Whats a fair price for a Virtual Pin?

[thegrunta666]

Hi All, I have been offered a Virtual Pin . Its a very high end build using proper pinny parts on the cabinet. Shaker motor and 10 solenoids ( apparently ). Just wondering whats a fair price to pay for one of these?

I could build one, but whats the point if someone has already done the hard work ! So what do you recon???

PS Do I need one, yeah nah.....but if its a good price, yeah yeah

[Jed]

Hard to price without knowing details like quality of panels, DMD, CPU/GPU, etc.

 

If it high end everything like you say then maybe $3k-$4k for a ready made, maybe ? I dunno, built mine and it cost me about $1500 all up.

[hotty]

Just get it before Saturday then we can all see if it was worth it.:)

[Glenn70]

@DallasJ has built his own and would be suited to answer this mate.

[DallasJ]

What @Jed said is on the money. There are some guys that build them here in Melb as a business and they can be a mixed bag without knowing what’s in the guts. Nice things are gold leaf buttons (no arcade button click) feels more real, also analogue nudging is a must or they feel odd without it or woody if they use mercury switches. A analogue plunger adds to realism. Also without a good lcd monitor they can look pretty ordinary at an angle if its a low spec tv even at 1080p, as they grey out. I used a second hand commercial monitor in my second build and it’s the bomb at $150 used. A PIN2DMD is also a real nice touch.

 

To build a fair example yourself choosing a modest build expect $1500 outlay depending one toys etc. internal solenoids are overrated as they make all games feel the same, the SSF sound setup is better in that respect. Cheap ones can jam too.

 

Grant do you know the specs, did the seller build it the self or is it a retailers units?

[thegrunta666]

What @Jed said is on the money. There are some guys that build them here in Melb as a business and they can be a mixed bag without knowing what’s in the guts. Nice things are gold leaf buttons (no arcade button click) feels more real, also analogue nudging is a must or they feel odd without it or woody if they use mercury switches, also without a good lcd monitor they can look pretty ordinary at an angle if its a low spec tv even at 1080p. I used a second hand commercial monitor in my second build and it’s the bomb at $150 used.

 

To build a fair example yourself choosing a modest build expect $1500 outlay depending one toys etc. internal solenoids are overrated as they make all games feel the same, the SSF sound setup is better in that respect.

 

Grant do you know the specs, did the seller build it the self or is it a retailers units?

 

Seller bought all the bits and did the cabinet work, someone else did all the electrical assembly. Its certainly not half assed from the video he sent me.

Full widebody cabinet with real Williams legs,lockdown bar, coindoor, service buttons, Authentic Williams plunger, service buttons. Legs and lockdown bar have been powder coated black.

 

I7 pc with Nvidia GTX 960 and SSD HDD running Pinball X with Latest Visual Pinball X and over 220 tables mostly VPX

42 inch LG Led LCD playfield with seperate dmd and 27inch Asus monitor for backglass

 

2x Ledwiz running 10 solenoids, solenoid knocker, gear and shaker motor, 5x RGB led Cree flashes, 2x White Led Strobes and RGB undercab lighting.

 

Mercury tilt sensors for realism

 

Lepai amp with speakers and subwoofer

[DallasJ]

Mercury tilt switch for tilt, what about nudging is it analogue or mercury switches too.

 

Sounds like a fair build to be honest, is it a gen 1 i7? Might be a bit of a limitation going forward if it is.

 

Proof is in how well it plays, if you are happy with it $2500 to $3500 would be fair.

 

I still play mine most nights for variety of games and it’s pretty dialled in these days. I have a wide bodytoo, 4 exciter vibration speakers, 2 cab subs just for the sound force feedback and run the back box off a seperate 2.1. No solenoids, I don’t see the point. I will put in a RGB & strobe bar above the Playfield at some point. I use an analogue plunger & analogue nudging, it feels really nice. I also use a real tilt. It was a scratch build with real pin bits etc.

[djgra79]

N00b question here - @DallasJ & @Jed you both mention $1500 for a DIY version. Does that assume you have a cabinet already or that price includes all timber, TVs, PC and buttons/parts?

[JustAnotherRat]

My build is pretty low spec'd but it has cost me a little over $2500 to build. Some guys go crazy with solenoids, lights, shakers etc. (but I didn't/haven't) and spend double what I have.

[DallasJ]

@noob For me that was everything, including the wood to make my cab, paint, printed art, pinball cab bits, pc, boards, buttons, PIN2DMD, 2.1 amps, monitors etc.

 

AliExpress, Bunnings, EBay @ Ozstick are your friends here.

 

Mine also used a lot of second hand bits, like the PC, lockdown bar, monitors and subs.

