What do we know so far about the Pinball Brothers?
(Topic ID: 247000)
Hopkins, MN
Melbourne
Quoted from hocuslocus:I know they owe me money.
Me too. They strung me along about Alien after they took over Heighway, assuring that they’d be shipping games “soon” to long-term preorders with a large amount paid, like me. From what I understood at the time, it wouldn’t have done any good for me to request a refund anyway because they were apparently going radio-silent and failing to provide one for most that requested it. Then, in an effort to get more money, they proceeded to sell what few Aliens they were producing at inflated prices to brand new customers instead of to preorders like me who would have actually paid them more money just to get something out of the situation.
After they still couldn’t get enough new money coming in, they allowed Heighway to go insolvent after “allegedly” selling all the assets to themselves but taking on none of the debts. They sold what remaining games they had to even more new customers and distributors, mostly overseas, and they now seem to go for upwards of $12k. I’m currently one of many former customers who are creditors on Heighway’s “bankruptcy” in the UK, while the Pinball Brothers were apparently still talking about making new games. It’s laughable. They were so far in the hole, none of us will ever see a nickel.
Despite what some people on here think, they were BARELY better than Andrew Heighway, only because they didn’t quite stoop to outright fraud. I’m not going to feel sorry for them, even if they lost more money that others did on Heighway themselves. If they had an ounce of integrity, they’d cough up the relatively small amount of money (I forget, $50-60k?) it would take to make the individual customers that lost money on Alien whole before they did anything else, but suggesting that will get you a ton of “they’re not obligated to do that” and “it wasn’t their fault, it was Andrew” responses from Pinside.
Not only did the experience turn me off to Pinside and pinball in general for awhile, it sunk the enjoyment of one of my favorite franchises, because losing a lot of money to those assholes is still one of the first thing that pops into my head when an Alien film is on.
If you’re really curious, in addition to the thread mentioned above, they are discussed toward the end of a slew of the longer Heighway threads here:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/forum/heighway-pinball
A few of my favorites:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/rebirth-of-heighway-pinball
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/alien-refund-from-patient-supporter-to-angry-x-customer
https://www.pinballnews.com/site/2018/05/10/heighway-pinball-by-the-numbers/
Quoted from HP_INVESTOR:I know I still have the password to their old Pinside account they had me make and never used
Really, that one and only post looks pretty embarrassing now. I can tell you communication was never a strong suit though. We got ghosted multiple times by them. My red flags for Roger went up when he stepped in years ago to take over the project management of Alien, was gonna put together milestones and spreadsheets, get things under control, and then ... one day he just stopped answering emails and vanished. Only to appear again later when the investors (which became Pinball Bros, same thing) did their panic step in, after it was clear Andrew had dug an enormous pit.
I feel for them, was a shit situation, but in the end they owned it, and have to take responsibility for the actions they took. I was never paid for my work aside from getting my game, but the truth is so few machines were made that we're talking a few thousand dollars. Not change, but not 'real' money either. I dunno what they're doing with Alien, I can tell you nothing about any supposed future plans. I wouldn't mind being paid what I'm owed for the years of work I put into it, I can tell you that. Honestly I think they should walk away and find another way to enjoy the hobby. Too many people lost money, they don't get to just rebrand and pretend it never happened.
4 months later
3 weeks later
Pro tip - don’t buy any of the Aliens or Queens that are built on New Year’s day.
I expect lots small hangover induced issues on these machines.
11 months later
London
I might buy their pins, now that US pin purchases are dead in Europe (thanks glorious leaders of the EU & US), but first I insist they make pre-order folks whole. As someone who pre-ordered Magic Girl and RAZA from Jpop, and Predator from Kevin, I understand this pain...
I would demand the same and it would be a decent way to do business. However looking at how they handled things it is wishful thinking.
For those who forgot; PB was going to invest in Heighway, instead they took all assets and IP put and let it collapse.
Maybe this was the only way out, but they never reached out to any buyer loosing money or had transparent communication.
Now for 2 years they made money with all the spares and selling their last NIBS at 10-14K prices.... games that shouldve gone to early buyers.
I think what is the worst is no communication, no reaching out and just now representing the pin like nothing happened. They should get a little less love in my opinion 
Quoted from Faust:I would demand the same and it would be a decent way to do business. However looking at how they handled things it is wishful thinking.
For those who forgot; PB was going to invest in Heighway, instead they took all assets and IP put and let it collapse.
Maybe this was the only way out, but they never reached out to any buyer loosing money or had transparent communication.
Now for 2 years they made money with all the spares and selling their last NIBS at 10-14K prices.... games that shouldve gone to early buyers.
I think what is the worst is no communication, no reaching out and just now representing the pin like nothing happened. They should get a little less love in my opinion
Absolutely correct. Easy to blame Andrew for everything. If CGC was going to remake it, I was actually game for a rev 2.0. No way a dime ever gets sent across the pond from me even if they make a few. The experience the first time was horrible, lost deposit $$$ but got a game from Kenneth (better than alot who got nothing).
To think these were $7.5k new for an LE back then....crazy
2 weeks later
So what’s changed if anything with these guys? Yes the remake has been announced and hopefully all these preorders are legit and shipping soon. I heard they are offering 50% to people who lost money in the original so does this help lessen the blow to all of you who had a piece in the original? Would you trust this company if they come through with these game’s? Hopefully they are more reputable this time around and support this game better. Sorry for all of you who got screwed.
1 month later
Trondheim
Quoted from Lethal_Inc:I heard they are offering 50% to people who lost money in the original so does this help lessen the blow to all of you who had a piece in the original?
The offer is only to "personal buyers" or something to that effect. So I as a hobby operator who ordered through my operating LLC am not covered by the offer. That said, even if I were, I wouldn't send another dime their way. I already paid them full price for a game I didn't get.
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