Played this pin at TPF .. Hope it works out for all that put money into this.

Little birdie tells me NSN is incoming

At this point, it doesn't really matter.....

Nice update

Good one Jim, nice edit. Pinside said I beat you by 4 seconds.

Damn I want this game,it’s a fucking shame this one went sideways!If they start up production again what will
any additional games cost?

New ones are $10,000 now. Check with Cointaker or Nitro.

"This game will be yours ..."

- DP

Patrick.gif

I am glad Barry is OK.

Good update. I hope it's true.

he is playing with words.
Next week or the following he could order parts which take some time. and when he receives them he is able to start production, the real start production.
anyway the more time passes and the closer start production seems to be

Yep, I usually get mine in my inbox way after everyone else. This was one of the first times I could actually post one.

Forward progress is always a good thing.

Really glad to see progress towards the rest of you getting your games! Really hope it goes smoothly from here on out.

for some reason I don't get the newsletters any more but i just check here for them.

Are these machines (that are possibly getting built), for the people who have already paid in full and are in line for...well, forever, or are they getting passed over for new sales? No one has asked and they have not bothered to mention anything on how they will make it into people who have had their hard earned money in for years.

I thought they said several times that they need to sell New buyer money to finance Old buyer purchases later. Could be wrong but that seemed to be the current business model and direction. Sadly there aren't many options available other than to Hope this plan works better then the Other plan.

They have said they will be producing achiever and non-achiever games at the same time to help with cash flow. They have not said what the ratio will be - 1, 1:2, etc.

Same thing happened with WOZ, I was not a prepay but got my game ahead of some who were and they were rightly pissed. Maybe this is karma for me?

Dutch Pinball has alluded to this, but never specifically stated what their actual financial condition is or how they will address it.

I would buy a new one if they would send it with my old one in June.

Me too.

This is what Im saying, they are telling everyone production right around the corner yet have said nothing on how it will work. why not? They should take a loan and get all the achievers their games and then pay the loan off with opening up new sales. That's how it works in the real world. This whole fiasco is their responsibility and yet people are offering to pay them for another machine and sell it for them? my god can they tell us what they are doing exactly with all those who paid in full? Why is this a secret?

We need to get in before Trump's tariff on Chinese pinball machines kicks in!

The game sells itself so no worries reselling a second one. Theme is king and this is a dream theme.

Why in the hell isn't someone from DP on this forum and paying attention to this topic?

Interesting thought!

Does anyone know if there’s a way to order one in Australia?

Talk to Wayne (Mr Pinball)

Same here.

If you received a machine you may have been dropped off from the newsletter list. I reached out and requested to be put back on.

Yeah the few of us that got our games got removed from the list. Since the last one was posted to every TBL thread in existence, seems like it's not necessary to be on the list.

To me doesn't sound like a lot of progress since last newsletter.. still trying to get things buttoned down to start production, exact same state as before. Would have hoped the parts are ordered.

Sorry for being grumpy about it, just having flashbacks to these types of emails from 2+ years ago which lasted for like 6 months before anything actually happened. Hopefully this is different.

What is the fate of the machines sitting in boxes from the last manufacturer, and how many was that? Does anyone really know?

It was about 50 games. Fate unknown. The first manufacturer never got paid for the games they shipped, or the games in boxes. Surprised their suit against DP has not been filed yet.

No. Besides the 50+ games actually delivered to North America and within Europe, the only real known regarding TBL is that approximately 150 of us are out $8,500 with no game to show for it going on four years now.

The rest is largely DP's spin, hearsay, and/or speculation by others.

Which is exactly why they need to step the @%$# up and tell those who's money they have spending, what they are exactly going to do to get their games and or money back and it should be first

Or the other way around but I agree it is a mystery why lawsuits have not been filed. I know laws are different in Europe but here in the states they would have gone nuclear by now. In some countries the loser pays the oppositions legal fees etc.
Did both sides decided it's not worth the cost or the chance and this will be a stalemate in perpetuity? I'm really curious about it all.

If engineering #5 is ready, there is no reason not to have ordered parts to make hundreds of games. Well one big reason - no money, but if Investor Big decides he likes #5 and the final numbers, they'll be allowed to kiss his ring and the big wheels will start to move. All this means is for the next six months, expect to hear of part delays and progress so slow you can watch it happen. Everybody keeps getting strung along. Tune in then if you want new developments.

