Nothing about buying a pinball machine makes me feel special, but if I want a Limited Edition model of a Theme that I'm willing to pay for ( and the manufacturer is offering), it needs to be limited, hence the designation.....

Exactly. I think that means it has to be whole, or you're right, it doesn't make sense.

Edit:

Right, exactly, it's just what people expect. I get the argument to the contrary, I really do. But I think the words Limited Edition mean something to people, and if you're going to use them then you need to be cognizant of that. However much an alternate model might make sense to you personally.

But like I said, I don't know. That's just what makes sense to me.

Oh, your question has been answered. But you seem to think it will change just because you don't like the answer...

I get you Mark, but this isn't about "entitlement" in pinball, it's about a concept that was designed to allow everyone save realestate in an otherwise crowded space consuming hobby. If I want to save space, and yet are still willing to fork over the money to get my machine how I want it for every tittle produced then great I will spend the money on the "better" art and the beacons etc etc. I would suggest this also would be more lucrative, in the long run, for Highway as suggested by the first 10 machines that were shipped all in SE form. (correct me if I'm mistaken). Now if a artist was commissioned to come up with a cool art package for FT and these orders were given the opportunity to "upgrade", it would not only make an artist more money, but Highway as well. There are arguments both ways on your opinions and there is no need to debate entitlement or what we were all "use too" when we grew up, I just want to dress my one modular machine up the way I want to for every tittle that comes out.....including one of my most important things to me...art work.

Oh I am trying

Using Alien as the example, I wouldn't hold your breath for more ’35th Anniversary Edition’ backglass and sideart panels beyond the 500 sets for the Limited Edition release. Go to the Heighway web site and read for yourself.

http://heighwaypinball.com/Gamenew/

’35th Anniversary Edition’

In 1979, the release of ‘Alien’ made movie history and to celebrate 35 years of cinematic terror, Heighway Pinball will be releasing 500 ’35th Anniversary Edition’ games.
Available now for pre-order, and scheduled for production in September 2015, this special ‘Limited Edition’ game will feature:
◾Black Gloss Cabinet Finish, with Bright Lime Green Powder Coated Metal Trim (including legs)
◾Pinball Topper With Yellow Beacons
◾Exclusive ’35th Anniversary Edition’ Backglass And Sideart (+ Standard Edition Artwork Package Also Included)
◾’35th Anniversary Edition’ Game Plaque With Allocated Number (from 001-500)
◾Fibre Optic Ramp Lighting
◾Shaker Motor
◾Exclusive ’35th Anniversary Edition’ Alien Pinball Goodie Bag, With Magnets, T-Shirts, Posters, Badges + Much More!

On a separate issue I'm curios if Heighway will be selling movie poster light boxes that fit the side art panels and backglass art for the multiple playfield art kits that barcades and consumers will soon begin to accumulate or will they let the third party market have the $$. Would be smart for them to jump on this by the time Alien is released when it starts to become an issue. Say you have 5 playfields and one cabinet, wouldn't you want to display all that expensive artwork some where rather than leave it hidden away in storage?

For example, as for movie poster LED lit light boxes that evenly distribute light, the lighting technology out there right now is pretty cool. youtube video example:

I remember seeing video of the art for the backglass being printed on both sides from Heighway. Hope the sideart panels are printed double sided as well.

Duh.

If you don't like that model, don't buy the LE. The stuff you are proposing isn't what an LE is.

I respect that, and suspect ( highly likely) that Heighway will have other titles I will buy and do the play field swap thing if it's cool. For the record my lineup is of LE and non LE titles, so I'm not bashing either.

But in this case, my AlienLE will remain intact, as the theme and landmark nature of this whole thing is very appealing to me. There has to be a line held somewhere on these designations, I trust Andrew will be respectful of that.

Regardless, I hope we both get what we want.....an awesome machine!!!...mark

Aurich better get busy!

Heads up on this......you can still get original, double sided, 26x42 light box prints of the original movie...I've already bought one, and will put in a light box next to the machine once it arrives....the double sided stuff looks pretty bad ass ( found one for my TAF family values and did the same thing)

Couple of movie poster houses out there...can't remember where I got mine....

