I got a good feeling this TPB shit is gunna happen!! Thanks for stirring the pot John. Hang in there.

I’m surprised John hasn’t put more effort into explaining his offer and subsequent plan. The money is not for him. It’s for a contracted creative team. And a big box of parts. That in theory would be assembled by him. I’m sure he has gimmicks to make this machine unique. Again probably contracted out. And UV flatbed printing out the ass. Again more contractors.

And there I think is the biggest problem. I recently read his 50 page repro playfield fiasco so for me it feels like yesterday. I also helped me understand him and the shortcomings associated with his plan. Contractors. It was always the contractors. Taking forever. Screwing shit up. Losing things. It was never ending… And he was sick more than half the time. But I digress.

John I know your reading this. Plan C: Build a flipper. By yourself. With your own box of parts. Then go sail that thing around until you can harpoon that whale. Anything else is cheating the logical progression and everyone has seen how that goes…

He’s not capable. He’s not capable at communicating, leading a business, or reading other people. I’m not saying this as an insult. We all have limits. Some recognize their limits, some can’t.

Capable of doing many things, & not allowed to mention the other one. I will explain it again, the contractors, retired designer & artist from pinball past, & myself will get paid out of a single big whale investor for $100k US. The money will be managed by the investor, in perfomance goals of the project over 6 months. Still working towards the single investor this month. If not on to Plan B. My phone number is up here, even if you are not the investor. Always here to explain how to get stuff done, like build pinball machines.

You forgot the part where the proposed schedule is at least 4 times too short.

So, if I understand you correctly, the success or failure of the project will rely on your ability to organize and guide a bunch of subcontractors (who will take care all design duties, art, sound, programming, etc...)? You will also handle all the materials procurement, and build the game?

I give him credit for at least trying to do something that obviously seems to be a goal he wants to achieve.

There are a lot of very successful and famous people that have filed bankruptcy only to come back to reinvent themselves and thrive!

I would never put anyone’s efforts down no matter how implausible it might sound.

Because I’m wondering who you think you are to condemn and judge others? lol:

Go get em Big John, I think you are just now hitting your stride. Make it happen!

To be fair, he stated he is not asking for a lump sum of money. The investor will make payments as milestones are reached.

I agree. He went from owning a home and 20 really friggen nice pins to losing everything while his health floundered and still managed to produce dirt cheap playfields for most everyone as promised. The fact that he doesn’t talk about how or if that’s linked to his bankruptcy tells me he’s probably legally gagged as even he has alluded to.

You all need to give the poor guy a break. Let him sink or swim. He’s earned it…

Not meaning any harm or foul on him and I hope he does get what he is looking for in an investor. After posting it, I realize it was a "troll" post and I will edit it because you are right that at least he's trying to do something productive to make a recovery and I'm all for that.

It’s easy to be the peanut gallery here, but wow is this so not gonna work. You massively undercapitalize a project and then double down and propose that it is contractors who will realize this vision. Contractors are for when a startup is desperate for talent, bought on a fractional and limited amount. Contractors is not a business plan. Contractors commitment to your project ends at the last paycheck they receive. Well, I’ll give credit for one thing here: the entire whackadoodle plan (or more correctly stated lack of a plan) is laid bare for all to see. So caveat emptor to the buyer who has $100K to give, has this thread to read, and still proceeds. I had always hoped John was just trolling us all. It’s very clear he is not. Peoples commitment to irrational thought clearly demonstrated in this instance.

“Caveat emptor”. Do you honestly believe that anyone who spends $100k would not do their own due diligence?

It’s hysterical that anyone thinks that they are somehow saving future potential “investors” by posting their own views.

It’s great for comedy purposes but that’s about it.

If anyone really wanted to explore this they would pick up the phone and call John.

I’ve seen some crazy shit happen in my time, both good and bad.

There are a number of real pinball designers & artists that are retired. Or not in the business for years which if the investor is found is the route of realistically being able to have a full working pinball machine built in the 6 months, & at the $100k US mark. In 3 weeks we will know if that happens, if not on to plan b starting August 1. Not going to make new electronic boards since there are a few choices to go from. I have met Joe Balcer, along with a number of other great pinball talent over the years. If it moves forward they will do their stuff at home.

I am confident John’s plan involves setting aside $30k+ to pay his creditors in bankruptcy.

Have you lined up any designers and artists and know what their salary is or are you just estimating?

This is the part I don’t get. If you can’t find one guy to make one pin for, Plan B is finding ten people to make ten (scaled-down) pins? Isn’t that a lot harder to accomplish?

Yes that is a lot harder, & I will likely just go with 3 -5 at $20k US. This project has to be finished before March to go to SXSW & TPF in 2023. None of the money is going to my personal bankruptcy! Also like I have said from the start the project might just die if no investors are found, Plan A or B.

Most people know I lost a shit load of money & time doing playfields over almost 15 years. Almost all Seawitch & Star Gazer playfields were $500 US prepaid with free shipping to USA. When contractors screwed the playfields I absorbed the cost & time. That being said I now have a core group of contractors I trust.

