I didn't say I didn't, Jpop just said, like JJP just experienced, there is a monumental amount of crap to integrate that Lcd with the game play, and probably why Stern can't/hasn't done it yet. Maybe it will be an epic fail, that is a big concern of mine, but I don't lose sleep about it.

I want to provide as much update as possible here without any kind of NDA violation which I think is becoming a whole lot less of an issue than in the beginning.

The idea should be to get the word out and let people know what's going on in the pinball world without hurting the IP……which is WAY overblown for many reasons

Changed to a thumbs up btw I'll post what I can confirm, not what I think based on comments made on the blog, shouldn't be any kind of NDA violation

So you are saying you are a little unhappy?

I'm sure he absolutely DOES need the money and I believe he is seeking it with 3rd party financial partners. If he didn't need the money why do you think he went to 50? He loses his ass building 25 pins of anything at 17k, per John himself, he's NOT trying to maintain some profit margin, TIME has destroyed that. Thus, it is now a "live and learn" thing for him. If he has to do 50, which he does, then he is going to do them, he has no choice, like it or not. That said, for me now, with this whole experience turning south, at this point I wouldn't pony up 17k to be one of the 50 and I highly doubt anybody else would be dumb enough either until they see a major update and a definitive schedule.

It's been 39 months since MG and 32 months since RAZA, what do you imagine the "cash burn" is on the operation? It's a catch 22, how can you ramp up production/completion when you can't afford the "cash burn" and you have to do everything yourself.

AIW, I'm not sure, even though I'm stupidly in on the project right now, initially just to support him, how he could or should be spending any time on that one BEFORE the other two pins get made? $$$.

Like you said, without RAZA, you have/had zero chance of ever getting a MG completed with 17k worth of stuff in it much less 1,700. Those dollars are going to help get MG finished, if any of those dollars are left. At this point, it looks like MG and RAZA are a combo deal in terms of ordering parts and getting these done. Btw, where are all the parts, cabs, etc. for 175 pins, or 150 for that matter.

What you are saying in effect is that John is running a Ponzi scheme, RAZA dollars pay for MG and AIW dollars will pay for RAZA, as long a they exist. Maybe so. Thus, as a RAZA owner, I'm not too concerned about a 14% loss for the MG buyer, I just hope you get your pin.

Were you part of the original 13, 17 or did you come in when it got bumped to 25? What's the difference on those bumps? I recall them like it was yesterday, just shows how 3+ years can fly by.

I hope this has a happy ending for all of us! If not, it will be a "live and learn" moment for me.

With what I know and think, the risks, after all of this time, are HUGE.

Like I've said before, there will have to be "proof of life" before another $$ from me goes into anything, or don't care what list I'm on. And it's not just some "reveal", but it has to come along with the proven ability and funds to get it done.

It's so clear to me that from a "business standpoint" that he doesn't understand when he says you can get only 2 of 3, PRICE, QUALITY, SPEED. We know SPEED has left the building and to expect it up front is crazy anyhow. However, to survive within Zidware, his own company, SPEED has to be part of the equation, he doesn't work for Bally anymore!!!

It's called CASH BURN.

He gave us a "production timeline" in the original packets. Zero update since, yet he must have thought it was important then?

If he changed the timeline so readily why would anybody think he wouldn't change the quantity? John is obviously a pinball genius, and a business _____ fill in the blank.

I think Hank's offer to sell his spot is the tip of the iceberg.

That sums it up right there as I've been saying. I run a business, I rely on others to do my marketing and creative work.

If you are like me, it's been LONG ENOUGH, its time for some definitive answers.

I'll say it again, he used a "production timeline" in our original packets to sell us. I want an update and schedule that he holds himself to. Period.

Who's doing the code, how are they getting built, and after all of this time, where is the $$$ coming from. Don't like it, I don't care, send me a check. I don't need a pin that bad.