Wow! if your willing to pay for it, why not. But you wouldn't be expecting a discount, right? I guess Andrew could subtract from the total number of LE's made and provide an LE kit to convert your SE cabinet to an LE if you were willing to pay the price for the whole LE pin including cabinet but only receive the playfield, some trim, a badge and art to put on your SE cabinet since you say your willing to pay for it. If I were you I would just buy the LE pin and rob the parts you want off it and sell what's left.

I have never seen FTH in LE form. Is there a video demonstrating Heighway's Fiber Optic Ramp Lighting yet?

Sorry to be a noob in this thread but when is the estimated completion date for Alien?

Thank you Yipykya

Andy showed the cab art and some playfield toys for Alien yesterday at the party/factory tour on the strict understanding that we couldn't take photos etc. (But are allowed to talk about it)

I'm sure he'll post something soon but the cab art looks fantastic as do the bumper caps.

Custom made toys rather than bought in ones. Proposed magnet grab toy and other goodies

The team clearly love the theme and are integrating it really well in terms of art and proposed game play.

Not sure what other people have posted yet but I don't want to spoil any surprises and I'm sure Andy will post pics soon

Interesting discussion.

For me personally black is the way to go. Black legs, black cabinet, black top glass trim. Then put Alien in a dark room and enjoy the light show.

Side art just awesome btw. And standard backglass.

On jobbit the sling shot axis I believe are metal on both LE and standard. Also all hobbits come with barrels over the pops I beleve. I will look into that.

I was under the impression that on future games a LE play field kit would be available to previous LE buyers for purchase to install in their LE cabinet. Why can't this happen?

Just a guess but if you could then Heighway Pinball would be doing this:

BECAUSE....gif

So a few here would like to be able to buy an LE kit, right? Well, maybe if there's enough demand they'll sell them (though it'll have to be within the numbers of LE's mentioned so far... in the future they could say 'we're doing 300 LE games and 50 LE kits' or something like that. I doubt it'll happen though, and I don't see why there's so much discussion about it.

Back on topic: hoping to see some first customers games on pictures/video's soon and of course their reviews of Full Throttle.

What? I thought all playfields, standards and LE's were the same? Just cabinet art, and trim will be different. So how would there be an LE playfield?

After the past 75 or so posts I'm so confused about the LE shit. It just truly shows that no matter what, you can't please the Pinside masses. I don't envy Andrew one bit right now.

He said Playfield "KIT"

The only playfield difference between the LE and SE pin is the LE will come with the Fiber Optic Ramp Lighting. No worries though as this can be purchased as an option for the playfield that comes in the SE cabinet.

On FT, the LE ramps are lit - but that's all I could figure out. I opted for the SE, but it would have been handy to see the ramps on the LE somewhere.

no kidding! We get one more option we didn't previously have, but we're mad that we don't have yet another on top.

Last I read the LE Ramps were still being worked on and that's why we haven't seen the Fiber Optic Ramp Lighting as there have been no LE's made in the first small run. I too can't wait to see Heighways version of this Fiber Optic Ramp Lighting as they are all about designing next level goodliness in all their efforts.

I wonder if the ramp lighting is sophisticated enough as to be separated so the different ramps can light up in different colors at the same time to create more depth in the rules and your action choices instead of all the same color at any given time.

We'll said! You buy a heighway LE to have a complete limited edition pin with unique art & a couple of extra hardware features (lighting, topper). An Aliens LE is about having a free standing bad ass limited edition pin. If you dont want that, my underdtanding is everything can be added to your SE except the 'Cab' art. So the term LE playfield kit is not possible. If you don't have room or the $ for a complete LE pin, you simply buy an SE playfield kit & add the LE lighting (2 beacons & fiber optic lighting, & a shaker). Done.
The best part is you will have the Exact same playfield as the LE, no features are deleted (Stern) because you didn't pay Extra for an LE/Premium. What a concept!

Don't forget the Shaker Motor... your going to definitely want one for certain events with this pin!
alienkitten.jpg

Yes! Edited. Thank you

yes I want to be able to buy the PF with all the LE bling installed. Fiber optic lights....powder coated habit trails ect. Ect.

