Further to what Mike said, though I never liked Thunderbirds much as a kid, it has some absolutely iconic music and sounds. Who wouldn't want to hear "F-A-B" after hitting a jackpot or difficult shot? There's so much stuff that could be lifted directly out of the original series - which had fantastic voice acting, for the most part.

Whilst it might not be widely recognised in the US as Thunderbirds, even younger generations are going to be somewhat familiar with the idea of the marionettes and appreciate them, as Team America was based entirely on Thunderbirds.

As far as the display graphics are concerned, they could easily use a mix of stuff ... modern graphics with video clips, per JJP games and / or high resolution dots (like MMr). Having a few janky looking dot-animations of the marionettes would be fun ... especially as 'taunts' against the player when you fail something, or it's game over (quickly).

A bit like WOZ, I think the theme has the potential to be very popular with young or old, male or female. Despite having no great love for Thunderbirds, as a theme I'm more enthusiastic about this than any other recently released or upcoming KNOWN license.

It did air in the US, I remember watching it as a kid back in the late 60s, early 70s. Probably only aired in cities with more than three TV stations, since it was likely only on independent stations not network affiliates. The new series is available on amazon prime but it does not quite have the same feel, since it is animated and not puppets like it was back in the day. It also looks like the first episode of the original series is on amazon prime (with commercials).

I bet this is going to be the most awesome pinball machine in years!

Yes it was a British tv series, but it definitely was distributed in the USA, mostly to independent tv stations. In those days, this program, even though filmed in 35mm, was distributed to most stations on the smaller, easier to store & project 16mm film. A lot of those stations used Bell & Howell or Eastman Kodak or RCA telecine 16mm projectors. The last time I can remember any of the Gerry Anderson puppet shows being run in my area was 1975. Then, all of a sudden, those shows seemed to vanish from the airwaves here.

I watched the Thunderbirds and Stingray when I was a kid. The pin should be fun.

Fox re-booted Thunderbirds in the 90s on Saturday morning. They shortened them to half an hour and added rock music. I watched them then but had also watched them in the 60s. Originally it was hard to figure out when they were coming on, but usually it was very early Saturday AM. Still my favorite show from then and there was a lot to choose from.

Thunderbirds has been on Saturday mornings here in Australia ever since the sixties

A few years ago a local cable station picked them up and showed the original versions. I watched them then too. I almost bought the box set when I saw it, but it was kind of pricy.

How awesome can this be for pin "content' Great decision to go with this title

Sure beats a lot of the others content we've seen lately IMO.

Where's Panzer....just think of all the toys!

I'd forgotten about Stingray ... I preferred it, as a kid.

Toys? What toys?

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Joe 90

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Supercar.

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I was going to update this thread with a significant number of pictures BUT it seems Pinside has their own reasons for not allowing [img][/img] tags and therefore my post would have been useless (please take note @robin).

I simply don't have the time to convert/upload or whatever I need to do to make pictures visible here - this is only one site of many worldwide that I update and they are all "normal" and allow links to my website.

If anyone is interested in an update or progress please refer to AA (AussieArcade) or facebook.com/HomepinPinball

Can be found here, I was reading this about 10 minutes before getting onto Pinside http://www.aussiearcade.com/showthread.php/59669-TAG-Thunderbirds-Pinball-Parts-updates-ONLY?p=1002648#post1002648

Yeah, OK, I'll do it:

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You just need to drag and drop the pictures into the "attach images" box below the "reply" area to upload them and then hit the little "+" sign on each picture to add them to your post.

Hey Mike thanks for the board for my CV. No one really making these for reversing the motor in CV, White water or Dr Who. One week delivery from down under too! Will install today. Put me down for a Homepin as well like to support the people out there putting their balls on the line to further pinball!

Thanks for putting them up. My point is simple. I usually do up an update for the numerous sites I post on and the update includes links to various pictures. I then simply cut-N-paste this update to each site and it's all done.

For reasons I don't know, this site doesn't allow those links to work so it would require that I spend additional time to fit with this sites requirements. I don't do that just the same as I won't do it for other sites that might also require "different" things.

I do have some time to update things but not additional time to pander to an individual sites "strange" requirements.

I hope that clears the air on the matter.

