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UK pinball manufacturer and themes

PAX

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Joined
Dec 28, 2020
Messages
952
Location
Thetford
Alias
Paul Woollard
Afternoon all,

Now I know I could just do a boring web search for this but what I'm interested in (and probably disappointed by) is whether there has ever been any UK based pinball manufacturer(s).
If not then why the hell not? - we've made just about everything else at some point or other.

And secondly, if there was to ever be such a thing what kind of UK biased themes would you like to see? Given our wealth of history, prominent world renowned figures, cultural enormity etc. there's an almost endless pool of source material.

For me, top of the list would have to be a Monty Python based pin. The opening tune alone would be enough to justify it, then a rousing SPAM, SPAM, SPAM multiball, closing with an all in rendition of Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life. It's got WINNER written all over it. Shakespear?, Henry VIII?, Boudicca?, A joint venture with our European neighbours - Hadron Collider (light up the muon and shoot the loop for up and down quark multiplier!

I'm off to the shed to see what I can come up with......

ATB
PAX
 
Heighway pinball did 2 machines in Wales a few years back: Full Throttle and Alien. If you search for 'heighway' on here you will find many anecdotes... They went bust.
 
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Heighway pinball did 2 machines in Wales a few years back: Full Throttle and Alien. If you search for 'heighway' on here you will find many anecdotes... They went bust.
Blimey, had no idea it was as recent as that. Will have look through the old threads
Cheers
 
There is enough people on here who could do it and do it well. maybe a proper 'skinnable' machine. It will happen one day as oled gets cheaper and more flexible. Imagine oled pf plastics and full oled screen instead of pf art and replacing insert lamps. Then same on the cab and sideblades, etc - maybe even targets,. You could then theme the pin anyway you wanted: It would be a great idea for all the niche themes. Hell you could have it change theme every game, from Monty python, to Dad's army, to Faulty Towers, whatever. (Subject to licencing of course) ha ha
The underlying game play would be much the same as very hard to have a (cost effective) moveable layout, but the rules could change with different themes. The under pf ball detection tech could provide some flexibility I guess.

I guess multimorphic are closest so far.
 
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Ah, the possibilities are / seem endless. Interesting thought.

Real pity about the whole Heighway thing - so close but yet so far. Shame Elon Musk isn't a pin fan (maybe he is? :))

Pinball has very limited and probably dwindling market, which is a shame, so even with the right management structures in place not likely to be very high on any potential investors list
 
LOL,

I love the way this forum picks out certain combinations of words and assumes you mean a particular game. Ah means ah, not Amazon Hunt....keep getting caught out reading posts
 
I'm sure the home market is, increased bias towards leisure time etc. Not many places you can actually go to these days to play a machine though. In the Good Ole Days (sic) every cafe had one, Costas and Starbucks et al sadly haven't continued that. I would also think the yoof market is negligible - they just ain't interested, bit like the bike market. Just us older (mainly?) gentlemen
 
hmm, both volume and value are growing but what's your definition of volume?
 
They are plenty of public places to play machines. Just none can open for the foreseable future. Not hard to find British themes when the current Stern has one ! Looking back : Beatles Austin Powers Goldeneye Tommy Judge Dredd Doctor Who James Bond Big Ben Mayfair Royal Guard Lady Robin Hood .. and anything with knights and castles so even MM at a push.
 
As far as I can guess it's more of a niche than AR. High barriers to entry mean it's mostly going to be a monopoly for the next decade. I'm guessing the min investment is millions at this point. Unless they find a way to mass produce significantly lower, I can't see how a new player could compete. British themes aren't uncommon historically. I'm rather surprised there isn't a Royal Family / Mini / Brexit one at this point.
 
So is Game of Thrones a British theme? US writer but lots of English/Scottish history used such as the inspiration for the “red wedding”. Mostly British cast. Even half the custom pin call outs are by Kate.
 
hmm, both volume and value are growing but what's your definition of volume?
The number of games sold is way down on 90s. It might be rising but at least an order of magnitude lower than it was.
 
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So the market is still growing interms of money and volume. Sure it might have been bigger 30 years ago but that doesn’t mean it isn’t growing now.
 
So the market is still growing interms of money and volume. Sure it might have been bigger 30 years ago but that doesn’t mean it isn’t growing now.
Aside from volume exactly what I said. It fell massively and currently the financial value of the business is growing but is smaller in real terms.
 
They are plenty of public places to play machines. Just none can open for the foreseable future. Not hard to find British themes when the current Stern has one ! Looking back : Beatles Austin Powers Goldeneye Tommy Judge Dredd Doctor Who James Bond Big Ben Mayfair Royal Guard Lady Robin Hood .. and anything with knights and castles so even MM at a push.
Current restrictions aside,, where I live I don't think there's a public play machine within 50 miles! (Owl Sanctuary in Norwich closed, Garden House pub removed it's pin in 2018, been to the Waterfront loads of times and never seen a pin in there, Red Lodge Cafe permanently closed, not sure about the one in Barology, Ely) Hundred mile round trip anyone?.......
A few years ago (well ok about 25) there were at least four pins just two miles away in town
 
The UK home market is growing.

The UK gaming industry is declining.

Hardly any pinballs on site now, except for a few specailist bars. In tilt there are approx 20 games - but in Birmingham in the 80s/90s in the town centre I would estimate to be more than that. Let alone pinball in arcades or greasy spoon cafes.....

I bet that more Getaway pinballs exist than Spiderman or Game of Thrones over here.

Pinball will not be made in the UK successfully due to something called minimum wage.

Heighway should of oursourced manufacturing more and done final assembly over here.
 
Getaway , Addams and TZ are PROBABLY the most common pins in the UK. Nobody knows! Even a "census" of forum members would only give a rough guide!
 
No doubt sales are lower than the 90s, but that was 30 years ago!
I'd suggest that sales are definitely higher than they were 20, or 10 years ago- and growing.
 
I'd also put Stng into the top machines in the uk, that's quantity not quality.
 
Aside from volume exactly what I said. It fell massively and currently the financial value of the business is growing but is smaller in real terms.

yes it fell thirty years ago, its now growing again both in terms of volume and total value, it may not be at the size of the peak but that doesn't mean it isn't growing.

Neil.
 
yes it fell thirty years ago, its now growing again both in terms of volume and total value, it may not be at the size of the peak but that doesn't mean it isn't growing.

Neil.
Agreed. Did you receive my second email re BT Broadband?

David
 
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