Why?

I've been playing a friend's game and it's run it's course with me. I've reduced my lineup significantly and there are other titles I would rather have.

True. True. Where's my Dorian time machine so I can jump to my pin unboxing?

Question for any current MB owners. I was playing a classic edition on location today and I was surprised at the number of airballs from hard hits on targets near the center of the playfield. I also noticed a LOT of dimpling of the playfield right in front of those targets which I am guessing is related to the hits from the airballs?

Has anyone else noticed this issue and is there a fix for it? I'm trying to decide between an AFM remake or MB remake and the AFM they had at this location seemed to not have this issue and shot a little smoother overall to me.

Raise playfield pitch or lower coil strength in the CGC menu.

LTG : )

Lower the flipper strength to -8 problem solved, factory setting is way to strong IMHO.

Ok that must have been it, the ball was jumping all over the place on that machine!

The game itself was super fun, it is going to be tough to choose between MB and AFM!

Can I be the first to say Whiskey Tango Foxtrot @whiskeytango? I mean really, WTF!?!

Unboxed our LE this afternoon. Several cosmetic issues out of the box: Cracked decals on two corners, blue powder coating blemishes, broken plastic part fell out of the game and a few other items (repaired wood w/ black paint or ink on the topper). Submitted a ticket and waiting for an update.IMG_4896 (resized).jpg

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-8 good lord, for me, with the game at 7 degrees, and -1 flipper power it barely makes it up the left bride ramp..

O my...

That’s what was odd about the machine I played on location, the left Bride ramp was almost impossible to get up yet the ball was hopping all over the place on center field shots.

Disappointing...

Thanks for the pics

Yet another "isolated" incident of cabinet decals cracking. But lets not say anything just in case we offend someone.

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Well here is my AFMRLE I received on Friday. Wonder if my MBRLE will have a matching crack in the corner. Are they worth more with matching numbers and cracks?

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^^^^^

LOL

My sympathies. The vinyl cracks in the decal and that one corner... if these machines are getting lets just say “over handled” (either in manufacturing, or shipping), couldn’t CGC figure it out for the cost for a CE by pushing it off a fork lift or drop it on the loading dock in the crate and seeing what happens? That many flaws, one machine... signing the BOL would have took a leap of faith in CGC to make it all better, in my mind. The continued decal splits needs to be solved. Is this shipping damage? Is the decal getting embrittled by excessive heat during the wet application process, or possibly due to using a non-vinyl friendly cleaner to do the final cabinet wipe-down? The pictures of the CE (or was that an SE) corners look perfect, so whats the deal with LE’s?

I just had a thought... is the topper crate, which is shipped on top of the box, causing too much lateral forces during shipping? Could this be causing the cabinet to flex back and forth due to the added weight carried so high up on top of the box? Do the CE and SE have the same problem like LE’s or not? All this is going to take some time to figure out... hopefully before my LE ships. I will accept a few blemishes, a small scratch or nick, but the decal cracks and the corner of that cabinet are just not what I call LE quality.

My bad, I Just double checked and mine is set at -6 and has plenty of snap to make all shots.

So glad I back out of my LE. Maybe later I will grab a HUO LE that I can inspect. I feel for you NIB buyers that have issues out of the box.

Like I said, I've played it enough and no longer think I need it in the lineup. I think I'm going to put an EM, a favorite System 11 and then something odd.

Waiting to hear what CGC has to say before buying. I be pissed if my decals were spliting on a nib machine. AFMr had this issue too ?

If I was doing that it would be a Gotlieb wedgehead (Subway or Crosstown), a Centar, and a Swords of Fury

That game was clearly dropped or otherwise mishandled in freight. Way beyond CGC's control. That's what shipping insurance and your disty is for.

As for the cracks, as before, this is a phenomena on some of the most recent MBR games. Not apparently on MBRs that delivered prior to this past week or so.

Something's probably changed recently and hopefully soon we'll hear it's been discovered and remedied.

Ok so what's the alternative then folks. Obviously CGC didn't pack this game with broken bits and cabinet wood dings.

