What is the actual cost of the machine, new from a distro?

I seem to remember $8500 as the initial cost, spread across 4 or 5 payments.

I had ~$1500 down payment on a quoted price of $10k, but my down payment was returned last month without any communication whatsoever.

So random customers, all strangers to one another and spread around the globe, have an inner circle preparing for this day? And you guys believe proprietary information is secretly being leaked so they can hoodwink unsuspecting buyers?

That's an fanciful conspiracy you got there.

Dont be so sure. Have you seen what people here are willing to pay sight unseen for a game? Dude, people were paying above NIB for TNA to be the "guy on the street with the new oooo shiney toy before anyone else had it"......

Agreed. IF this whimsical Kanada tale is real I am offering 15k for any TBL NIB that any early adopter wants to sell on receipt. This game Will hold value for a Long time no question.

It was $8,500 pre-ordered.

Shipping from CoinTaker (US distributor) or Nitro (Canadian distributor) not included.

Ditto!

Ditto!

Guys why pay $15,000?? If they fire up the line at ARA again you will be able to buy a TBL for 10k + shipping

I am speculating but I suspect (assume) IF any of this rumor is true the games being released are the games that were held captive at ARA to pay the delinquent bill the DP clan left them with. Just a guess but would make sense as we have not heard anything from the court case since. Sadly if that was the case I doubt the EA buyers would be the direction they would go as DP already burned that money long ago. Not a happy assumption just a guess.

I'm preorder #1234...
So... when #1230 ships wake me up!

I'm just hoping the code progresses now. This is really cool to hear!!

Brian

I really don't believe what Kaneda says....ever. Why would he have some magical insider info that no one else knows about? He is just stirring the pot and causing trouble like he always does.

He is right about one thing though, pinside is much better without Hylton..

People are focused on the wrong aspect of this news leak. Hostage TBL’s are being released for briefcases full of tidy whities, maybe ... big deal. What good is TBL without a rug under it? A joint announcement by DP and ARA that production of more rugs has begun would set my heart a flutter

Sorry to confirm that what Kaneda is telling isn’t true.

Wonder where he got his intel, he sounded very sure.

Shocker.

Thanks for going to the source, @unigroove. Funny how simple that can be for getting a straight answer.

Until there is an official statement from DP and or ARA, this is all speculation, we all know Renesh is connected to those guys personally and has covered for them and lied (or at least misdirected) on their behalf before over the years...

Frankly it’s been years since there has been any real open honest communication about this game from any party involved or on the peripheral.

So if it's not true, does this mean the Lebowski secret inner circle of seller's were fed bad intel from their Overlords?

I really wish people would take a deep breath before jumping to obvious conclusions. Some of you guys set speed records in connecting erroneous dots and you carelessly smear innocent people in the process.

I've seen these accusations of insider trading going all the way back to the original Medieval Madness remake announcement. I myself was accused of it when I sold my Magic Girl spot. And I've seen these same allegations 3 or 4 different times now with Big Bang Bar whenever a few go up for sale.

Sorry to single you out, Londonpinball. You're not the first here to do it nor will you be the last.

There is one for sale right now....

And the people that have been paying $18K+ for their prized machines just took a big, deep breath of air and exhaled. Phew.

DP response = straight answer??? Maybe. Maybe not.

Let's not forget that these are the same guys who have been MIA and haven't provided jack shit as far as an update to TBL investors (including me) for months now. (And I understand that they're in the middle of a legal action, but that doesn't prevent them from at least occasionally acknowledging that we're still waiting for ANY word from them.)

Maybe if they didn't suck so bad at communicating with their customers, other rumors wouldn't be seized on so quickly.

Yup. If B & J weren’t such deplorable cowards & actually kept communicating with the people who gave them millions, we wouldn’t have to rely on rumors & drama.

what if it's a 'half truth'?

What if ARA is selling the hostage games... while the lawsuit between ARA & Dutch is not resolved? Both sides could be right there.. and the news could also be coming from different directions.

They had ~20 done during the factory visit that we attended, when production still appeared to be underway (though they latterly claimed it had stopped well before then). Their ex (fired) MD then went on to claim 40 were done, further increasing discrepancy. Now, 70? Doesn't sound likely. But ... Chinese Whispers?

Hopefully Kaneda is right, but I wouldn't count any chickens. All sounds a bit too good to be true.

Because ARA would be in contempt of court in doing so.

Not necessarily, the court ordered ARA and Dutch Pinball to "figure it out" on their own to start.. Since we're all speculating, what if the compromise included selling the existing inventory?

Any compromise has to be court approved long before any action can take place. Those machines are frozen assets until the courts say otherwise.

Having not read the court papers.. nor being involved... I can't say definitively one way or the other. But that sounds suspiciously like assumptions..

