AND the shooter lane had a large chip... actually it looked to large to call it a "chip"... after 2 weeks of play. Unreal.

Crazing's not a bad thing...... The clear is defiantly adhering to the insert.

i think we got some secret government gmo maple trees to blame. Probably contain gluten too. Demand non-gmo, gluten free playfields from stern! :-/

With the right light and camera angle, I can make almost any playfield look like soft cheese. I can't believe we are seriously talking dimples.

That dimpling is actually a good sign, signifying that the playfield is indeed made of Hard Maple.

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Um, no. Dimpling in most cases is expected/normal/good. What we have seen with some of the Batman playfields isn't anywhere near normal.

All the **worry pics** everyone has sent me so far were just normal dimples on new playfields.

100,000 games latter, it will all level out nicely.

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And as everybody here knows, collector pins easily rack up 100,000 plays in no time....

^ I'd put a cliffy around that, but the dimpling looks like it's off to a wonderful start.

Graphics are chipping already?! Yikes...

If you want your playfield to look as smooth as those 90s games with over 1,000,000 balls of travel over it, you better get playing.

Is that a batman game with art chipping off?

New Stern Playfields - The new land of a thousand lakes

Because some of these craters we are seeing won't ever level out.. unless you like your inserts a mil taller than the wood, etc.

Pics DI so all thats left is B/W

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Is it a stern? Why,yes, that alone explains it. I really hope you guys can get something done for you through them; it's pure bullsh*t they're peddling to the public.

That is a prototype DI on location. Not a finished product shipping to customers.

Tell me again why dimples matter?

I often bend down to get just the right angle so I can count them

I just want to know what happenned with KPG? Is he done with his efforts to help ALL people affected by this? Did he throw the towel as soon as he got good news regarding his machine? I don't see him posting anymore.....

I've read the claims of extreme dimpling but yet to see any pictures posted of them...everything I have seen seems normal.

Bending over, is what most Stern customers do.

Check out the PF shots near the end of this post.. https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/batman-66-whats-your-impression/page/28#post-3544738

Some of those are brutal in size.. and all of this in a game less than 2 weeks old. The size of those are not typical. You can tell they are deep too because of the diameter of the impression.

For what it's worth,
I have worked for a chemical company for 30 years , making automotive and industrial high performance clearcoats. I am not a chemist, just represent in a technical capacity this company. I am going to make a guess as to what is going on behind the scenes, it would explain the delay in responding. It wouldn't surprise me if a paint company is trying to figure out the clearcoat issues and meet the quality demands and production demands on dry times and hardness. The newest technology is UV dried clears, and they are more brittle than yesterdays acrylic urethane clears . Brittle is bad on a wood sheet that gets beat up by a steel ball. The UV dries super fast, like 5 minutes total dry, no heat to damage the wood or inserts, very attractive to production lines. The Urethane clear is either air dried or heat cured in about 20 minutes, and I'm sure it's low baked ~120F, due to it being wood with plastic glued in inserts. I would not be surprised if some changes in technology is being worked out right now, and trying to figure out a way to meet production demands and provide a suitable clearcoat. I figure Stern ( actually the paint company) is testing different formulas looking for a solution. Just my thoughts, don't have a dog in this fight, just sharing some insight from my perspective. I may be way off and no where close to what the process is, but I am making this guess.
BTW: the white edge on the insert is most likely delamination. It's where the clear has come loose from the substrate and is no longer bonded. The swelling, expanding and retraction of the wood at the insert may be the culprit, and the clear isn't flexible enough to make this minor movement without coming loose. I'm sure they will figure it out, and hopefully soon, as I would like to continue to buy new Stern pins, as they make some really cool stuff these days.
Please don't bash me for my ideas, as I said, it's just a guess from someone in the clearcoat business. But it may help some folks understand just a little about clears of yesterday vs the UV clears of today and why it cant be fixed overnight.

JP

That's what new playfields look like as they get their cherry broken.

If you don't like seeing how the process starts, stick to 30 year old games that already have their playfields beaten flat...sheesh.

A clearcoat is 4 mils thick (.004").

If you took a piece of .004" thick steel, bonded it to the playfield and played a game of pinball, you would get a ton of dimples instantly. Thin steel is no match for a 1.06" diameter pinball.

Even your car hood, made of .06" thick steel (that's 15X thicker than a clearcoat), can not survive a pinball being dropped on it without denting.

Vids right , dimples are gonna happen . It's a wood sheet with clear coat in it , it's gonna dimple .
4-6 mils of Clear isn't gonna prevent it . Hell, 10 mils of clear won't prevent it . I think the wood on older games was harder though , my restored old Games of the 80's that I clear don't dimple . Doesn't bother me really ,it's just part of it now. Insert delamination is an issue though , that will need to be addressed.
JP

Thanks for pointing those out. I can't really tell if they are any worse then normal though. The newer the playfield the worse dimples look, so a two week playfield will look bad...they always do. I am surprised to see the magnet core so dimpled....don't know if that is normal or not but I assume so...and to think how much stronger metal is compared to clear coated wood.

