Airing Some DA.C Dirty Laundry

[Mike777]

Hi folks,

This might be a bit of a lengthy post and I hesitate to make it. I'm sure most of you won't care to read it, and please don't feel obligated to. I've never posted here on DiMA, but I lurk from time to time. I've posted quite a bit on diecastaircraftforum.com (DA.C) over the years because of the very active 1:200 forum, which is my preferred scale to collect.

Anyway, today I was permanently banned from the site by DA.C's new "SUPER MODERATOR" (yes, all caps), as he calls himself. His username is "GARUDAROD" (yes, all caps) and he apparently works for ADI/GeminiJets. Many users have pointed out the obvious conflict of interest and are unhappy with his heavy-handed moderation; it has stifled discussion and resulted in a very negative, contentious atmosphere on DA.C. Today, he's proven himself to be the Kim Jong-un of moderators. You see, it seems that over the past few years, I've unintentionally made enemies with some members who work for Gemini/are related to the people that own Gemini. This happened because I was one of the more vocal critics of the declining quality and accuracy of the GeminiJets 1:200 airliner models. I'm not talking about silly nitpicking, but serious quality problems such as broken or missing parts, smeared globs of glue everywhere, fingerprints in the clearcoat, badly misaligned printing, worsening mould shapes, etc., all while prices keep increasing and retailers don't stand behind the product. I always tried to be objective and articulate with my criticism, albeit with a bit of snark and hyperbole thrown in sometimes. Well, my criticism of Gemini eventually landed me on the enemies list of "crownvic" (I'm sure many of you know of him) and GARUDAROD, as well as "Abraham." All 3 users are affiliated with Gemini, and it seems they finally had enough of me, even though I've offered plenty of praise for Gemini over the years in addition to the criticism.

Now that I've laid down a little bit of backstory, the reason I'm making this post is that some false and libelous remarks were made about me on DA.C earlier today, and since I've been banned, I have no way to defend myself there. As petty as this all is, I still feel the need to put the truth out there for the record. Abraham said:

The individual in question who's been banned again has made threats to members of ADI/GJ and their families in the past. Not to mention the PM's to ADI/GJ family telling them to come to Houston so he can show just how big and tough he is. I think the fact that he was allowed to participate again was very generous on behalf of the moderator(s).

A crying rant about how he's been banned shows why the ban should be permanent. Keep the clown out of here.

(Note that "the individual in question" in the above quote is of course referring to me.)

Now, when Abraham posted this, I had just been issued the permanent ban. I quickly made another account (with extra 7) in order to defend myself. I posted the following:

I was ready to retreat into the sunset and be done with this forum, but your post, Abraham, warrants a response from me:

What you've just written is libelous. I never threatened anyone, and your claims are laughable. I implore you to back your claims up with evidence, but you won't because you can't.

You say that I sent "PM's to ADI/GJ family telling them to come to Houston so he can show just how big and tough he is." Lol. That is quite the exaggeration. Here's what really happened, folks: a few months ago, crownvic extended a public invitation for me to attend the upcoming ATL collectibles show and meet him as well as other Gemini employees. I politely stated that I would not be able to attend, as I would be out of town vacationing in Florida at the time. See crownvic's post above, which alludes to this. But being genuinely interested in meeting him and other Gemini representatives, I instead asked them to attend the Houston show in October. That's it. No threats or other hawkish nonsense as Abraham has stated.

crownvic has made it clear that I get him "stirred up." It's apparent that the Gemini folks now run this place. GARUDAROD (Gah, why is your name all caps? I feel like I'm yelling it every time I type it, but that's not my intention. I'm just writing it as you have written it.) is a moderator, so if you piss off him or any of his friends, I guess you're no longer welcome around here.

I think that any fair and reasonable-minded person would agree that my previous post in this thread (which crownvic replied to and which was subsequently deleted) certainly did NOT warrant permanently banning me. Now, given the over-moderation that is currently permeating this forum, I expected the post to be deleted, even though it contained nothing false, malicious, or profane. I was genuinely surprised, though, to discover that it resulted in a permanent ban.

Anyway, I'm sure the moderators will ban me on this account once again. But I ask that they leave this post for all to see, as it is my defense against a personal, libelous attack.

My response was of course deleted, and my new account banned. I believe an hour or two elapsed before my reply was deleted, and thankfully some users were able to view it and were sympathetic toward my right to defend myself. I was initially quite shocked that my post was removed, but I guess the SUPER MODERATOR deleted it on behalf of his fellow Gemini cohorts. What pisses me off the most, though, is that Abraham's slanderous post (and subsequent reply to mine) were left for all to view. One side of the story, without my rebuttal. Other users were chiming in with generally innocuous posts of their own, and they, too were deleted. The SUPER MODERATOR was giving the "delete" button quite the workout, it seems, but in a very selective and unfair manner.

Anyway, I'm sure there's more I could say, but I don't want to bore you guys with it (if anyone's even still reading). I covered the gist of it, and I just wanted to make sure that my reply to Abraham's ridiculously exaggerated attack on me is permanently out there in cyberspace, even if not at the original source. I don't know if GARUDAROD, crownvic, or Abraham actively post on DiMA, but if you do, I look forward to having open dialogue and honest dialogue with you here. As for DA.C, I think it should be rebranded "Diecast and Communists."

[make.me.laugh]

G'day Mike,

I just read your letter and I do apologise for how you have been treated. I along with many others tried to warn DA.C admin about Rod aka GARUDAROD. He has now been removed and I have personally removed your lifetime ban on DA.C. That is you now have full access and your profile has been returned.

