Nailed It !

Yeah, I read what you said the first time.

Again, facts do not matter to you. Just because you feel that he is a Stern "schill" (sic) doesn't mean that people should call him Jody after the mods have confirmed that he isn't.

Alternative Facts

correct, if mods have confirmed he is not Jody, then people should not call him Jody. It would be cruel to call anyone Jody, that is not him (despite Zombie's man crush on Jody #creepy). Sorry JY64 for calling you Jody before.

Either way, I will say that JY64 seems to love this title and why he continually posts from that angle and stays hidden but continually tries to deflect and scrub all the issues Stern is not having. I will say that JY64 is not Jody, but acts just like him.

How does one prove that they are someone to a moderator?
Tell a friend to paypal some money to pinside while you are logged in? Seems like a system that is easy to circumvent. In fact, you can see that 'JY64 has donated to Pinside (2017-01-13) !'

Now if you question that you will be ejected....

Seems a bit silly to me.

Believe me there are a few on pinside that can, and will say anything they like to anyone without the least hesitation knowing there will be no action being taken to curb their behaviors. I have come to realize and forced to accept this fact if I want to continue to be a part of this forum.

+ 1.

You can make all the excuses you like but a heavy routed game after one year should have no play field wear. This pic by the Pinside thread time line is after six weeks. The playfield wear on the bat is not acceptable either dimples yes playfield wear no

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again... You are trying to compare a company with a prototype game with numerous and heavy play (been to multiple shows and also on route at a test location for ~3months) vs production Stern games that are shipped to homes and have MAJOR issues. Really?

Do you even read what you write? Should I post some more photos of routed Sterns with fewer plays but more wear? Keep in mind those are production games.

JJP was smart enough to have this test game out for people to play and have the engineering, code, and design team right near by to keep track of and see what things need to be improved prior to production in Q2 of this year. Seems like a great plan!

No actually I gave them my phone # and the name of a pinsider that I did a trade with so just like a thread on how much it cost to make a pin you seem to have one more opinion based on BS

It's not a production game! I seem to remember some Stern games on test at Gameworks a number of years back that were prototypes without a professional clearcoat and with makeshift plastics. Not uncommon for something that isn't in full production yet.

It is funny you say that I don't like it at all and you have not heard me say that I do

Thank you someone not making a excuse but giving reason behind it

??? reading comprehension???

Who will join me for the Playfield March on Chicago?

I'm thinking we get a few million people to march on Grant Park, or even the Stern factory, and we can show this administration that we aren't going to stand for this kind of treatment. Who's with me?

"Why does product X have an unusually high rate of Issues"? ..."well product Y has abnormal wear on the play field". Yea, typical pathetic response...

Hear you are Whysnow from lanes and game if you are from the Boston area you know if has seen heavy play

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lol... you do know Lanes and Games does not even exist anymore??? Pretty funny you just tried to post a photo of TWD (not a game with QC issues) and from ??? how long ago as something recent.

That is funny.

I know it closed a true loss

got pictures of GB before they closed?

No I just took that pic in my home

Like I said: facts do not matter to him.

Been awhile since i read this thread, but....

I imagine this is directed towards me from the other thread. I like how you twist words around and continue to do so; for the record, i said a small % of playfields (in general, not just ghostbusters) were affected from EXTREME DISINTEGRATING UNPLAYABLE CONDITIONS like KPG's. Just want to keep the facts straight.

Listen extreme pinball; i like you and what you do for the hobby. You have some of the nicest games on route and ive gone to bat for you in other threads stating this. But please stop twisting my words around like you did in the other thread and this one (if this is directed towards me). I feel for you and anyone dealing with these playfield issues i really do. Are your pins inoperable due to ghosting inserts? What has your distributor said about this issue? are you on the list for sterns replacement program? Can you share your pics you sent stern to get on the replacement program?

