May need a follow up interview.

I can't even get a response from him on the current allegations. So. Batter up!

Thanks for the backhanded compliment, I'll take it. Yes - I've replaced *missing* brackets and I've welded broken brackets. I've also had Kerry@Mantis and Terry@Pinball Life fabricate new parts for me when something is "unobtainium".

But replacing brackets on home use only games is just something I've never had to do. Let's be honest - Fathom Mermaids aren't going to be hammered for 50,000 plays in an arcade like a TAF or MM back in the day.

Zach at FnO made it sound like he hadn’t received a response in weeks, if not longer. If the sole American distro and likely largest single customer can’t get them on the phone…

Yes, I spoke with Zach this morning about this topic. Once I heard that, it pushed me to send one final message to Damian for comment. I even said, "this is my final attempt..." The lack of communication is one of the biggest "WTF's?!"

I just wish parts were made to survive like they were back in the day. My bank account and downtime tracking would be much happier. Instead I get coil brackets that snap in half... scoops that self destruct in two months due to horrible design choices... Major mechs like venom's ramp that use a piano hinge made of tin foil... subways that tear themself apart because companies try to make stuff cheaper... etc etc etc.

Then there are the electronics that haven't really been tackled yet.. like whitestar audio chip... etc. Plenty of land mines still around, but the hobby contributors are better than ever which is great.

Maybe Damian will respond if you pretend to be interested in a $25,000 (AUD) Orblivion Edition.

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Do we have any info on when the last game exited their facility?

Sounds like Ballypinball got some almost two months ago?

Was this lot 45 days ago by the looks……

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/jaws-by-haggis-pinball/page/164#post-8203990

They could be downsizing to a smaller site, but the chances that Haggis will keep on trading appear pretty slim- from the outside at least

Possible, though signing a new lease costs money also. Or at least you need a bank guarantee.

Maybe his garage or someone happy to “lend” him some space or a cheap sublease? Maybe Ballypinball has a spare corner in the warehouse for him?

Hovercraft or Hydrofoil ?
Getting that old Sinking Feeling...

49fa43fac0f4541885a74ccdb1172d43 (resized).jpg

8c2a1f84b816a9bbbd3f13528b6be809 (resized).jpg

Ah, see so Haggis should come with a disclaimer then. If you have 30+ years in the field, you are good to go! Otherwise, my statement stands.

Closer to Suncoast or Zidware than deep root, in that they managed to keep it going for a while and even coax a handful of games out the door. Also, their "hammer proof" playfields worked out a lot better than Deep Root's "orbiter 1" style lumpfests.

The end result is of course the same.

"Who coulda seen this coming?!"

Remember when people were showing concern about Haggis and a few Aussie's on here absolutely attacked anyone that showed a shred of caution? Yeah, I do too.

Now they've conceded to the far less aggressive stance of speculating if maybe the company is just simply changing locations.

Two car or more modest one car garage?

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If the allegations are true and they're months behind on rent for the place they're vacating, who would rent to them?

Unless they're moving into someone's garage.

You don't need a garage to not produce games and close for good.

Although haggis moving into a smaller facility is the the best case scenario, the likelihood of that happening is extremely low. They still have the empty factory as their registered place of business and address for service on the Australian company register.

I speculate that they closed operations on 30 June 2024, to coincide with the end of the Australian financial year.

To move to a new facility they would typically need a bank guarantee of 3-6 month rent, plus moving costs, plus fitout costs for a new manufacturing facility, plus fitout of office workstations, signage etc....when you start to add up those things it's quite expensive. You also add in the fact that decommissioning the commercial facility they just left isn't cheap either.

Damian is the only one who knows the full picture of what's going on and he isn't communicating with anyone. Realistically no one else would really know about the rental arrears that others mentioned, as landlords don't typically disclose this sort of thing to outside parties

I’d start checking auction sites for liquidated manufacturing equipment

Pinball company in a box! Ready to go! Just waiting on the shelf... just waiting for the great investor to step in and birth it all again

Not far from it, frigging cold and wet. I live about 100km away and thought it was going to snow any moment.

I remember it being the other way around, Didn't see " concern " more like stating the worst and singling people out.
Also If I/we were positive we were seen in a different light, almost like witches.
Still no body knows what is going on? hope to hear soon.

Gilligan, how about you remove all your downvotes in this thread once Haggis goes under.

I do love the positive attitude though! Unfortunately, Damien is a crook.

Thanks for the downvote, now I feel part of the gang.

Side note Question.
Have you ever knocked down all the drop targets on a single ball on your Gottlieb 2001 ?
That's alot of drops.
Cool artwork.

I heard GWJ is having it all packed up and shipped to his place where his whale awaits.

Yes all targets in one ball. Super satisfying ol banger
Down votes are handed out if I don’t agree or see speculative bs. What did you post? nothings ever personal ( mainly )
Was gonna thumbs up for the 2001 notice.