 

I bought the SSD, GTX1060 Graphics card, Powers Supplys, KL25z interface board (analogue nudge / plunger, all buttons inputs & Outputs for DOF toys) & Amp’s new.

Edited May 16, 2019 by DallasJ
Update

[Jed]

N00b question here - @DallasJ & @Jed you both mention $1500 for a DIY version. Does that assume you have a cabinet already or that price includes all timber, TVs, PC and buttons/parts?

 

I should qualify it that my build was made using mostly 2nd hand parts.

 

I used an empty widebody cabinet (Judge Dredd) with all the bits already there (rails, lockdown, coin door, glass etc) bought from a local Pinball supplier, the LCD panels I used were 2nd hand off gumtree - quality panel brands (Samsung or Sony) but older models, so you get them cheap - $100-$200 for 40" Sony or Samsung and you're getting quality gear.

 

The only thing that was brand new in my vpin when I built it was the IPAC2 and the buttons, and the exciters (sound-based vibrational feedback) + amp. (the setup cost $60 total) Sound-based vibrational feedback with exciters is probably one of the best and most easiest things you can do to increase realism - you feel all the table elements as if they were the real thing.

 

In my case I didn't want to spend a squillion dollars on a build as I didn't know whether or not I'd enjoy virtual pinball long term - but I have :)

[JustAnotherRat]

This is my cost breakdown.

 

Part - Supplier - Cost.

 

HP Compaq Elite 8300 (Second Hand) $20.00

GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 750Ti 2GB LOW PROFILE OC EDITION CCPU $172.00

Virtual Pinball Encoder Kit OzStick $160.00

Launch Button OzStick $5.00

Pin2DMD OzStick $280.00

Pin2DMD Activation Code Lucky1 $13.62

Shipping OzStick $14.00

40" TCL Television Betta Belmont $449.00

28" TCL Television Harvey Norman $260.00

Master/Slave Power Board Bunnings $35.05

Pinball Legs eBay (Pinball-Sales) $95.00

Shipping eBay (Pinball-Sales) $25.00

Coin Door Pinball Spare Parts $69.95

Coin Door Lock Pinball Spare Parts $11.00

Widebody Lockbar Pinball Spare Parts $99.00

Shipping Pinball Spare Parts $29.76

Side Rails RAIL-WAYS $30.00

Logitech Z623 (Speakers) JB Hi-Fi $118.40

LED Strips eBay (awesomegreenla) $19.99

Playfield glass channel (Rear) Pinball Spare Parts $19.80

Playfield glass channel (Side) x 2 Pinball Spare Parts $30.00

Leg Mounting Bracket x 4 Pinball Spare Parts $30.80

Leg Protector Set Pinball Spare Parts $12.95

Black Leg Bolt x 8 Pinball Spare Parts $7.92

Shipping Pinball Spare Parts $29.59

Yellow Button OzStick $2.75

Blue Button OzStick $2.75

Green Button OzStick $2.75

Shipping OzStick $10.00

Cabinet Timber and Cutting Macquarie Timber $200.00

Polycarbonate for Lower Cabinet Specialsed Wholesale $35.00

Spray Paint Extraless Discounts $15.00

Spray Paint Bunnings $12.00

Decal Sign Shop $150.00

Exciters + Speaker Wire Jaycar $49.50

Amp (for exciters) eBay $14.92

Power Supply (for amp) Wish $7.00

USB Sound card eBay $12.89

[JustAnotherRat]

Here is a photo of how mine looks... photo taken at Pinfest last year with @thegrunta666's Battle Pinny in the background.

 

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[djgra79]

Thanks for the details guys, greatly appreciated. Sounds like a decent VP can be made for around $2k if you want to put in the time and effort.

Sorry if I've hijacked your thread @thegrunta666 btw.

Now to contemplate if I really want to build a VP or a MAME cab... :)

[JustAnotherRat]

Thanks for the details guys, greatly appreciated. Sounds like a decent VP can be made for around $2k if you want to put in the time and effort.

Sorry if I've hijacked your thread @thegrunta666 btw.

Now to contemplate if I really want to build a VP or a MAME cab... :)

 

I did a MAME cab first... loved it for years but now I prefer my VP.

[djgra79]

Well I had the idea last week to combine both in 1 (https://www.aussiearcade.com/showthread.php/99834-MAME-emulator-and-virtual-pinball-combo-cabinet) but I've been talked out of that and now weighing up which way to go. Either way, I feel like I'd like the challenge of a home build of either cab.

[quincon]

$4,000. It will never appreciate in value.

 

You can have a new game every week, but then thats when you never really 'love' a game.