John may be following the course of Voyager 1... entering interstellar space and moving towards his next star encounter...
Give or take 40,000 years...

Next step is the actual length of WW2

JPOP's official car:

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I think Ben has made his comments quite clear in the past. Right now he's probably searching for a mint to get the taste of bile out of his throat.

I just saw that on regular car reviews (and I am sure I saw it years ago on Unsolved Mysteries).

The story really reminded me of JPOP in too many ways...

I saw the summary of it on White Rabbit Project, and read about it on wikipedia before. The story of how it panned out reminds me quite a bit of the JPOP fiasco.

I was the third person to call John Popaduik that sunny July 2011 afternoon and order Magic Girl. I picked MG007, because old James Bond movies are flat out cool. On that day I thought the worst that could happen was I would receive a hand-built art piece, or perhaps a box of parts if everything went completely sideways. But to get a Tshirt, an interminable wait, and obfuscation for my 16K? Impossible. Basic human integrity surely would prevent that, right?
Wrong.
I do have this picture though, I actually did get to touch and play the albatross - and they say pictures are priceless. To me this photo is worth about 65 cents - a penny for every month the saga drug on. To all those stung by Zidware, and the hopes, dreams, and money killed there, my condolences. We deserved better. Perhaps the story finally, mercifully, closes for good in 2017. Onward!

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Maybe I've been out of the loop, but what is "Pintasia Design"?

The company set up by Bill Brandes to try to get the machine market-ready and produced, whilst still working with JPop, after he admitted he'd run out of money and couldn't bring the machine to production. They got a functioning prototype to a show, but concluded that too much work was needed at a likely unaffordable cost, after a little over a month.

That's being VERY generous.

The wiki is pretty up to date
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Popadiuk

Ah! Thanks!
I remembered Bill trying to help out; for some reason I missed the fact he named a company that!

Thanks for posting that. Very cool story! I'd never heard of it before.

There was probably even more similarity to SkitB in that video ... especially when the lady was discovered to be a man!

Whereas, Kevin was discovered to be a pirate!

rd

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Thanks 4 sharing,hope you get your mg

Oh, John's been busy, the Warranty page has been updated:

http://www.zidware.com/pinballwarranty.html

THE WARRANTY

Zidware Inc, ("ZW") is pleased to warrant, only to the original purchaser ("Warrantee"), that this pinball machine ("Product")Product will be free from defects in material and workmanship under normal use and service for ninety (90) days after delivery to the Warrantee (the “Warranty Period”).

The provisions of this warranty shall not apply if, in ZW's sole judgment, the product has been subjected to incidental damage including, but not limited to, the following:

▪ Removal of serial/part number sticker(s);
▪ Damage while being installed or set up improperly;
▪ Damage due to alteration of software or hardware by someone other than ZW or its representatives;
▪ Damage arising from tampering, user error, natural disaster, misuse, neglect, abuse, or accident.
▪ Abuse or Damage from installation or improper “non-home” game use

ZW reserves the right to impose a reasonable charge for the repair of any Product or component thereof that is returned where the failure or malfunctioning of such Product or component does not result from a manufacturing defect.

ZW's liability under this warranty, or in connection with any other claim relating to the Product, is limited to the repair or replacement, at ZW's option, of the Product or component of the Product that is found to be defective. Such replacement component may be a new component or a remanufactured component, at ZW's option. Warrantee assumes all risk of loss in transit. Any returned Product or component thereof under the terms of this warranty shall be the sole property of ZW. The repaired or replaced Product or component will be covered under the terms of this warranty for the remainder of the Warranty Period.

ZW reserves the right to impose a reasonable charge for any returns to cover shipping costs, where the returned Product or component thereof that was returned is found to be in good working condition.

ZW may, at its sole discretion, cover the repair or replacement of any component of the Product that is discovered, after the end of the Warranty Period, to have a manufacturing defect.

To receive warranty service, contact ZW Technical Support Online: (www.zidware.com/pinballsupport.html).

