Quoted from Coyote:

Hello, don't forget WCS, which (I believe) was taken away form him..!

Quoted from pinballlife:

Actually, it didn't take years. The first BBB hit Ebay a couple days after the IPB pick up day. It sold for $13,5000, thus quickly establishing its market value.
I still have my meal ticket for the IPB pick up day. I got my sandwich, fries, and drink and they forgot to take my ticket so I kept it as a little memento. Should be worth thousands by now. Taking offers!

1431272495560-1827736615.jpg (Click image to enlarge)

Quoted from taz:

B/S, I'm an owner of the vaporware, so I've seen the video, it has paper ramps and some of the mechs don't work. The ball has to be captured and manually put back into play. B/S!!!! I could do better with a month of time, $1K, and some clip art of Godzilla, Robbie the Robot and Mars Attacks.

Quoted from Roostking:

How is it you think any of these people, jpop, Steven are going to meet with you? Have you talked to them and arranged something, just hoping?

Quoted from PismoArcade:

Pinball Hall of Shame
Wayne-O
Bumper
Vonnie D & Wes Upchurch
Kevin Kulek
John A Popaduik Jr.
Did I miss anyone?

Quoted from vex:

i wish bill and all those invested, including the vendors a positive outcome, except jpop. i want to see jpop taken behind the wood shed and given what he has coming. if the price would be reasonable for mg it might have a chance but if jpop is still involved i wouldn't even consider buying in at 5000$
i hope pintasia gets as far away from this criminal clown as possible for the sake of their own credibility. pintasia having fraudsters like jpop consulting will bring "great harm" to pintasia.

Quoted from epthegeek:

Not sure how you make this leap.

Quoted from benheck:

I'd love to play this game, or see it made, but at this point it seems like that crappy car you had as a teenager, and at a certain point you're better off taking it to the dump than putting more money into it.

Quoted from BackFlipper:

Good thing he did not bring this to shows. He would have collected even more deposits and might have announced another game by now. This show may have gone on another two years before the music finally stopped.

Quoted from rai:

I'm baffled why people (apparently) were paid in ful for any of these games.

Quoted from Pinballs:

I've paid my $500 now, so game on. It is happening.

Quoted from frolic:

So much of the ill will could have been avoided had John been more honest about everything. He could still go a long way to repairing his reputation by coming clean even today. Most people don't want to think of him badly. It will not solve all the legal headaches, but could help with 80%. Enough that he could show his face again at a pinball show.
Basically do this:
-Stop blaming anyone else
-A real apology
-In hindsight, when did you realize this was mission impossible
-Why did you continue with the charade
-Talk about living with the lies, how deep it went, how you treated the people closest to you
-How did you hope it would end, once you knew you'd never be able to do it on your own
-Explain what thought/planning went into the budget/numbers
-What kind of BOM did you come up with, and how did you think you could get it done?
-What went through your mind when you were challenged by your customers with good questions and how you dealt with that
-The reasoning of treating your vendors so badly
-Did you think you could recover
-Talk about how you didn't see yourself as a bad person, but your actions could only be described as being a bad person
I could keep going actually.... there is a lot to be mended. It was years of deception, lies, poor choices and terrible behavior. I believe most people want to forgive and move on though. But it's up to John to do anything about it.

Quoted from Whysnow:

agreed. Even low for lowepg.
Everyone please take note that he is the sort of guy to publish PMs (PERSONAL messages) that you send to him. Pretty disgusting forum behavior.

Quoted from Aurich:

If you PM me something in confidence then I'll never post your PM here. That's really bad form. If you send me something like this though, I'm gonna post it, because I want to laugh at you, and you deserve it.
This image got 2 "unsafe" tags and has been hidden automatically, as per your settings. un-hideMr. Grumpy Pants 2

Quoted from benheck:

Ironic that John says I left because of drinking, stories go old Williams was a booze and coke soaked affair.

Quoted from benheck:

» YouTube video

Quoted from benheck:

Pinsiders do know, right, that the Hitler Reacts meme is over 6 years old?
Still, fun to drag it out for stuff like this and man, it was SOOOO easy to write

Quoted from metallik:

Stupid and a bad business decision? Yea. Disgusting and human filth.. I'd relegate those terms for stronger crimes than being an inept businessman.

