(Topic ID: 92436)

John Popadiuk update thread……MAGIC GIRL, RAZA, AIW…..

By iceman44

9 years ago


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Topic index (key posts)

34 key posts have been marked in this topic, showing the first 10 items.

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Post #7211 Zombie Yeti (Jeremy Packer), first post on the Magic Girl/JPop fiasco Posted by zombieyeti (8 years ago)

Post #20523 Link to legal documents with allegations & responses Posted by DennisK (7 years ago)

Post #20526 Third amended complain document Posted by c508 (7 years ago)

Post #20532 Summary of complaints & responses in legal documents Posted by DennisK (7 years ago)

Post #20626 MG is now ready! Posted by TecumsehPlissken (7 years ago)

Post #20631 Scott Goldberg mail on MG completion Posted by TecumsehPlissken (7 years ago)

Post #21819 Information on webpage dedicated to Magic Girl Code Features. Posted by applejuice (7 years ago)

Post #22024 moderation notice Posted by Xerico (7 years ago)


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#355 9 years ago
Quoted from ChrisVW:

That's probably my favorite part of the cabinet. If you think about it for a minute I'm sure you can figure it out...

Fish tank?

1 month later
#1423 9 years ago
Quoted from Strange:

I believe Taylor Swift said it best when she said ...

You lost me right there.

1 week later
#1626 9 years ago

Something Tells Me I'm In To Something Good ...
http://peternoone.com/

1 week later
#2194 9 years ago
Quoted from kaneda:

I only know one thing. YOU SIR CAN'T AFFORD ANY ZIDWARE GAME, so why don't you stop stirring the pot and let the owners talk instead of trolling this thread. Just go to bed.

Are you in on MG or RAZA then? Hadn't picked that up from your prior posts.

Also, he's on the west coast. What's your excuse for being up at 2 a.m. EST?

#2212 9 years ago
Quoted from Rarehero:

No one cares about who you're dating.

This.

But there's no cause to bait him about his (admittedly well publicized) private life or who he has dated or is dating. There's more than enough material in just his pinball-related posts.

#2329 9 years ago

Thanks for sharing this, very interesting and the art looks great (of course). I hope we do get to see the various toys and features in action one day, they look pretty cool.

#2348 9 years ago
Quoted from boo32:

I don't think a flipper flips or a ball is seen rolling on any of the games in the video. John's fear of being copied must have disappeared once Adobe said they wanted to make a slick video in his shop.
Why wouldn't he announce this on the private blog? How can John claim the ability to enforce an NDA when he violates it when it suits him?

It would be fantastic if John were subjecting himself to an NDA as well. But I don't think a contract with yourself is legally enforceable.

#2549 9 years ago
Quoted from wcbrandes:

Jpop is a kept man, lets not worry too much about the finances

Maybe this is common knowledge, but who is he "kept" by? If he's being supported by a wealthy spouse that would certainly change the financial dynamics of his projects.

2 weeks later
#2936 9 years ago
Quoted from jeffspinballpalace:

Looking forward to the evolution and renaming of this thread to .... Courtroom Chronicles of Zidware. Sadly, and in one way or another, this JPOP saga seems destined to become entangled by the US legal system, before the first pin sees the light of day from a Collector's gameroom. Sorry folks, but this situation is akin to Sysyphus pushing a large boulder uphill for eternity. Each transgression results in stopping the forward movement of the bolder and allows it to fall backwards and on top of its master. There is little recourse left to investors, and certainly no apparent good option to resolving.

Thumbs-up for elaborate Greek mythology reference!

#3029 9 years ago
Quoted from iceman44:

I'm about to start posting pictures of the dog and other sensitive info to see if he will refund my $$$ as a violation of his perceived NDA!

Still hoping to see the infamous dog pic!

#3033 9 years ago
Quoted from lllvjr:

Jpoop dog pic

A cock 'n' balls spaniel, it would appear.

#3221 9 years ago
Quoted from PinsideTroll:

the timeline isnt linear answer is getting old....

Did he really say "the timeline isn't linear"? That's incredible!

snakeself.jpgsnakeself.jpg

#3261 9 years ago
Quoted from FatAussieBogan:

Siting in a work shop shaking hands with the unemployed to Brazilian fart porn doesn't constitute working.

A classic bit of Australian folk wisdom, featured in Crocodile Dundee II if I'm not mistaken.

1 week later
#3652 9 years ago
Quoted from Aurich:

I don't really care for the way they chose to portray Alice, she's a rather unappealing central figure, but maybe the vision for the game has her being a total bitch instead of sympathetic, I dunno. No reason to judge too early.

I agree -- if anything the Alice drawing from the backglass would make more sense as the Queen of Hearts. Unless he's got some sequel narrative going where Alice has grown up, taken over the kingdom and become evil herself.

#3724 9 years ago
Quoted from John_I:

Yeah I suppose the skateboard is new at least.

And to be fair, she's pulling those zombies along as camouflage, not using them as a source of locomotion!

#3736 9 years ago
Quoted from John_I:

She also used them to carry her stuff, so a form of locomotion.

I'd definitely buy a set of zombie saddle bags.

#3770 9 years ago
Quoted from toyotaboy:

Keep in mind, once you decide to do licensed, then that means you have to hire an artist so they can render the art accurately. More importantly, you can spend a month doing all the artwork (playfield, plastics, backglass, cabinet) only to have the licensee tell you they don't like any of it and you have to start over.

Depending on the license, you may just be handed a folder of clip art that's all you're allowed to use from the licensed IP. Of course you'll still want an artist to arrange it nicely, but in a way going licensed may decrease your overall art costs since you're not hiring someone to do the whole thing from scratch (since you're not allowed to under the license). Of course you will have some added time/money costs of getting approvals and redoing work if not approved. But overall I would think that going non-licensed is more about design freedom than about saving money on licensing-related costs.

#3788 9 years ago
Quoted from Strange:

Honestly at this point I think John should be able to take as much time as he needs. If you don't like it and are in already he should make it easy enough to get rid of your pre-order.

"Refunds readily granted" is kind of a big qualifier though if John's going to have license to take as long as he wants -- based on what I've read here that's not at all how Zidware has run its business.

#3831 9 years ago
Quoted from Honch:

After reading most of this thread, I'm not sure who this is addressed to? There are still people that believe it will happen, but calling them "kool aid drinkers" is a bit of a stretch.

He's just living up to his name - he's not called HappySack, you know.

#3849 9 years ago
Quoted from SadSack:

There really aren't many koolaid posters left. I'm just sorry for how all the negativity of this entire fiasco has reflected off me.

Quoted from dmesserly:

It's not reflecting off you...you're bringing as much as anyone else.

Obviously you haven't seen many of SadSack's other posts around Pinside -- he's a shimmering disco-ball of positivity!

3 weeks later
#4285 9 years ago
Quoted from NYP:

OK found it, but I'll stick with this, if your an owner and your not happy, I think it would have more impact to call him periodically and demand answers and hold him to what he says.

What's the harm in doing all of the above? Contact him directly and repeatedly (although from ChrisVW's post this may be virtually impossible) and also post here on Pinside?

I'm not a JPOP customer. But I think it's good for the pinball community as a whole to be aware of what's going on with these pre-order situations (not just JPOP but also SkitB and DP).

