any uk distributor appointed yet please?
I have never received any messages from anyone regarding the AFM strobe board - EVER! I tire of people spreading falsehoods about me/Homepin which is why I snapped at your comments. If you have indeed tried to contact us about the problem the message was certainly never received.Mike I emailed your company a few times about the AFM board. I have not had a reply.
I also contacted the supplier of the board whom I purchased it from - they told me it was dirty data and I needed a new WPC95 power driver board..... This was the only reply I got from the supplier.
So please do not say I am 'BSing'. If you were that worried about customer relations, you should of DM'ed me and offered to help.
YAY! i finally found the Tap thread i came back to this forum looking for (and to sell some old bits and pieces).My view is the game looks pretty fun and it would do well on location here, as theme is king. Who cares if the layout, or depth of the game isnt the most imaginary thing ever. I'd put a couple of quid in it to play it as would anyone who knows the theme to.
I hope some do find their way here As somebody once told me (personally), 'making pinball is hard'!!
Great effort in the beer glassYAY! i finally found the Tap thread i came back to this forum looking for (and to sell some old bits and pieces).
Jim - I completely agree with your post. it also looks like fun to me, and it is unfair to see all these negative comments based on a video of some crap player at a show where there were just 2 prototypes. give the guy a break, fellas! it's Spinal ****ing Tap! btw is it you i bought the old Citroen Xsara Picasso from and drove it home? screeched a bit turning left but otherwise a peach for the price. i sold it on when i got another Jazz as i missed mine so much, but it was a decent vehicle.
Back to tap - Ive told me yesterday there is one in Great Yarmouth i can go and play. i don't know where that is apart from what Ive told me ("carrot crunchers' territory") but i want a visit. anyone wanna join me? ROAD TRIP!!!!!! (first, is the venue open and the machine playable and recently serviced? I'm not gonna bother if weak coils or too steep to make ramps or not level or something broken about it, i want to give it a fair chance). whose is it?
it even has the manager's affection cricket bat on it!
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@Homepin i heard you say in your podcast that your factory in in Kaohsiung? I lived in Kaohsiung from March '97 to August '98, right in the centre of town about 200m from the GPO on Chung-Chen and Chung-Shan. my ex-wife (of 17 years) is from Taipei and i have travelled all round the island on my first ever proper bike. My son is half-Taiwanese, he is in Taipei now with his granny. a friend of mine was killed in the big plane crash into Taipei in 1997 (and 2 more died in an arson attack on my house, the same day as i moved out to head for Cambodia ..... some very strong memories of those years; i love Taiwan! i can tell that you are not getting much love here atm but i for one am still on your side!
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You got ballsThanks, it was a boy but still I was proud as punch
@David retro owns it, he will be able to comment on it's condition.YAY! i finally found the Tap thread i came back to this forum looking for (and to sell some old bits and pieces).
Jim - I completely agree with your post. it also looks like fun to me, and it is unfair to see all these negative comments based on a video of some crap player at a show where there were just 2 prototypes. give the guy a break, fellas! it's Spinal ****ing Tap! btw is it you i bought the old Citroen Xsara Picasso from and drove it home? screeched a bit turning left but otherwise a peach for the price. i sold it on when i got another Jazz as i missed mine so much, but it was a decent vehicle.
Back to tap - Ive told me yesterday there is one in Great Yarmouth i can go and play. i don't know where that is apart from what Ive told me ("carrot crunchers' territory") but i want a visit. anyone wanna join me? ROAD TRIP!!!!!! (first, is the venue open and the machine playable and recently serviced? I'm not gonna bother if weak coils or too steep to make ramps or not level or something broken about it, i want to give it a fair chance). whose is it?
it even has the manager's affection cricket bat on it!