Quoted from jlm33:

Seen from a bystander, it is even worse to see that thread spiraling down into name calling and bickering than to know that so many of you lost your money.

Quoted from wcbrandes:

First and foremost, I would like to express my deep gratitude to everyone who dedicated their time and effort to help bring Magic Girl to light. Without everyone's effort this would not have been possible.
I would also like to personally thank everyone who believed and supported me in this endeavor.
After working and speaking with a lot of you, who know pinball development inside and out, and finally getting an opportunity to see how far along Magic Girl really is, I have decided that it is not worth my effort or finances to move this to completion.
Despite the fact that I'm not going to continue with MG, I do not regret the investment I have made as I hold the friendships cultivated at a much higher value.
Thanks again for all your support and patience.
Best regards,
Bill

Quoted from hank527:

I will retract my position if it is proven that you do not have MG

Quoted from Rarehero:

Where are the rest of the almost 200 people who paid for these games? I can't imagine most of them just walking away....they will want their money back or revenge. Most people don't just "walk away" from $10k-20k. Those who want revenge clearly aren't going to post about it. This story is far from over....

Quoted from Aurich:

You weren't paying for a product. You were investing in a startup, with the hope of receiving a product out of it. Startups fail all the time. People lose money. No one goes to jail.
Seriously, this notion that John is going to jail, or even will be convicted of any kind of fraud, is just not happening. The lawsuit may or may not recover any money, and it will most certainly cause bankruptcy, but that's going to be the extent of it in all likelihood.

Quoted from zr11990:

Heres a thought. Why doesn't this idiot sell the rights plans and everything else to a company that can produce these games and use that cash to refund at least some of the money to the people who invested in him. Lets just pretend JP has some kind of ethics.

Quoted from Aurich:

This might not be a popular opinion, but I don't want John to go to jail. It's not really a worry for me, because frankly I think it's utterly unlikely.
I'm totally not victim blaming here, at all! But you guys took a risk sending money to someone who never actually made pinball machines by himself. Turns out he was an artist flake, he dicked around for years, and you lost your cash. Totally sucks.
But you're all adults who should have known the risks going in. Do I think you have the right to sue him and make sure he makes right what he can and doesn't "get away" with anything? Hell yes.
But going to jail? Come on. That's just a horrible thing to wish on someone. And I get that people are mad at him. But he didn't take your money and go to a tropical island. He did what some of us thought he'd always do, he farted around with pinball ideas for years, and never finished shit. As lame as it might be, he did work on pinball this whole time. He did spend your money on custom parts and development. It wasn't a scam, or a ponzi scheme, it was just a failed business from a dreamer who didn't handle the reality of getting things done.
It wouldn't feel like a victory to me, but rather a really dark mark on the hobby if he actually did jail time for that.

Quoted from McCune:

I hope no Pinsiders will accept Jack's fake smiles and hellos at shows !

Quoted from zr11990:

I still say he needs his ass beat into the ground. See ya in 24 hours.

Quoted from ForceFlow:

The media and the general public aren't going to care very much. It's not a hot button, late-breaking, headline-making story that is rife with controversy or political intrigue.
Plus, do you really want the only thing that the general public knows about pinball to be this whole situation?
It's probably best to let this worm its way through the courts, though it make take a while. I'm assuming everyone who put down some preorder money has talked to a lawyer at some point about this?

Quoted from Roostking:

You call what Jpop did, a "mistake?"

Quoted from fosaisu:

What an unnecessary sideshow for Expo and for pinball if JPop shows (or sticks around, I guess). I hope he spares everyone the spectacle and embarrassment and slinks back to his shop.

Quoted from vid1900:

I say let him walk.
Everybody talks a big talk on the internets, but I predict he would have no confrontations (although 200 people will now post some tough talk about what they will do when they see him).

