Narrow door doesn't worry me ... but aesthetically it needs to be centered, and the plate looks bad.
Remember ... pinballers always say they want something different. But really, they don't. 
rd
(Topic ID: 172723)
Linked Games
Thunderbirds
Homepin, 2018
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5 months later
Quoted from Homepin:They are made to the EXACT specifications of the original Williams ones - EXACT!
Pop some in the next Hankin container back to Aussie ... I need two of them!
You'll soon sell them back in Aussie ... half of the old Williams ones are either busted up or missing.
Dave.
1 month later
Quoted from Homepin:I wonder if Stern knows they have posted me on their Facebook page?? LOL
Nice one.
American Pool in Hong Kong is cool .. been there a few times. I've stayed around the corner at the Harbour Grand a few times. Nice hotel for a good deal, usually ... great view of the city from the pool up on the roof.
rd
2 weeks later
Quoted from PinMonk:I guess it's not too late to change heretofore-unknown-outside-Australia mm tradition, such as it seems to be. Homepin can lead the way with messages in cm!
MM is used world wide. I hardly ever hear anyone say "centimetre".
All through Asia, everything is said "mm" ... "1400 m m".
Children in school are taught in CM and MM but MM is definitely the measurement of choice out in the workplace.
rd
3 weeks later
Quoted from o-din:My digital camera bends everything to hell. How come that never happened when we used real film?
Because "real" cameras traditionally used 35mm lenses.
Any focal length less than 35mm will "fisheye" the picture. A proper "fisheye" lens is around 10-15mm. They round the edges to an extreme degree, like in the picture below.
They use 28mm -24mm on a lot of the smaller digital cameras to get a more wide angle picture ... problem is, you end up with some line distortion, as per Mikes picture.
rd
Quoted from kvan99:So this is going to be the first "real" sub $4k pinball game since I don't remember when. I can't wait to see the pf.
It's going to be very competitively priced ... but not quite that competitive. 
rd
Quoted from RGR:Regardless of price it will shit on games in terms of innovative mechanical design and maintenance issues. In terms of game play it def wont be worse than most things that have come out recently.
Agreed ... Mike is using BW style parts, and proper dedicated driver boards (no PC!) so I'm sure it will prove to be a reliable platform.
Spooky also went down the same path ... mostly BW repro parts and their own CPU/driver board. And that's proven to be stable and reliable as well.
rd
Quoted from RGR:Dave tell me your getting Houdini
Not at this stage. Played it, plays ok.
One can only buy so many pins.
rd
4 weeks later
Quoted from solarvalue:Your wish is Mike's command:
"Our stainless steel playfield prop. It supports both sides of the playfield so no twisting!"
The only problem I see with that is some dork shorting out their coils with it and taking out the transistors...
Quoted from solarvalue:They already have this according to the flyer: "passive ball stop (prevents damage when lifting the playfield)"
That was Pinball 2000s only redeeming factor!
I was very surprised that others didn't reuse this simple idea ... probably a 50c piece of metal and a nut and bolt.
Nice work Mike!
rd
My congrats to Mike and the team ... all the years of hard work are coming to fruition!
I look forward to seeing some Tracy Island magic in NZ soon.
rd
2 weeks later
Quoted from o-din:I would like to have a few acres there myself, then I could feel right at home next time I'm down under.
Yep O-din old chum, you drink enough Jack Daniels a week to earn honorary Bogan status. 
rd
Quoted from jlm33:Can I qualify too with red wine and Brandy?
No way!
That's way too fancy-pants for Bogan status.
True bogans drink:
Jack Daniels
Jim Beam
Cheap generic beer (lots of it)
Then drive drunk to the "bottle-o" for more booze! Rinse and repeat!
rd
Quoted from o-din:Maybe by the end of the weekend an advanced player might actually try it.
RGR (aka Richard Rhodes ex #1 Aussie player) has taken some video of him playing it on his private Facebook page. I'm sure he will post it here in the next day or so.
rd
Quoted from o-din:Well, you know me Dave. I'm never in that much a hurry. I'm just happy for the scraps.
You're always in a hurry for another Jack and coke!!
I'll be at your place in 3 weeks, I'll bring some jack.
rd
Quoted from Aurich:Wut, how long are you in town for?
Monday 23rd for a couple of weeks. I'll bang you a PM.
rd
1 week later
Quoted from lemonski:Since you said "a plane made in the last decade..[]..all use pc “components” and Linux", which I take it includes any plane one would commonly fly on, if I pull out all the critical avionics of a Boeing or Airbus, I would find lots of PC components and Linux?
Lucky you don't fly on those planes from the 80s, I heard they ran on ZX81s with the 16k memory packs!
