Yes, you can adjust the balance of subwoofer and speaker panel. It’s purely an amplitude setting, and not a filter.

Anybody else’s playfield have blotches in it? Like, ink blotches

Please post a pic.

If it wasn’t for your dimple comment, I would swear you are trolling me now...

(But yes, a picture is worth a thousand...)

No. Not a single blotch. I scanned it hard looking for any defects and didn’t see any of any kind. That’s weird that you have blotches at all, let alone so many.

I picked up my SE yesterday. It looks and plays great.

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Well, Margaret, those be some interesting “blemishes” and I would expect the same comment from the manufacturer...

“Although we strive to provide you with a pristine new pinball machine, one must expect and accept some minor “blemishes” and manufacturing artifacts to occur from time to time during the manfacturing process. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We will work with our suppliers to ensure these small, optically detracting but ultimately still playable defects are limited in future products. Your loyalty and commitment to our brand is respected and much appreciated. Please let us know how we can better serve you in the future, yours truly, The Management.”

Oh, I have a copyright on that blurb... but CGC can feel free to lift and use as much from it as they want to, I won’t mind...

Nest step: Send those pictures to CGC to see what they say.

I'd be upset with those marks.

Most are hard to notice honestly.. only a couple really stand out.

Why? What would you have them do?

Not a deciding factor but one of the factors considering the 2k upgrade price. I LOVE the big color display which is another factor on the SE.

Yea, I just wish it was as nice as my new stern playfields.

@tilted81, Hey, I am with you here on the issue, but I ultimately know where it will lead. As others have pointed out, when the defects are cabinet and playfield related, the customer support from ANY manufacturer will take the same stance, which sucks. My LE, when it gets here, may have the same problems. I don’t expect them to do anything about them if I complained, and would expect a response like I posted to come back at me if I did.

The biggest problem CGC has is these machines are heading for the home market and HUO customers want better quality. That your playfield even got used is questionable QC in my mind, and it only takes one poorly trained insert pounder or drill jig operator who is supposed to inspect the blank PF’s prior to them going down the line to end up with what you have.

So I am with you in disgust, and I support you in your concern, but I have seen these things happen all too often in pinball. And yes, I will not be able to unbox my new machine fast enough to look for the same flaws now that you have shown us the low bar they have set on playfield blemishes.

There is almost a 100% chance they won't do anything....CGC is great at fixing minor stuff...when it comes to play field and cabinet issues they have a reputation of doing nothing.....in regards to the blemishes I don't think most people would even notice

The distributor business model is also a way of insulating itself from these kinds of manufacturing defects when the ultimate use of the machine is and was historically to provide a means of making a living by providing POS (point of sale, not piece of shit) entertainment. You could run a 1” gash down the side of the cabinet and your customer is not going to look at it and say “Nah, I don’t think I want to play THIS machine, look at the cabinet art for petes sake...”

If this happened back in the day, like a cabinet got forked during shipment, The distributor would offer the operator a box of lamps and a handful of playfield rubber, and the operator would tip his hat and the machine would go on site...

Thanks buble, I appreciate that. Outside of the blemishes, really happy with the game.

Yea very good point..but they were also paying half or less than we currently are. Are we sure those aren't just flaws in the original art and are just what the art is? Anyone compare to an OG?

Yes and No...all my interaction on CGC games (MMMRLE, AFMRLE) have been directly with the factory....the distributor plays zero role when theres an issue. At least thats my experience.....I suspect the only distributor that has any real clout with CGC is Planetary? There were a few customers with play field and cabinet issues on AFMRLE and CGC basically told them to pound salt....so basically were all rolling the dice that those two items are in great shape out of the box.

You have to adjust for what the money was worth back then and now. And lower production numbers - parts cost more, and higher labor costs.

LTG : )

Still, though... These aren't cheap machines and many of them are marketed as collector's items. I'm sure they cost a lot to produce but that doesn't excuse defects. If the marketing materials said "please allow for some imperfections due to high production costs", how many people would buy these games then? The playfield is the most important part of these games. It has to look good, especially for the home market, which is the primary market now.

Ready set aaaaand....now I have to go back to work.

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Boy oh Boy here we go !!!!
Mazel Tov ;-p

@ptownpin, I am ready to recieve said load of salt and have plenty of room to pack it if there are any issues with my machine’s pf or cabinet. I even paid $8000 + shipping for the opportunity!