No
Downvotes are for a reason. Join ol Facebook if you can’t handle a thumbs down. Built specially for softies
I wouldn’t call Damien a crook, far from it.
I sure hope they stay afloat.

Fjord pining? I don’t get it? Please 3xplain , please

How then would you characterize accepting centaur deposits when there was no way possible that you were going to be starting construction of them and you were instead using the deposits to fund fathom construction?

Cheers,

I was really hoping for Eight Ball Deluxe as the next game..
Was waiting for Centaurs to start shipping, and maybe jumping in.
Early Solid States are my main Interest in this hobby, so really hate to see a promising company stumble.

Isn't it already available? .... by another aussie company that has been around longer than Haggis (I think?).

edit : Just had a quick search and sorry, is called eight ball fury ... so my mistake. But yes, looks to be in stock for around 12k australian. At least it isnt a preorder

I hate to see a deceiving or misleading company steal $1000’s from Our community. No communication from Haggis must be as enjoyable as the dish itself. (No offense to haggis lovers).

I’ll be lucky to see my Alien topper.

I've personally seen many a business work on this model, some fail, some don't.
My understandings of production are minimal but i think in this instances a combination of discrete and lean manufacturing processes were applied. Then alas throw in a global catastrophe and woooooooaaaaahhhhhh!
The intentions were good and the stoke was/ is real. I am lucky to own both made
machines so far.
I do realise some are still waiting and i don't mean to gloat, but they are unique and enjoyable.

Thought pretty much everyone knew this one.

Man just can't face the music!

We've seen many a pinball business attempt to work on this model. Its most often a failure. Especially when they are making wild claims from the very beginning that were suspect. Covid was the best thing that ever happened to Haggis. They got to ride that excuse for several more years and buy themselves a lot more time and grace from the community. Many of us spotted the eyebrow raising claims from the start, but were shouted down. Then things only got worse after during/after Covid but again people were shouted down because Covid was the perfect excuse for everything. Had Covid not happened, all the things that are playing out now would have happened a year or two ago. Buyers would have been getting antsy much sooner. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Covid made things easier for Haggis, quite the contrary I'm sure, but it also just delayed the inevitable imo. I'm sure some will consider this a hot take, or even just flat wrong, but I disagree. Even while going down in flames Haggis will get to always have the covid excuse to take some of the heat off them. "Haggis could be competing with the likes of Spooky and BOF right now if it wasn't for that pesky Covid" -Haggis copers.

Thats yet another Haggis problem from the start though. Who wants to buy 8 ball deluxe for 17k? Even 8k? Its not hard or expensive to get yourself a nice eight ball deluxe. 8bd really doesn't benefit much from 2.0 code either. The buyer pool shrinks substantially with each release. Fathom almost made sense to remake, centaur less so but you could maybe argue it, after that....it ain't much. This was one of the big flaws with their strategy from the start, it just didn't make sense when you looked slightly beyond the present.

Pinside has always awarded points for "good intentions" even when a pinball startup devolves into a ponzi scheme. "He MEANT to make pinball machines so it's ok that he stole money to try to recapitalize."

What they don't realize is intent doesn't matter. As soon as you start ponzi-ing (taking money from new investors to "pay off" old ones) it's a criminal enterprise.

Classic

Victoria was the most shutdown state in the world. No one could leave their homes, let alone work for a bloody long
time.
Employers still had to pay ALL business outgoings for this period of time including most workers etc.
The government assistance was minimal to say the least and I am thankful I am in
Western Australia ( not gilligans island )
This alone really fxxked them over.
Covid is/ was not an excuse, many lost their livelihood and lives over this idiotic period in history.
Who could have predicted this event and its ramifications?

Pretty sure most of America could continue to work after a short period of time, pending the political view of the states.

So when does the consumer take responsibility for their actions if all this “ ponzu scheme” was known?
Works both ways IMO , just sad for pinball and all involved.

OK and how does this refute anything I said? It doesn't. In fact, I said it made it harder for them so I'm glad you agree with me, maybe there is hope for you after all. I hope you got a big glass of water because you're gonna be having a lot of tough pills to swallow.

Hey I've been quite clear that I agree with you; anybody who sent money to this scam company, ESPECIALLY in the immediate wake of the deep root fiasco, "really shoulda known better." If you couldn't figure out by 2022 that this kinda stuff was a bad bet, you'll never figure it out.

Doesn't change the fact that ponzi is ponzi and nobody who ponzis is free of responsibility for their arguably criminal actions because "they intended to make pinball machines." As soon as you ponzi you are engaging in immoral, shady, and probably criminal behavior.

You aren't smarter than those who got their money stolen, you are just luckier. Someone else's stolen money went to pay for the production of the games that you received. You profited from this ponzi scheme, so...good for you?