#4511 9 years ago
Quoted from Euchrid:

JPOP's attorney is communicating directly with the customers... Good luck not being named as a witness in the event of a lawsuit and being conflicted out.

Conflicted out of what? You can talk to someone's lawyer without losing the right to sue them later if you want to.

#4651 9 years ago
Quoted from Pinballmike217:

Can you imagine what WOZ would have looked like if JPop had designed it?

Maybe they can bring JPop in to do a Pink Floyd Lazerlight LE WOZ after they sell out the red ones.

#4718 9 years ago

.

#4900 9 years ago
Quoted from Roostking:

I don't understand the downvote. You are in contact with JPOP, you just indicated that there is some sort of team work going on behind the scenes, is that not true? If not then why the post I quoted earlier?

Your escalating exclamation points read as sarcasm (at least to me and the iceman, evidently).

1 week later
#5597 9 years ago
Quoted from DCfoodfreak:

It is a good thing to ask the tough questions and hard to avoid a good joke here or there but man this has really turned ugly fast. Not sure how some of the trashing is helping Jpop or the buyers.

Quoted from Aurich:

Welcome to post Skit-B pinball. That's why I got the above mentioned PM, Steve is smartly concerned about it, the landscape has changed.
Right now the best thing for John is to just get honest about these issues. Because ignoring them will just kick the can down the road, when the options are fewer and the situation is worse.

This. The days of taking heaps of pre-order money and then doing whatever you please are over. If JPop doesn't produce substantive communication and real results very quickly, it's hard to imagine that at least some of his buyers won't resort to legal action.

3 weeks later
#6965 8 years ago
Quoted from iceman44:

This drink is called an ADIOS MOTHERFUCKER, time to mix a pitcher of these up tonight
What You Need ...

You should change the thread title to "JPOP update thread ... now with drink recipes!"

#7129 8 years ago
Quoted from chessiv:

More than ever I think a deal with stern is his best, and possibly only, option.

It would be great for JPop and the buyers, but why would Stern step into this situation now? How would a deal even work? Clearly a partnership's not happening (see posts by Fast, Ice, and others that have tried to work cooperatively with JPop). So a straight sale of everything he's done so far, with Stern then finishing design/coding/production? Even if JPop would agree to that, would Stern really be willing to pay enough for whatever he's done so far to cover full refunds for all of the pre-order money already collected?

I just can't imagine Stern wanting to get involved when there's money to be made making Fast and Furious or Game of the Thrones without getting mired in the mess JPop has created.

#7391 8 years ago
Quoted from Skins:

Who, exactly, are you referring to? I wasn't throwing them under the bus if you were referring to me.

He was responding to this guy:

Quoted from onelastflip:

I did find it funny that Aurich was already relegating Zombie to do a Spooky game. No offense, but Zombie should be doing the hottest properties out there, and Aliens is one of them. This guys talent would sell pins by itself.

... who did not read Aurich's post very carefully, because in the very same sentence where he "relegated" ZY to a Spooky game, he first said he was facilitating communication between ZY and Heighway! Ah, the internet.

#7397 8 years ago
Quoted from Aurich:

Just to be clear I'm not announcing he's going a Heighway game or anything. But I did mention him to Andrew when I saw what was going on, and I did email ZY and offer to do anything I could to help. Just don't want any rumors circulating or anything.

Yeah I didn't read it as you announcing that ZY's joining Heighway or anything like that, just putting a talented artist in touch with folks that may (or may not) want to call on his services one day! I hope it happens, but also get that given the licensing restraints trying to do hand-draw art on a licensed pinball is an expensive, time consuming and potentially futile exercise.

#7421 8 years ago
Quoted from BackFlipper:

I am talking about the original 325 they print on premium licenses, not reprints or B and C licenses.

Hey now, I think most of us here would rate "Cannibal Holocaust" right up there with Raiders of the Lost Ark ...

#7705 8 years ago
Quoted from benheck:

You can't refund money that doesn't exist.
John's gambit was take pre-orders, make a bunch of pretty art and patents, and get bought out/hired before he actually had to produce anything.
Didn't work. And now any investor has to deal with 500-600k of unfunded liabilities (building games owed) on top of however much labor it would take to actually finish them.

Quoted from retro_p:

You started out phrasing these suppositions as fact, making some pretty heavy assertions... but they are still grounded only in opinion.

Under the circumstances I disagree with the "don't trash your competitors" line of argument (different markets and JPop is not exactly "competing" with anyone at the moment anyway). But I definitely agree that serious statements like these should be identified as opinions/inferences if that's what they are, regardless of who they're coming from.

#7979 8 years ago
Quoted from toyotaboy:

If I don't get a response within the next hour, I'm going to assume the worse and call 911 to send for help! ... I bet you get a response...

And what do you do when he calls your bluff and doesn't respond? Call 911?

#8029 8 years ago
Quoted from rai:

You know Kiss doesn't work for free.

Ha!

#8036 8 years ago

.

Quoted from desertT1:Is there really no way for owners to come in and do a hostile takeover on any of these projects? Seems like until there are goods to be delivered owners are investors and have some claim to what is physically and digitally there.

Quoted from RobT:

Forced bankruptcy is as close as you would come.

Yep, and it's probably not that close to what desertT1 suggested! The court could order a sale of Zidware's designs/art to generate cash. The money from that sale, plus any other cash that could be wrung out of Zidware, would be split up by the court among everyone that Zidware owes money to, based on standard criteria that probably don't favor the current "owners" much (it's conceivable that unpaid programmers and artists that worked on the designs/art might have a priority claim on particular assets, but hard to imagine the pre-order folks would). And whoever bought the IP would be unlikely to owe anything to the current "owners." So a forced asset sale in bankruptcy might be the best chance of Magic Girl, etc. ever being made, but might not do much for those that sent money to JPop.

#8216 8 years ago
Quoted from rai:

I guess Nemo has not shipped either (yet). that was another pin with limit of 30. I don't recall exactly how much it cost, but let's say $8000 x 30 = $240K
How was Nemo able to have a flipping game 3 years ago, and John still can not show one with 5x as much cash collected?

Must have been able to build a flipping whitewood because they were charging only 1/3 the price, looks like it was ~ $5,600 to get in on Nemo (which as you say does not appear to have shipped yet):
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/captain-nemo-by-quetzal-pinball/page/2#post-468307

#8480 8 years ago

.

#8615 8 years ago
Quoted from iceman44:

The good news is that it's coming to a head and will be resolved one way or the other within the next 30 days.

Obviously you're much closer to this than most of us following along from the sidelines, but the idea that anything will be resolved in 30 days seems pretty optimistic. Still, for the sake of everyone that's got money tied up in this thing, I hope you're right!

#8947 8 years ago
Quoted from SilverUnicorn:

FWIW Jinx was the name of the cat in Pinball Magic. Not that it matters, just found it interesting.
Chris

Quoted from vid1900:

Jinx was the name of the cat in Meet the Parents.
Connection ?!

Jinx was also the name of the cat in the Freddy the Pig books.... Something's definitely afoot.

