(Topic ID: 211309)

Buying Alien LE

By pinlawyer

6 years ago


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    There are 53 posts in this topic. You are on page 1 of 2.
    #1 6 years ago

    I just committed to buying one to be delivered before the end of March. I heard all the scuttlebutt about how the manufacturer might not be around to support the game down the road. That would be true of many manufacturers these days. I don’t see a whole lot of people with bricked machines unable to be fixed. Still, a gamble. But I’m done with Stern NIBs.

    What should I buy by way of mod or insurance parts? Any ideas?

    #2 6 years ago

    Don’t have any advice on Bulletproofing the future but I will say for the few months I owned the game it really was quite impressive. I hope they do solidify their builds and future because that game deserves some recognition.

    #3 6 years ago
    Quoted from pinlawyer:

    I just committed to buying one to be delivered before the end of March. I heard all the scuttlebutt about how the manufacturer might not be around to support the game down the road. That would be true of many manufacturers these days. I don’t see a whole lot of people with bricked machines unable to be fixed. Still, a gamble. But I’m done with Stern NIBs.
    What should I buy by way of mod or insurance parts? Any ideas?

    glad to hear you're joining the club soon. Didn't even know they had LE's available - that's awesome! congrats

    #4 6 years ago

    Are you buying NIB from a distributor?

    Are they now shipping?

    Marcus

    #5 6 years ago

    I am not one the think you need a new code every other month... Just get it right and be done. I play old Bally Williams with older codes and you know what? I seldom notice or care.

    #6 6 years ago
    Quoted from pinlawyer:

    I just committed to buying one to be delivered before the end of March. I heard all the scuttlebutt about how the manufacturer might not be around to support the game down the road. That would be true of many manufacturers these days. I don’t see a whole lot of people with bricked machines unable to be fixed. Still, a gamble. But I’m done with Stern NIBs.
    What should I buy by way of mod or insurance parts? Any ideas?

    I'm assuming its coming from Cointaker of course. Did you have a deposit down pinlawyer or is this just a straight up short term purchase?

    I've had a deposit down for 4 years so I'm trying to figure out what's going on here?

    #7 6 years ago

    yeah wondering how someone can get a game right away while others are stuck waiting forever with money down for a long time...

    #8 6 years ago

    Wow man, i would have sold you mine if i had known you were looking. It's been mostly paid for awhile now and i would have sold it to you for a very nice discount.

    Just one small -- and i do mean small -- caveat: who knows when or if you'll ever receive it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    Code support seems great though so it's got that going for it.

    #9 6 years ago

    I put a 2k deposit over 2 years ago. Outside of the generic emails, no news.

    #10 6 years ago

    Cool!! Best of luck. I wouldn’t give them a dime. They still owe me a refund of $1500 one year later!

    #11 6 years ago

    There's a bricked machine sitting in my garage right now....... been there for 8 months

    #12 6 years ago
    Quoted from pinlawyer:

    I just committed to buying one to be delivered before the end of March. I heard all the scuttlebutt about how the manufacturer might not be around to support the game down the road. That would be true of many manufacturers these days. I don’t see a whole lot of people with bricked machines unable to be fixed. Still, a gamble. But I’m done with Stern NIBs.
    What should I buy by way of mod or insurance parts? Any ideas?

    Congrats Pinlawer! Couldn't go to a finer collector. While a touchy subject for some, having played several games on Alien I personally recommend the stadium light setup. Really a great game but for me I couldn’t see a darn thing I was doing granted my eyes aren’t 20 any longer. I believe the LE systems have the EL Playfield side panels though I’m not sure how much light they put out. Congrats!

    #13 6 years ago

    Pinlawler - I just installed the EL blades in mine. Hold off on buying anything until you see it with the ELs. They make a BIG diff.

