(Topic ID: 48087)

New Star Gazer & Seawitch Playfield Production

By greatwichjohn

10 years ago


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#384 9 years ago

fantastic work john!

ps
I received my star gazer back glass this past week. you do an amazing job of packaging something as fragile as a back glass to have it ship a couple hundred miles and arrive in one piece!

1 week later
#405 9 years ago

wow, those 4 completed playfields look really nice. I can't wait until you start on the seawitch pf's to see those as well

and speaking of those, when is the cut-off to let you know what we want done with the 2 yellow [unobtainable] triangle inserts?

1 week later
#421 9 years ago

count me in on the list who will clean them out themselves (for both the SG and the SW pf's)

for the rest of you offering to do this yourself, schudel5 is correct, a cheap set of needle files from HF will work. as he stated, it may take you a bit more time to clean out the holes, but will greatly reduce the probability of scratching the pf (and this will keep john from going crazy and potentially cutting himself)

http://www.harborfreight.com/12-piece-needle-file-set-468.html

#435 9 years ago
Quoted from BrianBannon:

Seawitch has I think ten star rollovers and most of them are far from view.

seawitch, like star gazer, has 2 roll overs.

however, I think that most of us agree that john doesn't have to spend his time cleaning these. we can do this ourselves

1 week later
#481 9 years ago

wow, that looks incredible. nice work john!!

although, I'm in the same boat as s2k4ary in still looking for a star gazer, I did manage to find and pick up my project seawitch 2 weekend ago

it wasn't able to do much more than power up at the sellers home, but 6 hours of tech work later, I've got it 80% functional and am just waiting on a parts order to hopefully clear up the remaining issues (2 jet bumpers and the upper flippers not working).

I'm so glad that I jumped on the bandwagon for playfields and backglasses for both of these

#494 9 years ago

those look incredible. great work john! I can't wait to receive mine and see what the seawitch repro's will look like as you start tackling those

1 week later
#530 9 years ago

have you completed the seawitch back glass already or is that still in the planning stage?

1 week later
#545 8 years ago

looking great john!

is there anyway that you'd be willing to post which people are where in your reservation lists (for both SG and SW) and which no. you're currently serving?

2 weeks later
#601 8 years ago

I spoke with kevin @ CPR about the possibility of them re-running the SG plastics about a month ago.
when they run a set (for any machine), I believe their minimum is 60-80 sets. if marco's is willing to step up and order 30 sets like someone mentioned earlier, I'm sure that I can convince kevin to run them again. (I'll hold my NOS Joust playfield that he wants for cnc and dimpling positioning as hostage

seriously though, I'll make a few phone calls today to the appropriate parties and see if I can get the ball rolling.

with regard to the pop bumper caps, I spoke with steve young on this for both SG and SW about a month ago (when I approached him on running a set of the deep blue jeweled posts) and he stated that they didn't have set-up to perform the hot stamping around the bumper cap edges because it wasn't flat (although, I could have sworn seeing other bumper caps that they offer have something similiar)

#603 8 years ago

thanks john. brennan's my go-to person @ marco's, I'll see what I can find out for everyone.

#605 8 years ago

the above is about SG plastics. SW plastics are still readily available

3 weeks later
#645 8 years ago
Quoted from mappy_mouse:

Hi all
Just thought those doing a Star Gazer restore might be interested in these, Found them in the pinball centre in Europe, Star Post - blue, faceted 1-3/16" http://www.pinballcenter.eu/catalog/star-post-blue-faceted-1316-p-4878.html?language=english They also have Star Gazer Rubber Set, premium transparent, see through rubbers might be cool, anyway the shop is worth the look.

05095_gr[1].jpg (Click image to enlarge)

they must have had more made. the last time that I looked, both the short and tall posts were out of stock.

I took delivery of some of their premium transparent rubber rings, but some of the rings must have been sitting around for years as there was a slight yellowing to them. I would suggest going through titan pinball if you want a decent priced, quality transparent ring

2 weeks later
#652 8 years ago

john:
did you ever find out "why" these new playfields were missing holes?

do we any update where you are on [the list] and approximate dates for those of us still waiting for playfields?

