Alice in Wonderland
Zidware Pinball USA, 2013
Celts
Haggis, 2021
Magic Girl
Zidware Pinball USA, 2017
Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland
Zidware Pinball USA, 2012
Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland (Arcade Edition)
Deeproot, 2020
Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland (Xtra Edition)
Deeproot, 2020Quoted from yancy:If I was worth $100MM, I'd buy all the games as a gift to the creditors, and burn them all in a giant bonfire as a gift to the pinball community. Imagine the party.
While some people might take the vindictive approach, I don't really think there's much to be gained there long term.
Personally, I'm more of an archivist. If I had the funds, I'd document & preserve everything.
I don't usually hear people say "I wish nobody took photos of that thing back then"
Quoted from ForceFlow:While some people might take the vindictive approach, I don't really think there's much to be gained there long term.
Personally, I'm more of an archivist. If I had the funds, I'd document & preserve everything.
I don't usually hear people say "I wish nobody took photos of that thing back then"
in this case...photos and video are enough.
Remember all of those hilariously sad unboxing videos watching people realize exactly what their $15-30K had gotten them with their Magic Girl purchases?
wig.gif
Quoted from CrazyLevi:You are correct, not my money, my problem nor my concern.
I guess the whole 5-year episode is just so disgusting I have a reflexive revulsion to any effort to somehow resurrect these games. Just seems like time, money, and effort that could go toward a million other more worthy enterprises.
Nobody (except for maybe one person) is saying that these should be resurrected.
I'm just of the mind that what's there right now should be documented as it sits.
Quoted from Rarehero:I guess I just don’t see it as a history of pinball. To me, true pinball history is any relic of the pre-2000’s era from real manufacturers. Remnants like RAZA or Predator are basically broken home-brews & don’t really have any inherent collectible value beyond the parts.
Most homebrew endeavors don't have 500+ pages of discussion dedicated to it. Like it or not, this is still part of pinball history. It's still one of several failed pinball companies. It's still one of JPop's failed ventures. It still pulled in legitimate pinball designer talent, and that's part of their background in design, even if those designs don't make it to a production game.
Quoted from CrazyLevi:in this case...photos and video are enough.
Maybe. But I'd argue that video and photography tech is constantly improving.
Go back just 10-15 years, and image quality and resolutions are pretty abysmal compared to today. I'd rather have the original object still in existence so that it could potentially be photographed again with newer technologies, rather than be left with whatever photos/video that were taken today.
Quoted from yancy:We all know they're going to gather dust in some rich dude's basement anyway.
Meh, probably.
Quoted from ForceFlow:Maybe. But I'd argue that video and photography tech is constantly improving.
Go back just 10-15 years, and image quality and resolutions are pretty abysmal compared to today. I'd rather have the original object still in existence so that it could potentially be photographed again with newer technologies, rather than be left with whatever photos/video that were taken today.
Well regardless, they certainly aren't going to be destroyed. Their ultimate fate is likely to function poorly and intermittently and end up in storage or non-working on display. And sure I'd love to caress the pinbar with my own hands. Maybe they'll end up getting toured around various spots, like Bonnie and CLyde's car.
Quoted from benheck:RAZA protos will fetch 50k each, easily.
This hobby and logic aren't bedfellows.
I think we can all agree: can't wait to find out!
Quoted from benheck:RAZA protos will fetch 50k each, easily.
This hobby and logic aren't bedfellows.
Still here & not much to add until the Raza protos are sold. Same with Jpop, if he is managed correctly, & get him to focus on completion. There are a number of future ventures I am looking at if there is proper financial backing from investors. You need a good team & realistic goals.
Quoted from greatwichjohn:Still here & not much to add until the Raza protos are sold. Same with Jpop, if he is managed correctly, & get him to focus on completion. There are a number of future ventures I am looking at if there is proper financial backing from investors. You need a good team & realistic goals.
Bro.... All this jpop talk....
vinyl-records-record-collection.gifDude, you've gotta be playing a character for entertainment purposes right? You cant possibly mean the things you say, surely?
Quoted from greatwichjohn:Still here & not much to add until the Raza protos are sold. Same with Jpop, if he is managed correctly, & get him to focus on completion. There are a number of future ventures I am looking at if there is proper financial backing from investors. You need a good team & realistic goals.
Quoted from greatwichjohn:Still here & not much to add until the Raza protos are sold. Same with Jpop, if he is managed correctly, & get him to focus on completion. There are a number of future ventures I am looking at if there is proper financial backing from investors. You need a good team & realistic goals.
Just...no. Really, no.
1) I don't believe this at all.
2) Anyone who does believe this is probably quite delusional.
