But, but, but...those weren't on the originals!

Great news. Thanks!

Aren't those a Stern product?

each thumbs up we give you is a dollar off the price, right?

Hi Rick! Any ETA on being able to show us any kind of new/updated photos or videos of the game in action?

Thanks!

Rick... Good stuff to hear, but when will I get a registered e-mail regarding this from the distributor I gave 1k to deposit/reserve for MMRLE? I look forward to all your updates and getting to play NIB MMRLE in my house. I believe from when announced way back in this thread, that once WMS(Roger) "signs off" on the MMRLE each deposits/reserve of 1k will be non-refundable? Will this be sometime this month? Thank for any reply.

Thanks. Just curious about seeing a video that shows that some of those things like the castle blow up/reset & flashing lights are tweaked to be more like the original and such.

viper001,

If you are going to quote people get the facts right first. My remark about the candles was in response to the asinine replies about the LED's in the machine and making light of the subject, nothing about build quality but if it makes you feel better I do expect high quality church type candles.

Two things come to mind here:

1 - Stop making this thread about yourself

2 - Reading is fundamental, try it some time.

I see what you did there.

Thanks for pointing that out. Comedy

Out of curiosity how long does it take you to put one of those things together by hand? I would think that would be a looooong and tedious process without some sort of assembly line.

You'd have to ask the guys at Churchill Cabinet (or whatever that place is called) they're the ones doing all the building.

Ah, I was under the impression that Rick was the one doing the prototype since it had to be changed around so many times, and then once the final draft was complete that the plans would be handed over to the manufacturer (Churchill) and they would be doing the mass run. Good to know though.

1A - I have no idea how this is about me at all, I'm not taking your money.
2A - I have bad eyesight as I'm an old guy, I will just wait for the movie if that is OK with you.

That fact is, a bunch of you guys seem to want is for Rick to fire up his assembly line right away. This game is a brand new operating system platform, being designed and built by a factory with very little pinball manufacturing experience. The best thing that could happen is if Rick threw out the Q2 delivery dream and built a set of sample games that he sends out for coin-drop testing. Sample 0001 should go to SS Billiards, 0002 should go to the PHOF, etc, etc. And bunch of them should make the rounds to the spring shows.

You guys seem to see me as the enemy of this project, nothing could be further from the truth. While it is a fact that I don't want a PPS:MM I may be interested if future titles like PPS:Funhouse, etc.

I am all for Rick taking his time and getting it right out of the gate. I'm in no hurry. Another six months or even a year wouldn't bother me so long as the pin is in excellent shape when it arrives.

Reiterating my interest to see this succeed, too. This is mostly because I'd love to see an MBr someday (soonish?). Hope MMr is a great success for Rick.

I guess I'm still not getting the part about doing changes to what Williams approved. Will somebody explain to me how that works.

Thanks. Minor bugs should be addressed. I'm guessing it is a beautiful machine the way it sits right now.

Every time you post, you dig yourself a bigger hole. You have no idea (none of us do) as to what goes on day to day over at Chicago Game. You have no idea if they are close, far, are having issues or not.

Rick stated he has been working on this for YEARS. You know so much that you know exactly where all the samples should go?

Either you know way more about this project than you claim, or you are making up so much stuff it's almost funny. You think they should delay the project why? You say they aren't ready, who are you?

I know Viper, and trust me, he knows what he's talking about. He works in manufacturing for one of the largest companies in the world and knows very much what it takes to get a product from design to doorstep.

Remember how he dogged Wayne incessantly over his "updates" and such? This was because Wayne obviously had no clue about running a factory, and Viper knew that people were throwing their money away on his project. And wouldn't you know it, the project imploded... after about 5 years. OTOH, Rick does know what he's doing, but I agree with Viper - there's still a lot of risk here, so no need to rush. People need to know exactly what they're getting. I also agree there was no way in hell this thing made it this far without WMS basically guaranteed to sign off on it, so that bit of news was really no-news for some of us.

Next bit of big news would be good, high-res video of an entire game, or even better, a prototype on public display. Lots of shows coming up to demo either/or

The Man stated in this very thread that there is exactly one prototype, he even mentioned they have been taking it apart and putting it back together as issues are being worked (which is completely normal BTW). There are no sample games on test locations now. I'm sorry if you don't like my suggestions, I was just thinking of ways to stress test this very new, very untested platform. Even with Lloyd being involved in this product I think he is the best choice to have one of these samples as he actually operates a working arcade, with actual arcade customers, and it would get a good workout. As an added bonus he isn't too far away from CG.

If common sense talk and suggestions like this somehow put me in a hole I will curl up down here quite happily. This is a pinball discussion forum, is it not? I continue to notice that the least-civil people in these threads tend to be the fans/buyers who seem to think such discussion or suggestions are selfish people trying to delay or take away their new toy. I can't speak for everyone but that isn't my intention.

That ought to fill up at least 6 pages on this thread.

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A company builds something for a customer. When the customer comes to see and approve it the process isn't just pass or fail. More often it is approved subject to a "punch" list of details that need to be either completed or improved upon before final shipment. In this case, I'm sure that Roger Sharpe has conditionally approved the MM prototype subject to PPS completing a small punch list.

He did. Rick said that Roger had suggestions and ideas and those were going to be implemented. I don't know how you or your company does things, but at the end of the day all the information we need is going to be out there before we commit our money. I'm not sure what else you think he should do.

You seem to prefer to do things a certain way, but to assume any other way is wrong is where I think the disconnect is.

