Thunderbirds - Homepin

[Strangeways]

The agitators, most of the time,  demanded answers to serious questions and got jack,  and threads were shut down.

in hindsight, the answers were obvious
'no, we are still not ready to build games'
but it has always been somebody elses fault

not once has Mike apologized to us for the delays
not once has he owned (the reason for delay) the problem and promised to fix it

and that is why you should never hold yourself up to be Mr Perfect

That's because what was actually happening and what was declared as happening were two different things and all along there was no need for it.. it was the lies and deception that kept biting that arse.
 But hey! This is pinball.. its the only industry I know of where people will put their hands deep into their pockets when someone only has an idea and all is forgiven at the release of one good title

Right on the money there Gav. The deceptive conduct will be how this venture is judged. Early days, this venture was the buzzword of the industry.

[Retropin]

There was a time where this pinball and its manufacturer being discussed on this forum would have sent ripples through AA and they would have banded together to protect their precious fair dinkum dinky dye member... he is one of us remember? LOL.
So far though.. this discussion has been the only open, honest and non volatile thread on any forum.
 

[Pop Bumper Pete]

Right on the money there Gav. The deceptive conduct will be how this venture is judged. Early days, this venture was the buzzword of the industry.

http://aussiepinball.com/index.php?topic=10942.0

just been reading back through the first thread
everyone was behind this

seems it took 3 years for the shine to come off the idea
(a poor showing at 2016 pinfest)

[Retropin]

That's because the lies and deceit were getting too much. January 2016 I received a phone call from China asking what type of plastic to make pop bumper bodies out of and yet all along the official spin was that a finished machine was just around the corner.. in fact right at concept when pre order money was being received, the official line was that "if" anything were to be shown it would include pop bumpers, flippers etc just like any other pinball.

Its not a good story..

[Pop Bumper Pete]

Its not a good story..

I have a great story
normally I don't like to post the contents of PMs or e-mails (but I am going to anyway)
I did receive a series of PMs from Mike suggesting I move my bakery to China
I would not know where to start sourcing ingredients, nor would I trust those sources, and ignoring the small fact that the Chinese dont like to try new food
I would not like to live in a country where I dont speak the language

[pinnies4me]

Its not a good story..

I have a great story
normally I don't like to post the contents of PMs or e-mails (but I am going to anyway)
I did receive a series of PMs from Mike suggesting I move my bakery to China
I would not know where to start sourcing ingredients, nor would I trust those sources, and ignoring the small fact that the Chinese dont like to try new food
I would not like to live in a country where I dont speak the language

Not like Mike to be telling someone how to do their thing I would have thought....

[oldskool1969]

[/quote]

http://aussiepinball.com/index.php?topic=10942.0

just been reading back through the first thread
everyone was behind this

seems it took 3 years for the shine to come off the idea
(a poor showing at 2016 pinfest)
[/quote]
Some of us it took a lot sooner and were subsequently slammed for saying so.
I still hope it turns out OK for the pre order people and game play is at least reasonable.

[swinks]

I realised alot earlier due a few dealings in 2013/2014 which made me wary, and from then he brought me into threads on AA to get people to turn against me and interesting now those people have seen the real side of him.
He flogged the micro phone as being the best thing and then his Rapide3d printer as the next best thing and look what happened to those projects...
Then in his TBAG thread he said he was building in China as was cheap, but at one stage was going to get Chinese workers to hand make cabinets and not CNC cut which was a major concern for me - how can you take him seriously in manufacturing - though he soon after adopted technology. But some things still allude him with a plastic lockdown bar as he has struggled to reproduce metal pressed ones.

[Retropin]

Yes.. for a long time it was the pin no one was allowed to talk about as the Homepin fanboise would quickly trample all over you.. even constructive criticism was not allowed.. only blind subservience.
Forum censorship and free thought strangulation allowed Mike to get away with far too much.. even the lapdogs turned in the end

[Pop Bumper Pete]

interesting name in the credits

[swinks]

interesting - Mike saying thanks to JPop and Ben Heck, and ( Stern & JJP )
wonder what Ben thinks....

[pinball god]

Yes.. for a long time it was the pin no one was allowed to talk about as the Homepin fanboise would quickly trample all over you.. even constructive criticism was not allowed.. only blind subservience.
Forum censorship and free thought strangulation allowed Mike to get away with far too much.. even the lapdogs turned in the end

my exact thoughts and what I tried to allude to at aa.  Comments seemed to have to be approved by homepin.  Many fanboys would say mike has approved me saying such and such and I'd take ofrence to people who put money down feeling they had to be censored.  Unfortunately those non paying guys tried to stand up for these guys but were trampled and called trolls.  Now,  I for one,  don't care if people lose their dough now because I felt somewhat thrown under the bus. 

I still am interested to see how this venture pans out,  and what this game will be like.  I hope there will be honest reviews of it but I fear owners will post positives regardless because I think most will want to move it on quickly and bad talk will make selling it difficult

[Pop Bumper Pete]

I think you are wrong,
you will see a lot of these come up for sale, still in the box
Mikes attitude and the 5 year wait has left a sour taste in pre-order buyers mouths

[Strangeways]

Yes.. for a long time it was the pin no one was allowed to talk about as the Homepin fanboise would quickly trample all over you.. even constructive criticism was not allowed.. only blind subservience.
Forum censorship and free thought strangulation allowed Mike to get away with far too much.. even the lapdogs turned in the end

my exact thoughts and what I tried to allude to at aa.  Comments seemed to have to be approved by homepin.  Many fanboys would say mike has approved me saying such and such and I'd take ofrence to people who put money down feeling they had to be censored.  Unfortunately those non paying guys tried to stand up for these guys but were trampled and called trolls.  Now,  I for one,  don't care if people lose their dough now because I felt somewhat thrown under the bus. 

I still am interested to see how this venture pans out,  and what this game will be like.  I hope there will be honest reviews of it but I fear owners will post positives regardless because I think most will want to move it on quickly and bad talk will make selling it difficult

Explains the veil of secrecy on AA. Makes sense to me. But pre order owners should be kept in the loop "somehow". I'm glad that when APR was "briefly" the "distributor", I took pre order $ and kept it in the bank. Once my suspicions were confirmed, I was in a position to refund the deposits with "Stern" advice thereafter. I learnt my lessons with the chrome ball returns which were frustrating, to say the least. Nothing worse than supporting a product or company and then being left out of pocket. Either as a "distributor" or a "customer".

[oldskool1969]

Ah yes, the great ball debacle.
So many memories, be most bad.