If the teaser on JJP's FaceBook page is a true indication of the colored pinballs that will be a part of Wonka, I'm curious to know what tech they will employ to actually make them.

I know of a few titles that have white balls, but I don't really consider said balls to be proper pinballs. Their mass is different, and in some cases they even chip and don't look very good after a while.

So, if Wonka will feature something like "Gobstopper Multi-ball," with a fistful of variously colored balls, just how confident can we be that the colored balls will (a) shoot like pinballs and (b) won't chip and look like crap? There's a reason we have never truly had colored pinballs to this point: they are near impossible to engineer. To you metalurgists out there, is there new tech that can enrobe a carbon core with "colored" chrome? I've seen tinted chrome, and "black" nickel plating is common, but the colors required here are saturated and candy-like. How is JJP going to pull this off?

Any insight would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

#2 5 years ago

AXL

Axl

KristianiaFlipperselskap

10y 84,050 1,225

My guess it was just a fun thing to do with the JJP logo to tease the game, nothing more.

#3 5 years ago

MAT

f3honda4me

Pinside member

Colgate, WI

5y 104K 3,330 1 11

That’s my guess too. Just regular pinballs I think.

#4 5 years ago

???

Mike_J

Pinside member

13y 99,550 5,399 58

Insight - JJP will use standard pinballs, thankfully.

#5 5 years ago

BTO

brett

Pinside+ Frequent

Snohomish, WA

8y 103K 625 24 98

Maybe they’ll use them like Lawlor did for TZ gumball machine?

#6 5 years ago

ARB

Ed209

Inactive member

10y 75,550 1,271 21 20

Those ceramic balls are expensive to replace. Hopefully he sticks to standard pinballs.

#7 5 years ago

J_G

Jason_Jehosaphat

Pinside+ Frequent

Minneapolis, MN

6y 80,800 2,525

Fair enough: standard balls for Wonka. I guess that's good. Silver balls are truly the easiest to see, and they're the most durable.

Thanks for your responses.

#8 5 years ago

DJB

delt31

Pinside+ Frequent

Pittsburgh, PA

8y 159K 12,569 12 7 1

I actually hope they use some type of colored balls in this game. All your considerations make sense but for guys who don't take scoring as seriously, this would be a great addition. I think they could use it in limited fashion so it doesn't break balance but still add that sense of magic like tz does with that white ball.

It's a small thing in tz but I love seeing that damn white ball enter play every time.

#9 5 years ago

OAK

Oaken

Pinside member

5y 106K 2,596

I suspect plating pinballs would be a huge headache for everyone. (Think of the chipping).

Ceramic is interesting, but as mentioned by others, high cost and would play different. Might be worth it though.

My vote: lighting effects to simulate colors. Probably cheapest and most consistent way of doing things. Also lamest.

#10 5 years ago

IGY

Lamprey

Pinside member

Renton, WA

8y 40,300 871 5

Could they use "glow balls?"

I've only used them for the newton/captive balls in my Ghostbusters, but they are holding up so far. Could be fun to use them in WWCF, but might play too differently from the silver ball.

#11 5 years ago

JJW

txstargazer3

Pinside+ Frequent

Chicago, IL

12y 90,050 4,157 1 13

The concept sounds great, but I'd rather have the reliability that comes with standard balls. By far.

#12 5 years ago

JGC

JamCat

Pinside member

5y 38,800 83

They could use polished brass balls to play up the golden egg idea. They could get the mass right by using a different core if needed.

#13 5 years ago

OAK

Oaken

Pinside member

5y 106K 2,596

But the hardness. Oh the hardness

#14 5 years ago

DEL

robotron

Pinside member

Middletown, NY

9y 88,800 2,475 6

colored balls with sensors on the game to read the different colors and enter different modes and for scoring. this secret was already leaked out.

#15 5 years ago

BRG

IdahoRealtor

Pinside member

Eagle, ID

13y 137K 6,773 11 10

I dont think gobstoppers would roll very well pp,840x830-pad,750x1000,f8f8f8 (resized).jpg

#16 5 years ago

JLD

JayDee

Pinside+ Member

Elk Grove Village, IL

5y 114K 5,512 4

Quoted from robotron:
colored balls with sensors on the game to read the different colors and enter different modes and for scoring. this secret was already leaked out.

As long as they’re not blue.

#17 5 years ago

jeffro01

Pinside+ Frequent

5y 65,300 1,242

Quoted from robotron:
colored balls with sensors on the game to read the different colors and enter different modes and for scoring. this secret was already leaked out.

Where did it leak? Do tell... I haven't seen or heard about that until I saw your post today...

Jeff

#18 5 years ago

MAT

f3honda4me

Pinside member

Colgate, WI

5y 104K 3,330 1 11

Quoted from jeffro01:
Where did it leak? Do tell... I haven't seen or heard about that until I saw your post today...
Jeff

Ditto

#19 5 years ago

CAP

lordloss

Blocked

10y 5,089

Quoted from jeffro01:
Where did it leak? Do tell... I haven't seen or heard about that until I saw your post today...
Jeff

Old boys club probably.

#20 5 years ago

FRX

Frax

Pinside member

Conyers, GA

12y 103K 16,662 2 9

Quoted from robotron:
colored balls with sensors on the game to read the different colors and enter different modes and for scoring. this secret was already leaked out.

I'll believe it when I see the 15k price tag.

#21 5 years ago

DEL

robotron

Pinside member

Middletown, NY

9y 88,800 2,475 6

Quoted from Frax:
I'll believe it when I see the 15k price tag.

optic sensors are very cheap compared to mechs.

#22 5 years ago

FRX

Frax

Pinside member

Conyers, GA

12y 103K 16,662 2 9

Quoted from robotron:
optic sensors are very cheap compared to mechs.

A standard IR opto is completely and utterly incapable of detecting the COLOR of a ball. You would need a more advanced sensor (CCD) along with the processing power and logic to do that, most likely UNDER the playfield, which is pretty dark, and have it be responsive enough to do that in near-realtime.

I'm not going to debate what manufacturers decide extra things on their game is 'worth'...because we all know it's a bunch of horsesh--- and completely arbitrary numbers they come up with to cover their cost plus what they think they can get away with. And the market the last 5 years has been screaming "Go ahead, you can get away with it!" So all I'm saying is if JJP has colored balls on this game, and does anything actually remotely along these lines with them, you can expect to get charged far more than what it's 'worth'. I figured something like that has enough 'cool' factor to bump the price up 2k from WOZ YBRLMFAOIKR edition. I mean....the LCD screen to Stern has been worth an additional 1k-1500k. Something that's only been even similarly done in pinball twice before, and in a completely low-tech manner at that?

"WALLETS OUT FOR JJP" going to be the new motto around here lol.

2 weeks later

#23 4 years ago

FRX

Frax

Pinside member

Conyers, GA

12y 103K 16,662 2 9

*finger guns*

Told ya.

#24 4 years ago

DAN

Litedpinballmods

Lighted Pinball Mods

Kingsland, GA

8y 114K 1,144 42 1

When they were making Twilight Zone, they made 2 different colored balls, white and blue. They found when they used the blue ball it was to hard to see on the play field and dropped it.

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