#9111 8 years ago
Quoted from bbeishline:

Anyone know what happens to patents in the case of a bankruptcy? Just curiuos if someone bought the company assets after bankruptcy if they'd be legally capable of producing the game without hinderance. It might be a ray of hope that the games could actually be produced sometime if someone was able to acquire all of the R&D and IP cleanly.

All of Zidware's IP would theoretically be available for purchase in a bankruptcy. Depending on how things play out it could be bundled or sold in pieces, whichever the trustee thought would bring in the most money for the creditors.

Quoted from bbeishline:

Of course those who paid money to Jpop would be screwed and that would be a real shame. Maybe someone could organize a relief fund to pay for the new games for those who already paid for them once.

That'd be one big relief fund! If you needed to cover ~ $1 million, for instance, every single Pinsider (there are 28k of us registered) would need to donate $35. Nice idea but seems a little unlikely ...

#9127 8 years ago
Quoted from dgarrett:

At this point, if you get a refund, put it in savings. A bankruptcy would likely claw back any refunds.

Quoted from ChrisVW:

Is that even possible?

If you receive your refund within 90 days of the bankruptcy filing, it's possible that you'll be required to turn that money back over to the court to be shared among all the creditors along with the rest of Zidware's assets.
http://apps.americanbar.org/buslaw/blt/2010-03-04/taylor-henderson.shtml

Kind of a moot point here though, since you don't read much about JPop handing out refunds these days.

#9518 8 years ago
Quoted from jackofdiamonds:

Scared of what!!!??!!!
you have a concrete can't miss no risk case against Zidware.
Honestly if it was my money I would make his life as difficult as possible.

It's a "concrete can't miss no risk case" except for the single most important factor when you consider suing somebody -- will they be able to pay when you get your judgment?

The most efficient move for those with money in at this point is probably to sit back and wait for the bankruptcy and hope to get a few bucks (and literally, it will be at best a few bucks) back. This sucks, of course, but will at least save you the unnecessary expense of hiring a lawyer and filing a lawsuit now, only to have it put on ice when Zidware inevitably ends up in bankruptcy, at which point you'll be filing a proof of claim anyway along with everyone else he owes money to. It's frustrating under the circumstances, but bankruptcy law is largely designed to keep creditors from making the debtor's life "as difficult as possible."

#9581 8 years ago
Quoted from frolic:

To the mystery investor:
REBOOT today. Distance yourself from everything John said AND the contract. Flush it.
THEN present yourself, your plan, how you will do this and DO NOT ASK US FOR ANYTHING.
If people want refunds.... well, refund them. That will be the cost of doing business.
If you are planning on selling hundreds of games, well there is profit there. If you're an investor, then this is a risk/reward play.

This sounds great, but it's just unrealistic unless the "investor" wants to bail out the buyers (and unpaid contractors) out of the goodness of his own heart. It simply wouldn't be a sound business decision to pay well north of $1 million in refunds in exchange for the incomplete mess that JPop has thrown together so far.

I see two options:

1) People sue JPop, he goes into bankruptcy, buyers get little or nothing. Maybe someone buys the IP and actually makes the games someday or at least uses portions of the designs. But the current buyers would get no "credit" for the down payment money that Jpop pissed away if/when games are made using IP purchased in the bankruptcy. This is by far the most likely to occur.

2) Some variant of the (admittedly terribly pitched and probably not fully thought out) deal that JPop's currently hawking gets done. Every single buyer (or enough that refunding a few holdouts is not a deal breaker) signs on and agrees not to sue for a refund. Unless Zidware had insane profit margins on all of the games, something's got to give and the current buyers will effectively have to pay more than initially agreed for the pins. Otherwise, the new investor is promising to make the games for original MSRP minus ~ $5k, and that's just not realistic. These are niche market games, they're never going to sell 500+ to amortize away all the lost deposit funds.

Option 2 is unlikely to work out since most buyers understandably want out at this point. But if there's any chance of it working, I agree with you that it's got to be repackaged and repitched. Identify the new manufacturer, disclose all terms of the new deal, clearly disclose JPop's limited role (firm deadlines, penalties for non-performance, no veto power and no further money to be paid -- his compensation is avoiding bankruptcy). Then maybe there's a shot.

#10672 8 years ago
Quoted from jackofdiamonds:

Does anyone find it irrating that Jpop is really just walking away with no coupabilty whatsoever?

Have you read this thread?!?

#11267 8 years ago
Quoted from YKpinballer:

Soooo... Hobbit is in trouble...

Not necessarily. If The Hobbit hasn't shipped by the time that case wraps up many months (or more likely years) from now, that can't be blamed on the law suit.

11
#11345 8 years ago
Quoted from deeproot:

There have been numerous posts in this thread regarding deeproot®, its business model, operations, funding (or supposed lack thereof), and/or financials. None of these posts are correct. None of the posters have any connection with deeproot®, any knowledge thereof, and are making assertions that are defamatory and false. deeproot® and deeproot® alone has the ability and sole legal right to make assertions of fact on its behalf. Other than the posts made herein by this account (deeproot), we do not choose to do so at this time. Regards,
RJM dT/dP

You omitted the "®" on the final "deep®oot"

15
#11491 8 years ago
Quoted from jwilson:

But the third option is, get the physical assets out of his hands before the collapse and have the ultimate collectable. The license fails, the deal evaporates and everyone is out their million dollars, but one lucky guy has a flipping game.
There's a simple logic to the argument. Occam's Razor and all that.

Really? You've concluded that the explanation requiring the fewest number of assumptions is that Bill is investing tons of time and money finishing Magic Girl and dragging it (and Zombie Yeti) half way across the country not in a desperate (and likely doomed) attempt to get the game into actual production, but instead in a needlessly convoluted false manufacturing scheme whose sole purpose is to create for himself a one-of-a-kind collector's item, and simultaneously make him a pariah in the pinball community? I'm not sure that the application of cold logic inexorably leads to that result ...

Think this through again -- if all Bill wanted was a personal copy of Magic Girl, here's what he'd do: pay JPop a few grand for a non-exclusive license to make a single copy of the game, including copies of all the necessary art files, code and schematics (JPop almost certainly would have gone for this given his money problems). Then sit back and have a copy built at his leisure with no worries about having assets sucked back into the nearly inevitable bankruptcy. Much cheaper and easier than the scheme you've attributed to him.

#11499 8 years ago
Quoted from Whysnow:

The intentional scrubbing means Jpop is well underway towards bankruptcy filings.
Yet another reason to ACT now, file a complaint and contact your lawyer ASAP!!!!

I know you mean well and are trying to protect Zidware customers given your experience with Predator, but I'm afraid that you're once again giving suspect legal advice. If a Zidware/JPop bankruptcy is imminent, which seems pretty likely to me too, then there's no obvious benefit in rushing to pay a lawyer to get a civil complaint filed. Bankruptcy "pauses" almost all pending civil cases anyway, so you'd be out your legal costs and in no better position than buyers that just wait to file a proof of claim with the bankruptcy court.

#11517 8 years ago
Quoted from Whysnow:

If you want to try and stop the removal of assets (obviously already occuring) then the quicker you act, the better.
If you want to start the greater eye of scrutiny on this liscense 'deal' between jpop and pintasia then the quicker the better.
There are LOTS of reasons that it is worthwhile to pay a couple hunder to have a claim started.