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@Homepin i heard you say in your podcast that your factory in in Kaohsiung? I lived in Kaohsiung from March '97 to August '98, right in the centre of town about 200m from the GPO on Chung-Chen and Chung-Shan. my ex-wife (of 17 years) is from Taipei and i have travelled all round the island on my first ever proper bike. My son is half-Taiwanese, he is in Taipei now with his granny. a friend of mine was killed in the big plane crash into Taipei in 1997 (and 2 more died in an arson attack on my house, the same day as i moved out to head for Cambodia ..... some very strong memories of those years; i love Taiwan! i can tell that you are not getting much love here atm but i for one am still on your side!
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Thread resurrection lol! Hello Dan, nice to see you back here. I'm not sure spinal tap really lived up to the potential of the game.. A newer version with an extra flipper was mentioned awhile back or something, can't remember. I still think it was a good theme for a location.YAY! i finally found the Tap thread i came back to this forum looking for (and to sell some old bits and pieces).
Jim - I completely agree with your post. it also looks like fun to me, and it is unfair to see all these negative comments based on a video of some crap player at a show where there were just 2 prototypes. give the guy a break, fellas! it's Spinal ****ing Tap! btw is it you i bought the old Citroen Xsara Picasso from and drove it home? screeched a bit turning left but otherwise a peach for the price. i sold it on when i got another Jazz as i missed mine so much, but it was a decent vehicle.
Regarding the machine it was at pinfest last year so a lot of people have actually played it.
My Pinside review based on my play at Pinfest 2023.
My god, This is Spinal Tap is comedically bad. So bad, it crosses the threshold of bad and becomes ‘so bad it’s good’, and I played it three times as a result.
Artwork-wise, it’s okay, but the playfield build (ramps, apron, etc.) looks like someone did it at home in their shed and brought it to a show as a homebrew. If Homepin wasn’t confident of welding ramps, they should have gone for the sensible option of assembling from old Bally/Williams parts as others have done.
The huge video screen has no relation to play and is there only to entertain onlookers, should they not already be entertained by watching someone struggling to understand/play this thing. Pertinent information (such as it is provided) is on the DMD screen. I was in a group of three (strangers) playing and we laughed A LOT. Basically, my first game finished in seconds as the ball flew straight down the middle three times from plunge without really touching the flippers - an experience that reminded me heavily of playing classics (i.e. 70s/80s pins) in tournament.
Another player complained the gameplay was floaty and maybe not levelled correctly. I didn’t notice that, or rather, I did notice but just put it down to the overall 70/80s feel of the pin. We also experienced another couple of hilarious auto-drains (so, not just me then). I suggested this table needed a lot of nudging.
Anyway, determined to actually hit the ball with the flippers, I had another two goes on This is Spinal Tap. There was a ‘goes up to 11’ insert dial in the centre, but it wasn’t clear what it was measuring/indicating. The game kept telling me to go for ‘Big Bottom’ or some other shot (I forget the name), but I simply couldn’t see it. The rule card was talking about pods, but nothing on the playfield - that I saw - seemed to be about pods. I, personally, just went for the time-honoured approach of hitting the flashing lights but, as with 70s/80s pins, that didn’t seem to net me a high score, unlike the dude stood with me who was also hitting the ball around randomly wondering what to do.
And then, folks, the ramps… the ramps… I still have no idea how you hit the middle ramp. It looks like it should be hit with a third flipper, but I couldn’t see/find a third flipper. There appears to be no obvious geometric way of hitting it with a two flipper arrangement. I tried backhanding it, fronthanding it, every angle imaginable (I’m not a good pinball player, so I figured the problem was probably with me). Then, I read a review on Pinside saying the middle ramps were inaccessible, which explains it.
Apart from the ‘one more game’ feel of trying not to auto-drain and to work out what to do, I felt the layout was less inspired than Homepin’s previous offering Thunderbirds, which had an entertainingly unconventional - but functional - layout. Apart from the inaccessible ramp, This is Spinal Tap had an unadventurous mix of standard features from Bally-Williams/classics layouts, including three side targets on the lower playfield, a row of three knockdown targets near the flippers, and the hint of a fan layout. I was disappointed. A truly unconventional bats**t layout on this already entertainingly bad pin would have taken the ‘so bad it’s good’ vibe up to 11. More weirdly-thin ramps that go nowhere, bash toys on lifting targets and other such quirky features, please.
