Not to mention there were features/toys that didn't/couldn't work. The ball could not even get to certain parts of the playfield. I remember reading a post from one of the guys that helped get it ready for the show and he asked JPOP "how does the ball get to this part of the playfield?". And JPOP looked at him, smiled, and said "magic." What a loon.

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Noone pre-ordered a Houdini!

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Lol yep, awfully quiet. Deader than dead for sure. Looked cool though

Into the bin with Vonnie D.

Yeah, let's make this thing!

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Houdini...bwaaaaahahahaha. Was anyone really fooled again?

I can think of two people immediately.
Dhaval Vasani and Scott Goldberg.
I hope the lawyer negotiations are going well.
Potential loss of several million dollars in the long term, just from two specific games.

The game had potential, although the scope of redesign may be prohibitive.
This may become yet another long running joke in the pinball world, the famous "Houdini disappearing act".
Certainly disappointing based on the opportunity, but I do hope original investors, many which I do know, obtain their MG game someday in consequence.

The biggest problem with expectations in the industry is the constant belief of deadlines that are actually obtainable.
If companies were directly honest, and not set completely unrealistic timelines, they might build consumer trust.
As it stands, not a lot of faith can be placed in manufacturers in the past 15 years, no matter who they are.
This is not the only company right now that is trying to pull the curtain over oversights, or ignore their original declarations.
All but one right now are doing the same thing, but at least some owners are starting to get smarter.

If I had to GUESS what's going to happen next:
1. Because JPOP rushed houdini effectively making it unplayable (and generally lied how pinball progress works), AP won't honor the MG playfield builds (and what would be the point if they won't work).. they may have already started the process of building new playfields, but that's as far as the build will go.
2. AP dumps the cabinets/playfields, chalks it up as a loss. Tells John to pick them up and do whatever he wants with them but he can't store them at AP. John continues to build up the premise that's he's still trying to build them for customers.
3. Joe Balcer treats houdini as a concept playfield, and tweaks everything to turn it into a working pinball.. AP moves forward as a new pinball startup with Joe Balcer as a reputable pinball designer, and tries to scrub JPOP from their reputation.

I don't imagine you'll hear from AP until something is ready and playable, they already have a black eye so they want to make sure the next reveal is worthy of showing. They said 9 months, so don't expect to see anything until next July.

Nice! "There's always money in the banana stand".

I still think it was crazy for AP to come out too early and make all these flashy announcements. With all the baggage they got, the really needed to be damn sure they were ready to go (ie. whitewood done, successfully tested, and the assembly lining ramping up).

Silence is bad in any circumstance, but with the history Jpop has had, it's even worse for AP.

I don't imagine you'll hear anything from AP - not even another press release that looks like it was put together by an 11-year old in his first photoshop attempt - ever again.

Didn't they claim to be delivering a MG to someone at expo?? Cointaker I believe? What happened with that?!

Good question. I'm pretty certain they said the "first" would be delivered by expo, and looking at their facebook:

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Fail

Not trying to pick on you here, but is there a prevailing attitude that more time should be spent trying to get Magic Girl completed? I want the investors to get their *money* back. At this point, trying to get the game built is a waste of time, money, effort, and stress.

Let me know when someone gets their Magic Girl. If they made a representation like that, and then don't deliver by year end, it's like another punch to the gut of everyone that invested originally. And AP may not recover. What a shame...I would have loved a Houdini pin.

Believe me.... you will know.

Know me....you will believe.

It's almost time for those MGs to be delivered. Has anybody got their shipping notice yet?

Actually, mine is on it's way- they even developed an internal shipping box system for this; really innovative!

I know, pics or it didn't happen- well here you are: https://goo.gl/3bMoK2

These things are almost ready to ship. Didn't you know?

That's what the "private" facebook group owners said

Some actually tried to sell their MG spot and one in particular agreed to a deal to buy it!

Some of the investors (original buyers) I know where not contacted when the new updated MG timeline was "released".
They had to contact AP for details and ask what was going on, and answers were Houdini "mystic".
Many do not even weekly read pinball journals or forums, and chalked it up for loss anyway.

This did not consider the MG parts that had been consigned for contract to be made, such as ramps with the mold work, but the original producers were not contacted either.
I second part, still has not been completely sorted out to my knowledge.
The playfield simply does not work correctly.

Neither game was properly white wooded, and Houdini is first behind than MG in terms of development.

