Unfortunately that 1% you get back means another 2% into the credit card coffers from overall fees, which comes out of the retailer's pockets, which actually decreases the overall value of your dollar to 97%. Welcome to support of the machine.

That's good news!

Value add items like this will make a huge difference to buyers, especially if they are debating between an original and the new.

If MM were made today for the first time, it would use LEDs, and the inserts would be the same size and color.

As many have mentioned the main gripe about LEDs is the brightness. Some like it bright, others not. Equivalent incandescent brightness is a single mini SMD, but most people are throwing in super SMDs @2.5x brightness into every insert/GI. LED OCD is an implementation that allows users to adjust the brightness of every insert to their taste... one would find it ideal to have that in a new game but to date LED OCD is the most advanced LED lighting controller for pinball, and no new game offers that flexibility. Maybe some day.

I don't think the number thing has anything to do with income to PPS from the number itself, it's about trying to earn customer loyalty by doing all the little things that make people feel special. Why do full service restaurants exist? Customers are perfectly capable of ordering food at a counter and bringing it to their table... and wait staff are hardly paid well for the effort to do so, but customers obviously appreciate that extra attention.

For me the LE thing is an unfortunate segmentation of what would otherwise be a unified game experience, yet one can't overlook the amount of "sight unseen" purchases it brings in, and trophy-like treatment these games are given by the customers who get one. This, of course, ignores the fact that in the end, all pinball machines have limited runs, and in the case of Stern (and I predict, PPS), ironically there seems to more LE models manufactured than Pro models.

You've got the idea. A single vision tends to be more cohesive than majority-based opinions.

"He chose... poorly." You mean this grail?

grail.jpg

The LEDs look good, but they appear to have the quick LED on/off cycle rather than emulating the incandescent fade like the LED OCD board, but I don't get the impression this can be remedied in this game with an after-market board.

I originally imagined the brass trim to match the brass ramps as was done with LOTR LE, but gold powder-coat doesn't match anything on the game or cabinet. As to whether or not brass matches the yellow of the cabinet, I'd assume it would match at least as well as the original stainless does, right? I wasn't fond of black before, but if there are no chrome or brass options then a smooth black powder coat would at least look better than powder coat gold. I really hope any powder coat is made more durable than what Stern has been putting on their LE/Premium games.

I was expecting to hear a lot more comments about how "this doesn't feel original" and "that doesn't look original" but the reaction so far looks to be summed up as "this looks and feels like a restored MM with nicely done LEDs though slightly weak flippers."

Agreed!

This is my exact thought as well, in fact I was looking at the same swatches before I saw your post because I was hoping/expecting for powder coat quality of WOZECLE. Here is another powder-coat black that is smooth but seems relatively smudge-proof... though I couldn't quite find one with gold flecks

http://www.prismaticpowders.com/gallery/detail/4741/Prismatic-Black-Metallic/

While it's very difficult to tell from online pics is the gold trim on MMr like this? It does not look mustard colored:

http://www.prismaticpowders.com/gallery/detail/3582/Prismatic-Prismatic-Gold-with-Clear-Vision-top-coat/

This is a valid concern but look at it this way, Stern feels comfortable using single-coat glossy powder coat in their Premium and LE games. Yes they can scratch if not careful (I have a Stern that came directly from the factory scratched under the lock-bar), but as has been testified to on Pinside if the powder coat was higher quality, thicker/multi-stage/cleared that issue tends to go away. In other words if Stern isn't worried about returns with their thin powder coat, should it be a concern to you if you know your powder coating is a higher quality?

The brass is a better match to the playfield (brass ramps) than the cabinet, but blue and orange/gold are classic complimentary colors and the orange and yellow on the cabinet are the closest color match to metallic brass. Silver matches the grey castle and grey playfield art. Black clashes with nothing. Choices are good.

Or it could be simple: There are only two companies with a pinball assembly line. Thew "new guy" has shown that is far from easy to ramp up after years and $millions, and the "established guy" regularly goes through layoffs in-between runs, so PPS decides to avoid the uncertainty involved in building their own manufacturing plant, making a deal with "the established" manufacturer to fill gaps in their down time. Seems like a win-win for all involved.

That contradicts PPS original deposit policy. If you really want it back I would recommend contacting PPS about this distributor.

Most of us have seen the other trim options on this or other games in person, but the powder-coat gold is unique, and IMO a bit of a gamble as it is still really tough to judge from a low-res pic of the front of the game. Hopefully it works out for everyone... it looks like it will.

I agree... brass/chrome would be a no brainer, but the rest are a coin flip, which is why everyone is divided. It means people are happier with options than without.

"Useless" is the correct term for that cost cutting measure.

This is all true, but everything you mention is discussion over deviations from a true reproduction. If that isn't plausible discussion on an MM-Reproduction, what is?

Very cool feature, thanks for mentioning. Unfortunately the forum has a bug and only displays the first page of rick's posts, as going to page 2 removes the PPS filter. Maybe that'll be fixed soon.

That or more commonly, fully restored. Now the market will be flooded with NIB MM's... oh the tragedy!

The last few pages of this thread leave me utterly speechless, not for lack of trying, I just don't think it is possible to offer anything constructive on either side of the argument.