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Pinball at warp factor 8 .... long live the Electric Circus .. 2

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steve brum said:
All quiet on the Fife Street front

Hoping to open as soon as possible but like all pubs awaiting government guidelines

To put the record straight ; despiite the physical size of our building and its high underlying running costs ie those bills that need paying open or not , one of the reasons we picked this buidling was its low rates. That means we got the lower covid grant (£10k) AND the savings in rates from the governnent raising of the thresholds is a "mighty" £1043 a year. Being a new start up , all profits have been ploughed back into the business as we expected for the first year. I took no wages or dividends. Courtney took no wage. So no furlough for us. Even our staff can't get furlough as all on casual contracts. NONE of the suppliers such as Severn Trent or our electric company will offer ANY concession. And normal banks wouldn't touch us when we opened so we have an online only bank. Guess what , they arent on the gvt loan list so no interest free bounce bank loan for us.

Anyway , stuff has been sold (several hundred bits and peices on eBay , a dozen project machines and a few games that were not "keepers")

Our customers , both boozers and gamers , are keen for us to get going again and there will be some NICE surprises in the arcade when it reopens. Not only the superbly restored by Courtney older games we have posted about on Facebook but other stuff we will announce nearer the time.

In the meantime we have set up on online raffle group. Tickets are a fiver each and the prize for the first raffle is an X Box

Thanks for all the pinheads who have took part already

Please check it out and share

https://www.facebook.com/groups/636760307051096/
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did you buy any jukeboxes then?
 
daveyp said:
Was nice to meet you both the other day when I dropped the machine off and have a look around. And play Munsters.

Can’t wait to come and play when everything gets back to normal

Dave.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Was it that machine that was dropped off @Sven Normansson - Davey P was selling an AC/DC premium so seems to fit. Who knows?

I reckon you’d have made a heck of a lot more money raffling the AC/DC off though - instead of popping it on eBay. If you are having to sell machines AND fundraiser to keep afloat, what a combo. Although there would’ve been hell to pay if Courtney won it 😂
 
Your RS still there and not booting? Myself and another did offer to buy it but got no replies.
 
Reckon Neil's right. I think Steve and Courtney still have some personal trinkets that they own, such as their back teeth and maybe the shirts off their backs, and yet they had the audacity to run a fundraiser for the pub, which probably isn't doing a roaring trade during the pandemic.

What utter bastards they are.
 
Does seem a bit of an odd personality trait to have, that - keeping a tab on the latest news about people personally disliked.

You got any more to that beyond insinuation that they're lying about finances or that buying jukeboxes for a pub that has a large retro theme, as well as selling personal possessions and running fundraisers - is all somehow incompatible?

'Cos you'd have such suspicions after all, and I presume evidence - as it's not like you to just stir for the sake of stirring Neil, is it?
 
Asking people to gift you money with a go fund me page and crying the poor tale when you are sat on 50k plus in assets ie pinball machine s does seem a bit morally wrong
If you had sold all your assets to try and keep things up and running then you may get a little more sympathy
 
CHRIS B PINBALLS said:
Asking people to gift you money with a go fund me page and crying the poor tale when you are sat on 50k plus in assets ie pinball machine s does seem a bit morally wrong
If you had sold all your assets to try and keep things up and running then you may get a little more sympathy
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I can see where you're coming from - but let's say they sell half of the pinball machines and half/most of the audio equipment (most of which is difficult to get any value for as is mostly nostalgic, historical interest or in need of repair) - the venue loses something in the process when it reopens. It may be able to go financially 'to the wall' and sell everything to stay afloat, but then it's just another working men's club at that point. May as well be closed in some points of view. Or maybe they don't want to sell so many personal items to keep it afloat during a freak time, and are saying they'll close and cut their losses if they have to sell much more to pay the bills; unless they get cash by other means. That's the way of the world, sadly. Everyone's got a different red line.

In either case if people want to help the venue stay open, possibly more than the owner is prepared to lose keeping it open - well, the option's there, and if people find no problem with that idea, then they'll throw in money. If they think it's a load of ****e and read it as begging or morally wrong, then they won't. The only people likely to donate in the first place are people that actually used the venue, and they will not be under any illusion as to what the club owns.

