorders an actual promise. Still no deposits. We don't want/need your money. We only need your word. Unlike before - there was zero commitment before. Now there is.

If we're not taking a deposit, how is it enforced? Well, we still have faith in the hobby. With this very basic change, we think "your word is your bond" will deflect 98% of the "fluff" requests, or wavering requests, or semi-serious requests, or dreamer requests. Because if somebody bails when it comes shipping time, you basically lose the welcome to participate in the "word-based" process ever again - those folks will have to switch to a secondary deposit-based system to lock in a reservation.

We feel guys will want to play ball and stay on the easy path. CPR is going to be around for a long time. Nobody wants to have to deal with a second-tier deposit-based preorder system. But it's there, and it's the fallback, as clunky as non-refundable deposit systems are. We even allow for exceptions in dire circumstances (detailed at the site) just in case. But we don't think many will end up having a problem under the new system. It's not difficult. If you want it, sign up, and come through. Easy. It should really tighten up our counts, and we won't end up making 50-60 playfields that won't have homes. Those could be 50-60 playfields into the NEXT run! So we're not wasting our CNC time, our wood, our inserts, press time, clearcoating, and on and on...

Complete details at the site.

Some new preorder titles have been launched, as you'll see.

http://www.classicplayfields.com/order.html

FYI, Since we are now on an 18-month production clock (maximum) under the new system, we can't put ALL the playfields in the pipe up there at once. So a few less-active inboxes have gone offline for the moment, so don't fret. Once some playfields at the top of the queue are knocked off in the next few months, those others will jump back on at the bottom, with their new start dates, and their 18-month-max clock can start ticking too. Doesn't mean every playfield is going to be 18 months away... we just don't want to bite off more than we can chew.

Most importantly - ALL EMAILS HAVE BEEN KEPT from the old inboxes, grandfathered under the old system. But remember, we'll be weighing those groups with about 60-70% count accuracy now, so there IS a chance there won't be enough playfields (depending on how those groups come through in the future)... if suddenly a group bounces back to 90%+ buying for some reason... there will be a quantity shock. Because for the old groups, we're simply not making 100 boards for 100 people anymore. We simply can't. So.... our advice is: if you KNOW you're still onboard - submit a new signup email under the new system, make that promise, and guarantee yourself a playfield. Post Nov 24th, we count all preorders as a guaranteed sold playfield to be made. Pre Nov 24th preorders are considered "loosey goosey". Make sense?

This was lengthy, and I apologize. Just want it to be clear, and this thread can stand as a totem which can be linked back to in any future discussions, if necessary. To mark this date and change.

Thanks

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

GOOD IDEA. I'll go turn on the autoresponders on ALL the inboxes.

KEVIN

That's up to you. Under the old system, there is 2-way zero obligation. You can wiggle out. We don't have to have enough playfields. Right now if we saw, say, 80 FT requests from the old inbox, we're only going to make ~60 playfields. Just to protect against the new trend of forfeitures.

Now what if all 80 guys decide to come through? We truly don't think they WILL, but what if?

So the old system remains "loosey goosey" as I described in the OP.

If you know you're a sure thing, then you can lock in 2-way *commitment* by sending into the new inbox. Those emails we are treating as promises, thus we're making a playfield for every one requested, as our promise.

KEVIN

We want to play it safe and not over-extend ourselves. So we can't put every single playfield in the pipe up there live, taking emails.

So for the time being, it's just hiding offline. Once a few playfields pop off the top in the next few months (BC, EK, ToTAN), then Medusa and some others can come back onto the page - with their 18-month-max clocks starting from January/February.

KEVIN

Yup. There is an active autoresponder on every inbox. Your emails are landed here, I just looked. Dunno about the speed of response, and always check spam folder. But they do work.

KEVIN

Nope. When they sell the game, they simply come back and send in their forfeit email into the same inbox. Which cancels their original promise out. We only close the inbox when production starts (CNC machine starts cutting boards). So we already know not to make a playfield for them.

If they remain "in" and sell the game during production, bailing when they get their payment instructions email at release time... well that's the kind of yucky forfeit we're talking about.

Their bad. And then they switch tiers to the secondary deposit-based preordering method after that, if they ever want to participate in a reservation again.

Then the CPR playfield commitment precedes the other things, as far as we're concerned...otherwise, simply send in that forfeit email to cancel out the previous promise. There is plenty of time if guys get attracted to other things and change their minds. All we're asking is they back out before we make their playfield.

The new system is put in place to prevent that awful forfeiture at the end, when their playfield is in a box awaiting payment & a shipping label. Not forfeitures in general.

None of the excuses you listed count (see the exceptions list at the site) as a reason to forfeit on a packed & ready playfield at shipping time.