This is very sad but the fact is this game in particular was mistreated by the carrier. Joe@PinballStar told me recently carrier incidents are on the rise recently so don't skimp on the insurance and use a carrier with a good track record. Don't sign till you're sure your game is ok. Keep a few bucks on you for the driver to wait.

This goes WAY beyond the recent decal issue, folks.

I bought my AFMR LE brand new in December 2017 with exactly the same crack in the same place. Cant believe they have not sorted this issue out 12 months later. Maybe its their trademark lol. They did send me new decals tho. Maybe one day I'll fit them.

Really? I've tried to remain civil about this and give CGC a chance to somehow resolve, but c'mon man, I strongly disagree with your comment. This must be an extra special LE as it somehow can repair wood damage with magic ink while fully packed in it's original shipping container before it's opened by the original purchaser. The game clearly had issues when it was placed in the box for shipping. I didn't even include the photo of some funky rectangular blemish on the lockdown bar. I'm equally pissed about all of the issues, but the broken plastic piece is concerning as I'm not sure where it came from (or what may be impacted without it).

Anyone have thoughts on how to resolve the cracked decal issue? Replacement decals are not going to suffice as I'm not going to rip apart my new 8K toy that wasn't assembled properly.

At any rate, my original post was my experience and may have been a game that somehow made it through final quality control with some issues. I'll keep the thread updated on how CGC plans to resolve.

Respectfully, you have no idea what you're talking about in this specific circumstance. I got the same email (and Joe is awesome btw). While I respect your opinion, it's not your game; nor were you present when the game was delivered, moved or unpacked. Making unsubstantiated comments "that it was dropped, etc" adds fuel to the fire and doesn't help provide balanced feedback to CGC. Stuff happens and I understand that. Let's see how this all gets sorted out.

Good news, is the game upgrades on the LE are awesome!

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I feel for you! I haven't even removed my matching number MBrLE from it's box yet, as I await CGC's response to the now famous cracked decal at the right front corner. You are not alone! This outcry is fantastic, and exactly how change will be won. This is NOT a new issue - my AFMrLE has the same crack in the same spot.

Keep us updated...following....Very sorry for you !! Hang tuff

Ha, Mark from Brisbane, Mark from Sydney here, had the exact same issue on my AFMRLE from December 17. At the time I was told it was a very isolated incident (ie, you're the only one complaining) and they (CGC/Mr Pinball) couldn't believe it could happen because "they were the best in the industry making cabinets" (actual quote). A friend also from the same shipment had the same issue.

The condition of that game is clearly not acceptable. That back corner blemish looks like an attempt to patch/hide it. Id be sending that back.

Don't worry about the plastic bit - that belongs on the inside of the corner of the lockdown bar. Just keeps the lockdown bar from moving side to side when playing. Its just held there with a bit of double sided tape so will always fall off. Same thing happened to mine when I got it. That's the least of your worries and is easily fixed. The other stuff not so much.

Hi Mark I was told the same thing that there only a few like that as well. It appears there are alot like that we just dont here from everyone who has that issue with it. Pissses me off cause I have other games that have been restored and there are no issues with splits in the decals.

Just curious ... what is your deal? You pounce on every person that posts with news of cracked decals on their machine, claiming this is an isolated incident, and just started happening in the last week or so. You challenged me after I posted pics of my cracked decals on my brand new game claiming that in 58 pages of forum, I was one of the only ones to experience this issue. Then you claimed you needed to disengage from this conversation. Now you're back. You already have your perfect game. What is your dog in this fight?

$8K NIB toy does not include an allowable tolerance for "phenomena."

That’s horrendous! CGC should be ashamed of themselves! This is unacceptable!

This is why I was fed up when Stern moved from screen printing ( even with lower resolution ) to decals - around the time of Tron production.

Decals are just flimsy stickers. They peel off Stern games, rip easily, they are just cheap.

Bring back screen printing or a new tough material that doesn't rip, wrinkle, and crack!

I have to say this decal cracking business is quite concerning. I may have to cancel my LE order unless they get this straightened out

Jacks Open/Solar City/Space Odyssey, Pinbot, RFM?

