I agree the lack of updates for people who have prepurchased (me included) is not ideal, and i would probably do it differently - however i bought in knowing that Mike has a unique way of doing things, and with the thought in the back of my mind that it might take longer than originally intended - particularly after seeing what happened with WoZ.
I met up with Mike a few weeks back when he was back home, i certainly got no secret info - i didn't ask who the designer was, and am pretty sure he would not have told me if i had. One thing is that he told us all well before the JPOP fiasco, that he had a 'well known' designer on board - so i think it is prob unfair to label Homepin with JPOP, particularly if the playfield design was partially done well before the fiasco. Guilt by association is a tricky thing, and agree everyone will have their stance on it. Mike did tell me about the financial issues associated with Karen's passing and estate, and how this delayed things, however i did not feel it was my part to divulge this information to the public via forums - it was told to me as a friend, hence no public airing from me.
Anyway, the designer is all purely speculation, however to answer the question previously posed about would those with money in it feel if JPOP is the designer - the fact that the major designer (if it is JPOP) was secured before the other antics, does not make TAG any different to me. That does not mean i have no empathy for those who suffered from JPOP, but i can't see how him designing the machine before his name turned to mud makes the machine any better or worse. Some of his other previously designed titles are pretty good. Again - all pure speculation at this stage.
Mike also told me he personally the other week he has very little involvement with the construction and factory running of the arcade side of things - another bloke is in charge of that. So the assumptions that he is focussing on the arcade side at the expense of Thunderbirds is incorrect.
I also agree that the parts like pop bumpers etc are pretty close to DE - however at the end of the day there is not too much of the design to change - and making them from scratch was necessary due to the cost of importing into China, maybe unless someone did something with magnets like GB slings?
One thing i reckon is that as Aussies, we should be supporting a local guy having a go. To me, this has to be one of the more epic undertakings in recent pinball history in Australia. There have been some pretty good achievements I am aware of that promote pinball and the aussie ingenuity and spirit down under such as old mate making the sunset riders machines, a guy in Newcastle making some custom machines shown at Pinfest, NPA putting on Pinfest over subsequent years, 3 guys putting on Pinball Expo in 2014, Jady starting designing his custom machine, Rod doing a ripper Pinheadz podcast. But to my knowledge, when (and i understand some people might think it is a big IF) it comes off I reckon its pretty awesome that one of our fellas it hooking in and giving it a go of something this scale. That said, i do understand that Mike has made some big statements (some unpopular), so that is his issue to deal with.
Anyway, all people are entitled to their opinion, but because i know Mike personally, and the fact that he is pretty pig headed, means i personally have complete confidence that he will deliver a solid product and was happy to drop money on it.
