(Topic ID: 115360)

The Big Lebowski Preorder Club (Members Only)

By Nilroc

9 years ago


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#8824 4 years ago
Quoted from Nikonokin:

Does anyone here have a personal relationship with Roger Sharpe? Another thing I've been discussing with a lawyer is if the Judge rules in favor of ARA and for some reason they think they can sell/auction the machines we quickly go after that breach.
I am willing to do whatever necessary to forcefully (legally) stop ARA's ability to infringe on Universal's license, they are not authorized to sell these. I'd think we'd have a road forward putting both Universal & ARA on notice. Getting Universal on board would be best. I'm still waiting for Barry & Jaap to do the right thing but otherwise we need to force the hand. While a class auction lawsuit against DP might not be fruitful, ARA and Universal have much more to protect, and deeper pockets. I'd think with the help of an expert and Universal we could figure this out.
Every day that goes by at this point is scary. Please reach out to us Barry & Jaap...

If ARA wins and DP can't or won't contest, and the court allows them to liquidate assets, then there's nothing you can do to stop them, subject to Universal not disapproving. The machines are categorically not EAs' property. They would either be sold to the highest bidders or destroyed. You can't 'force' anything.

If that happens and it's the end of the line for TBL, what EAs might perhaps be able to do is broker a deal whereby Universal grants release for sale, and they (interested EAs) pay full price of machine to ARA, or something similar, and have first refusal before anyone else.

That's the best you can hope for if ARA wins and DP kick the bucket. The chance to fight over the small number of built games, with the proviso that you pay again.

1 month later
13
#9084 4 years ago

My assumption - based on no information more than what's available here - is that the agreement that Barry says he has reached with ARA, is based specifically around the fact that ARA won the court case.

Namely that they were likely entitled to the value of assets they held of DP's up to the damages / costs awarded by the judge, but may have received legal advice that suggested the copyrighted parts & games would be very difficult to sell or reclaim value from. So their path to compensation would not be simple, given that trying to claim these costs from DP directly would result in the latter's bankrupty, dissolution, more costs and then potentially a fight with Universal to sell the assets.

If that is so, and there are cool heads, then the simplest way forward for ARA to claw some money back is to release the games built for DP to sell, and then take the proceeds, or some of them, and then a % going forward, depending on what the judge said they were entitled to.

Regarding further units. I would imagine that production in China is out of the question currently, given Trump's ongoing handbags-at-dawn with China, and the US still being the primary market. Also, Barry's still going to need to find financing (i.e. loans from banks / selling large stake in the company) for there to be future production, unless they're fronted money to begin by Xytech (quite unlikely) or ARA (very unlikely). So aside from the deal itself sounding like it's not signed and rubber stamped yet, people should probably hold their horses.

Very sorry for Jaap. Wish him the best. Though I do feel that Barry should have taken over the reigns quite some while ago, and not just due to health.

4 months later
#11262 4 years ago
Quoted from Yelobird:

Not sure myself. I think cutting features from the game would be a poor business decision. As for the 500, as a single model option with code still slowly rolling and a strong cult following I think it’s a better bet then 500 CE Wonka’s at 12.5k personally. Time will tell and while DP is a sad story the game is rather amazing if you like the theme. Well done.

It's a question of when, not if, a cheaper version is produced with features stripped - IMO.

If they can make it back into the black and get all the EAs their games purely at this $12.5k (€14k or so in EU), then more power to them.

But, even if they do scrape over the line, the market at that kind of price point will be completely exhausted by then. So they'll need to make a cheaper version either way, unless Barry just wants to shut down once he's fulfilled obligations.

If you take out the bowling alley and pf window completely, dispense with the chrome (plain steel), dispense with the rug, have normal thickness glass in the backbox, normal metal apron, no 'achiever' badges, and begin ordering parts in much bigger batches, you easily shave at least $1000 off the BoM. Just replace the bowling alley with a video mode / new shootable mode (also added as a bonus to achievers' code).

I'd imagine there'd be a market for at least 500 more of those, at the $8-8.5k range. With significantly added to code, who knows how many they could sell.

I don't wish to sound negative, but it's difficult not to be dubious about the size of the market at $12.5k. Especially as they don't have the distribution network and marketing reach that Stern and JJP have. More than likely they have to cut price and features listed above before they satisfy the EAs. But let's hope not. Even as peripheral as I feel the bowling alley is to the game ... it's the coolest mech ever, and it'd be nice to have as many out in the wild as possible.

#11277 4 years ago
Quoted from ufotofu:

I heard (rumors only) that the BoM on the bowling alley alone was over $1000, so I think your estimate is likely on the low end.

I was intentionally low-balling. I know of the rumours too, but have never heard anything definitive on it. But yeah, I'd be amazed if it wasn't at least high 3 figures.

#11279 4 years ago
Quoted from Yelobird:

Thought Barry mentioned in his letter that there was some potential in E.A. games come the new year. As for stripping the game to get the price down I personally think that would be a fail. Yes 12.5 is a crazy number but 500 units is not that large an audience in my opinion. Make the EAs whole and that comes down to 300 ish. Easy 12.5k market in my opinion. Not for everyone I get that but there are Plenty of followers for this title to pull off those numbers. The game is just that good to be honest. If the code continues to develop it will be amazing. Aside from a Poor business plan the pricing for the game currently Could make this a reality. I more worry about when the current buckets and boxes of parts run out and DP is forced to start dipping into pocket again. Time will tell.

300 all sold at $12.5k is more than any other game has ever done at such a high price point. So it is a very large number. There's no precedent. PotC CE was 200 units, and there are still quite a few available NIB in Europe ... and it's a game that people are paying over list on the LEs, and want more built. That's also with a big world wide distribution network, minimal wait (compared with TBL), and the surety of code being worked on until it's totally done.

Wonka CE is supposedly selling pretty well, but I think virtually everyone, including distributors, are expecting them to be available for at least 2-3 years. It'd be amazing for JJP if they've already sold 200, given that there's no "you might be left out" urge, with the 500 run.

If DP can get all the way to fulfilling their obligations to EAs at this price point, great, but IMO they'd exceed all expectations by selling 200.

Unlike the ARA debacle, there really needs to be a backup plan this time, not just in case of 'failure', but because of the inevitability of the market reaching saturation at a $12.5k price at some point. Price is even higher in Canada / EU / AUNZ.

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