going to be released mid 2015 in time for the 2015 Thunderbirds release,

good luck homepin

I never got the show, thought it was a bit weird puppets and all, but the vehicles were cool and do agree it could be a cool pin, just like I don't like Metallica music but the pin is an awesome looking machine.

It's just too earlier to cross off and bag it.

Also Homepin has shared with the aussies some info on the innovation with flipper mechs being some of the best in design with roller bearings etc - this could be one hell of a player....

be patient and cast an opinion on completion.

I am a proud aussie but I love many of the american things and have gained many US & Canadian friends through pinball. Please do not lump all of us Aussies into what one aussie says, please.

I was shocked when I read some of the posts and a little embarrassed, but if Mike wants to run his business like that I suppose that is his choice, but not something I would do.

All the best Mike and a kind g'day to all our US & Canadian friends

edit: added Canadian friends as well

Agree

I have bought many pinball things from the US, yes agree if it is a backglass or playfield some people (not main stream pinball businesses) prefer not to send overseas purely on risk of damage or it will cost as much to send as what it costs to buy the item - but that's not being banned just somethings are too painful so you sort of expect it.

let's keep the friendship between countries and move on

Aus has 2 forums running in which Homepin is a member of both

don't mistake Aussie Arcade, which is arcade and pinball
http://www.aussiearcade.com.au/forum.php
site of the rants

with the Pinball dedicated site of Aussie Pinball
http://aussiepinball.com/index.php
AP is a quality site without the rants and focused on restoration
- Jpop has just became a member and getting a few threads going which is a pleasure

nice,

might not have the rants but a quality, helpful and informative site just about pinball

Do agree with a Mad Max pin, would be great, was it well known in the US when it came out, had Tina Turner in it.

Well said Wotto, and for those that don't know Wotto, he is a great ambassador for pinball in general but especially here in Aus having done many many positive things over the years and had his website up for many many years detailing how to restore and perform mods etc as well as helping many people along the way.

We are just trying to save face of Australia instead of looking like a pack of tools because of 1-2 people want to turn on each other. Forums are places to share and enjoy pinball not slag off people for the sack of it.

Like Wotto said back to positive stuff about pinball and thunderbirds.

a few scenes near Cronulla as well

pretty sure it will be a dmd at a guess as he is making a heap of dmd's which was brought up here in another thread a few months back - single colour with various filter options

Homepin's speciality is engineering and maybe not marketing…………. he has passion as like others do - to do things old school - high reliable quality. I ask as many others have done can we let the 2013 sleeping dogs lay and start 2014 fresh. For licensing reasons he can not let much out about the design at this stage but he is aiming high for excellent serviceability and has been in China for a number of weeks investing alot of money in setting up his dream.

Homepin is following a dream just like Gary (Stern), Jack (JJP) and Charlie (Spooky) and others and he has been re-engineering / reproducing pinball control boards (himself) for many many years and he has had close ties with China for part re-production as sure that is where Stern, JJP etc get the boards made now (if not I am sorry for my assumption). Even Apple get most of the parts made in China, as China make high end stuff and it all comes down to what we specify in the design and the controls business owners put in place to ensure a product is top notch and QA stays high every day.

Homepin is opting to produce in China as he knows the industry there well and it is one way to keep the prices down as pinball prices are starting to really rise up alot (Stern - Pro starts at $7k in Aus, JJP starts around the $9k in Aus) and even the Dutch Pinball is $9700 for Aussies not including taxes and freight. Australia's manufacturing rate and then shipping to other countries would kill sales as well as our manufacturing rate is higher than the US and we are slowly loosing manufacturing to having it outsourced to China. In the end pinball machines are made by humans just different races. I doubt many of the Stern employees (apart from the designers) will have pinball machines at home due to the low pay rates and it probably is just a job to many of them, so no real difference apart from keeping the economy in your country which I applaud Stern, JJP, Spooky for doing and sure Homepin would like to do if the manufacturing rate was low enough in Aus.

I agree lets leave the personal stuff behind and start 2014 with a fresh outlook and maybe we start a fresh page without the negative stuff and just stick to facts to inform those that are interested.

end of the day they are getting built there, pinballs will be sold to those wanting them - Happy 2014

nice cars and girls but the top one is a ferrari 355

here is a snap from the video on the website and the page 2 of the brochure may hint to some possible features

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I would have to agree with you that it is a growing trend for people to say what they think but get really upset if it is returned to them

but on PR side of things I just don't see the need for the use of crude words.

my concern is that they are going to be made in house with a table saw and not with a cnc router. Mike assured me it won't be a problem but having been in the game of building cnc's I like the repeated accuracy over hand made - just hit go and stand back.

probably

from my research pinball cabinets have been routed out for the last 25-30 years. Blade flex and worn teeth could result in 1-2mm variances and tight fitting playfields etc. Will watch in interest.

GST is 10%

if that is the case (which I doubt) that would explain delays

apparently when building a product in China, most of the parts have to be made within China and can not be imported into China - meaning many things have to be re-created.

and sadly Mike's wife passed away mid 2015 which would slow you up I am sure.

I am neutral and I am not in on the game but they are 2 facts that have contributed to delays.

might of gone up a little but the $80 hr is a rate of very upper management in the manufacturing industry.

