Any updates on production Does anyone know if they have even started yet?

They will post here when ready...

I know. The waiting part of it sucks though

True...

I was told production has started for the first few games. My hope is that the plan is to produce a few games for the hard core earlybirds and then hit the pause button and get some feedback before really ramping things up.

This would be a win/win. The first few hardcore guys that have been in from the start will get a "sample game" which likely has more collectability (not that they would ever sell anyway). At the same time, they will hopefullly get some real feedback on any last phase tweaks that need to be addressed priro to full shipment.

On that note I have watched the recent video a few times and have been meaning to provide some comments for small code/ lit insert adjustments. I have noticed a few things are odd/unclear and think the inserts are unlit/lit once in a while at the wrong times???

I can not figure out the center target light lit or unlit does lit mean hit it or does it mean it has been hit?

At this point, why not just wait until you get the game? Does it really matter?

Looks like around the 28th they are going into production.

Good evening, Skit-B Pinball pre-owners and waitlisters!

While we have been hard at work putting the final bit of polish on our game, many folks have pointed out that we haven't shown a good ol' fashioned gameplay video in quite some time. In response to this, we have released a very detailed video showcasing the most important facet of pinball: the gameplay! The video is fairly lengthy, weighing in just over half an hour long, so be sure to grab a coffee or whatnot and get comfortable before hitting the video link below.

The video above should answer any remaining questions about the game that you may have had, except for one: production schedule. After doing everything we possibly could to keep this process as comfortable as possible for all involved, we are frankly way overdue to get this proverbial show on the road. Producing products of this level of depth and involvement is a complex endeavor with many dependent factors, all of which must align to meet with any sort of success. It has become apparent that our hopes to be able to handle our production schedule in smaller blocks is unfortunately not congruent with maintaining the quality and pricing standards that we have set for this project, simply based on the nature of manufacturing. We apologize for any issues this may raise for some of you, and we look forward to helping everyone as best as we can while providing any assistance you may require as we go through this process.

As a message to pre-owners who already have an assigned game number and deposit in place to hold your game, if you have yet to meet or exceed a total of $3000 USD towards your machine, this total must be achieved by no later than Saturday, June 28th in order for us to reasonably continue and get these machines built on a schedule that is acceptable for everyone. For most of you, this will be easily handled by using the $2750 option either by mail at the address listed below, or through our PayPal deposits page at the link that follows. Please keep in mind that, at this point, if you choose to finish your balance off completely, the incentives previously discussed will still apply.

For the waitlisters recieving this message, please be advised that at this point in the project, if you receive correspondence from us informing you of an opportunity to move onto the pre-owners' list and get assigned a game, a deposit of $3000 USD will be required in order to acquire said position. This helps us maintain a dedicated pre-owners' list and will keep us steadily moving in the right direction.

What this all means for all of you anxious pinball fanatics is that following the date provided above, we can finally break out of the initial stages of our production cycle and get to assembling these awesome machines and getting them out to you in a matter of a few short months! Thank you all for being a part of this project, now let's get it done and go play some pinball!

-Kevin W. Kulek, Skit-B Pinball

Mailing address:
Skit-B Pinball
PO Box 476
Auburn, MI 48611

<edited>

_{Post edited by moderator: I'm sure Skit B prefer paypal link to be provided only to customers on the list for the pin currently. If you are not on the list to get one it will not do you any good to send money it will only slow down the process.}

My game is like #220 why do I need to pay up to 3k now? I was told when my game was ready to be built I would need to pay 1/2 the amount. Than the other 1/2 when it was ready to be shipped. I did not agree to these terms Kevin.

Don't pay then. That'll move me up the build list! (relax, it's all in jest). I've been paid in full since late Feb. Looking forward to this and anything that gets them out faster is fine by me.

I recall something similar. $250 deposit, balance due when my game is ready. I'm not too thrilled with the $3000 by 6/28 deadline considering I'm one of the last people in line. I thought being at the end of the line would allow me to see and play the game in the wild before having to pony up. I was at least hoping to maybe see and play the prototype at CAX next month. Now we all have to pony up by 6/28 in order to stay on board.

Never did quite understand how they would be able to produce games in blocks. Building them, sure, but not ordering (paying for) parts in small batches. How would that enable them to get any quantity discounts?

