It's kind of strange that MB doesn't have a ball save for 5-10 seconds on launch by factory default. Anyone who know the game/history know why this might be the case? I know all Addams and early TZ don't by default but, later home TZ roms did?

My current plan is to leave it factory but I definitely miss the handicap from those moments I'm slightly unfocused when I'm just starting

Most ops where I played an original MB 20 years ago had the ball saver turned on because players were used to everything else new at the time having one. Dave and Busters in Cincinatti, Oh had it turned off initially, but the second time we went back it was on. They had 2 pins there for a while, the other was South Park. Anyone else remember playing MB at D&B’s 20 years ago?

Haven't looked here for a few days and saw how many posts there were. I had a slight bit of a hope that some unmatchers would have some good news. Nope.. Back to the dark.

Who makes the LEDs for CGC now. I have a classic AFMRs and nifty made colored bulbs with the new style plug.

Contacted Comet as I though they bought them out but they are not making them.

LMK

Forgive me if I’m wrong, but did CGC request the final payment or the distributors? I was under the impression it was the latter.

Please do us a favor and play/enjoy your game but don't tell others to relax when you already have your LE - it's really ridiculous.

Bottom line this delivery of LEs is completely off course. People who have paid in full should reach out to their distributor IF they want their money back until it's ready. If the distributor says no, never buy from them again.

The game will be released, we'll all eventually be happy but this is a mess. Period.

As someone that has worked in manufacturing for 15 years. I try to explain these setbacks and delays from all companies.
.......SHIT HAPPENS.....
Do you people really think these companies just decide to hold games for weeks at a time just to piss customers off??? Because that’s what a lot of you sound like.
The smaller the production line is the harder it’s hit by anything that can cause a delay. I’m waiting on an LE. If it’s delayed by a month or three to get it right then so be it. I’d rather wait for a correct finished product then something rushed just to please a few whinny customers.

Well said sir, well said.

Man... the Bride of Frankenstein is a bitch... gets all wound up about her potential suitor... then whacks him on the head with a cast-iron pan!

The Wolfman is kind of a pussy (before he transforms).

Drac has a great sense of humor

Creatch makes me want to buy a CFTBL pin.

Mummy is great comic relief.

Frankenstein is fun as hell to bash... I love that shot, very gratifying.

I didn't think it was terrible ... there is $250 - $300 worth of armor included in that purchase (legs, lock-down bar, rails and hinges). So ... actual cost of the powdercoating is $200 ish?? And, in the case of GB, the purple color match and quality of work looks superb!

Yep, some guys here are complete man babies. I say take your time and get it right. I love my SE. I have had to do absolutely nothing to it except turn up the power on the scoop. Out of the box it kept shooting SDTM. Other than that it plays great. And I know the LE owners will love theirs when it gets to them.

It's damned if they do and damned if they don't. My guess is the delay is due to a QC issue. If shipped out with that issue, they would be getting flamed for thier quality. If new parts had to be ordered, it could take a month or two to get the inventory. Where CGC is screwing up is communication, or lack of. Most people would be calm if they simply knew what was going on.

I agree with both of these posts. It is unfortunate that people paid and haven't received their games. If I were CGC, I would try to communicate with distributors to explain what the delay is so it can be relayed to customers. Doesn't have to be specific, just a general reason/update would suffice (parts supply issue, technical issue, etc.) A few weeks delay is one thing, but if it is going to extend beyond a month or so, something should be communicated given that expectations were that payment was due in full two weeks before shipping. Overall, i would not be too worried (which I realize is easier for me to say since i have a game), CGC will deliver a great game.

Demanding your funds back is not an approach I would personally take as it could lead to even more delays. CGC/Distro has to issue a check, takes 3-5 days to arrive, you deposit your check, takes a few days to clear, you mail a new check back when asked, takes another 3-5 days to arrive. You are potentially creating a 3 week delay for yourself.

Same here - I ordered mine the first week it was announced. Paid my $1000 deposit and was told I'd have it around Thanksgiving, then Christmas, now who knows when (mine is non-matching SN). At this rate, maybe I'll get it for my birthday in July. Glad I'm not really in a big hurry, but starting to loose the excitement of owning it. I'm sure it'll be worth the wait, so I continue to patiently wait.

Listen nobody is going to argue with this logic, but u are completely missing the point. The point is CGC told the distributor that the game was shipping the following week so the distributor collected the final payment. All payments were then made to CGC yet they still have not even shipped the game (its been over 3 weeks). If this was just a deposit then it would be no big deal...The big issue is the lack of communication....so call it whinny if u want, but I suspect u have that attitude because you haven't been mislead and put out $8300....

Not sure i follow this - maybe I don't understand how the process work.....

The full payment from the customer that is being requested is going directly to the distributor. The distributor has already paid CGC to get their game allotment. These distros that are asking for full payment way in advance are just covering themselves. Is that not the way it works? Serious question not being sarcastic. All of the delays you speak of is between customer and distro to actually allow them to release the game to you and in reality it wouldn't take that long at all. Distro says I have your game, you say great - here is a wire (instant), check 3 days, credit card (instant) etc.