Nobody in their right mind bets on a horse that has lost again and again.
Quoted from greatwichjohn:Still here & not much to add until the Raza protos are sold. Same with Jpop, if he is managed correctly, & get him to focus on completion. There are a number of future ventures I am looking at if there is proper financial backing from investors. You need a good team & realistic goals.
Go get em Tiger!
Quoted from greatwichjohn:Still here & not much to add until the Raza protos are sold. Same with Jpop, if he is managed correctly, & get him to focus on completion. There are a number of future ventures I am looking at if there is proper financial backing from investors. You need a good team & realistic goals.
D648A508-693F-459D-830E-9F1EABA4B01F.gifYou guys are a laugh. Wait & see what happens. Lots of talking going on, & pinball is super hot for demand. But like I continue to say there are many dreamers that think pinball is easy! It is not, & I continue to have product talks with multiple groups.
Quoted from greatwichjohn:You guys are a laugh. Wait & see what happens. Lots of talking going on, & pinball is super hot for demand. But like I continue to say there are many dreamers that think pinball is easy! It is not, & I continue to have product talks with multiple groups.
Hold up, you are laughing, at us?
Quoted from greatwichjohn:You guys are a laugh. Wait & see what happens. Lots of talking going on, & pinball is super hot for demand. But like I continue to say there are many dreamers that think pinball is easy! It is not, & I continue to have product talks with multiple groups.
I've got a bridge to sell that's ripe for the investor market. It's in Brooklyn. You can't go wrong here. Opportunity of a lifetime!
I and a couple hundred other longtime enthusiasts could design a better shooting whitewood than any J-Pop project from this century, but I have a day job and a family to keep me busy, so you'll have to find some other sucker.
As far as I can tell, J-Pop's only post-WMS contribution was discovering Zombie Yeti by googling "zombie art." Now you too possess this powerful knowledge. Go forth and prosper.
Quoted from ForceFlow:I've got a bridge to sell that's ripe for the investor market. It's in Brooklyn. You can't go wrong here. Opportunity of a lifetime!
Do not think your predictions have been that good over the years. There are talks going on & even if nothing moves forward with Raza or Jpop. It does not matter. There is lots of room for new players, if they know what they are doing. A lot of people still do not know about the RGP days when I was a early pioneer of uv inkjet technology towards playfields & backglass production. Got trashed all the time as a dreamer & nothing will get produced. Had to be traditional screen printed only. The Mirco fiasco trying to shut me down 3 years ago: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/mirco-exclusive-classic-stern-parts-manufacturer
Quoted from greatwichjohn:A lot of people still do not know about the RGP days when I was a early pioneer of uv inkjet technology towards playfields & backglass production. Got trashed all the time as a dreamer & nothing will get produced
And how many have you produced over these many years? About 50-75?
The numbers are in the hundreds over the years for Star Gazer & Seawitch playfields. Along with too many playfield restorations like Sorcerer, Eight Ball Deluxe, Space Shuttle, etc. Same with backglass production which was 3 times that of playfields. Pinball parts production is very hard, & lots of hurtles to deal with vendors or contractors. New pinball games are extremely hard to get going which we have seen over the years from new companies.
Quoted from greatwichjohn:Do not think your predictions have been that good over the years.
To what predictions are you referring?
Quoted from greatwichjohn:A lot of people still do not know about the RGP days when I was a early pioneer of uv inkjet technology towards playfields & backglass production.
Yes, I'm familiar.
However, there's a big difference between a self-started project for a specific item, versus trying to resurrect a failed product with a failed designer, and trying to find angel investors to fund a design & manufacturing facility from scratch--an endeavor which has traditionally had a high failure rate or marginal success thus far.
The fact is, most new businesses fail, and on top of that, the deck is stacked really high against this particular endeavor, making it an incredibly risky proposition for anyone to jump into.
Quoted from greatwichjohn:You guys are a laugh. Wait & see what happens. Lots of talking going on, & pinball is super hot for demand. But like I continue to say there are many dreamers that think pinball is easy! It is not, & I continue to have product talks with multiple groups.
Who the hell are you talking to? Harry Williams and David Gottlieb through the Dione Warwick psychic friends hotline? Make sure you tell them to welcome Barry and Lyman.
Why would anyone need to wait for the prototypes to be sold before they announced anything? It's not like whomever wins those are going to own the IP. Did I miss an auction listing for the rights to the IP? Or are these hot pinball investors just using the sale of the prototypes as a gauge for the interest in RAZA? Not sure that would be an accurate barometer of real interest.