If bankruptcy is imminent for Zidware -- and I agree with you that it probably is -- then both of these objectives will be achieved much more quickly and efficiently in the bankruptcy than they would be in civil litigation (where it would be many months or possibly years, and definitely more than a "couple hunder," before you could freeze assets or take depositions to answer your questions re: dealings between Zidware and Pintasia).

Of course it might take more than the existing vendor suit to force Zidware into bankruptcy. But as a customer, you're probably better off letting someone more pissed off (or someone local that can more easily go the small claims route) file the suit that tips Zidware over the edge, and waiting for the bankruptcy to make your claim and find out how many rolls of nickels you'll be extracting from this fiasco.

#11560 8 years ago
Quoted from jwilson:

If anyone deserves the one flipping game it's applejuice - I think he's got more sunk into this than anyone else at this point, except maybe Cointaker or GLM, but neither of them risked bankruptcy.

If it all falls apart the game should (and likely will) end up as just one more asset to be auction off in the Zidware bankruptcy. Who knows, if Pintasia actually gets it shooting decently it could bring more than the entire IP package at auction!

#11675 8 years ago
Quoted from pinball_customs:

Is there a "Zidware members only Club" post that discusses this latest development? This thread is outta control.. there seems to be a LOT of people fanning flames apparently just for the sake of creating tension, and it's very disappointing. Frankly I wonder how many of them actually have a "horse in this race". I among others have a LOT of time and money invested in this project (both as a customer and as a supplier) is it too much to ask to simply have a civilized discussion about it?
I mean no insult, I'm just saying that we buyers and suppliers have some very difficult decisions to make, and it's tough to sift through the white noise to really study our options.

There's a private Facebook group that might meet your needs. Not sure who the admin is though.

#11764 8 years ago
Quoted from YKpinballer:

Not reading something and dismissing it isn't a great practice. But you're right, that's why Sabrina should specifically address all concerns and somebody should independently verify her responses.

In his defense, I looked at the pastebin file and it is hardly intelligible. If something reads like it was written by a madman, 95% of the audience will dismiss it. If you're able to make something of it, why not compile a list of the salient allegations from all the rambling and post it here for others to consider? Then people with "skin in the game" can weigh those allegations and Pintasia's responses (if any) in deciding whether to sign on for the new venture.

#11812 8 years ago
Quoted from Mycal:

After watching the linked video, I can confirm that it is the same Sabrina Wei. Bill and her attended Pin-A-Go-Go together earlier this month.

OK, now things are getting interesting ...

#11841 8 years ago
Quoted from MrBally:

The video looks like a combination of Ron Jeremy Extenze™ and Japanese Pearl Cream™ Infomercials.

You sound like you speak from experience here!

11
#12154 8 years ago
Quoted from Whysnow:

Act now and do all you can to get the ball rolling as quickly as possible. I would say the best thing you can do is to force him in to bankruptcy ASAP.

You're still beating the litigation drum pretty hard, and I've already said my piece in response (which is that buyers may do better to hold off and see if this ends up in bankruptcy soon to save the expense of civil litigation). But this did make me wonder -- have you taken your own advice and filed suit against Kevin/SkitB for Predator yet? If it's critical in your mind that Zidware customers sue right now, wouldn't the same hold true for SkitB victims? Most of the arguments you've offered apply equally well to SkitB, and unlike JPop (who is at least claiming to be out of money), Kevin says he's sitting on a pile of cash.

#12185 8 years ago
Quoted from scott_freeman:

Are you the playfield prankster?

What's a "playfield prankster"?

10
#12209 8 years ago
Quoted from Pinballs:

Jpop is not going to get away with this scot free. The money is only partly why we're litigating... What Jpop has done is appalling! I think we're all aware what the chances are of recouping our money from this gentleman.

...

To paraphrase Mick Jagger- "I wanna get some satisfaction". Bring it on.

This makes total sense to me, and $500 seems like a cheap price to pay so long as you're not banking on a big return on your investment. When JPop gets forced into bankruptcy you'll be in the same position as the rest of the buyers that didn't pursue litigation, but you'll also have the satisfaction of knowing you helped land him there.

#12553 8 years ago
Quoted from guyincognito:

Zidware pre-order buyers should get a free month of JPop's Pinball University where they learn how to complete and assemble their games.

He looks like the poster boy for birth control!

#12641 8 years ago
Quoted from jwilson:

People were asking why Bill would take this on.
He might be altruistic, but logically it makes more sense that he saw this as the only opportunity to get his Magic Girl free and clear. That least that's what makes the most sense to me - more than someone doing a million dollar favor for the pinball community.

Yes, we remember from the last time you floated this theory (in this very thread):
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/jpop-update-thread%e2%80%a6%e2%80%a6%e2%80%a6%e2%80%a6%e2%80%a6mg-raza-and-aiw%e2%80%a6?tu=fantasygoat#post-2475944

oh, and of course the time before that (also in this thread):
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/jpop-update-thread%e2%80%a6%e2%80%a6%e2%80%a6%e2%80%a6%e2%80%a6mg-raza-and-aiw%e2%80%a6?tu=fantasygoat#post-2472362

I hope you'll take iceman44 up on his $1k bet (or at least the case of beer -- though with Canadian beer prices you're probably better off with a straight cash bet!) It would certainly keep things interesting.

#12653 8 years ago
Quoted from jwilson:

I might be persuaded to bet that no one gets games. That seems the most likely outcome.

Personally, I'd bet on no more games being made long before I'd bet that Bill is engaged in an elaborate scheme to produce a prototype at significant personal expense, ship it across the country, slip it across the border, steal it from Zidware and then refuse to return it when the bankruptcy court tries to reclaim it. But given your repeated posts you evidently view this "personal manufacturing ploy" as the most probable scenario. Maybe I'm wrong and iceman44's offering you up $1k on a platter. So by all means step forth to claim it and prove us naive types wrong! Just think, you'll be 1/16 of the way to a MG LE.

13
#12765 8 years ago
Quoted from Crazybanana:

This is the thread that kills Pinside. Makes me want to look for a better place to chat pinball.

Just drain the thread and you'll never have to think about it again ...

#12775 8 years ago
Quoted from PoMC:

Just caught up with the last few pages of this thread. WTF is with this Iceman guy?

WHISKEY.jpgWHISKEY.jpg

#12777 8 years ago
Quoted from jwilson:

Wow! That erupted over night.
For the record, I'll bet Iceman a case of beer that nothing comes of the whole Bill thing. Is that the bet? I forget now after the drunken ranting.

Here's the link where iceman44 offered the bet:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/jpop-update-thread%e2%80%a6%e2%80%a6%e2%80%a6%e2%80%a6%e2%80%a6mg-raza-and-aiw%e2%80%a6/page/4?tu=iceman44#post-2486616

I think he was offering 3 odds that Bill doesn't keep the proto game for himself.

27
#12937 8 years ago
Quoted from Whysnow:

Reality is that as a contractor that is owed money if you open a case now you can likely be a secured debtor which means you go to the front of the line for payment. Maybe you can get a game for all your efforts.