I hear ya....I did the same thing If u have a cabinet issue their corrective action will be to send u new decals. If you have a play field issue their response will be get over it if its anything else they'll be very supportive ... if u sell your machine after 3 months they won't honor the warranty (or so I'm told)

Hey guys. I saw one of these over at Lloyd's (SS Billiards) yesterday and it was stunning. I think I just might have to buy one. I know I can read through 28 pages of posts, but I rather not. Have there been any major issues with these machines or have they been pretty solid? I'd love to order one. I just want to make sure they aren't having crazy play field issues or something like that.

Thanks in advance for any input!

From most posts I've seen (with maybe just the one recent exception) it sounds like these have been pretty rock solid.

Who is the best distributor to reach out to on one of these? I'd like to get an LE.

Lots of great distributors out there...I've worked with several different ones over the years, so hard for me to recommend just one.

I bought my MBrLE from Automated and they were good to work with (pinballs.com). I am also a big fan of Joe Newhart at PinballStar - great guy!

If I was you I would call Planetary....they seem to have the most clout with CGC, and u might get your game earlier than the others.

Merry Christmas to Me !!!

Thanks Joe@ pinballstar.com

Super happy with the Classic.
Honestly feels like a steal at 6k.
So many interactive toys on this pin !

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Don't you feel a (full moon) fever coming on!? Just to be safe you should call in sick.

I've had one previous Stern machine NIB. This is new to me that you may have to roll the dice regarding the condition of the cabinet and playfield on a new shiny machine. Well, at least he could let them know about the spots on the playfield. He could at least let them know how upset he is/was. Even if they tell him to "pound salt" at least he could ventilate. That playfield should not have been sent out. Someone should be looking them over better than they are. I've had manufacturers (TVs) try to tell me there is nothing they can do but I stood toe to toe and eventually got what I deserved by law. There are laws governing the purchase of new items?

I agree, if others pf's don't match this, I think he should send it back and get a replacement. If everybody's looks like that, well, then that's just how they are and that is different. The reason being anyone reading this thread knows to look for it now and if they ever go to sell it, it will knock the price most likely.

Check with Chris at Kingpin Games ( he posts on Pinside ) Mike at Automated Services, or Sara at Planetary Pinball Supply.

LTG : )

While I understand your point, even in the TV industry they typically have a dead pixel policy. i.e. some people freak out if they have 1 dead pixel on a screen, and want to swap out the panel. Now if you are an industry professional doing 4k+ photoshop in Lightroom - I get it. But if you're watching sports from across the room on a $300 TV, not that big of a deal. Still, people's tolerance for this kind of thing varies widely. I do get it that this is a crazy expensive item and I get why people want it perfect. I also get that once you see a flaw, you can't unsee it. For example when I am doing a project around the house (like drywall for example) and I mess up a spot - I see that every single time I walk into the room, yet no one else ever sees it.

Ok, I see from above picture (post#1383) that there is 1000 to be made classic...and I know 1250 LE.. how many SE?

If there's only 1000 CE, doesn't that make IT the LE?

Wrong! The support is great and they even call directly to me on my MMr playfield issue. I got a new one shipping to Sweden.

That's great to hear and I'm glad for you.

That's likely playfield 537 in the first batch of 1,000 - they are going to make SE's and CE's for years........

Thanks. I always thought that, but then I saw that (537 of 1000) got me there.

Why? You need to pull out a microscope to see them

The dimples will soon distort them

Good lord. If people can’t handle a few minor imperfections then this is NOT the hobby for you

Furthermore, they don’t have to do damn thing. Substantial compliance here

BS. BS. BS. BS. Quit spewing that old outdated BS. This is not your fathers pinball hobby. The imperfections are for the customer to make, NOT out of the factory. Downplaying issues for the sake of keeping a company going is no way to do it. To be clear - yes there is such a thing as nit picking - I don't think we've established that yet. I want to know more about the issue, how bad it looks, and if it is normal or not - normal means...well they all look that way so..."shrug".

I feel the same people who are like 'if you can't take imperfections get out of the hobby' are the same ones that will nit pick and haggle down every little mark on a game.

I look at it this way. You wouldn't accept that from a car, and we are reaching car price territory. I can get an 80" tv for a 1/5th of a pinball machine. Quality is expected at these price points. There is no 'deal with it' because the # of people who will pay top dollar for poor quality is dwindling.

congrats, but I'm not wrong....there are several documented play field and cabinet issues that were not addressed....I'm happy you got your play field, and I never said that their support wasn't good....I would say its great if its not something like a cabinet or play field....

Sorry if I was putting it out wrong just wanted to share my good support.