The game looks really well built and the playfield artwork alignment does look a lot better than the prototypes. I've never been a fan of fluorescent plastic protectors and the way they change the whole color scheme of a game. Maybe if they had done blue? Either way, I'm hoping they offer them in clear too.

At the risk of ruffling feathers, I will also point out that I might never get used to the light bleed around the inserts caused by the thick plastic sheet over the whole playfield. I'm hoping it's not as evident in person. I like my gameroom fairly dark, so I suspect it will be pretty visible here. Oh well, much more to like than to dislike and I can't wait to finally have a nice Fathom.

People have been making them like that for many years. I'm pretty sure one of the first companies stopped making them because they broke so easily. Looks like there are still others making them though:

https://www.truecolorprotectors.com/

I suppose they are better than having a solid color that changes the color of the whole plastic, but I much prefer plain old clear protectors. Seems like I'm always in the minority in this thread...these protectors are butt ugly and will instantly come off my game to be replicated in clear and replaced.

Yeah I doubt it. If the games that were for sale here on Pinside at $20-25K US were selling, that might have sparked another 2.0 version at a JJP-like higher price. There is obviously no FOMO demand. I've mentioned it before, but here in the USA there is literally zero buzz for this game or the series ticket outside of this thread. I bring up how great Mermaid looks to my friends and they kind of get a blank stare and say "that's nice" or "yeah I saw it at Expo but didn't play it" then go back to talking about Stern, American, CGC and Spooky.

Don't include me in that "we". I just wanted a brand new Fathom. I plan on this being a keeper and I'm actually glad this didn't turn into a flipper's paradise.

Classics were $9500 AUD originally and up until recently.

Nice lineup!! Congrats!!

The original announcement way back when said they would be building 50 a month. I doubt they are there yet, but it is possible they are up to 15-20 a month in order to complete the run by the end of 2023 including classics?? I'm guessing there are less than 20 Classic Editions total on order based on the fact that only four people on pinside (including me) show it in there collections vs 62 for Mermaid.

Aside from Fathom, I'm not sure I would be in on anything else. Centaur and EBD would be the logical next picks. Centaur plays great, but the art is just not my style. I like the monochrome. Its the fugly faces and stuff... I would love a Centaur layout rethemed as Supersonic!

EBD is a similar feeling Bally layout to Fathom but not as fun IMO, so I would pass on that too. I already have a nice Paragon. Really nice Harlem Globetrotters show up occasionally at reasonable prices around here. I doubt they would do Skateball, but that is a really fun game. I would have to say that my next few choices from that Bally/Stern era would all be Sterns.

The price on the Classic was jacked up to the price of the Mermaids a while back, so not sure there is any point in ordering direct this late in the game. There is little or no markup in the aftermarket on these. The Mermaids show up here for reasonable prices barely more than the original price including the air freight shipping but without the two year wait...

This is a good way to look at it. Not to mention that it don't think they've sold more than 30 Classics at this point including mine. I doubt they will sell many new ones in two weeks either considering basically only people already in on the game know about this development. At most there will be 25-50 more games with the 2.0 software and they will be missing the extra bling.

The upgrade is roughly $1000 US and I am considering it, but mostly from the standpoint of resale value. Mermaid was sold out when I bought a Classic, but I knew Mermaids would be easily available. I chose the Classic route instead for a few reasons. The main reason was that I simply wanted a new Fathom, because the originals are 40+ years old and stupid expensive. Another huge reason is that I hate chrome and MUCH prefer the brushed stainless on the cab and playfield (I might powder coat them anyway). Finally when I ordered, Haggis had already had the sneak peak at the 2.0 software and it definitely was not for me. I'm only interested in the original game and game rules in a brand new machine and gorgeous build.

So the upgrade gets things that I don't want like the 2.0 software and tiny screens in the apron. On the other hand it does give RGB LEDs, five speakers and the RGB displays. The question is whether those will be available only in the 2.0 software or if the RGB support will be extended to the real Classic software? My guess is the RGB LEDs were there but not active in the original Classic software and that will not change. Same with the 5 speakers; will they be all active in the Classic software mode? Are the RGB LEDs and speakers active in the current Classic software mode on Mermaid? If someone talks to Damien they might ask him all these questions. They ignore all of my emails, so I don't even try. You would think they might have emailed me this offer as a Classic buyer. I don't do F@cebook either, so thanks to those who posted the news here.

So back to the dilemma. Is it worth $1000 to upgrade to Classic+? Not even close when you add it all up. Two $25 screens, four speakers, better amp(?), upgraded digital displays, RGB LEDs (that might have already been there on Classic) and flicking a software switch for 2.0 all for $1000. I am not a flipper and plan to keep the game for at least a couple of years. When I go to sell it, will I get more or less than my $1000 back? Looking back, I probably would have gone with this "Premium" version at the beginning and skipped the bling of the Mermaid. $1000 is not a lot of money in the scheme of things, so I am leaning toward upgrading.