    14
    #14 6 years ago

    B08D3C40-64B3-457C-810C-5FEB662DB379 (resized).jpegB08D3C40-64B3-457C-810C-5FEB662DB379 (resized).jpeg

    #15 6 years ago

    Buying a Alien from Coin taker is a safe bet. Buy with confidence knowing they take care of their customers. As for keeping the game running. It would not be a bad idea to purchase a few extra parts if you are skeptical about the companies longevity. A new PC would be top on my list.

    Congrats on the new game purchase. The game plays well.

    #16 6 years ago
    Quoted from pinlawyer:

    I just committed to buying one to be delivered before the end of March. I heard all the scuttlebutt about how the manufacturer might not be around to support the game down the road. That would be true of many manufacturers these days. I don’t see a whole lot of people with bricked machines unable to be fixed. Still, a gamble. But I’m done with Stern NIBs.
    What should I buy by way of mod or insurance parts? Any ideas?

    #17 6 years ago
    Quoted from ASOA:

    Buying a Alien from Coin taker is a safe bet. Buy with confidence knowing they take care of their customers. As for keeping the game running. It would not be a bad idea to purchase a few extra parts if you are skeptical about the companies longevity. A new PC would be top on my list.
    Congrats on the new game purchase. The game plays well.

    The PC main board is common off-the-shelf stuff from Amazon. The light boards and driver boards are proprietary. Basically the same style setup as JJP.

    Whereas JJP uses one main driver board, Heighway uses 4 distinct separate driver CAN bus style network boards. Nice thing is they are all the same part number.

    #18 6 years ago

    Would I buy a game Clay can't even fix and not in a box setting in front of me ? Oh no !

    #19 6 years ago

    See Clays post of how he is fixing the machine with parts provided by Heighway

    15
    #20 6 years ago
    Quoted from pinlawyer:

    I just committed to buying one to be delivered before the end of March. I heard all the scuttlebutt about how the manufacturer might not be around to support the game down the road. That would be true of many manufacturers these days. I don’t see a whole lot of people with bricked machines unable to be fixed. Still, a gamble. But I’m done with Stern NIBs.

    So you've somehow come to the conclusion that buying from Heighway is somehow a smarter bet than buying a Stern game huh?

    Um...good luck with that one.

    #21 6 years ago

    I'm happy with Lebowski and BoP2.0. I'm happy with Dialed in and was happy with WOZ. I'm happy with TNA. I'm happy with Houdini. Was happy with BBB. Am happy with my CGC AFM. Yep. No complaints about these. No bad code. No ghosting or QC fails. So far, so good. Now, I played Full Throttle and did not like it at all. But Alien? LE, in green trim? Made AFTER the management turnover? Absofknlutely.

    #22 6 years ago
    Quoted from pinlawyer:

    I'm happy with Lebowski and BoP2.0. I'm happy with Dialed in and was happy with WOZ. I'm happy with TNA. I'm happy with Houdini. Was happy with BBB. Am happy with my CGC AFM. Yep. No complaints about these. No bad code. No ghosting or QC fails. So far, so good. Now, I played Full Throttle and did not like it at all. But Alien? LE, in green trim? Made AFTER the management turnover? Absofknlutely.

    Hope it all works out for you. But ordering a Alien that is not already made and at cointaker in a box is nuts. I guess if possibly losing the money is no big deal to you then why not. No way I would support them when so many customers have money in and have not received their games.

    #23 6 years ago

    I bought one already on its way to CT.

    #24 6 years ago
    Quoted from pinlawyer:

    I bought one already on its way to CT.

    You do realize that half the current people that paid forever ago have been told theirs are on the boat also.

    If it really is on the boat maybe you can take it to one of the guys that paid for it 4 years ago since Heighway is not going to do the right thing on their own. At least let them try it out to see what the 4 year wait is about. (this last sentence was a joke, I guess I should have made that more clear. I obviously do not expect you to give away something you paid for. Maybe you could let them play it though)

    #25 6 years ago
    Quoted from jgentry:

    You do realize that half the current people that paid forever ago have been told theirs are on the boat also.
    If it really is on the boat maybe you can take it to one of the guys that paid for it 4 years ago since Heighway is not going to do the right thing on their own. At least let them try it out to see what the 4 year wait is about.

