I say let the market decide. Forget the 6k threshold, and rather set a date, I propose Christmas eve to coincide with the Nakatomi incident.

and although the waste of this makes me sick (I hope someone tries to salvage the pinballlife parts), I understand this can be part of the healing process, so hopefully helpful for D0n and Todd to move on and perhaps have something they are happy about to look back on from their experience.

And here I was thinking this was a book burning...

They should just put an "Out of order" sign on it and ship it to the PHoF. It would be right at home.

yeah ... there's got to be a few more worthy GoFundMe's to donate to

I'm not donating to benefit Don, I'm doing it because I think it'll be entertaining to watch. I wouldn't purposely destroy my $7000 machine for free no matter how big of a turd it is or how rich I was, so it is what it is. If it doesn't get funded, then everyone gets their money back. I'd like to see Todd throw it off the building though!

Oh, shit... I thought he was raising the money to give to charity.

Fuck that, he made a stupid decision and now he can live with it. It's a $7K box of lights that no one should bail him out of, other than the CC company. And throwing it off a roof is stupid regardless of the playfield condition, almost as stupid as the theme itself lol.

What a stupid Gofund me. Id send Otaku $20 for his failed Gameseum before I would send a dime to d0n, and that is saying something.

The charity is Don. Send Don $6,000! He’s ok “taking a $1,000 loss” on it so it all makes sense.

I’m kinda surprised Todd is ok with getting roped into something equally as stupid as the book deal he agreed to go in with mcbain on. I get that he hates mcbain but…uh…wtf?!

Who gets burned by a moronic partnership with andrew mcbain and says “well I learned my lesson…but…wow this Don guy makes a lot of sense! Sign me up!!”

Can’t wait for his next exciting and well thought out collaboration. Is Trudeau out of jail yet?

If I wasn't dumber that a sack of horse shit, I'd suspect this poster has a tiny chance of being Scamdrew McLame....

I donated as I want to see the game destroyed! It will be fun to watch!

Agree but only after it's thrown off TNT's roof.

Maybe don and Todd should use the gofund me for some much needed therepy instead. This deep seated animosity and hatred is good for the psyche. Don't worry, be happy.

d0n is as big of a dick as the maker of this game. I wouldn't give him a dime to recoup his idiotic purchase. Cary Hardy just posted a video, but I disagree.

There's no chance in hell I would give Don money. Why TF did you buy this in the first place? I saw it at a show and I just walked right past. In fact, I think it was broken to boot. No chance in hell I would ever buy or trade another game for that POS, well.. maybe I would trade a Zizzle. Like others said, Don, you don't deserve to have others bail you out of this. If you don't like it, sell it instead. I think you'll be lucky to get $1k for it, let alone 6.

Just when you think this thread has given us all the entertainment it can, something like this appears.
Andrew, congratulations! Punny Factory is certainly providing entertainment to all of us, and that's what you set out to do.
Maybe not quite this way, but whatever.

I hope Todd does get to toss that POS off the roof, but really don't think d0n should get any money back from donations.
Maybe d0n should take the game to a show and charge $5 for each whack with a sledge hammer?

Yeah, I don't understand the premise of the gofundme. It's not a $7k machine or even a $5k machine. The only additional expense is whatever it would cost to ship TNT, and the only "loss" for throwing it off a roof is whatever he could get someone to pay to instead take the machine off his hands. What would that be, like $1k?

Including the feral hogs?

I don't think his lawyers said anything about that, so it might still be on the table lmao

Here's the Cary Hardy video. I wish he could have touched a little more on the back story so people could understand exactly why a destructive death is the best route for this machine, but it's still entertaining

He IS! Paroled earlier this year, way ahead of schedule. Maybe the warden was a fan...

Because you can’t fight to be the center of attention if you don’t have another story to get ppl to talk about…

People being played like fiddles

What is the (condensed?) Punny Factory story (not dons, but the bigger story)?
I somehow missed this entire pin and whatever happened.

Known tool Andrew McBain is producing games.
It took him 4 years to get the first one out the door.
The theme is terrible.
The quality is poor.
Apparently d0n was dumb enough to buy one.
He got what would be expected and (shockingly!) Andrew is not making it right.
(5 day warranty. Ha!)
Andrew is now creating sock puppet accounts to (unsuccessfully) defend himself.

