The bigger question is - why did it take this long for them to figure out a "security chip" was needed? All this time preparing the color update, only to figure out at the end that a security chip is needed?

Can't this be reported to a mod and they will check the IP address against other users?

I think for whatever reason the problems seem to be greatly magnified for MMR. Ask yourself which is worse - ghosting playfield inserts that are happening almost immediately after receiving a brand new game in multiple places, or lighter ink that makes it a little difficult to read the insert when lit? Ghosting is 100 times worse, and of course people are talking about it - but it seemed everyone crucified MMR and treated that problem worse. It doesn't really make sense. Lighter ink is a much, much, much less problem than ghosting inserts. I'd actually be surprised if Stern didn't have the exact same ink issue on some of their pins - it's just not noticed as much.

Elimination of coin mechs - again, greatly magnified. Stern has removed or lowered the quality of tons of more important things in pinball machines - seemingly each year something gets cheaper. Whether it be backglass, lockdown bars, etc etc. While there are certainly some grumblings, it is nothing compared to MMR. Coin mechs are generic and can easily be added if wanted, yet much of what Stern does you can't simply fix with $25.

I'm not saying the problems are justified - what I am saying is that it seems there is just some extreme hate out there for MMR - and if the same problem were at Stern, it would not have as much hate as it does with MMR.

If it were that easy, you'd think Stern would have gotten the rights a long time ago and done it themselves. I view Stern's inability to do this a MAJOR business mistake. They should have been going after that for years - aggressively. They missed a huge opportunity.

Talk about taking it to an extreme! Customs declaration is simply the price paid for the item. It isn't "perception". What you are saying is as ridiculous as arguing with the car dealer on sales tax because once you drive the car off the lot the value goes down and thus you should only have to pay sales tax on the reduced value, not what you bought it for. If you buy a laptop from another country, the value is the price you paid for it - not the "value" after you opened it and it became used. You are making a very silly argument. As much as you may dislike PPS - they have to abide by the law, and they need to put the price paid for the item as it's declared value. It may be OK for you to do a lower valuation on something you sell and get it through - but company's do not take such risks. Tax fraud and evasion is a serious offense.

Let me clarify some of your examples:

A1: Yes, that is correct. Because $40,000,000 is the R&D behind the item, not the actual value of the item. For instance, Microsoft may spend $20,000,000 on developing Microsoft Office 2020, but when someone orders a copy internationally, the value isn't declared at $20,000,000 - it's the cost the customer paid. In your example, if your customer paid you $40,000,000 - then yes, that would actually be required to be the declared value.

A2: Again, you would first use the price the person in Canada paid for it. You are forgetting that aspect completely. If you were sending for free, then it would be a gift and tax/customs rules may change at that point depending on the country.

The most accepted method of declared value for merchandise is the price paid by the customer.

There are many times with taxes that you have to approximate - it's not always black and white. As long as it makes logical sense, and is not artificially lower to avoid paying taxes, generally you will be fine. Also keep in mind insurance, which is only going to cover the declared value as well. It's perfectly reasonable to say - well I ordered an MMr color chip new for $200, and I'm now giving it to a friend to whom I will ship it, so I think it's worth $100 since it's used and there's no other way to gauge the price.

$5, because the person in Canada isn't buying it and it is just a copy. It's just like a software company shipping out an expensive piece of software to a few people for free so they can beta test. The value is simply going to be the USB stick - not the cost of developing the software.

Let me do a complimentary PR edit on this post for you!

"Hey guys - we've heard you about the color code questions and concerns you've brought up here and just wanted to let you know that I'm actively engaged with giving Chicago Gaming this input. So while technically the color code isn't a PPS project, I'm still passing on all of your feedback and giving suggestions. Just waiting on them to respond at this point, and once I hear anything I'll pass it on. Thanks again everyone for all of your support on our first game - we're still working to make it better!"