Maybe people with less money worries than myself will find it easier to judge in this case, but I can't see how the situation prompts the attitude from above. If people think I've gotten it hopelessly wrong then - fair. I'll keep quiet.
 
PBrookfield said:
I can see where you're coming from - but let's say they sell half of the pinball machines and half/most of the audio equipment (most of which is difficult to get any value for as is mostly nostalgic, historical interest or in need of repair) - the venue loses something in the process when it reopens. It may be able to go financially 'to the wall' and sell everything to stay afloat, but then it's just another working men's club at that point. May as well be closed in some points of view. Or maybe they don't want to sell so many personal items to keep it afloat during a freak time, and are saying they'll close and cut their losses if they have to sell much more to pay the bills; unless they get cash by other means. That's the way of the world, sadly. Everyone's got a different red line.

In either case if people want to help the venue stay open, possibly more than the owner is prepared to lose keeping it open - well, the option's there, and if people find no problem with that idea, then they'll throw in money. If they think it's a load of ****e and read it as begging or morally wrong, then they won't. The only people likely to donate in the first place are people that actually used the venue, and they will not be under any illusion as to what the club owns.

Maybe people with less money worries than myself will find it easier to judge in this case, but I can't see how the situation prompts the attitude from above. If people think I've gotten it hopelessly wrong then - fair. I'll keep quiet.
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I fully understand and appreciate not wanting to sell machines as they are an asset to the business. If a seafront arcade was struggling and sold most of its machines just to keep afloat and reopen after the lockdown then what would be the point? It's totally reasonable not to sell the machines/assets that are the heart of the business. However I think that the problem is asking for money to keep the club alive and doing various fund raisers but at the same time bidding on eBay auctions for even more machines...
 
MajesticPinball said:
However I think that the problem is asking for money to keep the club alive and doing various fund raisers but at the same time bidding on eBay auctions for even more machines...
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I reckon the elephant in the room is that, actually - if doing so is a viable way of raising money, then is it the morally the same? Knowing Steve a churn of games is pretty usual and I'm fairly sure he's not looking to lose money by doing so. This is not the same issue as whether it's fair or not to treat 'flipping' as a dirty word/practice - whole other discussion and I think strong opinions for and against it are completely valid to bring up.

There's also the chance that, since money may have been freed up in other sales, or through fundraisers etc, they're replacing gaps in the lineup with cheaper machines than what vacated. Knowing the value of a few of the games that have left, that seems plausible to me. Money has been made if an AFM or CV, has been replaced with cheap Sys11 or DE games, for example.

There are loads of completely legitimate reasons that assets that are a core part of the business operation get traded while the business is stating they have no money. If someone actually had evidence of deception that would be entirely different.
 
I do not think the people that go to this club will be knarkered to say find two or three high end machines gone and replaced by the ones they have been working on.

Selling high end games could put £10-15K into the club.

Nobody wants to sell machines but it may be the only way some survive. I include myself in that. Like many self employed folks I have been living off overdraft / savings etc. I would sell my treasured guitars/jukes/pinballs/amplifier collection to keep me and my businesses going. As things look like they are getting back to some normality it looks like I will not have to.
 
PBrookfield said:
I can see where you're coming from - but let's say they sell half of the pinball machines and half/most of the audio equipment (most of which is difficult to get any value for as is mostly nostalgic, historical interest or in need of repair) - the venue loses something in the process when it reopens. It may be able to go financially 'to the wall' and sell everything to stay afloat, but then it's just another working men's club at that point. May as well be closed in some points of view. Or maybe they don't want to sell so many personal items to keep it afloat during a freak time, and are saying they'll close and cut their losses if they have to sell much more to pay the bills; unless they get cash by other means. That's the way of the world, sadly. Everyone's got a different red line.

In either case if people want to help the venue stay open, possibly more than the owner is prepared to lose keeping it open - well, the option's there, and if people find no problem with that idea, then they'll throw in money. If they think it's a load of ****e and read it as begging or morally wrong, then they won't. The only people likely to donate in the first place are people that actually used the venue, and they will not be under any illusion as to what the club owns.

