He worked there. Why do you need to know more than that? Plenty of people have worked there. They all seem to have very similar stories. Wonder why that is.

I'm trying to think of a different way to put this so he doesn't report me again. Hes just a fan boy who sits in the chair and watches because the people there butter him up and he thinks they're his friends.

you can put both those in the older Houdinis as well

The two older ones I owned performed flawlessly with the original power supplies. If your line voltage into your home is stable enough, no issues. Updated power supply might not even be needed if your local electric company provides a good stable consistent feed.

Not the same company it once was, they discarded practically the entire workforce, and all the other issues that have been brought up by key people who worked there or contracted for them.... Some of the come lately fanboys and cheerleaders will just never grasp it all. Just maybe they will when they become ignored as a customer for true service or things go even further south or when the doors close. Or maybe they will never get it.

I have not heard anything on the court case vs AP in Racine County in Wisconsin. So apparently it appears there has been no progress resolving that.
I take it as Business as usual ?

I stopped by the factory yesterday to pick up a few springs. The drop target in my Oktoberfest had a spring break, so they were nice enough to give me a few spares. Saved me a trip to Pinball Life, which was very nice of them.

Sounds like Cuphead is moving along and they are getting it all finalized. Hopefully I'll get to see it at MGC in April!

last rumor I heard several vendors are going to send them to collections, just a rumor can not confirm.

So things are chugging along still but they still haven't bothered to announce a replacement for Fix. And haven't done anything other than talk to distributors privately.

I'm not going to predict sales, but if we get to release with no significant hire announcements, and the designer certainly seems to think he ain't coming back based on a recent facebook post(though his teapot buying is chugging along), this is going to be one for the ages in terms of bizarre launches, though I guess we've gotten used to that in the pinball community.

The only positive I've noticed is my distributer, who I thought stopped ordering from American Pinball(they didn't stock GTF even though they had all the previous releases) has BBQ in their showroom now.

Fix always seemed more interested in attention then running the company

IDK, maybe he wasn't given the power to make the decisions that needed to be made
maybe he lacked the skills to make the correct decisions
probably a lot of both

You have to be careful with the older Houdinis, some also had the garbage Mirco playfields with pooling and cracking issues. These have the clear inserts which also tend to crack. As I'm sure no surprise to you, Zero support from AP on the issues.

I thought they did. Or someone did?

Did they? I haven't really been checking the pinball news much as these lulls between releases are dreadful. All I've heard is that they are "hiring" but no actual announcements. Who did they hire?

I thought it was just a sales guy that was taking on additional duties? Seemed pretty haphazard.

Easy to tell, mirco have clear inserts while the Bader have translucent white. Early on we were doing 50/50, then dropped mirco as he rejected our rejects. However when Fix came on board he told manufacturing to use the mirco playfields that had been rejected, I was not sure at first if he knew as he did not ask anyone who knew the history. I was pretty pissed when I was in factory and saw them being used, but when I explained the history to Fix, he did not seem to care, he felt there was nothing wrong with them.

Oh, that. I guess I thought that was just a placeholder, maybe it wasn't and it's just a get the releases out with no extra money spent plan.

You were Fix'd.

dancing_AP_fix.gif

Haven't you already saw it???

I think he said he saw it before at the factory in one of his posts.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/the-next-american-pinball/page/134#post-8520777

Some of what he relates about his experiences there I wonder about. Faulty memory, embellishment or something else. Details seemed to be a bit off when we were told about him picking up an Oktoberfest pin directly. First said he got his game on the street where the solely dedicated Aimtron building is , then the other building that is split that actually has the AP facility in it.

Does Fix have any kids ?

Seen it and played it. Very early build, though. Hoping to see it at MGC, which would mean it's 100% complete and ready for purchase!

I picked up the machine at the split facility. Went to talk to Mukesh at the Aimtron building on Vermont St.

Great people over there! So excited for what they have to offer moving forward.

I think you might have forgot what you posted a few times about 30 days ago "you stated you've saw it but haven't got to play it yet"....now you've played it but it's an early build????? So you happen to have played an early build within the last month (in between you not playing and then playing it).

I am always amazed (though not surprised after Deep Root and Haggis) people cheer-lead for a company that owes vendors, former employees, money, threatened content creators with law suits, and tried to get them fired, treat customers poorly etc.

Yep! Fun game, can't wait to see it fully fleshed out.

Now I am wondering is this guy just stroking everybody and its beyond embellishing the cheer leading or having a bad memory or something.

Or if he relates to the owners so well and is at the factory so much that he really should just take a job with AP !