Before returning or attempting to return any Product or component for service, you must have first communicated with one of our service representatives. The service representative will issue a Return Material Authorization (RMA) acknowledgment and an RMA number. Your sales receipt or invoice from an authorized ZW retailer, reseller, or distributor is your proof of purchase and is required to establish purchase date and original purchaser. Except where prohibited by law, this warranty is non-transferable. The Warrantee shall pay the cost of returning the defective Product or component thereof to ZW's service center. No ZW Product or component thereof will be accepted for warranty service without a copy of a valid proof of purchase and an RMA number.

No other warranties are expressed or implied including, but not limited to, any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. In no event shall ZW be liable for any consequential or incidental damages resulting from the use or installation of any ZW product, or the breach of any express or implied warranties. ZW's liability to any Warrantee with respect to any claim or loss arising out of this transaction or alleged to have resulted from an act or omission of ZW shall be limited to warrantee's cost of the ZW product.

Some states may prohibit the exclusion of consequential or incidental damages, or a certain other clause contained in this warranty (an “Excluded Clause”). If your state prohibits any such Excluded Claus, the remainder of the warranty shall remain in full force and effect as if it did not contain the Excluded Clause. This warranty provides you with specific legal rights. You may have other rights, which vary from state to state.

ZW reserves the right to inspect and verify the defectiveness of any Product or component thereof that is returned. This warranty does not apply to any software used in the Product. However, ZW may, at its sole discretion, release one or more software updates to address any software issues and/or to provide enhanced functionality of the Product

EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY STATED ABOVE, ZW MAKES NO WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, WHETHER OF MERCHANTABILITY, NON-INFRINGEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR USE, OR OTHERWISE ON THE PRODUCTS, OR ANY PARTS OR TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE OR OTHER LABOR FURNISHED.

ZW reserves the right to change the terms of this warranty without notice. v2

Ha! Even his pointless warranty page has revisions, just like the artwork

the dude literally toils away and this stuff, and there is no Magic Girl flipping game.

Uh...what pinball machine?

WTF is a warranty needed for when no games are available? WTF. Again. WTF.

Well, if any of you actually do get a machine from this half baked creep, the Zidware warranty might as well be used as toilet paper.

It basically says you have 90 days of warranty that really doesn't cover shit unless we say so.

No hard feelings Ice. FWIW, I've been finding myself to be in agreement with some of your posts lately as well.

My favorite part was "you must communicate with one of our service representatives" since it implies he actually has "paid employees."

JPOP music re-theme of Magic Girl!

There are spelling mistakes in his warranty.

What a moron.

Better then on the playfields.

Oh FFS seriously JPOP?? What are you going to warranty empty cabinets and foam cores??

New filings in the JPOP suit.

I am going to see how much it would cost to get JPOP's "answer to the complaint." All 3 versions of the "answer" (JPOP's, MPOP's, and ZidWare's) should be essentially the same since they are all facing the same allegations.

You'd think the "answer" would outline his & AP's plan to make MG customer's whole. Even though that plan is probably just a pipe dream, it would be interesting to see what he had to say.

insert pop (resized).JPG

Mmmm, those sexy legs!
Seductive beauty. What's this ..
Orange hair? OH NO!!

Re: WW2

This fiasco is more like Vietnam war, a quagmire.

John is taking so long....

How long is it?

So long that Kiss code will be complete before John ships any pins.

Find out how much and we'll see how curious we all are. I'll chip in some money.

Will do. Going to take a bit... the office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County is no PACER. They want requests via mail or fax (and even then you usually have to get someone on the phone after the record search request form has arrived).

I'm not a lawyer, so I don't really know how all this works, but does this kind of stuff show up in any of the lawyer software packages, like Lexis Nexis?

At first i thought wow...for real?!
Are you high?!
You HAVE no pins?!
But if the Magic Girl pins are getting build you will need to write this.
He is getting a tiny part of his gigantic problem off his back by getting the magic girls out the door.
If the warranty is not clear,he will be having a lot of new problems soon.
The man has been stoned by everybody seems like forever..it is getting OLD man.
If he is still busy to clear his name and trying to build the pins in whatever way,it tells something about the man too.
If he wouldn't feel guilty,he would be doing other stuff.
If i would be in his humiliating situation for years and everybody barfing on me on pinside and beyond,i would have just filed for bankrupcy and be done with it.
Yes it was all very stupid and a shitty situation.
I totally agree with Ben Heck,he ruined new talent being funded..trust is gone.
But jpop is still trying and i am happy about that.
I still want my Alice in Wonderland.

