I appreciate the update! Thanks!

Aaron
FAST Pinball

We are stoked to have restocked hardware and FINALLY be able to offer our FAST Starter Bundles. We think these bundles will provide any new pinball project the best start towards becoming something great!

FAST Starter Bundle : $399
https://squareup.com/store/fast-pinball-llc/item/fast-starter-bundle

FAST Starter Bundle : $399

(1) FAST Nano Controller
(1) FAST I/O 3208
(1) FAST I/O 0804
(50) FAST RGB Insert LEDs

Our FAST Starter Bundle provides the most cost effective quick start to your custom pinball project. Our FAST Nano Controller is your interface to the FAST Loop Network of I/O boards, as well as your built-in controller for 256 RGB LEDs. No need to purchase an additional board just to control your RGB LEDs! The FAST Starter Bundle includes a FAST I/O 3208 and a FAST I/O 0804. Together this starts your custom pinball machine with 40 direct input switches and 12 drivers (coils, magnets, etc.). This will get your playfield's "lower third" complete. This bundle also includes 50 FAST RGB LEDs. This convenient form factor mounts easily for lighting inserts, fits conveniently into your 3D printed toys, can be mounted behind clear flipper buttons, etc.

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FAST Starter Bundle + Power : $599
https://squareup.com/store/fast-pinball-llc/item/fast-starter-bundle-power

FAST Starter Bundle + Power : $599

(1) FAST Nano Controller
(1) FAST I/O 3208
(1) FAST I/O 0804
(50) FAST RGB Insert LEDs
(1) FAST Power Interface Board
(1) 48v Switching Power Supply
(1) 12v/5v Switching Power Supply

Our FAST Starter Bundle + Power adds a solid power foundation to everything found in our FAST Starter Bundle. A 48v Switching Power Supply combined with our FAST Power Filter Board has you ready to start firing coil, pulsing magnets and more. Our FAST Power Filter Board also provides a switch input for a simple disabling of High Voltage power while opening a coin door, for example. 12v/5v Switching Power Supply provide power to the controller and FAST Loop Network, as well as power to the connected RGB LEDs.

We are excited to be offering the convenient FAST Starter Bundles as a way to get more people creating more pinball at an excellent value!

As usual with any FAST Controller purchase, we would love to toss in a free FAST Pinball T-Shirt (sizes Men's S, M, L & XL). Shoot me an email at [email protected] w/ your order number and size preference. Free shirts are cool and make excellent packing material!

Aaron
FAST Pinball

I will have these online by the weekend in the form of an "add pins and connectors for this bundle / item" modifier. In taking inventory last night, I was unexpectedly short on .156" connectors and out of the .100" 2x3 male pins for the RGB LEDs. I ordered a bunch last night and they will be here soon.

But I completely agree, especially for first time buyers, getting the no-brainer parts to match is a HUGE help.

Now the discussion we are having at the moment is about offering the FAST RGB LEDs with the .100" 2x3 male pins installed. I am crunching the numbers on that one also. Initially, users liked the idea of a cheaper per LED option but in the end (and after having soldered the connections themselves) most have expressed that they would gladly pay a fair price to get the connectors pre-soldered.

More on that soon!

Aaron
FAST Pinball

We have been meeting a lot of people outside of the pinball community over the last couple years. The drive for a starter kit approach was really pushed along by people who aren't already in the pinball community, but who thought that making something like a pinball machine looked like an awesome project.

We feel like if we can start you down a solid path with the right guidance then you can learn a lot along the way and hopefully bring something fun to life. There are so many skills needed to make a pinball machine that collaborating with friends or family is always a good way to rally to the goal.

Moving from starter bundles to starter kits, we hope to turn the standard "lower third" setup of a pinball machine into a step by step process designed to be successful. The skillset we are shooting for is a) I can build IKEA furniture b) I can hookup a high-end stereo system. If you can do these things we are pretty sure we can guide you through getting your whitewood flipping and get simple game code running. Since we will guide you through setup in a specific way, if you follow those instructions and the playfield tests out as it should, you should then be able to launch the game code and "press start." Now, the game is probably super boring, but it plays and scores and alternates players. From here you can start to get creative knowing that your game is setup on a solid foundation that you know how to work with.

