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Full size pinball machine in kit form (BIY) being made.


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So when is the BIG unveiling mate??? :D

 

you my friend, believe it or not....are a playtester !

 

sooner than you think !

 

i will be most interested in your comments/responses/opinion/bug tests(!) as you have not seen or played it at all and know something of pinball.

 

:D

 

regards

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Well I sent an email to Mike, and got a great reply. He is also aware of the interest here and will be making a post on AA. As for what he told me.... well he requested that I give him the opportunity the introduce himself, and the details of the kit pinball. Sounds good!

:)

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Fair enough call Brad, but with 4000+ parts in a pin surely the major component will be assemble? That said it could be difficult for a small seller to get the parts for a price to make the package affordable. Will be worth a look all the same I reckon.

Dave

 

Don't get me wrong, I love the idea. If it works out cheap enough I might actually be able to afford a pinball but I ain't holding my breath. the cost of components will be the killer I reckon.

 

Brad

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a stuffed donor playfield gives you just about all you need and by far most economical (lamp assys general purpose coils/ejects kickers etc maybe you could stick some other head on a partyzone toy!!! etc)

 

at a guess

2X flippers

3X pops

2X slings

 

$2-300 aud :unsure

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Aren't those the kits that were on eBay recently?

A whois search reveals:

 Domain Name: HOMEPIN.COM
  Registrar: ENETICA PTY LTD
  Whois Server: whois.enetica.com.au
  Referral URL: http://www.enetica.com.au
  Name Server: NS1.WEBCITY.COM.AU
  Name Server: NS2.WEBCITY.COM.AU
  Name Server: NS3.WEBCITY.COM.AU
  Status: ok
  Updated Date: 11-nov-2008
  Creation Date: 11-jan-2006
  Expiration Date: 11-jan-2010

 

Futher digging shows it is that Cairns eBay guy:

Registrant Details:
 Katana Trading
 P.O. Box 6926
 Cairns, Queensland 4870
 AU

 Domain Name: HOMEPIN.COM

 Administrative Contact:
   Kalinowski, Mike  
   P.O. Box 6926
   Cairns, Queensland 4870
   AU
   +61.416720510   

 Technical Contact:
   Kalinowski, Mike  
   P.O. Box 6926
   Cairns, Queensland 4870
   AU
   +61.416720510   

 Name Server:  ns1.webcity.com.au
 Name Server:  ns2.webcity.com.au
 Name Server:  NS3.WEBCITY.COM.AU

 Registrar of Record: Enetica Pty Ltd
 Record last updated on 2008-03-10
 Record created on 2006-01-12
 Record expires on 2010-01-12

 

All of the above came from a fairly simple public search so is ok to show here I believe.

 

 

Yes same guy who copied Rollerballs Kit

 

Here was his reply weeks ago

 

for the record i own no properties

and i have no assets so if you are

that stupid sue away!

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Hello from Homepin

 

Hello Pinball Community,

 

I have noticed this thread at AA about our project and followed it with much interest. It's good to know that enthusiasts are curious about our product. Please let me give a little background (apologies in advance for the long post).

 

I am an electronics engineer that designs and makes small projects (normally one off or only a handful) for various companies around Australia - they call on me when others refuse to do it (either too small, little profit etc). I have also been involved in the amusement industry on and off for 25 years. I have a small office and staff in China and have access to electronic components/motors/switches/printing/metal stamping etc at crazy prices so it is possible the finished product will be priced very attractively (as yet unknown) yet still actually be built in Australia.

 

This pinball project started about 2 years ago as a father/son bonding project. My son is a graphic artist who specialises in cartoon (hand drawn) so this looked like a perfect project. I figured to use so much time on such a complex project it would be a waste not to take it further.

 

I had intended to "lay low" until we had some more concrete information to offer as things are still very much in their infancy. Let me give you a VERY brief update but it is also very much subject to change. Items are in no particular order.

 

(1) Theme is not yet firmly decided - possibly "Grafitti" as we have used this to date for setup of PF layout.

 

(2) Initial (small) run will be 220/240 volt machines for AU/NZ.

 

(3) I note comments about MDF being used. This is for prototyping only as it is "quick and dirty" but functional. It is planned to use CNC routed plywood for the finished item. The CNC router is currently in transit from my China office. Playfield will be screen printed on plastic overlay with clear on top (remember - home use, not heavy duty commercial) to keep costs down.

 

(4) Playfield plastics will be screen printed in house and laser cut on our own industrial laser machine. We already have these skills and this equipment.

 

(5) Mechanisms are loosely based on other brand mechs - after all, there are only so many ways you can do something!

 

(6) Coils are interchangeable with WMS parts.

 

(7) Many "industry standard" parts are used as they are not subject to copyright - such as generic flipper bats (no logo) PBparts/posts/rubbers/targets etc.

 

(8) We design ALL electronics in house - including manufacture and assembly of the printed circuit boards in Australia.

 

(9) It is planned to sell the machine with all major assemblys assembled and tested individually, wiring harness fully assembled and tested.

 

(10) Cabinet art will be fixed in place to the cabinet parts ready to assemble.

 

(11) Some thought is being given to selling the kit in stages - cabinet, mechanicals, electronics??? As yet undecided.

 

At this stage there are still many loose ends and undecided things yet to be designed that's one reason we have a target release of December.

 

Thanks all for your interest and comments - constructive comments are always welcome and responded to.

 

Special response to W. Gillard (about his post).

 

I also note the post by Wayne Gillard whom it seems does not have the gumption to put his name to a post. I am very dissapointed and also dismayed that someone is able to "buy" the use of such amazing corporate names like Bally and Williams (copyright The Pinball Factory) and do ZERO with it? What a shame - Wayne my suggestion (for what it's worth) either make good use of them, collaborate with someone who has the skills to be able to (such as myself) because it seems you lack these skills or SHUT UP!

