Monday, July 8, 2013

Movin on up

Hey all,

So as promised, it got crazy.

First, my new documentary has been announced.  Shoot Again: The Resurgence of Pinball will cover the current upswing in pinball's popularity.  I'm serving as Associate Producer, and Blake Faucette is Producer/Director.  I have wanted to do a pinball documentary for a long time, but was looking for the right partner.  The minute I saw this, I knew Blake was the guy:




As fate would have it, he'd already been pondering the idea of a pinball documentary, just as I had.  The rest will be history. :)

Second, this will be the final post on Keeping My Cool.  I've moved my blogging efforts over to my new website, http://www.loriengreen.com.  Hope to see you there.

Third... well, there is a third, but I don't want to give away all the surprises at once!  The third item will be revealed in time.

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Teaser: It's about to get crazy up in here!

SO.  I've officially kicked off my next documentary project!  I'll tell you how that came to be later, but for now, go to the Facebook page for Shoot Again: The Resurgence of Pinball and hop on board!

But there's more brewing, not just the documentary.  Oh no.  I'll have tons more to report on soon.  I'm very excited.

This about sums it up:



Wednesday, May 1, 2013

First Wizard of Oz Pinball Machine in a Customer's Hands

Jersey Jack Pinball announced earlier this week that they'd started shipping Wizard of Oz pinball machines, and today, May 1, 2013, it looks like the first non-employee consumer has one (which he picked up from the factory). 

Congratulations to David, all impending WOZ owners, and to Jersey Jack Pinball for making it to this date.  This is a big deal.  After a decade or so of a single commercial manufacturer of pinball machines remaining, a NEW manufacturer shipping units is just a wonderful thing.

David Shaw, with his brand new Wizard of Oz pinball machine!

Thursday, April 18, 2013

The Impact of a Pinball Resurgence: The Tale of Metallica LE

The recent announcement of Stern's Metallica pinball machine line, specifically the Master of Puppets Limited Edition version, has presented some strong evidence supporting the pinball resurgence theory, but also in a way that isn't necessarily thrilling the long-time collector core community.  Let me try and sum this up in a nutshell, but some serious craziness has gone down in the last week, and even more in the last 24 hours.

On April 9, 2013, Stern released a teaser video for their latest machine, Metallica.  The initial announcements mentioned 400 Limited Edition (LE) machines in the plans, as well as a Premium (almost as good as the LE, but not numbered, and a bit less expensive), and a Pro version (a base model, fewer frills, and cheaper, the type more frequently put on location for public play).  Somewhere within the first few days, the LE run went from 400 to 500 machines. 



On April 11, 2013, a note from Gary Stern was posted on the official Stern Facebook page announcing that all the Limited Edition machines had been sold out (not what people usually mean when they talk about Metallica "selling out").  Keep in mind, there are two levels of "sold out" in pinball.  Sold out in this case meant that the number of LE units had been allocated out, or spoken for, to the various distributors.  Collectors didn't really panic at this because it doesn't typically mean a machine can no longer be had, even though the speed of Stern's sell-out was pretty fast compared to machines in the past.  Also of note; Stern's website crashed during this time.

The closest you may come to owning a Metallica Master of Puppets LE

LE playfield



Within 24 hours of that announcement, however, something unusual DID happen.  People started posting that distributors were also sold out of Metallica LE (the second tier of "sold out", a more true definition where a person can no longer purchase a machine, vs. just having to find the distributor who has remaining inventory).

It's unheard of for a machine, even an LE, to sell out that fast, and sell out it had.  There was a panic and scramble to try and get on the list for the LE.  People weren't used to having to make a $7000+ buying decision without even a gameplay video yet released, and many were left out in the cold. 

Normally the Premium model is an acceptable alternative to an LE (the playfield is virtually the same), but in this situation, people didn't like the art on the Premium translite:

Metallica Premium featuring actual band members

The draw of this pinball machine is partly the custom-drawn art package, and the Premium translite was the only one of the bunch that featured actual images of the band themselves.  People didn't like it, they wanted the fun, cartoon-style art of the LE and Pro translites.  This was one factor driving people to go after the LE.  Another factor that contributes is possible hoarding by speculators, both distributors, and buyers who went after multiple units with the suspicion that they would be able to flip them and make a profit.  Such value appreciation did occur in the case of the recent AC/DC "Back in Black" LE, and the speed with which the Metallica Master of Puppets LE run was snapped up is a strong indicator that the machine WILL appreciate.  We don't know how much of this has actually gone on, but the possibility doesn't help things.