A great experience is turning into total frustration. Expo set it all off and was the straw that broke my back. I'm now in on TBL, out on TH (and getting a refund check, imagine that) and on the fence with TWD. Also love Alien.

How about that, with ALIEN, they actually have a production schedule! How did that happen?

Well if you click on their webpage you can count 13 employees, I'm sure one of those is a bookkeeper.

As the saying goes, its time to shit or get off the pot. No more eggshell nonsense. NO EXCUSES.

I love the guy and what he's done and is capable of doing but enough is enough.

The whole idea of the NDA at this point is a JOKE, take a look around, other guys are building pins without worrying about what kind of IP he has or doesn't have!

I'll have more comments tomorrow. I just don't think it does any good on the blog, especially if he will control the comments.

If you don't agree with me then feel free to publicly denounce me!

The pins will get done, he won't ruin his 33 yr reputation in pinball and massive Ego by not delivering.

At this point, I don't really even give a shit, I'm excited about TBL, Alien and maybe TWD, the true zombie pin.

Yeah Chris, mob, intervention, I don't know what it is, just complete and utter frustration on our end.

I've said it from day one, if I lose my money it was a risk worth taking. Onward and upward.

My guess, and I hope not, is that John will first act like a petulant child and not respond at all.

I don't know if he took it more in that direction because of Spooky or not or just that's where his creative brain went but IF the ideas and art ever make it into a pinball machine it's gonna be great!

John values his "33 year pinball" history greatly and I know he'll die trying. He will get it done.

Just my thinking here but......

I know John is working on getting a partner to help with the production, big question

We will get to see a MG release in a few weeks, should be a huge boost

Plus, John said we will get a big RAZA reveal the first two week in January

The coding is being done by some "new talent", that issue has never changed

At this point, it makes sense to wait until "RAZA reveal", I'm sure you will be able to get out then if you still want to.

We have waited this long, another month and 1/2 and we will know a timeline and direction.

No and No to those questions.

We may not ever get pins, RAZA anyhow, MG guys will get theirs in whatever state it ends up in but I believe they either get done or John dies trying. It might be an old age death, but still trying nonetheless

Really dumb on his part, but there will be more despite what the early adopters of MG think or want.

Is it right based on how it was sold? No. But it is what it is and that is some major pinball magic!

You do see 3 prototypes aligned in a row right? MG will get done and produced, so will RAZA, the only question is when, because it won't be the $$$.

That doesn't mean either that it goes on for years into the future.

There is no getting "comfortable" but life goes on and at some point in his life he will have to get it done.

When that happens, IF it happens, it will be what I want. That simple.

I'm trying to get a conference call set up first with John, with Q & A so everybody can dial in and hear for themselves.

The blog post by John was a move in the right direction as he is apparently listening to what owners are saying and being prodded by StevenP as well, as a lawyer that has done work for him and at least has his ear.

With MG being set up for production in March, my plan is to visit in Feb based on what comes out of the calls and further info. Ideally, everybody is happy and I don't have to go.

The "financial state" of John and his company needs to get addressed by him as well. It's not just about "when" and "timelines" its about "how".

This is going to be a toughie, but what funds remain to produce the pins we have paid/partially paid for?

I hope there is some segregation of funds amongst the projects. While I would expect a portion of deposits received for AIW to go to "general overhead", we can't have 100% of RAZA and AIW deposits going to build MG.

I think he realizes that which is why there will be 50 MG's if he can sell them.

I agree with that, but it's most efficient, cheapest and quickest way, versus organizing a class, to get the ball rolling now. That doesn't mean a class doesn't follow or multiple suits.

If the end result is that everybody gets a refund, like Rai did recently, then its mission accomplished for them. So John has already set the precedent with Rai.

We are looking for accountability and a group like FAST pinball to get involved. This is just the first step. Maybe that will get the job done.

