I've definitely been a dick, but we both know why.  You have a bad habit of creating various unimportant (in the grand scheme) internet battles and ranting for pages and pages about it.  Now and then you'll offer a bet on some aspect of the battle and then nitpick your way out of it.
I'm sure we would get along just fine in person, but your internet presence is, sadly, all I have to gather an opinion of you.  That's definitely not to your advantage lol

I can’t imagine what the case will look like if we ever create one that I would charge $3000 for. Ron Ross charges about $3000-$3500 for a fully tooled saddle that he builds himself. I can’t figure out for the life of me how these cases get to the price. But then again I also can’t understand a Louis Vuitton day planner costing $700 or a Hermes bag costing $15,000 with more than a year wait. I honestly hope that everyone who ever buys one of my cases feels like they stole it from me. We aren’t the cheapest but I’d be happy to put my cases in the ring against any other case in any price class.

Here is a link to your case if anyone wants to see what you depend on http://www.jbcases.com/rich.html

I was not posting in 1996 on Rec.Sport.Billiards on the internet, as back them the internet too me was some new fangled way to communicate, and I labeled it a passing fad that would soon die off, and had no idea of how wrong I was about this new fad.

A clever troll can remain only a handle or screen name if they watch what they say.  Choosing each word they type carefully.

The troll can hide their true identity, location, and all information as to who the troll really is. 

They are IMHO what some forum owners will call good for hit count, daily visitor count, the kaching factor of coinage.  As those forum owners love the trolls because people return to the forums many time daily to read the trools posting, and then the forum owner bump up their advertising prices because of the number of visitor, members, or hits to their forum.

People over the years have tried totally moderated forums, where each post has to be reviewed  by some moderator before the public, or members can read the posts.

These forums for the most part are short lived, or have little traffic, as the opponents of moderated forums cry about censorship, and squashing free speech.

John I do not think you are a a troll magnet, you just have many fans who are jealous of who you are, your success, and many times you would rather be truthful, verses tactful.  Or as the warm fuzzy wuzzy people who love group hugs, say politically correct.

Also many in the industry are jealous of what you have done for the Pool Cue Case industry, not working within a pre established pattern,  or set of line, but instead you work out of the box.  You have come up with new ideas, new designs, new features, new interiors, new clasps, or latches, and a lot of other newz.

My suggest is be who you are, and not who others want you to be.  Work as you have done for year shooting for the moon, and stars, and never settle to be complacent.

Those who stalk, instigate, and investigate you.  Post a reply to those people who I think are just jealous of you.  The next time one of these A-HOLES attacks you on some internet forum.  “I do not want you to think I am ignoring you, I want you to know I am ignoring you”.  That way they know you read their bull shit, and you are ignoring them.

If you do it that many times & long enough the trolls will go find someone else to pick on because they have no life except being a pain in the ass.

Or as my 90 year old father says today to people who piss him off, as he live his life,   Go FOOK Yourself!

As let call him the designer the artist who executed the design on leather.  If the “artist” was an employee than the design was the guys who paid the artist to work.  If the artist was a freelance, or contract employee, than the design could be the artists property, or the person paying the “artist to do the work.  That depend upon the contract or agreement between both parties.

Having been a Freelance Photojournalist I always retained all ownership of images I created, unless I had a agreement prior to start the job that the images became property of the person who hired me.

In the Case of this Pool Cue Case I would say the First Pool Cue Case could have been the inspiration for the Second Pool Cue Case, but Pool Cue Case Two is no copy, it only has some ELEMENTS of Pool Cue Case One.  Some of the like or style of elements are totally different.

I look at the galley of photos of both Pool Cue Case, and they are different, and the tooling is different IMHO.

I have never been asked to make a separate bag for the case except once for a cue ball which we did.  A funny story though is that my very first case that I made had a man-purse from the German Walgreen's store glued to it with superglue.  And it was actually very practical with all the extra storage compartments.  

I should really think about this and start making them.  Thank you for the idea.