Bonus points to repeat customers towards future purchases (like buy 10 burritos get one free)

Buy 10 pinball machines get one free? I like that!

yes that and free toppers too!

Not giving away my money making ideas.

There are so many things that need to happen to really make Pinball grow exponentially.

Playfield swap services
Services that CNC cabinet flat packs and/or build & prep new cabinets. Not just WPC cabinets, but various manufacturers, years, and titles.
CNC playfield service for custom games
Someone who can remake lockbars that are NLA. From what I've read, this is incredibly difficult, even in China. Also, metal legs that are NLA.
Service for creating/bending/water jet cutting various metal brackets, cages, etc.
Injection molding service for various plastic parts that are NLA.
Vacuuforming & ramps on demand, though various individuals and companies have been supplying the community with various items.
Playfield decals on demand to cover commonly worn areas, especially for non A-list/WPC games.
Playfield plastics on demand for custom games/re-themes or originals plastics that haven't been remade and probably won't ever be remade.
Various bumper pads for ramps and other odd-shaped specific uses on the playfield.

A lot of these would be nice to have, but costs make them very prohibitive (such as for milling aluminum molds).

Hell, I can do that. Problem is, and this has been discussed before....everyone WANTS to pay ~300 bucks for this, but the reality is for most swaps, to do it right, that's like paying 20 bucks an hour, and not including any new parts or any 'problem' issues, like riveted posts/ramps that have to be re-riveted etc. If I want to get paid 20 bucks an hour...I'll just go to work. Nobody wants to pay technician type pay for this work, and if you want it done right...well....

*Edit* Is there really nobody offering this as a blanket service, or is it just more than people want to pay? It's also a PITA to ship just a playfield, which I suspect is also why we don't see non-local advertising of this as a service.

What he said, but I hope this does not turn into another one of those wish list threads like every so often someone will join PS and advertise their "one off" services to repop unobtanium parts, everyone chimes in with their needs and nothing ever gets made.

Agreed.

Unfortunately, with a lot of really hard to get parts, it's just not easy to get everything in place to remake them. A lot of things can't be done without sample components, or the ability to do test fitting and things like that. I can't blame people for not wanting to part with their rare stuff, send them off somewhere, to maybe get a reproduction done at some point in the future. Few people are going to be willing to risk sending a rare backglass to CPR.

I personally have a pile of dead projects because I don't have any way to test them and work out any bugs in functionality. There is only so much I can do on the bench, and my response rate with beta-testers is low enough that I don't think I'll be doing that very much going forward. I sent out 6 prototype Gameplan LED compatible lamp drivers boards. I heard back from 1 person. Since so many electronics components have gone obsolete since the 1980's, many things require big redesign efforts just to get any kind of functional replacement, and that takes a lot of testing.

Either that, or things do get made but aren't 100% identical to the originals for various reasons..... then nobody buys them, and you're stuck having spent all the money and time to get it going, with no way to recoup the loss. Makes people skittish for putting effort into new work.

-Hans

EM techs.

The older good ones are dying off.

LTG : (

Professional playfield, cabinet, and backglass grading service.

Fake Example: I have a Jurassic Park up for sale with the following mods: x,y,z. It is ZTT rated as a 9.2 playfield, 9.5 back glass, and 5.2 cabinet.

Yeah, I have had some people ask for playfield swaps for $500 and act like they are doing me a favor...

A appraisal service in general might be interesting. It might also be helpful for insurance coverage for collectibles.

I think an appraisal service would be fantastic. Most insurance companies don't understand how a machine can appreciate in value etc.

I've quoted people $600 + parts. No takers yet. Anymore, I'm not sure I'd even do it for that.

I have an STTNG that probably needs a swap. Sounds like a bargain to me

It would be nice if there was a playfield swap service that was like pinball plating with an exchange... but there are so many reason why this wont work. Damn logistics and well the old playfield....

I’ve seen it mentioned a couple times that a replacement wire harness for older games is virtually impossible to find.

Now there’s something. Start with popular titles, then branch out. I’d pay to get rid of my WPC black powder encrusted, brittle harnesses.

Pinball addiction rehab

WOW. Awesome. I believe this would be termed an “exhaustive list”. +1

I am trying to learn, but the space thing is killing me

Agreed. I have been hired to look at classic cars to provide detailed pics, run a magnet over body work, test drive and look for potential problems. Same service for pins to look for issues.