The way I understood the email is that they will be making them in one large group and then sending them out. The original plan was half when they begin making your machine. Well, since they are beginning production on all of them, they are asking for the money from everyone. One thing they did not guarantee was that if you were at the end of production, you would time to see others's opinions of the game. The $250 deposit was also not part of the original "deal" but it was something they needed to put into place. I know $3000 is a lot more than $250, but I don't think they've gone against what was originally said. The only thing different is that they are doing them in one big chunk instead of smaller ones, but nothing was concrete as far as how long production would take or how many would be made at the same time. A lot on the list have had 2-3 years to save up the money and we have aware that production would likely start soon.

I don't see how that's incompatible with Kevin's e-mail: if he's contracted someone that can build a ton of machines in a hurry, you might be less far down the list than you think

I love it when the rubber meets the road!

I'm not giving them any more money till I see that games are actually being made. Give me proof they have someone lined up to build all 250. They sure as hell are not going to build 250 games in there basement all at once.

They haven't been in the basement for a long time...............

this is BS

We were told "half at time of build". I'm not a math major but I know half of 4750 is not 3000.

Also unless they are building 250 games at a time, I can't see how I need to pay in advance unless they are physically building my game which is number 147 in the production order.

On Nov 18, 2012, at 7:32 AM, "Kevin Kulek" <[email protected]> wrote:

>> As we push closer to production and our waitlist grows larger by the day, we have reached the point in the project where deposits have become necessary to continue. While the "half at time of build and half at delivery" system still hasn't changed, we will be requesting a small holding deposit in the amount of $250 USD.

oh my goodness, just pay the whole thing off and forget about it.
if you get it and it's not for you, sell it to one of the many people that were on the waitlist and didn't get one.
why stress out about it? things change. perhaps they NEED the extra money to go forward. This is their first pin, ya know.

To me, I think they had planned on getting a crew of 5-6 guys to bang these out over a few months. Now that he's done the cost analysis, it's likely more cost effective (and cost necessary to keep the price point) to get more people hired in an assembly line fashion and get them done more quickly. This requires more up-front money. Is $3000 more than the $2500...sure. That much more? No. It's obvious from his wording that assembly costs are more than expected, so in order to keep the original price point, then we have to pay an extra couple of hundred bucks up front to keep it that way. So what's the better scenario...paying a little more up front to get your game sooner, and at the original price...or paying a little less now, taking longer to get your game, and end up paying more in the end from higher labor costs. I already have a feeling that Kevin's probably going to end up underwater on this game, so I'm not going to ask him to eat more of the costs. We've all been well aware of the game cost and we should all have our money saved and set aside. Remember that the original production date was supposed to be April, so if they were true to that schedule, we would all have to be paid up by now. If you're still concerned that he's actually going to deliver, then pay by Paypal with your credit card...you'll be doubly covered if there's no delivery. If you're still waiting for everyone's "impression", then just move the heck out of the way because there's so much more information about this game than any Stern release. $&!? or get off the pot.

Some people may need to read this info from Kevin's above email again:

Obviously, things have changed on his end, and he has to make adjustments. It's the realities of manufacturing, as Kevin is finding out.

Sounds pretty clear to me. They wanted to have payments worked out as discussed previously, but it didn't work out. It's their first pin. Economies of scale make massive differences. Things change. If production would have started in April as discussed then, and they maintained the production schedule they had planned as well, lots of peoples halves would be coming up by now anyway. But it does look like they are willing to work with people, so If you are one of these people up in arms, maybe try that route before dropping out completely.

I say just pay. In full. Gene back in 2004 needed money to build BBB. Look how that turned out.

If anyone gets wishy washy and doesn't want to pony up then they can get thier $250 back and the droves of waitlisters can move up.

This is thier first pin build. Expecting 250 pins to be built and THEN paying is crazy talk.

I'm paid up long ago. Now I have to wait for you guys to pay before I get my pin. Stop being selfish.

He said pony up...................

pony$.jpg

You're right, but I am sure there will be some lucky guys making their way off the wait list because of this.

Let me see that 100 people have gotten there games than I will pay the 3k. I am build #220 ish. If I pay in 3k now who is to say there will be any money left to build games when mine comes up? Paypal is only good for 60 days. We all know pinball machines take time to build.

I'm only sorry I didn't order two games. I'd have an ad on Pinside right now saying "FS: Limited Edition, Predator, NIB $6500.00"

Kim
Machine paid off more than a year ago.

What's so different than WOZ, when we paid MORE than that and it took longer to get it? Some are still waiting.
Either pay, or don't, and deal with the consequences.

Just paid $2750 more. Can't wait.

Can't wait to see some production photo's!