Took about an hour to upload the flight plan on the tape drive. And god forbid if you tapped the memory pack.
rd
Quoted from lemonski:I prefer to fly Apple II airlines myself. I hear they have 40x40 instrumentation for the pilots, in 16 different colours.
Colours??? Phhhzzzt!!
rd
1 month later
Quoted from Gamesmart:mike from home pin makes a alias account on aussie arcade to attack the admin and gets exposed
Link? I can’t see anything there ...
rd
There are 1b plus people in China ... I think they can absorb as many pinball machines as the current manufacturers can produce.
The problem is, nobody in mainland China has any idea what a pinball machine is. They don’t exist there, outside of a couple of expat bars (foreigners bars) Mike says the Chinese like the machines when they are introduced to them and shown how to work them.
If someone (be it Mike or Stern, more likely Mike as he lives there) can get pinball accepted by the mainstream population (maybe with a chinese pop star licence and endorsement) then they will be opening the door to a pile of cash.
rd
2 months later
Cabinet build quality is exceptional.
Cabinet decals have a slight texture to them.
A2845A52-04F9-45EB-8C33-38645E076024 (resized).jpeg
Metal leg protectors. Nice.
FE0CC4B4-0E44-4A4F-B249-AA3DEAD4F3FA (resized).jpeg
Edges on the front of the head are gloss black. Nice.
The backglass is one piece printed plexiglass.
C7239A14-BC60-458D-9C25-2891CCAD72D5 (resized).jpeg
Check out the Corner brackets in the head box. Stainless! This ain’t gonna come apart. Head is secured with 2x bolts, just like the old Ballys and Sterns from the 70s/80s.
4F80A94C-3C70-49DA-991D-3861ADFD3B68 (resized).jpeg
The DMD/speaker panel is hinged, sorta like some Segas - but way better, this has huge commercial kitchen type hinges on it.
D9352E9B-6D7C-4ADA-9CD6-E2AE46B77426 (resized).jpeg
77E4C862-5344-4A20-B6D3-ACDD2C977722 (resized).jpeg
Leg levellers have rubber feet on them. Look like they’d take 1000kgs of weight! Real heavy duty.
1A4335F9-50D1-4662-AB6E-ED41F3DDB0F9 (resized).jpeg
This one has the smaller coin door. Inside the door is a cool quality made metal coin box, secured with a little padlock! Ready to take money.
3DD5E7E9-508A-439F-8342-E680E44EE64C (resized).jpeg
Playfield has a plastic protective covering on it for shipping. Looks like it needs to be removed before playing. Good colour on the PF.
D2D29EE9-1DA1-4C02-AD06-B5F587236D03 (resized).jpeg
rd
Quoted from Jvspin:Fantastic! They don't build'em like that anymore. Good to see Homepin putting the quality back in.
Relays are where it’s at.
rd
Quoted from Shapeshifter:Look forward to gameplay reviews
Quoted from oldskool1969:C,mon Dave. Havent you played it yet
Simple answer: no.
Busy preparing my collection for Pincade next weekend. 130-150 people will be descending on my house.
Did 12 hours straight on Friday.
Did 16 hours yesterday.
Done 11 hours already today, with more to come.
It’s hard being the force of one ... but it’ll all get done.
rd
Quoted from FalconPunch:Lies.
I Have seen your child labor pics
Yes, I had to call in the troop.
Unfortunately the troop lasts about 20 minutes at a time before getting bored and goes back to doing her homework lol
rd
Quoted from swinks:Here is Aus it sometimes takes 7 - 10 days for goods to get to you so doesn't leave people much time if they still have to remove parts.
Well, two guys here are waiting for Stern Node boards and after 3 months - nothing.
rd
Quoted from o-din:I'll pick those up and put them in a shipping container with the rest of my junk. They will probably still arrive faster.
Just drop my Stars off at the shipping depot, and the nose boards can go inside!
Two birds with one stone!
rd
Added over 6 years ago: “Node boards!”
Quoted from PopBumperPete:not all of us can expect personal service calls from Mike
He was at my house last night.
Seriously, you will get personal service from him. I’ve bought his replacement boards for years, any issues you have, you’ll generally get a reply to your email within minutes (not months...).
I clarified how the code update will work last night with him.
Basically, the game is going to ship with complete code. In the case of an update, he will send you a plug in module that simply plugs into the MPU (at no charge to you) and you send the old one back to him. Same will apply for any replacement parts. You’ll only send the old parts back if it’s reusable of course (like the module)
rd
Quoted from o-din:Rotordave, possibly the only guy on this website that got his Christmas presents and didn't open them until New Years because he was a "tad busy".
Honestly, I still haven’t had a chance to play it. There are still 100+ people at my house and I’m running 3x competitions simultaneously.
It’s f**king insannnnnneeeee!!