Hi Vee actually i am not fun at all but an intolerable bell-end, most people discover this when they get to know me. The problem part would be getting hold of one though - even if there is one in Great Yarmouth, my enthusiasm for a visit is tempered by the fact/rumour that they have since added a third flipper, so i wouldn't be giving the game a proper chance which i think it deserves. Same therefore unfortunately applies to your review (though i liked your prose style) as it's la review of an unfinished game. I wrote quite a few reviews on Pinside back in the day - i have the same username over there but have similarly not been active since 2017.Yes, I've actually played This is Spinal Tap. I played the original two-flipper model at Pinfest last year. Below is copied the Pinside review based on my play:
I'm sure you could have a great time with it, @cooldan. You sound like a fun guy. Get hold of one, play with a bunch of friends and a lot of beer, and then - when you get bored - have further fun ripping out the insides, bashing it with a hammer and setting fire to it, as per the brilliant @Sgt GrizZ video (of a different pin).
The reason I was taking the mick out of the booth babes on the Blues Brothers thread is purely because I'm not a nice person (I do have Midna as my avatar). And, between Spinal Tap and Thunderbirds (which I also enjoy like a repeat viewing of Battlefield Earth), Homepin pins are the pinball gift that carries on giving.
just like the famous videos of games being pushed off rooftops at ... was it Arcade Amusements? the big toad-looking guy who looks like he'd be fun company in a pub;
Nothing says 'well planned layout' than adding an extra flipper after the game has already been released.A newer version with an extra flipper was mentioned awhile back
Yeah, I think that point has been made. To death. And Homepin listened and realised their mistake and so updated it and even added a new flipper. C’mon guys, he’s still learning, give him a chance. Surely I can’t be the only one excited about seeing a playable 3-flipper finished Spinal Tap pinball machine.Nothing says 'well planned layout' than adding an extra flipper after the game has already been released.
Surely I can’t be the only one excited about seeing a playable 3-flipper finished Spinal Tap pinball machine.
You’ll get to play one, there’ll probably be one with David at Pinfest (if you’re able to drive up for a day)Yeah, I think that point has been made. To death. And Homepin listened and realised their mistake and so updated it and even added a new flipper. C’mon guys, he’s still learning, give him a chance. Surely I can’t be the only one excited about seeing a playable 3-flipper finished Spinal Tap pinball machine.
I wonder if I will ever get to.
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Homepin’s previous hit title
Well if you did buy one for £8k I'm sure your be extremely happy that there a new version with an extra flipper that maybe fixes a shot that unachievable.On Davids site - the price is not reduced and it is unclear if you would order and get the newer version of the game.
Will post this again 'HAS ANYONE GOT ONE ON ORDER - OR ACTUALLY OWN ONE IN THE UK????'
Really wanted to be proved wrong with this game.
Why would anyone give him a chance, that's fine if your not selling a product that cost £8,000. If he was replacing existing machines for free then that's a different story, hats off and if homepin are then great.Yeah, I think that point has been made. To death. And Homepin listened and realised their mistake and so updated it and even added a new flipper. C’mon guys, he’s still learning, give him a chance. Surely I can’t be the only one excited about seeing a playable 3-flipper finished Spinal Tap pinball machine.
I wonder if I will ever get to.
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Big shoesWelcome Neil s replacement
if you ever say that again, you're making an enemy out of me and i wouldn't recommend that.Welcome Neil s replacement
I apologiseif you ever say that again, you're making an enemy out of me and i wouldn't recommend that.
who are you, you've been around 4 years, owned less than 5 pins? i've been in the hobby since 2010, owned around 90 or so, left the hobby in 2017 owning 25 then rapidly culled the herd down to 8 within 6 months, and subsequently dwindled down to the 2 i have left.
apology due. i won't ask twice
He’s Zippy man, have you never seen Rainbow?who are you, you've been around 4 years, owned less than 5 pins?