I've always wanted to say something when I've read this kind of description - as I have seen it all the time, for many many years. So not singling you out...

The bare wire on the backside of the playfield isn't a "ground wire" (???) Am I wrong? It's the positive voltage line (hot) isn't it ? The driver board pulls the bulbs to ground. Maybe I've worked on too many Gottliebs...

The big bare wire in the CABINET is ground ("ground braid") which I think is what confuses people. I'd just hate to think of the damage or errors if people start thinking the bare wire on the playfield is ground, if they start modding or "bulletproofing" the wiring. They're gonna cook something if this becomes standard nomenclature. It's like 99% of the time, people call that wire going to all the bulbs the "ground braid". Maybe it's ME that's going to cook something.

KEVIN

Without getting too complicated, Paragon involves a few steps. First of all, our plan is to do it via partnership with IPB as the licensor (not PPS). Not because we're ever leaving the PPS family, but because we work with everybody. We're neutral, like Switzerland That said, the reasoning behind this is because Gene Cunningham has offered up the future usage of the original Bally films for Paragon. This means 500+ hours of redrawing can be avoided, because that playfield is a BEAR.

But *before* we can move onto Paragon, we must "pass the test" with Gene, on TOTAN. TOTAN will be our first playfield partnered/licensed thru IPB since our debut Fathoms and Centaurs in 2004/2005. This comes from a deal where IPB/Gene "rescued" the TOTAN project because those (6) extinct inserts that were holding off the project for years - Gene owned and (unknowingly) had the one-of-a-kind tooling stored at an injection molding company in Chicago. Gene had all the inserts molded for us, and had them shipped up here - on the contingency that we license the TOTAN playfields thru IPB. WITH the open-ended offer that if we "pass the test" on TOTAN, Gene is willing to offer up free artwork loans from ANY of his archives, as long as we license the project thru IPB. So it's not just about the future of Paragon. We're also interested in other film sets we know he has.

On top of ALL of this, we need widebody gameboard blanks made. We need new equipment and tooling that can accomodate the width (Flight 2000 was at our max (24" wide)) of everything we own. Right down to our rolling racks that hold playfields.

So to summate: TOTAN finished, shipped, IPB paid... only then can Paragon be explored, and totally rests on IPB providing those films. So to anybody - if you see Gene at shows, etc... please encourage Kim/Gene to make sure they provide CPR those films after we settle up on TOTAN.

So when is TOTAN done? We wanted it done by the end of the year. But it looks like, with the huge numbers required, it will be more like April/May 2014 before the batch is done. So we shall see. It's the biggest number of preorders in our history...more than we get on (3) typical preorders on any typical classic playfield title we have done before.

KEVIN