i'm a little late to this thread - but that's my old flash beats machine! That's my handwriting on the "2 Quarters" sticker. Quite a story behind this..
The control panel was damaged in shipping from Japan when it was delivered to Gemini Arcade Palace in Las Vegas, NV some time before 2011. Three of them were imported by Ken in Utah for Gemini iirc. This one was in the roughest shape, and was given to me as a gift from Gemini for helping them out. The machine was previously offered to Bemani Invasion (now Tokyo Attack), but they refused because they did not have a cost effective way to get it from Vegas to Virginia at the time. I was in Vegas a year later with a box truck, and when the machine was offered to me, there was no way I was going to pass it up. I had called the parties that ran Bemani Invasion to make sure they had passed up on the offer, and once they confirmed they did not want it, I loaded it in our truck, did a show in Los Angeles, and drove back to Maryland with it. About ten months later I was accused of taking Bemani Invasion's property and they began shouting up a storm on social media. It got kind of weird because the person that gifted me the machine was claiming that it was never a gift for me, and it was meant to be transported to Bemani Invasion. At MAGFest that winter they sent some of their underlings to have the machine removed from my area of games and placed on their truck. When I came down into the expo hall to learn of that, and to hear that they had already left the venue, well I can't really explain how I felt. It bothered me so much that I decided to not pursue the issue, learn a lesson, and move along.
A nice guy in the community who was present when it was gifted to me and knew the full story tracked another one down overseas, purchased it for me, and got it my way at cost. My current machine is one that I'll never sell, and serves as a constant reminder to not let myself get pushed around.
Lesson learned: get a contract - at least get things in writing, especially if/when someone offers you a rare piece of sega history for nothing. I just realized that I've never talked about this publicly and I feel like a weight has been lifted off my chest. I hate to go into personal details like that, but seeing that you appreciate Flash Beats as much as I do I figured you'd like to know the history on your machine. That being said, I am really glad that this machine is owned by someone who loves SEGA arcade hardware. That makes me really happy.
Anyway, this particular machine has been all over the place. It was at two Anime Expo events, two Otakon events, Katsucon for a few years, and MAGFest for a year. I kept telling myself I was going to get around to vacuum forming new control panel parts, but I never managed to do it. If you ever decide to get some pieces made, I would like to throw some money your way just in case something happens to mine down the line. Plus, I know of a few other people that have these machines that would love spare plastics.
It looks like it has developed a few new cracked plastics and bruises. If you'd like, I'm happy to get together so we can make molds out of my good parts. Not sure exactly what the process would be there, but let me know if I can be of any help. I have a copy of the manual. It's entirely in Japanese, but I'm sure we can translate it. I still have the keys, including the key to the coin door that someone decided to try and force open. I have absolutely no idea where they are, but I'll keep an eye out for you and I'll be in touch when they're found.
I always wonder how many Flash Beats machines are out there. It can't be many. I do have a really fun fact: one machine was produced in English - with an English instruction card, and an English announcer. This machine was located in Disney World, but I don't think the arcade is around anymore or it was downsized. I would love to get my hands on the English announcer data and instruction card.
On that note, I'm going to have a beer.
Sorry for the black duct tape,
- EH