I will not be surprised if you choose to NEVER return again though. You have been treated appallingly and what you wrote is completely true.

Cheers Lou - make.me.laugh - (and now) Super Moderator on DA.C (Shoot me now!)

[waffle]

G'day Mike,

I just read your letter and I do apologise for how you have been treated. I along with many others tried to warn DA.C admin about Rod aka GARUDAROD. He has now been removed and I have personally removed your lifetime ban on DA.C. That is you now have full access and your profile has been returned.

I will not be surprised if you choose to NEVER return again though. You have been treated appallingly and what you wrote is completely true.

Cheers Lou - make.me.laugh - (and now) Super Moderator on DA.C (Shoot me now!)

Amazing, how someone who has bashed DAC and all that goes with it, continues to once again go weaseling their way to satisfy his ego. You yourself are no better nor different than Rod.

[make.me.laugh]

Amazing, how someone who has bashed DAC and all that goes with it, continues to once again go weaseling their way to satisfy his ego. You yourself are no better nor different than Rod.

I'm actually very much different to Rod. I don't have a high paying job anymore (I'm retired), I don't work for a model plane company and I stand up to what I believe in, this includes throwing DA.C under the bus when in the past when another company were running it (MAS Media recieved many bashings from me) and I also know how to eat crow and apologise when a member receives a ban for no other reason then sharing his opinion.

However I do understand why you're feeding me to the lions, ohh and banning me from buying from Waffle-collectables, as you have a reputation (of sorts) to uphold.

Jesus still loves you Michael and given the chance i would buy from you again... tho I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for you to grant me that opportunity.

Cheers Lou

[waffle]

The only thing you stand up for is your ego being a "Super Moderator" babysitting the nutjobs of the world and if you think the new people running the forums are any better then MasMedia or Christan then you're sorely mistaken. You'll never learn.

[Crownvic]

make.me.laugh You reinstate someone who constantly attacks, makes threats and wishes bad luck to innocent families...He contributes nothing...You ban me because the DAC technos are at it constantly and it was starting to irritate everyone..I start a thread to ease the tension...I was on DAC long before you ....Ironically my last thread assisted someone in identifying an older model in their collection and they thanked me...you are a disgrace to the word moderator. Why dont you turn in your moderator status and become a comedian as you really are a joke...

[Mike7777]

I seem to have forgotten my login info for my original account on this site, so I had to create a new username.

make.me.laugh You reinstate someone who constantly attacks, makes threats and wishes bad luck to innocent families...He contributes nothing...You ban me because the DAC technos are at it constantly and it was starting to irritate everyone..I start a thread to ease the tension...I was on DAC long before you ....Ironically my last thread assisted someone in identifying an older model in their collection and they thanked me...you are a disgrace to the word moderator. Why dont you turn in your moderator status and become a comedian as you really are a joke...

Russell, pal, enough already. You need to accept that you're not the god of the diecast world. You don't own the forums and you can't silence those you don't like by simply "deeming them irrelevant", or whatever it is you like to say. The only reason you have a problem with me is because I sometimes criticize your beloved GeminiJets family biz. Occasionally I've use a bit of hyperbole, but for the most part, any criticism I've put forth has been fair and reasonable, and I try to take the time to be articulate. The funny thing about all of this is that overall, I like GeminiJets very much. I have probably bought 100 or so Gemini models over the years and have offered them plenty of praise on forums and off.

make.me.laugh has done a fine job of being a fair and impartial moderator on DA.C. The fact that GARUDAROD was ever a moderator is a complete disgrace. And to think that you, Russell, wanted to be a moderator there yourself?! What a joke! You got yourself banned (temporarily, I presume) from DA.C because you broke a rule, fair and square. Spin it however you like, but you don't deserve special treatment there, and thankfully, you are no longer receiving it.

And finally, you need to quit making false and defamatory claims about me, stating that I "constantly" threaten and attack. That is pure BS. Anyone is free to search through my post history on DA.C and decide for themselves, and I encourage them to do so. They don't even need to be a registered user.

I used to like you, Russ. Hell, I even sold you an expensive model or two back in the day. But you're now living in a world of utter and complete lunacy. But at least you're finally learning that you can't always get your way, you can't stamp out free speech on the internet, and you're not the almighty supreme leader of the diecast model aircraft hobby that you like to think you are.

Peace out.

[Crownvic]

I never considered myself the God of the diecast world..I have been collecting for over 45 yrs which does give me some credibility..Most of my posts were educational, helpful and lighthearted. Yes I get my back up to the critics like you and the few others who vent and go after Gemini, but I guess thats expected when your the leader :-)....My ban has been lifted but dont know that Ill return right away with the exception of the trader section to sell models. Your post on windows was very good and I agree with you. Id love to post that, but there was a highly detailed model for sale on DAC recently where someone did those exact window decals and the critics tore into the poor guy saying window shades are always up from landing when the plane is on the ground. I came to his defense saying not to listen to the critics and several agreed. I honestly dont know who you are and doing business with you in the past. Yes my memory sucks and yes Im getting older and less tolerant. Maybe its time for me to call it a day and move on. This is a definite wake up call. I also wish I had the talent and wit of waffle who knows how to answer the critics.

by the way, I asked to be a moderator of the for the model trader for sale section ONLY as it needed policing...

[US Ray]

What's going on the DAC forum? long time member ACPilot gets banned

[fleetlordatvar]

did I miss while I was away!
ACpilot got banned at some point for some reason
Crownvic was banned too