Alice Goes to Wonderland Pinball - pilot production Unbox + Build

Wonderland Amusements·video·20m 7s·analyzed·Oct 7, 2025

Analysis

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TL;DR

Wonderland Amusements demos Alice Goes to Wonderland pilot unit assembly ahead of October Expo.

Summary

Peter from Wonderland Amusements presents an unboxing and assembly video of the Alice Goes to Wonderland pilot production unit, demonstrating the flat-pack home pinball machine's build process, packaging, and early gameplay. The machine ships in two 70-lb boxes with straightforward assembly requiring basic tools; code updates are pending for the October Expo (15-19) in Schaumburg, Illinois. The video showcases the machine's visual appeal and mechanical design while noting that gameplay footage is from an earlier, pre-update version.

Key Claims

Kickstarter units will ship very soon, scandalously close to October
high confidence · Peter, Wonderland Amusements CEO, opening of video; stated as imminent timeline
Pilot unit was received about a month prior to this video, code updates in progress but not yet installed
high confidence · Peter explaining the delay in showing updated gameplay; stated directly
Code updates will be available and playable at Pinball Expo October 15-19 in Schaumburg
high confidence · Peter stating expo attendance details and code update timeline
Assembly takes approximately 2.5 hours for a mechanically inclined builder
high confidence · Peter's personal build time, with caveat about manual review and pacing
Machine ships with protective blue film coating on playfield that must be manually peeled off
high confidence · Peter describing assembly experience and flagging this as a production note for change
Mushroom toys include purple and yellow variants; yellow not yet ready for pilot unit
high confidence · Peter showing toys during unboxing, noting yellow mushrooms missing from this build
Final plunger knob design will be a doorknob shape to match the receptacle
high confidence · Peter noting red prototype knob is temporary, final design specifications given

Notable Quotes

“I cannot believe that it is already October... because it's so so close, scandalously close even to when we are going to be shipping out our Kickstarter uh units”
Peter @ Opening — Indicates imminent Kickstarter fulfillment timeline and creator excitement/urgency about shipping
“It's product development. It happens. This is the way it goes.”
Peter @ Mid-video, explaining code delay — Acknowledges typical development delays and manages expectations around code readiness
“We need to find a new way to protect that in the process because I had to peel all that blue stuff off and once everything's mounted on to the playfield. Not surprisingly, it's a little bit challenging.”
Peter @ Assembly section — Production feedback loop: identifies packaging/protection issue flagged for factory improvement
“There is about 30, 40 parts to put together. Not not terrible... everything in the build I was really pleasantly surprised... it fit together like a glove”
Peter @ Build section — Positive assessment of build quality, fit tolerance, and assembly experience
“I highly recommend... if you have one of those bit-based screwdrivers like I had there, um, to get the little Allen wrench piece to put in. That will make the build go a little bit faster.”
Peter @ Build tools section — Assembly guidance; practical recommendation for future builders
“I do consider myself like somebody who loves pinball and um but I'm I'm a more casual player than a lot of you.”
Peter @ Gameplay section — Self-identification as casual player; positions machine as accessible to non-expert players

Entities

PeterpersonWonderland AmusementscompanyAlice Goes to WonderlandgameAndrepersonJoepersonBongpersonPinball ExpoeventSchaumburg Convention CentervenueKickstarterproduct_launch