1 month later
#671 8 years ago

john,
how many play fields of the original 40 still need to be completed to ship? (just trying to gauge where I am [now] in the list)

3 months later
#717 8 years ago

john:
any update for the next 14 going out in the fall?

1 month later
#729 8 years ago

any updates john?

2 months later
#743 8 years ago

john still has 10 star gazer playfields to ship out to people from his original list

I'm hoping for an update on these soon. I paid for both about 2 years ago and have been waiting (but not as long as others were). some people have been on the lists for 4+ years now

1 month later
#749 8 years ago

I, for one, am still eagerly awaiting both playfields.

based on the other people who have received theirs, they are definitely worth the wait. summer can't come soon enough to see the end of the SG playfields and the start of the SW playfields

1 week later
#760 8 years ago

the CPR seawitch plastics as still available from marco's
http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/13A-123-2-9

unfortunately, the stargazer ones have been long sold-out. CPR has stated that they will probably not re-run SG plastics unless they can find another plastic set that shares a similar color palette that can share the sheet of PETG with. there's just not enough demand for them to screen new sets.

#762 8 years ago
Quoted from dothedoo:

Stu sent out a request on RGP a couple days ago asking for Star Gazer plastics to scan for reproduction.

that's odd given that CPR has already run them once before. kevin should still have the files to make new films if need be

#765 8 years ago

my mistake then. maybe it was a small run by an individual before.

#768 8 years ago

yes, it would be nice if steve (PBR) could hot stamp the lines around the edges on the pop bumper caps for both seawitch and star gazer

#775 8 years ago
Quoted from greatwichjohn:

Looks like I was wrong on the Star Gazer plastic source.

me too. no harm, no foul

#776 8 years ago
Quoted from Redketchup:

I did mine with water decal and i got pretty good result!

image_(resized).jpg

those came out very nice. I think that doing something similar with the seawitch ones, wouldn't come out quite the same given that it's a yellow ink on a blue pop bumper.

my thought is that the water slide would be more apparent against the blue surface vs. the milky white of the star gazer bumper tops, but I could be wrong.

redketchup:
do you happen to have a vector file for your hot stamp lines?

1 week later
#778 8 years ago

hi john,
are you getting any closer to finishing up the final 10 outstanding star gazer playfield orders?

#780 8 years ago

thanks for the update john.

I'm sure its been more of an undertaking than you ever imagined, but I'm sure that I speak for all of us on the list(s) in stating that we greatly appreciate the time and effort that you've poured into these projects to help keep these classic titles alive and well

1 month later
#792 7 years ago
Quoted from Tsskinne:

Anyone who needs a seawitch project game let me know I have one with two playfields blown out one installed, and a nice spare one. Project thought needs transformer and all boards assumed non working. Cabinet body ok, cabinet head has plywood back.

I'll add that I've got an extra transformer and rectifier board that I pulled originally from my seawitch (and replaced). everything works on it, but the rectifier board could use a bit a love (the burned molex connectors did a number on it and a few of the test points are burned as well

I'd be willing to bring the transformer/rectifier board to MGC for anyone that wants to save on the shipping costs. pm me for details before friday

3 weeks later
#794 7 years ago

any update for us john?

1 month later
#801 7 years ago

any update john?
I sent you an email asking where I stood and for photos of the available playfields but only received a "will do" response and nothing more a week ago

3 weeks later
#812 7 years ago

john,
it's now been over a month since you posted that you were going to send images to those of us still on the waiting list to pick from the 14 play fields which are done. any idea on when that email will send?

2 weeks later
#816 7 years ago

is there anything new to report?

I guess I'm feeling just a bit anxious after waiting 2+ years for both playfields (and still waiting) given that most of the SG playfields were complete almost 6 months ago. updates seem to be few and far between

1 month later
#833 7 years ago

thanks for the update john. any word on those last 7 stargazer playfields?

1 month later
#862 7 years ago

received no. 45 after being on "the list" for quite some time and I've got to say that it was worth the wait.

thanks john!!

2 months later
#900 7 years ago

thanks for the updates john

3 weeks later
#903 7 years ago

any update john?

