The design from an engineering point of view is modern and is great for operator sited machines and swap out playfield and translite n side art etc. great design there, BUT 80 percent of sales are to home collectors, not operators.
I see where he is going with it and it is very futuristic and modern to look at, but maybe a 2nd Std cabinet version like Stern would be better for home collectors but this would put the design costs up too much per machine having a operator and home version in different hardware so why not a hybrid ?
Maybe keep the same cabinet design but offer full cab art for home market over n above the slide in slide out artwork on the current sides ? Slide in piece has artwork and the rest of cab side is now got decals added instead of staying black. Decals would not cost much for Heighway ?