Gonna invest Doug? C’mon man…

John, what's the breakdown for the $100k in terms of what goes to who for what en route to creating a machine?

If a miracle happens Rick, you never know.

And no, it won’t be me but I’m rooting for the guy. It’s not my concern what anybody else actually does.

I’m not going to go into mental breakdown mode like Rare Sandwich and others just because the dude is throwing it out there.

Wanna know? Pick up the phone and call him

Big whale investor just rolls off the tongue!!

This is exactly Jpop’s Magic Girl plan, but worse and dumber.

What was it, 19 MG’s at $16k = $304k. Those numbers never made sense. You can’t develop a game, pay artists, musicians, programmers, etc. - let alone produce it for that amount of money.

Now you’re gonna do it for less in 2022’s economy?

Not happening.

Wouldn’t be surprised if the mystery “retired designer” is fucking Jpop lol …no wonder Sandwich was constantly saying Jpop will come back.

Been biting my tongue for a long time, but after watching you cheer on deeproot and a few other careless endeavors, I gotta let this out. For the record, my father lost a good amount of $$$ on deeproot, and many times that I questioned why he continued to stay a believer, it is because he said he communicated with you personally and felt you had good inside information.

I struggle to understand why you encourage things like this. You've seen better ideas than this fail many times over. You flaunt your education and your wealth in other threads, as well as all of the other wealth that you manage. Here we have somebody asking for $100K, that will clearly never succeed in reaching the goal of delivering a game on schedule or on budget. Why do you encourage this? Is this some kind of weird "Dinner for Schmucks" type thing that brings you pleasure?

John,
As many others have told you, this project needs proper definition and associated planning. If that cannot be clearly conveyed in a manner that an investor/donor can easily consume, then I think you are best off just enjoying your retirement as-is. I wish you happiness in retirement, and having a hungry investor/donor ("whale") hounding you for schedule, status, and deliverables is likely not something that coincides with a peaceful retirement.

Do not know how many times I got to say Jpop is never going to be involved in the project. People have stated what they believe the costs would be for 1 pin. I believe my numbers at $100k US. Do not have to explain everything here for those that have no interest in it. Yes I could have a better retirement doing nothing towards pinball builds or parts. 3 weeks time will tell.

Why not just build an ultimate TPB pin and sell it for 100k? If everyone on your team puts in a little sweat equity, they should get paid upon sale. The TPB license does not seem like a hurdle as it might be with say, Mario Brothers.

Without all the whale talk, or hope of the big whale investor, I feel like we’re losing some marketing pizazz.

We need to keep this thread pumped for the whale. He’s out there. He knows who he is, this whale . $100k is not a lot of money to him for a one of a kind machine.

Is it too late to change the theme? Couldn’t you do something like Rocky 5………

…thousand

Who is it? John Trudeau? THE CURSE OF THE JOHNS!!!!

Your mystery designer might as well be another Jpop. There’s a reason people like Jpop were never hired by legit pinball companies. The legit pinball people all knew he was a fool & a detriment that any successful company could
not afford. Since your mystery designer is not in the current booming industry, it’s likely for the same reasons. If they’ve actually confidently thrown in with you, that’s a red flag.

My guess is that your mystery designer & contractors have not committed to you & your plan. A true “whale pitch” would have all the specifics in print, in a contract. No one is going to fork over $100k without a detailed document & legal protection.

We will go down the list slowly this month. It will not be John Trudeau or Jpop. Lots of talent out there. Still think Jpop will surface again, my personal opinion.

Bally wasn’t legit? I mean we all hate what he did with his sham company and Magic Girl, and let’s not forget the spectacular line of shitty little Zizzle games. But he did design TOM, CV and TOTAN for B/W. Which are all fabulous games.

Even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes.

Design, or help design? Big difference between those two things. I always wondered how much of those B/W's games were his design? Years ago, I was under the false impression that the artwork was his doing too.

For real? I’m talking post-B/W. The “current era.”

Oh for sure. But not on $100K. Contractors may be one of the most expensive ways to do things as there is zero sweat equity. But yes, if they have expertise you don’t, and are gonna be more efficient than you are (I’m thinking CNC parts as one example), then they can be the best expensive choice.

Here is what GWJ just doesn’t seem to get. If I have $100K I either want low risk lower return or high risk higher return. The $100K is all high risk, low return and very likely no return. And while he previously might have been able to fish in the ocean of people willing to throw money down to get a machine in return, given the very public failures recently this has dried up into a duck pond.

If I had $100K to give to him my next question would be “and then what John ?”. Which is to say once the $100K has run out (and it will) where does the next tranche of capital come from ?

There is clearly stupid money out there for whom $100K is like change in your glove compartment. And he is clearly gonna have to find it. Good luck.

I call entrepreneurs like GWJ the Field of Dream class. Give him money and you can be sure good things will happen. Trust him, you don’t need to know the details.