Signals

?
product_launch: Wonderland Amusements demonstrates Alice Goes to Wonderland pilot unit assembly and unboxing; provides detailed breakdown of flat-pack design, build process, and shipping configuration for imminent Kickstarter fulfillment
high · Full video dedicated to unboxing, assembly instructions, parts layout, and 2.5-hour build completion
?
manufacturing_signal: Blue protective film coating on playfield identified as unsuitable for future production; flagged for alternative protection method; white shipping posts clarified as removable; yellow mushroom toy component delayed but ready for production units
high · Peter explicitly noting protective film issue and passing feedback to factory; visual confirmation of delayed yellow mushroom component
?
code_update: Game code updates in development but not yet installed on pilot unit; Peter expects updates to be available and playable at Pinball Expo (Oct 15-19); current gameplay footage is pre-update version
high · Peter stating code is 'not ready yet' and updates expected 'in route' for Expo; acknowledging gameplay shown is 'a little bit out of date'
?
event_signal: Wonderland Amusements will exhibit two updated Alice machines at Pinball Expo Schaumburg, Oct 15-19; expected to run updated code; machines available for public play
high · Peter: 'We will be there. We will have two machines there with us uh running... ideally, they will have updated code'
?
design_innovation: Alice Goes to Wonderland demonstrates successful flat-pack home pinball design with minimal assembly complexity (3 tools: Phillips screwdriver, two Allen wrenches); metal receiving inserts on MDF components prevent direct wood fastening; dowel alignment system for cabinet assembly

Transcript

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0:13

[Music] Hey everybody, it's Peter with Wonderland Amusements. I am back with another development update. And um you know what? It's October. I cannot believe that it is already October. And I don't mean like I can't believe it's already October because uh it's late in the year. I mean, it's because it's so so close, scandalously close even to when we are going to be shipping out our Kickstarter uh units of our Alice Goes to Wonderland home pinball machine that we have been talking about for a year and is now like coming to life before our very eyes. I I am super excited to share today's video with you. I've got a couple things that I'm going to talk about. Uh, first we're going to do an unboxing and then I'm going to build the machine and uh right in front of you exactly as it will show up at your doorstep with a couple minor updates like the packaging itself will be pretty instead of the what I got. Uh, but other than that, it's packed out exactly as it will show up. Um, I'm going to share with you a little bit of gameplay of what we have. So, I'm um I'm saying a little bit and the reason I'm saying a little bit is that we had this machine shipped to us about a month ago and in that month a lot of work has gone on to update it. However, uh it has not been installed onto this machine uh yet and that was because it's not ready yet. Uh so, I don't know what to tell you. I'll tell you what I was told. It's product development. It happens. This is the way it goes. I am told that uh when we go to Expo next week, next week, yes, October 15th to 19th in Shamberg, right outside of Chicago, uh that we will uh have some code that I'm going to be able to update on the machine and play at that time. And so, I did not make an in-depth gameplay video today uh purposefully. I'm going to show you a little bit of it because the machine looks really pretty. It's a little different than what Bong uh if you caught Bong's video uh what he was able to show. But um without further ado, I'm going to jump right in and I want to show you how uh how to put this machine together and what it looks like coming out of the box. So, let's go. Here's the build video. And um so important things to note about this. So, well, let's talk about it. Those boxes that you see, those are actually representative of the boxes. Uh this is how it will be packed out uh from the factory. I am uh going through and taking out each of the pieces and I'm taking a second to show you some of them. Um I'll show you a little bit more as we go through it. But if you want to know what the boxes are actually going to look like, there is my good buddy Andre uh on his uh last trip to Hong Kong and he uh went to the packaging factory along with all the other factories and got uh these first passes uh or sorry, final passes of the of the Kickstarter packaging. That's what it's going to look like when it shows up on your door. two boxes, both weighing about 70 lbs, maybe not quite. Um, you can see I'm able to move them around decently well, but that's what they're going to look like when they show up on your doorstep. Box A, box B. Uh, directions refer to them. And, uh, yeah, so that's what it's going to look like when it shows up. Uh, so here I am taking the various parts apart. Uh, I dragged out the playfield behind me back there. Uh, we're going to get back to that. Now I'm taking apart the various parts. These are obviously the walls to the cabinet. I put the plexiglass uh cap back there. Uh and uh showing off a couple of the pieces. We're just going to lay everything out. I kind of recommend that you guys do the same thing. Take it all apart, lay out all the pieces. It's going to make this whole process uh a lot easier. You'll see me starting and stopping it quite a few times here as I'm going along. I am uh using a draft version on my phone of the uh assembly manual. um that it's still being developed, fully developed. Uh so I stop a few times and pause, but for the most part, uh what I had is what you will also receive. Um so I'm uh yeah, in the process here, obviously those parts there on the floor that that's oh the control panel there. Um, again, you can pause anytime you want or fast forward through all this if it's not very interesting to you, but I'm going to take out all these parts that uh those are the parts for the backbox. Uh, obviously you can see the left and the right. And um those two parts laying on the ground are the sidewalls that shortly here. Oh, there we have the sidewalls for the main cabinet uh with art blades on the inside which you can see. Um, all right. So, that one uh there is the actually the full uh back piece. Oh, that is the those two white strips are the LED lights for uh to light the marquee. That is obviously the uh the speakers and the monitor. And here are all the parts laid out. And we're getting ready to build. Oh, so many little parts. So, what are we taking a look at? Oh, here are the toys. Right. So, we're getting a closer look as I take them out. Uh the caterpillar, the uh the mad hatter, the mushrooms. Note that the mushrooms here uh they're both purple. Actually, there will be a yellow one and a purple one. We didn't have the yellow ones done yet when they sent this to me. Um and there's the castle. Hey, that look like pinballs. Cool. It's time to build. So, um I'm reasonably mechanically inclined. It does take me a minute to make sure I'm on the right track here. Um, there's probably, I don't know, 30, 40 parts to put together. Not Not too terrible. Some dowels, some screws. Uh, everything in the build. I was really pleasantly surprised. I mean, just like fit together like a glove the whole the whole way along. You saw me there for a second take out a power drill. I don't actually recommend using that to do this build. You're going to want to handtighten everything for the most part. I quickly figured that out. It uh just made more sense. I wanted to make sure that I didn't um you know strip any of the screws. The all of the the wooden parts with the exception of the playfield are MDF um highdensity MDF. And so uh they do have receiving parts. So when you put the screws in there's a metal part embedded on the other side to receive it. So you're not going into wood ever directly. None of that is done. Everything is going into a metal piece. So it's nice and secure and holds together. Uh there I am. So I'm obviously I'm starting with the back box. There is the uh the speakers and the main brain. Behind that metal box in the middle mounted between the speakers. There is the uh the PCBA that runs the all the whole machine. Um there's another large array on the bottom of the play field, but that's primarily for power distribution and communication. Um, the actual code running runs on the PCBA on the on that's mounted inside the back box. Need to stretch there. Um, all right.