Whysnow, your heart is in the right place and you're very passionate about pinball, but I'd encourage you to abandon your internet law practice. For starters, ZombieYeti would be a creditor in the bankruptcy (the debtor owes money to the creditors that he can't/won't pay, hence the bankruptcy). And what kind of "secured" claim do you think ZombieYeti "likely" has here based on his unpaid work? Why do you say he'd be in a better place by filing a civil law suit now vs. waiting for the bankruptcy to make a claim? And is it likely that a bankruptcy court is going to start simply handing out games to unpaid contractors instead of auctioning everything off and distributing the cash? I am far from a bankruptcy expert myself, but based on the quality of your past legal pronouncements, I'm curious what your opinions here are based on.

Sorry if this sounds harsh, not my intent and as I say I'm no expert in bankruptcy. But when you make confident pronouncements on the internet there's always the risk, however slight, that someone might assume you know what you're talking about.

18
#12964 8 years ago
Quoted from Whysnow:

I suggest he contact a lawyer ASAP and file a civil claim now. If he is owed money as a contractor and not paid then the best thing he can do is to get the ball rolling ASAP and be on the front line of the matter.

Talking to a real lawyer sounds like a fine plan. But per KeithinMI's post above, filing a civil claim now is unlikely to help much in the bankruptcy.

Quoted from Whysnow:

you were more concerned with condesending asshattery than the obvious reality that nobody will ever be getting a game (unless they buy a prototype at bankruptcy liquidation I suppose).

Sorry you feel this way, but you routinely offer questionable legal advice/analysis in a very confident tone. Why hold forth on something when you haven't done the research to back up your assumptions? Stick to what you know (or research it a bit first so that you can post intelligently about it) and you'll get no "condescending asshattery" from me.

#12972 8 years ago
Quoted from NYP:

I would fill the cabinet with dead rats before I returned it to John.

Live rats would be more exciting.

#12983 8 years ago
Quoted from Whysnow:

a baseball bat is not a allowed form of prescribed legal rebutal on pinside unfortunately.

Not sure if your baseball bat would be aimed at JPop or me, but I guess one or both of us is lucky you're not allowed to make threats of physical violence on Pinside?!?

Quoted from Whysnow:

I would say if you are stupid enough to come to a pinball forum for legal advice from an internet lawyer then you are the real dumbazz.

Agreed, though the guy confidently offering up unsolicited and inaccurate advice may not be doing much for his image either.

Quoted from Whysnow:

IF there's no bankruptcy and there are assets, then the first to get judgments will be the first ones to be able to seize assets and get their money back. Once the assets are depleted, there's no more to go after and good luck getting paid from a defunct company with no assets.

If you'd said this to begin with I don't see how I could have disagreed with you. The qualification you added at the front is the key -- "IF there's no bankruptcy and there are assets." Bankruptcy seems pretty damn likely here but who knows, and as you say, if there's no bankruptcy the only way to get at any remaining assets is to bring a suit.

#14427 8 years ago
Quoted from jwilson:

You could have asked the programmer to help.

I didn't see a "Monday Morning Quarterback" on the Pintasia employee roster - you should throw your name in the ring.

#14958 8 years ago
Quoted from Concretehardt:

there are rumblings of criminal charges brewing. JPOP may be losing more than Zidware here, he could find himself in prison depending on what gets unearthed in this investigation.

Who knows for sure, but the fact that Skit-B avoided criminal charges with even stronger evidence of lying doesn't bode well for the chances of JPop facing jail time.

#15561 8 years ago
Quoted from toyotaboy:

I have a feeling he was AT work 20 hours a day, 7 days a week. "working" is a relative word.

Five months ago, FatAussieBogan gave the best explanation of JPop's "workday" we're every likely to see:

Quoted from FatAussieBogan:

Siting in a work shop shaking hands with the unemployed to Brazilian fart porn doesn't constitute working.

#15615 8 years ago
Quoted from toyotaboy:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporation
Doesn't apply to John since he's not a corporation (in the sense of hierachy, or stock investments), he's a one man show. Anyone that worked for him were contractors, not direct employees. He's more of a sole proprietorship:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sole_proprietorship

John himself obviously isn't a corporation. But Zidware appears to be. There's no rule that corporations have to have more than one employee. And a single person can own all of the shares in a corporation. You just have to follow the specific rules to set up and maintain a corporation (file certain forms with the state, keep certain types of records, etc.)

The point is that if John messed up in following these rules in creating and operating Zidware, then it may be possible to reach John's personal assets to recover liabilities of Zidware, the corporation (i.e. to "pierce the corporate veil"). But I'm not sure anyone (other than maybe Bill, who has apparently looked at the books) knows enough about how well John was following those rules to predict how Zidware will be viewed by a court.

#15624 8 years ago
Quoted from rai:

I thought Zane keeps 25% so you multiplier should be .75 (no?)
100% recovered $6500 x .75 = $4875 - $500 = $4375
50% recovered $6500/2 = $3250 x.75 = $2437 - $500 = $2437

You're calculating how much the buyer would get to keep after a victory, jonnyo was calculating how much the buyer would be paying Zane for his services. I think his point was that getting a lawyer to litigate a relatively complicated breach of contract case for $2k (or potentially much less, if there's less than 100% recovery) is a pretty good deal.

[EDIT: Nibbles beat me to it!]

#15627 8 years ago
Quoted from MrBally:

Is there a chance that John or his wife are friends with a judge or other influential person who could get a judge to dismiss the case?

Now that would be some impressive corruption! Never going to happen.

#15799 8 years ago
Quoted from rommy:

John said he was going to build these games himself. He even said he would come to your house to complete assembly. He promised to make these himself and we relied an that promise when we gave him money . It was a lie. He never intended to build these himself. He represented that he would build these himself and on that basis victims gave him money.
In addition I paid for RAZA , not for MG to be developed and built. The math now shows he never intended to build MG with MG money but that he had to divert funds from victims, in an Ongoing fashion, in order to keep,the lights on. He intended only to keep going. He never intended to build a machine. That means he lied and sold that lie to convince victims to give him money .

Unless John's secret diary reveals that this was all a intentional scam from the start, I'm not sure how you get past the possibility (and as a criminal defendant, all he needs is a reasonable possibility to overcome the "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard) that he's just an idiot dreamer who, like many failed businessmen before him, went down in flames still believing that things would somehow turn around and he'd make good on all of his empty promises.

#15801 8 years ago
Quoted from rai:

This thread is going down hill.

You mean since it was revealed that Zidware was a bust and no one would be getting their games or their money back? It's hard to imagine a lower point than that ...

#15808 8 years ago
Quoted from rommy:

Would you mind calling Zane Smith and explaining the futility of his legal case?

Is Zane Smith the prosecutor or the plaintiffs' attorney? I don't think anyone's arguing that there's no civil case for breach of contract here. That should be a slam dunk, only question is whether there'll be any money left at the end to pay the winners. Criminal charges are a whole different matter -- the prosecutor would have to establish a tougher set of facts (likely including intent) beyond a reasonable doubt. Might still happen, especially if juicy evidence comes out during civil discovery or in the bankruptcy, but far from a sure thing.

10
#15907 8 years ago
Quoted from goingincirclez:

If his past screw-up still bothers you, you're certainly able to weigh that concern if he announces another project in the future. But for now, honestly, what else is there to do? I realize some people are rightfully upset but man, it seems there's no pleasing or reasoning with others.

