ah this post was too long.. I wrote the story of BA and what I have seen, the good and the bad going back to early 2000.. I been one of the few active participants on his forum going back from when it started. I thought to write my story about it all.. and what I experienced.. It just came out too long and probably people aren't really interested anyway. So I decided to remove it.

I would be interested as from what i have read you have a history with the man, it may un ravel where it started to go wrong with him or was he a bad egg from the get go..

Well if you already wrote it, no sense in not posting it. I don't know how BA is connected to Toplace, as in why was he sued?

I don't have a personal history with him.. But I been a member of his forum back when it first started back in like 2000. His forum started out as simply a forum for hair replacement, it wasn't officially affiliated with any one company. Anyone was free to post whatever.. even other hair system suppliers took part on there like jeff from coolpiece.. Slowly things changed and I basically wrote what I observed in there over the years.. the fans and cult following he had, how it disappeared etc. etc. Me and BA bumped heads a lot in the past because I tried to see past certain things and come out in the open and say shit people didn' thave the balls to say.. I would get attacked by the loyalists on there and even got banned from the forum for awhile.

To sum it up,, I basically warned people the direction it was going, but they always attacked me. Now these guys slowly disappeared one by one over the years.. i think I am one of the very few left from back than. Everyone who has been around back then is pretty much gone.

I will say this .. even though BA's reign ended in a bad way.. Maybe hes a crook, maybe hes not a good person.. I don't know. It seems pretty bad right now.. He did bring positive things to this community. Between his tenacity for improving on products and finding new materials / methods etc, and the popularity of his forum.. it really helped shape things in the community. He at the least kept things entertaining and interesting,, granted most of his ideas and new materials that were hyped up failed miserably.. that forum did produce some great finds.. And when they did.. the competitors would copy cat them.. casing point.. super fine swiss lace.. How that lace came to be is another long story I could write a book on..

But to make a long story short, I hope this forum now can take the positives of BA's old forum and carry forth with them. I do think that if BA and his forum weren't around we might still be wearing monofilent bases. Guys like jeff from cool piece and others would have been perfectly happy selling something generic that worked for them. BA was a thorn in everyones side when it came to new ideas materials and pricing. With him gone. I just hope the industry online doesn't see continual price hikes and stagnation. One thing BA did with all the bad we are learning about him, is he kept things fresh, new and entertaining. I hope that part doesn't die along with him.

[quote='Xeon005' pid='33116' dateline='1323037413']
super fine swiss lace.. How that lace came to be is another long story I could write a book on..

May be not a book but we all would like to hear something about it..Best regards

I've been around for a while too. At the end of the day, we need wigs delivered ontime and of decent quality. If we don't get that it, it leads to alot of anxiety and stress. Thats why this business can't be cold and hard nosed, but you can't be overtly friendly and go around promising miracles. Its a fine balance, and hairpiece community helps...like a brotherhood if you will, it takes away from the stigma of wearing a wig. But at the end of the day, it makes us feel good, gives us more confidence and so we can get the best out of life.

I have been a member of BA's forum since 2006. I have met him in person on two occasions and always believed he was doing a lot of great things for hair wearers. Unlike most in this business, the man was definitely an innovator. He would always go out of his way to find the latest and greatest products. Xeon is right, some of the products that companies offer now were first introduced by BA. Another thing, too... BA used to offer exceptional customer service. Most people probably don't remember how generous he used to be (i.e., hosting conventions at his expense, sending free hairpieces to those that could not afford hair, we even went out to dinner as a group and he refused to let me pay.)

Having said that, I am also one of the recent victims that never received my complete order from him after waiting over a year for it. I am out quite a bit of money from it, but I can honestly say, this is a completely different BA we're talking about now. I don't know what happened, but this is not the same person I knew a few years ago. I did receive one Korean piece from him, and the BA I used to know would NEVER have sent out such garbage to a customer. I really don't know what's gotten into him (I don't think anyone knows for sure) and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't furious for not receiving my complete order from him, but one thing is certain - BA did a lot of great things for this industry and again, I have to agree with Xeon, we may not be enjoying some of the quality pieces we have today were it not for him.

(12-05-2011, 12:59 PM)egghead Wrote: I have been a member of BA's forum since 2006. I have met him in person on two occasions and always believed he was doing a lot of great things for hair wearers. Unlike most in this business, the man was definitely an innovator. He would always go out of his way to find the latest and greatest products. Xeon is right, some of the products that companies offer now were first introduced by BA. Another thing, too... BA used to offer exceptional customer service. Most people probably don't remember how generous he used to be (i.e., hosting conventions at his expense, sending free hairpieces to those that could not afford hair, we even went out to dinner as a group and he refused to let me pay.)

Having said that, I am also one of the recent victims that never received my complete order from him after waiting over a year for it. I am out quite a bit of money from it, but I can honestly say, this is a completely different BA we're talking about now. I don't know what happened, but this is not the same person I knew a few years ago. I did receive one Korean piece from him, and the BA I used to know would NEVER have sent out such garbage to a customer. I really don't know what's gotten into him (I don't think anyone knows for sure) and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't furious for not receiving my complete order from him, but one thing is certain - BA did a lot of great things for this industry and again, I have to agree with Xeon, we may not be enjoying some of the quality pieces we have today were it not for him.

Yeah I was just about to ask if he was really as generous as he seems looking back at archived threads. He offered several different times to cut out partials for newbies and send them out for them free of charge to try out rather than have them place a full order. Very cool, but did he actually follow through, or was he just bullshitting?

Yeah BA is a mystery really.. He could seem like the nicest most genuine person, and than other times he could sound like a bigot hot headed jerk. I never really could figure him out.. But this has been something that didn't happen overnight.. It was a long transition that slowly peeked its head.. When he did start screwing up orders and those people would complain he would shut them down and treat them like shit.. other people who were close to ba and were big supporters of his also slowly disappeared one by one.

I heard he did do a lot of nice things for people, and he did have friends, but where are all these people now? When I leanred that his forum was a censored place and just shut my mouth and kept to myself he was nice to me, he always answered my emails on time, he helped with questions etc.. he even helped me find a robocut to buy and shipped it out to me. I just saw his forum changing more and more as the years went by. I am not going to make any judgments.. He isn't here to defend himself and he never really gave his side of the story. But I will say anyone who went into business with him or had to deal with him, one way or another they went running for the hills.. T he only one who didn't seem to have a problem was Debbie.

I just know that people shouldn't assume the community will be better without him. Even if you didn't buy from him, he still helped keep prices competitive and kept the other guys on their toes.. Another thing about BA.. at least he was himself and wasn't a phony.. Some guys I think are bigger assholes than BA but they answer you with a smile.. so it goes unnoticed.

Anyway.. I am happy that john is here now. He seems like a stand up guy and I believe toplace is in good hands now. But what made BA's forum good, wasn't just BA really,, it was the people and their contributions.. so everyone share your ideas.. explore new products.. try new stuff.. you never know what u might come across or what u can end up discovering.. hair systems have gotten a lot better now, but they still aren't perfect.. There is still room for improvement and to raise the quality of life for all of us who are dependent on them.

So I have been trying to sort of understand this BA thing, but I too new to really know what happened. But does he still work with hair? Is there a company out there he runs that I should be cautious of?