1 month later
#920 7 years ago

x9, 9 I say

foghorn leghorn (resized).jpgfoghorn leghorn (resized).jpg

1 month later
#936 6 years ago

the seawitch stuff looks beautiful john. I can't wait for to be completed so that I can restore mine to something worthy of having people over to play

3 weeks later
#958 6 years ago

thanks for the update john. if when you don't think that you've made significant progress, it's always a treat to see what you've gotten accomplished (and give me a little satisfaction that we're getting closer to the end of the tunnel

3 weeks later
#960 6 years ago

john:
realistically what are the chances that the seawitch playfields will actually be completed and shipped this year? (also, how many people are on the pre-paid wait list?

I don't want to come off sounding like a jackass but given the health issues that you've had over the past few years and how much time has past since the star gazer playfields have been pretty much been completed and shipped to people, it seems like there still may be quite some time before these are actually finished

I love the work that you've done, but I don't want to give myself any false hope and then have those dreams dashed when the reality sets in and these are delayed by another year or so

3 months later
#1028 6 years ago

john:
given all of the questions with the new clear, when is the cut off to let you know whether or not those of us that pre-ordered need to let you know if we want our playfields clearcoated or not?

1 week later
#1067 6 years ago

on a related note, it would be killer if we could get steve young to heat stamp the pop bumper caps with the radiating lines on the edge of the caps

#1083 6 years ago

john:
are those star gazers being cleared by your [new] guy?

1 week later
#1102 6 years ago

john:
can we take up a collection and get you a decent digital camera?

my god, that thing that you're using has to be what? 10 years old (if not more). you're taking some great views, but it would be really nice to be able to zoom in and make out the details of your work. time to move up to something that does at least 8MP or higher

1 month later
#1158 6 years ago

merry christmas john (and everyone else in this thread)

does this mean that with a new contractor to doing your clearcoat that he may use a different product [again] or are you going to continue with the 2 coats of the automotive clearcoat?

1 month later
#1163 6 years ago

any update on the seawitch playfields?

1 week later
#1169 6 years ago

I'm still waiting for CPR to fulfill the promised joust playfield run (to no avail even though I keep pestering kevin about them

heck, if pinballpcb.com was still in business and CPR had a firm date on the playfield, it would almost be worth contracting with a cabinet maker and put together and sell completely new machines

I wouldn't worry too much john, you put out a great product, even if it does take a while. given the star gazer playfield that I received from you, I would say that it was worth the wait and hope the same for the seawitch

2 weeks later
#1183 6 years ago

@greatwichjohn
any update on the cnc corrections? was the 3rd test run the final run?

#1187 6 years ago

@greatwichjohn
chewing bubblegum & kicking ass since 2003. and he's all out of bubblegum

kicking ass.gifkicking ass.gif

1 week later
#1191 6 years ago

any update john?

#1194 6 years ago

there are 4 strains of the flu this year. getting a shot doesn't necessarily protect you from all 4

rest up, get well (and then get back to work!!!

#1201 6 years ago
Quoted from Methos:

John,
I thought we were getting the option of not getting it cleared and we'll do it with someone local once we get it. Did those plans change?
Thanks.

based on the fact that they f'ed up the cnc program and created more issues with test #3, I think that we're going to have to wait a bit longer before we see cut playfields, ready to inserts and then printing to get to that point

3 weeks later
#1216 5 years ago

any updates john?

2 weeks later
#1220 5 years ago

any update on the seawitch playfields?

1 week later
#1222 5 years ago

any seawitch updates in the last 3 weeks?

#1234 5 years ago

still in and a seawitch fan for life!