Quoted from YKpinballer:

The difference being you accept it as a "screw up." I consider it catching somebody in the middle of a robbery.

So what do you want to happen here, YK? You've now expressly accused Bill of attempted robbery. Do you have any evidence that he had prior knowledge of Ms. Wei's checkered past, let alone the intent to use her alleged skills for unlawful purposes?

#16027 8 years ago
Quoted from rommy:

If that's all that are going to try and get their money back through the courts...I'll have to revise my thinking on outcomes here. This train could definitely keep on rolling. Just silence those 11 and we go back to business as usual for Zidware. He could even ramp back up. Very surreal where this is all going.

I'm not sure why Zidware/JPop would try to pay off the plaintiffs in this particular lawsuit. Even if he has $90k to settle with them, once others see there's money to be had more suits will follow and it seems evident that he can't afford to pay everyone what they're owed. Unless Zidware/JPop shocks everyone and comes up with $1 million + for full refunds and payment all around, their obvious move is to file for bankruptcy before throwing whatever resources remain into this litigation.

Of course JPop hasn't exactly been an exemplar of rational thought and behavior, so who knows?

Quoted from RobT:

Probably partly due to the bashing that some were giving Zane Smith in this very thread, and the implications that anyone who would "waste" $500.00 on an attorney were fools as they were just throwing good money after bad.

I don't think I was "bashing" Zane Smith so maybe this isn't aimed at me. I did recommend that people be realistic about the likely outcomes of suing now. On the plus side, for $500 (essentially nothing in the world of legal expenses) you get the satisfaction of taking action against Zidware/Jpop, and an outside chance of settlement or a judgment that actually gets paid. But the suit seems pretty likely to trigger a bankruptcy filing, and if that happens the plaintiffs will be in the same position as other customers that waited to file proofs of claim. Of course if no one sued then we'd never know for certain if Zidware is bankrupt, so the suit is good for the group of buyers/contractors as a whole.

#16029 8 years ago
Quoted from YKpinballer:

Actually as far as I understand (I could be wrong) but claimants that force an involuntary bankruptcy are held in higher priority. Someone who knows for sure should chime in here though. And to clarify, I mean the claimants that are part of a suit forcing involuntary bankruptcy, not claimants that come after bankruptcy is filed.

I don't think that's right, see the discussion in this post:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/jpop-update-thread%e2%80%a6%e2%80%a6%e2%80%a6%e2%80%a6%e2%80%a6mg-raza-and-aiw%e2%80%a6?tq&tu=KeithinMI#post-2491187

Also, no new "claimants" could come after bankruptcy is filed -- civil litigation against the debtors in an attempt to recovery money owed is generally barred until the bankruptcy resolves, and pending cases are generally "stayed" (paused) and then resolved under the bankruptcy claim process.

#16031 8 years ago
Quoted from lowepg:

No, you weren't, and really, it was one person that was on a irrational tirade trashing Zane Smith (personally ANd professionally) as if HE was somehow responsible for all that was wrong with the world....

Ah, I must have missed that in the flood of posts in this thread!

#16063 8 years ago
Quoted from MrBally:

LOL, passed throught MSP yesterday and will be through there several times in July. I went through MSP (when Northworst was the primary carrier there) a few days after the "Wide Stance" incident. AH's like me adorned the special stall with tons of TP over the door, walls and porcelain receptical. Too funny.

I was hoping you'd say they've installed a plaque or historic marker on the stall ...

#16102 8 years ago
Quoted from vex:

he needed to burn that cash on rent to show he truly planned on delivering the machines. the cost of scamming i guess?

If JPop were more competent this would make sense as part of a larger scheme, but given the rest of his bumbling this seems the more likely explanation:

Quoted from boo32:

The shop was all part of his massive ego. There was a blog post that a New York photographer had come and taken a series of photos of the shop.

#16127 8 years ago
Quoted from YKpinballer:

The reason being we haven't had anybody actually confirm that it was ever sent and that it is back with zidware. "On its way" can mean a lot of things. It was not in a van between Seattle and Chicago when Brandes said that.

Whose word would you even accept at this point? You've made it clear that you view Bill as a thief, so clearly not him. Is there anyone that you'd be willing to trust as not in on the massive conspiracy you've outlined over your last fifty posts?

#16132 8 years ago
Quoted from YKpinballer:

This is the first time anyone has gone on record to say it's been delivered back to Zidware. Seems like information people would want to know. Sorry for your minor freakout.

Minor freakout?

Quoted from YKpinballer:

But yeah you're right, I'm the asshole.

Fair enough.

3 weeks later
#16921 8 years ago
Quoted from Nibbles:

What's the point, it'll all be softball questions anyway and won't really expose anything that everyone doesn't already know...

I can't imagine JPop's lawyers would let him talk to Pinball News at this point, so there will be no rambling Kevin-style interview. The main value would be to get word out to people that don't follow Pinside, and also to have a concise summary to point interested parties to instead of this massive thread.

#17008 8 years ago
Quoted from jackofdiamonds:

I love how the lawsuit against John is considered risky.Yet people are so sure he could sue for libel.
looks like everything in there is the truth.

Who said a lawsuit against John would be "risky"? Everyone agrees that the law is on the buyers' side here. The problem is that if Zidware/JPop have got no money, a judgment against them isn't worth much. In any event the lawsuits are going forward, and we'll find out soon enough if the corporation or JPop himself will be going the bankruptcy route.

1 week later
3 weeks later
#17226 8 years ago
Quoted from Rarehero:

So, has anyone confronted him in person after the Pintasia thing fell apart? I want to know how what he'd say to one of his "customers" who cornered him in person with "Where's my game? Where's my money? Where are some ANSWERS!?!?!?!"

I was wondering this as well. Is JPop talking to anyone at all at this point?

#17228 8 years ago
Quoted from Mr68:

The way he has shut out so many people that I know, my instincts tell me he has gone full Nixon, oval office seclusion, 1972.
- "I'm am not a crook"

He better have remembered to turn off the tape recorders. Otherwise his ramblings may become exhibits in court one day!

1 month later
#17899 8 years ago
Quoted from Astropin:

Too many syllables in your top line........and second line......third line it good.

I think he's ok on line one. Line two should use " fallin' " to hit seven syllables though.

Haiku Police strike again!

#18006 8 years ago
Quoted from XNIF:

Ok, i mean no disrespect to anyone but if the forum rules do not apply on this thread we might as well delete all rules. There is anger in this thread yes, understandable yes, but that does not mean anything goes right? Rules apply on all people on this forum. Sure i can drain this thread, but to me this stuff does not belong on pinside. On any other forum a moderator would have closed this thread, long ago. Two wrongs doesn't make it right.
People should be allowed to blow of steam, but this has nothing to do with that anymore. Your personal opinion as a moderator should not effect your professionality. Dealing with this stuff by forming an angry crowd and threathening people is not the way. People should talk to eachother in private that are in the same boat, why the hell is there a 18000 posts thread for? So 20 people can do a chat ? Why not use IRC?
I'm pretty sure most people on pinside feel te same about this, but they are afraid to get lynched here if the comment. So now people can lynch me...