In case anyone is interested and missed the link in the other thread, there's a writeup of Andy's briefing (with no photos, as per Andy's wishes) and other Heighway Pinball news here:

http://pavlovpinball.com/alien-pinball-lastest-news/

If the price is the same as a LE pkg. I guess that's all that matters, or maybe it will a little cheaper cause you'll be installing the extras, & not the factory.

I got back last night from Fri/Sat at the UKPP 2015 and had a great time. I hadn't seen a lot posted here, so I figured I'd throw up a few pics and thoughts. I apologize for the crappy IPhone pics, but it's probably better than nothing for those that couldn't make it to Wales!

First, what a difference a year (and a second screen) makes. Full Throttle was prominently on display in both the regular production (black with silver trim) and prototype (black with red trim). I think the red cabinet with the black trim is the LE package, but it was not in the lineup and I understand they are still working on the ramps which will have Tron LE-like lighting so I'm not positive. After playing it a few dozen times, I can say I think they succeeded in making a widebody that plays as fast as a regular! The game was fun enough for that just one more feeling, but the theme just doesn't grab me. The software seemed much more complete, and they seemed to have a less mechanical issues although I still saw a few airballs (but was told they were switching rubber to fix it), the right flipper sometimes had a delay, the trash-talking figure didn't seem to move on the production game, and I saw two ball hang-ups in the shooter lane which needs to be included in the search for stuck balls. Nothing major, but I see a few tweaks coming.

The optional screen was on the new production model, and made it a lot more fun to play against others and see what was going on as a spectator. If I was buying one, I would add it for sure. The software could still use some cues such as number of players and a better way of viewing scores in multiplayer games, but I'm glad they listened to the feedback. They said in future games the screen might also show additional information, but for now it was just mirroring the in-playfield display. I will say also say it was far-easier to open and fix the stuck balls on the machine using the new glass cartridge system which allows them to fit standard-sized widebody glass so you can still have your PDI. As a bonus, you didn't need nearly as much space between games to remove it since it just lifts up which will be a plus for many. And while folks were worried about it blocking your view, it doesn't and mainly appears big because the cabinet is thicker due to the sliding insert graphics. I notied the corners of the lockdown bar have been rounded more, and it felt pretty good in your hands (although others still said it just wasn't quite right).

As for the show itself, there were probably 100 machines with a good mix of modern machines, although none of the newest Sterns and no Hobbit by JJP (not surprising I guess given it is sponsored by another pinball manufacturer). My only complaint was that at least a quarter were dedicated to the tournament area only and not available for play otherwise, including the newest machine (the Walking Dead). There were very few vendors, but kudos to Pinball Sound for having a great line-up to demo their product.

The highlight of the show was the factory tour led by Andrew himself. It was clear they are serious about gearing up for in-house production to decrease dependencies on vendors and lower costs. They showed us an injection molding machine they bought for making playfield parts and flipper bats, a CNC machine to cut out their own playfields, a paint spray area they are installing to do their own clear coating, and a high-tech canon printer that does direct ink printing of the playfields (8 at a time I think) as well as the translights/sides/plastics. For the demo, they printed a side translight in about 5 minutes, and it looked great. At the time they had row of assembled cabinets and some playfields in mid-installation on the line. One thing I thought was cool is that they claim it takes less than 5 minutes to change games, and there are only three connectors to remove. Another was that the head removes easily and only needs 1 wire and two bolts which is a big plus in the UK where getting games through narrow doors can be an issue. As others have said, they also provided a sneak-preview of what an Aliens kit might look like swapped into the standard game and all I can say now is I want one

Finally, one thing I haven't seen mentioned at all is that due to popular request Heighway is planning on selling a limited edition version of the Bacardi machine they originally made. It was fun and kids had a blast playing it every time I walked by, but I felt it would get old fast for adults. It reminds me of a table game we once had called Boccerball that everyone loved, but after a few minutes moved onto something else. The general consensus was it would be great if you had room for a novelty item, but it was pretty expensive for that market.