8:27

All right. Screws in. This really is a very simple build, you guys. I think there's uh I want to say there's three tools that you need for this. Uh, one is a Phillips head screwdriver, one is an one size Allen wrench, and the other is a second size Allen wrench. U, I highly recommend, uh, if you have one of those, uh, bitbased screwdrivers like I had there, um, to get the little Allen wrench piece to put in. That will make the build go a little bit faster, for sure. Um, no doubt. But here I didn't have a larger size Allen wrench for these particular parts. So I'm using the uh Allen wrench that we shipped with it. Um those are the brackets that obviously mounted onto the top of the cabinet. And with that done and out of the way, it's time to move on to the playfield. So what do we got on the top? Oh, the top of that. So there is the power distribution that I was talking about. That's the bottom of the cabinet that uh all of the walls are going to assemble to. And that's obviously the pretty uh playfield. My playfield, you will notice, looked very blue. And the reason for that was when they shipped these early prototypes, um even these early mass production, you know, pilot production units, they put a blue film coating on the playfield to protect it. Makes sense. Coming out of the factory to make sure it doesn't get dinged up on its way down the line. Uh but we need to find a new way. and we're going to find a new way to protect that in the process because I had to peel all that blue stuff off and once everything's mounted on to the playfield. Not surprisingly, it's a little bit challenging. So, um that is a note for production that was passed on like, "Hey guys, we can't have this blue sheet covering the entire playfield. It makes it uh a little bit, you know, tedious to to peel it all off, even though it does preserve the artwork. We'll find other ways to to preserve that for sure. Um, all right. So, here you see me putting the back box together. Hey, note about those little white posts. Those were for shipping only. You saw me sort of like coitate on that for a minute. Hey, can I leave these on? Can I take them off? Um, you can take them off. That will be noted as another ad to the manual. Those come off. They were just to separate uh and protect the whole uh deal during shipping. Um, I do eventually uh take them out. Oh, there you show me. I'm showing you the little the little uh PDF on my phone that I'm referring to. And here, I think I got a phone call. So, uh, sorry about that. I should have cut this part out. Um, but moving right along. All right, so we're looking pretty good. Uh, time to put the fourth wall on. Once I do that, um, it's not very challenging. A couple dowels go in to kind of align it, make sure that everything's in place. I'm going to put the screws in. Um, nothing complicated here. Uh, starting to look pretty good. Uh, that little bracket that I just uh showed is the corner bracket that goes in each of the four corners because that is what the uh the legs screw into uh for additional support as they come into the inside of the cabinet. They screw into that because it's nice and secure. Uh I know some earlier machines uh that you might be familiar with also do the same strategy. Um they were uh oh yeah there I'm taking out those white posts. So coming all together now. My old man body is getting a little old at this point. I get feeling a little leaky, not going to lie. Um especially because I'm moving so fast.