    Why are you getting angry at this guy who bought a product available for sale? Jesus relax. Totally uncalled for. Now you want him to give the game he bought to someone else like he's the pinball robin hood? Seriously?

    Oh that's right - he should boycott Alien and not buy it. This way HP gets no money and the folks that decided to pay in full for a pinball machine not even built will definitely get nothing b/c now the company is out of business. I like your logic. Let's stick it to HP....oh wait, you would also be sticking it to the fellow pinsiders as well. Might want to rethink that.

    18
    #26 6 years ago
    Quoted from delt31:

    Why are you getting angry at this guy who bought a product available for sale? Jesus relax. Totally uncalled for. Now you want him to give the game he bought to someone else like he's the pinball robin hood? Seriously?
    Oh that's right - he should boycott Alien and not buy it. This way HP gets no money and the folks that decided to pay in full for a pinball machine not even built will definitely get nothing b/c now the company is out of business. I like your logic. Let's stick it to HP....oh wait, you would also be sticking it to the fellow pinsiders as well. Might want to rethink that.

    Not angry at all, you might want to relax a little. I think it's BS that people like you jump to the front of the line though. I've got no skin in the game at all and Pinlawyer can risk his money however he wants. Unfortunately Andrew screwed a lot of people and lied constantly. A couple of years ago at TPF he looked me right in the face and said Alien will be shipping in 4 months and tried to talk me into ordering one. I'm glad people took over and are trying to dig out of the whole but not communicating with all of the people that are owed games like iceman44 and attempting to fill new orders is BS and I wouldn't trust them at all.

    I completely get that they are broke and new sales may mean they can eventually fill the old ones. That's something they need to be communicating to the people that have been waiting for 4 years though. Those guys shouldn't see you posting about your Alien that you just decided to get with nothing from Heighway when they paid forever ago and are getting nothing but the middle finger.

    I'm not saying that is your fault or Pinlayer's fault. Neither of you are doing anything wrong. But you can't be tone deaf to the people that are getting screwed.

    -6
    #27 6 years ago

    Who's ignoring that though? I mentioned many times that it sucks and that giving a full payment for a unreleased machine is always dicey and that the situation is very frustrating. What I don't like is people like you who are rude to the ones that are just buying a game for sale and essentially being blamed for buying one when others are waiting
    That argument is tone deaf to common sense which I've already articulated.

    So yes I suggest you relax on attacking others. Let's just be a little less aggressive towards others that have done nothing wrong. You have every right to be pissed at HP.

    #28 6 years ago
    Quoted from delt31:

    Who's ignoring that though? I mentioned many times that it sucks and that giving a full payment for a unreleased machine is always dicey and that the situation is very frustrating. What I don't like is people like you who are rude to the ones that are just buying a game for sale and essentially being blamed for buying one when others are waiting
    That argument is tone deaf to common sense which I've already articulated.
    So yes I suggest you relax on attacking others.

    What was the point of the original post though?

    While there was a little "what should I buy" tagged on to the end, it really seemed like a gloat over all the Alien people who so far have been royally screwed with a little stern-bashing thrown into the mix.

    This stuff always works out in the wash though. Anybody buying a Heighway machine at this stage of the game is getting exactly what they deserve.

    #29 6 years ago
    Quoted from delt31:

    Who's ignoring that though? I mentioned many times that it sucks and that giving a full payment for a unreleased machine is always dicey and that the situation is very frustrating. What I don't like is people like you who are rude to the ones that are just buying a game for sale and essentially being blamed for buying one when others are waiting
    That argument is tone deaf to common sense which I've already articulated.
    So yes I suggest you relax on attacking others. Let's just be a little less aggressive towards others that have done nothing wrong. You have every right to be pissed at HP.

