More of a Bottom fan myself.

Well Kevin saves a cool 30% right off the top by not paying taxes, so I'm going to go with "yes".

Love how the lawyer complains that he doesn't mumble and that his number is easy to remember, then immediately rattles off a number so quickly and with such bad enunciation that I couldn't understand a single digit.

I cant help but think of this!

Jpop paid taxes? He took in money from 3 games at what, 15,000 per. They are both criminals and jpoops day of reckoning will come.

Just listened to a part of it...Kevin writes six checks on the same day, consecutive numbers, each for $9800 to Virtuapin? That's all I need to hear.

I like the judge, but at the same time, while he continues to err on the conservative side in all these judgments because defendants are not doing their due diligence he has to realize that this is ultimately costing the plaintiff additional dollars....On the surface I'm sure he sees it as being fair, but in the end, it's costing the very group of people that are trying to recoup money from these thieves. And even if the plaintiff receives relief from the court in the way of reimbursement, we all know, the defendants aren't going to pay.

Six consequtive numbered checks the old plinking trick eh?

Like dominos things will fall.

Read this yesterday, still in my mind today. Ben says $1900 is a little high .... meaning $1500 / each is about normal? Geez. I've always thought that it was probably more like $500, max. I don't want to bring Stern into this and the issues with their cabinet...but if I were them I would have certainly looked at doing everything I could to reduce a cost of a $1500 -1900 box! Volume probably helps, but still way more expensive than I ever thought. That's like 25% the cost of a game right there !!!!

I have to suspect in the end this is bankruptcy court, and he's there to help people out of their problems. I also suspect he doesn't hear cases like this very often.

I can only imagine the conversations with his wife at night.

She's probably like "they still make those?"

Oh, BTW, shout out to pinside for Keith reading the direct quote from Paul (VP) about the licensing...Goes to show, what's posted on the internet, stays on the internet....forever.

You're right....I'm sure he's focused on the bankruptcy issues, and all the fraud and criminal actions that we clamor about, really isn't his concern. All in due time I suppose, but it's frustrating, the waiting game.

You can get raw boxes for a few hundred. When you start to add all of the metal parts of a cab and decals things go up pretty quickly. I actually used their page to give reference to a replacement cost for a fully done cab on my AFM that was heavily damaged in shipping. Silver lining.

I can only assume this is at $1900 per because of the set up and machinery purchases that were involved. Which leads me to the next question as to why someone with existing equipment wasn't contacted for these cabinets?

Or, are we putting a friend who makes multi-game cabinets in business?

One per cabinet delivered

If you listen it sounds like they designed and made the game not just cabinets

I want to say that I remember the two groups (Skit-B and Virtuapin) working in the same business park. If there wasn't a relationship before that I bet that helped set something up.

"Cabs" usually means everything but the playfield, PSU's and logic boards. There's a lot of things that go into that. Wide-format graphics alone cost quite a bit.

So $1500, throw on some profit for vendor and yeah, $1900 isn't that insane anymore.

Also keep in mind 475k for cabs total assumes all 250 built. At which point Kevin would have collected 1.1 million(ish) so the cab cost ratio isn't quite as dumb.

Remember, everything is volume, and then location.

Greater Chicago has all those suppliers local for cheap shipping and delivery.

When CCC says they deliver a decaled cab for $490, they are delivering tens of thousands to Stern.

When they are doing $200 playfields, you are again talking about thousands.

Consumers pay $25 for a sheet of tempered glass, but Gene said he was paying @ $6.50 a sheet.

Paying $15 for a set of legs is way better than $50 - but you got to buy 50,000 of 'em.......

Also remember that VP was supplying much more than CCC supplies to Stern.

They were supplying the audio systems, the DMDs, driver boards, transformers, playfield rails & backstops, the glass - almost a turnkey product.

Was it a custom driver board? I thought they were just using 'off-the-shelf' P-ROC stuff from Gerry?

Probably not custom.

I'd guess it was just a standard plasma driver.