Both titles are just a "wait and see" games now until people figure out how to proceed.
I wish best of fortune.

The problem is as I stated is neither game is a direct point of manufacture at the current time.
Both games need redesign equally from the playfield standpoints.
I don't know if the code work on Houdini was even started.

AP is aware of the situation more completely now, based on bit of uncompromising faith in the designer, which was a bit premature.
I have no wishes for the investors that spent $16K in full payment to not get their MG machines.

The priority of completion is whatever AP decides not pre order buyers or enthusiasts.
I certainly don't make manufacture rules, just caution pinball enthusiasts to be careful with their money.
For me it called, "calculated risk" not blind trust.

What I have learned about American Pinball....they will say anything to get let into Expo...

yeah 30+ MGs to be delivered in 23 days. not long now.

I just can't understand how they didn't do their due diligence before making such claims.

Pinball is hard?

It really is mind blowing. They basically had a map with all the warning signs highlighted, but they chose not to read it...

I don't think they had to say much at all. The head of expo stated that he had absolutely no clue about the Jpop fiasco when he booked American Pinball!

I think they had to say a lot and did say a lot...when the uproar happened on Pinside and a lot of people said they would not be supporting Expo that is when Pacak stepped in and said woah I didn't know all of this. Then American Pinball made all of these claims and talked with Pacak and he decided to allow it but only after Pinside calmed down and decided to give AP a chance because of all these claims they made about MG being delivered to Coin Taker and posted the pictures of the MG machines in development. Their current lack of communication cements this theory to me. Now that they gained entry to Expo and it is over they have no ulterior motive to communicate anything to the Pinball Enthusiasts they are not.

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I too like to Role Play online.

I did not believe Mike when he said he was unaware. WTF?

We will soon be able to start singing that twelve days of Christmas song.

Did this really happen? Was the sale completed?

Man...imagine getting your 16000 back after all this time...wow

I hadn't gotten back into the pinball hobby until about this time last year, so I missed everything that happened with this. And I haven't really researched it at all, just been reading the recent threads. But it does lead me to ask a question....

I am not at all a violent person, but good lord, how has this guy gotten away with this and not had somebody threaten to string him up by his thumbs (I'm keeping this as 'G' rated as possible)? How does he get away with this? Holy smokes! For that amount of money, I'd be tempted to make sure he knew that I was watching every single step that he took, every single minute of the day.

On the 1st day of Xmas John Poppadiuk gave to me, a promise of a Magic Girl for lots of my money
On the 2nd day of Xmas J Pop gave to me, 2 silver balls and a promise of a Magic Girl for lots of my money.
On the 3rd day of Xmas J Pop gave to me, 3 empty cabinets, 2 silver balls, and a promise of a Magic Girl for lots of my money.
On the 4th day of Xmas J Pop gave to me, 4 lame excuses, 3 empty cabinets, 2 silver balls, and a promise of a Magic Girl for lots of my money.
On the 5th day of Xmas J Pop gave to me, 5 American Pinball Employees!, 4 lame excuses, 3 empty cabinets, 2 silver balls, and a promise of a Magic Girl for lots of my money
On the 6th day of Xmas Jpop gave to me, ...... oh hell, you guys finish it!

For all the tough talk and revenge fantasies, nobody here is going to ruin their life and the lives of their families by going Death Wish on Jpop. Pretty simple. In the end, it's just money and pride, and neither of those things are worth it.

Just bugs the hell out of me when people get away with that kind of crap. Not just with this, but in general.

I'll pitch in with a verse:

On the 6th day of Xmas J Pop gave to me, 6 fake playfields, 5 American Pinball Employees!, 4 lame excuses, 3 empty cabinets, 2 silver balls, and a promise of a Magic Girl for lots of my money.

That last line just doesn't work. Needs fewer syllables.

Five Hou- deen - eees.....

Go ahead and make an edit.

"And a magic girl for lots of monnneyyyy" fits the cadence of the original song ....

Plus ...

On the 6th day of Christmas, JPOP gave to me ... 6 Starbucks lattes

6 Starbucks lattes
5 pissed off pinheads
4 lame excuses
3 empty cabinets
2 silver balls
And a magic girl for lots of moneyyyyyy

rd

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Actually now that I think about that... 6 Starbucks Lattes would be worth more than that damn t-shirt he sent me....

Well done.