(Topic ID: 221574)
Linked Games
Mafia
Team Pinball, 2018
Topic Gallery
Eagle, ID
Quoted from bemmett:Always good to see new pins but for $7,500, I'll pass
Yes, always good to see new pins for sure!
While I can appreciate the theme's middle finger to PC culture, it seems like a poor choice for a first pin.
Quoted from mcluvin:While I can appreciate the theme's middle finger to PC culture, it seems like a poor choice for a first pin.
Theme is everything to me. You really have to nail it on your first pin.
If only 35 are available in the U.S. I bet they will all sell though, enough collectors out there that want something unique.
Looks like a fun game... but man... no scoop, no drops, no toy, no third flipper. Just two orbits, the center shot, and a captive ball and some stand ups?
I love me some TNA but this appears to be a stripped down version of it (with a way less cool theme) at a $1500 premium.
Would love to try it out someday, I hope there’s more to it than I’m seeing here!
I think it would have more buyers if it was priced more appropriately. I still think it will sell all 35 to collectors. Seems like a $4,500 pin if it was going to be sold at a higher volume.
Given the track record of other boutique shops I'm impressed that a new company can appear unannounced with a new professional looking pin (no matter how simple) available for purchase on day one. Pretty cool and maxing production to 100 suggests to me they'll have the orders eventually provided they stick to (and can pay for) the conservative production described in the interview.
Quoted from pcprogrammer:I think it would have more buyers if it was priced more appropriately.
This holds true for so many games today 
Quoted from JY64:This holds true for so many games today
Yea, all the prices have slowly moved into an uncomfortable area for me. Especially JJP pins. This Mafia pin costs more than a Stern Premium.
Quoted from GorillaBiscuits:no scoop, no drops, no toy, no third flipper.
Sounds like they are on the right track!
This company has been hovering for some time.
It is not a true pinball "improvement" when a near 40 year old title like Paragon has superior artwork, gameplay, and cost (in above average condition which is less than 1/4 of the MSRP price, including new boards), completely trounces a new pinball design. If I did bit more research I probably could figure out which early SS games they took direct influence to create this game, as it reminds me of a retheme.
My only suggestion to the company is "try harder", if there is a next time. We are approaching an apex of pinball change. It is good to see enthusiasts are getting wiser.
Good luck to TeamPinball, but this is a hard sell, even to new high rollers in the hobby.
23154857_537535726588962_963075730342596239_o.jpgI’m glad they’re trying but I’ll pass. Id they can make a profit on this attempt maybe their next one will be better?
Good luck Team Pinball.
I'm making an assumption here, but if you know the gameplay is gonna be a bit lacking, then make up for it with the theme/artwork. I have yet to play a Houdini, but it at least looks cool as hell. Plenty of folks will buy a pin, regardless of how well it plays, if they love the theme/artwork.
Quoted from bemmett:Always good to see new pins but for $7,500, I'll pass
I saw this today and thought it was neat and simple, till I saw the price, which then I lost all interest. its $8785.00 for the US side which is way to much for something from a new company with no track record and the simplistic layout. But I wish them all the best. Good luck Team Pinball
Quoted from Tilt:I saw this today and thought it was neat and simple, till I saw the price, which then I lost all interest. its $8785.00 for the US side which is way to much for something from a new company with no track record and the simplistic layout. But I wish them all the best. Good luck Team Pinball
No, $ 7,500....
Quoted from o-din:Sounds like they are on the right track!
Me thinks you found your Supreme replacement!
This should work more reliably than a 40yr old pin, but you have a good point about Paragon.
I like the through-hole construction of their main board, and Williams mechs. Should be easier for collectors and operators to repair, unlike disposable surface mount design.
019-team-pinball (resized).jpg020-team-pinball (resized).jpg027-team-pinball (resized).jpg
Quoted from PinballSTAR:No, $ 7,500....
Sorry Joe if I am wrong, and with you being a distributor, im not going against you. just that the number I came up with is based on this paragraph in the pinball news article
"Producing small quantities of machines denies any manufacturer the benefit of quantity discounts, while building the games in the UK also means none of the cheap labour rates available in other parts of the world. However, the team think the suggested retail price of £6,750 ($8,785/€7,544) reflects the boutique, hand-built nature of the machines and the limited number they plan to make."
Nowhere for the ball to stop and make you watch some stupid video clip or wait for instructions is a win in my book.
Quoted from bemmett:Always good to see new pins but for $7,500, I'll pass
Are you flipping kidding me??????? Holy fuck, this community is just getting annihilated. I'll take a 3500 Shadow or a 4500 Sopranos, or a $4200 Transformers all day long. Good gosh almighty.
Quoted from NPO:Are you flipping kidding me??????? Holy fuck, this community is just getting annihilated.
I guess that's the price we will have to pay to eliminate the lousy licensed theme and all the garbage that goes with it.
The only defense I'll give the company is that they are clearly targeting the collectors market with that price tag. With such a limited number of pins being sold the price will of course be much higher. I'd be surprised if anyone on pinside comes on and says they'll buy it, but there will be people that will buy it with deeper pockets and a desire to own something that would be truly limited with only 35 of them in the U.S. Personally I wouldn't even consider paying this much for such a simple pin. I could buy a Paragon, Space Invaders and still have money left over.