I am so stoked about this next phase for what we are doing because I truly believe it will get people designing and building pinball who never imagined they could! More people making pinball, means more pinball being made and that is good for us all!

Aaron
FAST Pinball

Pinballmakers.com has lots of useful information. What I was describing above is a different approach to getting started on your first pinball project.

Aaron
FAST Pinball

Yeah. While this pinball stuff is not rocket science and most can get their way through the low level stuff, not everyone is excited about that part. We want to get people on top of the playfield and on to the creative part that attracted many to want to build their own pinball machine in the first place. So many ways to get to the goal, this approach will meet the needs of some and seem unneeded to others. To each their own! Let's just get making pinball!

Aaron
FAST Pinball

We are super excited to be heading to the Portland Retro Gaming Expo ( http://retrogamingexpo.com ) for the first time this weekend! We will be joining Ben Heck for a pinball panel, as well as having a booth showing some FAST Pinball powered projects by Brian Cox, Mike O'Rourke and myself. We will be also showing our new FAST RGB DMD, FAST Hardware Bundles and some other new stuff.

There are many talks and panels that look great! http://retrogamingexpo.com/schedule.php

Sunday, October 22 @ 1:30 PM - 2:15 PM - "Building and Hacking Pinball with Ben Heckendorn and FAST Pinball"

If you are in Portland this weekend, come to the show! If you are at the show, come and say hi!

Aaron
FAST Pinball

Yep! We were waiting on a restock of FAST Controllers and for the fuss of moving my fam to a new house (not far, just down the road a bit) to die down. That is going to be wrapped up here in a couple weeks. After that madness wraps up we are going to have a small kickoff for the new FAST Pinball Kits (lower 3rd, parts bundles, etc) in November at our space in downtown Gig Harbor. ( 3226 Harborview Dr. Suite 8, Gig Harbor, WA 98332) For those who can't make it out, we will be doing some streaming of kit assembly and answering questions sometime in November at about the same time.

Pretty excited about the kits and bundles. Really looking forward to being moved and be better setup for building pinball. My wife even said that we can host a Pinball Summer Camp next summer, as long as I promise to rent a couple of porta-potties.

Aaron
FAST Pinball

Lol. The porta-potty talk started after we were discussing how killer it would be if one my best friends / new neighbor grilled up some killer eats on his pair of Green Egg grills. All the local brewery / distillery action we can indulge in. And what if... “what if you look into renting a couple portapotties?” suggests my wife. Lol.

But seriously, after Nov. 6, Wolfmarsh has an open invite!

Aaron
FAST Pinball

Wow! The Portland Retro Gaming Expo is off the hook! The venue has been open for 18 minutes and already the booth is flooded with people playing new custom pinball!

If you are in Portland, come out! Games in the FAST Pinball Booth:

- Steampunk Royale by Brian Cox
- Proto1 by Mike O’Rourke
- RollrGirlz by Brian Cox
- Tattoo Mystique by Brian Cox

This is awesome!

Aaron ( and Dave and Brian and Mike)
FAST Pinball

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It's moving weekend! Thank you to everyone for your patience. I am extremely excited to finally have more space to work and not have everything piled on top of everything else.

...and of course it is freezing cold and snowing! What would moving be without some weather awesomeness?!

Aaron
FAST Pinball

Proto1 is a project led by Mike O’Rourke. The Portland Retro Gaming Expo was the first time I got to spend some quality time with it in it’s current glory. I was seriously impressed! The ramp shots were smooth and refined and the rad video content and lighting really felt rich. And the game is barely started!

Finding ways to get other people doing great projects like this is certainly something I would love to help make happen when the time is right.

Not far at all, still in Gig Harbor, Washington. More land to spread out.

Aaron
FAST Pinball

Hey! It is spread across a couple sites at the moment.

fastpinball.com

Anda content staging site we need to button up:

http://fastpinballdev.gdsocial.com/platform/hardware/controllers/fast-nano-controller/

Let me know if you have any other questions!

