Paradise, NV
Quoted from Pinchroma:no one here knows more about powder than me.
No one here is more modest than you.
(Topic ID: 100139)
Linked Games
Medieval Madness
Williams, 1997-
River Boat
Williams, 1964
Topic Gallery
You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider mrbally.
Click here to go back to viewing the entire thread.
Quoted from Pinchroma:Lol and no one here name drops like you
Lol, The reason I " name drop" many Bally, Williams, Stern Electronics and Gottlieb names is because I feel the need to sound important because up until at least now, I chose to not bring up the number of patents I am named in nor the safety-related products I have designed and developed that keep you, your wife and children safe on the roads and highways. In fact, they are on about 85% of the semi-trailers built since 1998 in North America. I know this pales in quantity to the mobile data devices that virtually all of here on Pinside use every day world-wide that have IP or hardware you have designed. Plus you know more about powder coating that anyone else here on pinside. However, There may be some chemists and ME's here that may challenge you on that. 
By the way, every time I have "name dropped" was from an event I experienced or to answer someone who asked a question. Did I mention the time I met a much younger Shelly Sax at a desk in the factory at (the just changed over from Chicago Coin) Stern Electronics around '77? I was even younger myself. My late Dad drove me to Chicago and we hit all of the pinball factories in a day. At least when you ask Jack, Keith and others who say "who is this guy talking about?" they will know who she is. Unlike some of the others I have name dropped, she is still alive.
Quoted from sixstring:and who cares?
I do. The guy calling me a "name dropper" loves to point out stuff unrelated to pinball. I name drop pinball stuff that I am familiar with. Hope you're okay with that. Otherwise, put me on ignore.
Quoted from s1500:If you see a little class by anyone on here, please show us.
Class, Taste and Sensitivity.....
1 week later
Quoted from jalpert:Why are we capitalizing random words?
Perhaps Imitating Mike Pacek postings....
1 week later
Quoted from indypinhead:Aren't the games being shipped out of Chicago Gaming instead of Stern?
Quoted from Chippewa-Pin:I would like to know if I can pick up my pin at Stern during Expo week if it's built by then.
As long as you don't mind paying Illinois state and perhaps Cook COuNty tax, which mght exceed shipping cost by a few bucks, then yes, you might be able to work something out. Call PPS or whoever you bought it from and ask to arrange pickup.
Quoted from Johnnyfootballer:This video is unbelievable to have an expert like Roger Sharpe being so excited about this project and the quality game that Rick and Doug and everyone else put into this is amazing to see him smiling while playing this game is priceless can't wait to inbox mine it will be the last pin to add to my collection and the best one!
Seriously? Like celebrities in car ads or Jennie Garth raving about the latest Keurig coffee maker? they are being paid to show excitement and say their lines.
Roger is a great guy. However, once Scientific Games bought WMS and eliminated his position, he can only be showing excitement and happiness when offered a contract gig.
I will also add that in the event he was not compensated in any way for the CGC/PPS video, I stand corrected. Roger is an A#1 person.
Quoted from ifpapinball:You can stand corrected
Even post WMS my dad has been interested in continuing to be involved in anything-pinball the same way he has been since the 70's before he got a job within the industry. He's no longer needed for approvals for the Farsight Pinball Arcade releases, but continues to play the beta test builds and provide feedback because he loves seeing anything pinball be shown in the best light.
Josh (Roger's son) - who was compensated to be his son at an allowance of $6 per week many years ago
As I said, your Dad is a great guy.
Quoted from jalpert:You're out of your mind and out of touch.
Sure, whatever you say.
1 week later
1 month later
Quoted from charliex:Why does anyone give a crap what he makes? I'm stoked a get a NIB of one of my grail machines that was looking more like it was going to be a $15K check if I wanted to get one remotely close to new about a minute before he announced this. He is gambling on something new and unique in its own right, and deserves to make money. Not like he's doing this in his garage, there are startup costs and money that has to be raised in order to bring this to reality. Some of you folks must have never owned a business and have no comprehension about RISK/REWARD. Thats what this is all about. Look it up.
Who is "he"?
Quoted from Pintucky:shifty character
Change the "f" to a "t".
Quoted from TaylorVA:So you won't buy anything from PPS but you are getting a
MMr?
Anything "again".
1 week later
Quoted from jgentry:I think the main problem PPS is having is that a ton of people in the industry just seem to really dislike Rick.
Hard to believe as he seems like such a nice guy.... 
Quoted from jgentry:I also have a few clients that are never happy. They complain everytime they come in either about the service, costs, or anything and everything. I take complaints very seriously but at a certain point it is just the way the client is. They are never going to be happy but at the same time they are never going to go away. They will keep coming in an keep complaining and you will never make them happy.