$30-45 per hour + super (9.5%) is the going rate for a skilled & educated specialist in manufacturing unskilled labourer is $22.50 to $30 per hr. but then businesses look at the costs of insurances (workers comp and all business running costs and determine an average hourly rate of $65 per hr on average to cover the cost of the business but not the pay going to the worker)

- but to call in a plumber / builder to build a extension at your house for example etc the going rate is $80-90 per hour but not the manufacturing field.

lol, yes people think that, but I think I have only done that once or twice ever, snags & steaks is the most popular thing on the barbie, lol

as for personalities there is a growing trend of people becoming more arrogant due to over confidence in their field. Being an aussie I get embarrassed for the majority of aussies that are good all round people and are so different to the out spoken ones. Mike made some comments that were not nice and not smart considering the US is most probably the biggest pinball market in the world.

I am pretty sure the pre-order price was $5432.10 (Get it 5-4-3-2-1 take off) with regular price $6k after that but not sure as delays etc.

Just to fill in the gaps Hankin are in Newcastle still, and in the 70's / 80's produced 5 different pinballs and then made cocktail arcade machines. Homepin are now the approved manufacturer of Hankin reproduction cocktail machines keeping the same classic look and design but now with a lcd, under cab lighting with a multigame system in them.

Hankin cocktail arcades were every where in the 80's in Australia and when aussies make a cabinet quite often copy the look of a Hankin.

They are a cool unit

http://modmypin.com/

around $2100 AUD and then he has recently done a few lowboys as well

went off this supplier

http://www.gameroom.com.au/sales

hope the art will be nice on the game compared to the flyers

only these from October 2013

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he is no longer on AP so really the only place he hangs out is on AA, and maybe working on too many other projects detracts the focus on the main project, just hope for the sake of you guys it isn't a failed kickstarter / indiegogo crowd funding type project

Went to Australia's Pinfest today with an open mind, and honestly not much to tell from that that is on Facebook or on this thread.

- common pinball parts are copies of Bally / WMS / Stern mechs but with little tweaks and improvements which is nice to see and granted would take alot of work to create all the dies etc.

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- noticed the flipper mechs are now like the 90's Bally / WMS and not like his first concept

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- the pop bumper is similar to old Stern with a few tweaks but comes with a pcb which is nice the pop bumper body that is closest to the skirt is a clear so gives it a cool nice glow.

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- he had a few various plastic molded parts from pop bumper caps and switch spoons etc as well as clear flipper buttons (able to be lit) - which are different to regular buttons and felt weird as almost leading to a deeper almost v shape - if similar to the ones on Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

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https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/the-hitchhikers-guide-to-the-galaxy

- NOTE: (though I could be wrong) to those wanting replacement parts for other games that China is Metric so all mechs, bolts etc are metric so there could be the possibility of things not perfectly fitting.

- cabinet art was that of previous release so not wowed by it, but the backbox el panel is nice and effective as it wasn't a dark room and stood out, nice work there.

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- the cabinet looks very similar to a Bally / WMS but the backbox seems to have a move additional little 15-25mm peak for half of the top front edge - sure it will link with a topper - just hope there is enough clearance to not smash the glass when folded down for transport.

- I like the cabinet rails as they have a wrap around the front edge
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- backglass / translite - was the word thunderbirds, with I think on memory 5 characters and then the top half of the trans is the island scene in which behind it when the pool opens a rocket is on a mech that rotates around and must be backlit and casts a rocket shadow onto the trans. Sure this will be improved but get the idea.

- speaker panel had 2 large and 2 small speakers and then a colour rgb dmd type screen but they said the resolution will be much better in the future but current was nice. No art on the plain timber panel but apparently coming...

- the coin door was a half size door sitting to the rhs and get that it doesn't have to be a full door but you do get use to a look, sure they will balance it as looks odd to one side.

- as for the playfield - it was a very very bare bare whitewood
- had a pop bumper cluster
- had a mech to the top lhs with a screw drive with a paper / cardboard picture of a pool and it opens and that is when the translite hidden shadow image activates - will be effective once fully completed.
- rhs side upper corner is a ramp - not sure if it lifts up but leading up to the ramp is 3-4 triangle inserts and 3 palms on one side and 2 palms on the other side and these fold down 30-45 degrees from the vertical probably on a launch mode - is effective.

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all photos from forums and facebook - no cameras allowed but in one way good to see some progress.

I do have concerns with Chinese quality, as in made to spec as just from Sids stories sounds like they have lots of dramas and revisions and probably a full time job monitoring this in the future. Other concern is the steel quality as Chinese are well know for blending steels so stainless is not full stainless as the lockdown bar appeared to have some minor rust imperfections / colouring.

As for deadline - finished when it is finished ??????

hope that helps those curious

the one in the photo was a old Homepin concept that I dragged out to confirm that they stuck with a traditional 90's Bally concept though in metric.

to be honest nothing really worth while snapping a photo of - nothing new or exciting

any one know of any well known pinball designers that are an aussie or live in Australia?

not this black sheep

I like to design stuff, but wouldn't put myself into that class

I would honestly like to know who is a famous aussie designer of pinball layouts

Bro do a review at the 1hr, 3min, 30sec point

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