Yikes.

Thanks RCA1 and Haymaker

Some of the material quality is debatable. All common mechanics are WPC style from PinballLife. The cab is exceptional. The playfield layout was from Dave Sanders. Most who play it are pretty happy with the build feel and shots etc. In addition, I am aware of a punny factory that is or at least was on location near me for some time, and it seems to have been reliable from what I've heard.

It's a shame it was not released 4 years ago, as I think the reception for a single level older school feeling shooter may have been better.. but I think the part shortages over covid definitely caused some delays.. and of course, pinball is hard and so forth.

The majority of toxicity toward the machine is really about the theme and a larger community issue personally directed toward Andrew Macbain due to a falling out related to a book deal with Todd Tuckey, which saw many pinball books sent to dissatisfied buyers, many of whom were unhappy with the quality both material and in copy/editing of the book. If you look back in this thread, and search other posts, you can find all the details about the book issues.

TBH, When I first met Andrew, he game me a copy of the book, I think it was the original print, and I understand that there was a second print on some better paper stock. To be given a copy, I of course was quite happy with it... but with a MSRP of $39.95 I believe, I could see buyers being upset as the paper quality is quite thin and would be what people would expect in the $14.95 type range likely. Also, I understand there was a mixup in the editing, as it was printed directly from Todd's notes, and not corrected for spelling / grammar as some would expect.. personally, I enjoy it more knowing those are Todd's notes verbatim. I do hope Todd moves on to try the idea again with the coffee table quality book he wanted to deliver along with QR codes etc.. It is great to have his operator insight.

Uhh.. you left out the major point of Andrew's own actions with just about everyone. People weren't so upset about a bad deal between him and Todd... they were upset about the way he acted towards EVERYBODY from then and onward. That's how Andrew's problems when from a few bad book buyers wanting refunds to basically the entire community being against his disgusting antics and virtually anything he touches.

The book deal was just one chapter of a much longer tale of the insanity that Andrew McBain.

Yeah, I guess that's fair.. I agree he has been his own worst enemy at times on pinside forums.

It's too bad, as he is a nice guy to speak with in real life, and has been quite generous and nice to have around locally.

Most Con men are... it's how they are successful at their schemes. Be convincing and be able to woo your audience to buy into your message. But online when the man can't control the information flow and must face an audience where he doesn't control the bubble of what is available or known... it doesn't work as well. And then when cornered... Andrew would lash out instead of face his own mistakes. That's how someone can 'seem nice...' but actually be a shitty person. When they lose control of the situation... then their real side comes out.

His pattern of behavior is consistent.

IDK, I'd argue a con man would keep away from written dialog that can so easily be used against them.

It's tough for me also, as I've met the person, the family man etc. He's a friend and I enjoy speaking with him. At the same time, I tend to just call things as I see them, so I'm sure I have vexed him at times with my candor. I did speak with him, hoping he would work out the arrangement with D0n. if_ he in fact said he would send a populated PF, then he should have. At the same time, he did keep a deal to send a unpopulated new PF, and I understand already sent parts for all the other issues. It may not be optimal, but it implies some sense of trying to make things right.

Watching this thread certainly at times hits a level of online bullying which is difficult to be party to. Whether it is deserved or not, is beside the point to trying to keep things constructive.

I was pretty happy he was able to deliver punny's without taking deposits etc. that's a plus for sure... and regardless of what is thought about the machine.. he succeeded in producing a commercial machine.. that would be a dream for me for sure.

It's not online bullying if it's deserved. It's an online reality check. Andrew is a known scammer. If you want to fall for his shit, go for it. Don't try to make the rest of us feel guilty for calling him on his shit.

As I said before, most if not all of us wanted him to succeed, but he's wilfully ignorant and without honor.

I'm glad to hear he comes across as a friendly family man in person though.

Ship the game back & leave it in the lot or right in front of the door. [removed]
https://www.pinballadventures.com/contact/

I think that makes a bigger statement than throwing off TNT roof. Either way nobody will remember this a week after it happens. Don should just take the loss & move on.