No wonder Paul went silent last fall. He is admitting to taking ~$100K in money and never checking the license. He only produced 6 cabinets (but had expenses). Some money transfers are documented in the form of 6 sequential numbered checks for $9,800.

And here is the kicker - He provided Keith with "the location of certain items the debtor had been concealing such as Motorcycles, trailer, racing suits". His lawyer's words "concealing"!

I missed that....was that in the audio?

24:06

I finally saw the word accoutrements somewhere other than Pinside:

IMG_4375 (resized).JPG

Ha

But if he doesn't give them a lot of leeway, I bet he creates potential for appealing some part of the judgement later, making the whole mess take that much longer. It's kind of a pain, but if I understand correctly, he DID at least bill them for the plaintiff's time in dealing with their bullshit.

Thank God they didn't have cow and goat cheese separated and Made Whole Again. That's the one that sends me into an irrational rage.

In no way was John Popadiuk ever running an honest business. You may have bought his lies, but most here have seen through all of it now. He never intended to do what he said he was going to do, even when you were with him. He lied to you and everyone else and in no way is he legitimate even now. He refuses to respond, won't deliver refunds, tried to sell more fake machines to unsuspecting victims. Honestly , I hope you are not leading up to some "JPOP is ok" moment here. He is not. He still has my money and still won't even bother to respond.

Sorry, I just won't stand for people minimizing what John Popadiuk did to me. If that's not what you were doing ... Well it seems like that's what you are doing. A thief is a thief.

The JPop thread is pretty ponderous now, but wasn't there a point where he tried to sell a game after it was already public knowledge the business was in trouble? Taking an order as if nothing is wrong shows a clear intent to defraud and not just a lack of business acumen.

That's why I was so surprised Ben kinda stood up for him when I questioned his statement.

Is there a folder on the net somewhere with the Predator videos, pinball show interviews etc?

Oh, one other thing.....Kevin's partner who eventually left.....can't remember his name. Has he ever spoken about the project since it blew up in Kevin's face?

Not for the public.

Aaron Klumpp. - Good question and I'm wondering of any involvement with the lawsuit.

Aaron is hearing from The Collector as we speak. Just part of the ongoing process. To my knowledge we have not heard from Aaron however, no quotes out there afaik. I, too, would like to hear from Aaron - but I think we can predict exactly what he would say, barring an all out confession of fraudulent intent. I don't see that happening. He is forced from a legal standpoint to say Kevin Kulek and Amanda Kulek lied to him as well as us.

Exactly this.

I still want to point out how many people defended this clown because he was a "good pinball player", therefore he can be trusted. You have to be kidding me. Sometimes it takes some tough love to get to people on here but pinball collectors have been "scammed" for over a decade all the way down to Mr. Pinball Classifieds. All of the boutique pins and paying with PayPal were basically asking for trouble.

I remember a pinhead from Portland a few years coming into my arcade trying to tell me that Kevin was the real deal and Predator was coming out. The leap of faith people have from "cool pinball players" drives me nuts.

I may get some downvotes for this, but I stayed in only on the initial deposit myself. Never sent in another dime. I am out $250 on this. Lesson learned myself but it was worth the chance "if" the game somehow made it out, licensed or not.

The day I first saw photos of Kevin and JPop, I was out on both games.

I hope you warned everybody....

They drive me nuts becasue he is neither a "good" or "cool" pinball player.

Nah, I would have been told I was being too judgmental and that this is the way artists dress and act.

I bet Kevin sucks at playing pinball.

https://www.ifpapinball.com/player.php?p=4573

0th has to be better than 1st though? Must be legendary

He is.

Just not for playing pinball.

He came in first in the B division at the PAPA World Championships in 1994. So legendary!

https://www.ifpapinball.com/tournaments/view.php?t=40

He's currently ranked #1 in the, Play Alone, Flooded Basement division.

Wonder how he finished that year in the Pirates division of the Gasparilla Pinball Open