I would think this is true b/c not all distros are asking for full payments on the game yet. Mine hasn't recieved more than 1k yet they def have their allotment already from CGC. They don't "need" the remaining balance for CGC to then begin building my game - that is just ridiculous. I personally wouldn't support distros that do that - it's just not a pro consumer practice. That's why I always go to the same distro as I've bought many NIB and never paid in full in advance and guess what - my game was never delayed. Things worked out well each time.

I think communication is bad and yes we're going to get games so I'm not personally pulling my hair out. What's frustrating is distro's asking people like us to front them money for games that are perpetually delayed in addition to owners of LEs and even SEs saying hey guys - it's all good.....you'll be fine. Then they step away from the computer and play their new MBr haha.

I'm all for delays if it's QC issues - just communicate that to us. At least give some update as to what's going on. CGC usually does this in the thread so I anticipate they will here - I think that will help.

Before i received my SE, I was told by my distro that my game was two weeks out from being shipped and I needed to pay in full. I sent a check to the distro and two weeks later I had my game, drop shipped from CGC. This is how it is supposed to work. If within that two week period, something happens on CGC's part, such as finding a defect, then a delay occurs and this is what I suspect is happening now.

I’m in the “it’s just better when we know these things” camp on communication and waiting. I have communicated with my distributor, but they are in the dark as much as we are right now. They have no idea why the delay or what the delay is, only that CGC is working on finishing up matching #’s in January, unmatched LE’s start in February and then who knows how they start delivering them to ditributors after that. From the basic academic deductions you can make from reports on here, distributor relations between CGC definitely determines who gets what first when.

Here is my take... the longer they let this go without any communication, the more the following scenario plays out:

WARNING! The following is NOT reality, it is just what can happen without any communication from CGC...Read at your own risk.

So someone posts on Pinside that they have discovered something at CGC on the line... it’s not a small issue. It is an obscured or hidden issue, and it may have been going on since they started. It’s not a serious issue as far as game play is concerned, but it could be considered a flaw that many owners would balk at if they know about it. Now everyone starts to speculate what could it be? Is it the quality of playfield plywood? Cabinets are starting to crack and get loose? The giant pcb is warping due to heat? They used the wrong X on the Y and now we get Z... Suddenly everyone wants to know what is wrong and does it affect their already delivered machines? People with deposits and who pif start to get nervous, people start talking about cancelling their orders and buy something else, a wave of cancellations cause money shortages at CGC and they miss a payment to a supplier. Supplier gets on Pinside and declares CGC is insolvent... all hell breaks loose on Pinside... people start dumping CGC remakes onto the secondary market, prices of CGC machines plummets as nobody wants to get stuck holding a can of worms... CGC files for bankruptcy...

And I still don’t get a fricken MBrLE

I don't care when mine is ready....I want it to be right, which it will be ...knock on wood.

I'm hoping the snow is gone for when mine is ready

To be very clear all my communication has bee through my distributor. Here is the process that I've gone through:

1. $1000 deposit paid to the distributor (Matching LE)
2. Distributor notifies customer that CGC has told him that the game is scheduled to ship the following week or at the latest the week after.
3. Distributor requests final payment
4. Final payment is made
5. CGC does not ship the game within the two week period nor is there any communication on whats going on.
6. Customer reaches out to the distributor. Distributor tells him that apparently CGC has play field issues, and that the game might ship in another two weeks. At this same when a refund is discussed the distributor informs customer that all payments have already been sent to CGC....

to be clear I would have ZERO issues if the final payment wasn't requested.....

I was struggling with getting the SE or the LE. I chose the SE because I heard it was being produced immediately and I didn't want to wait. With the insane amount of LEs being purchased and them being produced maybe 15 a day, I figured I wouldn't get an LE for quite some time.

After reading these latest replies, I know I made the right choice. This is exactly what I was trying to avoid. It sucks to have to wait so long for something you've paid for, worse to originally be told you'd get it earlier, and even worse to not have any communication about what is going on.

I hope you guys hang in there though. This game is like a work of art.

You got pretty lucky with how quickly your machine did get out there and into your hands!

Classic should be in next week.

The first switch after the spinner broke after about 50 plays, it makes mosh pit multiball impossible. Hope to get a new switch in asap.

you are a wise man, and made a great decision.....I've been through this a few times with CGC.....I've now FINALLY learned my lesson with AFMRLE my $1000 deposit was out there for 6 months (which was completely fine), but once final payment was due they shipped almost immediately.....this is a new experience. I'm just hoping others are aware and don't make the same mistake....

For whatever this info is worth to numbers matching folks who are stressed ... I just received a message stating that my #900 will ship on Monday (1/21). My deposit was in on day 3 or 4, and paid in full late November when I got the 2-week estimate. I will update as this unfolds.