There won't be any scorched earth because there will be no lawsuits of any kind. It's just not reality, what lawyer would waste his time on such nonsense and who would pay him? Nobody gets a pinball machine and only the lawyers get paid.

That said, I just got off the phone with John, spent the last hour and a half with him.

There is a ton of misinformation out there.

He's not moving at the pace everybody would like, which he fully acknowledges, but there is a ton of stuff to show and reveal that will be done by opening up the Blogs on each project to everybody so they can see for themselves, and him adding additional stuff to it.

News flash, John has an accounting firm that handles all the tax issues and reporting. He does have the cash to build our pins with the remaining deposit money due. I told him to use me as a resource from that standpoint and he plans to take advantage of it.

We talked about firing himself from the $15 an hour work that an assistant does and focusing on what matters. That is easier said than done for a non business guy. He's had an assistant that he had to get rid of because she got nothing done timely!

I'm an excellent judge of character and John is the farthest thing from a scammer, con artist, etc. That's MY judgement after speaking with him for that length of time.

John is a good guy that gets his feelings hurt and that's just the way it is, I told him what I think and how he should react to the negativity and criticism, including from myself. Don't retreat, embrace it head on, full disclosure and "don't let the bastards wear you down".

There are people working and helping to get things done. John's no dumbass as a designer and there is a shitload of stuff to conquer, i.e. JJP Like Jack, he's not the master of communication or thinking things through.

John and I agreed to talk at least WEEKLY, with updates and whatever help I can provide him from a legal, tax and financial standpoint. I'll pass on whatever info he gives me.

Anybody can feel free to call him, don't be intimidated, he's a great guy.

It's time to put the pitchforks down, you will get an incredible pinball machine at the end of the day.

For the record, he hasn't paid himself in months and offered to allow me to verify that claim.

He's working to get the blogs and all the reveal stuff up for everybody to see and you can thank another pinsider helper in Steven P. for that part as well.

I'm telling you guys, this is gonna be what we all wanted it to be. Not easy, not without some future BS and issues but we will all be informed and updated.

John wants that and I'll make sure of it.

I'm gonna let John throw out the "blog updates" and we can all go from there.

I'll make sure, and he would want it this way, that any monies paid to get these projects done are protected and with a plan in place.

That is correct. Per John and the prior "project manager", the hardware is "done" and already implemented in Quetzel's Nemo pin.

I believe Tony of GLM said he's been paid on 8 invoices and there are a couple still outstanding, correct me if I'm wrong Tony.

Aaron with FAST and the Mission guys have a modular and soup to nuts hardware/software platform that from what I understand is "taking the possibilities of pinball forward" and much easier to integrate and implement.

One possibility would be to have an MG play field sent to Seattle to have those guys populate it and get it flipping on their platform in a very short amount of time and then ready for production over a set timeline of say MG by June, correct me if I'm wrong Aaron.

It's not that John is scrapping the GLM boards, its just creating an option B possibility that has come along with Aaron and Mission. If it works, we customers get a better pinball machine without any delay, probably quicker.

Those guys are talking and I'm not sure what John is going to do but we will see shortly.

He's at the stage of needing that "project manager" to bring it all together and get them built.

I'll get an update in a few days.

I believe i pretty much can and will. If John can't get it done himself then it goes to a plan B handoff.

Now I realize that so many of the rubberneckers want to see this thing crash and burn horribly and it makes for great conversation on here, and I've been as critical as anybody, but the BS and smart ass rhetoric doesn't do a damn thing.

Look, seriously, I get why anybody and everybody would question all of this BS, and that's what it is.

Crying and whining about it non stop won't make a bit of F ing difference.

And no, its not about "lawyering up", that won't even be necessary, there will be ways to get this pin out the door in one form or another, with John, in some capacity no matter what.

I wouldn't waste my time if I thought this was a lost cause, it's not.