For those interested in following progress you are far better following facebook.com/HomepinPinball rather than on here.

Thanks for the info Mike, I always forget to check up on HomePin Facebook. Although I follow your page on Facebook I almost never see the posts because Facebook very rarely puts company/page posts onto the news feeds of their followers. Followers have to explicitly check the page or check their 'Pages Feed' in addition to their news feed.

Pinside is like Facebook, which you're already sharing to. You could share to Pinside at the same time that you're sharing to Facebook and already have the image files open ready to drop into Pinside just as you do Facebook.

Inside's image handling might be 'strange' compared to traditional forums which are community run and cannot begin to afford the cost to host large amounts of image assets. But because Pinside takes in money to pay for hosting it can host image assets itself instead of linking to them. While it might be more cumbersome for some people to post images, the benefits are many: images will never disappear due to dead links, ensuring they remain a valuable resource in the future; images can be displayed within Pinside's own image viewer which is optimised for mobile devices (the majority of devices using the web today); images can be rendered as smaller post-friendly versions that are clickable to view high-res originals within the image viewer (everyone who has used forums knows how a large [img] can totally break a page when it is sized too large for the forum layout).

So I'd encourage you to post your images to Pinside. Or at the very least you could post here saying new info is up on Facebook and provide a link. You'll get more people liking your page and remind followers to check in

It's not strange. You literally just drag a picture to a box. The end. Done. It's easier then writing up multiple diatribes about how this site is doing it wrong.

Each to their own, you like it, I don't - simple. I didn't say this site was "doing it wrong" at all - I said it differs from every other site I post on and therefore it is more cumbersome for me to post.

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. Problem is I usually can only update Facebook from my phone and when I am in Hong Kong (which is often but for a short time). Facebook is blocked in mainland China and, although I subscribe to three paid VPN services, it is still very flaky and often just not practical to try and update pictures to FB from the mainland.

I don't have easy access to a PC whilst in HK so doing multiple updates to different sites simply is too complicated for me with my limited time.

You're right, that's a definite dealbreaker. I figured you must be doing this on a PC because it's a lot to do on a mobile device! Kudos to you working within those constraints Mike!

It's also more the norm rather than the exception these days. Drag and drop is much more intuitive, rather than the archaic code tags.

Believe me, this is a tiny problem compared with many other things that just make me shake my head in wonder. The red tape and general obstacles that the Chinese put up really will scare businesses away from here I have no doubt.

If I wasn't so entrenched here in so many ways I would be looking to jump countries that is 100% for certain.

There is no doubt whatsoever that I am the exception rather than the rule!!!

I was simply clarifying things as they are from my perspective which I fully admit is vastly different to almost every other poster here.

Not wonderful news from the Homepin camp

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Sad. Thanks for sharing.

Damn.

Really sad news.

So sorry to hear this. Very sad

Any further news on this pin?
Bump!

Has been 3 years ?
I am sure the people that put the cash up front.....
would also like a professional update and a reply on how this is progressing...

just asking is there a maybe a pic of the proto type or something..

If you guys go on his Facebook page you get a lot more regular updates

I agree 100 %. I have been in on this pin for almost 3 years and would like more regular updates. Mike, has committed to showing something at Pinfest end Sept(Caves Beach Aust.) it would be great to know if this is still on track! I'm attending and would not be impressed if there is nothing significant to show.
Hope your on track Mike. Please provide update soon it would be appreciated.

Well here's another glimpse

Have you emailed Mike to ask him?

Yes many times, over the years.....the response "it will be ready when it's ready" I've heard enough.
Toads, Mike should be emailing customers in advance of Pinfest to let us know where it's at. I should not have to request for update again. Really looking forward to seeing this pin, soon!

Thats pretty kick-ass.

Great to finally see some actual evidence of a pinball machine from Homepin. That backbox looks great. You can also see a little of the translite and is that the playfield propped up against the backbox?TAG_Translite_(resized).pngTAG_Playfield_(resized).png

Holy shit balls

That's a cool effect!

Not to be a Debbie-Downer, but what is the lifespan of that EL paper? Don't they typically dim with time?

Ummm, it is the trans light from a The Getaway

Youll also probably scratch it moving it, etc.

WHO CARES! ITS BLINKY!! Where do I send my deposit? Lol