Yeah if anybody in pinball is a bond-level supervillain whose supreme intellect has us all making 1-d moves in a game of 3d chess, it’s Don.

The true depth of his strategic genius may not be known for centuries. It’s for the historians to celebrate and uncover.

And that right there is what's wrong with far too many in society today.

It doesn’t take a genius to be a attention whore who uses gofundme to scratch their itch. I mean it’s not even original on pinside. How many have rode right here before him? Otaku, etc.

Andrew has shown time and time again that he's not the sharpest peanut in the turd. You're giving him way too much credit. He puts himself into situations where his own actions were completely and hilariously stupid. An example is when we asked if the art for the ninja game on his website was stolen or not. He said it wasn't. Then we proved it was. Then he started doing his old "fake news" and "nobody has ever heard of pinside" thing instead of owning up to anything. So to think that since Andrew is a con man, he's too smart to work himself into a corner, thats just blatantly wrong. Oh he was nice to you though? Yeah, he's been nice to a lot of people, until he didn't need to be nice anymore. Its a very simple concept really.

I know someone who dropped their 007 off a a roof and smashed it to pieces.

They tried to glue it back together, but it didn't Bond.

I watched the video - at least as much as I could stand. Mr Hardy wishes to be amused by Todd dropping a Punny Factory pinball off his warehouse, and so wants everyone ELSE to pay for this bit of 'entertainment'.

I understand that no factory sends out populated playfields to cover problems with playfield finish, they send out a bare playfield (or defective parts) at their expense and the buyer does the conversion. If you aren't happy with a Stern or JJ game do they refund the money you spent?

Now, perhaps d0n could ask instead for a gofundme to pay someone (or a shop) to change the playfield over as he says he is incapable of doing that.

I know of at least one operator of games in our area (Vancouver, BC) that has had a Punny operating in his arcade since new and the last time we chatted about the game (a month or so ago) it was one of the few games he owns that has had no service issues. Some rough edges in the software - some sounds that need adjusting - but mechanically it has been first rate.

You're not paying for Cary's entertainment, you're paying for your own entertainment. Even in the most cynical view possible, you're paying for everyone's entertainment.

Actually, factories do send out populated playfields. Stern used to do it quite often.

Yes, if you receive a game from JJP or Stern in the condition that D0n received his game you absolutely would get your money back or a replacement game. The playfield was just one of many issues btw.

Andrew has denied D0n any sort of playfield compensation, and 2 others have tried on his behalf and failed (as I understand it at least). I think originally Andrew offered D0n a populated playfield then renegged on his offer. Strange considering this would be one of the most high profile and early locations for this game they are trying to get off the ground.

A GFM to have the game repaired would probably be less successful than this, not to mention that, again, the game has been a total basketcase since day 1.

Does the game in Vancouver have a wiring harness thats stretched to its absolute limit when the game is set up? Are all the wires pretty much the same color? Just curious. Even if the game has been working fine, on no planet should that be considered "mechanically first rate" Admittedly the only live and in person experience I've watched somebody have with Punny Factory actually playing (since it was down every time I wandered over at expo) was during Don's Pinball Podcast livestream where the game went haywire multiple times.

Spooky also sent out some populated replacement TNA playfields I believe.

D0n was singing how "Punny Factory" would be funny, but the jokes on hymn...

There were a bunch of photoshopped, "d0n" pictures not too long ago floating around Pinside. They were all funny as hell and this is the only one I could find. If anyone can find or knows of others, please post them here.

Note to d0n Hopkins who follows this thread: Blocking me on Facebook and then talking shit behind my back on Facebook, is cowardly. I have a second Facebook account I can read Kaneda's Podcast page with.

Try manning up and contacting me directly if you have an issue. Or remain a coward, I don't care either way.

Acedanger - Pinside (resized).jpg

Mods 30 day eject all forums (resized).png

I've seen a photo of the playfield in question and the damage looks unusual for a production fault. It looks like something impacted the playfield and tore up the finish. I can't imagine them shipping a game out with that sort of obvious damage...it would have been the first thing the receiver would see. Perhaps I've not seen the correct photo though...

I agree the game is rough around the edges, but it is a first game by a new manufacturer and while it could have stood with more work before the release it does work fine - we have one in our showroom.