Bring on the downvotes y'all

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We've seen zero evidence of this. Other than "empty cabinets", a lot of hot air and blown deadlines. He can't even demonstrate a single functioning game.

Yes, you can see the docket sheet for this case via LexisNexis and Bloomberg Law.

The problem is the docket sheet is only a "Table of Contents" for the case. The underlying documents (referenced on the docket sheet) are not online. So, someone at the clerk's office has to scan and mail them which takes a while and is not free.

All federal courts are required to use PACER, but state and county courts are a mixed bag of paper only, some paper/some online, or (as in the case of Cook Co.) all online.

No downvotes from me. You are optimistic about the future and that's cool. I hope in some miracle way everything does work out.

Thanks for the info! I know very little about the way all of that works.

Same here. This is public knowledge, we should all have the chance to see what's going on with this fiasco. I'm willing to help pay so we can all keep track of it.

You are absolutely in your right to say that Frolic,you basically say:show me a working pinball first! And ofcourse you are right.(btw: thanks a lot! everytime i see comic book guy in the simpsons i think "frolic" ! )
But i think we can make an intelligent assumption based on what we see happening,i am not saying we should all go hug JPOP,but we can be cautiously optimistic for a few magic girl owners right?
They are getting build,rocky road,but it is happening...
I get angry too about the fact that there is NO working pinball after all these years("just build one freaking pinball machine that works allright!").
But according to the latest information :
1)American Pinball is a bunch of people in a building that can build things.
2)We know AP hired Joe Balcer and other talent?
3)The clearcoat on the MG playfields failed,but we see a stack of them right here:

http://www.hsapinball.com/HSA_PINBALL/hsa071516magicgirl.html

4)We have seen the cabs:

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IMG_1775 (resized).PNG

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Are you insane? How do you figure? If AP is completely re-designing the houdini playfield, the artwork, the cabinet, the hardware (both mechanical and electrical), what does John even bring to the table? Sure, John could pay AP to build them, but with what money? (especially with court fees he's shelling out to defend his lawsuits). And EVEN IF he had money to build them (assuming they are ready to go, which they are not), you think AP wouldn't be pissed at this point paying John as a contracted worker for the past year, only to throw that money out the window (AND waste the past year of development)?

Again, someone needs to head over to Streamwood and knock on the office door. Ask if you can see any of their progress. I have no skin in this game, and no longer work in Streamwood, so it ain't going to be me.

I know this was done before, but that was back in Aug or Sept. Lots of time has passed since.

A person is insane if he joins isis and blows himself up to murder as much people as possible.
Your and my definition of insane are very different so it seems.
But let us make a bet toyotaboy...
I paypal you $25 if they don't get build,you paypal me $25 if they get build.
If 2017 ends( let's give em a year )we'll see who has to pay who,let pinside be our witness.

They have a legal problem using zidware cabinets,position of dmd,etc. plus they have to draw a clear/visible line so everybody knows AP isn't Zidware.
They can see you on the horizon with your pitchfork Toyotaboy..they see you..

Someone close should call them and ask for a tour

If there's anyone in this thread who is actually involved in the litigation as a party, maybe they could ask their lawyer to forward electronic copies of the key pleadings (I'm assuming the lawyer already has them electronically, so this should take little/no time)? If someone's willing to do that it would be cheaper and easier than non-parties trying to get the docs.

As far as JPOP's Answer goes, you never know what's in it until you read it, but they tend to be a lot less informative than you might imagine. Rather than providing a narrative addressing the allegations in the complaint, they'll often just say "Paragraph 1 denied, Paragraph 2 denied" etc. Though there could be more interesting detail if he's raising affirmative defenses or counter-claims.

True. My thought was that JPOP's spin on what is going on with MG & AP (not the "reality of what is actually going on" but the way that JPOP presented his deal with AP to his attorney) would be illuminating (though mainly as an indication of how delusional JPOP is).

But if, "Judge, this lawsuit is BS, I am building the games as you read this" is not his affirmative defense it could just be a sparse "Paragraph 1 denied, Paragraph 2 denied" etc.

At this point, I don't even know how many pages it is and won't until sometime next week, but length is a good predictor of how much relevant info it contains.