3581387384 (resized).png

It says total cost of $13000 AUD for the Classic+. The Classic had already recently gone up in price to equal what the Mermaids cost. So he Classic+ is $1500 AUD more than the Mermaids cost. Seriously people should not be upset that these handful of games will be sold...

I notice an interesting note in the Classic+ listing:
"The Fathom Classic PLUS edition will include free domestic shipping within Australia and free shipping via container to Planetary Pinball Supply in the USA. Please note free shipping to the USA depends on our ability to fill an entire 40-foot container, and alternate shipping arrangements may need to be made, which may include additional costs. Shipping to remote/high-cost destinations within Australia may also incur additional charges."

There was no such note in the Classic listing that I originally bought from and I emailed several times to ask if this was available. I got zero response from Haggis. Hopefully this means that my Classic might be able to get in on this shipping option? Mine will be one of the last games built, so they will be closing up the container either way and sending it off soon after my game is ready. This would definitely be a score for me.

I suspect this will be the plan going forward for Haggis on the next four remakes, so last minute or not, make the course correction now to be consistent across all five games. My guess is they realized they would have sold a lot more Fathoms if they had a three tier system or even a two tier system with the 2.0 software available on both. Going forward it makes sense to do it this way from a sales perspective. Sell two levels of trim with the top level limited in number, but intentionally gimping the available software is just bad mojo from the get go.

They already had made a few games including Metallica, ACDC, Mustang and Star Trek in three tiers. Walking Dead came out after all of these, so this was nothing new or unexpected to have a Premium. And its not like they made extra LEs...

Once again, Iron Man was never an LE. I have no problem with this. In fact I am glad they did this because the Vault Edition is a lot nicer cabinet art and had factory LEDs.

People are making WAY too big a deal out of this. Comparisons to Stern are telling too. This is a startup company that was dealt a serious blow to the nuts by the hard line Covid shutdown in Australia. We are lucky to be receiving games at all rather than trying to collect our deposits back from half way around the world.

There are literally only a handful of Classics and in two weeks they are going to maybe sell a handful more. The Mermaids will always be special with tons of bling that is not on the classic, and not to mention the Classic+ COSTS A LOT MORE than the Mermaids did for a lot less.

Things change, especially in this era. It is worth repeating that Haggis probably realized that the tiers need to be tweaked slightly for the remaining 4 games. If this is what the next 4 games are going to be set up like, why not at least try to fix Fathom before they finish shipping them?

OK things are really looking up at Haggis at this point. For the first time I actually had an email answered!! Not only that all of my questions were clearly covered. The email was answered by a guy named George, so maybe there are some new faces there?

So at this point I am going to upgrade my Classic to a Classic+. The main reason being that they confirmed the container shipping will be available for me. That easily saves me enough money over the air freight to pay for the + upgrade. Since I ordered (however many months/years ago), I've been assuming that my shipping could cost up to $1900 and I never got a reply from them previously. The website didn't say the Classic shipping cost and my original receipt implied the shipping was free! The free part obviously was for the Clan Haggis stuff but it was poorly written and confusing non the less.

Yeah those were basically useless bars that went under the rear of the glass. Overkill found in basically every EM. The plastic strip like in 90s Williams Bally games is used in modern cabinets. I think it looks better.

Pinside_forum_7090241_7 (resized).jpg

Any updates on the knocker situation? Is there a connector somewhere or will a harness have to be built also?

I stopped trying to figure out punkin a while back. Just another colorful character in the pinball world who is entitled to his own opinions and I agree with more than disagree. That said, it did come as a surprise that the outspoken OP in the Mermaid owner's thread is out before even receiving his Mermaid and selling the Celts too. 26 games is a pretty big collection not to be able to make room. He knows what he wants and likes, so this says a more about the Haggis games than the person to me. I'm still patently waiting and plan to follow through and get my game, but frankly seeing this news made me go through yet another round of questioning and doubt of my Haggis purchase.

Wow that keyed shaft is a great idea. I have these on flippers on a couple of Stern games and never saw the keyed shafts before! The precision flippers are awesome and seems like a great upgrade for Haggis Fathom.

I can confirm that they literally ignore emails whether you are a paid customer or not. Can we please stop the doubting on that subject from the home team defenders? I'm not talking about "where's my game" emails either, because I still haven't been asked to pay in full.

I got no receipt when I ordered my game. No email at all from Haggis. Period. I did get an email from paypal or I would have no receipt from the original purchase. Who is Angela?