Not trying to "lynch" you but what's the problem exactly - which of the rules do you believe are going wrongly unenforced? Seems to me the moderators still shut down threats (and even innuendo) of violence in this thread, as they should. But if someone feels they've been lied to or defrauded by someone else in the pinball community, I sure hope they'll feel free to discuss that at Pinside without being shut down for a failure to be "nice" to the perpetrator.

#18120 8 years ago
Quoted from Euchrid:

There is nothing private about the status of any litigation. Perhaps I missed it, but what is the name of the lawsuit, who is the named class action person so I can look up the docket and post the cad schedule? It's all public info.
Edit: never mind, that's what I get posting before I read the 100 other posts that followed...

Obviously it's not a literal gag order (things have really gone south if a lawyer is seeking court orders against his own clients). He's plainly asked his clients not to discuss the case on line since it cannot help anything and could hurt if someone disclosed non-public information. Doesn't mean those not connected to the litigation can't look up the public documents as you suggest, just don't expect the plaintiffs to come running here with every new development (since their lawyer has rationally asked them not to).

#18156 8 years ago

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.

#18201 8 years ago
Quoted from lowepg:

When Kulek showed up in public....
Someone BRAVELY took a picture of him... from behind.

Ironically, that's actually his good side.

#18233 8 years ago

If he's forced into bankruptcy at least the court could order him to stop spending whatever money remains ...

#18242 8 years ago
Quoted from blimpey:

I thought I recalled seeing a post on Jpop's Facebook around the time all the pre order money was flowing in of him in a new Tesla he had just purchased.

So he traded down to the Land Rover. That kind of belt-tightening shows encouraging self awareness.

2 weeks later
#18347 8 years ago
Quoted from rosh:

if it is the courthouse I think it is, not too far from my office, maybe I'll have to sneak out of work to go, my guess is it would be anticlimactic, I'm sure it will just be more motions and continuances.

It has probably been pretty boring so far. The motions were almost certainly all procedural (plaintiffs adding new plaintiffs/claims, defendant asking for more time to respond, that sort of thing) and resolved in a minute or two without anyone saying anything exciting. The court proceedings you'd really want to attend are summary judgment (where the parties will be arguing that the case can be resolved without a trial) or barring that, trial itself. All that will happen after discovery ends, which could be months (or a year or more) depending on how the court schedules things.

In sum, nothing worth wasting a lunch break on has happened yet!

5 months later
#18792 7 years ago
Quoted from TigerLaw:

StevenP might not be able to disengage at this time in the middle of the patent prosecution appeal.

Well it's hard to believe he's getting paid at this point! If he's been providing free legal work right along, he may end up out of pocket more than most or all of JPop's investors/victims.

1 month later
#18910 7 years ago
Quoted from MrBally:

He seemed like a honest guy on an episode of Jay Leno's Garage last season.....

Leno is known for hard-hitting investigative journalism.... We should encourage JPop to drive his Range Rover over for a chat with Jay and get to the bottom of all this.

2 months later
#19102 7 years ago
Quoted from jeffspinballpalace:

... and whacking off and surfing the net aren't work either.

Quoted from Blackjacker:

Fuck. 8 years of study down the drain.

Were you another of JPop's unpaid "interns"? Reminds me of one of the best posts from this thread, back before things had fully imploded:

Quoted from FatAussieBogan:

Siting in a work shop shaking hands with the unemployed to Brazilian fart porn doesn't constitute working.

#19195 7 years ago
Quoted from jayhawkai:

You were probably too full of kangaroo meat to notice how drunk he was on Foster's.

I thought Aussies were partial to barbecued shrimp ...

3 weeks later
#19335 7 years ago
Quoted from toyotaboy:

zidware page just got updated.. new logo, something is definitely going on

New money equals more time to mess around with fonts and logos ...

#19372 7 years ago
Quoted from MinusWorlds:

I assume you've seen most of the classics already...
Cowboys vs. Aliens, Wild Wild West etc...

Wait, those are the "classics"?!?

#19382 7 years ago
Quoted from iceman44:

That's disappointing Ted, was going to see it tonight, better idea is to stay home and get hammered after long week!

Or get hammered and go see the movie! Even if it sucks you won't remember the boring half.

#19814 7 years ago
Quoted from PoMC:

If Magic Girl owners are provided a machine, then doesn't that just buy SO much more time for John with regards to the RAZA and AIW customers? Meaning, how can you pursue lawsuits based on fraud when he has delivered games, albeit VERY late? Can't he just say they're coming?

If Magic Girl games were actually being shipped, that could help to undercut any claims of fraud, though the counter-argument would be that he is now on the back-end trying to cover for his prior behavior by actually making a few games.

But isn't the primary claim the buyers have here for breach of contract? Zidware took money and hasn't shipped games within anything approaching a "reasonable time." I can't see how shipping a few Magic Girls to a few buyers would do anything to the legal claims of RAZA and AIW customers that their contracts were not honored.

#19900 7 years ago
Quoted from frolic:

Everyone paid up for a Magic Girl is getting one. Then we start to make it up to the rest of my customers. Once they all are taken care of, we will then start taking new orders for my new Houdini game. In the meantime, it is here to play as well. I've got some great partners that are making this possible. So please let me introduce them...

Sadly, I don't see how this could ever happen. JPop pissed away what, $1 million in pre-order money? Unless whoever is behind AP is just going to gift him a huge sack of cash to make the ~200 (??) games he owes, how could the finances ever work out? It's possible AP could finance a small MG run on the back of Houdini sales (assuming Houdini generates sales), but hard to see how they could cover four different runs of games when only one of them has the potential to generate any money.

That said, I'll hope along with everyone else that Zidware's customers can somehow made whole, or even get back a fraction of what they're owed.

1 month later
#20328 7 years ago
Quoted from Strohz:

If you were willing, maybe folks would chip in so you could order the whole set of documents and post them? I know I would PayPal you a few $ to read the behind the scenes of this mess...

Maybe get a Pinside lawyer to advise on which are worth downloading first? Most of it is likely to be procedural stuff that's not worth paying for (like all of the amendments to the complaint to add new plaintiffs).

2 months later
#20499 7 years ago
Quoted from c508:

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.

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.

1 month later
#21076 7 years ago
Quoted from flynnibus:

I would suspect the potential for failing to have the bankruptcy declared and the liability that generates is why the lawsuit angle is the only one anyone has taken?

You really think the court would toss an involuntary bankruptcy case brought against Zidware at this point? Barring a huge additional cash influx from JPop's angel investors, that seems implausible.

#21613 7 years ago

.

#21802 7 years ago
Quoted from cheshirefilms:

Is Magic Girl the pinball version of "The Ninth Gate of the Kingdom of Shadows"? The secret to summoning the devil may be hidden in part amongst each of the games.

I kind of imagined the Devil would hide the keys to his kingdom in a game that at least shoots well.... Unless you're getting a vibe like "Repent, or where you're going every game will play like this!", in which case carry on.

#21984 7 years ago
Quoted from frolic:

My #1 rule for Pinside is "Be ok with someone else having the last word".
Cuts the shit by 99%.

This rule also works surprisingly well in the analog world.

#22017 7 years ago
Quoted from Roostking:

Aren't you pointing out personality defects in him? So how do you know he hasn't been medically labeled as medically deficient, thus he can claim to be special. Seems like a lot of drama over nothing.

