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MM vs MMR

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iamjimmi

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5Years
Joined
Mar 7, 2016
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Location
Leeds
Hi folks, just joined this forum and this be my first posting :)

I have collected video games since the early 90s. My collection is modest and when I buy something I tend to keep it for many years.

For a long time I have wanted a pin. Predictable favourites include Whitewater, Twilight Zone, Scared Stiff, Adams Family. Whilst I love video games from the early 80's my favourite pins tend to be from the 90s.

With all of the moving and mechanical parts on a pin, plus the physical wear and tear I've been a little wary of adding a pin to my collection. And then the Medieval Madness remake sort of changed that. A pin I've played a few times and really enjoyed (although I would prefer a plunger rather than a launch ball button), here was chance to purchase a brand new pin from my favourite decade.

But as a collector, I can't help but think I should go original.

My budget will stretch to the price of a new MMR. But I see very nice refurbished MMs originals going for similar money. What's a boy supposed to do??

Go original but expect issues? Or go for remake and expect years of trouble free ownership? A lot of originals seem to have had so many parts replaced - can they still be considered original?

Do you think prices will hold for the remake? I've no intention of selling, but if I did sell on in say 5 years do you think an original would hold its value better than the remake?

I know there are no definitive answers but I would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions.

Thanks in advance...
 
Also why presume a new machine would be years of trouble free ownership? Often new machines have issues straight out the box. Pins have moving parts plus a steel ball moving at high speed. They are never trouble free
 
My opinion is that that long term the originals will prove to be the more reliable option and hold their value better. The only thing the same about the remake is the playfield layout and artwork, the guts that make it work completely different. Every pin new and old will fail at some point and require repair and new pins don't stay new forever anyway. Pretty much every part thats likely to break is availble for the original and they're easy to fix, a situation that isn't likely to change. The original design is still original in my eyes regardless of how many parts have been changed. Does a classic car stop being a classic car if it's had a full respray and new mechanical components?

If you can find an original for fair money and prepared to put some work in then its a no brainer in my mind. A complete dog can be made mint with a new playfield, ramps, plastics, cab decals and other generic parts which would probably run you to about £1500. As MM is a high value table if you buy one for the right money in the first place you shouldn't end up losing if you choose to sell. I reckon you could probably buy a near enough mint original MM and still have enough change left over to buy a second cheap pin for the cost of a MMR.

If you just want to take a brand new machine out of the box and enjoy playing it then the remake is probably the way to go, but be prepared for the possiblity of more trouble down the line when it eventually breaks down.
 
Finding a really good quality original is easier said than done;)

The original will always be more collectable I went with the remake for the shiny factor!
 
I would go for an original. There are fastidious collectors out there, so you could buy an original in extremely good, clean, shiny order - if you are patient

As mentioned above, all pinballs break down. The key thing is whether they can be repaired again.

Most wear tends to be cabinet related. A properly re-decalled MM cabinet will look just as good as a MMR.

If the playfield is worn, there are guys who will touch them up very professionally.

The clincher for me would be that the original was made by a top quality pinball company with a long track record of producing excellent games that survived in the commercial world.

There are thousands of them still being played. There are also thousands of games with identical circuit boards and chips still being played. The amateur market knows how to cost effectively fix these games. MM was designed with maintenance in mind. As of now you can source second hand OEM parts, brand new re-manufactured parts. With a soldering iron, de soldering station, farnell website and a multi meter you can sort board faults. Or a guy in a shed will do it for you.

With MMR, who knows what it will be like trying to maintain them in 15 years time ?
 
One is the real thing, and the other is a kit car.
Looks similar but under the bonnet is totally different, ( maybe better but still different )
 
I would be worried about that large circuit board under the playfield on a MMR, with all those non-serviceable surface mount components - just ready for something metallic to drop onto it. :eek:

As DRD previously posted, an original MM is easily repaired using readily available components, are the main components for MMR going to be still available in ten years time, especially if no more remakes are done by Chicago Coin?

I have had an original MM for over four years now, and it has been largely trouble free with only the occasional switch and coil needing to be replaced. A lot of the lamps on MMR are surface mounted LEDs which would be difficult to change if you wanted different colours or effects. Personally I prefer incandescent lamps in MM, and I'm not very impressed with how the LED lighting fades in and out on MMR.

In case you were wondering, I would say go for an original MM. ;)
 
I've got a mm I'm thinking of parting with.