We don't need ANY reason provided for a pre-production forfeiture

Don't think it's too much to ask for guys to simply plan their plans better. IMHO.
Trust me, we thought of all the hundreds of scenarios when tweaking this.

Nobody wants to end up in the non-refundable deposit system.

KEVIN

They are. It's just that inbox was beating a dead horse. Nobody's put their name in there in a while. Plus the amount we're making is fixated now anyway. So we just left it off.

We're gonna finish them up here soon. Looking to wedge them into a period between fullsize playfield print runs.

KEVIN

We thought the same thing.

Yes. Absolutely. And we pray so.

If we're supposed to make 60 playfields, we want to know that. Not seeing "higher" numbers that look great - like 100 people, 40 of which are not committed, and make 100 playfields for them. Only to sell 60.

I would much rather have lower numbers - of precise, promised, ACTUAL buyers.

To make that 60, and move onto the next playfield.

KEVIN

Complete refund with shipping is still there for any returns. If a customer is not happy with a received playfield, returns and/or exchanges are still as normal in any of those cases.

We'd never consider that a forfeit.

Good question to bring up. Thx.

KEVIN

I think this is the fourth time I've had to direct folk(s) back to the answer in the OP.
Folks, please read the whole thread and you'll see this kind of stuff. Thx.

KEVIN

Not so easy. Your preorder email must contain name, shipping address, phone number, etc. (Click any one of the Links on the Preorder page and see the secondary check page)

At some point, playfields have to be paid with a real PayPal account, and land with an actual person at an actual address. If folks are going to make the effort to be THAT in cognito and create all these alias email addresses, fake names, use relatives, neighbor's addresses, and multiple PayPal accounts... then all the power to them. It's going to take a lot to fool me. And a ton of work.

No system is 100.000% perfect. Could some slippery douches slip through the cracks? Sure. But we're not worried about 1% (or even 3%) fooling us. We're trying to stop 40% forfeitures at shipping time. That's all. And this methodology does it.

If somebody bails when they get payment instructions at release, and their box is packed and I was waiting for payment - then they get noted into the non-refundable-deposit system forevermore. If they think they're going to avoid that, and preorder promises under an alias afterward - then they better have a fake everything set up, right down to using another person's PayPal account. It's going to be tricky. Plus they'll need somebody to volunteer this identity (and/or PayPal account), who is willing to risk being unwelcome if their buddy bails under THEIR signup identity.

Forfeits at the very end are going to be very rare now, so they're going to get a lot of attention here. I'm going to be very thorough in keeping my records.

We think 95%+ of our actual-paying playfield customers DON'T ever need to be put on a deposit system. Thus we're only going to have a deposit system for the vast minority. Why subject all the good-word people to such a system? We don't want to. So we won't. They don't deserve it, and their word will remain good enough for us. (until or if proven otherwise, of course).

KEVIN

But if 100 people request 100 playfields, and you make 100 playfields... underselling is 60 of those being sold, and 40 being abandoned.

If 60 were TRULY interested, we'd simply stop at making 60 and move on. Then the 40 could be 40 into the next run. But we need to KNOW that in advance of production - who is actually buying at the end? Now we will know, because every request is now a clear-as-day promise to buy.

So we are indeed looking for actual *interest* numbers... the "not that much" we don't want to build playfields for.

We're fine with B and C playfield titles. Always have been. We just want to make the correct/accurate number. This preorder system delivers a very close accurate number. All the fluff is removed.

If there's not that much interest, and only 35 people make their promises after 8 months - then great, we'll make 40 boards and move on. We're not afraid of low interest. We're afraid of low interest masquerading as high interest.

KEVIN

Without getting into too much internal detail - this TAF run is a rare rare exception.

CPR preordering would normally be open-ended, and IS indeed to get our precise build count when it comes production time. Absolutely.

But - This TAF run was fixed in number from the get-go. (That number is indeed private, and will remain private as Stu said) Reason being, it is a run that was brought back from the brink of death. IPB was going to run these at the end of 2014. Then a sharp turn in their plans... We all know what happened to IPB. So the TAF run died.

Now all those gameboard panels, the inserts, the artwork, the third party licensing packages, and the Williams approval - everything that IPB had lined up (and unfortunately lost), have been torch-passed to us.

So CPR is going to rescue what was the former "late 2014 IPB run".

There IS a cap on this particular run (set by the IPB supplies load). We will stop taking preorders and close the inbox when the run is spoken for. There are still plenty of slots left. It's not a small run. But right now, all the "CPR" slots are spoken for. They filled in about 10 hours. Anyone preordering at this point is falling into the PPS slot spots. Same playfields. Same run. They'll just ship from two different locations.

So the preorder inbox is still there, taking promises as normal. Nothing changes. But this one will have a cap where we have to stop taking preorders at some point. Weird, I know. But now you all can understand why it can't just go onto infinity. This run is resting in a ready-go state. It's only down to who is going to be their owners...