ARA sued DP - not the other way around. Why would ARA's own assets be frozen when a resolution could simply be "you owe us contractually obligated money" or money for other services?

Maybe Robert and Deeproot have found a way to get DP out of the mess with ARA and will take over the license and manufacturing.

Not sure how deep DP was in it with ARA but for them it might make sense. They know it’s a game a lot of people like and want. Of course the manufacturing capability of deeproot is a big unknown as well. This could provide them with a game to sell while they get their own titles in order.

Lots of moving pieces to this and of course a boatload of money but might be possible.

Maybe because Kaneda is a piece of shit thats needs flushed.

Given DR's own self-acknowledged issues in getting their own games to market, and the cash burn that Mueller said they were going through, I think they'd be suicidal to take this on too. Seems very unlikely.

And he still wonders why people don't like him

LOL Deep Poop is a big fat nothing who’s made nothing and will make nothing.

Holy shit Flynn, I'm struggling to understand your point.

Whoever initiated the lawsuit has nothing to do with the final resolution. What nonsense. A lawsuit was filed with the courts to determine a judgment of their dispute. Both companies now operate in this matter, under the complete supervision of the courts until a determination is made.

Because those machines are not ARA's assets. Where did you get that idea? Dutch Pinball has intellectual property, licencing and money in them too.

Congratulations, Flynn, you've just characterize the basis of the lawsuit.

Point being.. the item in contention is a monetary thing... not necessarily unique items. If ARA were compelled to owe delivery of a TBL game.. it doesn't
necessarily have to be one that was built back in 2017. It's an obligation they could fulfill many different ways. It could also simply be resolved with $$.

Obviously handing over a previously built example is easier if it were on hand - but that is not basis for freezing an asset. There are important distinctions between items ARA did for themselves, or things they did on behalf of someone else. If I sell you a promise of building you a house... and we go into a dispute.. you don't freeze the toilet I bought and still have sitting on my warehouse shelves. I just owe you a toilet or some agreed upon equivalent if I lost.

There might have been basis to freeze the disputed assets if DP sued earlier on for non-execution or breech of contract... but again, DP didn't sue.

A toilet analogy instead of a cargument? - Good luck with your typical razzle dazzle response. I had a lapse and forgot how you are.

Well, that's over....Gucci McFuckleberry took it back.

Back to nothing. B & J still suck for all this. That's still a fact.

This is...a bummer, man.

Kaneda is "so sorry". WTF?!!!

ARGH!!!

My apologies to Pinside for prematurely buying into this BS and excitedly posting that my game was coming. Should have known better. Yet another in a long string of TBL disappointments.

Unless Universal also granted ARA the right to sell Lebowski branded pinball games, this toilet analogy is a turd.

Rumors aside, other than a final sale of built games one day by DP or ARA, more will never be built.

ARA has no desire to work with DP and Universal will never relicense TBL to these clowns, ever. EA’s have been f*cked once again, although the assault occurred years ago.

Son of a bitch!!

I just sent DP a $10,000 wire transfer an hour ago...

I guess I should have learned the first time around

Next time I'll use unicorns and daydreams... that seems to be the level of credible you like to deal in.

Ability to sell the game is a different angle entirely... but not really relevant to the point contested (that the assets are locked up in the court case). ARA sued DP for monies owed and probably breach of contract terms. Things that not contingent on what assets ARA has or not. ARA's benches, tools, and everything else used to make the games aren't going to be frozen over a dispute to get paid for their work. For the assets to be locked up, DP would have had to make some claims that they're rightfully theirs. Which we know they just tried to walk away from...

Ah, so you are literally talking about selling toilets now. Makes perfect sense of course. I mistakenly thought we were talking about Big Lebowski pinball machines and whether they might conceivably be leaving ARAs shipping dock. I must have wandered into the middle of the wrong thread.

Where the hell did I ever say that! And your comment is nonsensical to the existing lawsuit.

Let me clarify it for you in terms you might comprehend along with thread documentation. -- Those **Big Lebowski Pinball Machines** would be (are) frozen by the courts.**
You know, the pinball machines that you believe for some ridiculous reasons are ARA assets that they could just simply sell.

Try and follow along here Flyn:

How you made the leap from that to ARA company and personal assets is beyond me. But this is what you do on Pinside, Flynnibus. You twist and spew mumbo jumbo, you obfuscate, you dodge and filibuster all of us into submission.

Plain and simple, IF DP could sell the hostage games they would. If ARA could sell the hostage games, they would.

The Courts are responsible for the hostage games, first telling both parties to "try to work it out" and come back to the court, and the court agree or not with the deal. If no compromise can be made, the court will dictate who gets the games (or a percentage will go to both parties).

Either way, the games will eventually be sold. It is just a matter of who gets the $$