"Latest Ken Whitman Scam Twist - Traveller Spaceships" Topic

In an interesting twist to the D20 Entertainment sales scandals, apparently Ken Whitman has sold a bunch of the Traveller Resin Spaceships to NobleKnightGames (after getting individuals to pay for these first, of course, and then allegedly not delivering the products to them), who are now selling them on eBay, at twice the price of what you used to be able to "purchase" them for directly from D20:

auction

auction

auction

Of course, as you may have read, D20 Entertainment has an inability to deliver them to customers, ever, in many cases.

People that purchased these, and that have been waiting more than a year for them, in some cases, have now been sold to a third party, who is now marketing them on eBay.

Wow, Ken has hit on a goldmine – selling things twice, for double the revenue, but only delivering them once!!!

Simply brilliant!!!

In my opinion, this guy is one of the worst, serial con-artists ever to be associated with Traveller, and Marc Miller.

It seems that he's allegedly been pulling stunts like this for up to 20 years.

Some people have even worked for him on designing/writing rules, etc., and he's stiffed them as well. One guy, allegedly twice, and then Ken had the gaul to go and ask the guy for assistance a third time, without ever paying him as promised for his first two efforts. The third time the writer asked about payment for his first two projects, and then Ken never bothered him again. Needless to say I guess, that allegedly, he never received any compensation from Ken for his efforts.

I've been waiting very patiently for my three-vessel, Traveller Spaceship set, that Ken listed as "now shipping" on his website, since mid-June. He also again mentioned on CotI that they were shipping in August as well.

Does Ken Whitman and D20 Entertainment have no shame?

I shall be filing my complaint with the Kentucky Attorney General's Office on Monday morning.

I'll also be contacting eBay and NobleKnight about this issue as well.

Spread the word.

Not another dime for Ken Whitman, or D20 Entertainment – tell all your friends, acquaintances, and foes:

notanotherdime.blogspot.com

dontfundkenwhitman.blogspot.com

Have I mentioned Ken's new direct sales "Sol Bound Traveller" funding project?

He's seeking funds for that too, which appears to me to be just a rehash of his failed Spinward Traveller TV Kickstarter (one of six Kickstarter projects that Ken has mismanaged in the last few years, but that has allegedly generated almost $180,000 USD in sales). It's being billed as a "web-series", instead of a TV show.

Don't fall for what in my personal opinion is just another of Ken's scams, which he's having to promote directly on D20, since allegedly they won't let him list any more with them, due to all his failures.

The fact that Marc Miller has not pulled rights from this sociopath is appalling.

I agree.

The moderators on CotI are now "censoring" my postings there (deleting them).

Personally, I would think they'd want Traveller fans to know about this and other scandals.

Perhaps I'm wrong about that.

Yes, there's another one that I haven't even written about here yet, and will save for a few days before posting about it here. The items have been pulled from the D20 Entertainment website, so I suspect there's little risk in someone getting burned by that one, that hasn't had that happen, already.

I'd never heard of this guy – makes James Maliszewski, Mike Nystul and Tony Reidy look like amateurs!

Just for the sake of full disclosure Mako, are you involved with either of the blogs posted or are you linking them to add information to the story?

I don't mind either way, just figured it's best to be up front when it comes to rotten business deals like this.

It's too bad that an industry so small as this attracts so many crooks :(

Weasel: here is a link to another Mako thread about Ken:

TMP link

Mako: have you contacted Noble Knight about this?

I haven't contacted Noble Knight Games about this yet, but plan to do so.

Weasel, no, those blogs are separate from my postings, and there are lots of other postings by others, if you check the sidebar to the right of one of them.

I just ran across them, once I started doing a little digging about Ken on the internet, when I didn't receive my ships.

Checking out the comments on the failed Spinward Traveller Kickstarter will be enlightening too, if you care to do that.

Here'e the link to it:

link

A few people apparently did receive some resin ships, very early this year Ken, but many of those were broken, incomplete, or damaged in some way. It appears that many more people haven't received anything that they've paid for, e.g. metal and/or resin Traveller spaceships, t-shirts, posters, CDs/DVDs, scripts, books, etc., etc..

