Cannot wait to see some reveals of the toys and mechs, thunderbird 1 or thunderbird 2 launch scenes involving pinballs oh hell yeah!

Truly amazing to see everything you have already achieved and working towards Mike, everyone says pinball is hard, but you are literally having to build it from the ground up, screws, switches, mechs etc its an amazing feat, cant wait to see the final product and if your plan is still to have the ball able to represent/replicate the Thunderbird 1, 2 and 3 launches from Tracy Island I will happily be a customer in line to support all your efforts.

I remember mike mentioning the pin will have toys/mechs that replicate the thunderbird launches from Tracy island that alone sold this pin to me I cannot wait to see it and be able to order one! Great theme! Sounds like it's shaping up to be a great game! And Mike genuinely seems like a great guy who has come through a lot and accomplished to much truely remarkable.

Works here Mike! Love the way Brains mouth moves very retro! But the text appears to be moving to fast it's almost blurry/hard to read, maybe an upward typewriter kind of scroll or still blocks of the text being shown? just a little feedback as I realise you stated your animators are only playing around.

Yeah that's why I suggested a type writer style delivery for the text or present the text in block segments one screen at a time. Either way I love the retro feel/look to Brains.

Artwork looks GREAT! Hell even the badge on the coin door looks GREAT! Really looking forward to seeing this come together down the home straight, congratulations on all you have achieved Mike truly a huge feat and I wish you nothing but success and look forward to seeing the final product, so I can order one

Awesome design Mike, it's a shame other manufacturers haven't shown the same desire to modernise and update simple areas of a pin, your sling design looks super clean just brilliant!

There are probably ALOT of Williams owners out there that could help you with your storage worry by taking a hundred or so of those topper covers off your hands Mike

Great response Mike love the fact your 100% focused on your first game, but it would be great to see you expand the parts side of your business I have seen your boards and the workmanship and quality is exceptional, I would certainly be in line for any additional/upgraded parts you release down the road, like those LED slingshot boards they are just fantastic!

Let's get this thread back on track. FAB!

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I might be in the minority but I am pretty excited this has a DMD if the sneak peak at the DMD animations is anything to go by then custom dots on this game could be awesome and way better than just clips from the shows loosely tying into modes etc.

If your going to call someone out publically, you should at least be man enough to say why, world is full of tough guys behind keyboards.

Now thst is how you design mechs around your theme!

Take note Stern, that is how you design around your theme and not just design a random game and slap a theme on it!

Theme integration on Thunderbirds is going to be awesome!

This really is a none issue, there are far bigger concerns in the pinball world (non delivered games, unfinished code, poor quality control) than whether or not to use mm or cm.

mm is the universal measurement, for accuracy and it's very simple to convert into cm on the fly, even for those like me who suck at mathematics.

Watching this again, it's just awesome how the mech has been built to replicate the launch sequence from the show!

I know other manufacturers would have just put any old off the shelf part like a VUK and consider it good/close enough, but the TB1 mech is going to look great sync with DMD animations, although after seeing that mech working I now kind of wish it was going to be sync'd with LCD footage.

Cannot wait to see Thunderbird 2 mech

Yeah, I love Sterns games, most my collection is in fact Sterns, but it definitely feels like they design a layout and then assign a theme to it, rather than assigning a theme to a designer and designing around the theme.

I cant recall the last time I saw a mech on a Stern and I instantly thought that is from..######.... The second I saw that video of the TB1 mech, I knew and even said out loud to myself "that's thunderbirds!", awesome mech and its only made me more excited for TB2 launch mech - easily the best launch in the show.

The whole 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... Thunderbirds are go, lends itself pretty well to these mechs offering up a pause to allow for that iconic countdown to playout.

I am not the biggest fan of stop and go play, my current collection shows that, but these mechs look awesome so I don't think I will have much of a problem watching these in action, like you said to start a multiball these will be pretty entertaining and its nice to see mechs being built round a game/theme, not what we have become used to which is all too often a game built and a theme slapped onto it.

Love that artwork, perfectly captures the feel of the show, looks great!

Is it just me or does Virgil and Gordon have there eyes closed on the translite?

Yeah Mike you cant build a pin that's shaping up and as good as this without a distributor in Europe

Homepin #2?

