Flash news : the world is not centered only on the US.
JJP has reseller in Europe, but they don't have a service network there. Even worse, for France (and a few other countries), their distributor is based in Luxembourg, meaning that EU consumer laws do not apply (so no hidden defect protection for ex).
Whereas I can buy Stern machines from French distributors, and I can buy spare parts for Stern, Williams Bally, etc from many stores in EU. I don't have to go through Stern US to buy a Spike node board. Whereas I need to when buying spare part from JJP (although recently, it seems that a reseller in Germany is starting to carry "some" of their product, but not all).
Would you apply your argument to your car ? I mean, if you own a Toyota in the US, would you expect that you have to import yourself an electronic control board from Japan, just because it's a japanese brand ? Of course not. Or your TV set (very likely built in Asia). Or your washing machine (likewise).
at the price of these machines (more than a car !), I would expect to have a decent service and support structure that would not force me to buy in the US, and pay expensive tax and duty.
Also, on WoZ and first run of the Hobbit, JJP used some super thin wires and high density connectors. If you have damage close to a connector, you can't repair it yourself. And JJP does not carry at all inventory of these wiring harness. I had the case where one of the wires for an LED insert was cut when servicing the pop up mechs, because they are super fragile. When I asked JJP for a replacement, they told me they had none. I had to repair it myself, which honestly was a pita. Had I failed to repair it, I was, quite simply, screwed. I would expect that for a machine built in 2016 (only 6 years ago !), I would be able to find replacement for non repairable parts, but no, tough luck. To note that JJP changed their wiring mid run of Hobbit, likely because they realized this very issue.
So, while I love both of my JJP games, fact remains that:
- Custom HW, not found anywhere else. Worse: depends on the machine generation (same could be said of Spooky, granted)
- No spare parts available in most of Europe
- No replacement parts for some non repairable components by end user
- No service network that could offer repair services for these specific parts
Anyway, don't want to derail this DialedIn thread, just worth iterating that when you buy a JJP machine, do it knowing there's a chance that in 10y from now something will break that will not be repairable and replacable.