I usually don't like to add my comments to thread. There's enough people adding their own comments that you don't need someone else doing the same thing. I am seeing a similar thing from a different perspective and I think it's good to see things from a different perspective.
To set some background ... I have done playfield and mechanical restoration but nowadays I seem to be caught in the electronics world and have not touched the mechanical aspect of a pinball machine for about two to three years now.
Quoted from High_End_Pins:The hard part is doing it at a quality level,speed and consistency that can cover overhead and leave something behind to pay the bills.
Reminds me of the old saying: You can have it done fast, properly or cheap ... but you can only have two of them.
My situation is a little different. I don't do what I do to pay the bills. I would like something to help fund the research and development that I already put into things but I started this as a learning and exploratory experience. I never expected to recover my costs for me but with the increased interest it would be nice to get some of it back while helping others. I'm not a charity although sometimes I feel like one.
Quoted from High_End_Pins:That’s a grind and it’s one for me that’s getting a bit harder to handle with the influx of new blood in the hobby. The attention spans and patience are short.
I have seen this. There are some people that want their stuff now and want it for free (or reduced priced). It's only when you start doing things yourself that you realize how much work (time and money) is involved.
I think that a lot of the new blood don't realize that it was only about five years ago that some parts were next to impossible to find. I remember when I got my first Addams Family that had mansion wear and people were talking about the mansion overlay and sanding the inserts to install the overlay. Or magnet burn and how it reduced the value of a machine. Reproduction playfields were impossible to find. There was only the IPB reproduction that was impossible to find. Then CPR had a limited run of 300 playfields. Impossible to get in the waitlist. Nowadays there are Addams Family playfields everywhere bring digitally printed on demand. This has also added to expectations.
From an electronics standpoint Rottendog was the only player in the game. WPC-95 AV boards were impossible to find at one time. People were gutting Congos and NBA Fastbreaks for their AV boards to keep their Medieval Madness running. Nowadays there are many players in the market. This is good. Each manufacturer offers slightly different things so the buyer should be aware of the differences. I believe, however, that most people that fall into the new blood territory don't care and just want their machine working for the lowest cost available. That's almost certainly not the HEP market.
Quoted from High_End_Pins:The work isn’t a problem,quality isn’t a problem but production is.
Same problem. I got boards. I can build them. I can't build them in a reasonable time frame to my designated quality level. In short ... I don't scale. Artisan work never scales.
Quoted from High_End_Pins:Much of that is because games are much rougher and there are so many extras these days that it took something that is already super tedious and slow and made it even more so.
From an electronics standpoint there are still plenty of alkaline damaged boards (akin to rough base game) out there. I stopped repairing those boards because it's just easier to build a new one but from a mechanical aspect it's much harder to just build a new bracket or assembly. Someone more experienced in metal works might disagree but there are few (if any) people who have experience in every aspect that a pinball machine touches to have expertise enough to build their own.
Quoted from High_End_Pins:Turnarounds for things like board repairs and plating are quadruple what they were and unreliable.
My opinion is that it's even harder to find a quality repair technician that does good work that is reliable. I have fixed far too many boards that were worked on by people that should not have gone anywhere near a board (at least not without supervision). The reliable technicians then become swamped and you end up back at the impatient owner camp.
Quoted from High_End_Pins:The solution is ultimately to shrink my backlog and charge more for my services but it takes time even when you know that is the needed direction.
Yep. I'm in exactly the same boat. I have a new board building scheme that I have been thinking of for a while that will help me get my time back - for me. I find I am spending more time for everybody other than me. This is not sustainable. Ultimately there needs to be a balance that is sustainable because if you stop providing your services then EVERYONE loses because your quality restoration services will no longer be available. Nobody wants that. I am sure I can definitely say that everyone wants HEP to continue for many years to come!
Lehigh Valley, PA
Oldebroek