Sounds like a great candidate to take over for the open spot Fix had. Sign the man up.

AP, is going to go live with this machine hopefully shortly, but they still have an early build around and letting people play it to gauge first impressions????? Someone might be stretching the truth.

Not surprised Fix continued to use these even after you told him the history, he had promised me a replacement PF years ago.... and unfortunately I'm still waiting.

Hey RMS1977 any chance could put a good word in for me on your next visit with your buddies? LOL

Some of the things RMS is saying are not adding up to me either, so he has me a bit skeptical as well, just being honest.

Anyway, one thing I noticed that shocked me is that Don was required to sign an NDA when he got to play Cuphead, but later they just let Cary Hardy come in and play the game. He admitted that they didn’t make him sign anything, so I thought that was a bit peculiar considering the secrecy that was previously involved with this project. In fact it seems they just letting anyone see/play this “prototype” all Willy Nilly now. It just strikes me as a bit odd now, I dunno, perhaps I’m reading into it a bit much.

I heard on an interview with Bowden recently where he said he was working on the code/rules for Cuphead, but he is no longer there, so is the one sole coder left with them (Casey I think) the only one working on the game now? Cary Hardy, Loser Kid, and others have said the game has a great layout, and could be APs best game, but they also said the mechanics/code had a long ways to go.

I just wonder who is left there that is even working on the game? Then there are the production line QC checks and other things that should be overseen by a design team. Take this all in and even MGC seems like a stretch.

I really want this game to see the light of day, but even I am starting to become a bit skeptical. We shall see…

Yeah, it unfortunately seems like it still has a long way to go. We also had a chance to play GTF when it was in its whitewood phase (when it was still called Atomic Tank Corp). My son and I are very fortunate to have the relationship we have with AP. They are just so nice to us and always willing to help if something comes up with our Oktoberfest.

Oh, and Mitesh is working on Cuphead from an engineering standpoint. Casey is helping out as well with the code.

Ok, I don’t really have any reason to not believe you. I think that’s great if you have such a close relationship with Mukesh and Aimtron, so that’s cool.

If Mitesh is helping with engineering that’s fine. I think the big thing will be the QC involved with the manufacturing of this product. I was told by someone in the industry that the game if and when produced will likely be in very limited quantities.

Yeah, I'm thinking the numbers will be very limited, unfortunately. Here's hoping the game is a big success and they can continue making them beyond the first wave of machines.

Ultimately I just want them to stick around because my son and I love playing pinball. All companies, doesn't matter. If a game is fun, then we enjoy playing it.

If its at MGC that does not necessarily mean its 100% complete and ready for purchase. WTF is even that logic lol. I mean...I'm not saying thats an impossibility but there's about 80 million reasons it could be there and still be in about the exact same limbo it is right now.

80 million?

AP has brought more than a few games to shows or revealed them before they had them on the line.

Mitesh is a great guy and one of the hardest working people I know, but he isn't an engineer.

Yeah... Maybe even up to 175 million.

Either that, or its something called hyperbole.

At least not a mechanical engineer.. I believe I overheard him say he's a chemical engineer

Man, well I’m sure the game will turn out great! Haha

Fix said in a recent intense that Zofia was training engineers in India on the mechanical stuff and such. Honestly, who the heck knows where this game is at in development? They probably need to call in some serious help at this point…

who in their right mind would go to work for a company that owes former employees money and fired their whole staff weeks before the holidays?

The Uninformed , fools and ostriches - heads buried in the sand

Poor ol' Nate and Amanda, that's who. Two sweet but doomed new employees destined to have the light extinguished from their souls, if the apparent history at AP is any guide.

AP_Nate_And_Amanda.jpg

They just came on WELL after a ton of bad stuff was public about AP as an employer and at least one lawsuit was filed.

Wish those two luck but they might find out that working at the local burger chain would have been a better bet. But maybe that's the backup plan.

I think RMS1977 is the only person that should seriously consider working there. He has a very strong comfort level with AP.

Go man Go !

You can't sling burgers remotely. That may have been the attraction of the support position.

That said, at least you are going to get PAID regularly with the burger job. That'll always be a question mark at AP, given their recent history of stiffing employees, vendors, and contractors.

Thats where I was going. Burger joint would pay regularly and be more stable. But Nope, can't do burgers remote though.

Sheesh, so much love for this company, haha.

Anyway, I noticed AP doesn’t have any games listed on the Texas Pinball Festival games list yet. I know of one vendor that was working to bring some of their games there; so maybe they will update it soon.

He may very well have a key card … seems to have easy access to parking, employees, pinball games, leadership, TV lounge, etc.