Mike is here, I have talked to him on and off through the day.
rd
Remember when Thunderbird 2 comes out of the mountain, and all the trees fold back?
The pin does it too ....
rd
Quoted from PopBumperPete:let us know when you have a chance to look at the audits, like to know how many games have been played over the weekend
I’ve left that house now for a week ...
Dunno what the audits are, but I can tell you that it was played non stop 9am to 10pm and I didn’t see it miss a beat. Always someone playing it.
A few things Mike said:
- the centre ramp will be a little lower and clear plastic. The one fitted is a prototype.
- they forgot to add the palm trees on Tracey Island up the back
I had a couple of games, as did others. We had a few suggestions on rule improvements (little stuff) and Mike was open to making the changes.
Overall, the machine proved to be reliable and certainly looks the goods. I suggested the white apron may look better in blue to match the wireforms ... YMMV
rd
Quoted from oldskool1969:I appreciate the vids, But how does it play?
Some feedback from some players at Pincade over the weekend (cut from the AA Pincade thread)
NICKSFIGURES: Thunderbirds was very cool, superb build quality , amazing artwork, and fun to play. I am hoping to aquire one to go with my other sci-fi pins. Nice one
FAIRDINKUMDAN: Have to agree. It looks really well made and a lot of thought put into it to get it this far. Very impressed with it, even if I sucked at it. Played the hell out of it and it had some nice modes to go after. The only thing I'd change is the plastic lockdown bar. I think that my playing will end up breaking that thing. Thanks Mike for bringing it to Pincade for all to enjoy.
Yes, it has an ABS lock bar epoxied to a steel lock mech. Same construction as a WPC bar (except the ABS top part) Most people didn't even notice, it looked like a black textured lock bar. It was thick as hell, I can't see it ever breaking. Mike had discussed before, the metal lockbar top was one thing the chinese couldn't get right. Personally I don't have an issue with it.
rd
2 weeks later
Quoted from Toads:Just going from memory that's where the balls lock for multiball.
That’s correct. They just roll down the ramp and roll down. Works fine.
Good to see Mikes improvements as per above. Him sending it to NZ was worthwhile.
rd
I don’t think Mike is going for the players market.
If you compare Thunderbirds gameplay to say TWD, you’re going to be pretty disappointed. It isn’t that.
However ... if you are trying to introduce pinball to a country of 1.5 BILLLLLLION people, 1.49999B of whom have never seen a pinball machine before, then a more simple ruleset is the way to go.
That’s the big picture here ... selling this game to the chinese - as well as the western market.
I talked with Mike about retheming this layout for the Chinese market. Maybe a chinese pop star or something relevant that their market. The actual machine is solid, and well built - the theme can be anything, just draw up some new artwork.
rd
Quoted from grimnim:is that for real?
that is tidy AF
For a 1970s EM.
Hopefully you picked up on the joke.
rd
2 months later
That was done on some 80s Ballys and some Sys11s as well. The Banzai Run I’m currently shopping up has it.
rd
There’s some TAG footage in this video some guys shot at my place last month.
As I said in the thread, they played TAG a lot ... the most of any pin there (that I saw)
Whether the guy liked the theme or the game, I’m not sure as I left them to do their thing, I was busy ... so I didn’t ask them.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/kiwi-arcades-video-of-the-rd-arcade
rd
2 weeks later
Quoted from Frogman:I own a Houdini and the flipper settings were too strong so I had to dial them back. I have 220amps in my basement.
220 amps!
Do you live in a power station?
rd
Quoted from Micky:The machines are not being made in Australia....
And even if they were, all the parts would have to be shipped from the USA.
And anything custom made in small runs would likely be hundreds of dollars per unit.
Just the reality of living down this neck of the woods.
rd
1 week later
Quoted from wiredoug:from what i have seen thats a myth
Yep, it’s overstated now.
It used to be the case.
I started dealing with Chinese furniture factories in 2003. I didn’t want to import stuff, but I had to, to compete with my opposition.
As time went on, the labour force became better skilled, and as they did, they wanted more money. By the time I finished with my stores in 2012, the factories couldn’t get any staff to work in them! In a country of 1.3b people.
The staff get up-skilled and move up to better jobs. The unskilled labourers didn’t want to leave their villages 100s of miles away. So there were big delays as the factory couldn’t make enough furniture.
Exactly the same thing happened in Malaysia before that. That used to be a cheap place to build furniture, not any more.
Back in 2004 when I went to Shanghai for thwas first time, the dudes were spraying bedroom furniture with car laquer in a big shed, no mask, nothing. 5 years later they had to have proper booths installed.
