I was thinking I would take the slippers off to preserve them

It would be cool if JJP just included the standard ones in the coinbox. Just in case...
After all, I am going to "shuffle ball change" those 'slipper-flippers' into the ground, with some new widebody multiball nirvana!
And I'm gonna need a second pair...

Come on,Those slipper flippers look cool,they don't look out of place at all.
Now NimblePin there may be a problem with your latest avatar,I can't quite figure it out yet,but something just looks out of place !!

Now I definitely agree with you there. Not really liking the look of those and I'm a girlie girl. Its a bit to fluffy looking on a pin for me anyway. Ruby flippers would be cool. Like you said, its a wait and see. We just might like it when the whole package comes together...

SMT would have been the better choice in the long run. It's easier for you guys to do it this way now, but it's not in the greater interest of a better product. Serviceability is just an excuse to take the easy road in inital development.

Assuming you aren't willing to make any innovation in the control functions of a pinball machine, the least you can do is bring the component technology into this century (literally). With the whopping 1 year (initial) warranty you guys offer on your work, an operator would be insane to not have a spare board on hand for swap out to get his machine back and running and earning in the field.

....this assuming your customers are actually operators at the price point of your machine, that is.

Good point, but I always though of SMT as more reliable than the old components? Note that I'm not technically schooled - it's just my assumption.

Also, I'm wondering if SMT wouldn't be much cheaper to manufacture? This could allow a service person to simply swap out boards - especially if some kind of export-import option (via usb) would allow transfer of settings/earnings/score data.

Final question, are all chips gonna be socketed in the final product (as seen on the photo) or is that just because these boards are your testing boards?

That's a cool figure/doll/statue....creepy....but cool.

Matt was an excellent pick up for JJP. I have a few of his mods for SM & POTC.

Looks like a chewed piece of Bubble Gum stock on the flippers.. They should just make a flipper mold and make the flipper plastic the same color with sparkles injected into the flipper mold

+1 to that. Those tree pop caps need a bit of work too. I hope they get some more love.. ie detail (Twisted bark) and paint. Overall great though.

woz = bad ass

lol.gif

I agree.

i attended the JJP booth at WOZ fest in Chesterton IN last weekend and i saw the flippers at the show they look cool and they would look good the same ruby red color as the shoes.
Pincades (will be the chicagoland distributor)
JT

Some good, easy to understand pros and cons listed on wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface-mount_technology

SMDs are better for the consumer as an end product. Through hole is easier, in terms of development and initial production for the producer.

+1 to all the slipper/flipper criticisms.

The idea is cool... might have stumbled a bit on execution.

I still have to throw it out there that we are only seeing 8-10% of what the ACTUAL game is going to be!
He just might mold the entire flipper out of the same sparkly red.
They haven't really even set up shop yet.
March release...
I think they can still address a bunch of things from now until then.

I really disagree on this.
Serviceability is critical in pinball machines. We're not building something like a DVD player that will be used for a few years then replaced with a new one. We're building a pinball machine, which will be used for decades and will need repairs over time. With throughhole parts, anyone with a soldering iron and a bit of skill can replace parts. Switching to SMT will bring repairing the boards out of reach of a large portion (majority even?) of owners and operators. A machine using surface mount parts might be a deal-breaker for me, honestly, because I would be buying something I couldn't repair, and I'm not really comfortable with that.

And - as far as I know, SMT is cheaper to produce, and allows higher pin densities (which is why it's needed for many modern devices), but is no more reliable.
I'm not sure I like their choice of using sockets for all the IC's - often sockets are less reliable than the IC you put in them. You should only use sockets for ICs that are expected to be at a risk of getting zotted due to being connected to outside electronics (like U20 on WPC pins)

They keep telling us that. They are not going to show their hand this earily.

+1

People are scared of what they don't know. Others will always take advantage of that. I see no difference in this senario.

Hmm... those DIP sockets aren't cheap, oftentimes even more then the ICs you stick in them. That every single IC on the PCB is socketed really tells me they're making serviceability a priority at the expense of higher production costs.

Of all the advantages in SMT, they're virtually all related to cheaper production. I also don't know why through-hole is less expensive or easier for initial development. Maybe less expensive since someone could assemble a prototype or two by hand vs having to hire the production house to pick and place a few boards but otherwise, laying out an SMT PCB isn't going to be all that much more work (if any at all) provided you've got all your parts libraries prepared and you're physical dimensions sorted in the CAD application.

Not sure if this picture been posted??

wozsideart.jpg

Thanks Simon I haven't seen that anywhere else

That side art looks impressive!

Yes, but I'd rather have the originally silver slippers from the story, the story makes you point with ruby silvers as the silver had high significance in the story.