(although I noticed that mine isn't booting now and I need to look into that. I don't think that I've turned it on in over a year so it might be something as simple as pulling out and reseating the roms

#1237 5 years ago
Quoted from Lovef2k:

I would start re-seating the connectors first.

did that already. wasn't the issue. I know I'm getting power, but on power up all I get is the red status light. no chimes. so the game is getting power, but the code isn't booting. next step, pull the roms and the processor, clean the legs and then reseat everything

#1240 5 years ago
Quoted from Lovef2k:

Copy that. I hope you get it running. So right now you have solid led on mpu not flashing?

correct. the ann arbor pinball showcase is this weekend (which I'm a club member and working), so I'll look at it next week

1 month later
#1259 5 years ago
Quoted from greatwichjohn:

Guys with all the prepaid pinball buyers in the past being mostly burned, & almost with Jack having his problems in the past (Stern also). The prepaid days of anything are over for pinball people. If I had to do this from start again I would of just had stock & sold only what was ready to ship.

that's what I do, however you're in a slightly different boat with a lot of costs associated with the product.

given the level of quality that you deliver, I don't feel too bad about sending the money ahead of time. my only concern is your health (something that we all need to monitor as we get older

#1274 5 years ago
Quoted from cottonm4:

Chill out, man. John is a one man show. And since I have been around he has always been above board and honest. He is offering to give prepaids their money back. There are not too many places that will do that. Did you take his offer? Or perhaps you are not a prepaid.
It is just pinball. You look like you have plenty of pins in your stable to play. Relax.

plus, he gives updates. that's the one thing that most of these other "one man" operations lack

it's one thing to make promises. john has made and kept them. yes, he's definitely taken a lot longer than he promised, but he's kept everyone up to date on his progress and his successes and failures.

2 weeks later
#1281 5 years ago

hi john,
hope the move went without a hitch. any progress/update on the seawitch playfields?

3 weeks later
#1311 5 years ago
Quoted from MtnFrost:

Forgive that I only check here occasionally - are these playfields for Seawitch still being made, or has all this moving and such made them vaporware, so to speak? Thanks

vaporware? hmm... I don't think that we've been prattling on about a playfield that we're not going to receive for the last 25+ pages
read back a page or two. john is on vacation until the end of next week. after that final checks will resume which should lead to playfield production for seawitch

2 weeks later
#1322 5 years ago
Quoted from greatwichjohn:

With CPR now doing glass titles that I have done for years. I will be leaving the parts business in 2019. My focus is now on finishing Seawitch & Star Gazer playfields. I will not be able to price match CPR glass & shipping. Thanks for the support over the years!

Quoted from greatwichjohn:

The glass that I have produced for years will be price matched to CPR & shipping if they are selling that title. No money in it for me at their price points. But it will end this year as I exhaust the special shipping boxes I purchased 7 years ago. The end is near, & I will move on to other pinball projects. The offer is good to USA customers only. Thanks for your support over the years!

john, from the wording in these 2 posts of yours, you almost make it sound like CPR is "stealing" the business away from you (or maybe I'm just reading into it way too far. however from what I have heard, that's not the case

care to set the record straight and clarify for everyone?

2 weeks later
#1346 5 years ago

john:
how many of us are pre-paid for the seawitch playfields?

1 month later
#1386 5 years ago

any update john?

1 month later
#1403 5 years ago

can those of us that pre-paid get a numbered list of where we stand in the grand scheme of things?

1 week later
#1413 5 years ago

I don't have a number and feel left out. however, I didn't jump in until feb 09, 2015 so I haven't been waiting nearly as long as some of you

1 month later
#1463 5 years ago

hoping that we'll see the shipping of these prior to march of 2019. I was really hoping that john would have been able to get these done by the end of this year but c'est la vie

3 weeks later
#1485 5 years ago

quick (and serious) question for you john

after having everything finalized, how is it possible for you to get back a playfield where the lane switch holes were not cnc'ed? do you have different cuts set to run as separate programs due to the fact that whoever is cutting these for you has a cnc that can only accommodate a limited number of tools?

if that's the case, it seems like something as simple as a notepad checklist would alleviate this issue

1 month later
#1539 5 years ago
Quoted from greatwichjohn:

Like I said previously the next 20 Seawitch playfields will be cut while I am away in Texas. If everything is ok many more to follow this spring.

you do realize that it will be officially spring before you leave for TPS, right?

1 month later
#1552 4 years ago

john
have the insert plastics arrived or are you still waiting on those?