SO these are pirhana-infested waters.  Then things got even worse.  As of this writing, it's not entirely clear what transpired on the afternoon of April 17th and into the next morning, but consensus and evidence suggests that Stern had to reallocate a large number of existing distributor units to either overseas distributors or potentially members of the Metallica fanclub, where the LEs had also been offered for sale and possibly over-sold.  Many distributors' allocations were cut in half, literally.  Whatever the reason, suddenly a large number of people who had thought themselves safely locked into an LE, even at a high price markup to ensure it, were being informed that they no longer had one.

Pitchforks and torches were taken up, and people were understandably furious.  Stern had drastically underestimated the demand for this product.  That doesn't mean more Limited Edition machines should be run, necessarily, but the problem was compounded by the fact that people didn't like the translite on the Premium.  That, paired with the speculators and the Metallica fanbase, and the gradual increase in pinball's popularity over the last couple years, created a perfect storm of demand.  People went pincrazy.


This is where Stern then did something right.  On April 18 (today), the day after the allocations cut and forum riots, Stern announced an alternative translite (actually an entire second art package) for Metallica Premium machines (shown below). 

Stern Pinball’s Metallica Game Success Leads To Second Premium Edition

World’s Leading Maker of Arcade Quality Pinball Collaborates With Legendary Rock Artist Dirty Donny Gillies to Create Metallica Game

MELROSE PARK, IL – April 18, 2013 – Stern Pinball, Inc., the world’s leading maker of real pinball games and the AAMA 2012 Manufacturer of the Year, announces the availability of a second Premium model Metallica pinball machine. The initial release of Metallica pinball captured the attention of gamers and fans alike. Stern sold out of both the US and International allocations of its 500 Limited Edition (“LE”) games within an hour of each respective customer announcement.

The second Premium edition machine features the vibrant artwork of Dirty Donny Gillies and complement’s Stern’s Metallica LE, “Road Case” Premium and Pro models.

The new Premium edition Metallica game boasts the same action-packed features as the Road Case Premium model and highlights the addition of Dirty Donny’s radical pop art creations. Dirty Donny is considered one of the most influential artists in the pop culture scenes of underground rock, punk and heavy metal. He is widely known for his creative work on concert posters, album covers and vinyl toys.

“Stern Pinball has pulled out all the stops for the Metallica machines,” said Dirty Donny. “Creating artwork for this special release game has been awesome. I can’t wait to see people’s reactions when they take a first look at it and get to play the game.”

For a glimpse of the game in action, Stern Pinball will be showcasing the Metallica pinball machine at Comic-Con International in San Diego this year with Nuclear Blast Records.

The Metallica game continues both the Stern Pinball and the Stern family tradition of producing quality pinball machines for young and old. The company traces its lineage to Philadelphia in the 1930s when Sam Stern entered the business of operating pinball games. Sam Stern subsequently became part owner and president of Williams Manufacturing, a pioneer in the pinball industry. Sam passed his lifelong enthusiasm for the game and the business of pinball to his son Gary Stern who founded Stern Pinball. Today pinball remains one of America’s favorite pastimes.

Pricing and Availability:

The Metallica pinball machine is available while supplies last through authorized Stern distributors and dealers.

Pro Version: $4,995
Premium Version (Road Case): $6,995
Premium Version (Donny): $6,995
Limited Edition Version: (Master of Puppets) $7,595 (SOLD OUT)

To learn more about The Metallica pinball games and Stern Pinball, visit www.sternpinball.com.


Metallica Premium, take 2!


We knew such a translite existed, as it is briefly visible in the teaser video. This was a good example of listening to your customers via social channels, and making a move to mitigate a supply issue when unexpected demand creates as big a problem as this overselling did.

It leaves the community wondering, though, if maybe it was more convenient to be a less popular hobby.  Oh, and did I mention, Stern had announced a $500 or so MSRP price increase for this machine?  Clearly that impacted demand about as effectively as a bucket of water on a forest fire.  So yes, pinball is growing, faster than anyone (even Stern) expected.  So fast that demand has far out-paced supply in this case, and resulted in some serious growing pains.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Custom Duck Hunt EM Pinball Machine is so cool!

So Skit-B, the guys making the limited run of Predator pinball machines, evidently had a side project going to while away the boring hours.  That project was a one-off custom pinball machine based on the NES game, Duck Hunt.

I want this.  I SO want this!  Just the sound effects are enough... forget Predator, start pumping out some of these babies!


Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Pinball ownership: maintenance weekend

Pinball ownership is super-rewarding, but it isn't all fun and games.  Here's a little breakdown of how a recent weekend went.

Saturday night
Installed AC/DC drum kit mod and replaced the flipper rubbers in the mini playfield of AC/DC.  It's not that easy accessing the mini playfield, so while we had it open, we cleaned the playfield and view window with a little Novus 1, and made sure the targets were all in good working order.

I don't think we actually played any pinball, because by the time we were done with that, it was time to get the kids to bed, and we needed to catch up on Walking Dead.  The only time we can watch zombie-related tv is when the kids are asleep.

Sunday
We'd been having a fuse blow frequently on our new WHO Dunnit machine, and the preliminary steps that sometimes resolve this sort of problem, like replacing the batteries, hadn't helped.  It was to the point where we needed to remove the motherboard and bring it to a technician for diagnostics.  Upon taking the board out, we discovered that it had been "hacked" to death, meaning someone had done a non-expert job of trying to fix various issues that had come up during its lifetime.  Broken traces for one thing, judging by the network of worm-like wires strewn across the back of the board.  If you're not a professional pinball tech, that's the danger in trying to fix things; you run the risk of making it worse.  We brought the board to our pinball tech, who confirmed that the brain of this machine was beyond repair.  Replacing a motherboard isn't cheap, but at least now we knew the source of the problems we'd been having with it.

Lunch break.

The next machine in need of work was Judge Dredd.  The first project was to fix a fried connector for the general illumination (GI) backbox lights.  The connector has fried at some point before we acquired this machine, so I don't know the specifics, but the white connector housing was half toasted like a campfire s'mores only not delicious.  This was our first time replacing a connector, but it worked, and behold, there was light! :)  Now that those connections were restored, we were able to identify about a dozen burned-out bulbs, and replace them with working bulbs.

Next we did a flipper rebuild for the lower left flipper of Judge Dredd.  This is one of the rites of passage for being a pinball owner, doing your first flipper rebuild.  Once you're used to doing them it's not that bad, but the first time can be an intimidating prospect.  After all, if you get this wrong, it impacts the entire gameplay experience, and the angle of the flippers is a precision matter that you totally take for granted before having to do this.

About 8 o'clock that night, we got around to actually playing the machines.  It wasn't a long session, but it was a good one, and it felt great enjoying the fruits of the weekend's maintenance and repair labor.  Not every weekend goes like that, but there is almost always something needing doing when it comes to pinball machines.

Monday, March 18, 2013

ACDC Pinball Drum Mod Installation Details

My husband recently purchased the AC/DC Drum Mod from Pinball Life, and Saturday night, we decided to install it.  Yeah, I know, we lead a life of wild party-filled weekends...

The instructions for installing the drum mod were decent, but I felt that adding our own experience to the mix might help other budding pinball modders.  One thing we felt was missing specifically was more detail on the solder points for the wires.

The first step was to feed the wires up through the playfield.  The hardest of the two for this step is definitely the lower playfield drum.  We had to use tweezers and teamwork to get the wire up through the playfield where it needed to go, because there were already a good number of wires going through that pathway.

Wires feeding up for lower playfield drum

Wires feeding up for  upper playfield drum
The trickiest part of this was knowing where to solder the wires, because the instruction sheet we had didn't have a picture of this.  The kit said to solder them to the flashers, but we had to do some trial and error in test mode to see when we had the correct points.  My husband was already familiar with this type of installation, though, from when he put the under-cabinet LEDs onto Tron Legacy.  What worked was having the green and yellow side connected to the red flasher, and the orange and yellow wires (the one with the black tape near the bottom) connected to the farthest flasher from the red one.  Hopefully this picture helps illustrate that.

Solder points for drum kit wiring

Installing the drums was not a big deal at all.  You have a choice of flasher color for this kit, and we chose yellow.  Adding the LED piece to the drums was a simple matter of peeling off the covering for the double-stick tape and just sticking it onto the back of the drums.

Lower playfield drum, side view

Upper playfield drum, side view

And here's a player-view of the completed installation.

Upper playfield drum, front view


Lower playfield drum, front view

The video below shows what they look like in action.  It's always hard to film pinball flashers adequately, and they look kind of blinding in this video.  I was afraid ours would be like that, but in reality they are very nice, and it's a relatively subtle effect.  I recommend this mod to anyone looking to improve what is a near-flawless machine to begin with. :)