    Then put me on ignore. The last sentence in my second post was a joke. After reading it I agree that it didn't come across as one so I updated it. I obviously do not think that Pinlawyer should have to give his game to anyone if he gets it. I haven't attacked anyone. I do think anyone sending money to Heighway at this point is nuts but it's their money and they can do whatever they want with it. That's just my opinion and nothing else.

    Quoted from CrazyLevi:

    What was the point of the original post though?
    While there was a little "what should I buy" tagged on to the end, it really seemed like a gloat over all the Alien people who so far have been royally screwed with a little stern-bashing thrown into the mix.
    This stuff always works out in the wash though. Anybody buying a Heighway machine at this stage of the game is getting exactly what they deserve.

    You are tone deaf and lacking in common sense, I say good day sir.

    -7
    #30 6 years ago

    I don't have a horse in this race, but if heighway is shipping games to new buyers and you have money tied up on a old deposit, and waiting for ever,
    why not purchase a new one and then sell off the one that is being back ordered, when it finally get shipped?

    #31 6 years ago
    Quoted from wdennie:

    I don't have a horse in this race, but if heighway is shipping games to new buyers and you have money tied up on a old deposit, and waiting for ever,
    why not purchase a new one and then sell off the one that is being back ordered, when it finally get shipped?

    your assuming people have stacks of cash to blow on a second alien after being ripped off for years? not the best advice imo. and that someone would want to buy their 2nd one when it ships for face value? you cant always just throw cash at problems to fix them...

    #32 6 years ago

    If you left ur money deposit or PIF whatever on this title then u deserve everything u get. Its a trainwreck plain and simple and while I still hope to own one should this company get their shit together eventually, how did you stick with it? because of the discounted price? I would much rather have my money and pay more down the line than deal with people recieving LE's who just ordered and I'm still waiting 4 years. That being said good luck.

    #33 6 years ago

    I thought heighway would have closed their doors by now. I certainly don't wish that on anyone, but.....it isn't looking too good. Maybe they will show up with a truckload of them for sale at TBF.

    #34 6 years ago
    Quoted from way2wyrd:

    See Clays post of how he is fixing the machine with parts provided by Heighway

    "Most parts" provided by...

    #35 6 years ago
    Quoted from CrazyLevi:

    What was the point of the original post though?
    While there was a little "what should I buy" tagged on to the end, it really seemed like a gloat over all the Alien people who so far have been royally screwed with a little stern-bashing thrown into the mix.
    This stuff always works out in the wash though. Anybody buying a Heighway machine at this stage of the game is getting exactly what they deserve.

    Yeah I see your point there. I think he was just excited but can understand your interpretation. I will say as an owner since October, although I had some issues at first, I've been enjoying the hell out of it so would caution the any new buyer will only experience bad things.

    #36 6 years ago

    I'm not assuming, just would get people who are upset a option to get there game quicker, and insure Heighway doesn't close there door, and they get nothing.

    #37 6 years ago

    Question....if you put down a deposit for a game does the distributor (i.e. Coin taker) immediately pass that money onto the manufacturer? It was my understanding that the deposits I put down on the AFMRLE and MMRLE were kept by the distributor?

    #38 6 years ago
    Quoted from wdennie:

    I don't have a horse in this race, but if heighway is shipping games to new buyers and you have money tied up on a old deposit, and waiting for ever,
    why not purchase a new one and then sell off the one that is being back ordered, IF it finally gets shipped?

    No way I'd give them moey for another game when they can't even deliver the first one.

    -2
    #39 6 years ago

    I hope this game is a blast, but gonna be honest...looking at it...meh at best. But i realize you can't always judge a book by its cover, and that goes both ways. Hobbit is one gorgeous game, but SUCKS play wise (I bought in NIB, ughh)

    #40 6 years ago
    Quoted from jgentry:

    Then put me on ignore. The last sentence in my second post was a joke. After reading it I agree that it didn't come across as one so I updated it. I obviously do not think that Pinlawyer should have to give his game to anyone if he gets it. I haven't attacked anyone. I do think anyone sending money to Heighway at this point is nuts but it's their money and they can do whatever they want with it. That's just my opinion and nothing else.