I always remember back in 2004 seeing a dude with a push bike, with like 6 queen size mattresses on the large carrier at the back, riding them down the road. Looked like a recipe for disaster ...
rd
2 weeks later
Quoted from Tigers2017:I would have loved a clear coat upgrade option but will sort that it out in Australia
You won’t want to do that. It’s got a plastic playfield.
And why’d you want to do it anyway? When you buy a new car do you take it to be re-cleared?
Anyway - I meant to share these pics ages ago.
TAG has left the house and gone to Australia to be used as a demo machine. It left a few weeks ago.
When I was packaging it up, I took some pics of the cool wheeled PF slides. A big upgrade on the norm. Playfield slides in and out nicely.
rd
912AB020-104C-4892-9F4A-3B0B79F9D395 (resized).jpeg
CFEE9F2D-BD81-4F8E-96A3-DC85306FDF7F (resized).jpeg
Quoted from Tigers2017:Will order a spare protector with art
Nope - don’t need to do that either. (Don’t know if they’re changeable anyway...)
Just plug the thing in
- play it
- Clean it every couple of months with Simple Green
- Clean the balls and replace them when they look crappy.
- play it some more
Easy peasy. Pinball is easy. Apply the KISS principle. Don’t stress over it.
Enjoy your new game.
rd
Quoted from ausretrogamer:Whoa, use Simple Green to clean machine - thank you for the tip!
Simple Green is the shit.
Chews through the ball trails and ball dust.
I mix it maybe 1/3rd SG concentrate and 2/3 water.
rd
Quoted from ausretrogamer:https://www.bunnings.com.au/simple-green-1l-green-concentrate-all-purpose-cleaner_p4470509
Just a noob question (sorry), do you spray it on direct or on a cloth?
That’s the stuff!
Mix it in a spray bottle. Spray her on, wipe her off with a nice microfibre towel. Grab a bunch of those while you’re down at Bunnings.
Don’t forget your Bunnings Snag.
rd
F972F140-54CB-4292-8B06-1FE7EF903A21 (resized).jpegThe rest of the world scratches their heads and wonders, “what the f**k is a Bunnings snag?”
Haha
rd
Quoted from robm:Its an Aus/NZ institution, thats all they need to know. You can't explain something that good.
And you can pick up hardware supplies at the same time.
What a win win!
rd
Quoted from Alby:Better players than you an myself have said that shots are tight and brick . Everyone must be wrong and you must be right .
I don’t think good players would say that the shots brick. Yes, they are tighter .. but so are a lot of the newer games.
I played Houdini for half an hour yesterday (2nd time - first time was TPF 2 years ago) and the shots are very findable. I put up a million points second game.
I’m not really a fan of Balcers previous games, but I like Houdini.
rd
Quoted from vicjw66:I trust RotorDave's opinion. He had the game for weeks, and danced around his opinion of gameplay
Thanks for the trust.
I did sort of report on that, a while back.
Quoted from rotordave:I don’t think Mike is going for the players market.
If you compare Thunderbirds gameplay to say TWD, you’re going to be pretty disappointed. It isn’t that.
However ... if you are trying to introduce pinball to a country of 1.5 BILLLLLLION people, 1.49999B of whom have never seen a pinball machine before, then a more simple ruleset is the way to go.
That’s the big picture here ... selling this game to the chinese - as well as the western market.
I talked with Mike about retheming this layout for the Chinese market. Maybe a chinese pop star or something relevant that their market. The actual machine is solid, and well built - the theme can be anything, just draw up some new artwork.
rd
Thunderbirds is more a “Jetsons” sort of game, play wise. Nothing more, nothing less. A good game for a family or beginners, the same market that Jetsons was designed for by The Pinball Company.
The quality of the machine is really good, as you have seen in the photos and reports from me and others.
If you are a competitive player, you won’t be buying TAG. You won’t be seeing it in A bank of PAPA next year. That’s not what it’s for. But if you’re mom and pop looking for a reliable pin for your kids to play on, it may be one you’d consider.
rd
2 months later
Quoted from vicjw66:Sorry to be so harsh, but there is no way to sugar coat just how awful this game is even though Rotordave tried so unconvincingly to do so.
I don’t think that’s fair at all.
Here’s a post I made SIX MONTHS AGO when the game was here.
Quoted from rotordave:I don’t think Mike is going for the players market.
If you compare Thunderbirds gameplay to say TWD, you’re going to be pretty disappointed. It isn’t that.
I can’t see how anyone could say that sugarcoated anything? Plain as day.
So, again, (and again) I’ll say the Pinside crew is not the target market for this machine.
Nobody on Pinside is going to buy this machine when you can get a Stern Pro for a similar price.
Gameplay wise, they’re not in the same league, and nobody thinks (or has ever said) any different.
I’m sorry if you didn’t pick that up in what I posted. Even though I said it a few times.
rd
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