Spare parts are not an issue any more than any modern game

Hello all. I just yesterday discovered the awesomeness of this platform. Before I dive in and buy one I do have a question. How is the plastic over the screen holding up? Does it get scratched and cloudy over time?

Serious question, not a troll. I'm (for some Weird reason) seriously looking at P3 for real, for the for the first time.

How's the P3 platform been for reliability, compared to the other manufactures?

I know the adage "If it ain't broke, it ain't pinball!". But how broke? . Does it hold up comparably with the Sterns and the JJPs?

Buffalo Billiards in Austin closed.
Not sure if Jesse still frequents Pinside buffaloatx was the manager at Buffalo Billiards and may be willing to discuss it. I ran league events there weekly and Lexy was at least as reliable as the other 15ish pins they had.

Need to get one on location at Pinstack and Nickel City in Austin.

It's strong, easily cleanable or even replaceable. This vid shows how:

We used it in weekly league events for years at Buffalo Billiards in Austin TX. It's extremely serviceable even if something does break. Flipper module is one connector, then slides right out so you can work on it on a bench or swap in a spare if you prefer that route. Computer components are easily accessible in the backbox. Various boards inside the cabinet are easy to get to either through the coin door or with the playfield lifted. Assemblies on the lower playfield are designed to be easily serviced. The various playfield modules are removed easily and placed on a bench if you need access to the bottom side.

It owes me around $28kau, but i flew it in with three modules.

The serviceability of this platform is simply amazing. Well done

I was thinking more what high wear/commonly broken parts
should we have on hand to keep it working with minimal down down time

I'm a little confused about the art packages and the fact that they include a translite (which are also available separately). Isn't the entire "translite" on these an LCD? Or is there actually a physical translite?

I found this:
https://www.multimorphic.com/store/accessories/backbox-display/
Which seems to point to the fact that it is one big LCD, so I'm not sure why you would need a translite? Or did earlier units use a physical translite, and that is why they make these available?

When P3 was new there was no backbox display. Not everyone has upgraded.

But what are the people who have going to do with a signed translight?

https://www.litframes.com/shop/

FOMO sell it to recoup part of the LE cost? LOL

Not for me, i don't do prints as art.

JJP makes promo translites for their games even though the backbox has a backglass with LCD screen. Same idea.

Also, as mentioned, good for early P3 adopters who don’t have the LCD in the backbox.

Backbox lcd is optional and an upgrade. So translites still make sense.

Was optional and an upgrade, it is now standard in every new P3.

Makes sense. Autographed one would be for framing for anyone buying a new system then. Nice that they have that options for the early adopters.

Thanks!

I don't think I will be able to sell games into Australia - it would be much better for everyone involved if an Australian based company took on the Aus distribution, as I wouldn't be in a position to support games that I sold.

My experience with buying two P3s so far has been to order through the MM website and pay the deposit in USD, then later when the game is on the production line pay the balance by a bank SWIFT payment, then arrange freight & shipping with someone like Bruce Thompson at Musson Freight http://www.mussonfreight.com/ (who seems to be the go-to guy for international freight for multiple pinball manufacturers). He'll get it on a boat (or plane!) to an international port near you, at which point a local freight company gets involved to handle the customs and port costs and get it to your door.

I think this would be the same for Australian buyers - one-off orders direct from the manufacturer, which means there's no cost savings in shipping multiple machines at once. An ideal scenario would be for myself or an Australian company to ship over a container load of P3 machines without game modules to distribute throughout Australia and NZ as needed, and keep smaller stock of the game modules or fedex them as required. It'll be a while before I can afford a container load of P3s however

I mean, it's not terrible if you consider it's 2 Premium sterns, but that's still a lot. Will have to mull it over which probably means missing out on any LE's and being further down the line, which further decreases incentive. Tempting, but I might have to cross my fingers for an Australian distributor :-s.

That sounds complicated for somebody who hasn't done any of that before to be starting out with such an expensive purchase (speaking for myself). Helpful to know what's involved though, so I appreciate that. I'll continue contemplating but sadly I think the complexities and costs might just rule me out on this .

Door to door i use Stockwells for my business as well. It's a family business and the owner is a pinball nut as it happens.

https://stockwells.com.au/

For on location play or home play?
Ah https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/multimorphic-p3-club/page/21#post-6798211
umm... sorry; I don't have hands on experience to share for location based P3s.
I'd say you'd probably want at least one lower flipper mech and the associated parts to repair one.
If Weird Al; you're probably going to want parts to repair both upper flipper mechs too.
Outside of that; normal pinball parts is probably all you need.

