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Robin Roth joins American Pinball while expanding Electric Playground's mod business and manufacturing partnerships.
Robin Roth and Nick have joined American Pinball as of this month, working alongside Brian Vincent
high confidence · Robin Roth stated directly: 'Nick and I were joining the team at American Pinball. Super excited to be working with Brian Vincent and the crew that he's pulled together.'
Electric Playground will create the Circus Voltaire topper for American's reimagined Circus Voltaire game launching later in 2024
high confidence · Robin: 'as of TPF, it was announced that American is doing Circus Voltaire later on this year and the topper from the Electric Playground will be a part of that.'
The Circus Voltaire topper shown at Expo was approximately 85% complete at that time
high confidence · Robin: 'we showed off our Circus Voltaire topper just 1 hour per day...It was probably about 85% done at the time.'
Brian Vincent acquired American Pinball from Aimtron
high confidence · Robin: 'Brian was one of the people that saw it who ultimately find out later was acquiring American Pinball from Aimtron, the company that owned it prior.'
American Pinball is building Houdini, Tank Force, and new Hot Wheels machines and has momentum with sales
high confidence · Robin: 'We're selling building Houdinis, we're building lots of Tank Force, we're building new Hot Wheels...Hot Wheels actually sold a lot of units.'
Melvin (from Multimorphic/Alice) is involved with American Pinball's projects
medium confidence · Robin: 'even the opportunity to work with Melvin. I mean, what Melvin brings to the table with what he did with Alice, and what he wants to bring a lot of the things that makes Alice amazing to American American's titles.'
American Pinball is based in Palatine, near Stern's Chicago facility, about 4 hours from Electric Playground
high confidence · Robin: 'they're in Palatine, which is a small town, I guess, in that area. Stern I think is is in that area as well. So so it's about a four four-hour drive.'
Electric Playground is moving to a new facility in a couple months
“We are of course still uh doing the Electric Playground, so we've got a bunch of team members stepping up to help us out. Alec is going to be taking on a role as creative director. Dustin Howell will be taking on a role as our operations manager and John Miller as our production manager.”
Robin Roth@ 4:58 — Announces expanded Electric Playground team structure supporting dual role at American Pinball
“Brian kind of told us about this reimagined initiative they had around the Circus Voltaire game and and wanted the topper to be a part of that.”
Robin Roth@ 6:39 — Describes how the partnership with American Pinball began through the Circus Voltaire topper showing at Expo
“it sucks that you have to flip out the coils to make the game good. That's a a separate issue.”
Robin Roth@ 14:07 — Candid assessment of American Pinball's Barbecue flipper coil issue despite good overall build quality
“I felt like that they had the foundation to build a great company. And as as I talked with Nick about it, the opportunity is there to to be a part of growing something really special.”
Robin Roth@ 12:33 — Explains strategic rationale for joining American Pinball despite its troubled history
“you know, I was like, well, if I can't be involved, I'm just going to do four product releases in a week and just see what happens.”
Robin Roth@ 20:44 — Humorously describes motivation for concentrated product release strategy during TPF week
“by the by the by the fourth day I just wanted to like [laughter] kill myself. Yeah. It was It was impressive.”
personnel_signal: Robin Roth and Nick join American Pinball as co-founders/designers starting this month, representing significant talent acquisition for the manufacturer
high · Robin stated: 'Nick and I were joining the team at American Pinball' as of 'this month'
business_signal: Electric Playground and American Pinball strategic partnership announced for Circus Voltaire topper integration, evolving from initial topper showcase at Expo
high · Robin: 'Brian was one of the people that saw it...reached out to us...wanting to explore the opportunity to bring that topper to the remake that they were working on'
product_launch: American Pinball's reimagined Circus Voltaire launching later in 2024 with integrated Electric Playground topper, available across all game versions
high · Robin: 'American is doing Circus Voltaire later on this year and the topper from the Electric Playground will be a part of that...available for all versions of the game'
manufacturing_signal: Electric Playground expanding team with dedicated creative director, operations manager, and production manager; moving to new facility within two months
high · Robin: 'team members stepping up to help us out. Alec is going to be taking on a role as creative director...moving into a new facility in a couple months'
product_strategy: Electric Playground tested strategy of releasing four products in one week during TPF to build brand presence and test cross-product hype dynamics
high · Robin: 'I did four uh that week releasing' and 'I was like, well, if I can't be involved, I'm just going to do four product releases in a week and just see what happens'
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high confidence · Robin: 'moving into a new facility in a couple months.'