 

For the record Mr. Gillards comments do in fact accurately represent the note I sent to "legal@......." (AKA W. Gillard) and every word is true. You would have to be a fool in this day and age to not cover your donkey from fools!

 

Also for the record I sent an email to Mr. Gillard offering my sourcing and electronic skills & services in China to assist in the completion of his "Outback Adventure" pin about 2 or 3 years ago and never received a response? I assume his project will never happen - seems like Gary Stern was right all those years ago? What a shame Mr. Gillard chooses to make enemies rather than friends?

 

Thanks all for reading this far. Updates will be posted when I have them & full marks to the Coconut Island guys.

 

Cheers,

 

Mike Kalinowski

http://www.homepin.com

http://www.katanatrading.com

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Dear Mike.

 

We emailed you because you were offering pirate artwork on your mini pinballs.

 

You came back with the abuse and playing the go sue me I'm poor card.

 

We have our own lackys in China and India and our own Electronics Engineer without having to pay a middleman.

 

I notice you are using Drop targets which have a W logo on them, come up with your own parts and designs, you will not be able to base your project on Bally Williams parts in anyway.

 

Also visit the http://www.uspto.com and look up pinball patents, like we did before we bought the rights from Williams.

 

I suggest you run your business your way and I will run my business my way, as I am doing very well out of what we bought.

 

Like us you will find it impossible to obtain production qts of parts as most of the tooling is a closed shop, that's why we bought the rights to get access to the IP and parts suppliers.

 

Next time you order a heap of parts from overseas Distrubutors think about where they came from.

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you my friend, believe it or not....are a playtester !

 

sooner than you think !

 

i will be most interested in your comments/responses/opinion/bug tests(!) as you have not seen or played it at all and know something of pinball.

 

:D

 

regards

 

:DWOW! That makes me sound important :badgrin

 

I look forward to it mate :023:

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Hello "Ballypinball" (I assume Wayne?)

 

Please let me respond:

 

"We have our own lackys in China and India and our own Electronics Engineer without having to pay a middleman."

 

Please review the email I sent to you years ago (if you actually saw it) - my services were offered to you for free! I am certainly not a *lacky* nor do I treat my Chinese staff as such.

 

"I notice you are using Drop targets which have a W logo on them, come up with your own parts and designs, you will not be able to base your project on Bally Williams parts in anyway."

 

I fully understand that - the DT used in one of our test rigs has a "generic" DT that was salvaged from a scrapped pin - we have no intention of using ANY art from ANY other manufacturer and really have no need to. It was left on as we never intended it to be seen by the public.

 

"Also visit the http://www.uspto.com and look up pinball patents, like we did before we bought the rights from Williams."

 

Thankyou for the info.

 

"I suggest you run your business your way and I will run my business my way, as I am doing very well out of what we bought."

 

I'm pleased to hear it.

 

"Like us you will find it impossible to obtain production qts of parts as most of the tooling is a closed shop, that's why we bought the rights to get access to the IP and parts suppliers."

 

I have my own factory contacts (in China) and I especially avoid those dealing within the industry already. They will make my own design parts to order and as you already know for peanuts!

 

"Next time you order a heap of parts from overseas Distrubutors think about where they came from."

 

I have all mine made in China - mostly by hand!

 

Wayne - I do appreciate the post from you and I do also appreciate that it is rather civil. I am certainly not - in any way - trying to undermine what you are doing, good luck to you in your ventures. It does seem to me (and many others as well) that you could be a little less aggressive in your approach to things.

 

Please let me assure you that we will not in any way be using any Bally/Williams artwork or patented items in our machine we simply have no need to. We have our own contacts and can make things work for 1/10 the price.

 

Cheers,

 

Mike Kalinowski

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Firstly, thanks for posting the update here, Mike. Very interesting stuff and I look forward to more updates down the track.

 

When I read the Pat Lawlor interview and saw your comment and then followed the link to your website, I was a bit surprised that you didn't hold out a little longer before releasing news of a BIY kit pinball. That is, because it is clear that is still in its early stages.

 

With the MDF playfield comment, I had a feeling it was just being used as a prototype for ease of use and was prompting you for confirmation.

 

Great looking pinball so far Mike and I look forward to more updates.

 

Lastly, with no disrespect to either Wayne or Mike, as I started this thread without the intention of it going south, can both parties please not start a debate online. If you must, please keep it off the forum and take it to emails or whatever.

 

Most people do not care who is in front, or who is better ( I could have used a different analogy, though I won't ;)), we just want to see people trying to do things for pinball and doing it in a professional manner at all times.

 

Please stay on topic.

 

Cheers,

 

Dan

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That certainly is my intention Dan but certain things needed clarification and I trust that has now been done.

 

I had no intention of making any info public until we had a fully working prototype (still a few months away) but things change!

 

Cheers,

 

Mike Kalinowski

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Keeping the dream alive sound good to me ,best of luck to you and your adventure, hope production happens in due time ,go hard and keep a positive attitude ,I'm quite sure there's heaps of members here that are all excited about this.

For the records fully assembled NIB suite me just fine .

Art work maybe Astro boy or something similar .

 

Ant

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That certainly is my intention Dan but certain things needed clarification and I trust that has now been done.

 

I had no intention of making any info public until we had a fully working prototype (still a few months away) but things change!

 

Cheers,

 

Mike Kalinowski

 

Thanks Mike and welcome to AA.

I think everybody here wishes you the best of luck and I hope you will keep us updated.

 

As Dan said keep this thread on track and positive.

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