I bought the agent showdown and I am trying download it on my p3 it have been 2 plus hours and it is still working,I have a strong signal ,I know Gerry is crazy busy and am waiting to hear from him but I thought I would ask here.also same on my computer ,hours and still building .I rebooted my computer and went back to the multimorphic sight and my software says it’s still building,is that possible after restarting my computer!
Thanks

Yes. The build occurs on a server. Not your machine.
Patient is the key

KevInBuffalo I just wanted to let you know that you are 100% responsible for getting me to take a chance on a P3 and order up Weird Al plus Heist. I only got to play a P3 once, at Expo many years ago (before they were shipping even I think) and at the time it just seemed too weird. I honestly (and sadly) ignored them up until now. Weird Al being announced peaked my interest, so I figured I would look for some streams. I found your Heist video, and became seriously intrigued. Your overview vid of the system was great as well, along with the other games. But man that Heist...I kind of fell in love with it and feel bad about sleeping on it so long. Feels really wrong "blind buying" this expensive of a system, and making a sacrifice or two in the collection to do it, but I think it will be worth it. Thanks for the great streams and doing what you do! Hope to flip a few with you some day (come up to MGC!!)!

yes! Ryan, SevenEightyRacer , said and did the same thing. Kevin's videos were a major factor in taking the jump. THen once ryan had it, I played it and was sold on the platform. I dream of making games, but with little kids and projects all over, I had to back burner it...but I still would like to dabble in the game making for the p3! I mean...it's free, how can you not :-p

Yes! I have thought for many years about dabbling with a custom machine. This would make a heck of a platform to do just that! Very excited all around for this one!

Sounds like Kevin needs to be on the payroll!

Sorry not sorry! But that's awesome, it's so great to see the excitement and enthusiasm around the P3--obviously I'm a big fan and am glad more people are jumping in with Weird Al. And think of the cool back catalog of games you haven't played yet!

With all the new folks jumping on board I'm going to be doing a P3 stream tonight (8 eastern, http://www.twitch.tv/buffalopinball). I'll be starting with the Cosmic Cart Racing module and we'll have a chatroom vote to decide which module to switch to for hour two (Heist or Lexy).

Oh yeah....I'm already planning to pick up a CCR and maybe Lexi down the road. There was only so much I could do all at once, LOL! So much easier to swallow the price of a new module in future years than a whole machine though. And the mini-games are really cool too. I feel like I'm discovering a whole new world that I have ignored for way too long!

I've gotta see if I can get on the New Balance street team!

I shaved my head and played better pinball just to be more like Kevin

LOL VERN!

I understand these are insanely heavy, but how much do they weigh without a module in? Does the head come off easily? I have a walkout basement with a hill to the road but still trying to figure out how to move this as Hobbit was almost a bridge to far.

I also watched all your P3 videos this weekend and jumped a P3 this am with Weird Al, Heist and Cosmic Cart
This platform looks sweet

Thanks for watching! Glad they were helpful. More to come

Sorry if I missed it, but can these support a shaker motor?

No. It could be removed but there would be several cables to remove, zip ties to cut, and much de-routing. You would have to be EXTREMELY organized to have a hope of getting them all back into position.

The good news is not only is the upper playfield easy to remove, the monitor for the lower playfield is too. So if weight is your primary concern that's easily solved. If it's the physical space, getting the head through a specific small opening could be a challenge.

So how does the playfield hold up over time...Scratches, cloudiness?

Word is it hold up very well. Also it is very very easy to replace with a new one.

I thought you could.....but the sub hits pretty much feel like a shaker, lol.

the poly carb pf will scratch/scuff, but cleans easily and can even be polished. When the screen is on you don't see much for imperfections. The polycarb could be replaced if you want as well.

So I haven't removed the head on my P3 but Gammagoat took his off when when he moved it into his basement and said it was pretty easy. He shared these photos/instructions in the Buffalo Pinball Discord server and gave me the OK to repost here since he's not on Pinside. Note that they have redesigned some things in the 2022 version of the P3 so things may change. He also has some additional cables in his machine for streaming that you won't see in a stock P3:

Here we go, hinges are easy, 2 carriage bolts, easily accessed.

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The bunches of cables.

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The one on the right side is power. It goes to this plug.

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Here are the rest.

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Then USB, Ethernet and HDMI.

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Finally, 2 screw terminals for the sub

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Has anyone bought replacement plastic playfields cut to size online before and can recommend a site? Cheapest I've found so far is $70 a sheet cut to size after shipping.

I think Multimorphic used to have them on their site. I wonder if they will add back. I think a replacement was 30 bucks

I asked about two weeks ago and they didn't have any cut to size available then. Probably ramping up for Weird Al production.

How many P3's have been sold? Just wondering how big the user base is.

At least 227LE in the past two days. If you extrapolate that out over the ten years or so they have been around that's about 414,275 Weird Al's Museum of Natural Hilarity

Hah! Based on my invoice number, assuming quite a few of those were for parts or extra game kits - there’s a few P3 platforms out there. Excited to join the club!