3

Here is what they said for the differences.

No Art Blades, Aura Lighting, Shaker Motor, Knocker, or Magic Glass.
The Robot Mechanism will be emulated on the screen and not present on the playfield. The UFO will be stationary with a target.

Did they ever finish the DMD/video/animations on the game? I remember when playing it there seemed to be a lot of 'filler' content that wasn't finished.

I hate being that guy but you can't price this classic edition over the cost of a NIB Stern Pro and expect success.

Call me crazy but I legitimately think AP should consider partnered with some kinda of finance or credit card company and offer financing to people to get their games out there on location or into homes. It surely has to beat seeing them sitting around in a warehouse.

Used deluxe > new classic ~ approx same price

Constantly working on it. They want it finished when it goes out.

LTG : )

I doubt financing is the limiting factor on affording these games for much of anyone. We don't get into this hobby unless we already have the thousands for these luxury item toys.

The thought is interesting, that there could potentially be a market for amusement machine financing, since it's a physical asset that could be repossessed like a car. But anyone who would be going into debt for these is someone who'd be having way worse problems way before that.

If people are desperate enough in a particular market and you're the only one offering a hand in said market it could lead to more money in your pocket. I figure it's an easier battle than competing with larger companies at equal entry price points.

I'm not saying it's morally cool or financially responsible but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do when times get tough.

Are we thinking we will see a new AP pin at TPF?

It would be another terrible place to launch with JJP likely showing Potter, and Barrels of Fun likely showing their next one at TPF, too.

We talking about Cuphead here or GTF? I would love to see more details on what GTF updates are actually in the works…

I have doubts CupHead will make this event given that they are currently building this new run of 100 GTFs as a test run for their next game.

With that said, TPF is never a terrible place to unveil a new product. It’s there, Expo, or nowhere really…There are new releases around the corner constantly, if it isn’t Harry Potter or Kong now, it will be Mario Brothers or something else big later…If the game is good and released in limited quantities, it will sell.

Hoping AP rolls out Cuphead in the arcades like in the past and take orders. Let the big guns release their wares at the shows.

Really hope they release for TPF. It’s very likely I buy Cuphead but I want to play it first. I am going to TPF but rarely have a chance to try new games if not at a big show. Some areas just don’t have much arcade presence.

you're saying that based on.. what exactly?

The announcement of the run?

How anyone could buy anything from this company is beyond me, though after all the garbage"companies" Pinsiders have supported it doesn't surprise me.

They would have more luck sending 12 games to arcades and having people play the games in the arcades across the country than to bring a few games to TPF.

I mean, why not do both?

I was told 'yes', Cuphead will be at Texas next month.

by which honest person at AP?

Looks like Cuphead will be at PATZ this year as well.

A.P. is a vendor this year, along with STERN & JJP.

Their launch weekend for Barry's Barbecue American Pinball had 10 games across the country. Seemed to be a pretty good launch.

No idea what their plan is this time.

LTG : )

Not based on any actual insider info, but by just putting a few things together here and there. Correct me if I am wrong here, but the new GTF run is likely being built first with a whole new production staff now to meet TPF next month.

AP purged their entire production staff last year to save on costs, and they are now in the process of hiring them back and getting them retrained. Contrary to what some people have seen or been told, I do believe Ryan is back working with them to oversee the launch of Cuphead, but it seems this GTF run is coming first. The issue is how long it takes them to get through this training run of 100 GTFs before they can start producing Cuphead. Distributors have said that AP wants the games in boxes for when the game is launched. That means Cuphead would have to start to be made very soon in order to meet TPF next month, and I don’t know what their current output capacity even looks like.

TPF is less than 60 days away now, so who knows. I would love to see the game there to be honest, but that event is fast approaching.

By who exactly and how long ago?

Hopefully to bring a better game to market is everyones hope for an idea.

Used deluxe is actually about 1k cheaper than a new classic.

When has API had success launching at a show? The environment sucks for introducing a game. I remember playing LOV when it was launched (believe at Expo) and the flipper strength made it virtually unplayable. Way too much left to chance. Just pay FlipnOut to make a great launch video like they did with Pulp Fiction, Godfather and Evil Dead that all had excellent launches. Then have well orchestrated launch events at key locations - perfect playing games with skilled players and professional video. And start shipping games tested and tested again to be 100%. Then you can go to shows with positive tailwinds.

Actually LOV was released October 21 in 10 or 11 arcades across America. Pinball gallery near you had the game that day and still has it.

Expo was 9 days later and I agree the flippers were mushy at expo due to low voltage. Dave and a couple others tried their best to keep them snappy. We did increase the default pulse on the production games after that show data.

I've been hearing this "low voltage" excuse for various manufacturers since WOZ was first at Expo. Yet the Stern games there always seem to flip just fine.

After a decade JJP finally figured out the problem was on their end.

New David Fix interview

UPDATE: Haven't listened to the whole thing but, good god, this is even more ridiculous than the LoserKid one. If he signed a non disparagement agreement or nondisclosure agreement then AP / Aimtron could sue the ever-loving shit out of Fix.