1 month later
#1586 4 years ago

ha! I was one of the later pre-order people and I'm at 1,570 days today

2 months later
#1642 4 years ago

do we have an option to skip the varathane? as pacman stated, it will yellow over time and today's clearcoats are much better than the stuff used in the 80s

4 weeks later
#1677 4 years ago

yeah, I'm a little unclear on what he meant by that as well

john:
any idea if you could upload higher resolution photos? it's hard to make out any details with my aging eyes

#1680 4 years ago

not the weep holes, the part where he stated that the sign shop cut out a hole in the end of the shooter lane

#1697 4 years ago

realistically, do you think that you will be able to ship production seawitch playfields to all pre-paid customers before the end of the year?

2 weeks later
#1710 4 years ago

john, any chance that you can start uploading photos with a higher resolution than you're currently using? it would be really nice to be able to actually see the details. the last time that 640x480 was used was windows 98!!

most smartphones produce images with at least 4x the resolution of what you're currently uploading

#1717 4 years ago
Quoted from Whridlsoncestood:

It’s pinside. When you upload photos it defaults to medium resolution as most things people upload don’t need to be in crazy hi def and helps with los times and server space. Here’s a little test.
Default :[quoted image][quoted image]

I would agree with you, but click on any of john's images from the past 90 days. NONE of them zoom to a size greater than 640x480 pixels

even your default size image increase to the native 2048x1536 when zoomed. that's a 10x increase in detail

1 month later
#1747 4 years ago

any update? as much as I had hoped, this is not looking well for getting these out to the paid customers by year end

#1749 4 years ago

from January 31st 2019

Quoted from greatwichjohn:

Playfield news: 4 Seawitch were cnc'd today, & they started the 16 Star Gazer. Seawitch production is still my priority. The 4 Seawitch will get ready for lenses, & printing ASAP. If everything is good next 20 cnc. Then another 40 Seawitch cnc'd in March. Worked on 2 Star Gazer from 2018 today.
[quoted image]

given the wait for star gazer, I'm come to the conclusion of taking any date that john provides and adding a minimum of 2 years to it. not trying to neg him, but john has never hit any of his delivery estimates in the past 6-8 years

3 weeks later
#1760 4 years ago

given that you're now about 1/2 through your 4 week vacation without any updates, are we realistically now looking at January/February 2020 for seawitch playfields?

1 week later
#1769 4 years ago

with only 1 week left of your vacation, any updates? you're on here pretty frequent, but I still feel like I have to keep prodding to get any news

3 weeks later
#1775 4 years ago

any update john?

#1779 4 years ago
Quoted from plankalkul:

pulling teeth (resized).jpgpulling teeth (resized).jpg

Quoted from greatwichjohn:

I have a dental plan, & it seems like there is always work needed. As you get older things get harder.

john, I think you misread @plankalkul's post. it was more along the lines of getting regular and timely information from you is like pulling teeth

I'm still in it for the looooooooooooooooooong haul, but even you have to admit at this point that 5+ years is a bit ridiculous. gene cunningham managed to build 170+ complete pinball machines in that time

#1782 4 years ago

ah yes, it was @plankalkul. corrected and sorry about that

1 week later
#1787 4 years ago

hey john
hope that you are doing ok (and have plenty of food and water). I just saw the effects of the blizzard that ripped through st. john's over the weekend and since Halifax is pretty close, I'm assuming that your city was hit pretty bad as well. stay warm and safe sir!

for those not aware, here's some photos of the effects of the blizzard from this past weekend
https://www.boredpanda.com/canada-blizzard-newfoundland/?cexp_id=24749&cexp_var=4&_f=featured&utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic

1 month later
#1811 4 years ago

john, I think that one thing lacking in your replies for those of us that have pre-paid and have been patiently waiting for 5+ years is where we are in terms of any sort of list.

you mentioned at one time that there are only about 20 people that pre-paid for a seawitch playfield. how difficult would it be to post that list and remove people from it as you've shipped their playfields out. I've always been as transparent as possible to my customers when I've done my projects, and this is the one thing that has had me scratching my head from the beginning.

