it's almost here............Keep watching this thread....
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Homepin Pinball Presents: > 5....
- Thread starter Homepin
- Start date
OP
OP
I can't change the thread title so I will just have to add things here:
5...4...
5...4...
3 next???? 
Are we there yet?
OP
OP
5...4...3...2...1...
Ahhh!! Is this the one you are making in China?? 
OP
OP
Yes, in my own factory - more details as they become available
OP
OP
I will move to China and run the factory - my son has lived there for 7 years and I already travel there 3 or 4 times a year for at least a month each time - may as well stay and build pinballs...
Not a fan of the theme but it has a cult following so I'm sure they will sell well
Looks like a cool project, but going nuts and banning entire countries from buying your goods because of a few bad eggs screams 'Nutter' to me. Not sure if you want that image when trying to sell your goods, but i for one dont give my money to aggressive bullies. Have fun selling your pin once your thread on pinside goes viral:
http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/new-pinball-announced-by-homepin-thunderbirds/page/4
http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/new-pinball-announced-by-homepin-thunderbirds/page/4
great theme, hope it's a success.
Not the best PR in the world....
OP
OP
The following is a post I have just put up on an Australian pinball site (to add a little balance and an explanation):
The only trouble I have EVER had for 3 years was selling parts to Americans. At least once a week I would get a PP chargeback because the board hadn't arrived in a few days.
I could never win a PP chargeback because it is simply too expensive to post things with tracking from Australia. I was charging $12 for post to the USA but every package cost me $17~18 to send anyway, and with no tracking.
Not a single part was ever returned to me so I assume they did arrive - do you think the buyer contacted me and offered to pay after they received the goods? Hahahaha - NEVER - NOT ONCE!
The end result was that every other buyer paid for these scum to get free parts! I am glad to be rid of them to be frank. In business you do not need (or want) every customer. It is better to weed out the ones that cause you trouble and concentrate on looking after the good ones that appreciate what you do. I can honestly say that for all the customers I have had from the USA there are about 5 who actually were appreciative - the rest, well - you get the picture.
Right from the start I made it 100% clear to the few that I asked about the Thunderbirds theme, that the USA was NOT my target market, I even said to a couple of people (6 months ago) that I probably would not sell to the USA and China at all (they are on this forum - you know who you are).
If my stance on not selling to the USA bothers you that's fine - you can get your parts elsewhere. I am not in this "for the money" and that point has been missed by most. I am doing it because it's what I love to do. That's what makes me different. Comments like "you have cut off 75% of your market" mean nothing to me - so what? I don't care - like I said, it IS NOT about the money.
There is another reason they can get lost but I am instructed not to mention it publically - the above should be enough to make my point crystal clear.
The only trouble I have EVER had for 3 years was selling parts to Americans. At least once a week I would get a PP chargeback because the board hadn't arrived in a few days.
I could never win a PP chargeback because it is simply too expensive to post things with tracking from Australia. I was charging $12 for post to the USA but every package cost me $17~18 to send anyway, and with no tracking.
Not a single part was ever returned to me so I assume they did arrive - do you think the buyer contacted me and offered to pay after they received the goods? Hahahaha - NEVER - NOT ONCE!
The end result was that every other buyer paid for these scum to get free parts! I am glad to be rid of them to be frank. In business you do not need (or want) every customer. It is better to weed out the ones that cause you trouble and concentrate on looking after the good ones that appreciate what you do. I can honestly say that for all the customers I have had from the USA there are about 5 who actually were appreciative - the rest, well - you get the picture.
Right from the start I made it 100% clear to the few that I asked about the Thunderbirds theme, that the USA was NOT my target market, I even said to a couple of people (6 months ago) that I probably would not sell to the USA and China at all (they are on this forum - you know who you are).
If my stance on not selling to the USA bothers you that's fine - you can get your parts elsewhere. I am not in this "for the money" and that point has been missed by most. I am doing it because it's what I love to do. That's what makes me different. Comments like "you have cut off 75% of your market" mean nothing to me - so what? I don't care - like I said, it IS NOT about the money.
There is another reason they can get lost but I am instructed not to mention it publically - the above should be enough to make my point crystal clear.
Blimey
Wow, so much anger.
Early days but do you have a rough price tag for this machine?
more power to your elbow Sir, why do you think Phil at pinball heaven doesn't accept PayPal anymore, for exactly the same reason.I welcome another pinball manufacturer especially one from the Dominions. if it takes off it might just stop the price hikes from Stern etc.
well done for having a go.
well done for having a go.
Dear me, he's rattled a few cages on Pinside!
I wish you all the best with your project. Please keep us updated.
I'm a little concerned about the business/marketing ethics and how it could affect your licensing agreement though.
I'm a little concerned about the business/marketing ethics and how it could affect your licensing agreement though.
Pretty sure ph does still take pp
just made an order to PH . world pay or cheque only.
Phil hasn't taken Paypal for a little while now, as Stan says World Pay or cheque only.
Paypal through his Ebay listings only AFAIK.
Never use his Ebay listings, always go to the site
I'm guessing he must add something onto to the price if buying through Ebay to cover fees and such?
