I disagree with people's perceptions that Euro pins are mostly or all way worse than Aus delivered ones

Of course if you compare unshopped to shopped machines there will always be a difference

I've grabbed quite a few pins from both Euro container imports and Aus delivered ex operator machines - and they both can be as good or bad as each other

Theatre of MAgic - straigh from the container, sold as is and unshopped

LOTR and TZ - Aus delivered and operated....

Couldnt agree more... seen rubbish from USA, Europe and Aus. What is true is that you will pay more here than any of the other 2 countries for a title.
If there is a perception that Euro imports are smoke filled etc and full of hacks, its more likely that the importer bought cheap budget machines rather than quality... after all.... we the buyers dont know any different... or do we? Take a look at some of the projects that get sold off on Ebay..many of these are container fillers and thrown in to fill it up... its basically euro rubbish that gets sold off here by importers who bullshit about their stock.
But point remains that a Euro machine may well be dangerous etc... but thats the sellers responsibilty.. it up to them to make sure its compliant.
Then again... imports from Germany are mainly very clean.

At the end of the day... if the imports are inferior then look at the importer.. i can bet my left nut that better machines were to be had from the list and anything else is just dealer BS spin