1 week later
#1858 4 years ago

I'm still confused.

given that the last user put together list showed about 23 pre-paid people still waiting for their playfields. your post shows progress for only 8 of those. does the last batch going to the shop for cnc cutting consist of about 15+ playfields?

spring officially begins next week. do you honestly believe that you're going to have 23+ seawitch playfield done and shipped in the next 6 months? not trying to be a "debbie downer" but we've all heard this more than a few times before

1 week later
#1876 4 years ago
Quoted from Whridlsoncestood:

I did a nos paragon swap once. Worst swap ever. 75% of holes/dimples were not there. No alignment of any sort. People hold those old nos playfields like they are gold but they are nos for a reason. Manufactures weren’t making spare playfields in those days.

agreed. most, if not all NOS playfields were factory rejects for some reason or another. the williams joust one that I still have was missing a lot of holes that I had to work through with CPR from my machine. thankfully, mike and I went round and round about 6x to get everything correct before running the production playfields.

john:
good to see that you're making progress. any chance that we can get an "official" list of who you is left on your list for seawitch playfields?

1 month later
#1934 3 years ago

those look great john. I'm excited to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel and receive my seawitch playfield.

#1942 3 years ago
Quoted from cottonm4:

I will change my request for one with no clear to one with the clear your new guy is using .

I would like to do the same, mine with the clear the new guy is using

3 weeks later
#1978 3 years ago

well packaged indeed. got to love how parcels that travel around the globe can arrive in better shape than ones that ship 1 or 2 states here in the us.

#1981 3 years ago

can we get an updated list to know where we all stand?

1 month later
#2009 3 years ago
Quoted from ibuypinballs:

John dont you have a list of the prepaid guys?

agreed. come on, john the ownage is on you to reach out to us buyers, not have us guessing.

#2024 3 years ago

Updated Unofficial Seawitch List
Prepaid
1. Tweaver April 23 or 24, 2013
2. Dazza88 December 13
3. nocreditdot April 1, 2014
4. Jrobinso99 April 4
5. Lovef2k April 7
6. sofaspud May 23
7. dothedoo May 28
8. gabegabegabe May 29
9. 85Txaggie May 31
10. Evets August 3
11. Raptor December 13 (per email exchange with Raptor and John G)
12. PACMAN February 1, 2015
13. BigMcLargeHuge February 5
14. j_m_ February 9
15. MattS April 23
16. RCP May 19

“Want to buy” list, some parts in educated guess order.
------ 2014
Talon2000 (see post 29; 6 years ago?)
Lovef2K (some time in 2014, see post 1884)
------ 2017
bluespin (see post 905, 3 years ago)
RazerX (May 26, 2017)
------ 2018
cottonm4 (see post 1013, 2 years ago but likely PM’d before that post)
paddlepaw (July 3, 2018; see post 1433)
tdiddy (post 1009, supersedes post 863?; 2 years ago)
Pinballer73 (see posts 937, 1882; 2 years ago)
Yfz250 (PM 2 years ago, not sure where to place within the 2018 group)
Chalkey (PM 2 years ago, not sure where to place within the 2018 group)
------2019
Tommy42 (see post 1248)
Madmax541 (see post 1432, 1 year ago)
Received PF List
kickabit September 4, 2013
BrianBannon April 23, 2013
DrJoe April 22, 2013
terrapinmark April 25, 2013
Razorsedge (test playfield, post 1977)
rstrunks May 9, 2013 (Received test playfield with white arrow. Post 1827))
xeneize August 29, 2013 (Uncleared PF sent to Kruzman. Posts 1809, 1866, 1867)
Whrildsoncestood (Received uncleared test PF with white arrows)
mof Jun 27, 2020
pinheadpierre Jun 27, 2020
ibuypinballs Jun 29, 2020

Removed from list:
Methos November, 2015 (removed after PM)

1 month later
#2048 3 years ago

any updates john?

3 weeks later
#2060 3 years ago

officially autumn begins in less than a month and it's been 60+ days since the last 2 playfields were shipped out to any of us on the prepaid list. and while I will still continue to patiently wait for my playfield, I really don't have high hopes that I will see it this year. maybe 7 years waiting will be the charm

#2064 3 years ago
Quoted from greatwichjohn:

Missed hopefully the last prepaid Star Gazer & Seawitch customer. So his 2 are going out now. Waiting to see about the other 2 Seawitch guys notified.

what does this mean??

