Thanks for the feedback on Taxi and Space Shuttle.

CGC doesn't have a great name in arcade circles compared to their pin popularity. They were never thought much of because they use poor emulation for their 'Arcade Legends' units. The games had wonky sound and were just a poor representation of emulation. Modern MAME is very good, so I am not opposed to emulation (not a strict purist like some) but the CGC emulation was pretty crap across the board. In addtion, prior to moving to LCD, they used the cheapest and worst Chinese CRT tubes and chassis money could buy. Finding parts for any of those machines today is difficult at best with hardly anything being available direct. They still have the PCB part numbers but nothing is in stock. Granted, I wouldn't expect them to have CRT parts in stock since those are gone globally but one would think the PCB boards could still be purchased. Maybe things have changed recently, but I doubt it.

I have an Arcade Legends 3 from CGC. It's actually one of my favorite units, but I gutted everything electronic in it to make it proper and reliable. I bought the unit used because it was (take a guess) broken. I picked it up for cheap, but I immediately yanked the Chinese CRT and replaced it with a Wells Gardner 7k CRT from the mid 90's. I tossed the PCB that the games were on into the trash where they belong and replaced it with a proper PC build. I literally only used the cabinet, which as I said is very nice with great graphics. The control panel shelf and design are perfect for a MAME or MiSTercade build. The buttons, controllers, and internals all got replaced. Based on the feedback the pins seem to be better quality over the arcade games as far as the actual gameplay is concerned, but that doesn't speak to the quality of the board component themselves.

My fear is that when they break or a board fails, there may not be any parts available. Being it's the same company, I would assume they would be similar in their parts and inventory management. I read a few threads where people were confident a 3rd party might step in a provide a solution. Personally, I think there is a snowball's chance in hell of that happening simply because I doubt there are enough units sold to justify the expense of designing and tooling to print a new board and that is assuming CGC would provide the engineering data to that 3rd party. A few broken boards here or there would never be profitable for a 3rd party to take that on. Based on the arcade history of CGC, if those pins go down in a decade due to any electronic board failure, they instantly become an awkwardly large and tall glass coffee table. Hopefully, I am dead wrong but based on my dealings with them prior, its not a $10k-$13k gamble I want to take.

For pinball, yes it may be completely unfounded because I have no experience with their pins, nor do I know anyone with one. My basis is solely on my arcade experience with them, but I am definitely a "Once bitten, twice shy guy". Honestly, I hope I am wrong.

Mad? I am not mad at all; I never bought a new CGC anything to be mad about. I bought a broken unit for cheap from someone who foolishly bought one and ended up with a boat anchor because there were no parts available. What hard evidence do you have on reliability? They haven't been out long enough to have any hard evidence. When did the first remake launch, 2018? Their arcade machines didn't start failing much during the first five years. These machines are relatively new, and parts are still on the shelf right now. Roll the clock forward another 5 years and let's revisit this discussion. Future parts availability is my primary concern over crap Chinese components. As long as the part is replaceable and available, it's not that big an issue. And yes Wei-Ya chassis were the norm. If CGC put Wei-Ya garbage in those multi-thousand-dollar arcade machines, why do you think they all of a sudden upped their build qualities or vendor selection with these pin remakes? A quick look at their public customer reviews and it seems to be the same CGC I have always known.

Anyways I thank you and everyone for the suggestions on the other pins. It wasn't my intention to go down a CGC bash, and I won't mention them again. They are off my radar. I wish the CGC owners the best of luck.

I got my first pin yesterday - Getaway High Speed II. The seller should have it shopped out and ready to go in a couple of weeks.

mbeardsley and PinRetail
Thanks for that feedback. I was actually thinking much about what you both posted this previous weekend. I visited a local pin-head club hangout here in San Antoino and played some of the machines. There are about 25+ machines ranging from E&M to modern Sterns in a coffee house. I found out the coffee shop didn't own the machines, but they gave me the guy's number who was the owner of the pins. I am buying the Getaway from him, and it will be delivered and setup in my home.

I am sure he is on here because he referenced this website often in our conversation, but I don't know his forum name. I figured it was a safer bet to buy from a local tech and machine owner vs driving six hours roundtrip and coming home with a turd because I lacked the knowledge of what to look for and what not to look for. I thought the cost would be more, but it was actually cheaper than anything I found advertised in the San Antoino, Austin, Houston, and Dallas areas. He personally thinks machines are over inflated right now and he is more passionate about the people and hobby vs making much on flips. I gave him a list of machines I am looking for. He said if I wasn't in a hurry, he can typically locate them through his contacts. Anyways, he is a really nice guy. He is an electrical engineer by profession and a pinball junkie on the side.

Thanks for the great tips fellas - much appreciated.