Maybe people with less money worries than myself will find it easier to judge in this case, but I can't see how the situation prompts the attitude from above. If people think I've gotten it hopelessly wrong then - fair. I'll keep quiet.
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Hopelessly wrong, but no-one should stay quiet. I think that's all rather rude and unnecessary, isn't it? What's going on, pinball people? Peace xxx
 
CHRIS B PINBALLS said:
Asking people to gift you money with a go fund me page and crying the poor tale when you are sat on 50k plus in assets ie pinball machine s does seem a bit morally wrong
If you had sold all your assets to try and keep things up and running then you may get a little more sympathy
Click to expand...
I don't think there is a poor tale being cried or anything morally wrong. In fact, if you ever have the pleasure to visit Fife Street you will see that it's not just pinball - that's in the other room for those that want it. The main focus that Steve and Courtney have had is to build a vibrant centre for the community. They have an amazing space with a stage, lighting, mixing desk like the Enterprise, instruments, a beutiful pool table (when's the last time you saw one of them?), brilliant table football, darts, live music, LGBT, social nights of all sorts.

Erm, I mean, does nobody know that?

Guys, Fife Street and the people behind it are a beacon for grass-roots community engagement. I am sure they are far from perfect, but I'm not working my ass off to build a centre for a local community. Oh, with lots of pins too.

I don't think it's trite: Let's all be nice.
 
DevilzAvocado said:
I don't think there is a poor tale being cried or anything morally wrong. In fact, if you ever have the pleasure to visit Fife Street you will see that it's not just pinball - that's in the other room for those that want it. The main focus that Steve and Courtney have had is to build a vibrant centre for the community. They have an amazing space with a stage, lighting, mixing desk like the Enterprise, instruments, a beutiful pool table (when's the last time you saw one of them?), brilliant table football, darts, live music, LGBT, social nights of all sorts.

Erm, I mean, does nobody know that?

Guys, Fife Street and the people behind it are a beacon for grass-roots community engagement. I am sure they are far from perfect, but I'm not working my ass off to build a centre for a local community. Oh, with lots of pins too.

I don't think it's trite: Let's all be nice.
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Q+

:)
 
DevilzAvocado said:
It's not just pinball - that's in the other room for those that want it. The main focus that Steve and Courtney have had is to build a vibrant centre for the community.
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That really paints the picture more than anything to sell the one or two then, keep the busines afloat and rebuy them or some at a later date.

Business is a risk and reward, you can't shun the risk and ask for bailouts when it hits the fan, unless you are a bank, or branson, or british leyland, or the railway franchises, or tfl.

It's all a bit of PR nightmare really and that's why there is the backlash. If the message was - hey we needed to raise £20k, we have sold £15k of machines, we need support for the last £5k, I think it would have gone down better. What people have interpreted it as, rightly or wrongly, is a Fire Island style GoFundMe.
 
DevilzAvocado said:
I don't think there is a poor tale being cried or anything morally wrong. In fact, if you ever have the pleasure to visit Fife Street you will see that it's not just pinball - that's in the other room for those that want it. The main focus that Steve and Courtney have had is to build a vibrant centre for the community. They have an amazing space with a stage, lighting, mixing desk like the Enterprise, instruments, a beutiful pool table (when's the last time you saw one of them?), brilliant table football, darts, live music, LGBT, social nights of all sorts.

Erm, I mean, does nobody know that?

Guys, Fife Street and the people behind it are a beacon for grass-roots community engagement. I am sure they are far from perfect, but I'm not working my ass off to build a centre for a local community. Oh, with lots of pins too.

I don't think it's trite: Let's all be nice.
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I personally think an outfit that has people that have mis-lead folks in sales time after time and sell knock off goods on eBay and then position that they are about to be made homeless whilst sitting on tens of thousands of pounds worth of assets and in addition spending money to buy other things - whilst asking for donations Is morally wrong but then to also raise this tail of doom with the local press!
And if that wasn't bad enough- to do this into a community that is probably already hit hard by the impact of Covid-19, morally wrong, plain wrong.

Sell **one** of the middle value games and go from 51 to 50 games and you get the money that the fundraiser is asking for, and none of the great stuff that you mention is affected,
 
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