No, I am responding to you posting ONE POST ABOVE MINE saying that you got receipts for all of your orders. I never did. What is so hard to understand about that exchange? Sheesh.

I was eventually able to log in to the Haggis website months later and get my order number and post it here. Not sure how that fucks anything.

Two years later? I have known all along since before I ordered the game that they weren't answering my emails and their customer support is the worst in the industry and I still ordered because I want a new Fathom. Bad customer service or not, I have always had reasonable confidence that I will eventually get my game and it will be very nice.

I finally got my payment notice! I was literally shocked to see an email from Haggis! They are saying "approximately" 12 weeks from payment to shipping. Just a few days ago I was asking who is Angela and she was the one who emailed me. My payment went through and I got confirmation from my bank earlier today.

My order is for a Classic, so all of the Mermaids must have been paid in full at this point. I doubt there are more than 15 or 20 Classic orders total, so they are getting near the end! I'm going to hold out for container shipping even if it's partial container. I imagine 12 weeks will most likely turn into much longer. I suspect it will be more like 6 months before it ships and another month to get here. So if I don't get it by mid-May, I will start to get upset!

Yeah for the deposits they used credit card, but for the full payment they use the bank transfer to an account in New York. It saves them the 3-4% credit card fee. I just did my payment last week and it did seem really sketchy but it was legit. The people at my bank asked me a bunch of questions before putting it through. The manager himself came out and asked me how well I knew the business it was going to! In the end it all checked out fine and the payment went through to Haggis! The transfer did cost me a $20 service fee from my bank and I spent probably 40 minutes sitting there while it was being processed.

I've been in touch with Haggis since recently paying the remainder of my Fathom. I asked about the shipping and they said today "We are hoping to have a container going to Nevada at the end of January."

I stated before that I will be happy to get my game by May; any sooner will be a bonus! Setting the bar low will hopefully work out. I certainly have games here already that aren't getting enough play and need my attention!

Someone needs to make a set of plastic protectors in clear that are not skeletonized. Those fluorescent protectors are ugly as hell and cause ball traps. Clear protectors would fix both problems. In a perfect world they would be for sale before I get my machine so I don't have to make them myself.

Is not the thickness, it's the centers being cut out so only the edges get colored.

Interesting. Those were made for the original Fathom, but they should probably fit on the Haggis version. Might need some tiny mods or holes widened or something, but it will be worth a shot.

Now that they are getting down to the short strokes on Fathom production, here is a question: has anyone ever seen a Fathom Classic edition? Have they shown one publicly or in private at the factory?

To me this is interesting and not just because I ordered a Classic. Think about a few things. They sold 250 Mermaids and *maybe* 15 or 20 Classics? Do they really want to take the time and money to engineer a new version for only 15 games? I'm not just talking about polished vs brushed cabinet trim metal. The Classic is supposed to have no apron displays and a single display inside the coin door for diagnostics. To me it would be easier and cheaper just to build 15 more Mermaids and not support two separate software sets along with the other mechanical differences.

While I am asking questions, I will also speculate that this logic explains the Classic "Plus" upgrade to the 2.0 software and apron displays that was offered a while back. This cost $1500 AUD, but I'm guessing that the few people who didn't pony up the money for this upgrade will get it anyway for free. Plus upgrade buyers did Haggis a favor if you think about it.

I searched both threads and the internet as a whole. The post said they had 2 Mermaids at the show and nothing about Classics. Not a single picture of a Classic in either thread. Not even in the original announcements or pinballnews. All the pictures were Mermaids and the feature matrix that shows the differences in the models. Even the wayback machine didn't find any.

Just pointing this out in case no one else noticed or in case I am missing something. A few nights ago I had a funny conversation with a pinball friend that went like this:

Friend: "so you have been waiting two years and have paid thousands of dollars for an item that you have never seen a prototype or picture of?"

John: "yes"

Friend: "and you bought the lower version because you didn't want all the bling - especially the shiny metal everywhere?"

John: "yes, that plus I wanted a later machine with the bugs worked out didn't realize it would take this long for them to ship so few games"

Friend: "Have they worked the bugs out?"

John: "No"

Friend: "what if it's cheaper for them to just give those few of you the bling rather than create a tiny run of a different version?

John: "I would have to pay hundreds of additional dollars to powder coat all the metal on the machine to delete that repugnant shiny chrome everywhere"

Friend: "Good luck"

Haha yep! That's basically true for anyone still waiting on their games (minus the powercoat). Who could have known based on the crazy world at the time we bought in? Fortunately I never wanted anything more than a new Fathom. I never had aspirations of flipping the game for profit or I would not have gone with a Classic. Fortunately the people buying Centaurs have 20/20 vision at this point what they are getting into. Buy a gorgeous Centaur and put it in your collection, but don't expect to flip it for more than you paid!