Andrew has denied D0n any sort of playfield compensation, and 2 others have tried on his behalf and failed (as I understand it at least). I think originally Andrew offered D0n a populated playfield then renegged on his offer. Strange considering this would be one of the most high profile and early locations for this game they are trying to get off the ground.

I'd have to see the correspondence on that - surely there are emails or text messages?

A GFM to have the game repaired would probably be less successful than this, not to mention that, again, the game has been a total basketcase since day 1.
Does the game in Vancouver have a wiring harness thats stretched to its absolute limit when the game is set up? Are all the wires pretty much the same color? Just curious. Even if the game has been working fine, on no planet should that be considered "mechanically first rate" Admittedly the only live and in person experience I've watched somebody have with Punny Factory actually playing (since it was down every time I wandered over at expo) was during Don's Pinball Podcast livestream where the game went haywire multiple times.

Yes, I was not involved in the game design in any way and there are problems with this, his first game. Who hasn't had problems with a first release?

It has some nice features - the speakers built into the headboard are unique, and provide great stereo separation, the cabinet paint finish is really nice too. The playfield comes up easily into a service position as well.

The designer is a hobbiest, and wanted to present a new idea to the community. For that I think he needs a bit of slack. Let's see some of the correspondence between the parties to get a real idea of what went on.

Or drop the whole thing and move on. Life is too short to get wrapped up in other peoples problems that are beyond our control.

Its in multiple places all over the playfield and Andrew admitted they had problems with them

Yes

Most companies don't have issues like this. Haggis, for example, has a couple small issues with their games that need to be ironed out, but they are just that, minor issues

.....none of these are particularly new or exciting features. Really scraping the bottom of the barrel here.

By designer do you mean Dave Sanders or Andrew MacBain? If you mean Andrew, he is not a hobbiest, he's a sleazy salesman trying to make a buck selling a subpar product, just as he has done making his living for the past however many years. This is ignoring all the other garbage human type activities that we've outlined here and other places. If you're talking about Dave, well yeah Dave is a great guy and I hope Andrew is fairly compensating him for all his work, but I have extreme doubts.

I'm here simply to laugh at Andrew and his lolcow exploits. IDC if you support D0n's GFM or not (although I would love to see the game take a ride). I'm not here for D0n or anyone but myself and good folks who don't particularly care for Andrew's way of doing things and stinking up the community. Its simply something for me to pass the time.

We are dealing with three narcissists, with two of them being banned from several forums and events for a reason.
They are living in a twisted reality, along with their anonymous online trolls, who get off on making up anything about
anyone including our company without having any evidence to back it up.
How do you tell 60 plus year old's to grow up. You just move on.

I was kind of wondering if someone on either side tried to spray it with an ammonia cleaner or something which particularly reacted with the clear coat. I still don't know what Andrew was talking about re the clear, the original PFs I saw were all perfect.

re: txts/ emails, My understand, yes the populated PF was agreed to be shipped with the 2nd machine on order.. but when the 2nd machine order was cancelled, so too was the populated PF. I understand total cost of the crated PF and mechs was part of this business decision. I am not sure of the nuances of the discussion of how attached the deal here was with regard to the populated PF. Still, the offer of a unpoplulated PF (which still stands BTW), seems reasonable.

------

uhm... goes to show how different experiences can be. My experience with Haggis Fathom thus far has been a negative, not because of ownership, but machine just never seems to be up for me. With regard to the haggis CC, I've not heard about any issues.. at the same time I'd really like to see more examples of punnyfactory CC issues.. just not enough third party data in the community.

I'm not a fan of the team pinball framework, but I'm not sure if I would call someone leveraging it to be sub-par. I agree with you about the wiring etc. But the finish and build quality of the cab, armor, PF, mechs really is first rate.. I don't really see how anyone who has experienced this machine can debate these aspects. That cab is so damn solid, I'm actually kind of curious how well it will hold up after falling off a roof... worst thing going for it is weight due to the extra thick plywood.

What's needed for trying times like these is virtual Depends, for containment...

depends (resized).jpg

Works well at the border crossing..

"Are you bringing anything back with you?"

"Well, that depends...."

d0n ordered 2 of them?!?

He should just throw his deposit money off of Todd Tuckey's roof.