Quoted from rubberducks:

Finally read up on this all. What a sad story. Though perhaps a very necessary one for the industry and community.
With regard to this being some kind of intentional fraud or not, I don't really get that vibe. He seems delusional and highly narcissistic. People with these traits, when they get into something, both praise and criticism, success and failure, it all adds to the disconnect between reality and the picture of it they have in their head. Inertia and diversionary behaviour also tends to increase exponentially, whereby they'll actually actively avoid working on anything and everything that matters, and instead focus on minute details and other bits that are totally irrelevant. We've all done it, mostly innoccuously ... whether it's clearing up the spare room or procrastinating endlessly when studying. He was doing it with something vastly more complicated, costly and involving far more trust. JPop clearly wasn't cut out to be a project manager and seemingly lacks any kind of self awareness or self knowledge.
He doesn't seem like a bad guy, just a total failure in the endeavour he shaped, and one that he never should have been allowed to go beyond that of a creative director in. This isn't just his failure though. It was the buyers, the people he employed and the community at large. Hindsight is 20:20, but there were alarm bells, lights flashing and klaxons whirring pretty much from the beginning.
Whilst people's money may be mostly or entirely lost, looking over everything, I think there is a reasonable chance of something coming out of this. If John's hands can be prised off the assets, there should be a reasonable chance of one of the companies acquiring the art and music assets For Magic Girl at the very least. All 3 themes were very strong and the IPs very well liked. Certainly I imagine ZombieYeti would like to get paid for all his work ...

Quoted from wcbrandes:

After further review of the Vancouver riot, it was determined that there were many Americans present, double dog.....no triple dog daring us into this kinda behavior. and if you know anything about a triple dog dare well then......
Canucks loosing didn't cost me a dimer so gonna have to go with B....MG

Quoted from dgarrett:

Hilton
Come on, buddy. Give the "buddy" thing a rest
The ONLY time I spent with John was 20 hours to help Bill alBrandes and pdxmonkey get the damn my to the NE show. Some appreciated the effort , nobody accused me of being part on Johns scheme or his buddy except you.
I've got friends who got screwed - and many pinball people here that needed help - that's it - give it a rest.
I have seen Or heard from John after that 20 hour blitz - I got no pay - it was volunteer -

Quoted from investingdad:

Pinball built in China?
Dear Lord...that's going to make any QC issues at Stern look like child's play.
My air hockey table was built in Texas and my pool table is an Olhaussen from Tennessee...there's a reason they cost twice as much as the Chinese counterparts but with fewer frills. Because both will look and play the same in twenty years rather than be in a landfill.
Chinese pinball...pass.

Quoted from frolic:

This reminds me of a James Bond movie (Roger Moore era) where both Bond and his adversary both know exactly who each other are but are playing along with each other during some encounter at a casino or something .

Quoted from hardware:

One reason people preordered MG was due to it being a limited release and the machine would most likely hold its value if not increase in value.
I'm guessing Houdini is a MG re-theme.
I don't recall the price of MG, but I was thinking around 16K?
Are MG owners who paid that high price going to be happy with a game that now has a brother?
The price shouldn't be that high if many of the parts will be mass produced.

Quoted from jwilson:

Corny has always seemed a bit of a delicate flower. He'll probably be back.

Quoted from 27dnast:

Great.
Wouldn't that be amazing if Magic Girl investors are rewarded with the first Pinball machine made and delivered from a China?

Quoted from MinusWorlds:

Def not Corn's fault. He did the best he could. The guy had like a day notice. He managed to get them to show him the game and take a pic, albeit not a very good pic. .

Quoted from pinballrockstar:

Boom! That's what i mean ice, we had nothing and it was done..
Now we have a chance?!

Quoted from Cornelius:

Scott worked with JPOP at Zizzle.
Scott knows JPOP's potential..

Quoted from Cornelius:

Give it a rest already, Lightning Levi. You're a broken record. Everybody knows you know everything, give the other people a chance to talk.

Quoted from sd_tom:

Cornelius just got a permanent all forums eject in another thread, so won't be hearing anymore from him.