Never use his Ebay listings, always go to the site
The other way round ;0) his eBay stuff normally works out cheaper
OP
OP
Hi all,
It's been awhile since I have visited this forum so I thought it was time to give a brief update on things from Shenzhen. I have built the pinball factory from an empty building and that was no mean feat. It involved first finding a suitable place then hiring staff and fitting the place out with tools, machinery etc. Then I had staff sitting around with very little to do so I decided to make a fairly simple product initially (compared to a pinball machine) and that's how the Hankin licenced video game tables project was born.
Building these tables has allowed me to train up the staff (who are already qualified welders, cabinet makers, a fitter & turner etc) to the quality levels I expect and, more importantly, my customers expect! We have shipped out six containers of these tables to date and, as you can see from the pictures attached, we have another container built and ready to ship. The tables are being greeted with rave reviews by all buyers I'm proud to say and we have had very few problems with them.
During the time we have been making these tables there have been several design staff working on mechanical parts and PCB design and layout for our pinballs. There are several machines in the works but the first will of course be Thunderbirds (based on the original series NOT the latest release). I am not going to say much about the other machines except that some are unlicenced themes.
I have been asked about pricing dozens of times and be be honest it is next to impossible for me to work out even a close estimation. The setup costs here have been astronomical and we are still a few months off from completing all of the bits we need. At that point I might have a better idea. For some examples of costs the die to stamp pinball legs was AU$5500 and for the top part of the lockdown bar (not including the internal metal parts) was AU$4600 - you can extrapolate that across the entire range of parts right down to switch leaves and insulators. Of course these are mostly one off costs but they still have to be paid up front for us to commence production. Add to that the complexities of ensuring every single part complies with RoHS requirements and it is a massive task.
We need to make all parts ourselves, in house, for a few reasons. First reason is that it is complex and expensive to import anything into China. Next is to guarantee the high quality that I demand we need to control things ourselves and also I never want to be placed in a position where I am held to ransom by a supplier. We also have our own woodshop with CNC machine etc so we manufacture all of our own cabinets as well. Very little is done by outside suppliers with some exceptions like winding the mains transformers.
We are still on track for a 2015 release of Thunderbirds but time will tell how we go as there are still many things to complete. My job at the factory is to get all the parts designed and made NOT to concentrate on the nitty gritty of the design details of each machine. That is being done by smarter people than me but it is all coming together - probably a little better than I expected.
Some pictures below show a few of the pinball parts that have been made up and are in stock and some areas of the factory, mainly the line for assembling the Hankin tables. Building these has helped with cash flow as well as being a great training tool for the staff. The upstairs sections of the factory (not shown in the pictures) is devoted to CAD design of the various parts and construction of smaller assemblies.
Those who want to follow our progress can see updates when I am able to post them (Facebook is blocked in China) here:
facebook.com/HomepinPinball
Cheers,
Mike
It's been awhile since I have visited this forum so I thought it was time to give a brief update on things from Shenzhen. I have built the pinball factory from an empty building and that was no mean feat. It involved first finding a suitable place then hiring staff and fitting the place out with tools, machinery etc. Then I had staff sitting around with very little to do so I decided to make a fairly simple product initially (compared to a pinball machine) and that's how the Hankin licenced video game tables project was born.
Building these tables has allowed me to train up the staff (who are already qualified welders, cabinet makers, a fitter & turner etc) to the quality levels I expect and, more importantly, my customers expect! We have shipped out six containers of these tables to date and, as you can see from the pictures attached, we have another container built and ready to ship. The tables are being greeted with rave reviews by all buyers I'm proud to say and we have had very few problems with them.
During the time we have been making these tables there have been several design staff working on mechanical parts and PCB design and layout for our pinballs. There are several machines in the works but the first will of course be Thunderbirds (based on the original series NOT the latest release). I am not going to say much about the other machines except that some are unlicenced themes.
I have been asked about pricing dozens of times and be be honest it is next to impossible for me to work out even a close estimation. The setup costs here have been astronomical and we are still a few months off from completing all of the bits we need. At that point I might have a better idea. For some examples of costs the die to stamp pinball legs was AU$5500 and for the top part of the lockdown bar (not including the internal metal parts) was AU$4600 - you can extrapolate that across the entire range of parts right down to switch leaves and insulators. Of course these are mostly one off costs but they still have to be paid up front for us to commence production. Add to that the complexities of ensuring every single part complies with RoHS requirements and it is a massive task.
We need to make all parts ourselves, in house, for a few reasons. First reason is that it is complex and expensive to import anything into China. Next is to guarantee the high quality that I demand we need to control things ourselves and also I never want to be placed in a position where I am held to ransom by a supplier. We also have our own woodshop with CNC machine etc so we manufacture all of our own cabinets as well. Very little is done by outside suppliers with some exceptions like winding the mains transformers.
We are still on track for a 2015 release of Thunderbirds but time will tell how we go as there are still many things to complete. My job at the factory is to get all the parts designed and made NOT to concentrate on the nitty gritty of the design details of each machine. That is being done by smarter people than me but it is all coming together - probably a little better than I expected.
Some pictures below show a few of the pinball parts that have been made up and are in stock and some areas of the factory, mainly the line for assembling the Hankin tables. Building these has helped with cash flow as well as being a great training tool for the staff. The upstairs sections of the factory (not shown in the pictures) is devoted to CAD design of the various parts and construction of smaller assemblies.
Those who want to follow our progress can see updates when I am able to post them (Facebook is blocked in China) here:
facebook.com/HomepinPinball
Cheers,
Mike
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