    Gentry - I rather not put you on ignore b/c I think you mean well and I respect differing opinions it's just that you have trouble sometimes communicating. You've already admitted this twice now, including here. Maybe take a little more time so that you get it right initially and avoid having to edit what you don't even agree with. Just a suggestion.

    #41 6 years ago

    Didn’t mean to start a fire here. Not even a hint of gloat was intended. Just trying to get a feel for whether anyone had info I was missing and whether mods or parts were available. I took a gamble. But I paid a distro, not a manufacturer.

    #42 6 years ago
    Quoted from delt31:

    Gentry - I rather not put you on ignore b/c I think you mean well and I respect differing opinions it's just that you have trouble sometimes communicating. You've already admitted this twice now, including here. Maybe take a little more time so that you get it right initially and avoid having to edit what you don't even agree with. Just a suggestion.

    I don't know man. Maybe so, but I'm afraid we may both suffer from the same affliction if that the case I'll buy you a beer sometime at a show.

    Enough nonsense anyway, back to pinball

    Quoted from pinlawyer:

    Didn’t mean to start a fire here. Not even a hint of gloat was intended. Just trying to get a feel for whether anyone had info I was missing and whether mods or parts were available. I took a gamble. But I paid a distro, not a manufacturer.

    I hope it works out for you and that you enjoy your game.

    #43 6 years ago
    Quoted from wdennie:

    I don't have a horse in this race, but if heighway is shipping games to new buyers and you have money tied up on a old deposit, and waiting for ever,
    why not purchase a new one and then sell off the one that is being back ordered, when it finally get shipped?

    #44 6 years ago
    Quoted from jgentry:

    I don't know man. Maybe so, but I'm afraid we may both suffer from the same affliction if that the case I'll buy you a beer sometime at a show.
    Enough nonsense anyway, back to pinball

    I hope it works out for you and that you enjoy your game.

    Agreed. Beer is always the right answer!

    #45 6 years ago
    Quoted from cscmtp:

    I hope this game is a blast, but gonna be honest...looking at it...meh at best. But i realize you can't always judge a book by its cover, and that goes both ways. Hobbit is one gorgeous game, but SUCKS play wise (I bought in NIB, ughh)

    Alien actually is a blast and one of the coolest games ive ever played but its made by a shitty company that has done alot of people wrong. I cant imagine being one of the people who put down money on this game, and some of them probably paid in full 4 years ago and now they are watching new buyers paying and getting their games. That is effing BS!

    #46 6 years ago
    Quoted from pinlawyer:

    Didn’t mean to start a fire here. Not even a hint of gloat was intended. Just trying to get a feel for whether anyone had info I was missing and whether mods or parts were available. I took a gamble. But I paid a distro, not a manufacturer.

    For long term reliability I would like at getting proprietary parts such as node boards and mechs (Alien head).

    #47 6 years ago

    At first I'd buy a few game-specific playfield parts, then, as someone else here suggested-the computer and other node boards.
    As an aside to pinlawyer, would you please announce here when you finally receive your pin? Best of luck! (not being sarcastic, just kindof comes off that way!)

    #48 6 years ago

    How much was the game?

    #49 6 years ago
    Quoted from CubeSnake:

    At first I'd buy a few game-specific playfield parts, then, as someone else here suggested-the computer and other node boards....

    How does one go about accomplishing that? Getting parts to fix a broken machine is proving to be a time extensive process bordering on impossible, finding hard to replace spare parts to buy seems like a pipe dream.

    #50 6 years ago

    Hey OP, did you receive the game yet? any problems with the game?

    There are 53 posts in this topic. You are on page 1 of 2.

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