Do they have an investor or anyone looking at them?

I am glad more being people are being vocal about the lack of details. No one knows the ins & outs of DP's "pyramid plan" to get EA games to their rightful owners. DP owes it to EAs to be completely transparent about it.

The EAs are forced to rely on new game sales to get their game, which blows for people at the back of the line. I have said this before, but how strong is the market/demand for this game outside Pinside after all this time? There are a lot of new games to choose from right now that are under $10K (from companies that are stable and dropping more games in the near future).

I also haven't seen a big marketing push to sell this game. Are the distributors seeing enough interest in this game to sell another 150 or so games? Is there any customer awareness outside Pinside? I hope so, but a lot of time has passed since they announced this game and generated initial buzz. Unfortunately, the game has a bit of "stink" attached to it. This is what pops up if you input the search term "Lebowski Pinball" into Google:

20180406_180206 (resized).jpg

Not an external one, but the internal process describes a final stage sign off at Xytech. That means a signature by an executive such a VP, Pres or Board level. The cash infusion begins and we'll see what happens next.

Doesn't seem to be a whole lot of general interest for TBL within the hobby anymore. It has been 3+ years since DP had their heyday at Expo and there are too many other manufacturers actually producing new games now. Most don't want to hear or talk about TBL unless DP finally gets their shit together. If new TBLs are produced, and new sales are a financially secure option, I think there will be some interest again.

In the meantime on a happier note, in case anyone missed this thread, The Mod Couple (@Yelobird) just created a fantastic new mod for TBL:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/the-big-lebowski-got-balls-mod-not-for-use-on-shomer-shabbos

The Mod Couple TBL bowling balls (resized).jpg

I have said it befor but also over here it is rather simple to pursuit unpaid bills.

However, you need to proof you deserve to get paid and did your part of the deal. Just suppose that DP has been telling the truth an investigation will proof immediately that ÄRA didn’t fulfill their part of the deal and breached the contract..... So the lack of action from ÄRA where I guess they have at least like 750K at stake (remember that they prepaid a lot of the parts) is proof for me that DP is telling the truth.

Otherwise I totally fail to understand why ÄRA hasn’t filed a payment claim. They are a reasonable sized company but also for them 750K is no small change.

They have asked me to be a plaintive in their suit. Apparently they need a certain number over there to file?

If you wanna file for bankruptcy indeed more than 1 party is required, 2 to be precise.

However, that is usually not done direct. There are much easier steps trying to get your money as immediately go for bankruptcy as far as I know. You can block bankaccounts etc. and also a judge will determine how valid your claim is. So you better be sure about your case.

And at the end of the day, suppose people succeed in getting DP bankrupt. What than? DP has been open in the fact that there is not enough money left to built all ordered games. So whatever is left first goes to banks, taxes, curator, etc. and us EA are at the end of the line most likely left with empty hands.

And just suppose DP is telling the truth about ÄRA? You wanna share sides with such a company?

I am not saying I like it but riding it out is our best option I see. And yes, it is difficult and frustrating. And seeing very likely new buyers getting their games sooner as us EA will be a challenge to ...

And the talk about loaning money. Banks over here are very conservative and you wanna loan money for what? Producing pinballs? What’s a pinball .....??

Thank you.

My guess is that they have not pursued legal action because they know that DP HAS NO MONEY so a suit would be fruitless. They will wait until DP has assets to make a claim.

Games being delivered in May or June is comical.

I doubt they went into business with DP without a personal guarantee signed on the note. If they did, they are retarded. There had to be some assets put up as collateral for them to assume the liability of ordering all the parts. My guess is that all the ecu’s purchased by DP that they held hostage were part of it. I’m sure DP funded a lot of the prototyping as well.

But then again, as we all know, ARA never did order all the parts. To have a lawsuit there has to be actual damages. By not ordering all the parts as contracted, ARA really just hosed themselves. Missed payment or not, they are in default of the contract by failing to deliver as promised. I really don’t see ARA having strong legal footing anywhere in this deal.

ARA never got paid for the delivered games, Or the completed games. Maybe they needed that money to order the parts. DP screwed them, and DP broke the contract by not paying the bills was my understanding.