Former West Chester CBM Exec Says "Hello" and hints at Special Sale

[CBMer]

weirdami wrote:
I thought those pictures were supposed to be proof of his authenticalness anyway, not of what he was selling.

Exactly. And I suppose the materials pictured have their CBM corporate memorabilia nature, too. '-)

[CBMer]

Plaz wrote:
... Compuserv, later usenet, fido and Qlink.
Remember Qlink? :-)

Oh yeah, and the WELL, Prodigy, Delphi, GEnie, etc.

By the way, my dad used to work on the Pink Panther cartoons.

[CBMer]

Did you submit multiple, or just one?...
Please don't take it personally that some have ...
There is a long history in the Amiga community of frauds, scams, hoaxes, vaporware and other nefarious behaviour ...

Hey, no prob. I was in Commodore marketing, after all. Had to really thicken skin. '-)

No, I'd just sent the one pic, but had seemed to have succeeded at it a few hours earlier.

So imposters abound in the Amiga scene? Who'da thunk that anyone would make something like that one of their hobbies?

So, okay -- let's play. Now that I've shown you the pic of materials, how does that prove anything about me actually being that guy? I'm sure the paranoid among you have already craftily been harboring that doubt, eh?

[CBMer]

Haven't we had enough drama with Amiga business cards already? :lol:

I guess when you did your Search check on me you used only the web, huh?

Moving right along...

http://urltea.com/2pnq

http://urltea.com/2pnw

[CBMer]

WotTheFook wrote:
I challenge you to post some of your stuff on Amibay...
What have you got to lose by doing this?
WTF

"Challenge" me? That seems like a curious way to put an invitation for me to do so. '-)

What have I got to lose by doing that? Well, as you just explained it, apparently a LOT of big bucks!

[CBMer]

Just a stab at a guess.... is your dad music composer Michael Kohler?

No, writer/cartoonist/animator/editor Carl Kohler.

Anyone remember CARtoons?

[CBMer]

WotTheFook wrote:
I meant for you to post some of this stuff on a NON-auction site with a stated price, to give some of the people who don't have deep pockets a chance.

You must have some idea of the value of your items, to comment the way you are, it's like you are trying to drive the price up without actually putting anything up for sale.

Man, some of you guys are sure cranky.

I was just doing some hanging out with some of you, too.

I just sold a 1084S to a guy tonight for $20. Pristine condition. Did I rip him off?

[CBMer]

Imagine trying to do business in such an environment.  Some people have become true trolls.  We even color code them for clarification.

And that seems a pretty fair price for one.

Man, at least it makes for a handy list of who NOT to sell to! '-)

I've just been going through things a little at a time. I'm preparing for a move, which means dealing with everything, not just this. And if folks want pics and descriptive lists, well...

And I've heard from some people in email, including possible "lot" purchasers.

Here's just the list of a box of some software I went through the other night;

• P.O.W. [light gun compatible] by Actionware

• BOING! The Game by Micro Momentum
The game was written in dedication to the classic Boing Ball demo, which was coded by Amiga pioneers RJ Mical, Sam Dicker and Dale Luck during a break at the 1984 CES trade show. Dale Luck gave his blessing to main coder Kevin Kelm to use the game title, "BOING! THE GAME" [Source: Kevin Kelm].
   EXTREMELY RARE! And in PERFECT condition!
   Plastic case w/color covers
   Disks & all original documents
   
• The King of Chicago by Cinemaware
• BattleHawks by LucasFilm Games
• Stellaryx by Vincent Lee
   RARE! And in PERFECT condition!
• Live From Space by Marta Systems
   Beta Test v.1.1*
• Digi-Weather by Fesina Software
• Distant Suns v.4.0 by Virtual Reality Laboratories
• Reach for the Stars 3rd Edition by Roger Keating & Ian Trout
• F29 Retaliator by Ocean Softwares
• F/A-18 Interceptor by Electronic Arts
• FirePower by MicroIllusions
• Balance of Power by Mindscape
• Budokan: The Martial Spirit by Electronic Arts
• Populous by Electronic Arts
• Battle Chess by Interplay
• Quarterback by Central Coast Software
• Butcher by Eagle Tree Software
• Abacus' AmigaDOS Toolbox
   w/AmigaDOS Quick Reference Bonus

[CBMer]

WotTheFook wrote:
@ CBMer

Maybe we are cranky, because you tempt everyone with offers of cool stuff, then we find out it all gets sold in a closed-shop, behind closed doors kind of way.

Was the monitor advertised anywhere, or did you sell it via PM? Where was the buyer located, the USA I am guessing...??

All most of us are asking for is a fair chance to look at and maybe buy some of this stuff.

If you think I am trolling, fair enough, but I must admit I'm a bit hacked off that you prefer to trade in this way, there must be others who feel the same.

WTF

I sold it to a guy local to me... a working video guy that needed a monitor like that for a gig this weekend. Sorry, man, but yeah... you're really just kind of a grump. I just posted some stuff here, including really rare items, and you know I could've gone direct to eBay with ALL of this, instead of offering things to only you guys first.

If that's just not good enough for you, then just pass it by, man.

[CBMer]

Matt_H wrote:
@ CBMer

... So welcome, good sir from Marketing. Please don't pay any attention to the troublemakers, I'd be glad to hear any stories you'd like to share.

Thanks. One valid point made is a too long thread in the for sale section, not really the right place for all of this, eh? Fine by me. We can always move elsewhere, too.

I'm still looking around for a right place to add my angles to the history. Maybe I could contribute some to the Ars Series, but I've also got a bunch of materials that could make for a fuller, more detailed presentation somewhere too, if there's a right place for that.

[CBMer]

amigadave wrote:
@CBMer,

I would like to welcome you to these forums and the A.Org site, but forgive me if I do not grant you the same celebrity status...  I come from the camp of Amiga users that harbored a great deal of hate and anger at Commodore's lack of "REAL" marketing

Well, there was not only some "real marketing", but actually all the more significant within the overall milieu, although I note that it's almost entirely overlooked in the general scheme of things. Or merely denied.

If you keep in mind that I came from "the user base" where I'd been very active with both marketing and professional use of Amigas, you'll realize that not only am I "one of you", but try to imagine my own frustrations and chagrins once in the fray... having to try to operate from that context.

As a matter of fact, the year prior to joining C=, I was the Graphics SIG guy for the Los Angeles Amiga Users Group (LAAUG), one of the largest in the US, and also a regular contributor to the newsletter (produced with Amigas, of course) writing articles, reviews, tutorials, etc. One of my final ones pretty sharply panned C=... and their marketing, much as you and others did and do.

I also co-founded PAX (Professional Amiga eXchange) which was a group of pro users from various industries along with a number of the Amiga products developers, software and hardware. And I'd written for a couple of the Amiga user consumer magazines of the time, about various projects, etc.

And some of us there got not only manifest wins, but even especially notable ones, in some of our respective markets. Frankly, it was these that helped keep the thing going as much as it did, despite the flopping in other areas and overall. It's an ironic albatross for some of us to have had to wear, in that light. Take a look here, for a slight indication;

http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/174096756/m/338006530931/p/2

I'm not seeking any celebrity status, frankly. So no prob on that count. But I'm also not interested in any scapegoat status, either, naturally.