I show that there are still over 10 prepaid people (including myself) that haven't received their playfields yet. I've never been notified by you

the last list posted by Evets just a week ago
Updated Unofficial Seawitch List
Prepaid List
1. Tweaver April 23 or 24, 2013
2. Dazza88 December 13, 2013
3. Jrobinso99 April 4, 2014
4. sofaspud May 23, 2014
5. dothedoo May 28, 2014
6. gabegabegabe May 29, 2014
7. 85Txaggie May 31, 2014
8. Evets August 3, 2014
9. Raptor December 13, 2014 (per email exchange with Raptor and John G)
10. PACMAN February 1, 2015
11. BigMcLargeHuge February 5, 2015
12. j_m_ February 9, 2015
13. MattS April 23, 2015
14. RCP May 19, 2015

3 months later
#2133 3 years ago

bring evets list over from 2 pages ago

Prepaid List
1. Tweaver April 23 or 24, 2013
2. Dazza88 December 13, 2013
3. Jrobinso99 April 4, 2014
4. dothedoo May 28, 2014
5. gabegabegabe May 29, 2014
6. 85Txaggie May 31, 2014
7. Evets August 3, 2014
8. Raptor December 13, 2014 (per email exchange with Raptor and John G)
9. PACMAN February 1, 2015
10. BigMcLargeHuge February 5, 2015
11. j_m_ February 9, 2015
12. MattS April 23, 2015
13. RCP May 19, 2015

1 month later
#2173 3 years ago

I've reached out to Tweaver and Jrobinso99 to see if they ever received their playfields (and can be removed from the list). I don't see an active user id for Dazza88 here.

#2175 3 years ago

Jrobinso9 replied and has not received his playfield yet. he's one of the first that pre-ordered so I'm kind of dumbfounded how he hasn't received his yet.

[begin rant]
as much as I think john does a great job, he's f***ing horrible at keeping records. I believe that I've had to send him my information no less than 9 times so far (including the 3x that I've had to in order to receive my prepaid SG playfield and both the SG and SW backglasses) for a playfield that I've been waiting for almost 6 years for now. it's not that hard to keep a damn spreadsheet or even a notepad document!!!
[end rant]

#2183 3 years ago

I spoke with john this evening. if I could have everyone send me the following information, I am putting together a spreadsheet for john so that he has all of the info in one place

pm me the following:
your full name
complete mailing address (including country)
email address
phone no. (if you feel comfortable providing that)
date that you pre-paid for a seawitch playfield (or added yourself to the "want to buy" list [indicating as such]

once I have everyone's info (or most everyone if I can't get everyone to reply), I will forward the information to john

#2186 3 years ago
Quoted from 85Txaggie:

I have sent me info to John directly when he asked for it last week. Why do I need to now give it to you?

you DON'T have to. I was merely trying to help out and eliminate all of those times that john continually asks for you information by gathering it into one document and sending it to him.

#2203 3 years ago
Quoted from miracleman:

Thanks Jake, Good Job John!
I think that's 4 pre-paids we've been able to scratch off the list.

I'm glad that you're still keeping the list updated. I've only had 3 people reach out to me with their information to try and create a spreadsheet for john (and all of them were non pre-paid individuals)

#2256 3 years ago

I wish that john would have participated in the pinside secret santa and his secret santa would have sent him a camera that can shoot higher rez pictures. maybe it's my old eyes, but I wouldn't be able to make out any differences on the photos above.

john:
can you PLEASE post higher resolution photos for the playfields???

#2267 3 years ago
Quoted from greatwichjohn:

If you want high res let me know with a private email for the next group. I use the lowest res for pinside. Pro#10 & Pro#14 going out to prepaid guys. Doing the UPS now. Pro#13 is Grade A but the 10k green lense is slightly distorted from molding underneath!

there is absolutely no reason to use "lowest res" mode for pinside, they auto-compress images and they still look good. plus, if you increase the resolution on the images that you post here, you won't be bothered to cater to a bunch of individual requests.

