A final screw job from Jack at Skyworks

[tko211]

Hello all. I have purposely remained silent on this subject with reason...

I thought the time has finally come to share with everyone a final death blow dished out by Jack in the now infamous saga of Skyworks. Some of you know that All-Go management and myself have been trying to recover the A-10 Prototype. All-Go! has been successful initially, in contacting Jack but was immediately met with heavy resistance and complete unwillingness to cooperate. Jack was so completely far off from being anything but reasonable it was astonishing. Very quickly it became apparent that Jack was not going to comply with any request regardless of legal right of ownership by All-Go. At that point Jack went off-radar and stopped any communications and switched contact info.

At that point I asked for permission to legally go after Jack myself as an All-Go representative. I started by connecting with 3 other forum members and laid out a game plan that included talking with legal council that my firm retains for my businesses. It became very clear very quickly that this would not be nearly as straight forward as one might think and that it was not nearly as easy as recovering something like a repo mission on a car. I have examined all the legal options available, all of which will cost more than I am prepared to spend as at this moment but might decide to just out of principal. All options require a heads up to Jack who already has claimed to have destroyed the A-10... So if that is not true and the A-10 lives, I suspect it would only be a minor matter of time before he would follow through with this claim just to spite us all.

So what does it all mean? I believe that Jack once again has found another way to screw the hobby and the fans and the corporate supporters who tried to include him and find a way to bring the A-10 to light in some regard. My plan was to recover the A-10 and to in turn lend it out to Pickelhaube for him to finish the plane and make molds in resin form and basically fulfill the plan initially laid down by All-Go and skyworks in the joint effort. Everyone deserved a shot at having on in 1:18 if they wanted and I felt this would have been a fitting end to the this story. Instead the A-10 still resides with Jack and apparently in many broken pieces according to Jack.

It's actually a real shame on many levels. For one, I really like my F-14 D engines! That was a decent product that was useful, priced fair enough and worked. Same with the pilots, though I have learned that those came at a huge cost to faithful employes who worked essentially without pay to paint and assemble them. At the time that Jack did speak to me it was with respect and a level of friendship. I have learned like everyone else that Jack has another side that is nothing short of being a theif, a liar, and without any integrity of any kind.

At this time All-Go! has legally empowered me to the rights and ownership of the A-10. If anyone has any ability to recover the A-10 in a usable form I would ask that you return it to me so that I can immediately pass the project to pickelhaube and perhaps see it finally made! Otherwise for now I will continue to weigh the legal options I have from my side and see about elevating the charges. So Jack if you are reading this- watch out buddy. The next knock at your door might be the police with a search warrant for stolen property and not just the A-10! I know you still have lots of other peoples stuff and money!

[derek_001]

YEAH JACK! WHERES MY F#CKING FW-190?!?!

[pickelhaube]

My 2 cents is this.

Jack has slapped in the face every single 1/18 scale collector .

He has single handily screwed over everybody who has wished for the A-10.

If he were a man he would come clean and release the A-10 that he now illegally calls his own.

I had the police go to his house on another occasion to no avail.

Maybe the second time will work. But I feel if it is not destroyed now it will be.

Jack, God does not like ugly and maybe someday you will get what is coming to you.

All you need to do is come clean

[Rowsdower]

This is outrageous! Props to you TKO for going after this wanker!

[paulpratt]

All-Go giving the A-10 to this "jack" character was the death knell for the entire A-10 project. Unfortunately it's another bad decision in a long line of really bad decisions made by All-Go. I hate to say it, but All-Go deserves to loose the A-10 after all of this.

What has it been a year or two now? Nothing produced, not one item, and a valuable prototype given to a "civilian (someone outside of All-Go's payroll)" of questionable morale character simply because he is "good at modelling." I adore Pickel and his work, but i 100% disagree with giving it to him to "finish." Why is any of the work on this model being done by hand? If you are farming out the work to customizers what type of shoddy operation is being run here? Is this a legitimate business or is this one or two guys from 21st Century attempting to take the reins out of their apartments? All-Go seems to have no business plan, no projections for the future, and absolutely no chance of capital being generated to further expand the company and it's offerings. Most small businesses stand absolutely no chance of still being around after 2 years of producing nothing.