I'm going with -6 right now.
For me -7 felt a touch too soft to feel like the shots were satisfying. I never tried -8, for that matter.
Of course, every game could be slightly different.

Pardon this long response, yall.
But if you stick with it and hear me out,
I think you'll see what I've been getting at here is both good and thoughtful.

#1
I never said this situation was isolated like a one-off. Please don't misunderstand...
Ive been saying that decal cracks on MBr decals seem isolated on MBr to the past week or so's deliveries.
No one has shown evidence to the contrary on this point,
And YES this issue has existed in the past on AFMr and MMr.
There's no denying that fact either.

But this is apparently a NEW issue to the MBR production run...it just started popping up on our radar this week.
This fact alone could also be an informative clue to CGC to find the ACTUAL source of the problem and fix it, once and for all.

For example, say in the past week or two they changed something in the build process-
Perhaps a different cabinet part manufacturer is 'covering' for an out of stock primary supplier- one they've used in the past..

Everyone's been blaming the seams in the cabinets-
But for the first 3+ months or so, the cabinets- as they were built-
The seams haven't been shown to have caused any harm to MBR games actually built,
So surely something else- a recent change or a return to previous build method-
Must be the cause of this defect rearing its ugly head again??

#2
My second goal here is to level-set expectations based on facts-
And by doing so also help warn buyers to CHECK the tops of their games before unboxing and signing on the dotted line.
The crazy thing is- I've been warning people to check before signing for days,
and here we are, people still taking signed possession of games before checking.
Then people here are down and out. People who have been monitoring these posts and these warnings to check.
What's the point of this thread if people ignore our good advice. I don't get it.

#3
As for disengaging, the night I said that there was heated discussion on and I needed to go to sleep.
Part of the club, its only right to thoughtfully contribute where I can.

Something seems rotten in the state of Denmark here.
I'm not sure what to believe...

Just as likely to believe shipper tampering after the incident to try and cover up the shipper dropping the freight.

But if this was really allowed at the factory I'm sure CGC will investigate/raise hell over it,
It goes to the very essence of their jobs to approve pinball machines for shipment that meet new in box standards,
And the buyer should be made whole- period.

Just pop the top and check the front of the cabinet before you unbox and sign!!
If its got cracks- refuse delivery! Another will come!

Oh, @wackybrakke, I still like ya... not sure why all the downvotes... do I know you? Owe you money? Hit your cat? Run over your Dog? Can I just apologize and we move on?

Who is this guy? He downvotes nearly every post of mine as well and doesn't comment as to why. Most recently I just posted that the LE with the bits, if factory injured and approved in badly injured condition, should be replaced by CGC with a new game if he wants one.

I mean seriously, what does he want me to say instead?

He even downvoted my opinion on flipper sensitivity.

I mean, what??! There's nothing objectionable there.

Not trying to rehash anything here, but I had a similar issue with my AFMLE. Whomever put in the power supply, used too long of screws and split the bottom of the cabinet (see pic). I spoke with Ryan form CGC and he informed me that he spoke with the foreman(?) and he was told that any cabinet issues CGC comes across through inspection are just sanded and filled with filler. They sent me a box with the materials to do "the same fix that they would do" myself. Maybe that is what they tried to do on the top of your MBLE?
I believe that there is no excuse for the flaws in the powder coating though.
As for decals, luckily on both my MMRLE and AFMLE my decals have not cracked...knock wood (not to hard apparently)....but I am getting more and more nervous waiting for my MBLE to show up

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Mine is perfect out of the box. As far as powdercoat its a very thin cheap finish to be honest

I have the same exact same broken piece of black plastic as in pic 3502 above. What is it, where did it come from? Was found inside the cabinet.

I think this.

I never said that it should. I think you should be made whole for the decal tears- no questions asked.
Absolutely unacceptable.

As for the other damages- if this really happened at the factory, I think it should be remedied by the Company-
I cant believe such injury would be allowable and signed off by anyone let alone possibly multiple people.

Its just beyond my experience to see NIB items with quality control approvals on cabinet dings, broken bits and the like-
I'd just as likely believe the shipper injured/tampered with your package under such circumstances.

I hope- either way- you're made whole and in double time speed.