What is going to happen shortly, is Aaron and his team of 5 guys or so will be traveling to Chicago to meet with John and the goal is to come away from there with a set of GOALS, and a workable TIMELINE to get shit done. John has to convey concepts etc. to the "team", and he is willing.

I'm confident that Aaron and "team" can take that dialogue and make it happen. Does that mean that John can't do it with what he already has in place? Nope. But if the track record is any indication then I think we need another jockey to help whip this thing to the finish line.

Let's please not get off into, "omg, what about all the time, $$$ and BS that has gone into getting to this point with other vendors" mantra.

There's Option A, and then there is Option B. Can it be any clearer?

Two options are better than One, especially when the second one involves the FAST team.

And I believe, its a unanimous feeling across all the owners.

Once we get all the BS that I know very little about in place and those guys really do their thing, then I think there needs to be some certainty, trust and credibility rebuilt with John.

The "mystery" of all the $$$ and financials, what's left, etc. needs to no longer be a "mystery" and that is where I can really help and vouch for and give credence to the business side of what he is trying to accomplish.

If there isn't a "profit motive" and its purely about the "love of pinball", then there is no way its ever gonna get done. SkitB included.

If there isn't a profit to be made, there will never be a pin #2 or pin #3, ask Stern, JJP. The numbers have to work or we are all just wasting our time.

It's just my guess, but most people up to now have told John what he wants hear, kiss his ass, etc. And he's probably surrounded himself with those people. It's a new day! Brutal honesty with an underlying sense of love for him and what he is doing is what is called for.

Treating people the right way, owners and vendors, is paramount, and I won't put up with any BS going forward, despite what has happened in the past.

It's simple, we have artists that have gotten in way over their heads from a business standpoint. Time to fix that, if possible.

It's not just that making "Pinball is hard", anything worth doing is "hard", life can be a bitch but you have to see it through and get it done. Simple as that.

It's tough enough to gain traction and build ANY business over time, but I know it has to be done with honesty and integrity and doing what you say you are going to do. I guess it shouldn't be a surprise that some will make it and some won't. Nothing was ever pre ordained, good or bad, it just worked out the way it did. Spooky, JJP, SkitB and Jpop.

Our pinball community is a close knit one. Don't shit where you eat. Hard to survive that.

Life is too short for sure Chris, the AG will probably do less than this prick.

When people like Ben and Charlie are getting it done every day and this guy just simply has no shame regarding what he is doing to all of us is just sickening.

He will have to live with what he has done the rest of his life. He can't get it done, a complete loser and deadbeat.

I can have sympathy for somebody that will communicate and pay his vendors.

This is just too much to take and not acceptable. F it, time to move on for me.

The beers are on me fellas! I'd love for us to all get together soon, have a bunch of laughs/tears and put this disaster behind us.

Thanks John

Ok let's assume for a minute that I actually was "intoxicated" when I talked to him, why would I even care about admitting to that, in fact, in hindsight it would have been a good idea to get INTOXICATED before i spent hours on the phone with him.

I feel like it's possible that Kim jumped in there on some ego trip and attempted to cut off my involvement, after all, Kim repeated that "hearsay" right here didn't he? For what purpose Kim?

Why would you want to slander me when you weren't in on the conversations?

What I object to is the idea that being "intoxicated" I was somehow abusive and yelling at him, and while he probably needs a healthy dose of that, I didn't do it.

So now we are left with StevenP, who I like, and Kim, both of whom will do nothing but kiss his ass. Ok, get er done!

I'm thinking most people feel that way too, but, we know pinheads are very fickle and IF MG's actually get made and IF they kick ass, gotta believe it could turn around in a hurry.

I acknowledge those are BIG IF's.

I'm also very interested in other groups and supporting what they might be putting together.

John would have to give up total business control and I don't see him coming to that realization until its too late, but we will see what happens. There are interested people, I just know it takes a lot to get a deal done.

From day one I mocked the whole patent BS. Sorry Steve but ZERO chance of defending anything.