Quoted from PinSinner:

Can someone tell me why in the hell they would make all those finished cabinets, before a game even existed? Correct me if I am wrong, but it seems like the wrong way to go about it.
I would have assumed the cabinets and artwork would be the last thing to complete during the development of a pinball machine.

Quoted from toyotaboy:

Bizarre, he's starting to do website updates again. He's claiming Magic girl is in production, and zombie and alice are in development. "In production" implies you are currently building them.
http://www.zidware.com/pinball.html

Quoted from ezeltmann:

This thread is not nearly as on fire as it should be. Flame on!

Quoted from jwilson:

I have first person confirmation that the games exist - the photo that's been passed around is the American Pinball facility and John has been there for awhile working on the machines. There is at least 19 cabinets ready to go.
What I don't have is any confirmation of those cabinets containing a working playfield or any software. So, the only hard truth right now is there are 19 boxes ready to go to people that contain pinball parts of some description that may or may not light up when plugged in and turned on.

Quoted from spfxted:

Do you know that you and the Zombie man are getting shafted? Has everybody who is getting one been contacted? If there are 19 people and they are making 20 something, maybe there is a machine in there for you guys....(hopeful)

Quoted from CNKay:

Hearing that guy owning one is like extra Hershey squirts on this poop pie.
Wonder if he opens it up and takes it out of the box?

Quoted from PismoArcade:

I read those threads too... While Dutch Pinball seems to be imploding, looks like Alien is shipping and is gonna be at TPF.

Quoted from chadderack:

Everyone here seems to know something about Dutch Pinball that I don't. Care to give some info?

Quoted from LoveNeverDiesGuy:

Just listened to a couple of eerie podcasts from this K person and what a waste. This person claims to be the reason why GnR put out Chinese Democracy, bought a Hell Cat, purchased a Magic Girl spot, speaks ill of pinball companies, tells other people what to do with their health and money regarding pinball, and wants others to get the mods to allow him back on pinside? This person has got to be going through menopause, midlife crisses, or both? Best to you if you are reading this, but I do not subscribe to your fake pinball news. The only saving grace is the guests that are interesting and have done something in the pinball industry.

Quoted from vdojaq:

If Special K bought it for $20K as rumored, then that is where the benchmark is already. The issue here is until those 19 are delivered, we have ZERO clue, only speculation, as to whether or not it was a brilliant or stupid move.
We all know that I have ZERO love for Special K, but I will give credit where credit is due if MG actually turns out to be a player.

Quoted from Whysnow:

Most pinheads will love to play it and check it out. After everyone gets a chance, then if it is a dog that is poorly built, it wont be worth much in the grand scheme. It surely wont go up in value. Not likely to drop as high end colectors have enough money to just let them sit rather than take a loss, but wont blow up either.

Quoted from Taxman:

If the game turns out nice it should be entered into the databases without JPop's name. It should have Artwork by ZY and Programming by Applejuice (real names of course).

Quoted from Taxman:

Did I say anything that was not a fact? We know who did the artwork and we know who did the programming. There were many other people involved with this project and we don't know who did what for anything else involved. There seems to a lot of missing people getting credit.

Quoted from Taxman:

Wow, speaking of facts. I did not say "the ipdb entry", I said "the database".
So for a person who wants to get persnickety about the facts you should get them right.

Quoted from Taxman:

It is a joke. Chill out.

Quoted from Mbecker:

"gameplay videos " are just exactly what we've already seen at ne show -- a ball launch that appears to not shoot back to Playfield? Rest are just attract screen and skill level selection.. hmmmm right. You'd think if he got it working ok somehow that he'd want to show off the gameplay, riiiight?

Quoted from applejuice:

Yes. That about covers it. The fact that both myself and zombieyeti have not been offered games is truly disgraceful

Quoted from fattrain:

Well this certainly took some backdoor ninja skills since the video container was broken and wouldn't play the video correctly but it looks like I was able to repair it and get this footage....
Ladies and gentlemen I present to you the best video we have of MG at this point. Enjoy
» YouTube video

Quoted from lllvjr:

For sale $50k magic girl pm for serious interest

Quoted from sd_tom:

He had a podcast this am as well. Synopsis.. he is 'hearing' (he doesn't have it yet) that it is basically the proto game from NW show replicated 18 more times. Doesn't really work.

