Quoted from pinsanity:

From a gameplay perspective there is very little difference.
From an aesthetic perspective there is a great deal of difference.
Most players would say who cares about aesthetics, but we are talking about a machine that over the last 20 years has transcended simply having a metal ball rolling around on a piece of cleared wood.
It is now more a collector's piece than anything else and in this regard the MMr just does not stack up against an original, in my view.
In Australia we would call the MMr a Clayton's version based on a commercial that was made promoting a non-alcoholic beverage which on outward appearances had all the basic ingredients but was lacking the unique ingredient which would have made it indistinguishable from the original alcohol based version.

Quoted from pinsanity:

Most Australian customers don't have the benefit of being able to view/play an original MM that has been fine tuned correctly with which to make a comparison though like I do.
Even with a cursory examination it is obvious that aesthetically the MMr was manufactured with the profit margin at the forefront.
In any case, here is one of the original MM machines currently in my collection.

Quoted from pinsanity:

Thanks, since 99% of machines that are imported to Australia arrive via container I could see it was in already outstanding original condition when I hand picked it whilst overseas.
I particularly like the aftermarket genuine gold plated wireforms I had redone.
It's going the extra mile on things like that rather than cutting corners to save a few extra dollars on the BOM which makes all the difference on a machine that is as deserving of first class treatment and quality as a Williams branded MM.