I'm predicting that the new group will buy the machines so they can reverse engineer them to then be able to make them and sell them. If they don't win the auction then the company will never produce any games, which is why we have to wait for the auction to be over 
If any of these “players” want to start a pinball company, doing it from scratch is better than wasting money on this crap. Any of this junk instantly moves you backwards. No one wanted it when Blobbert was selling it, and as tainted/cursed IP, it does nothing but instantly turn off potential buyers.
I would NEVER buy anything from a company using this stuff…hell, I’ll prob never buy anything from AP since they thought it was a good idea to hire Steve Bowden. Yeah, yeah he’s a nice guy, yeah yeah - sorry, he’s someone who’s professional judgment I can’t trust or take seriously.
Quoted from greatwichjohn:Still here & not much to add until the Raza protos are sold. Same with Jpop, if he is managed correctly, & get him to focus on completion. There are a number of future ventures I am looking at if there is proper financial backing from investors. You need a good team & realistic goals.
I'm in, how much do you need
Quoted from Rarehero:No one wanted it when Blobbert was selling it
That's the thing. The market spoke. Twice. Jpop sold 125 razas the first time, and there are people that wanted "out" and a replacement buyer couldn't be found and they got stuck. And then deeproot sold even less, because most went to zidware transfers. I'm not sure how much new sales they created.
Quoted from greatwichjohn:The numbers are in the hundreds over the years for Star Gazer & Seawitch playfields. Along with too many playfield restorations like Sorcerer, Eight Ball Deluxe, Space Shuttle, etc. Same with backglass production which was 3 times that of playfields. Pinball parts production is very hard, & lots of hurtles to deal with vendors or contractors. New pinball games are extremely hard to get going which we have seen over the years from new companies.
John you keep posting about all you have done but, and believe me I mean no offense, didn't you file for bankruptcy? If I am wrong apologies as again not trying to be ignorant or bad mouth you! If you were such the pioneer you're trying to make yourself out to be you were either REALLY bad at business or foolish with money!
I find it hard to believe that you're "in talks" with all these people you keep claiming to be BUT I guess people kept hiring JPOP so it's possible!
Quoted from SantaEatsCheese:Cary Hardy drops all his deeproot footage unedited.
This footage is interesting. The RAZA playfield inserts presciently reveal the characters that is the deeproot fiasco:
Dare Devil Cycle: That's got to be RM. He dared the industry like a devil and well. . .failed miserably. Now, he's enduring, shall we say, a cycle of heat.
Jester: Jpop. Too obvious.
Dizzi Doozi: As many know, the phrase "It's a doozy" derives from the extraordinarily high-priced Duesenberg cars, owned by the wealthy in the 1930s. Others attribute the phrase to the slang saying: "It's a daisy," acknowledging that a particular thing is beautiful. Still others believe that the phrase is connected to popular early 1900s Italian actress, Eleonora Duse. Under any interpretation, anyone who preordered a deeproot game, is a Dizzi Doozi. Preorder customers were rendered dizzy by the beauty and left their common sense in the trunk when they unloaded their wallets.
Ferris Wheel: This item represents everyone else associated with the project, many good people in the industry to be sure. They occupied seats in a Sisyphean structure that went round and round, advancing nowhere of import, exhibiting all along the illusion of progress, only to end up at the starting point.
Quoted from benheck:"Too Purple to Fail"
This is still cracking me up. Especially when I watched that Cary video.
I'm just going to throw out they fetch $100k plus for each sorta complete box of lights that may or may not work. Some people in this hobby have huge egos with even bigger bank accounts.
Quoted from NashtyFunk:In my experience, people with "f*ck you money" are highly intelligent but a lot of their decision making doesn't make sense to "normal" folks or even "rich pinball people" who compared to the rest of the country spend a fortune on games.
People spending $15k on a pinball machine would shock 98% of the country. Paying $100k for a pokemon card is the same. Art, classic cars, NFTs etc. all have dumb money in them. I may not agree with how they choose to spend their $$ but typically they did something smart to get it in the first place.
Indie Gamer / Pinball Chick, herself with venture capitalist experience from a wealthy family, says that being rich isn't just something you *are*. It involves a whole new skillset that you have to *learn.*
Quoted from vdojaq:Who the hell are you talking to? Harry Williams and David Gottlieb through the Dione Warwick psychic friends hotline? Make sure you tell them to welcome Barry and Lyman.
Barry at this very moment will be advising them all "No, no, none of us need the money anymore, really really DON'T go anywhere near this."
Quoted from CrazyLevi:Well regardless, they certainly aren't going to be destroyed. Their ultimate fate is likely to function poorly and intermittently and end up in storage or non-working on display. And sure I'd love to caress the pinbar with my own hands. Maybe they'll end up getting toured around various spots, like Bonnie and CLyde's car.