Quoted from MrBally:

Should we continue to support Coin Taker and buy LED's, other mods etc. from them after they pulled the Iron Man crap and now this?

Quoted from TigerLaw:

They sold an original run IM at the peak price right before Stern publicly announced the VE but after they privately informed the distributors like CT (that's my memory anyway). They made it right shortly after somehow. I don't hold that transaction against them personally.

Quoted from spfxted:

Yeah, just spoke to him to find out what's going on. He said…basic code, just like the one at the show. Ball hang ups, etc. But I'm sure a number of you pinball gurus can figure out how to make it work as long as all the mechs and stuff is in there……right?

Quoted from Wolfmarsh:

I'd sooner quit pinball than contribute to validating Jpop's work.
It's pretty shameful that you are willing to reduce the wake he left behind down to a profit.

Quoted from Wolfmarsh:

That's you, not me. I wouldn't touch the machines. They are worth exactly $0 to me.

Quoted from cliff_clavin:

Just an idea but why don't the magic girl recipients chip in $500 each and pay directly to the programmer. Hire the programmer to finish the code. Hell if the programmer is willing, this is a no brainer decision.

Quoted from BMore-Pinball:

Listened to the podcast - honestly it seems like a box of shit.
Pictures make it look real pretty but is sounds unplayable

Quoted from sd_tom:

If I were him, not a chance for a few reasons:
1) loses leverage on getting what's owed to him
2) given that it's not known the state of the game hardware, could damage the game
3) the installation could go poorly and 'brick' the game.

Quoted from vdojaq:

A few of them seem to like you.....

Quoted from Nibbles:

Isn't there some consumer protection law, or something along those lines, that can hold John accountable for misrepresenting the product that was delivered? While the game was shipped, it is no where near complete and seems like a bait and switch.

Quoted from cheshirefilms:

Sometimes I wish that this entire forum- its users, its news, the tech forums- all of it- could be seemlessly migrated to Facebook.
There- we would have all the information, news, tips- but none of the senseless soap opera that seems to follow pinball newgroups and forums.

Quoted from 27dnast:

The biggest loss has been the fact that these hyper-posting and consistently controversial Pinsiders have driven away a ton of quality folks in the pinball world. That is something that will probably never be regained on this site.

Quoted from vdojaq:

Oh you too huh?
Well lets put it this way, I could have just called Special K an asshole. But I figured that would offend too many more on their politically correct crusades. Or maybe asshole is too fitting for some people.
Seriously, any of you that want to get on a soapbox with this offensive stand because I am using the term "special" ought to go get your heads examined.

Quoted from PoMC:

I saw that pic with the exposed spring too, but I figured I must be not understanding it.

Quoted from 27dnast:

Wow... that game looks stunning! Too bad it's a brick... I'm guessing that someone is going to end up coding this thing to life.

Quoted from vdojaq:

Not fair my ass! Let me put all you cupcakes in your due places. My Dad's sister, my Aunt, is a slow adult, mentally handicapped, a special person, and in medical terms a retard(boo fucking hoo if you don't like it). She has been part of my life for the 45 years I have been put on this Earth. I have the right to be judgemental of what is offensive and what is not pertaining to her conditions. Not a bunch of daisy growing pansy ass hand holders who are threatened by obtuse words in the English language.
My best friend Kevin in High School had a brother name Ted(R.I.P. buddy) who had down syndrome and was mentally handicapped. Our favorite line was 'Yeah, well that fucking retard will kick your ass" to anyone who made fun of him to his face. Ted would go right up to them and stutter "I'm a retard and I'm gonna kick your ass!" Then turn to Kevin and go "Now Kevin??" You would watch those little bitch tough guys go running the other way.
So all you little whining butt hurt tree huggers that are offended, go pound sand because 99% of you are offended for reasons that have nothing to do with you personally!

Quoted from vdojaq:

Just add bourbon.
Is that the best you got after I just demonstrated you to be 100% wrong?