Quoted from benheck:praise
I don’t think it is allowed to give anyone or anything praise on pinside. I’m certain that’s a violation of the first rule of pinside.
Quoted from davijc02:I don’t think anyone is allowed to give anyone or anything praise on pinside. I’m certain that’s a violation of the first rule of pinside.
Being critical of the price is a no-brainer on this pin. But simple pins like this would have a place in the market at the right price. 2 years ago at MGC my kids were begging me to purchase a Whoa Nellie. They liked the slower pace and simplicity of it. So I'll give this pin praise in that regard, should be simple and easy to understand for kids.
Quoted from davijc02:I don’t think it is allowed to give anyone or anything praise on pinside. I’m certain that’s a violation of the first rule of pinside.
I'm not praising through-hole. It's like riding a dinosaur to work instead of a car. You'd be laughed out of any other industry for using it so much, but again this is pinball, nothing makes sense.
So a company comes out of nowhere and has games to deliver today, with a throwback design and illustrative artwork, and didn’t rip anyone off through preorders, and the first thing people do is crap all over it? Jeez. It costs a lot to make manufactured goods in places like the UK and USA. Especially from scratch.
If this is fun they’ll rip through their 100 no problem. And yeah they probably are padding their pockets a bit on price. But better to do that and use the money to possibly make another game or buy equipment to scale up, vs offering a way too low preorder price then failing to get the games out the door.
8K couldn’t get TBL out the door profitably from a European manufacturer. So I don’t think their price is outrageous given the history of pinball manufacturers not making it.
Quoted from Richthofen:So a company comes out of nowhere and has games to deliver today, with a throwback design and illustrative artwork, and didn’t rip anyone off through preorders, and the first thing people do is crap all over it? Jeez. It costs a lot to make manufactured goods in places like the UK and USA. Especially from scratch.
If this is fun they’ll rip through their 100 no problem. And yeah they probably are padding their pockets a bit on price. But better to do that and use the money to possibly make another game or buy equipment to scale up, vs offering a way too low preorder price then failing to get the games out the door.
8K couldn’t get TBL out the door profitably from a European manufacturer. So I don’t think their price is outrageous given the history of pinball manufacturers not making it.
So you like the theme and think it looks fun?
Quoted from mcluvin:So you like the theme and think it looks fun?
Yeah why not? I own a few EMs. “The Mafia” is a bit on the nose but hey Sopranos was a pinball machine. So was Kingpin.
WNBJM sold more than 100 units. I’m sure this one will sell despite its price. Some collectors want limited items and have lots of money. And if it doesn’t? I mean they only made 10 so far right?
Quoted from mcluvin:So you like the theme and think it looks fun?
Looks real fun to me! The price not so much.
Anytime actually playing the ball is the most important of the game, it is the kind of game I want to play.
Quoted from Tilt:Sorry Joe if I am wrong, and with you being a distributor, im not going against you. just that the number I came up with is based on this paragraph in the pinball news article
"Producing small quantities of machines denies any manufacturer the benefit of quantity discounts, while building the games in the UK also means none of the cheap labour rates available in other parts of the world. However, the team think the suggested retail price of £6,750 ($8,785/€7,544) reflects the boutique, hand-built nature of the machines and the limited number they plan to make."
I understand, it’s wrong. I set the US price, we got a great overseas shipping quote and originally they factored in taxes which we don’t have to pay in US. The info provided to Martin was incorrect, we literally just finalized things this AM. Price in US is $ 7,500 plus shipping.
Quoted from Richthofen:Yeah why not?
Because the artwork/theme and gameplay look kinda lame? If I play it and like it, I'll admit I was wrong. I thought TNA was going to be a turd, but I really like it. This pin does not look fun.
Since the other thread seems to be dead already, I'll repost:
Congratulations to them.
They're all much more talented, honest people than their former employer (Heighway) ever allowed them to demonstrate.
Good to see they already have games built.
Not 100% sure on keeping numbers so limited, but I guess it depends on price / margins.
Best of luck.
Quoted from Tilt:Sorry Joe if I am wrong, and with you being a distributor, im not going against you. just that the number I came up with is based on this paragraph in the pinball news article
"Producing small quantities of machines denies any manufacturer the benefit of quantity discounts, while building the games in the UK also means none of the cheap labour rates available in other parts of the world. However, the team think the suggested retail price of £6,750 ($8,785/€7,544) reflects the boutique, hand-built nature of the machines and the limited number they plan to make."
The article should be corrected. The author has just converted the £ price to € / $, and that £ price includes 20% VAT. That's obviously not applicable to non-UK / EU markets. Hence the $7500 from PinballStar. The € price should also reflect what ever European distributors are going to sell it for.
Price is a little high, but 10% of the run has already been built. So at least for the first adopters, this is remarkably unlike any boutique pinball operation before it, in that there is no wait at all. The run is limited, so it should sell out.
I've no idea what their margins are, so couldn't possibly say if £5500-5750 (rather than £6750) and a run of 200 would be better. But it seems inherently more risky, given that they'd need to sell a lot more, and they're assembling them all by hand.
I'd be surprised if they don't either sell out, or sell at least 90. I'd guess a minimum of 30-40 will sell in the US ... so it's not a particularly tall order to make up the rest.
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