Aaron
FAST Pinball

I haven’t posted here in a while because life has been so hectic! I did want to share that things around FAST are very much alive and busy. We have been shipping to more counties than before and even had our first lost-in-transit packages... bummer!

Some days it’s takes two trips to get everything into the post office!

Thank you to all our FAST users, new and old (and repeat!). Thank you to everyone sharing their pinball projects (and those working away in their secret labs!) for inspiring and encouraging each other to make great new pinball.

I have finished moving into the new house and I am getting my workspace setup. Excited to get my own personal pinball projects rocking again.

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Sharing some workspace progress pics gives me a little accountability for showing progress.

Ok. Back to work!

Aaron
FAST Pinball

LOL, yeah! The downtown suite is back to being solely an office space with a pinball arcade downstairs... and a bar across the hall... and my favorite pizza spot down the street.

Aaron
FAST Pinball

Two great pinball shows going on this weekend means we cannot physically be at both!

NW Pinball Show (our hometown show)

We will host the latest pinball games from Brian Cox (Jupiter Crush & Steampunk Royale), Mike O'Rourke (Proto1) and more. We will have our new FAST RGB DMD and some other cool pinball projects to check out. Come by and say hello!

Southern-Fried Gaming Expo

Check out the "Make it Your Own: Creating Custom Pinball Games" panel with John Marsh, Wilder Hamm and Scott Danesi. These guys are awesome and so is making pinball. No dumb questions. These guys are really doing it and have experience to share!

For both events events, we are offering discount promo codes at our online store. Enter either NWPAS2018 or SFGE2018 for 10% off your order at fastpinball.com only through the show weekend and while supplies last.

Looking forward to an awesome weekend!

Aaron
FAST Pinball

Hey! WOW! The time has flown by! I am deep in a FAST parts inventory/repair party preparation night. Let me get buttoned up here tonight and I’ll post back an update tomorrow.

Aaron
FAST Pinball

OK! We ended up going to bed way to early last night, I am beat! We have been working to get the workspace all sorted and prepared for the NW Pinball Show planning meeting and repair party we are hosting March 31st. The show meets monthly leading up to the show to make sure all the plans are progressing nicely and that the show is a hit. The repair parties are lead by the local pinball & arcade community to work together to get the games people would bring to the show, into top-notch shape. Nobody is going to fix your game for you but you can learn how to fix it yourself from some of the most knowledgable folks in the region. If anyone would be interested incoming to the meeting/repair party, please PM me for details. Show meeting starts at 11am, follow-up by lunch and the repair party will go until we think we are done.

FAST Status Update

We have been selling the kits and bundles as the default starting point for most new FAST users. Repeat buyers tend to be a mix of bundles plus or minus a part here and there. This is usually due to leftovers from the previous project. As we have been looking at the needs of new FAST users, the effort has been about giving new pinball creators the best starting point they can have. This started with FAST hardware and FAST Protocol to interact with the boards. Then it became bundling the starter kits. Then providing the little things like pin and connectors. The next wave is going to be about setting the users up for success. We have been working with our friends to provide ways to methodically get up and running while ensuring that the foundation of your game is solid as you build upon it. It is always a work in progress, but we are using our NW Pinball Show this year as a milestone to share some things we feel will bring new people into making pinball.

(gotta run to the workspace... will continue this post in a bit!)

Aaron
FAST Pinball

Seeing stream like this make me so happy!

https://www.twitch.tv/dbootynabber

Check out Wilder's Legend of Zelda pin running on FAST!

Aaron
FAST Pinball

Hi! For international orders, please send an email to [email protected] with what you would like and I will generate a paypal invoice.

Thank you for your interest!

Aaron
FAST Pinball

Hey! Sorry I didn't see you message. We have been head down on some fun stuff. I'll collect some info for you later today.

Aaron
FAST Pinball

We at FAST Pinball are so thankful for all the friends we have made in the pinball community! We look forward to sharing some cool stuff with everyone soon!

Have a great and safe thanksgiving!

Aaron
FAST Pinball

Any of the WS2811 or WS2812 types are fine. A lot of guys get them from eBay. If you search "ws2812 diffused" you should get some good options.

Aaron
FAST Pinball