I'm back from a week's vacation at the beach and rairin' to get back into the swing of big pinball and arcade news.
Last week I brought word that American Pinball has the He-Man Masters of the Universe license and is actively working on a pinball machine using it. Let's start this week off with a Bang...or a Kapow.
Joe Kaminkow just stated that all of the rights for a Harry Potter pin were available when he was negotiating with Warner Bros. and that Kapow offered over $4 Million dollars for the license to no avail. He still believes that Jersey Jack has the full license. If that is the case, then one would think that JJP must have paid at least $5 Million for it.
I recently heard that despite all of the noise that Jersey Jack has the license starting back in May, Harry Potter pinball is not happening - at least not the full license, all assets way that big fans of the series want.
People who I have spoken with are telling me that Warner Bros. wants a $10 Million licensing fee for a full assets Harry Potter pinball machine. Ten million! To put that in perspective, the largest ever publicly disclosed licensing fee that has been paid for a pinball license to this day is the $1 Million that Stern Pinball paid for The Beatles license, though I have heard through the grapevine that Jersey Jack Pinball paid a $1.2 Million fee for the Willy Wonka license.
Joe may be right, but I personally recently heard that a fully licensed Harry Potter pinball machine isn't happening. I was told that the license for a generic pin based on Hogwarts would cost a much more reasonable $800,000 and that a pinball machine using that license IS indeed in the works, though I don't know by what company. Think something along the lines of the new video game Hogwarts Legacy.
So there you have it Harry Potter fans. Is Joe Kaminkow correct and a fully-licensed Harry Potter pin still coming from JJP or is it a stripped down Hogwarts pin like I was recently told or are we getting nothing? Time will tell.
As with everything that I write about, given what I know at this time and how I came about this information I strongly believe what I wrote to be true but as with all pinball rumors you never know for certain.
I've got a couple of other really interesting stories that I'm working on for this week, so make sure to check back here often.
Doing Harry Potter justice by referencing the movies just isn't in-the-cards without ALL the movie assets. And even then, it will be tough. Attempting to do the movies with JJP POTC style static assets (no video that includes live-actors) would still SELL (that's how massive the license is), but it would be horribly disappointing. I'm not saying I wouldn't buy the game if it turns out like that. I'll take HP any way I can get it :P But.... I want to be IMMERSED in Harry Potter while playing the game. Every time I hit start I want to feel like I'm there. My kiddo and I have read the series so many times that we're frustrated by the WB…
All in all just like what happened with Jurassic Park or the yet to come Keith Elwin Jaws... Almost no assets, just the main theme to play around with 😁.