Anyway thanks to Andrew and the Heighway Team for a fun weekend and a sneak peek behind the factory scene.

production_color.jpg

possible_le_cabinet.jpg

main_area.jpg

tournament_area.jpg

pinsound_display.jpg

assembly_area.jpg

bacardi_machine.jpg

baffle_ball_poster.jpg

Just have been reading this tread for the first time. Congrats to Heighway pinball for the release of FT. I'm very curious to play it (and Alien, of course).

Any chance that Heighway will show their goods on the Dutch Pinball Open on the 7th and 8th of november?

Agree also that the screen on the backbox is a 100% must have. It was so clear and crisp and made dmd's look so last century.

Congrats! Pics from show and game look awesome. Like the cab sides, and the red trim is definitely snazzy. Can't wait to get a chance to play one. Just glad to see another manufacturer out there finally. A long road for Andrew...but well worth it and the wait. Excited to see Alien...

This weekend was the first time I've seen the games in person. The cabinets look really sharp, familiar pinball lines crossed with an "apple" type modern twist . I must say the red LE cabinet looked absolutely striking up close. Photos really don't seem to do it justice

Also worth noting how pristine the artwork looked when backlit. Whilst not my favourite looking art it's presentation is flawless

Has anyone noticed the quality of the clear coat on the playfield? Just curious as to how it looked & if it has 2 coats on it.
Thanks

Couldn't tell you really. It looked nice and shiny

According to the feature matrix I saw the Standard Hobbits don't have the slingshot axes, or the barrel pops. Which is fine, not criticizing JJP for it. Just curious if there was any word if you could buy those parts as upgrades or not.

Look, I'm not a huge fan of the LE model myself. But if you're going to do it, then make it about a custom art package, and make anything cool that goes with the game itself (fiber optic lights etc) available as an upgrade. That's how I'd do it with my own company, because while I might not be a fan some people are, and it helps fund the games. And it's what Andrew is doing. So I'm personally on board with his strategy, and any other company that does it that way.

I respect that Stern has the Pros at a cheaper cost. But it just sucks when a $5 part like a spinner is taken off to help artificially justify the gap. Gimping the gameplay sucks.

Bottom line: Buy an LE if you love the theme and want to keep the game whole, and presented in it's "coolest" form. But a Standard if you want to play with the game swapping idea, safe in the knowledge that any cool parts from the LE aside from the artwork can be purchased as upgrades, so the gameplay itself will never suffer.

I'm back home from my trip by the way, so I should be around more again. I need to check in with Andrew. I've heard some early reports from the show though, and the feedback on the prototype Alien art that was shown sounds great. Really jealous that people got to see it lit up in person, I've only seen photos myself.

Did they the SE art? Or the LE art?

What they saw was unapproved prototype Standard art.

Ha sorry about that

It certainly put a big smile on my face when they pulled the cover off it!

It did look awesome lit up. Can only imagine how it would look in a dark room

A lot already covered. Some frank, but hopefully positive thoughts from me:

- Back glass is printed perspex, not glass. IMO they need to print glass for the backbox, which the Canon can do (I think). With all this equipment, the potential for custom and bespoke work is tremendous e.g. personalizing artwork or producing stuff third party for others e.g. a perspex side panel was printed in 5 minutes. Really state of the art stuff. I can see lots of potential income streams in addition to the main business, which is important for a startup. Another idea would be (given that using the factory is free) hold pinball tournaments there and get it on TV. Holding the UKPP there was genius.

- Bacardi machine is fun, well-made but too expensive (£1,500 plus 20% UK sales tax and shipping).

- The slide-in side panels on pinball machine are backlit and framed, and look great. Have we ever had lit cabinet side panels before?

- The backbox looks well made and quality. I had been worried it looked 'cheap' in photos as it's so shallow. Similarly, the playfield is quality wood (8 layers?), although I'm worried about how thin it gets where the LCD screen fits, and potential for sinking etc. I'm sure this can be sorted. Same issue for Nemo which I've ordered, and will be interesting to see how they compare.

- For US folks, I wouldn't worry about price too much. Shipping is cheap even for air (approx $500?), and you only have 5% import tax (it's 20%+ in Europe!).

- Alien (a combination game of Alien and Aliens, one of which you choose at the beginning) looked great, and the artwork was dark as you'd hope e.g. the egg image for the backglass, and for the side panels an alien head to the right, with 'Alien' (Aliens font not Alien) to the left. HP have the rights from Fox for the first 3 Alien movies, but 'only' (!) chose the first two.