Let it go, Indiana.

#22551 7 years ago
Quoted from vdojaq:

As an employee or contracted designer, maybe. No one will ever want to be a partner with that cuckoo bird again.

JPop hasn't treated his employees or contractors so well either ...

#22635 7 years ago
Quoted from spfxted:

Make it $20 and I'll make it happen!

The director strikes back!

#22706 7 years ago
Quoted from Pinballs:

"perhaps the most significant of these powers is that which allows the trustee to set aside preferential transfers". This will be my condition for joining a BK case vs Jpop, also for the case I'm already in (that may morph to include BK anyway).

"Set aside" in this context means the Judge can undo the suspect transactions. I.e. if the bankruptcy judge decided that shipping some pins to some customers without the ability to ship all pins to all customers was a "preferential transfer" then the court could order that the games (or cash equivalent) be returned. Of course your MG sits safely in the UK, so even if there's a bankruptcy and even if a judge decides that it was suspect for JPop to make and ship MG instead of just parceling out the cash as pro-rata refunds to all of his creditors, my hunch is you're safe.

#22740 7 years ago
Quoted from colonel_caverne:

I don't know exactly but I guess you are tall and so a smaller player may see half the screen I suppose..

6'2" = 1.9 meters

1 week later
#23101 7 years ago
Quoted from TOK:

I find that less irritating than the term "made whole". That sounds like something you'd say about someone waiting for news on a missing relative. I've only seen it used here, and for everything from full machines to $30 part deals.

You should stay away from lawyers then, they love this one.

#23102 7 years ago
Quoted from Pimp77:

Sell it for what you got into it dude and move on. It would likely move for the original price. Why prolong the "pain" longer than you need to?

Have you ever sold a game for more than you had into it? If not, then carry on, at least it's an ethos. If you have though you shouldn't be lecturing him for trying to turn a profit.

Quoted from Roostking:

Lol rich dudes talking about gut busting pain. If it was so painful, you guys would be dumping it for what you paid.
For some, I am sure it was torture, for others, not so much!!

Rich or poor, no one likes to feel like they got ripped off.

#23192 7 years ago
Quoted from vdojaq:

What's a dozen oysters cost down there these days?

Ok, ok, but what does a dozen cigars cost down there these days?

1 month later
#23314 6 years ago
Quoted from ChrisVW:

"When you tear out a mans tongue you are not proving him a liar, you're only telling the world that you fear what he might say".

Who is tearing out anyone's tongue? Seems to me he's talking just fine on his podcast. A better analogy is that this website is like Robin's living room and we've all been invited to a party here. If you're caught peeing in the punch bowl (for a third time, no less), or are just hanging out by the fridge and being an insufferable boor, it shouldn't be shocking when you're invited to leave.

#23320 6 years ago
Quoted from Cornelius:

There's about a dozen habitual live steppers on Pinside that aren't and will never be subjected to the constant scrutiny that K was.

What's a "live stepper"?

#23323 6 years ago
Quoted from Cornelius:

Pardon my edit. I hope your snarky comment nets you at least 10 upvotes!

Sorry you feel persecuted, I did not know what you meant. But best of luck in your hunt for upvotes/downvotes, I observe from your other posts that it's an area of great interest for you.

#23326 6 years ago
Quoted from Cornelius:

I guess I feel that you're reading the conversation, you should have been able to figure out what I meant using context. Perhaps you weren't meaning to be snarky, but based on my observation as to how many times you've downvoted me (it's an area of great interest!), it seemed rather apparent that you were being snarky.

I often disagree with the tone and content of your posts, hence the downvotes (you earn them, especially when you're complaining about downvoting which always warrants a downvote). Sadly, in this case I just didn't understand your intent. But best of luck in your crusade against the habitual line steppers, they sound like a naughty bunch.

#23328 6 years ago
Quoted from Cornelius:

I prefer hot steppers, myself.

Yeah that's what I was thinking, live stepper as a follow-on to hot stepper. Must be getting old.

1 week later
#23441 6 years ago
Quoted from John_I:

AP already accepted your Raza money from John to build parts for the pseudo Magic Girls. If there is any money left it is certainly not enough to build more than a handful of incomplete Raza to keep Jpop from going to prison. Hard to believe the courts haven't stepped in and frozen these assets long ago.

Quoted from John_I:

It is only my opinion based on common sense.

Your first post implied concrete knowledge of financial transactions between JPop and AP. If you're just speculating why not say so up front? Saves a lot of unnecessary confusion and excitement.

FWIW I thought the rumors circulating were that JPop had improbably bamboozled a mysterious new investor (and/or AP themselves) into making the Magic Girl games without any provision of funds from him. But I also took them as just that, rumors.

2 weeks later
#23513 6 years ago
Quoted from Pinballs:

Unfortunately, the plaintiffs have had very little legal support from Zane Smith, and e.g. no preparatory information about the forthcoming depositions. We received a weird email from Zane's paralegal (the only contact we get) saying that Jpop's attorney won in court to prevent video depositions (i.e. would have to be in person, bearing in mind I live in the UK), but in the same email asking us to confirm video deposition date, and stating that Jpop's attorney would be taking part in the questioning during the video (possibly a compromise agreed in court to allow the video depositions to go ahead?).
That last aspect concerns me. I'm happy to state the facts about the contract, payments etc, but if Jpop's attorney starts attacking about Pinside usernames, postings, and basically loads of 'Jpop is victim, you are wicked bastards' distraction nonsense, then it becomes a circus. I don't intend to take part in a circus. Instead of "just the facts, ma'am", this is going 'all Kulek' thanks to our apparently not so brilliant attorney. Jpop always was clever legally, what with his NDAs and contracts, and information silos, and he has struck again!
I have absolutely no idea or preparatory information about what the video deposition entails, that is taking place in 4 days. How crazy is that? As I don't wish to be a lamb to slaughter, I'm not taking part, and I hold my attorney's unresponsiveness and lack of support responsible. Thanks for nothing Mr Smith.

In the US the deposition process generally allows the other side's lawyer to question the witness (sounds like in this case they would also be recording your testimony for use at trial so you wouldn't have to travel?).

5 months later
#23753 6 years ago
Quoted from Yellowdog:

I lost track somewhere along the way. Did JPop even keep an MG for himself?

Why would he have done that? Word is it shoots like crap and is barely playable.

3 weeks later
#23761 6 years ago
Quoted from jayhawkai:

Important information about Australian culture, courtesy of Flight of the Conchords:
» YouTube video

Keitha!

1 week later
#23797 6 years ago
Quoted from Bryan_Kelly:

Every time I see "PM me with offers", I want to respond "go f yourself."

That sounds more like a suggestion than an offer.

2 months later
#23936 6 years ago
Quoted from hank527:

I guess he's a concept guy, and a crook.

And not necessarily in that order!

1 year later
#24294 4 years ago
Quoted from frolic:

The tire fire has sparked up again!
I got mail from a Chicago bankruptcy law firm today. I guess this dog has finally been put down.
https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/31083208/Zidware,_Inc[quoted image]

Zidware will presumably have little to no assets, and lots of debts. So the question will be whether the creditors find a way to pin the liability on JPop personally, or if Zidware quietly goes under and JPop just hums along at deeproot.

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