Yes I agree, ZombiYeti's post certainly was very very weird to say the least. Dont say anything bad about the almighty Zombi though because there are some crazies here on this site that will want to actually fight you if you say anything negative at all about the guy lol. He comes on here basically threatening to quit doing artwork on pinball machines (I guess he thinks pinball will fail without his greatness) and I simply suggested that maybe its time to move onto other things (factory work maybe instead of drawing?) If doing work for the unappreciative pinball crowd is getting to him mentally. I meant nothing by it and wasnt even being an ass to the guy in the least. I will tell anybody, if you are in a job that is causing you alot of stress and affecting your mental health, its time to move on because its not worth it. I quickly learned that a few people on here give this guy like God status or something and will actually threaten you and want to fight you over him. Too funny!

I personally think pinball will survive just fine if he decides to leave us so im not worried at all, I just dont want the guy to have a mental breakdown or develop a drinking problem because of us pinball jerks. Being an Artist is tough, I don't know how he does it.

I think it is funny you bring up payment on JJP games as people are still waiting on TH

Met pro in home use after 100 or so plays...... that is just 2 examples ,there are plenty more out there . I saw many production met with this issue. Also look at sm and the wear it gets in some cases. This type of magnet in the right conditions without mylar around it will get wear . A simple piece of mylar on the dialed in wld have stopped that wear most likely....that particular magnet gets a ton of action and is very active and is y jjp will learn from this and ajusted accordingly. They sld probably make it a under playfield magnet like the other 4? It all depends what they wanna do with it in gameplay.27071211e405f69ca3eb9fc98cfa90517a681a5c.jpeg.jpg3aae24a3a492c4a1596e5c57a64084d1a543b766.jpg

Yeah, those folks should be institutionalized.

Is this your machine? When was it produced? Thanks!

Test game. I wish Stern did the same thing...maybe then they would have caught all of these playfield issues and dozens of owners wouldn't be stuck with faulty playfields. Nah, ship em anyway.

Wow.... just WOW!!!!

It was most certainly not directed at you. It is directed at all of the repeated (from multiple sources) bullshit speculation that "only a small percentage" of playfields are affected. Based on what?!?! Based on the one playfield somebody saw that looked fine when they unboxed it????

Of the 3 playfields I have personally viewed, all 3 have ghosting, and crater size divots. Two of them are mine and appeared fine NIB..... that didn't last. The third is at the PHoF. Another poster, either in this thread or another, has stated that 4 of the 4 playfields the poster saw where ghosted. 100% failure rate is not a small percentage to me.

Understand that I have personally unboxed, tested, prepped and played no less than 2 dozen brand new Stern games in the last 2.5 years. Until GB, I had never seen craters this large, nor have I seen a single ghosted insert.

Inoperable? No. Unacceptable? You bet it is. Unfortunately I HAD faith in this company to increase their QC after the previous debacles they put out, not to just totally give up on QC. It is clear, going back to at least TWD, that Stern does not even bother to test their own finished product, or, they KNOW the games have issues, but ships them anyway and roll the dice. When EVERY shot up Bicycle Girls ramp on an TWDLE results in a launched air ball, and then months later they put out a "fix", it supports what I've just stated above. When a complete lack of ability to make the orbit on a GoTLE, which is then fixed with a code change so the orbit isn't necessary, it supports what I've just stated above. Do I really need to bring up the fact that the code is buggy and unfinished on EVERY game they produce?!?!?!

I built my entire business based on quality, not quantity. Stern is no longer producing quality, they've opted for quantity. They can keep their quantity. If I should decide to buy a BM66 or an Aerosmith.... or any other future title, it will be in the secondary market.... after the first sucker dealt with all of the flaws, defects, issues, and lack of code.

Wow, sorry you have to deal with that. Hope Stern sends you a new fully populated playfield.

Does your Met have a recent build date or was it affected from the small batch of games with playfield issues from a couple years ago?

Based on the available evidence. 656 Ghostbusters Premium/LE owners, 258 Ghostbusters Pro owners
That's 914 units. How many confirmed reports of acceptance into the playfield replacement program? Ten? Twenty? Fifty? If it's twenty that's only 2%. What would it take to get from 2% to a large percentage of playfields?
Would you agree that 20% is a large percentage of playfields? I don't think that number have been reported publicly but I agree it's not impossible, it's just not likely. We need better data to draw more accurate conclusions.

Your personal experience doesn't match the reported experience of Ghostbusters owners as a whole.

