Poolesville, MD
Quoted from pinmister:I really feel like this project was rushed and the final product could have been delayed while putting in a little extra effort to make the game have more depth and features. If I were to invest in a contract build I would make sure it was not a dud. I am not saying I am an expert in pinball manufacturing and yes I do not have a clue of how difficult the process is, but at the same time I am detail oriented and this machine simply would not be high enough quality for me to be affiliated with or invest in. I know the Pinball Company stated that they tried to get the price down to a more reasonable price (pricing that would justify the simple featureless layout) but were unable to because of licensing fees, etc. Sorry but I am calling bs on this one. Here is my guesstimate on Pinball Companies new contract build investment...
Cost to build and develop 300 units from Spooky=$1,000,000 or $ 3333.00 per unit
Licensing fee for Jetsons (thirty year old franchise with little relevance in today's society) $50,000-$70,000K-Mabye
Now let's do the math on sales pricing:
First 100 at $5900=$590,000
Second 100 at $6499=$649,900
Third 100 at $6999=$699,900
For a grand total of $1,939,800
less cost of build=$1,070,000
Total estimated profit for Pinball Company=$869,800 not too shabby
I understand this is another greedy money grab situation and it reminds me of Stern selling a $5200 Batman66 for $15,000. Yes this machine is not for pinsiders but it is for a greedy pinball distributor to take advantage of noobies and weak minded homeowners who don't know what they are actually buying. I feel like this is taking advantage of specific cliental(new pinball machine owners) and yes it may help get more people into the hobby, but at what cost? Do you need to bend people over just because they are ignorant or new to the hobby? Sorry if I offended anyone, but to me this is just another greedy attempt to capitalize on the resurgence of pinball. Stay classy
If they sell out, I'm not sure you can say they were "greedy". So you expect a business, especially one that isn't a pinball manufacturer and is doing this for the first time, to voluntarily take less profit "for the good of the hobby"? If your numbers are off, and they can't sell 100 machines - there's something to also be said of the risk factor that a business takes. And this would be a big risk on something like this - I don't hear anyone saying this is a slam dunk. Business is business for one reason - to make money. I seriously doubt you would walk into your employer's office and voluntarily say you don't want to make as much money because you feel it's too much.