What he further fails to recognize is that there are not the supposed 6 degrees of separation between him and the likes of JPOP. I to this day believe JPOP meant no actual harm, nor did RM for that matter. The problem is they didn’t recognize their own incompetence to manage money and get things done, nor have any understanding of the true complexities of what was to be done. The harm part came when they realized they screwed up, needed to siphon off more money, and tried to throw up every roadblock for comeuppance for being idiots. True character only comes out when the road has challenges ahead.

GWJ is the perfect example of the Dunning Krueger effect if there ever was one. Nothing any of us will write here will convince him there will be a different outcome than the one he predicts. Throw Ballerama in the same category. Pinside are just naysayers.

There is no harm in dreaming and having false beliefs. But once that money goes into his bank account watch out. It isn’t gonna be pretty. It takes a very special group of people working day and night to achieve something great on zero capital. That can happen but it is a rare bird indeed, and I don’t believe any of us have seen anything revealed thus far to give us hope that it had been assembled here.

Why don’t us naysayers just turn our head away and let happen whatever happens ? Well, for me it’s because I don’t like seeing people screwed even if there was no intention to screw them. The good news if there is any is that we aren’t seeing in this or the Ballerama thread the likes of what we saw before. Maybe the community has learned something after all

Gotcha. Well he is certainly excluded from the “current era” due to his debauchery and scheming. I don’t think any of the few big names left want to have anything to do with him for that reason alone.

He is credited with designing Houdini also, so there’s that. Obviously AP had to take his designs and make a lot of tweaks and revisions before release.

He’s still a scumbag in my opinion, at least from a moralistic and business sense. But even if his input was 50%, he participated in some really good titles.

My understanding was that AP was forced to scrap John’s unplayable prototype and start over from scratch. The only thing in common with JPop’s Houdini was the (unlicensed) theme.

Curious if the singular $100k investor would get exclusive ownership of all of the IP for the game, including source code, design files, source art, etc.

I think they would insist upon it. If John ever somehow is offered the $100k, it will come with a hefty contract and a lot of strings attached. The investor will want to keep anything that might conceivably generate future revenue.

Let’s go Deeproot and let’s go John!!!!!

Everybody got to see what Deeproot had on the bankruptcy liquidation. It ended badly. Shit happens.

This is typical of our society today, blaming others for everything. Mini mob. If you are pointing fingers at me you can shove it, take some responsibility for yourself

Regardless of how ridiculous you think this idea is it’s no excuse to act like a jackass to the guy, who seems like a nice guy.

Don’t listen to the haters. Keep plowing ahead right through it. Do it your own way.

I’m pulling for you buddy.

I listened to the recent interview with David Fix & American Pinball. Interesting how another 2 companies are opening up shop soon. Deeproot Pinball stuff might still be in play you would guess. No mention of me which is understandable with the shit show here, & how someone got the Sonic License.

This will be the last time that I comment on this. I am not blaming you for my father's bad decision. Ultimately, it was his choice, and his choice alone. He had input from all sides, and unfortunately chose to the wrong direction.

What I am blaming you for is encouraging poorly thought out ideas when you should know better. Since you are somebody that has a background in finances and law you should be well aware of what it takes to properly plan and fund a project. You should also be aware of what it takes to pitch a project. If you want to truly help with this endeavor, I suggest you guide GWJ on what it takes to get something like this off the ground. Your current approach is doing nothing but push the project in the same (misguided) direction.

I don't believe that I was a jackass to John, and if I was, I offer him my sincere apology. In fact, I think that my closing was pretty sincere in saying that I wish him a happy and peaceful retirement.

As for your "shove it" comment, I'm choosing to take the high road here. I was raised better than that.

Right. Stern was hiring every old designer off the street besides Jpop Barry O, for years.

No the “jackass” comment wasn’t directed at you. They know who they are.

Turn on the news and watch real life consequential “poorly thought out ideas” play out 24/7!

This is a hobby and no one can realistically believe that Pinside is going to protect someone who would consider dropping $100k into this venture or any venture.

I’d like the guy to succeed, just like Deeproot, despite Mueller.

Of course there are a multitude of issues that would need to get resolved before $$ is spent. Legal, etc. I don’t think John is denying that.

And I would happily help him work out those issues.

I appreciate the reply and regret that your dad lost $$ on Deeproot.

Wait just a minute.
Are you saying that you do not have a designer signed on to this project?
Do you have ANYONE SPECIFIC signed up at all, besides yourself?

Got to find a investor first. There is a plan in place. Contractors & vendors in place for the build. Designer & Artist are dependent on what happens this month, or Plan B in August.

Why wait till August for plan B John?
Clocks ticking. Been 2 weeks, no whales insight so far.
Your attempting to beat an all time record to have a machine flipping by TPF.
Bobby even stealing millions couldn't pull off a TPF reveal.

I once talked to Bruce Campbell at a comic con. Got a photo with him, which he signed, and it's framed on my wall.

I wonder if Bruce Campbell talks about me in interviews?