16:10

All right. So, there you go. You get a good look at the uh the full build of the machine and uh the unboxing and how it's going to look when it shows up to you. Not a very complex build. Uh, I said, as I said, took me about did take me about two and a half hours to put together. Uh, but I was stopping and showing off parts and I was working through the manual and so on and so forth. Might take you a little longer, might take you a little less. Uh, kind of depends. Um, but that is exciting just to see what it is that you're going to be getting. I do have a little bit of gameplay to share with you. I've already made caveats about the fact that it's a little bit out of date, but I want to show it to you anyway just so you can see a couple of things. Uh, so without further ado, I'm going to just jump right in. And, uh, I'm going to point out a few things as I'm going through here. Uh, the first thing I want to point out, if you did watch B Kong's video coming out of Los Angeles, uh, Comic-Con, you saw that those uh, mushrooms at the top were not firing uh, routinely. They are firing correctly. Uh, here at this point, you saw Happy has learned to post pass, which was really impressive. I was impressed even though it's literally I think the only thing I know how to do on pinball machine at this point which is sad. I I consider myself like somebody who loves pinball and um but I'm I'm a more casual player than a lot of you. Nonetheless, you can see that it is firing correctly now and uh backhand up the queen's ramp but to no avail. Uh I am trying to shoot up there so that I can unlock the time kind of time speed round. Um I do uh eventually and I will eventually get there. Uh but uh right now um that was not to be. Uh but I'm getting close learning how to play. Um but here what else can you point out? Just look how just to see how pretty and beautiful the machine is looking at this point. Um, the game code once it comes along is just going to make this experience like really as mesmerizing as the as the uh the game play uh the machine itself and how how beautiful it looks and I might master that backhand eventually. We'll find out. Um, but again just a quick look to uh show you what what is up and uh that more is to come. Uh oh, look there. I did my finally managed to get up the queen's ramp and uh unlock that timed event. Um and then properly drain promptly drain. Yeah. Immediately thereafter, which is not at all surprising if you've watched my other videos. I'm I'm getting better, though. I mean, you have to give me that. Um all right. So, you'll have your own chance to come and check this out if you uh come on out to um the Shamberg Convention Center in uh Illinois next week. Uh well, yeah, next week, October 15th to the 18th, we will be there. We will have two machines there with us uh running. Uh ideally, they will have updated code. I am to told that that is in route and possibly in time for the show. I'm got my fingers crossed. I'm excited. Either way, it's a beautiful machine to check out and play. I think you will enjoy it. Um, so yeah, that's it. Thanks, guys. I really appreciate you checking out the video. I know it was kind of a long one. And I want to show you all that stuff. But until next time, I'll see you