I've been in the hobby a long time and seen hundreds of games, many brand new, both operated and home use only. I've never seen playfields like some of the GB and BM66 pics I've seen here. It's pretty obvious there is a serious problem with some of these playfields. Yes, some of the pictures here are indeed "worry" pics, but some are definitely "holy crap" pics.

And I think it's highly unlikely that most home buyers will ever see anything close to 100k plays on their games, so that's not much comfort to those that have playfields that look like the surface of the moon.

Ok, here's an update for everybody.

I waxed my TWDLE tonight, after playing the living shit out of it, and my GBLE.

Here's what i noticed as I "bent over" and inspected the PF's closely:

The TWDLE was an orange peel dimple machine, I mean I've played it a ton. But hardly noticeable and shallow.

The GBLE was also dimpled up, what i would expect, BUT, it might have been ever so slightly deeper dimples? Wtf, I don't know, very difficult to tell.

They both look nice and shiny and I might be able to conclude with the naked eye that the newer Stern has slightly deeper dimples?

So F ing what?

Now, I'm getting my BM66LE tomorrow so i'll compare dimples for fun!!!!

This is an argument that is predicated on the idea that people have no experience with new games.. yet that is not true. I, along with many others, have been playing, collecting, and buying games for a long time. I have multiple new Stern games in my own lineup, and have been around countless numbers in the collections around me.

These are different.. if it's the game's physics, or the playfields themselves.. the run of the last few games have been horrible compared to previous Stern production.

And btw, my TWDLE magnet cores are dimpled to shit!!!!

I never would have noticed unless paranoia hadn't taken over here.

It's not about the existence.. the informed know it happens.
It's about severity and rate.

And it affects my fun factor, playability and love for the pin how? Nada

Maybe you can root for me to get a shit BM66LE tomorrow so i can feel the pain!

If i do, i will handle it appropriately and know that it will get resolved. I won't be calling you for petition help, that's for sure

I hope everything works out for all, but that post sure was uncomfortable.

I keep my pins for 5-10-15+ years - not months. The durability of the pin is an important factor of the pins I buy.

A magnet that is too soft will need to be replaced more often.. and risks other wood damage if you don't service it in time. An unsmooth playfield will ultimately impact ball movement.

(but nice slide away from the point..)

I pointed out before that there was zero evidence of JY64 being Jody, and the moderators have confirmed that he is not Jody.

People should stop calling him Jody.

How old are you? Life is too short to worry about such things.

If you are talking about the durability of the PF, buy another later if you play it enough over 15 years. Repopulate it!

In an HUO environment, if you can wear your pin out I'll be highly impressed.

Like every Bally/Williams pin known to man with sunken inserts, ghosting and dimple mania going on after 50k plays?

Buy a PF protector if you are so concerned.

I have pins I've owned for 19 years myself. Sorry you 'if it breaks, I'll just buy a new one' crowd don't appreciate having pins that survive.

I've never worried about 'wearing out my pins' - even pins that were older than me.. but Stern seems hell bent on changing that.

Your dismissive tact really doesn't paint the 'new blood' in a good light at all. Just emphasizes the more money then sense stereotype.

smh.... you just throw shit out in a jumble hoping something makes sense.

Whomever he is really dies not matter. He is obviously a Stern schill and dumb enough to be posting photos of a prototype game from his biggest competiton. FUnny part is the smart ones just look at those photos and think how great it is that JJP is actually beta testing their own games rather than having customers spend 15k to test for them, lol.

Sorry you never understand logic.

Well, 19 years from now, let me know how that works out with current Stern pins.

Btw, you should check out the movie Split.

Facts don't matter to you?

It's ok to falsely accuse a Pinsider of being someone that they are not?

I guess I really shouldn't be surprised that you would think this way...

No doubt about it there is definitely a playfield problem as of late, which is preventing me from buying games right now as I don't wish to spend money and play the Stern lotto.

No, i am saying that i don't really care whom jy specifcally is. His actions have negated all opinions he has and he just looks silly now that he is attempting to deflect Stern pf defects by posting pics of a prototype DI which appears to be properply play tested in a high play location for months and thousands and thousands of plays. JJP is obviously interested in putting out a quality game and willing to put in the time and make adjustments to inprove BEFORE a customer even gets the game.

Jy is a Stern schill. I don't care what his name is.

Come on Hilton, you can't really believe this BS.

JJP, the pillar of truth, honesty and everything that is right with pinball.

They are "beta testing" a game because they can't produce it right now. Who F ing cares anyhow?

The election results are in and JJP loses with DI Collectors whatever versus BM66SLE

Oh by the way, Aerosmith pro is on sale for $5200, beta test that one