Also, allegedly, the actors for Spinward Traveller have not been paid, either, just like the rules writer I mentioned above.

Teaser – later in the week, we'll be discussing the ill-fated, "Limited Edition, Traveller Metal Spaceship Miniatures Set" that some people paid for, and what happened with that.

I have Mracs private email. Wondering if I should contact him about this?
If this goes to court he could be dragged in as a co defendant because he has been notified and has done nothing to stop this guy.

Supposedly, he is aware of at least some of this, based upon a response I've seen from one of the moderators on CotI.

Not sure if he is aware of all Ken is involved in, or the large number of people he has disappointed.

I suspect that is part of the concern by the moderators on CotI, who have mentioned they want to make MM aware of the situation to me. Supposedly, he's traveling.

In this day and age of email and texts that is BS.

you should also report him to the FTC
link
see the internet fraud section
also this site provides additional government and non-government agencies to handle internet fraud
link

Hahah oh man, those Spinward Marches clips were BAD. Maybe I'm spoiled living in L.A. with good actors as friends, but dang, even with minimal effort you'd think you could get some better acting and dialog.

Consider filing a complaint with the relevant state attorney general(s)' offices, as well as whatever payment service you used.

Absolutely shocking, total scum these rip off merchants

Yea, I concur.

A few people have reported that they have received at least some of their orders, recently, so perhaps the public shaming has helped reinvigorate Mr. Whitman a little.

Many others are still waiting for their items, and I wouldn't be surprised if they never receive them, given Ken's track record on other projects.

I pulled the plug on my Traveller, three-ship, resin set after 4+ months of no items received, despite them being listed on CotI, and on the D20 Entertainment site as "shipping", back in mid-June.

He failed to respond to my multiple e-mail inquiries about my order I sent, several postings on CotI I made about it, and to the dispute message from Paypal, so thankfully they refunded my money.

Latest Update -

If the info posted by Ken on his Facebook page is correct, he has either moved, or fled to Atlanta, GA, from Kentucky, depending upon which of the above motivations you choose to believe.

There's some on-line speculation that, if the news is true, it is to try to avoid an investigation into his business practices by the KY attorney general.

Then again, perhaps it is just a ruse to make people think he is no longer in KY, so the process servers will stop looking for him there.

I don't have a clue which is actually true, but the sudden "move" news is certainly interesting, if it is true, and/or even if it is not.

His on the run I bet, Thanks, keep us posted.

Rumor has it he's now using a new alias too, e.g. Whit Whitman, apparently in response to some of the bad PR he's received over all his alleged failures and mismanaged projects.

How original.

notanotherdime.blogspot.com

The D20 Entertainment site appears to be gone, and apparently, Ken's e-mail is no longer working.

Some of the commentary on the CotI, and/or Pencil Dice Kickstarter pages seem to suggest Ken is now trying to scrub his social network, and Kickstarter profiles.

Not sure if the above was shut down by him, or perhaps the respective companies, and/or authorities. At the very least, the D20 site being closed is good news, since he can't use that any more to scam others out of their money, at least directly.

Don't worry about Ken though, since it appears he'll be alright. He's, in my humble opinion, a very resourceful, con artist, with a flair for marketing, and non-delivery of promised products.

He's managing to keep that revenue stream running, using other people's money, allegedly, to fund books, spaceships, and other products/projects, and then keeping all the profits to himself. He even gets people to pay for shipping costs too (which of course he doesn't incur), and then doubles or triples his cash on hand by selling them a SECOND TIME to Noble Knight Games. They are then selling his Knights of the Dinner Table, "limited edition" books, and resin spaceships to others, directly, or via eBay:

notanotherdime.blogspot.com

I have no doubt though, that Ken will pop back up somewhere else, with another new name (perhaps even different than that brilliant pseudonym, Whit Whitman, he's occasionally used), and/or "project".

Given that he's posted he moved to Atlanta, GA (another source says Duluth really), I wonder if that isn't just a ruse to throw people off his scent, while he continues to reside in KY, or moves to another state.

I suspect there is more to this story, to come.

Perhaps he fancies himself to be a real-life "rogue trader", from Sci-Fi.