You may be a manufacturing genius, and you might be 100% right. But look at it from our shoes. We don't know you, you're just another poster on a pinball message board. I do think it was a bit much criticizing when we all know you only have a small fraction of the information on this project. All I know is, I'm going to have all the information I need to either buy or not buy MMLE before my money is committed. Good enough for me.

I would agree there is a disconnect, I apologize for coming off sounding like I know everything to all that I have offended. Aside from my personal experiences in my job I have sat through many seminars at Expo and it kind of sunk in about how a new platform would be prepared for production. A small run of test games would be built ahead of time, taken to local arcades for the general public to pound on them, and then data would be collected on each machine. Of particular interest of course was how much money was in the coin box, but additionally they would take note of problem points on the games. That way a change could be implemented before there were 3000 of them built that would be defective (or have to have parts replaced).

Rick is free to skip this step and everyone with a deposit in is free to still want to buy them regardless. But really, with a new platform it really should be tested. Wayne and Gene didn't have to worry about this because they were building a 100% BOM duplicate, this machine is not the same as the original. Frankly, I'm jealous of the improved sound system and the fact it won't have to drive a high voltage plasma display like mine.

You know, as the owner of an original if I really wanted mine to be worth more money I would be pushing for production as fast as possible. It's good enough, let's crank up that line and churn them out! And then when they hit the market and the bugs and flaws start getting found, and it's reputation starts to drop mine would be worth even more. And with 2 failed attempts to duplicate it we would probably never see another attempt. I feel I need to mention that before the 4th person makes a snide remark related to the fact that I own an original and can't be trusted...

Me too. I gotta make room anyway. Feel free to take your time and make it perfect Rick. I trust you to properly define what "perfect" means. You have certainly done a great job so far.

This is my first NIB and I'm stoked to get it! Can there be an option to have factory installed Cliffy protectors? So that one does not have to mess with the machine at all. Just a thought

If you are speaking Gene and BBB, then it was pretty darn close. He used existing stock of boards which is why the numbers were limited (and why we will probabably never see King Pin). As far as I know, he also rushed to ship the EU games before ROHS kicked in for just that reason.

But today, there is no doubt no one could actually build and sell a remake that was 100% true to the original in every way. Especially when it comes to the electronics. At least, not at a cost that anyone could afford.

Gene's BBB was *almost* 100% the same BOM; he got around RoHS and ASICs by using old-stock boards and shipping to Europe just before RoHS was enforced (hell, people bitch about Jack.. Europe BBB owners got their games a YEAR before Americans did Since the boards had already been made in 1997, he was allowed to ship within the USA no problem. AFAIK, the only BOM differences between IPB and Capcom BBBs are decals for cabinets, different illuminated ramp arrow hardware, the entire coindoor, and the scorecards. The popbumper insert is a different color as well. Everything else is the same - either remanufactured, or old stock. I think they tweaked some parts (the original was still in proto stage) but that's it.

It sounds like the electronics are solid.. 6 months is a good test. Biggest thing now is making sure the parts they get from suppliers are up to snuff. I still remember some years ago when a bad batch of WMS-style pawl/plunger/link assys had their links breaking right and left (not on any game, just replacements). I got some of these and it sucked changing them all back out as they broke. I do not doubt PPS will be heavily testing samples of all parts supplied for this game.

Wayne's game never got built so it's quite irrelevant

This comment is unprofessional and disappointing - nothing Kyle has written deserves a response like this.

I am a little confused why some on here talk as if they know more about Rick's/PPS business then they themselves do. It is pretty evident that this project was started at least a year before the announcement was made. This project has likely been planned and in development for longer then many would think. How does an outsider have a better understanding than PPS on how much progress has been made towards final production at this point? They already have a test machine that got a thumbs up from Sharpe and was performing well enough to gain WMS approval. They seem to be moving full steam ahead with 4-5 months to dial things in.

Yes this is a pinball discussion forum, however, it is not solely 'your' pinball discussion forum. There are other things/topics people want to discuss here other then this over and over again. I see no reason for you to criticize how buyers here act as it is their money and if they are happy with the progress and plan then so be it. You have no solid evidence to demonstrate why the project needs more time other than this is a new platform. We get your point. However, some of us think that due to you have no real clue as to how far along this project really is that you are basing most of your comments on pure speculation. You have explained your position on the subject over and over now I am asking you for a second time to let it go an allow the thread to move in a different direction.

Well we will have to agree to disagree on this one he's taken up about a page of this thread making wild speculation regarding this project and how much time will be needed to complete it. Not based on any knowledge/facts of how long the project has been worked on or even how much headway they have made but upon pure speculation. When that happens a maker has every right to call them out IMO.

Rick if I call you will you tell me what game your building next?
I have "great concerns" as I am trying to figure out where to allocate pin funds and the limited space I have left in my game room.
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Thanks for responding to my idea. I find it refreshing that one can interact so easily with the you. I don't see why people can't just relax and realize that every goal has been met. Enjoy in the idea that this summer will be filled with callouts of MM!

Love it!!

I thought it was harder to find a picture of Lloyd not wearing a uniform of some description (JK)

I just got off the phone with Rick and to my surprise the next title is Viper night drivin.

Tube dancer is smaller.

LTG : )

It does kinda look like me.

What a great day in pinball. thanks Rick !

LTG : )

Lloyd,
Can you come up with a Maytag uniform for pinball expo when you are working on "pinball parts"?

I don't think I'll have the budget for it.

It would be funny.

LTG : )

HI Rick
Thanks for calling me back today especially since I did not even leave a message. I was pleasantly surprised.
I enjoyed your insights into the industry as well as discussing your reasoning behind many of the things you are doing on the project. It sounds like you got everything covered. I can't wait to rescue the damsel in distress. Keep up the good work!!
CB