There are 10 GB pro on route in Wi. I have seens and played 7 of them. ALL 7 have insert ghosting, clear coat chipping, and issues.

I have played 3 other GB on route in my travels the past year. ALL 3 of those also have issues. I am yet to see a single GB on route without atleast 1 insert ghosting.

Right on, thanks for clearing that up.

And i'm not an operator but have unboxed approximately 15 NIB Sterns since entering the hobby 10 years ago and haven't seen playfield issues like we are seeing. Like you said earlier in this thread, and i have in other threads, whatever stern was doing a year or 2 ago, go back to that method - problem solved! But, being in the hobby for so long i have seen a difference between buying 1st production NIB games vs late production NIB games whether it was last year, or 5 years ago. I've finally got sick and tired of being the guinea pig and stopped buying in on these early model production games. It sucks for operators more than home buyers though because it's their business to make money and keep the business rolling. At least for home collectors we can have the luxury of waiting and pick n' choose how we so desire.

So i feel for you bro, i just hope you keep putting out quality pins at your locations with what you have to work with and as a customer, and hobby enthusiast, i recommend you stay clear of LE/Prem games for route as from what ive heard and read, they are much more difficult to operate. And your location Pro machines are as nice or sometimes nicer than an LE (i.e. your TWD & MET Pro's). LE features for the most part are added gimmicks, and Stern doesnt typically program these extra features with much attention like JJP does to their machines.

Thumbs up again on the Iceman quote.

Not sure where you are going with the Yeti thing

Xtreme pinball says his RRWoz play field is destroyed after 10k plays while the IRon Man VE and Avatar are still looking good after 17k plays.

What he's saying is, Yeti's post was very weird and he has a very odd sense of humor. When I read it I thought it was very .....I'll be nice and just say different and odd. It also kinda reminded me of when an actor or musician speaks out against a politician or something. I kinda just felt like saying....dude just draw art on my pinball machine and let Stern deal with the shitty quality that they themselves have created. Anyway enough of that. Iron man and Avatar playfields were better quality than todays Stern playfields also, so you really cant use them for examples.

Oh yeah...ang KPG loves you!

Not if we want LEs. Those that pay the most for their games get to be the guinea pigs during the early builds. Not sure how to fix that, but it doesn't make sense.

You're paying for the right to get it early before the public does. Congrats!

I'm paying for Stern to get it right.

Yup...and why people keep doing it is beyond me. Hope Gary's John Hancock down LE buyers throats is worth it.

Easy solution start a thread of endless bitching asking for the LE games to ship last so all issues are ironed out

Well I'm in a similar, but worse, situation as I'm now disappointed as both an operator, and a collector. I was buying at least 1 pro and 1 LE of every title. Many titles even more. That ended. Not even JJP. Way too many problems. I may try one of the newer companies, but in a commercial/tourist environment, I need Licensed & Branded titles to earn a living. MMR & DI simply won't earn for me.

To make it even worse, I'm the technician in my arcade business, so I really don't want my only hobby to be "just like work", so to speak. So, as an operator, I'm buying a lot more video arcade games this year, and as a collector, I've already taken up a new hobby.

With all that said, I'm not totally giving up on pinball. I'm just going to limit all of my purchases to the local secondary market where I can personally inspect the condition of every game. Buyer beware.

Don't feel bad, back in the day MM never earned for me, AND balls used to get stuck on the castle turrets and dragon wings.

Hi all,

I have remained silent in this thread since it has started and read all the comments. I myself own a GB Premium with playfield issues. I have not signed the petition at this point and I am not sure doing so will help my case at all. Here is the timeline of what has transpired so far.

12/13/16 - My initial e-mail to my distributor.

I have compiled some pictures of some ghosting inserts and cracked clear coat on my machine. I noticed cracks in the clear coat under the apron on October 18th. I first noticed the small amount of ghosting on the Super Jackpot insert on November 1st. Since it was not very much I decided to let it ride for a while to see if it was going to get worse or if other inserts would appear to have this issue. When I looked over the machine last night (12-13-16) to install the Ecto Goggle protector you mailed me I noticed the Proton Pack insert also has a small amount of ghosting, the shooter lane clear coat is cracked, and the ball drain/ball trough hole has begun to crack/chip. Unfortunately for me it seems as though my playfield is one of the many that are having issues. Since I have first noticed it to now I have seen the clear coat cracking and ghosting inserts grow in size.

