That's a weird thread. Dies in 2004? I can only assume that if he were selling stolen property, something would have come of it. But these Robotrons, as far as I was able to tell, came from an operation here in the states that went bankrupt a couple years ago. I was searching for a Robotron, came across their old site, and they had a pointer which said John's had purchased the remaining units.
Also, he's been so totally stand-up: fixing the little blemishes with expert workmanship, testing the unit, replacing the IC, communication, multiple pics from every step of the way, not really the behavior of a scam artist.
The machine arrived at the airport today, so I'm off to get it this evening. Pics and maybe video soon to follow.