I think with location pinball increasing in popularity and large display screens on pinballs creates ad revenue opportunities.
Advertisers could entice players to a location to play a game and complete a mode objective to get a prize.
Ads could be sold on the screen when the game is idle or even being played.
This could be an additional revenue stream for location and operator.
Look at Roku as an example of success wiyh ad revenue.

So... I'm not getting a free burrito??? How about a free chimichanga?

From the recent wave of weird posts. I think we need a dating service for all the single males in the pinball community.

Need an in-town pin moving service...with breakdown and setup included.

lower NIB pricing.
look at Spiderman, Stern POTC, Family Guy, WOF, 24, CSI, etc
all of those and more titles were $3500 NEW .
now at $5500 approx 10 years later thats quite a jump.
hurts operators big time when they earn the same or less and parts like spike boards are pricey as heck.

That made me chuckle

Finished Code

As a older pinhead,I would like to see a program where a qualified person can learn all there is to know about Pinball mechs,and be assigned to a area that has no qualified tech at all!! Like having a good Doctor available!!In Alameda,here in NorCal,The PPM has a program like that,but its confined to that area!!

speed things up, everything in pinball takes so dang long.

More tutorial and gameplay videos on YouTube for older games - Bowen can only do so much on his own.

Side note on videos and streams: watching people talk about pinball is boring. Watching people play is fun. Watching people talk about what they're doing while playing is great. (Of course, playing the game yourself is best of all.)

+1 3rd party pin appraisal service, including a physical inspection.

this would actually be pretty easy. we could have pinsiders in most major cities who would go out and inspect the game for a fee. I am in Nashville and would be happy to cover this area.

It might have an unintended affect of increasing the graded pin price like PCGS or PSA have done for graded coins or baseball cards, but I agree that it might be helpful. The date of the grading is important as well, because a pin can depreciate, unlike sealed coins or cards..

A pinball assembly machine! I dump a tree, a bucket of assorted screws, and a bunch of plastic laying around the house, and a paint sampler set with all the colors, into the hopper bucket of the machine. I then plug in my drawing of how I want the game to look, along with a spec sheet containing statements like "Amazing Art", and "Great flow that includes both stop and go". Finally I flip the switch, and it grinds for 10 minutes, spitting out a new machine designed by genetic algorithm. I play it for 20 minutes to see how fun it is, and if it scores less than the top 10 on Pinside, it goes back into the hopper for the genetic algorithm to evolve into the next game. I figure within 20 generations I'll own the top 30 slots on the top 10 list (because there need to be room for at least 30 games in the top 10). Finally, the machine will then evolve an arm and grab me, stuffing me into the hopper to use as raw material for the machine that will destroy the known universe as soon as it solves the last digit for Pi. And I'm willing to pay up to 10 dollars for this machine. Get building.

reasonable prices

More board testing equipment/jigs. We all know there are DIY setups that work but the manufactures had them for operators and those are few and far between to find.

reasonable customers who understand what a realistic reasonable price in todays market would be

Pinballers dating service. Alot of pinsiders need to get laid.

Any particular generation/manufacturer of machine?

I would totally consider a monthly maintenance service for a set fee for regular tasks like waxing, cleaning, minor maintenance.

More techs are needed. I'm lucky to have the best in the business, local and a quick phone call away. I've often thought that I'll have to dump all my games the day he retires, as I don't know anyone else who can fix them. It's the #1 thing that keeps me from buying more games, is the uncertainty of having someone to come over and fix them.

Expanding on the playfield swap service request, I'd like to see more options on playfield refurbishing.

More guys that work on circuit boards would be nice. More reproduction of hard to find parts.

I'm with you on that. Swapping a playfield is a lot of tedious work. $600 to just move it from one playfield to another, without cleaning or replacing anything...maybe, but who is going to do that after paying a premium for the playfield?

More techs- All eras including EM

Local pin moving - up and down stairs.

Mobile unit that will come to your home or area / town with multiple games to
Try/ test to buy. Pay for this distributor service and gets refunded if you buy a game. Other value added services from distributors: trade-ins, restorations, general repair, DIY on site seminars, personalized modifications.

Game finders would be cool. Tell them what you want, desired condition, and amount you will pay and they will find a game for you. For a fee of course. Not sure that would work with most people but would be good for those building up a collection and not have the time or connections to find games. Some guys also don't mind paying a little extra to not hassle with finding and/or moving a game. Although, I imagine it would be a major pia to deal with picky pinheads and moving games up stairs.

I would rather sell my game to my distributor at a greater discount than to deal with a bunch of tire kickers coming in and out of my home.

Having the option on buying a new game as a 'kit'. You get all the parts and your assemble it yourself.