While I tend to be an old school pin guy (EMs and early SS), I have been looking at some newer pins. A couple that have peaked my interest also report bubbling mylar. I’m assuming I could do something to mitigate the bubbling (pin poke and heat to reaffix, etc) until such time as I decide to strip the pf. However, the prospect of having to strip a complete pf of mylar – even if I kick the can down the road a bit – is something I’d at least need to plan for.

While each prospect would also likely need to be otherwise shopped to the extent of replacing rubber and perhaps plastics (I’d likely do a none pf strip shop anyways), my concern is how much of a hit on price would be appropriate for “minor” mylar bubbling. The price guide on pinside is right at the asking price in each case, but I’m not sure what sort of condition is associated with the price guide (i.e., price guide = avg condition, great condition, etc).

I’m assuming the mylar covering the entire pf is something done at the factory (EATPM and WW in this case). How common is it for bubbling, and what is/are the common causes? Is there any expectation that a repair to bubbling mylar (whether cut and replace, or poke and heat) would be an “acceptable” repair in that it wouldn’t look like cr@p or affect play?

I guess this begs the question as to which pf have diamond plate? Do all machines after a certain time have dp, or was it like a distributor option (dp, mylar, or both)?

It sounds like I don't necessarily want to run from any machine with bubbling mylar field...but need to consider it due for a peel in the short term.