Rich criticism coming from the Iceman, but nothing like some irony in the morning. If people make reckless decisions they should expect the possibility of painful outcomes. People literally gave up their coins to Celsius and now they’re F’ed. Similar to ppl who gave Deeproot money, play stupid games win stupid prizes. The silver lining is hopefully communities become smarter in the future. But perhaps you’d like to cheerlead this preorder as well? Keep that track record going.

John would prefer 3 vs 10? Wouldn't that only generate $30,000 in revenue rather than the "necessary" $100,000? Even if the mini's have less bling, development, art and programming costs are still fixed.

Those amounts sound somewhat low given all they have accomplished. I suspect they are worth considerably more.

The less I have to build the better, but the limit is a fixed maximum of 10 prototype pinball machines for Texas 2023 in March. Or 1 rich whale could surface & bite in at the last minute. Need the countdown clock posted up.

Busy day crank call #2 from Los Angeles Metropolitan. If that is my favorite fan here, try to act more convincing. You guys trying to disguise your voice is stupid. I do not remember a bunch of guys voices from past shows. PS: the 2 so far have their number visible!

Also here is a video of a few of the many playfields that I had cnc cut for Seawitch & Star Gazer in 2020. Inserts installed before I sold my business to Fantastic Pinball (Greg Walker). The agreement was the final prepaid guys remaining on the Seawitch list would get their playfields. So even when I hit very rough times I made sure there was a exit plan in place. Greg is a true friend & you can probably guess who I would use for playfields in the future.

So a big whale gets a proto for 100k but 10 mini whales get a proto for just 10k each?
If I was the big whale to dive in I would expect 10 protos and no less!

Trifling details. Why bother with those ? Don't you see the grand vision of John here ? Don't you know its all figured out in his head ? And don't ya know whatever he produces with this $30K or $100K or whatever will be solid gold, gold I tell ya ? And his customers (the aforementioned fools) will upon receipt sing his praises for such a wonderful game. Contracts, specifications, deliverables, those are such antiquated terms. Project management and budgeting is so passe. Who needs those when you have dreams waiting to be fulfilled for those who will believe on a handshake and a cleared check alone.

Would you prefer, perhaps, whale song?

Friendly reminder to all readers that while many of us are expressing doubts about this project's feasibility, messing with people with crank phone calls crosses the line into harassment. If it's anyone from here, I would advise ceasing that.

(That said, as a fan of Kitboga and Jim Browning, crank phone calls to actual scammers who knowingly cause harm is 100% A-okay.)

You forgot the plan is to have the big reveal for SXSW & TPF. The guys with low expectations here will see the result in March 2023 in Texas.

Also want to mention that it was me who ordered special yellow Stern classic arrows for Seawitch, & CPR got 700 of the 1000 for their production. The 3/4" & 1" trans blue were not available from any vendor. Thanks to Northern Precision Plastics in the past for being a contract manufacturer in the past for pinball production. https://www.northernprecisionplastics.com/

There are a lot of pessimistic people here. Let's get this done.

I was about to give you guff for "group" until seeing you later then use the proper "pod" ("gam" and "school" are also acceptable).

Seriously, are there 12 year old kids in this thread?
Regardless of John's delusional aspirations, behavior like this is just as absurd and childish.

So now you've gone from 1 "whale machine" for 100k to 10 "mini whale machines" for 10k each? Oh and all still by TPF 2023 because that's totally feasible.

Jesus titty fucking christ your business plan gets dumber by the day. Is this some sort of Andy Kaufman-esque prank?

Can the big whale decide to split his order into 10 mini whales and get 10 machines instead of 1? No bling but much more hardware for the same price.

As the thread turns. Sorry John but this is a train wreck in every way!

Please end this madness and go play some fun pinball

Galileo only needed an apple. Not $100K or a whale to get it.

LTG : )

How about 100 micro whales?

Or 3. He would prefer 3. Try to keep up, Ben.

Or 1 Big Whale Investor for $100k US. Which would get retired professional help from pinball past for design & art. Times are tough with inflation lately.

Keeping GWJ's reputation that he never let a customer down his whole life seems like a surefire way to go bankrupt if the money runs out on this project, oh wait...

Is the TPF deadline because GWJ dreams he will be the winner of the American Pinball contest that promises to build a homebrew of their choice? For that, the machine would have to be present at the show, not at GWJ's brother's place.

Maybe John thinks if he drinks as much as I do he will magically gain my abilities?

I don’t know anything about beer, but I bet I could start my own brewery before John can make a pinball machine. I’ll call it: W.H. Ale

Let me get this straight? You are going to go and negotiate the rights for the TPB license with no money, only the backing of phantom investors? Then you are going to go and try an collect from each of your gift givers? Dude, you have ZERO chance. No need to keep everyone hanging until Aug. I can tell you the answer is NO right now.

I don't understand this reasoning. The IP holders can tell him the price is $XYZ then it's GWJ's problem to gather that amount of money before they change their mind. GWJ does not have to tell them he does not have the money in hand right this moment. What am I missing?

I don't know much...but I am absolutely certain there is zero self-awareness involved. AI or otherwise.

To secure an IP you leave an immediate deposit of earnest money.

Hmmm.... Lets see... 5 cents for a beer can returnable multiply by 2,000,000 cans = $100,000
I think that will do it.

FKKC2OOLOFAVRD7YBVKWVRCFCY (resized).jpg

Where's the Labatt's and the Molson eh?

He drank them first so they are at the bottom of the pile.

All this talk about Whales is giving Sea-Monkeys dork envy.

Ben everyone knows you are a real smart dude, & I am just your average guy who likes to have a few adult beverages. Already said it earlier, & no I do not want to wonder the streets looking for returnable deposits on cans for 5 cents.

You are underselling yourself Ben, its WAY more than just ability he needs:

1) You would build a prototype of said game pretty much YOURSELF from scratch on your own dime
2) You would estimate and allocate appropriate time to do so.
3) This prototype would actually work and be more than a box of lights with bad shots.
4) You would have people play it and suggest further design refinements.
5) You would conclude refinements and call up Spooky/CGC to manufacture.
6) Spooky/CGC would finalize, spin it up and take real pre-orders.
7) Spooky/CGC would roll the machine off the line and people would receive their machine and all would be right with the world.

And most importantly we would have some conception you would actually succeed because you've done it from A to Z multiple times.

Pinball Manufacturing is Hard!

No one said you would have to wander the streets to find that many cans for 5 cents.

I am cheerleading it. Just like Deeproot.

People are free to make their own choices for whatever reasons and take responsibility for themselves.

I had written off Jpop $$ long ago. And when anyone makes a choice you have to accept the consequences. What’s the point?

Big deal, not the last mistake I’ll ever make either. And inconsequential.

I chose NOT to participate in Bitcoin except for a small Coinbase account. On and on.

I made the bigger mistake of not buying more Apple when it hit $130 and now it’s $153.

So yeah, I’m wrong a lot in hindsight

Didn't you have money in a couple other pinball failures as well?

Just like the Deeproot puzzle thread, John is putting out a puzzle to be solved.

You guys are working hard on it

Missed out on ShitB.

Lost $1k on Alien. But got an LE eventually.

But I’m happy with my big net gains in the value of my pins if you want to look at it that way. I don’t

I also don’t cheerlead for failure and mishaps and things that go wrong.

Shit happens. and the pinball HOBBY is fun, that’s all it is, not F ing life or death, my life success isn’t defined by it.

A nice set of cinderblocks would really tie the pin together…

You forgot the paper napkins, & yes I am old school of business deals. Trust goes a long way, & you soon find out who can get it done right.