Re: ANNOUNCE: EIGHT BALL DELUXE Reproduction Plastics LICENSING QUESTION

On Mar 17, 4:32 am, "Classic Playfield Reproductions"
<inboxNOS...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I must assure everybody that the personal/political soap operas in the hobby
relating to individual collectors and pro-TPF or anti-TPF opinions must
ultimately be transcended if you ever decide to go to the "business" side of
the hobby.  There is no debate here.  At least in the realm of
Bally/Williams reproduction parts.  If anybody ever wants to step beyond
being a customer/buyer/collector and step up a level to being a
distributor/reproducer/manufacturer, your views will automatically change..
It is very easy to sit back and take a "side" and decide to "boycott" and
such when you are a single individual with a wallet.  Too easy.  It doesn't
effect anybody's machines but your own, and that is anybody's right and
personal choice.  However, if you want to mass produce for the hobby,
contribute to the hobby, help spruce up hundreds of classic machines, and
thus create repro parts from scratch (ie. Bally/Williams)...then you forge a
supplier business relationship with one or both WMS Gaming licensees.  It is
a given.  There is nothing political about it.  There are no bitter pills to
swallow.  If you wanted to make Ronald McDonald baseball hats, you'd
approach McDonalds Corporation.  Whether or not a few members of your
National Zugat Restaurant Enthusiasts Club personally don't like their food
(to the point of boycotting their restaurants) becomes of no concern.  Or
even if those McDonalds-haters had terrible battles with the McDonalds CEO
on rec.food.restaurants over the last 3 years.... see how silly this sounds?
One decision is personal, one decision is business.  Two distinctly
different things.

I can correct a frequent folly being made often out there:  that Mike
Purcell and I are somehow 'suffering' or performing a 'necessary evil' in
order to do what we do. Basically that we are somehow in ongoing political
turmoil against our better judgement in working under TPF's license.  The
answer is that we are absolutely not.  To be honest, reproducing for TPF &
Wayne under his license is very organized, turnkey, easy to operate, and a
welcome setup for this hobby.  If any of you would have gotten me
face-to-face at a show and ask what the real truth is (beyond ongoing RGP
threads and the soaps) and get down to the real behind-the-scenes business
in pinball, you'd find out that there is a big difference between some
perceptions and reality.  CPR is operating fine under a very well-run and
easy-to-use license relationship.  But 99.9% of people in the hobby are
never exposed to working with licensing, approval processes, ease of license
use, etc...so I don't blame most for simply not knowing.  That is why the
rest of the lore becomes 'reality' on here.  Because that is all anybody
knows.

Every collector, buyer, seller, retailer, supplier, reproducer, and licensee
all equally have their own quirks, strengths, and weaknesses.  I am not
perfect, you are not perfect, BAA is not perfect, Marco is not perfect, IPB
is not perfect, TPF is not perfect.  Some people are great on the internet,
crappy in person.  Some people are poor on the internet, but wonderful in
person.  On and on.   The hobby is a mismash of all types of personalities -
dominators, type-A's, easy-goers, palz, raging partiers, and the quiet.
Certain types clash like the titans.  Some get along fine.  Sometimes it is
around a sales transaction, sometimes around a debate of a certain opinion
or topic.  Doesn't really matter.  We're all here essentially blogging.
That's all it is.  But when it gets down to managing a ton of your own
personal money a year to navigate the making and selling of *thousands* of
parts, you sober up to reality quite quickly.  You find out the true
workings of the people in the business end of the hobby you deal with,
because you meet them and talk to them on a regular basis.  You talk
business.  You work as adults.  Not a *hint* of weirdness, soap operas,
rumors, baloney are *ever* part of the process....  trust me.   Night and
day between reality and some opinions on RGP.