I deal with this in my job for a large corporation selling product to other large corporations. Most with $100M to the mid $1B revenue range. A few of the nutjobs I deal with will only be happy with not only all free product but free freight as well.
Quoted from jfh:Just to be clear - I don't have / haven't had any problem ordering from PPS/BAA or issues with anyone there other than Rick. In fact, I sent Rick an email last week thanking an employee who I thought went out of the way to provide what I thought was exceptional service. Didn't get a response, so don't know if my emails go directly to his spam folder or not.
Like many, I'd like the prices to be lower, but the only issue I have with actual orders from PPS is that the website defaults to the most expensive shipping option.
(I'm pretty sure Matt is the money guy and my dealings with him have been positive. Downside to avoiding PPS because of Rick is that Matt gets hurt too. When the coin mech brouhaha hit, people claiming to know Rick outside PPS told me not to take his postings personally because "that's just the way he is". If Rick doesn't see the need to change, the best thing he can do for PPS is hire another public face for the company).
They don't call him "Mr. Personality" for nothing.... 
Quoted from iceman44:Did Rick, Jpop, Jack and SkitB all take the same "communication" and "marketing" classes for pin makers? Or did they just fail to attend class?
Jack took the classes; he liked them!
Quoted from jackofdiamonds:Does this mean "not like the original".I could go down to Canal St. here in NYC and buy a knock off Rolex watch.Looks right,works,....but is it really a Rolex.Umm ,no its a copy.
I'd go to Uncle Steve's and buy a real Blaupunkt if I was on Canal Street.
1 week later
Quoted from RobT:That "+/-" is starting to go further and further to the "+" side.
Did Mr. Personality mean 2014 or 2015?
Quoted from S37VEN:What I do know is that if you are paid in full you will get a machine before someone who isn't paid up.
First to pay is first to play....
Quoted from Razorbak86:This isn't a world-class automotive manufacturing plant churning out 500,000 units a month.
Let us know where there is a "world-class" automotive manufacturing plant that churs out 500,000 cars or light-duty trucks a month. And no, Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars don't count.
Quoted from Razorbak86:Sorry, that was a typo. I meant 500,000 units a year, and I was thinking of Nissan's plant in Smyrna, TN, because I had referenced that plant about a month ago on another thread.
http://www.tennessean.com/story/money/cars/2014/06/04/nissans-smyrna-plant-become-worlds-largest/9955033/
Prior post has been corrected.
No problem. Your 500,000 monthly quantity reminded me of posts years ago in a financial forum where a pompous & arrogant recent MBA grad (for the record, I did not at all think you were either of these things) who worked for GM kept bragging how GM built 75,000,000 cars & trucks per year. I let him keep posting this for a few weeks and then called his MBAness out and informed him that the world-wide car & truck volumes were what he was citing and that GM, who, at the time was the largest auto manufacturer only built a fraction of that quantity.
I advised him that the best thing he could possibly do with his new MBA was to go back to the university and get his money back. He never posted again. At least with his previous ID.
1 week later
Quoted from calvin12:How do you know what fiscal year PPS, or CGC uses?
Historically, Bally and WMS, when they were independent Corporations, had their fiscal years begin on July 1st.
Quoted from Razorbak86:But if the contracts are pretty tight already, and the GC is just frustrated because of non-performance by the sub, then that's a lot harder to fix going forward, because it probably requires going with a different sub altogether.
The old Alvin G. & Co. plant is available for immediate pinball machine production. It would be easy to transfer the stuff from the current subcontractor since this facility is only two miles East.
IMAG6317.jpg
IMAG6316.jpg
IMAG6308.jpgIt is on the property of The Gottlieb Memorial Hospital. The hospital uses the office area for their home care and hospice divisions also, the child care facility is in the building for hospital employees. The rest is a warehouse for hospital equipment & supplies. That is where the Alvin G. assembly operations took place. Still plenty of room to build pinball machines there.
When you think about it, the only buildings still standing where pins are/were made are:
Bally Ravenswood building (Where the Ballyhoo's were made-now a loft/office building)
Williams on N. California & Roscoe. Now the WMS design studios
Williams Waukegan (now the WMS slot plant)
Gottlieb's original plant at 1140-50 N. Kostner (now a die making factory, was a printing plant before)
Game Plan's Addison, IL plant (not sure what's in it these days)
Capcom in Arlington Heights (Became Incredible Technologies making video games & now slots in the building) Corporate offices relocated to Vernon Hills within the last two years.
Stern-Melrose Park-Producing pins
Jersey Jack-Producing pins
Post edited by MrBally: Added Capcom info.
Quoted from flynnibus:doesn't that just go to show it doesn't take anything dramatic to be a pinball factory?