Which is great news, because this means the TAF run won't even come CLOSE to an 18-month window.

More like a third of that !

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

baha! Good one

Correct.

The gameboard panels are totally blank and untouched by tooling of any kind.

We go completely from scratch. With not an IPB version in sight. Have never seen an IPB, and don't want/need to see one. We're going from original boards with the same process we always do.

That's the whole point of the new system.

The REASON you stick with your promise-to-buy is: If you don't, you lose the privilege of ever participating in the promise-based preorder system ever again.

The deposit-based system you seek is EXACTLY what they are faced with (at $100 per non-refundable reservation) to participate again.

So don't worry, CPR *is* doing a deposit based system - but it will only be for a very very select few.

Right now, everybody starting clean, their word is worth more than money.

But anybody can put themselves onto the money track at anytime. Just break their word. Easy.

We already thought of that and fixed it in the new system.

We realized the gravity of an actual hard commitment, and if that is what we are asking for, we have to account for the level of seriousness one would need in order to lay down a promise - today.

Some playfields used to take requests and be made in 1 year. Some in 4 years. It was too loose before. Loose on both sides. We had the freedom to make whatever, whenever. Customers had the ability to literally join every list, and pick & choose which ones to buy at the end, and bail on most.

So NOW, as part of the new preorder system, there is an 18-month maximum window on production.

What that means is, every newly opened preorder inbox is stamped with its launch date. Then the clock starts ticking. Sometimes folks will sign up on month 10... seeing only 8 months of wait (max), in their case. So it's all relative.

We had six (five now - Addams closed) preorder inboxes stamped with Nov 25th. Those six playfields ALL have to be made within a year and a half. CPR does 7-8 playfield runs a year. In truth, the 18 months is likely an overshoot. So those six playfields aren't all going to be 18 months to wait. One will be 3-4 months, one 5-6 months, one 6-7 months, one 8-9 months... and so on.

So for some people, their Nov 2014 signup will have them a playfield in hand by February or March. Addams, for example. Without a shadow of a doubt (and full now anyway) it would/should be the first one to drop.

In the end, repro playfields are usually for the serious (I mean, the wish of buying a playfield is swapping it into your game, right?). Significant restoration work ahead, and they aren't a "cheap" part, either. So even at 1.5 years away (max), those folks who TRULY want a playfield for their game will USUALLY still own the game. Because they are that deep of a fan of it. Or why would they want to do a playfield swap? And the cost? IMHO, it all goes hand in hand. If a person has high game churn - they probably shouldn't be thinking about playfield overhaul for them, and not joining preorders for them.

With all that said, don't forget that a CPR preorder CAN be forfeited no-harm no-foul at anytime for months and months before production. We only close the window when the first board is CNC cut. So plenty of time for guys to change their mind, or change heart and sell their game.

Just don't sell a game during production when one's playfield is being made. (when the inbox at the site is closed, and is no longer taking forfeit emails). Way too late at that point, and those are the forfeits that are yucky.

I find it difficult too. It DOESN'T take a year to make a playfield. When have we ever taken a year to make a playfield except year one and two (in 2004 & 2005) ?? It took us a year to make a run of Fathoms, and another year to make a run of Centaurs. With no glasses or plastics those years.

Year three we made two playfields (Black Knight and Xenon). Plus a handful of plastics and glasses.

Year four we made five playfields (Eight Ball, Captain Fantastic, EBD, a Centaur re-run, Fathom re-run). By this point, about 8 plastics sets and 3 glasses on top of that.

And so on.

At this point we're up to ~7 playfield runs per year. That's a new playfield released about every 2 months. Plus 25+ plastics set runs per year, and 4-5 glasses runs per year.

2014 was a temporary exception (only 5 playfield runs) because we had such a hard time with being mill-less for wood for a while.

It takes 3 months to make a playfield run here, from first cut to last clearcoated. As you can see on our site, there are 4-6 playfields in motion at all times. Like a bucket brigade, runs following each other through the stages.

Maybe you're referring to lag time. From opening of preorder to us actually releasing the playfield.

Typically it's like this:
8 months to a year: collect preorders. Gives everybody a beyond fair time to get counted.
Then, make the run (3 months)

In those cases, for a decent crowd for a decent title, 1.25 years from announcement to reality.

Then there are the draggers...
2-4 years: collect preorders... yes, sometimes it takes that long just to see 60+ names!
Then, make the run (3 months)

In those cases, for offbeat "C" and "D" titles, sometimes 4 years from announcement to reality.

Chicago. Original tooling. 95% of the time.

Sometimes we have used inserts from Mirco (Germany) in the past, in a pinch. He had some rare/missing tools redone. With those particular playfields we just got all the common inserts from him at the same time.

There is zero insert tooling in China.

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