I've made this argument and I stand behind what I've previously said. ANYONE that would remake MM could EASILY reproduce and sell the absolute shit out of this machine.
How could i possibly think that? Let me tell you.
This machine has already been done before. There is no COST involved with the "ground up" engineering process. As far as PCB parts go, pffffhhhh Rotten Dog has that covered. Planetary pinball can easily have all the hardware for this machine made. Assembly - good ole Jersey Jack obviously is using B/W parts and is building his own pins right? Other than re-tooling there's your factory. Why not keep the money in the US and employ our own people? FTW!
Considering the amount of money that won't be needed for R&D, a person could easily sell this machine at $4500 - $5K all day long. It's a great earner for OPs and at that selling point I'm sure most OPs would gladly buy into a machine they know is proven to earn. By god if Stern can build a machine out of nothing and still sell it in that price bracket there's ZERO reason why MM couldn't be sold for the same (IF NOT LESS). But the capitalist greed fucks would price it higher because it's the "grail" pin to have. I've run my own business and I didn't gouge the shit out of people for every piece that went out the door. I made my money in quantity.
The MAJOR FAILURE is Rick allowing Wayne to keep the right to build that machine. And it greatly dissapoints me that Rick has basically fallen off the face of the earth. He hasn't announced anything about his own business darn near since he acquired the B/W licenses.
So pulling my horns in now, I also look at the flip side of the coin. If this machine were repro'd, I'm certain it would have a serious influence on the originals price and piss a lot of collectors off. I say too f-ing bad about that. After all, a person shouldn't be banking on a toy as an investment anyway.
Like a gaming console. If you want the latest and the greatest you pay the price for it. But as time goes on it loses value. It's a toy and I see pinball in the same light.
If I had the money to do it, you could bet your arse I would take this on. There is next to no chance of losing on this one. Money in the bank if you will.
/rant off