It's not like you need specific high power, water, stand offs, materials storage, rail access, excessive anything. Just that most any industrial space with enough footprint and loading dock access can be made into the space needed?
I mean once you remove the jigs and any production line roller hardware... what makes a pinball factory vs any other mechanical assembly plant?
The main thing is electricity and air for the hand tools. So, a few big ass air compressors and pipe to route to the work stations. Same for electricity, conduit and wire is more forgiving than threaded steel pipe.
Quoted from MrBally:The old Alvin G. & Co. plant is available for immediate pinball machine production. It would be easy to transfer the stuff from the current subcontractor since this facility is only two miles East.
IMAG6317.jpg 145 KB
IMAG6316.jpg 117 KB
IMAG6308.jpg 185 KB
I received a PM asking if I had a photo of the Alvin G & Co. building with the TT so here it is:
IMAG6315.jpgQuoted from viper001:It was always said to be done this way from Rick unless there has been a change. He even mentioned it would be an efficient process because the same trucks hauling cabinets and playfields to Stern would be used on the return trip with the finished games for inspection.
Well, Rick knows....
Quoted from jfh:MMR will most likely be in most owners homes in Feb/Mar,
2015?
Quoted from smalltownguy:Does MMr use the same PCBs as Vacation America?
Is this the reason for no coin mechs?
Can MMr be used commercially with coin mechs?
Since you're in Humboldt, look for the answer to your questions at the Merle Heider Museum. And say Hi to Leon for me.
Quoted from RobT:Shame on you guys for quoting a post from PPS website!!
I'm sure you will have a PM from Rick asking you to remove it very soon.
I hope he does make them remove them. Then someone who archived the messages can repost them. Mr. Personality can't do anything about it since there are some who never accepted his TOS yet can post whatever they want here.
Quoted from BC_Gambit:I'm waiting for the Ruby Red and Opal White Canuck Super Dooper LE myself...
Jacques played it; He likes it!
Quoted from JafCo:>>
Rick confirmed on the PPS forum today that the screen tearing issue will not be resolved before MMR ships.
<<
Wow. Really surprising update. Here is what he said, which floored me.
"...getting the transitions exactly as original (plasma vs led/lcd) will never be exact. Again, if you expect exact, then this is not the game for you."
Actually, exact is precisely what I thought this project was all about.
And LED/LCD vs plasma shouldn't be an issue. If the ColorDMD guys can do it, so could Chicago Gaming. Short answer is that it seems that they are using an underpowered CPU to emulate the WPC code rather than spec'ing proper hardware to recreate the software accurately.
I have been patient and positive on this project until now, but this answer is pretty embarrassing. I guess I should have realized we were in trouble when Rick didn't know what a credit dot was during the PPS tournament last month.
Well, Roger Sharpe gave the machine his "seal of approval" so everything should be acceptable. When I questioned this earlier, the pitchforks and torches came out.
1 week later
Quoted from BC_Gambit:Yes; c'mon. If production starts, great.
But if history is any indication, it is ~3 days until the next "unforseen delay that is TOTALLY someone elses fault" is announced.
Locusts!
I love the line when complaining to an area "Representative" of Ford that makes his rounds to dealers and "handles" "issues". When you get fed up with these corporate talking heads and threaten to sue, they smile and say; "there's a room full of Lawyers in Dearborn, waiting for your call".
So, if Dub Duga (sic) or Mr. Personality makes yet another excuse for production not starting on January 19, 2015, will everyone just shrug their shoulders again and say; "shucks, but I'm glad that the quality will be great"?
Quoted from Imeh:Who said Feb 19?
Sorry for the typo, I meant January.
Quoted from o-din:Q2. Sometime after noon.
Afternoone of after noone?
Quoted from mizzou:For what it's worth, I called Rick about a half hour ago. He said "I have no idea" when I asked if they started today. He knew they were supposed to but didn't know if everything was given the ok to start.....
Mr. Personality is so helpful, thoughtful and nice.....
Quoted from pudluther:.......and another week passes.
<sigh>
But there was exciting news from the assembly plant floor yesterday (January 22, 2015); Stern is continuing to load the first 250 sets of parts into work cells. By tomorrow, the first production sub-assemblies should start coming together.
Also, Chicago Gaming is addressing the screen “tearing” issue. They are "committed to resolving it". However, initial units will ship before the issue is resolved.
Quoted from MikeS:An $8K price would only work only if PPS changes their focus to making games in small limited "boutique" runs and limit the number of AFMR's to 200 games or less vs. trying to make 500 or 1000 games. I would expect these games to have custom trim, plaques, shaker, etc. similar to what MMRLE has currently.
Using hypothetical numbers if they built 200 machines at a build cost of $5000 per machine and sold them for $8000 that would result in $600K profit.