All-Go arrived on scene with numerous hopes but abruptly stalled and burnt up upon any action to deliver on any goods. Their initial plan was to release arguably one of the most over-produced and poorly tooled planes currently available in 1:18. Their amazing marketing gimmick was to put breasts on it. I just can't emphasis what a terrible idea that was.

Lets not even get into the Jagdpanther thing.

Stop trying to produce the most expensive items in 1:18. Start small and work your way up into something larger in a few years. All-go could have been rolling in a fair amount of money if they would release small kits for existing 1:18 items like they do in 1:35. Start with expansion kits and upgrades! Make some artillery too! Then, only after a year or so of those types of products make medium size vehicles and armor. Then try out helos and aircraft in about five years. If this type of plan had been started when all-go debuted you could be testing the waters for aircraft prototypes now, and you would have money to actually pay someone to come sit in a place where they can be observed while working! You don't send your only prototype outside of a controlled area!

I'm not saying this "plan" is the magic bullet. Absolutely not, but in five minutes I've written more of a business plan than All-Go has ever demonstrated having in a year or whatever. This A-10 mess proves that.

There is 100 years worth of military stuff to produce. We'll all be dead before the bulk of it will ever be farmed for potential models. Companies get so excited to make something, but they blow their wad telling everyone about it before they've even tooled the piece up. Stop talking about making things and just produce something to sell! It doesn't matter if it's $25.00 or $250.00, just offer something!

I don't have much hope for All-Go's "future," but I sincerely hope to be proven wrong.

[DropTank]

a valuable prototype given to a "civilian (someone outside of All-Go's payroll)" of questionable morale character simply because he is "good at modelling."

Aside from the fact he had a personality toss-up between a truck stop dishrag and a restroom plunger, I always thought Jack's talent level was over-rated, over-hyped and over-priced. Best of luck and lets hope justice is served.

[bobb428]

So your saying All Go has no manufacturing resources to produce a plane?

[cjg476]

For $50 I know a guy

[Folkwulfe]

Since this is a loose....and a sad one....the next big question is "Why not start anew?" If Jack wants to hold his imaginary treasure....LET HIM! It might not be easy, but the sane and right thing is to just start fresh.....and let Jack hold his pieces (worthless as they are).

[MG-42]

............ this guy sounds like a real Jack@ss ! ! !



- MG

[flyboy_fx]

LOOOL!


Allgo should consider making highly detailed model kits. I'm sure they would appeal to fine scale modelers as well! Kinda like the 1/32 HE111.

[TankAce]

All-Go giving the A-10 to this "jack" character was the death knell for the entire A-10 project. Unfortunately it's another bad decision in a long line of really bad decisions made by All-Go. I hate to say it, but All-Go deserves to loose the A-10 after all of this.

What has it been a year or two now? Nothing produced, not one item, and a valuable prototype given to a "civilian (someone outside of All-Go's payroll)" of questionable morale character simply because he is "good at modelling." I adore Pickel and his work, but i 100% disagree with giving it to him to "finish." Why is any of the work on this model being done by hand? If you are farming out the work to customizers what type of shoddy operation is being run here? Is this a legitimate business or is this one or two guys from 21st Century attempting to take the reins out of their apartments? All-Go seems to have no business plan, no projections for the future, and absolutely no chance of capital being generated to further expand the company and it's offerings. Most small businesses stand absolutely no chance of still being around after 2 years of producing nothing.

All-Go arrived on scene with numerous hopes but abruptly stalled and burnt up upon any action to deliver on any goods. Their initial plan was to release arguably one of the most over-produced and poorly tooled planes currently available in 1:18. Their amazing marketing gimmick was to put breasts on it. I just can't emphasis what a terrible idea that was.