Extra irony: given the content, some of this could be construed as tortious interference!

Someone should maybe archive that before it gets yanked.

Was a very likely NIB buyer for LOV but paid it no mind after my bad show experience. Had the opportunity to try again a couple years later, and flippers were fine so bought one used. Fantastic game - especially code. AIP has zero room for missteps this time so hopefully will follow the proven path of other successful launches. Think Hot Wheels went OK but the others ranged from problematic to disastrous.

David Fix - Man of the People

He said he bought (was forced to buy?) a Galactic Tank Force ("Game 5") and brought it into his own home after January 13, 2025, so now no one on Pinside can claim he doesn't have an American Pinball machine in his basement So cheeky, haha. Previously, said he already owned several AP games, so no one should have been claiming he didn't own any. Technically, though, he didn't have any AP games in his "basement" until recently

New code for GTF incoming.

Listening to that makes it sound like his opinion is GTF really is the best AP game, but that maybe "Game 7" will give it a run for its money.

Very interesting stuff. LTG got a nice shoutout

Extra fun details of "Game 7":
-licensors are huge pinball fans
-licensor mets with AP team multiple times weekly
-licensors flew out to see/play prototype

This man is almost incapable of telling the truth allegedly.

That's a wild one. Some bullet points for those who don't want to listen:

-New GTF code is a passion project the team has worked on post lay-offs as an homage to Lyman Sheets

-Not sure if game 7 will come out, but deserves one for free when it does (says he will buy one if he has to)

-Announced that the mechanical engineer and developer from American now work for other pinball companies

-Aimtron started shopping the company at the end of 2023

-New board system cost more than expected due to incorrect cost calculation by the Finance team in India

-Claims to have sold more BBQ than Hot Wheels in 'First Year', unclear what that means

-IPO resulted in less support as upper management was focused on it

-David asked a distributor to speak directly to Mukesh about their thoughts on game 7

-Wasn't allowed to pursue licenses until undisclosed number of Hot Wheels sold

-Aimtron would sell American and there have been discussions

-Says, "I took a Galactic and cashed in on something I was owed." Unclear if due to unpaid wages or potentially theft.

-Does not consider Mukesh a friend due to how lay offs were handled

-Lack of a competent finance team was the biggest obstacle. They did not budget, spend, or allocate dollars correctly.

-American could survive as a contract manufacturer only if management changes and they have the correct personnel in place ("like the ones they just laid off")

Lol so many of these things were called out as bullshit throughout the life of this thread, funny how things are starting to come more to light now.

Interesting Freudian slip (?) by Mr. Fix at about 2:40:30 in the interview.... "hit the nail on the head" ......" what led to the Demise"... then corrects himself from using the the word Demise to something about change in direction

And yes he is accurate about the potential sale of the company, with no key employees or team left you are just selling a bunch of parts. The analogy he made about a kitchen full of ingredients and no chef or cooks is actually a good illustration

The interview is worth a good listen.

This is funny because I have nasty e-mails from Fix after I wrote my article titled "RUMOR: Aimtron Corporation is Looking for a Buyer for American Pinball" in January 2024 that unequivocally states that this was not true and blaming me for not checking directly with him first before writing it.

After that tense conversation came this press release...

2025-02-04 16_20_01-RUMOR_ Aimtron Corporation is Looking for a Buyer for American Pinball - knappar (resized).png

Accidental dupe

Missed something in the summary above. He is on a 90 day non-compete. 30 days left to go. Which makes it sound like he is trying to stay in pinball. He is talking with a company that already looked into buying out American Pinball.

Other interesting tidbits from the interview: both paul reno and Dennis nordman need to sign off on GTF Classic before it can be released. Interestingly they have an ongoing legal dispute with AP.

Also GTF related AP has pulled additional mechs out of the classic edition vs what Fix and crew had decided on. Its eluded (in my opinion) that reno and nordman probably won't be fans of these changes.

Fix alludes (in my opinion) that AP has jerked him around with pay as well. It also (in my opinion) seems like he's still owed money

Fix goes into detail on how it wasn't his descision to fire the crew (as I was saying earlier in the thread)

Post firing, "Thousands of people" sent Fix well wishes saying "we loved everything you did." seems a bit hard to believe.

But at least he has an AP pin in his basement now ! Kind of sounds like he got or took a game in lieu of some of pay owed.

Great deal for American, "sure, take one of those boxes no one wants and we'll knock the MSRP off what we owe you."

Paul Reno might wind up with whatever else is left in boxes for games if they can settle out of court - can't be many games though. So maybe the games plus a bunch of parts ???

What I thought was odd was what David Fix said toward the end of the interview - he would not go back if asked, but just maybe he would do contract work for them. And that sounded like a big maybe, if there was a way to do that.

Anybody doing contract work would be wise to be paid in advance, in cash up front .

I get David fix wants to see the next game see the light of day, but he would be a fool to take that on. He and Ryan get to do all the troubleshooting and AP effectively has zero overhead or risk. Because contract manufacturing worked out so well for the big Lebowski.

Where's RMS1977 at? We need him in here with his cheerleader pompoms!