If they built 500 machines at a build cost of $4500 per machine (build costs go down with quantity) and sold them for $6K that would result in $750K in profit.
I can't really see there being demand for >1000 AFM games unless the price was sub $5K. That's the only scenerio in which I would be interested in purchasing one. There's just too many other options to spend money on and spending more than $5K on an almost 20 year old game seems crazy to me.
I think MMR is the one game that could sell for a premium price in high quantity. I just don't see enough demand in other titles to warrant an $8K or even $7K price tag unless the quantity were severely limited.
With all due respect; there is quite a difference between profit and margin.
Quoted from Razorbak86:Wow! I'm not surprised that you think that, but I'm surprised that you actually wrote it on a public forum. You really don't have an internal filter when it comes to public relations, do you?
They don't call him Mr. Personality for nothing, you know.
Quoted from RCA1:Well, some people around here do always seem torked off.
That's right, Peter.
Quoted from lordloss:What I can't figure out is why Rick totally fucked up the epic day that the first MMRE rolled off the line. He should have came here, started his new thread, posted pictures and he'd have had 100's of comments talking about the game and how excited everyone is.
It looks like he is still butt hurt about random people on here offering their opinions and the random trolls... but this is the internet. The internet is the wild west of free opinions and actions. Maybe he thinks his forum is the best idea, but i'll be damned if i'm going to visit that site where all the good topics are READ ONLY. Besides the request for parts to be reran, his site is totally useless. Pinside is one of two places to go to for pinball talk.
Rick should give me a call if he wants to be taught how the internet works and how to use it properly: 605-475-6962
That is priceless. Will the big dictator take you up on your offer?
Quoted from Wickerman2:Takes 30 seconds to get pps forum account
A bit longer for those of us that use a proxy server to hide from jerks as well as use burner email acCOuNts when required for activation of such important, private forums.
1 week later
1 week later
Quoted from screen:For some buyers, like myself, it would be the CA State sales tax.
If a California resident buys the game from a distributor in another state, don't they have to pay California sales tax even if the seller does not collect it?
I understand that all truck shipments are now tracked to catch evasion.
Quoted from DCfoodfreak:I just paid for a game with PayPal and for the first time it asked for ss or drivers license information for the irs : 0
I wonder if a checksum is performed on the numbers supplied? 
Quoted from labnip:WIFEr
Lots of guys get remakes of a wife. Very costly. Ex keeps costing them and the new ones are always more expensive than prior ones.
Quoted from Jdfitzy-in-Aus:This image got 4 "unsafe" tags and has ben hidden automatically, per your settings. un-hideimage-665.jpg (Click image to enlarge) 4
In the USA, 16 Again is available.
Quoted from labnip:what happened to the "tilt" button ?
The world champion of pinball's attempt at censorism blew up in his face.
1 week later
Quoted from Nilroc:They are shipping Fed Ex Ground.
And I mean GROUND!
» YouTube video
Guess he didn't walk around the front of his tractor during his pre-trip inspection. That will really help FedEx's CSA score.
Quoted from bmunn1:I got to say that the level of quality review is making me feel better about my purchase. How much manufacturing experience do you have? You certainly act like you have none. I would rather see delays early versus issues being discovered in the home.
If it is taking this long to catch this stuff after a beta test in Chicago Barcades; imagine what they didn't catch and what the purchasers of the games may have to deal with. One positive is that virtually all of the CG MM machines are pinheads who know how to repair machines and will have no trouble installing parts and fixes that become available. This was not the case with a certain % of WoZ buyers who required technical help.
2 weeks later
Rick has to eat too. An In-N-Out Double-Double costs a lot these days 
Heck, once the MMR's are all shipped, maybe he can send one of the In-N-Out catering trucks to PPS where the games were built. Oh, I mean Chicago Gaming Company. Or, should it go to Stern? Only downfall to the catering trucks is they don't make French Fries. Hot grease spilling in transit is not fun. Instead, you get a bag of chips 
IMAG5605.jpgQuoted from Riles:Whats this "coin mech" thing you guys keep talking about?
Some pointed out that you buy a coin-op pinball machine for $7 or 8 thousand bucks and can't operate it with coins when you unpack it. The people pointing it out are labeled haters and that they should shut their pie holes if they did not buy the machine.
Those labeling them haters are known as fanboys.
Quoted from pezpunk:The only people whining right now are people like you who have been cheerleading for its failure since day one. Everyone else is celebrating.
You need to improve your mind-reading skills. I'm not whining, Mr. Expert. I was answering someone's question.
3 months later
Promoted items from Pinside Marketplace and Pinside Shops!
You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider mrbally.
Click here to go back to viewing the entire thread.
Reply
Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.
Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!
Donate to PinsideGreat to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!