Paid in full since August, 2013. Looking forward to the translite and the goodies.
If you're on the pre-owner's list, you probably should have already planned to have the funds ready by now.
I'm sure that if as many of the pre-owners that can pay do so, it will help the SkitB team to cover their costs more efficiently (and get these bad boys in our hands sooner).

I would just like to hear what is the actual production plan. I have no problem paying up now but want a commitment of what the actual production plan is. 10 a week, 20 a week, 40 a month? Just something so we have a commitment to go along with payment.

No, this the realities of running a business that requires manufacturing. The $3,000 is $500 more than half, however the $250 deposit was $250 more than originally required and you didn't seem to have problem with that. Everyone on the pre-order list should have the full amount together at this point (baring unforeseen emergancies or financial issues).

One of the costs of buying a limited run product is that you don't get to have owner reviews before the product is delivered and sometimes even made. Sometimes you have an existing portfolio to help with the decision, sometimes you don't. We all knew going in that this was their first machine and while they wanted to build in small batches, this was not etched in stone. Kevin told us what they were hoping to do, but it just didn't pan out.

Kevin wouldn't be doing it this way unless it was more cost effective. You can rant and rage all you want to, but that isn't going to change the requirement of $3,000 by June 28, which, by the way, is still two weeks away.

did everybody get this email - I did not get it and I just checked my spam folder - thanks ed

Paid in full last month or so... took me a year to save that money.

_{Post edited by jlm33: Edit: Mail received. Had to check for spam...}

I believe it was just a question of time before Skit-B had to set a go/no-go date in order to properly start production. I guess it's easy for me to say who already paid in full and I can really feel for those that can't get the required amount together on such short notice. But again, it's kind of naive to think that this wouldn't happen sooner or later. 250 pins x est production price of 3-4K USD = a substantial debit for a new company.

Bring on the game I cant wait. I would also like to know how the production is gonna go down. If you read this Kevin can you give a little more insight on how many games you will likely be building and shipping per week? Thanks Skit-B good luck on everything going smoothly.

I knew this was coming. Next couple of weeks is the shit or get off the pot test.

Quick recommendo: don't wait til the 29th then bitch here. You won't get sympathy. 8-0
I actually like this Skitb strategy now. Sharks got teeth Kevin! Nice. Feels more....businesslike. Less trying to please everyone.

My oh my our little Skitb has grown up.

The Predator launch party is getting closer!

Let's do this!

Marcus

How long will it take to build 10? all 250?

Kevin, please give us some details so people can make a more educated decision. I think for many, paying 4750 and waiting 6 months is much different than waiting 18 months.

Your place or mine?

I think till they get going they won't really know how many they are capable of pumping out efficiently.

I would hope that they at least have a (realistic) plan in place.

I am totally fine with this being the time for the rubber to hit the road, but it is a 2 way street.
I don't think anyone wants another JJP repeat so setting clear expectations up front is a reasonable request.

Look at the resources that JJP has to build games..............they still aren't done.

If anybody expects 250 games to be built in 6 months then you haven't been paying attention to the JJP struggles. I'm assuming its Kevin and a crew doing it?

And then, consider all the issues JJP has had post production and dealing with warranty issues and such?

If you are expecting a smooth ride I'd suggest buckling up! It will be a blast and should end being a great pin but I don't think its gonna be easy.

All I am expecting is to communicate the plan. If that plan is 10 games per month and it will take 25 month, that is cool. Just lay it out there for us to know.

Exactly, im paid in full but I would still like to know what kind of time frame we are looking at.

I agree completely with this, a few short months is a little vague. I am not reluctant to pay up, the game looks great and I cant wait to get it in my gameroom. I just want to have a rough idea of what I am in for here, a little better communication goes a long way with this crowd.

Not a two way street at this time. Not an educated decision either. You need to take this leap of faith on a boutique manufacturer as a risky venture. Passion for a hobby drives this decision, no real logic. If anyone is questioning their decision, I definately get that. But NOW is the time to decide. Go for it or get your $250 and bow out for the next guy.

Whatever anyone decides it's got to be now.

No cash? Bow out.

No room? Bow out.

Changed your mind based on what you've seen and heard up to now? Just bought other pins and need time to move or sell them for room or cash? $5k is too much to risk? Bow out.

I am in and am happy with all of Skitb's decisions so far. But I'm not gonna be happy to hear that Kev and crew can't build til December 2016 cuz too many deadbeats stringing them along. )

( not calling anyone a deadbeat...yet.)