#2270 3 years ago
Quoted from hisokajp:

there is a limit, over 10mb per picture or something

john's current 640x480 pxl images are nowhere near that

1 month later
#2318 3 years ago

wow, their quality control is horrible. looking forward to the blue change and potentially having my seawitch playfield by may

3 months later
#2400 2 years ago

any update on the darker artwork for seawitch?

3 months later
#2467 2 years ago

fingers crossed that FantasticPinball will cross the finish line this year and I can finally finish restoring mine

2 weeks later
#2474 2 years ago
Quoted from FantasticPinball:

Updated Unofficial Seawitch List
Prepaid List + Date Paid
3. jrobinso99 April 4, 2014 - Playfield Received
4. Evets August 3, 2014 - Playfield received
5. Raptor December 13, 2014 - Playfield Received
6. PACMAN February 1, 2015 - Playfield Received
8. j_m_ February 9, 2015 - Playfield Received
1. TWeaver April 23 or 24, 2013
2. Dazza88 December 13, 2013 (contacted)
7. solidstate February 3, 2015

just had a phone call from FantasticPinball and we've sorted things out

#2484 2 years ago

I received mine today and my sentiments echo @evets
the colors seem to be spot on and the entire playfield looks very nice. however, when held to the light, there are a lot of fish eyes that can be seen through the clear and banding in the dark blue areas is evident from the direct printing

fortunately, the majority of the fish eyes seem to be limited to the area between all of the thumper bumpers so they will not be visible and the banding blends away at a distance 6" or more

overall, it's a very nice playfield and the included test board was a pleasant surprise

IMG_8665 (resized).jpgIMG_8665 (resized).jpg

8 months later
#2499 1 year ago
Quoted from FantasticPinball:

In the first batch of Seawitch playfields, the guy doing the clearcoat did what he did for all his automotive clearcoat, which is to add a small amount of aluminum powder that acts as a catalyst or accelerant to the reaction of the two part clear. The result was that the ink took on a slightly metallic look that was, in many opinions, nicer than the original. I only sold a few of these. I wish I had kept one for myself. I'd love to see one of these in a machine. They were special.
Fantastic!

I'm going to have to look at mine again. I don't remember it having any metallic sheen to it and I was one of the individuals to receive one from the first batch

#2521 1 year ago
Quoted from mof:

cottonm4, Thanks for jumping in.
To recap:
1. Do we know whether those 6 issues are the total or are there any more?
2. Can all the fixes be done freehand with a power drill and a steady hand?

That does not ring a bell. I have filled and redrilled many holes with super glue and bamboo toothpicks when I need to move screw holes a few 1/64"s here and there. But nothing more than that. Which fix is that for?

let me phrase this one a bit better. the problem is that you have a hole that is incorrect and it is off only slightly (meaning that if you were to drill the [correct] position, a portion of the [new, correct position] hole would overlap onto where the [existing, incorrect position] hole is

while the toothpick method (cramming as many glue-covered toothpicks into the existing hole as possible and letting it set up prior to cutting off the ends of the toothpicks) will allow you to use the same hole without any further modification, a stronger solution is as follows:

- drill out the existing hole using a bit size 2-3x or larger than the existing hole (this is usually only done where the hole is covered so that the repair is not evident).
- select a section of wooden dowel that is a tight fit in the drilled hole (pre-cut and finished on at least one end so that when pounded into position, the top surface is flush with the top of the playfield)
- line the inner wall of the hole with a coating of wood glue
- cover a wooden dowel with wood glue
- gently tap the wooden dowel into the hole so that it is completely though (and flush with the topside of the playfield)
- let dry, then sand the bottom of the playfield so that the dowel is flush on both the top and bottom
- run a drill bit through where the new, correct hole needs to be positioned (using a small drill bit so that the screw has enough material to "bite" into

1 month later
#2531 1 year ago

that looks really nice and given how long I waited (and was the last person on the list to be made whole), I almost feel cheated that I didn't receive one of those from fantastic pinball

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