Big Bang Bar

[robertwinter]

Well, it's been an interesting week to say the least. With the exit of Bearcave from the IPB/PMI/BBB scene, the loss of the "official" BBB forum, and the technical difficulties that temporarily halted this new BBB forum, BBB buyers have had lots to deal with. Hopefully this post will put most people's minds at ease.

Having said that, please be aware that I am just an ordinary collector like most other BBB buyers. I have no affiliation with IPB/PMI other than the fact that I'm a BBB buyer myself. I created this private forum so that we would still have a place to go and share information and follow the ongoing progress of the BBB project.

Shortly after the announcement of Bearcave exiting the project last week, I took it upon myself to launch this new forum. Having done that, I contacted Kim (Pinball Witch) and we discussed numerous things. Some of those items will be discussed here, others will be discussed in another thread appropriate to the subject (since it's not related to an update).

Kim expressed that Gene was ecstatic that someone had stepped forward to create another private forum (not to take anything away from Wayne - I applaud his effort as well). They were thankful there would be another "safe haven" for BBB buyers to discuss the project.

Kim and I also talked about getting regular updates. Since she does not have a lot of time to get on the computer (and self-admitted not very computer savvy), we decided that we would talk regulary and she would email me information as well, which in turn I would format and post to the forum. She said she just got a digital camera so she'd try to get pictures whenever possible as well.

So on to the meat of things. The following is the extent of information I could get from Kim last week. She stated since BBB was Steve and Bob's project, she knew minimal information at that point but would obviously be learning much more in the coming weeks now that she would be taking over.

Cabinet decals - Bob and Steve were originally the people that were going to apply the cabinet decals. Since they are now out of the picture, I voiced my concern with who would be undertaking this task as I had heard rumors that they had someone else lined up. I asked if they had decal application experience. Well, here's the lowdown. Apparently when the BC news came out last week, a "pinball person" approached IPB about doing the decal application. This person is in the business of restoring pinballs and has done numerous cabinet decal applications. I didn't ask for a name since I doubt Kim would have told me. But I am confident that this new person will do an excellent job.

Cabinets - this is still an ongoing issue but Kim stated that Gene was all over the vendor for deliver. "Squeaky wheel get the grease." They had gotten other items from that vendor and were actually hoping to get a couple of cabinets at the end of last week.

Plastics - they had received the last of the "bent" plastics and were forwarding them to the assemblers.

Playfield assemblies - most of the assemblies for the playfield have been completed. I did not get the feeling that any playfield assembly had been started yet.

Kim was still coordinating with the playfield assemblers to get them all the required parts. This consists of everything down to all the nuts/bolts/screws/etc. She described the mountains of screws they were dealing with and having to inventory using the BOM.

That's about all I can remember at the moment (my notes are at work). I will attempt to get some kind of update every week, with possible publication on the same day each week (Wednesday?). I'll probably run a semi-poll every week leading up to the update to glean the most-wanted questions so I can follow those up with Kim.

All I can say is I am still very confident that this project will be completed. Someone stated that if Bob and Steve had been hit by a truck, we'd be in the same situation. So although this might be a minor setback, things ARE moving forward.

I would like to thank Bob and Steve for their tireless efforts into this project and their neverending attention to detail. They will be missed.

As stated, I will be starting other threads for possible questions for the next update and about others possibly helping on the project.
_________________
Robert
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http://www.robertwinter.com
BBB #74

[nworker]

Robert,

Thanks for stepping up to the plate. It is great to know that someone is gathering information for us and getting it published.

If you need any help, please give me a shout.

Hank
nworker@speakeasy.net
#86

[bspins]

Can't thank you enough for doing this, Robert.
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Bryan Kelly Former BBB #123