To be totally honest I would buy that in a heartbeat to go with Thunderbirds.

Thank you for that, it's been a long day at work today and that just gave me a good giggle. Very true though can't imagine who thought that horrible screech was a good idea.

Homepin hey Mike any idea when we might get to see the Thunderbird 2 (T2) mech? The video of the T1 mech was awesome man, would love to see the T2 mech up the right way, the little teaser video you did of the mech upside was such a tease.

Awesome thanks for the quick reply Mike, looking forward to this and the other toy/reveals.

Any chance you can tell us what will be represented in the game, you have shown Thunderbird 1 & 2 and mentuioned the mole several times and shown the mech for that, will there be a Thunderbird 3/4/5 mech?

I know you say originally, do you know if this is this still the case Pete?

Thanks Pete hopefully Mike can chime in and confirm. I totally missed the T4 thing which sounds awesome! And last I read I thought the topper was for pre orderers only.

I totally get Mike originally offering pre-order bonuses, but on the other hand prior to and since Mike announced Thunderbirds, there has been multiple pre order pinball companies collapse and ruin the pre-order model.

I am sure it put a lot off from pre ordering and waiting on the side lines, so it would be a shame if all Thunderbirds buyers couldn't get the Thunderbird 5 topper in all its glory and from what I have seen so far I imagine it would be fully interactive as Mike doesn't seem to do things by halves

It would also be more money going to Mike/Homepin which is surely a good thing for Mike and Homepin #2.

Ultimately its a shame a**holes like JPop, SkitB and clusterf**ks like Dutch and Heighway, have potentially lost Mike additional pre-orders he may have got a couple years prior to those above going down in flames and tarnishing the pre order model in this hobby.

And this is no disrespect to Mike as his accomplishments are to be commended, but I know after being extremely lucky to get out unscathed from Jpop and SkitB, it put me off pre ordering again and I did want in on Thunderbirds at the beginning, but my brain was telling my heart "not again".

That's what I was trying to say Pete, the whole pinball industry/pre order model has changed massively, which is why I was asking/hinting if Mike has changed any of his plans since the initial announcement mainly those relating to the pre order exclusives/topper.

If this game continues to impress as it has thus far I would ultimately like to support Mike/Homepin as much as possible, Stern are offering up less and less but charging more and more, i am looking for that company that's offering more to their customers and if that's Mike I'd happily support him with pin purchases, add ins, topper upgrades etc etc

The full game reveal cannot come soon enough for this title, genuinely love what I have seen so far and excited to see more - thunderbird 3 launch, thunderbird 4 lower playfield that someone mentioned above.

And the best part of it all, is seeing a pin being made without every corner being cut, attention to detail like backlit playfield level is so simple but just an awesome little touch.

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Mike someone mentioned TB4 would be represented in a lower playfield and TB5 the topper, have these plans changed or still the same?

Oh now that's just plain teasing!!

All these new posts I was certain the game had been revealed and I was finally going to see the playfield and some gameplay

Mike I have been following your progress for a while now with Thunderbirds, I am not a member of the Aussie Forums so I don't know exactly what has gone on regarding Kaneda and comments you may or may have not have made in or out of any context.

And although I appreciate you don't care what others think, it would probably be beneficial if you set the record straight and put said comments in the correct context they where said in, regardless if people agree or disagree with your views/comments, allowing your potential customers to know exactly what was said gives them the ability to at least forum their opinion on facts and not hearsay.

Let Mike set the record straight on what was said and in what context etc, until then let's get this thread back on topic in.....

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You will all get this thread back on topic..

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Looks promising, packed playfield looks great, cant wait to see this thing flip and see some detailed gameplay.

Photos, videos, reviews, ill take anything at this point

Totally agree that needs to be allowed to play out before the balls are released, when I was watching the video I was watching the DMD and didn't realise at 3 the balls where back in play, it is the most iconic moment in the series/licence so it should be given priority and allowed to play out to full fanfare. Game does look promising, I am certainly going to keep my eye on this as it develops further, so far it looks great.

EDIT: Is Thunderbird 4 represented anywhere??

Seems a licence with wide appeal would be the best idea, Thunderbirds seem to be a pretty big flop, so making the next game a hit is a must surely!?