So... riddled with bullet holes then.
Quoted from meSz:John you keep posting about all you have done but, and believe me I mean no offense, didn't you file for bankruptcy? If I am wrong apologies as again not trying to be ignorant or bad mouth you! If you were such the pioneer you're trying to make yourself out to be you were either REALLY bad at business or foolish with money!
I find it hard to believe that you're "in talks" with all these people you keep claiming to be BUT I guess people kept hiring JPOP so it's possible!
Yes I lost a lot of money over the years. Some of the failure I will gladly accept, failures from contractors or vendors I had to cover. Some people in this business will crush you also, & also some hard to please people about colors. I am earning just over $22k US on my meager pension which supports my wife also in 2021. We live a meager life style now. Had many pinball machines over the years from new to old, everything is gone! No house, no car, no assets. I play more pinball now that I have retired, & still drink beer.
That being said I still deal with different parties about pinball production. Andrew Heighway I freely talk about on here. Others in the business or interested parties I have to keep their names quiet! People can believe me or not. As for Jpop I lucked out many years ago not to get involved in his business, & trying to help people out that got burned (some in the know still keep silent). Where he ends up in the pinball biz, who knows but him.
Trying to lure a new company into reviving this toxic trash is like putting the Chernobyl power plant up for sale and saying "it just needs a fuse"
This is the SAME SCAM John's done what, 3 times now? We've watched Cary's video. The game is shit.
I don’t disagree with you. I guess it comes down to what is “rich”. I wasn’t referring to multi millionaires who are “rich” by almost every standard imaginable but most that I know are pretty standard humans whose lives aren’t that different, everything is just a little extra.
The few people I know worth hundreds of millions live in a complete different world Ana their perspective is unlike anything I’ll ever understand.
Quoted from EalaDubhSidhe:Indie Gamer / Pinball Chick, herself with venture capitalist experience from a wealthy family, says that being rich isn't just something you *are*. It involves a whole new skillset that you have to *learn.*
Quoted from NashtyFunk:I don’t disagree with you. I guess it comes down to what is “rich”. I wasn’t referring to multi millionaires who are “rich” by almost every standard imaginable but most that I know are pretty standard humans whose lives aren’t that different, everything is just a little extra.
The few people I know worth hundreds of millions live in a complete different world Ana their perspective is unlike anything I’ll ever understand.
One of the hardest things, apparently - and this is one reason why rich guys can come across as callous - is learning how to say 'no' and not hate yourself for it. It's not because you're training yourself not to care, it's because once you get into the habit of saying 'yes' to people you will never, ever stop, and everyone will know it.
Quoted from benheck:Trying to lure a new company into reviving this toxic trash is like putting the Chernobyl power plant up for sale and saying "it just needs a fuse"
[snip]
I don't laugh much, but this analogy killed me.
So is anyone else struck by the profound lack of tangible assets they are auctioning off ? $60M and all they have left to see are some office furniture, home gym, a couple of prototypes, some whitewoods, and a few spare parts ???? Where the hell did the rest of the money go ?
And for that matter, it would seem they had no serious intention of ever fulfilling RAZA orders. Where are the 100 RAZA playfields, back boxes, cabinets, side art, screen displays, PinBars etc ?
Quoted from pookycade:And for that matter, it would seem they had no serious intention of ever fulfilling RAZA orders. Where are the 100 RAZA playfields, back boxes, cabinets, side art, screen displays, PinBars etc ?
They hadn't bought them yet. Those parts would be paid for by pre-orders for Food Truck. Food Truck parts would then be paid for with pre-orders for their other future title called "Pinball Ponzi Scheme".
Quoted from pookycade:Where the hell did the rest of the money go ?
Blobbert bragged early on how much money they were burning a month. They had LOTS of employees....they had a friggin' animation studio in Utah. Even before we knew he was a disgusting, putrid, reprehensible criminal - we knew that the money burn made ZERO sense and no amount of success would ever make the company even remotely break even.
Quoted from Rarehero:Blobbert bragged early on how much money they were burning a month. They had LOTS of employees....they had a friggin' animation studio in Utah. Even before we knew he was a disgusting, putrid, reprehensible criminal - we knew that the money burn made ZERO sense and no amount of success would ever make the company even remotely break even.
Rarehero OUCH! But I like it.
Quoted from ForceFlow:I've got a bridge to sell that's ripe for the investor market. It's in Brooklyn. You can't go wrong here. Opportunity of a lifetime!
Ooh, can I sell London Bridge to him too? And there's a secret passage into a disused Tube station where Q tests Bond equipment. Everything must go! It looks empty but that's invisible cars for you.
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