Robin launched four products in one week during TPF (King Kong spider replacement, Lord of the Rings Balrog, and two others)
high confidence · Robin: 'I did one for King Kong, which was a spider replacement. Uh we launched a Lord of the Rings Balrog' and 'I did four uh that week releasing.'
Yukon Yeti from Turner/Hexa had extremely long lines at TPF and is Turner's best game to date
high confidence · Robin: 'new game from Turner with their uh uh Yukon Yeti, which the lines were extremely long the entire time...that game is is definitely their best game to date.'
Robin Roth & Davey@ 22:18 — Illustrates the operational challenge of managing multiple product launches in rapid succession
“being able to work with manufacturers in any way, shape or form...slowly sort of push them in the direction of being more mod friendly”
Robin Roth@ 25:26 — States core strategy of using manufacturer relationships to make games more mod-friendly
“Hexa had a a shipping mishap, so they weren't able to show their their Three Musketeers game, which was disappointing.”
Robin Roth@ 18:09 — Notes supply chain issue affecting Hexa's TPF booth
“this is our spiritual successor to the Alice side rails...we're starting out with Harry Potter. Um to sort of replicate the laser cut side rails that are on the CE of Harry Potter.”
Robin Roth@ 32:28 — Describes Electric Playground's glow rails product strategy and Alice/Multimorphic collaboration
“we're working at capacity anyway, so um you know, it's not it's not a huge deal one way or the other, but it's just kind of the fun of trying it out as well, isn't it?”
Robin Roth@ 26:39 — Indicates Electric Playground is at manufacturing capacity and release strategy was partly experimental
event_signal: TPF 2024 featured new game releases including Turner's Yukon Yeti (strong reception), Beetlejuice, and three Circus Voltaire machines; Hexa's Three Musketeers had shipping delay
high · Robin: 'new game from Turner with their uh uh Yukon Yeti, which the lines were extremely long the entire time...three amazing circuses on the floor...Hexa had a a shipping mishap'
product_concern: American Pinball's Barbecue game has flipper coil issue requiring customer replacement for optimal gameplay, though underlying build quality is good
high · Robin: 'it sucks that you have to flip out the coils to make the game good. That's a a separate issue...But but the build quality of these things are good'
market_signal: Hot Wheels (American Pinball) sold surprisingly high unit volume with affordable pricing and aura offset lighting treatment, contributing to company momentum
medium · Robin: 'somebody told me recently that Hot Wheels actually sold a lot of units...it's it's a fun game, it's affordable in the grand scheme of things'
design_philosophy: Electric Playground prioritizing closer relationships with manufacturers to increase mod-friendliness through easier power access and design collaboration
high · Robin: 'slowly sort of push them in the direction of being more mod friendly, whether that's uh you know, even if it's just like having powering options easily available in the game'
product_launch: Electric Playground launching glow rails product as spiritual successor to Alice in Wonderland rails, starting with Harry Potter, controlled by lolly board, distributed from UK and France centers
high · Robin: 'glow rails, um you know, that's a collaboration with a with a French uh guy...spiritual successor to the rails that we put on um uh Alice in Wonderland'
supply_chain_signal: Mod manufacturing faces significant operational challenges including custom box sourcing, foam inserts, product labeling, and multi-location distribution coordination
high · Davey: 'you've got to buy special boxes for them and then you've got to have foam inserts...splitting of the parts between two locations'
sentiment_shift: American Pinball generating renewed market confidence with momentum in game sales, quality reputation, and visible leadership from Brian Vincent despite previous ownership struggles
medium · Robin: 'I felt like that they had the foundation to build a great company...now that people know the games are going to be supported, that momentum is building'