Great cabinet, and LEDs - little bit of playfield wear. Fully working

What's the going rate nowadays?
 
if you can afford MM you can also afford to instead buy two of the others in your list, ie WH2O, TZ, SS, TAF.
two games better than one game

everyone seems to agree that MM>MMR, but the proof of the pudding will be in 5 years when the remake has seen some play.
and welcome :)
 
id try to get a restored original. game has past me by now one thinks. always was too expensive/came up at wrong time.
 
Massive thanks to everyone for taking time out to reply. The detail and balance of your replies was more than I had hope for.

The overriding consensus seems to be go original.

MMR was a particular draw because it was brand new and I am out of my comfort zone with pins. That two year warranty was not to be sniffed at either. But if I'm going down the original route, that opens up some interesting options....

Space is a premium... I only have room for one table. And it will be on show in the house, so it has to look very tidy. I don't know where to begin fixing these, so a fully working, well cared for example is a must. I am a hoarder not a flipper so it has to be a game I love. But it doesn't have to be MM. And as time isn't an issue I can be patient.

So I suppose keep my eyes open here and on Ebay etc and see what comes up.... If a mint MM (priced close to the remake) comes up great... But if a mint Twilight Zone comes up first, the I wouldn't say no to a journey into a wondrous land of imagination......

Thanks again....
 
If you would be happy with a tz, you will find this much easier and much cheaper to buy. Perhaps 3k as opposed to 5k for a mm

But do beware, these games all go wrong. The more toys in them, the greater the risk

If you want reliable, an addams family is a stone cold classic for around 3k, and is more dependable than either of the other games. Yet still has real depth

Addams sold about 20,000
Twilight about 15,000
Mm only 4,000
 
DRD said:
If you would be happy with a tz, you will find this much easier and much cheaper to buy. Perhaps 3k as opposed to 5k for a mm

But do beware, these games all go wrong. The more toys in them, the greater the risk

If you want reliable, an addams family is a stone cold classic for around 3k, and is more dependable than either of the other games. Yet still has real depth

Addams sold about 20,000
Twilight about 15,000
Mm only 4,000
Click to expand...
I agree. Addams is a pretty solid machine. The only problem with it is that they had an extraordinarily long shelf life in arcades and pubs and as a result nice examples are becoming hard to find and getting expensive.
 
And not to put a dampener on things. You're delusional if you think you'll never have to work on it. Let's be honest, no one had a clue what they were doing the first time they bought a machine, you just kinda learn as you go.
 
Spandangler said:
And not to put a dampener on things. You're delusional if you think you'll never have to work on it. Let's be honest, no one had a clue what they were doing the first time they bought a machine, you just kinda learn as you go.
Click to expand...
First thing I tell people who are thinking of buying their first machine is 'it WILL break'.
 
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RudeDogg1 said:
Also why presume a new machine would be years of trouble free ownership? Often new machines have issues straight out the box. Pins have moving parts plus a steel ball moving at high speed. They are never trouble free
Click to expand...

Spandangler said:
And not to put a dampener on things. You're delusional if you think you'll never have to work on it. Let's be honest, no one had a clue what they were doing the first time they bought a machine, you just kinda learn as you go.
Click to expand...

yep, it's definitely 100% guaranteed that you will have your head under the hood many many times with any pin. it's like if you get a dog, you WILL need to go to the vet sometimes, and you WILL wish the bastard wasn't there sometimes after it chewed up the xxx/shat on the xxx/ woke up the xxx/stopped you going to xxx etc etc - but you're still in love with the stupid mutt and happy you got it. so long as you accept that with a pin, you'll be fine. come on in, the water's lovely :)
 
Took me 3 days before I had to fix my MMR for the first time. Only had to replace an end stop that had fallen off but goes to show that new pins still need some mending
 
Fo the guys that like repairing them, I can really make your day.

I have a fathom that needs a playfield swap and a stencil job, and a scared stiff that needs a re-decal

I can drop them off ?
 
And I have an em scoring issue that I have got nowhere for 4 months:mad:

Fun? Fun? Fun? :eek::eek::eek:
 
DRD said:
Fo the guys that like repairing them, I can really make your day.

I have a fathom that needs a playfield swap and a stencil job, and a scared stiff that needs a re-decal

I can drop them off ?
Click to expand...
Drop the Fathom off with me. It will be ready in 4 years. :)
 
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I doubt that there will be many MMR put out on sites across the world to get a fair comparison to how they take a day to day beating from the public compared to an original
 
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