Even Rick the Dick, good luck prosecuting anything

There is something wrong when some amazing voice work can't get done on Whitewater because of Rick. I will NEVER buy shit from him

I believe that is a possibility with John left to merely tie up design.

I'm pretty sure the masses will calm down if we actually see signs that we might get our pinball machines no matter how they get done

I'm thinking that there must be other Zidware assets that have some value. Otherwise I can't imagine dropping big $$$ in on just the pinball IP

You might think differently if it was your 1 million that was at risk

He asked me if I wanted to be involved and I considered it and then said he was nuts. BUT, with him involved it WILL get done.

You do understand that he nor anybody else would drop a dime in with the onslaught of litigation

So if that's what you want, the other option is Zippo

That statement was more full of hope and lacking in facts and reality

Based on the facts I know now, it's significant hope and what I mean is based on his track record and what he does, IF it goes forward in confident in him that it WILL get done

I understand folks skepticism. This is just my opinion

But..........I'm thinking that Zaney has sued Jpoop, after taking mucho $$$, and I do realize that Jpoop can go into "voluntary BK"

And GL going after Jpoop's personal assets, I'm sure Zaney will get it done! He is after all, Zane D. Smith, attorney at law. What a F ing joke that is.

^^^^^^^^^ And what Tiger said as well.

He couldn't have sunk his own ship any worse. It very well could have been saved, many people tried to help and he KNEW he was in trouble and kept taking money from people.

Why he torpedoed himself will always blow my mind.

There is only one saving grace in this whole equation.

Last August or so, several people, including myself and Bill were trying to get in Magic Girl, thinking it was close to being done based on his representations, and we were put on "the list" of buyers that he was going to raise up to 50.

We tried to give him our $$$ for the MG waiting line and he did refuse to accept it! He told me to give him about 30-60 days to get everybody in line but to "be ready" when it came time to pay up.

Had i done that, along with others, and had he taken the $$$, i promise you this, I would have made the Hulk look like a pansy. So he knew the jig was up then BUT he still took in Raza and AIW money.

Really sick at the whole shitterie, should have known, taken the blinders off. STUPID

Yep

Yep

I believe he has until the 8th to answer the "Bruce Zamost" lawsuit.

Like Boo and Tiger and many of us have said, let the general denials fly!

Then its up to the plaintiffs to spend more $$ to seek discovery and depositions.

By then, Jpopadeuce has thrown himself into bankruptcy.

Tiger has alluded to the difficulty in "alter ego" theory and piercing the corp veil. I agree its difficult but I've seen a few cases here in San Antonio where two separate "builders", imagine that, came to me after the fact to discuss what they could do.

Well, here was what you should have done BEFORE you didn't follow the minimal corporate formalities and that really good plaintiffs lawyer got a judgement against you and your personal assets. I was surprised at how little it really took in those two cases.

However, builders don't get very much sympathy here in Texas I suppose because they aren't really held accountable to many standards, credentials or occupational regulation.

Talk about Ponzi schemes, using somebody's $$$ to finish the prior house(s) and when the house of cards come crumbling down there is usually two or three bag holders.

They just shut down the entity, and open up for business under another name.

Maybe John will try that? Hehe

Jturd never said he was sorry, nor ever explained anything and this is just another bunch of horseshit!

Nothing will ever get done.

This whole thing is a joke.

Look at the office that Duvali Komani is operating out of? Seriously?

Prior to MG actually being delivered it was highly unlikely anybody like AP would come along. They did

Now he has shown huge demand for those MG pins selling for more than twice what people paid for them

Maybe he won't get anything done ever again but it's much more likely now that someone is going to take a chance on him seeing what those MGs are selling for

If somebody thinks $$$ can be made going forward because of this windfall fiasco, imagine if he actually can produce a pin that plays, with the right partner. He now has something to sell. A track record of people willing to buy despite his history!

He's not going away and the legal battles will only intensify now