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Pinball News Website·article·analyzed·Oct 4, 2005

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.017

TL;DR

Pinball Factory establishes global distribution network with Pinball Heaven as UK distributor (Oct 2005)

Summary

In October 2005, Wayne Gillard's The Pinball Factory established a UK distributor network through Pinball Heaven and secured distribution in 20 countries globally, including Canada via PinWest. The company began selling newly available pinball parts and games, marking a shift toward specialized smaller distributors over former WMS resellers.

Key Claims

Wayne Gillard appointed Pinball Heaven as UK and Western Europe distributor for The Pinball Factory
high confidence · Direct statement from Pinball News article dated October 4, 2005
The Pinball Factory secured distributors in 20 countries utilizing existing and former WMS resellers
high confidence · Article states 'The Pinball Factory now has distributors in 20 other countries'
Pinball Heaven would cover eight European countries initially (Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden) until local distributors established
high confidence · Direct quote from Phil Palmer, Pinball Heaven owner
Phil Palmer characterized smaller specialized pinball distributors as better equipped than WMS to serve customers unfamiliar with parts and machines
high confidence · Direct quote from Phil Palmer criticizing WMS distribution model
PinWest in Canada was founded by David Eisner to distribute The Pinball Factory products
high confidence · Direct statement from article identifying David Eisner as PinWest founder

Notable Quotes

“Its good to see someone with sense like Wayne Gillard finally making it into the pinball industry. WMS just couldn't see that smaller companies who specialized in one sector of the amusement business (pinball) were much better equipped to deal with customers”
Phil Palmer, Pinball Heaven owner @ October 4, 2005 — Criticism of Williams/Bally distribution strategy and endorsement of specialized smaller distributors
“We're anxiously waiting for Oct 12th when Wayne officially takes over and can start selling his products to the World”
Phil Palmer, Pinball Heaven owner @ October 4, 2005 — Indicates official product launch date for The Pinball Factory
“Through some tough negotiation we secured an excellent deal with ParcelForce Worldwide enabling us to ship parts to EU countries within 48 hours”
Phil Palmer, Pinball Heaven owner @ October 4, 2005 — Details on logistics infrastructure for European distribution
“I founded PinWest in the hopes of bring unique pinball-related items to the pinball community. Wayne has been excellent to deal with and communications have always gone well.”
David Eisner, PinWest founder @ October 4, 2005 — Positive relationship between distributor and Gillard; indicates early engagement with international expansion

Entities

Wayne GillardpersonThe Pinball FactorycompanyPinball HeavencompanyPhil PalmerpersonPinWestcompanyDavid EisnerpersonWilliams/Bally (WMS)companyParcelForce Worldwidecompany

Signals

?
business_signal: Availability of extensive Williams pinball parts catalog through new distribution channels, addressing customer access gap
high · Detailed list of newly available parts including MM Drawbridge, Castle Gates, WPC coin doors, dot matrix displays, and numerous other components
?
business_signal: The Pinball Factory successfully established global distribution infrastructure across 20+ countries, signaling entry into aftermarket parts market post-WMS era
high · Article confirms 'The Pinball Factory now has distributors in 20 other countries' and details establishment of Pinball Heaven network
$
market_signal: Shift from WMS-dominated distribution to specialized smaller distributors indicated by Phil Palmer's criticism and establishment of focused aftermarket parts network
high · Phil Palmer quote: 'WMS just couldn't see that smaller companies who specialized in one sector of the amusement business (pinball) were much better equipped to deal with customers'

Topics

Distribution Network ExpansionprimaryPinball Parts AvailabilityprimaryInternational LogisticssecondaryDistributor Business ModelsecondaryAftermarket Parts Manufacturingsecondary

Sentiment

positive(0.82)— Article presents The Pinball Factory expansion favorably; distributors express enthusiasm and satisfaction with partnership. Implicit criticism of WMS distribution model is presented constructively in context of specialized alternatives.

Transcript

raw_text · $0.000

Story dated October 4, 2005 , updated October 12, 2005. With the expectation of a slew of new products coming out later this month, Wayne Gillard has appointed Pinball Heaven as distributors for the UK and much of Western Europe. Phil Palmer, owner of Pinball Heaven told Pinball News: "Its good to see someone with sense like Wayne Gillard finally making it into the pinball industry. WMS just couldn't see that smaller companies who specialized in one sector of the amusement business (pinball) were much better equipped to deal with customers who didn't really know what part they wanted or how their machine was supposed to work! Thankfully that has now changed with our appointment as UK distributor." Phil will stock parts and eventually games from The Pinball Factory and will ship them not just to the UK but also to eight European countries - Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain and Sweden - until local distributors are established. The new parts will be added to Pinball Heaven's on-line catalogue of over a thousand pinball parts. Phil told us: "We're anxiously waiting for Oct 12th when Wayne officially takes over and can start selling his products to the World but what are those products I hear you ask? Well we've all seen the first posted list on pinball.com bulletin boards but we'll have to wait a bit longer for the full list. As soon as we know what will be available and at what price, we will add the products to our already extensive website catalogue." Regarding shipping outside the UK, Pinball Heaven have already made arrangements. "We already ship more parts internationally than we do nationally so when we were also given 8 European countries to look after until distributors in those countries were found we were delighted. Through some tough negotiation we secured an excellent deal with ParcelForce Worldwide enabling us to ship parts to EU countries within 48 hours if the customer requested such, even next day to Sweden and a few other EU Countries for just £25 or less!" But Pinball Heaven are not alone. The Pinball Factory now has distributors in 20 other countries utilising a mixture of existing and former WMS resellers and some new companies. One such is PinWest in Canada. Set up by David Eisner who made the Lord Of The Rings ramp featured here in Pinball News, PinWest have also contracted to sell games produced by The Pinball Factory. David told Pinball News: "I founded PinWest in the hopes of bring unique pinball-related items to the pinball community. I contacted Wayne very early in the development of his line of pinball machines and parts. Wayne has been excellent to deal with and communications have always gone well. I hope to bring his line of pinball machines primarily to the Canadian collector at competitive prices." With a large number of parts already announced and more to come, pinball owners should have easier access through their local distributors than ever before after October 12th. UPDATE Now the 12th has arrived and some of those new products have appeared in distributors' parts list. The parts announced by The Pinball Factory as being newly available are shown below but bear in mind that they couldn't be sold to distributors until the 12th October so may take a while to arrive or to be added to the various companies' web sites. MM Drawbridge MM Castle Gates MM Troll Carriages MM Troll Switches MM Castle Top MM Castle right MM Castles Main MM Castle door MM Playfield decal set for flaps/drawbridge etc Legs - Chrome/Gold/Black Levellers - 3" OEM Williams ones Leg Plates with Pem nuts Lockdown Bars - Standard size All the black plastic Moldings for backglasses / playfield sides and rear etc. JM spinner decals CV cabinet decals WPC single and double coin doors 128 x 32 dot matrix displays "W Williams Flipper Bats Flipper Bushings 01-12356 and 01-12356-1 Microswitch mounting Brackets 01-5492 Belts for Fishtales/Hurricane/Cyclone A-14028 and A-14030 02-4668 plunger Arabian Nights Lamp CV/SWEP1 Neon Transformers 03-7034-9 light hoods 03-7034-13 light hoods Slingsot kicker mtg brackets Pop Bumper mtg brackets H channel display panel plastic Scared Stiff coffin lid Full range of targets all colors Back to the news index Back to the front page