I also noticed on the insert "Okay, who brought the dog" there somehow is light coming through the side of the insert. I don't really know if that is "Ghosting" or if somehow it has become separated/ raised? I have not noticed this on any other inserts.

Some of the pictures it is really obvious, others its hard to tell like the shooter lane and ball trough. If you need better pictures of those areas please let me know and I will grab my girlfriends high resolution camera. The pictures I have attached were all taken with my phone.

The game itself including the code update from original code version to V1.10 has under 200 plays.

12/13/16 - Distributor forwarded my e mail and CC me to Patrick Powers at Stern.

01/23/17 - Response to my case from Patrick Powers

At this time, the amount of insert ghosting and hard coat chipping doesn’t warrant a replacement playfield. Please ask your customer to continue keeping an eye on the playfield for any changes.

Regards,
Pat

Basically I have been put on a "Wait and lets see what happens with it" program. This is very upsetting to me as I had originally waited to even contact them about it to see if it got worse and it has since I first documented the issue. I like iceman44 said had faith that Stern would take care of my problem. I do understand that my playfield is not as bad as others out there but I personally still feel my case warrants a replacement. Needless to say I am very disappointed in Stern not willing at this time to make things right for me.

I work for my family business in the air conditioning and heating industry and if I have a customer that is not happy with anything I will do whatever I can to make sure that that customer is happy. There have even been a few situations where we have gone to a customers home that purchased new equipment from us and replaced the entire outdoor condenser at no cost to them (outside of our labor warranty) because of all the issues we were having with it. The warranty and technical support departments would not approve the replacement even though it was the right thing to do in those situations. (Those units were lemons and had to have several circuit boards replaced along with compressor problems. In our opinion the customer purchased a NEW product and did not deserve to have a brand new "Frankenstein" unit) I want return business so we can grow, and keep up our reputation as a reliable and trustworthy company. I would have assumed that Stern would have some of the same morals and ethics that I hold in my company.

I know of 6 other Ghostbusters in my immediate area (3 early pros, 2 LE's, 1 premium) that do not have ghosting or clear coat problems.

Where my apron sits there is actually a divot in the playfield where the apron edges sit. You should be able to see it clearly in the attached pictures. The two insert arrows that show ghosting have slightly grown in size since I sent the original e mail. I have not checked under the apron again since the time I originally took pictures in October. I know the trough entrance picture is hard to see the clear chipping but its there.

All in all I am very very disappointed. This was my first ever NIB purchase for HUO. I like this game a lot and I like the titles Stern is releasing and I would love to be able to continue to purchase their products, but if my case is not resolved my faith in Stern will be greatly diminished to the point to where I may never purchase a NIB again and just stick to the pre owned market like another Pinsider mentioned so you can inspect the game. My 2013 Metallica Pro has had 0 issues since I purchased it from another Pinsider. No clear coat problems, no mechanical problems. I wish I could say the same for my GB.

I look at this situation as no different than buying a new car that has no clear coat problems when it leaves the lot and a few weeks later the clear coat is coming off. Don't you think that car company you purchased the vehicle from would make it right for you? I sure hope they would.

I know this is a toy and the car comparison is much different situation but I felt it relates to this situation.

If you have some constructive criticism to offer on my situation I am willing to hear it, but I did not post this to be attacked.

At this point I am truly at a loss as to what I should do. Live with it? Fight it? What would you do?

Have a good day.

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Damage from the apron isn't that uncommon.. but I can't say I've seen it with the big floating plastic ones stern has been using..

Where you see light coming through the black keyline on inserts.. check if the insert has lifted or if the clear is chipped from above.

Seems the lack of standard criteria and the playfield evaluations are unevenly being administered. Yours looks to have enough issues that a replacement is warranted. You shouldn't have to but .. I'd continue to make a nuisance of yourself to your distributor and Stern.

Really?

The biggest flaw was under the apron. The PF isn't perfect, but this is not an example of a PF that I would ever expect to get a new PF replacement for... by a long shot.

Would love to hear Vids opinion on this one.