As I've decided to move from that French pinball forum to this (great) one, I'm very proud to tell you about my project of last year.
It had been a while since a friend of mine and I had the idea of creating a pinball in mind.
We were thinking of a Goonies one, or a Back to the Future one... But then, at the end of August, as we were thinking of which gig we would attend of the forthcoming DEP European tour, I went "can you imagine us making a DEP pinball and presenting it to them backstage?". That's when my friend replied a challenging "I dare you".

So that's when it all started!
But the most important data in this story, I think, is that we started from scratch, and we only had 4 weeks before the deadline.

I made a few phone calls, and a friend from Marseilles sold me that wrecked Buck Rogers for a 100 euros.
At that price, obviously, no electronic part was included.
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The aim was a bit optimistic : a custom playfield and backbox glass based on their latest album, complete tracks of the album when starting a ball, and samples played when hitting targets.

For those who don't know this band, here's a little overview

I'll try to make it quick.
Basically, I started working on the wood structure, bought a Janin card, found the Sparkfun MP3 trigger solution for the sound, installed a computer speaker set in the cabinet...

That's the steps I was talking about
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So then I had to plaster the playfield so that it could receive the overlay...
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Of course, I wasn't on my own on that project!
I could rely on my good friend Max, a great graphic artist.
He created the whole new playfield design, based on the songs of the album, links to the lyrics and excerpts from their videos.
He had helped a professional plastic printer with his website, so in return, that guy printed this work in no time and for free.
That helped!

And that's what it started looking like.
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In the end, after a lot of sleepless nights and hard days of work, we managed to do it on time (to the surprise of most of the people from the French forum) and installed the machine between the band's dressing rooms and the stage.

They had heard of us coming with it, as we had contacted the tour management to get passes, but when they saw it, their reactions made that month of hard work totally worth it!
We spent the day with them, and to see them play it and smile at us between two games made us very happy and proud!
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We didn't see it coming, but while playing, they filled their facebooks, twitters and instagrams with it, and in no time, we had more likes and comments that we would ever have in our lives!
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Well, it was the beginning of their tour, and they had absolutely no room for it in their trucks.
They thought of it as the ultimate table for their merch store
In the end, Greg, the singer, told me he would consider buying it. Told him I could deal with the shipping...
But we never talked about it after that.

But, clearly, one of the most incredible days in our lives!

There you go. http://www.flipjuke.fr/

And thanks!

Thanks a lot, MustangPaul!

A Mr. Bungle pinball could also be a great project, for sure!