It still seems odd to go from "owning the show" a year ago where no one was talking about anything else, to having no presence, other than maybe an old prototype at the Cointaker booth or something.

I know last year was "The Phil Show" and maybe without him they just don't know how to sell or promote. It's a shame though because it was breath of fresh air to have a company throw a grenade into what is very old and tired traditional pinball marketing. I'm saddened that that won't be a continued DP hallmark.

Agreed.

We will all know when the machines are getting close as DP will no doubt be taking photos of the 'line', as there are none thus far Q3 will not see the machine, at a push Q4, but realistically I'd say Q3 2016, just look at the history folks every boutique machine except 1 has either been years late or folded!

Sad to say but reality.

We can compare with other manufacturers... How long was it between the time we saw cabinets and semi built games before finished games rolled out to customers for...

Medieval Madness
Full Throttle
WOZ
Predator (ahem)

Likely 6+ months to go. I doubt any will ship 2015 with what we've seen so far.

I believe Cointaker is taking deposits on "non achiever" edition standard TBL's at full price... No chrome no rug $9k

It is a shame to see these guys rewrite how to reveal a pin only to slide back down into the typical black hole of silence causing nothing but frustration for buyers. Game will ship just hope we found out when. Gonna be a race to expo for JJP and Dutch.

Where is burningman when you need him? C'mon y'all in the know - give us some form of update!

He gave your post a thumbs up.

TBL shipping in Sept. CONFIRMED!

Cant confirm or deny that one....

As soon as I have something to share I will...

Wait, but then he gave your post a thumbs down -- confirmation denied!

Sorry for the confusion...just wanted to give Euchrid the acknowledgement that I am here....and reading...

Nothing to deny or confirm....

In Holland they have 3 weeks of mandatory vacation called "Bouwvak" until the 24th. Hopefully we'll get an update soon after everyone gets back to work!

I was really hoping for an update by the end of this week. I guess I'll have to move my hope to next week.

An interesting note.. after last year's expo, I called the Westin to see if the TBL suite would be available for the next year. They told me that it was already booked.

TBL wasn't at replay...Allentown was the last show for the game. They didn't plan on doing more shows until production is going.

Since Scott's in Chicago, I imagine he'd bring an updated Lebowski to the show at the very least.

being Dutch I can confirm this week and big part of Holland also next week is on holiday. So the fact DP is silent is not strange, also they deserve a break

I would thus not expect a newsletter this or next week but who knows?

Or he could be tasked with working Dunno, that was the word from the horses mouth.. but they were still hoping to have games in production before Expo when that discussion was had. I don't know what the current schedule is and how that changes things. I imagine their priority is on production and Expo will wag based on whatever the story is at that time. I doubt they'd have a hard time finding someone willing to put the game in their space if they had to on short notice.

August 20, 2015 - The Big Lebowski™ Pinball - Production Update

Dear Joseph,

After 3 weeks of mandatory vacation of our factory (some call it shabbas, but we call it "Bouwvak" everyone is back fully rested and charged to continue the production of The Big Lebowski™ Pinball!

Although during this Holiday season we don't have real big news, we wanted to show some cool stuff...

Since you like robot's so much... What about this one:

(click on the image to play)

... we thought you would like that...

...and here are some more pictures of the playfield production:

We'll send out more updates in the next couple of weeks as soon as we have more cool stuff (production and assembly) to show you guys!

The goal is still to build the first games in Q3, 2015 and we are working very hard to make this happen. As soon as we have any news about dates of shipping games and when we will ship your machine, we will let you know.

Until then, stay tuned.

Best regards,
Team Dutch Pinball

dp2.jpg

dp1.jpg

That clearcoat robot is very cool! I was thinking someone would need to set the PF for it, but nope!

That was a-MA-zing! Thanks for sharing...

Looks good.

Still wish they would address code / items like John Goodman and his callouts.

I would say keep the spirit of the game pure - don't censor anything This is an adult pin. After they ship, they can always release a code update that includes 'PC' callouts as a selectable option.

Two things:
- As TBL #17, I see at least 17 play fields, excellent
- 3 weeks mandatory vacation.. tell me more

IMHO only: Still waiting for wiring harnesses.. having playfields ready is an important precondition for getting started with assembly but so is harnesses. Maybe they think that's boring and will skip ahead in the next update with games on the line.. dunno.. I think even 1 game off the line in basically a month (a month is nothing in manufacturing) will be a miracle.. esp as people come back from vacation hangovers

Will also second that a A/V clip approval progress report is a chief thing I'm waiting to see in a near term release as they probably want to put some software in the games before they ship

Anyways, appreciate the update none the less

Internet: We want more, we want more.

