I've been reading all these threads and I want to say first off that I hope everyone that is investing money in this project gets what they are hoping for in the end, and that Rick and his partner make out like bandits in the profit department so they can continue making more titles, and there will effectively be a third thriving pinball manufacturer.

But... I am somewhat of a student of pinball history in this area and I have to say you guys are acting just about as childish as the last group of folks that climbed on this same bandwagon. I was at the seminar where Rick showed the pictures of his prototype and what I saw didn't stand out as "Wow, look at all the quality he has built into that 8 thousand dollar pinball machine". I saw major cost cutting and some questionable design decisions which would not seem to be in the best interests of the future owners of that machine. And let's be honest, as of the time of me writing this post you guys are still begging for static pictures of the thing and nobody has even asked to see a video of it running on that fancy new boardset.

What Wayne tried to do was kind of crazy, but at least he was just going to remake copies of the original machine using like parts. From a functional standpoint MMR really will be a Chicago Gaming machine more than it will be a WMS product. And their last pinball product didn't even come with a coin door folks because it wasn't even built to commercial standards to operate it. If I remember my seminars they were shooting for the lofty MSRP of $1700 on that game, and most folks that played it (and looked at the magic under the hood) felt it was overpriced even at that. So while it's great that they have now hit the lottery on this project I'm having trouble understanding how their factory is now worthy of churning out $8k pinball machines?

Before about 3 people become super-sleuths and check my signature to discover the awful secret that I already own a MM let me just save you the trouble and admit it. I fielded a lot of hate and grief over my concerns on TPF remake and we all know how that turned out. I see some of the same folks jumping on this new bandwagon. And again, I honestly do hope this turns out well for those involved, but you guys *really* might want to concern yourselves a little more with technical specifications and proof of reliability on this new game, and less with which one of you beaned Rick or Jack in the head first with a rubberbanded wad of cash to be first in line. Or what color tint the legs will be, or where the LE plaque will be mounted...

And as several people have pointed out in this thread, it is far to early to begin hero-worshipping anyone involved.

Hundreds of people still presumably have money sitting with Wayne for the past 7 years waiting for the same product from him. So "mass acceptance" in this hobby really don't hold a lot of clout.

Really? You aren't counting PowerPoint as "video" are you because that is all that was shown in his announcement seminar. If he presented in another seminar I missed it and am happy to be corrected. I heard he spoke at the LTG show but I ended up getting back so late I didn't go in that one.

Agreed. And I agree, the decision could not be in better hands. The only issue is this thing has a LOT of momentum at this point, so as it stands there are literally million$ of reasons why this project pretty much has to go forward at this point, one way or another.

Rick you are your partner have such a solid reputation in this industry that I don't think anyone is even questioning this aspect of the remake. But if you really wanted to keep things above-board setting a project "drop dead" date and sticking to it would go a long way toward rinsing any bad tastes out of folk's mouths from the first (and still ongoing) debacle which was MMR #1. Basically, if we haven't delivered MMR #2 Serial #0001 by X date the project is cancelled and the monies are returned.

Fair enough. In the post I quoted before it seemed like you were looking for ways to appear transparent. I only offered a humble suggestion.

So then your project could technically drag out for an extended period of years before the first machine is produced?

Your counterparts 7 years ago felt the same way

I'm not stirring any pots, I'm just mentioning if there are any provisions in this project for the highly unlikely event of a failure. Rick has been very firm and careful to distance himself from the past debacle and I can understand why he would want to do that, but the best way to truly differentiate what you are doing from "that guy" would be to say something up front to the effect of "My project will not drag on for 7 years with no product delivery". Or "If we haven't shipped the first game by January 1st, 2016 then I will offer refunds to anyone wanting out". As it stands it is another open-ended project which have had a mixed history of success in the past.

If you have a deposit with Wayne still today you can call him up and ask for a refund on it. Of all the terms of this new deal I found it curious that there is a really limited period of time folks on the buying side of the equation can ask for a refund (up until WMS approval), but there is no reciprocal provision for failure to deliver the goods in a timely manner.

If the project is assumed to be the success that everyone is expecting, how could having this be "dumb"? It costs nothing. Delays nothing. Could be padded sufficiently to allow for reasonable production delays. And all it would do is lend additional credibility to this project over the previous failure. And by your reasoning would never have to be activated anyway...

Re-check the terms of the agreement. Deposits are only refundable until WMS gives their approval. Not when parts have been ordered, or production started, or anything else you assumed further up. The last guy came to the table with WMS approval, and also managed to order a great many parts, but there was never any further movement to actually start production.

But to answer your question, in the event of a week delay, Rick could state that and give folks the option to stay or drop. If that really were the scenario I would guess most folks would stay. But wouldn't that kind of communication and honesty be welcome? Would your enjoyment of receiving the game be diminished if the guy that built it had given such a guarantee while it was being built?