- A Future Pinball version of Alien has already been made (not quite complete but all the modes and clips). I asked whether they could sell the app in all the usual places and formats. IMO it would grow the market and get 'the younger' interested. This is a huge theme, and it would seem clear that many thousands of machines can be sold.

- IMO Alien should be made ASAP and not delayed by Full Throttle. Alien is where the company's future lies, and many many more sales than Full Throttle.

- Many movie clips (audio and video) are in the game, which creates great atmosphere. Andrew is a big Alien fan and it shows. All the 'good bits' are there, and hearing these audio clips was wonderful; I need to re-watch the movies. For custom molds, we saw an egg (that can be illuminated any colour by the RGBs), alien queen, and (I didn't see this but later tour did) robot sentry guns (from movie deleted scene of course).

- The machines are widebody. Full Throttle is the fastest WB I've played, and I got into it after playing 20 minutes. I find the artwork too generic, and wonder if they should contact a small motorbike firm like Triumph or somesuch and turn it into something rather more special, without becoming 'licensed' in the usual sense. The music is great, and I note the machines have a great 2.1 stereo amp etc.

- IMO Andrew is too optimistic about timings, but this will get made. After WOZ 3 year delay, we all know the score on this time-wise.

- Re the UKPP show: there were way too many tournament machines, over a third the total. As a result, I couldn't play many great games e.g. the only TWD there was in the tournament, and one of the two recent STs! I understand the importance and value of tournaments to the scene, but this was a HUGE disappointment for me, particularly as the tournaments ran the entire day. At least give us ordinary folks a couple of hours to play 'em!

Here's why glass would be a bad idea IMHO: the entire backglass is one sheet, including the speaker panel. Which gives you that cool old school, clean, continuous look, no need for a plastic divider etc. Perspex means it's not difficult to laser cut or route out holes for the speakers and the second (optional) LCD screen. Glass would be a bad material choice for that. As well as being heavier and more fragile.

Actually if you look at it you'll see that's not true, it's a combination of both. What's making you think that is the "I" has the pointed glowing look from Aliens. The rest of the letters are from the first film. The game covers both movies, so where possible I'm bringing in the flavor of both, so it doesn't feel overly dedicated to just one or the other.

If Andrew has one flaw it's that he's too optimistic and excited! He really loves these movies, he really loves pinball, his enthusiasm is great. Alien has taken a lot longer than hoped, and it's not done yet, so yeah, who knows how the timing will go. I wouldn't even guess. But you're right, it will get made, it's real, and I hope that everyone who got to see some early stuff from it is feeling excited themselves now.

I can't show anything from the game myself, but just a reminder what the two film logos look like:

Alien-LB.jpg

aliens-poster-2.jpg

The logo we saw was a hybrid. Mainly the classic ALIEN logo, but with the stylised 'I' from Aliens (and green hued). I thought it was a nice way to reference both movies, and glad it was approved by the licensor

Good work Aurich!

Well it was actually me that came up with the design I original went for the Aliens font spelling out Alien, then decided the Alien font with the Aliens 'I' looked better. We decided to drop the 'Pinball' bit.

I also tried to think of numerous sub titles to use like "Extinction" and "Evolution". In the end though, just like the original movie, less is more and Alien is what we have now.

Logo1-vert.jpg

Glad to see that you dropped the pinball part of the logo. The design is much more effective without that part

Yup! I redrew it, but the original concept was there before I came on board. Not trying to steal credit here, it's hard when you can't really talk about things in depth. It's a great example though of the design philosophy in general was my real point, in that we're trying to bring both films together in the design.

Agreed. Long story there, but I'm much happier with it now. The logo stuff went through a lot of revisions, and then came full circle, and I think in the end it's really the best outcome.

Basically the takeaway is that while I know everyone would love to be playing this game already, the time spend on it has really been about crafting the best outcomes between the design and the license, and while it's been a little slow, the time has also allowed things to improve and get better. Same with the layout of the playfield. It's just the natural incubation process really. It will be a better game for it all.