Dutch Pinball: So, they think we are shallow and only show them the cool stuff??

We'll teach them what's cool!!

---------

I find it impossible not to get impressed by a clear fr... coat robot. I bow down! This will calm me for another couple of weeks, at least

I'll be back later

Do robots take vacation?

I think that's when they dream of electric sheep.

Glad to see progress but I'm eagerly awaiting an update on the code/software. I'm slightly dubious re the Q3 target at this point but you never know.

Maybe it's semantics, but the email says the goal is to "build" games in Q3 2015, not "ship" games.

what can you do but keep waiting? Building or shipping, either is progress

DP is no joke - they certainly appear to be doing everything right. With their obvious focus on quality and automated production techniques their processes will allow them to to be a serious manufacturer. Wonder what they're doing next?

Remember.. what you see here isn't necessarily DP... it's the people they are contracting to do work. DP didn't intend to build a factory - but partner with an established assembler to build their pins.

Mechanical assembly, design, production, etc is work you can contract for out in the open market. The problem for pinball companies is the scale (or lack of more specifically) and dealing with aspects specific to pinball.

All this stuff you see Stern doing on their tours (the wire harness ladies, etc) is the same exact work you'd find at places building electrical panels, power meters, etc etc. Contract Manufacturing and design is an entire industry of its own.

My guess is You won't see the game again until they get final approval on the voice work and call outs!

Any news? I see that http://www.ministryofpinball.com/ now has it to order....

Hmmm ... approx. $9,034 and no rug shown, but legs and trim look almost chrome-like.

The only game I see there is the CGI one so what the trim looks like (to me it looks almost black) is irrelevant.

They need to fix the text as it looks like they pulled it from DP website or something. Says "Pre-order your game today!" .. That ship has sailed

Not if I'm a new buyer spending $9K+. That said, I think you're right in that they've simply used a previous computer generated illustration.

true from a knowing what you're getting point of view. Back when we had a our FAQ answered, the question as to whether there would be a full blown game flyer with all the details (like trim and all that) as asked and they said yes. Seems like they should get that sorted soon if distributors are starting to take orders. Wasn't ministry of pinball the ones that jumped the gun last year and had AFMr and MBr ads in expo flyer? Seems like they get ahead of themselves some

Indeed, in EXPO 2014 flyer MoP advertise was hinting that AFM would be next remake. Pls do note it was suggesting, no hard fact.

yeah, and there was also a monster bash hint. I'm not sure they would be even hinting at something unless those two games are (or were) actually in the pipe though. anyways, not related to TBL I suppose progress with distributor setup is an expression of confidence of games hitting here soonish.

Yes ... SIGH

Onward and upward.

Starting to worry that the games won't be this year. I hope I'm wrong.

Hope springs eternal.

Eight-year-olds, Dude...

Not enough quotes these days; attaching as a reminder. Hopefully not a violation of talking about religion

Walter Sobchak: I'm saying, I see what you're getting at, Dude, he kept the money. My point is, here we are, it's shabbas, the sabbath, which I'm allowed to break only if it's a matter of life or death...
The Dude: Will you come off it, Walter? You're not even fucking Jewish, man.
Walter Sobchak: What the fuck are you talkin' about?
The Dude: Man, you're fucking Polish Catholic...
Walter Sobchak: What the fuck are you talking about? I converted when I married Cynthia! Come on, Dude!
The Dude: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah...
Walter Sobchak: And you know this!
The Dude: Yeah, and five fucking years ago you were divorced.
Walter Sobchak: So what are you saying? When you get divorced you turn in your library card? You get a new license? You stop being Jewish?
The Dude: It's all a part of your sick Cynthia thing, man. Taking care of her fucking dog. Going to her fucking synagogue. You're living in the fucking past.
Walter Sobchak: Three thousand years of beautiful tradition, from Moses to Sandy Koufax...
[shouting]
Walter Sobchak: YOU'RE GODDAMN RIGHT I'M LIVIN' IN THE FUCKIN' PAST!

You want a toe? I can get you a toe. Hell, I can get you a toe by 3 pm this afternoon. With nail polish. Fuckin' amateurs.

Can someone post a link to "The Big Lebowski" unboxing thread? I can't seem to find it. Thanks!

I guess JJP isn't so alone anymore