Lets not even get into the Jagdpanther thing.

Stop trying to produce the most expensive items in 1:18. Start small and work your way up into something larger in a few years. All-go could have been rolling in a fair amount of money if they would release small kits for existing 1:18 items like they do in 1:35. Start with expansion kits and upgrades! Make some artillery too! Then, only after a year or so of those types of products make medium size vehicles and armor. Then try out helos and aircraft in about five years. If this type of plan had been started when all-go debuted you could be testing the waters for aircraft prototypes now, and you would have money to actually pay someone to come sit in a place where they can be observed while working! You don't send your only prototype outside of a controlled area!

I'm not saying this "plan" is the magic bullet. Absolutely not, but in five minutes I've written more of a business plan than All-Go has ever demonstrated having in a year or whatever. This A-10 mess proves that.

There is 100 years worth of military stuff to produce. We'll all be dead before the bulk of it will ever be farmed for potential models. Companies get so excited to make something, but they blow their wad telling everyone about it before they've even tooled the piece up. Stop talking about making things and just produce something to sell! It doesn't matter if it's $25.00 or $250.00, just offer something!

I don't have much hope for All-Go's "future," but I sincerely hope to be proven wrong.

Obviously All-Go know that to make molds for something the size of the A-10 was expensive and the company has to run on a budget.So they opted for not making it,but at least the company try looking for someone else to make it for us.
I don't know anybody more qualified than Piklehaube to finish the A-10 and make it available for us.Anybody who has been in this forum know the reputation of Pickle and knows that his determination.When producing things of this magnitude,there are problems to overcome,he always find a way and finish the projects no matter what challenges he has to overcome.Anybody knows that making resin kits is no way of getting rich,but more of love for the hobby type of work.He is also a very HONEST person.
I wish All-go the best.What ever is the problem they have that are not producing new stuff,i hope is a temporary situation.Showing prototypes of items that will not be release within a year are one of the things that they should avoid.It makes us loose faith on the company.I am not a expert on how to run a company but they should give the collectors what they most want.that's what every successful companies always do.

[gburch]

pm sent

[aferguson]

i'm not sure why it's so hard to get this guy. AllGo surely has proof that it is their prototype on loan to him (tell me they weren't so dumb as to just mail it to him without requiring any type of signature from Jerk i mean Jack, acknowledging he has it).

It is known where he lives. Just file a report with his local police for theft. If he's destroyed it, then he can also be charged with destruction of property, which is actually more serious a charge than theft.

[gburch]

If TKO is, indeed, considering legal action in this matter, I would suggest that we refrain from discussing this on a public forum.

[PanzerArm]

This guy sounds like a real tool, but I agree with gburch, that further discussion should be through private channels by the involved parties to avoid complications.


-Kevin

[Coreyeagle48]

Greetings

I will not rehash the old stories of my dealings with Jack and Skyworks as they are well documented here but just want to say a few things based on dealing with him and attempting to work with him on projects.

-Jack is clearly a sociopath. No doubt on this at all. In working with him I observed that at times he was as nice as could be, talked nicely about people and about his work. But it seemed the minute you had a problem with something or said something he didn't like, he turned completely around and basically became a monster. He would put you down, put others down and try to bully you into accepting sub-standard products.

-There was a situation several years ago where Jack was trying to do a 1/18 T-6/SNJ, to the point he talked to several T-6/SNJ owners at an airshow about doing one. I know one of the T-6 owners he talked to quite well, apparently Jack was talking to them about doing the model then wanted a massive amount of money on the spot to make a prototype. These T-6/SNJ owners got skeptical and told him no and he got quite angry claiming if he didn't do it it would never get done, etc.