We just received our matching number #445 yesterday.
The game is amazing with no issues out of the box.
We did an unboxing video with both stationary and a hand held camera for close up shots.
We will be doing a live 2 hour stream of the game this Sunday night from 9-11 CST.
Check out both at this link:
www.twitch.tv/thepinballmafia

So I have read on many threads for other games that adding an external Polk sub under the cab is way better than using what's in the cab - would you guys agree the same should be done for MBR? If so how would this be hooked up and which Polk sub is recommended for this?

TIA

I really don't care if I have to wait, chances are more of the bugs will be worked out. Whats the hurry anyways? I'm glad it is just happening.

I can’t complain about delays between payment and shipping. I put my deposit down the first week of sales for number matching LE. Received an email the game was ready to ship, paid the balance and the game shipped that day. One difference may be that this distributor is not drop shipping from CGC, so when he said it was ready to ship, it was in his warehouse.

Yes, same way you hook up to other games, clip on positive, clip on negative, run wires to sub. Polk psw10

My exact sentiment.

In this Pinball Industry - many of the Consumers / Private Owners have been burnt.

When you pay and something doesn't get delivered on time people get pissed. Do I need to call my lawyer...etc.

Distributor starts to look bad & company begins to look bad. If they haven't figure this out. Then there isn't much a future for them.
Determine your velocity and communicate based on actual data. (Hey CGC pay my company and we'll fix your issues )
When you communicate and manage expectations people are happy.

This isn't CGC first rodeo. I have a beautiful AMFRLE that rivals Stern's shitty MMR assembly.

People get Pissed when communications goes south.

Company needs to communicate on a weekly basis with some expectation of delivery for all PIF machines.

If I didn't do that I would be fired. Granted my payscale requires accountability.

Thanks.

One question though I see the adapters that Pinnovators has designed would this be a better method to use and I guess the question is do they have one that works for the remakes - guessing they would have to answer that one.

you were one of the lucky ones

Until the shipping company put a forklift into the cabinet.

That blows! was it SAIA?

I thought Stern did a great job building my MMr.

What was sh!tty about their build?

Whats funny is people are talking about Stern building MMr’s and how different the quality of the cabs and heads are to CGC’s MMr’s and AFMr’s but correct me if I am wrong, didn’t CGC make the cabinets and heads for both, didn’t they? I didnt think Stern made the cabinets and heads for the MMr first run?

I think you're correct. If I'm not mistaken, Churchill made the playfields and cabinets for Stern games as well. Stern switched over to making them in-house during the Ghostbusters build...that's why they had playfield ghosting issues...(my LE was one of them).

I've been tracking the Munsters thread and while it looks fun, reviews are saying that it is too easy. Not sure I understand why more new buyers aren't going over to MBr instead... I've played the LE quite a bit now, and it is just great!

I'm glad my money went towards the MBrLE and not The MUnsters. After my dealing w/ Stern on my Ghostbusters machine, I highly doubt I'll ever buy a new Stern again.

yeah, original was the same also.

Most people say MB is too easy...I doubt one is going to be better to the other to those people given those comments. I personally prefer the theme and look of this over Munsters. I've played MB a few times over the years and enjoyed it. The reason I chose MBr over MMr and AFMr was because I had played those to death over the years (even though I still really enjoy them). Before this was revealed I had planned on Dialed In or Octoberfest. I try not to bash on Stern but I am just not a fan of many of their games. I am interested in playing Munsters though, I do think it looks fun.

I’ve a buddy that played it at CES... he said he liked the Beatles more. Granted ... it’s a new release and who knows if the software is complete. He also said the lower playfield felt gimmicky. He felt overall it was a boring game and quit playing it before the game was over. That’s just one persons opinion.

It’s cleaely a competitor to MB. I’ve zero regrets with my MB SE purchase. There are so many options nowadays for pinball nuts... Think about where the state of pinball was just 10 years ago. It’s all good.

I agree. I've had mine since the end of December and its still strangely addictive. Its more addictive than my AFMLE, though I feel AFMR is a better game overall. However, I tend to play more games in a row of MB than I do AFMR and I'm thinking back to when I first owned AFMR, so the honeymoon thing is factored in. My only guess is that my game times are shorter on MB than AFM. Usually after a couple of games of AFMR, I'm done, but I will play five or more MBR.

If true, it's interesting that George Gomez (who suggested an old school simpler WPC type ruleset for Munsters), who designed MB, is competing against himself for sales.

I have not found this to be the case at all. I've kept mine mostly stock with a 7.2 pitch. I have added a short ball save. I find the game to be challenging. I wonder how many of those people who claim its easy actually made it to monsters of rock or at least make it there on any sort of consistent basis? I recall when I played one that was well routed years ago, it played good and slow. I made it to monster bash on my second game and I remember thinking, this game is too easy. Well yes, monster bash is easier to get to than monsters of rock, but also playing on a new game with an unforgiving speed makes a huge difference.

I just know that even after playing pinball most of my life I still consistently suck...so I don't think it will be an issue for me

It’s puzzling to hear people describe the game as easy. It’s one of the hardest games I’ve ever played.

I find that monster Bash is kind of easy to get to, which is nice. Fun to have a mini wizard mode within reach on a semi regular basis. Monsters of rock, much harder to reach. I think it’s a nice balance