Lastly - the most important comment I want to make... Just so everybody
knows one major fact when it comes to the 'boycott' thing:   The entire run
of any CPR repro item is completely licensed and royalty paid in full at
release.  Whether the item sits on our shelf, distributor shelf, or sells,
has absolutely *no* bearings on TPF's earnings.  This is the way any
licensing works.  Gottlieb too.  Royalties are paid in FULL for the entire
run, when the run is complete.  If zero sell, the licensee still sits paid
in full.  If they sell out, the licensee is still sitting there paid in
full.  So boycotting is 100%, absolutely-for-certain, no question, totally
and fully an attack directly on the success or failure in the economics of
CPR and our distributors.  Hurts nobody but who some of you call "the good
guys".

Now you know.  Sorry this was so long.

Thanks guys for bringing it up.  This probably should have been clarified
from our side a long time ago.

--
KEVIN WAYTE
Classic Playfield Reproductionshttp://www.classicplayfields.com

"Corey C." <co...@xxxxxxx> wrote in message

news:1a6af2c7-7e04-4b70-b627-7dd78f698050@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Why do you care? Because supporting good guys like the ones at CPR
might inadvertently support Wayne? I'm no Wayne fan, but CPR is worth
supporting, IMHO. I would imagine that dealing with Wayne is a tough
pill to swallow, but they gotta do what they gotta do to keep doing
what they love. Play ball or close up shop seem to be the choices,
really.



Why just crickets now?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Hi Kevin...Thanks for taking the time to write all that up. I was
interesting and enlightening.

I don't have a pony in this show, since I limit myself to mostly
40s-60s EMs, but I follow this contraversy because it's interesting
and developments in the repro parts market affects of all, or at least
has the potential to.

IMO, people will boycott your stuff because of Wayne, and
unfortunately there's not much you can do about it. You speak of
being on the business side of things, and personalities are not
considered, and this is understood by most. But another part of being
in business is PR, something I think you and most people who earn a
living through pinball are aware of. Wayne seems to be ignorant of
this and has alienated way too many people for his own, and his
licensees good. Some of the bad PR is probably unwarranted and
reactionary grandstanding on the part of a few, but Wayne has shown
he's one of the worse as far as this goes. He's decided he owns it
and if the RPGers don't like it he'll show them! Or at least that's
the image he's projected. Not a great way to attract customers. Are
customers unreasonable and intolerant occasionally? Yes, but a smart
businessman sucks it up and retains the customer...doesn't retailate
against everyone in the store!!

Like I said, I personally don't have much of a stake in this, but I
slow down at all the bad accidents to gawk as much as anybody. And to
those who won't buy CPR stuff because some money goes to Wayne, that's
your perogative, but keep in mind your also hurting CPR and many
others who have to deal with Wayne directly so you don't have to.
They deserve something for that, right?? ;o) C'mon!!! Buy the damn
plastics...you know you want them..... :)

Sean


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: ANNOUNCE: EIGHT BALL DELUXE Reproduction Plastics LICENSING QUESTION
    ... supplier business relationship with one or both WMS Gaming licensees. ... turmoil against our better judgement in working under TPF's license. ... of any CPR repro item is completely licensed and royalty paid in full at ... might inadvertently support Wayne? ...
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  • Re: ANNOUNCE: EIGHT BALL DELUXE Reproduction Plastics LICENSING QUESTION
    ... �However, if you want to mass produce for the hobby, ... supplier business relationship with one or both WMS Gaming licensees. ... turmoil against our better judgement in working under TPF's license. ... The hobby is a mismash of all types of personalities - ...
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  • Re: ANNOUNCE: EIGHT BALL DELUXE Reproduction Plastics LICENSING QUESTION
    ...  However, if you want to mass produce for the hobby, ... supplier business relationship with one or both WMS Gaming licensees. ... turmoil against our better judgement in working under TPF's license. ... The hobby is a mismash of all types of personalities - ...
    (rec.games.pinball)
  • Re: ANNOUNCE: EIGHT BALL DELUXE Reproduction Plastics LICENSING QUESTION
    ... I must assure everybody that the personal/political soap operas in the hobby ... supplier business relationship with one or both WMS Gaming licensees. ... turmoil against our better judgement in working under TPF's license. ... The hobby is a mismash of all types of personalities - ...
    (rec.games.pinball)
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