-He had a very over inflated opinion on his own abilities. During my communication with him over the years there were several times he would mention how his products were clearly better than the BBI and 21st products, how he had to do so much to get them to look right, etc. He would also claim this board knew nothing about him and had no idea what it cost to produce this stuff. You never ever made a comment about a mistake he made or he would virtually BLOW UP on you through email or on the forum. In my situation, even after the tail on my F-16 was replaced, he still wanted me to post on this forum, personally apologize to him and tell everyone how great Skyworks was. No lie!

-I often wondered how it went with MTS. Several years ago MTS had several Skyworks products at their booth at the Reading World War II Weekend. The products looked horrible with poor paint application and lifting decals. I often wondered how many of his planes they actually sold and what their customers thought of them. I got the impression several times that things were not going well with that relationship, but with Jack, who really knows.

-I do think he did bite off more than he could chew and with a very critical customer base. His painting, decal and building shortcuts he used wouldn't hold up with our crew and it burned him in the end. He was WAY overextended in orders. I had put a down payment on a Hurricane in early 2009 and he didn't start work on it until mid 2010.

-Wouldn't surprise me if out of spite he did destroy the A-10 and anything anyone sent him to work on. He was a clear sociopath and if he got angry, stuff like that would be right up his alley to do. Wouldn't be surprised if he sends someone to register to the board and praise him and his work and how great he is, that would be right up his alley as well. I have long thought some of his "references" were either him or people he got to be "references"

Corey

[Beeavision]

Just my suggestion but why don't you just use the money to make another prototype. Which reminds me, who exactly was the person responsible for making the one Jack currently has in his possession? Maybe he can build another one for a price.

[gouchy]

Sick sick feeling to my stomach now

Does this mean Jack is public enemy no.1 /18? Let's hope Karma gets aquainted with him soon

What an inauspicious start to 2012 for the hobby...

[snake]

Really don't understand why it seems that nothing has been done to Jack. It is not like he is in the FBI witness protection program.

Quite a few members here have been burned by this guy, particularly TKO and AllGo. Track him down, and file Court papers against him. He would probably change his attitude, with legal action proceeding against him, and would be forced to spend some of his own money, if he chose to fight in court.

If AllGo doesn't want to spend several thousands of dollars to get their A-10 prototype back, or at least start the legal proceedings, then I really don't have much faith in this company surviving at all. And they could get some punitive damages awarded to them.

To just write it off, because you don't want to go after a single individual, seems pretty short sighted, and cash strapped.

And I think there would be others, including some of his own employees, that would be more than willing to jump on the legal bandwagon against Jack.

[Jesse James]

All options require a heads up to Jack who already has claimed to have destroyed the A-10

haha

[coreystinson]

I hate to be the guy that says "I told you so." but it was clear to me from the first go-around of problems that this guy was not to be trusted, yet people on this board and even All-Go continued to deal with him - why, I do not know.

I figure this is probably one of those important life lessons for more than a few.

When it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck... it's a duck.

[coreystinson]

Just my suggestion but why don't you just use the money to make another prototype. Which reminds me, who exactly was the person responsible for making the one Jack currently has in his possession? Maybe he can build another one for a price.

It was built many years ago by 21st Century Toys, probably Roy but who knows. I can't believe they let it out of their possession in such a manner.

[812boys]

This is why we should still have some old west style justice you know for stealing back then they would just hang you. I do agree I think this puts him as enemy number 1/18 on the S.S.M.H.Q. The guy needs to do the right thing and mail it to Pickle so it will actually be made.

[toyktdlgh]

Jack could care less about it. He’s written of this community and everyone he screwed over. If you want anything from him you better get a lawyer. That’s the only way you’ll see money or compensation. He’s banking on the fact that you’ll find it to be too expensive for the crime committed and not pull the trigger on him. He’s still got that prototype for sure. It’s hanging on his wall someplace and he will never give it back. It will be in small pieces before he hands it over. That’s the kind of guy you’re dealing with here. Its very sad but if an A-10 is in our future its going to be a scratch build.