Ode to Odin - the upbeat heart of Pinside !

Spooky and JJP have all the same issues that Stern has now, Spooky got on top of the worst of it (chipping) quickly. But JJP - I had a Wonka on loan and it had chipping all over the place, My Dialed in has dimpling also.

We have a Alice Cooper and Iron Maiden in our pinball club, the IMDN gets a hell lot more play as its significantly more reliable (lots of trough and other issues with ACNC) but the play field of IMDN looks substantially better than ACNC, both have dimpling. Note I'm not complaining either, its simply a fact of pinball ownership.

I will say my buddy’s Houdini playfield looks amazing after having it since really early on. I’ve also never seen a ball leave the playfield on it.

Pretty much everything I hit on STH other than an orbit, the ball leaves the playfield. Haha

The worst dimpling I've ever seen was on an original AFM. Second most was on my original MM. Interestingly people seem to think these games didn't dimple and never had QC or design issues. AFM and MB both had drop holes that would get completely blown out in a matter of hundreds of games and came without protectors. The first MB I ever got had so much wood eaten away, I had to get an extra wide Cliffy protector to cover the damage. They also came with cabinet art that would fade in the course of one month in the wrong lighting. Not to mention that every single WPC game for the four year period prior to WPC 95 came with terribly designed power supply and reset circuit that basically was guaranteed to fail sooner than later. Then there were the burned GI connectors.

MB_before (resized).jpg

I'd still take that quality over any Stern from the past decade. No pin is perfect, but Stern pumps out a pretty shitty product.

Still love my IMDN. Maybe my favorite pin, but I sure feel like Gary bent me over.

#Stern. #metoo

Williams was pumping out serious product back in the day. Bad point: that they were built for the public locations, details smetails. Just empty those coins.

Good point: they were built for the public. Friggen tanks. All had high use common wear areas from 10’s of thousands of plays, shakes, lifts and slams.

Do that to a modern Stern? I’m thinking out of commission.

Let’s call it what it is. Stern has always been the second-rater. Won the trophy by default while continuing to lessen costs and raise prices. Fun? Fuck yeah. But this latest wave of failures is just too much. Waaay too much for the discerning collector.

Gottlieb had it right. Mylar the sh*t out of it.

Think about that jump shot in Shaq Attaq.

I think my first Tron Pro had one of those hard clear coat dots that stuck up on it. It was just not very noticeable due to the dark blue color. Mine survived a showing at Zapcon and several owners and never progressed to anything worse.

I have a Stern Pirates from 2006 that has a few playfield issues. Really nice machine and plays awesome but the art work is not lined up with the inserts. It's not even close and looks kinda weird. There is also a good bit of planking on it. Hard to see in the current light but at night it's very noticeable. One thing I don't see at all though are dimples even though those standup targets really send the ball flying and hitting the playfield hard. My Stranger Things on the other hand looks like the moon but the inserts are lined up and I don't see any planking

IMG_20200810_133919255 (resized).jpg

IMG_20200810_133928530 (resized).jpg

IMG_20200810_134021786 (resized).jpg

IMG_20200810_134634752 (resized).jpg

Just listened to Cary podcast so thought I would take a look at this "grainy art" in the TMNT thread. Grainy is a huge understatement some of those playfields look like shit, and cleary Stern is all out of fucks to give, zero standards or quality control.

Looks like they went back to whoever was printing the LOTR playfields.

Huh? If thats the case they wouldn't have any issues as my LOTR LE play field is perfect

Some of the worst printing I’ve ever seen on a playfield. Zoom in super close.

Oh the Austin Powers days....fucking dot matrix printer

Haha. Yeah that one is really bad too.

Simpsons Pinball Party had an ink blotch in the middle of most of the playfields. Having high resolution super clear printing is a fairly recent development at Stern. Even my ACDC is pixelated as hell.

We shouldn't be questioning Stern playfield print quality, this thread has been deemed toxic in at least one of the Stern owners only threads. It's much better to act like these issues don't exist, and hope you are a winner of the "Stern Quality Lottery" when dropping $6k-$9k+ on one of their games.

I agree.

Why is the thread toxic?

I never even noticed bad printing on my play field.....

Not a screenprinter or digital guy but just a heads up,
bad quality print isn't a matter of the process nowadays.

Used to be digital was the ugly child but I've seen modern machines produce almost litho quality.

I don't know the process and I don't know if these corners need to be cut but a decent printer should only have a small error margin in quality.
On large orders like this it is usually up to the customer, ie. Stern to QC after.

If your printer is producing as much crud as what seems to be the case here (though may just seem skewed), then you really should be outsourcing somewhere else when it's a high end product like this.

You have to get the zoom lense just like others are doing for TMNT. Take a good cell phone pic and zoom in. It’s easy when you do that. It’s very grainy on most of them. And maybe they had multiple vendors then too and you’re a lucky one.

my LOTR has it.

If you need a zoom lense for this then you better get your eyes tested

0E8B8E1B-DE61-4465-813D-190F44079253 (resized).jpegCAC9B3A7-A4AD-4B00-A19B-4A5DAE2C9E96 (resized).jpeg

I think its just the term grain that is causing confusion. All digital art will have some pixelization if you look close enough that is normal. The complete de-saturation of the colors is the issue, the art is completely washed out. I'm a afraid they may have done this on purpose in some attempt to thin out the art so the clear might bond better.

Yup, if you look close enough on any Stern pin in recent memory you’ll see the relatively low resolution of the artwork. I remember my Trim being pixelated (aliased) at the edges of the art. That isn’t a criticism per se, but it would be nice if it were higher resolution)

I think it’s a combination of desaturation and dithering that’s the problem here. Either way it’s not acceptable by any stretch.

LOL whenever you zoom in past about the %60 point on a phone the pic gets grainy and if you feel the need to zoom in to try and find imperfections than you are the issue not Stern

I'll take your word for it...it looks fine to me....its by far the nicest play field I've seen from Stern...

Are they from your game? It would be interesting to know where the photos came from?

I’m sure. Doesn’t have the strongest comp though. Haha. My GoT pro outside of the minor ghosted inserts was stunning. The perfect glass thick clearcoat. Not sure what they were doing different then, but I want that back.

Yeah but that’s not what is happening here. You can plainly see the colors look washed out without zooming in. Zooming in just confirms how poor the printing quality is.

Again, not claiming to actually know 100% what I'm talking about but if it is some kind of digital process they can alter saturation for sure (a lot of times it can be less saturated from screen to print anyway) but I don't believe it will make a less dense ink like traditional print.

What I mean is I think it would make a negligible difference no matter what the saturation so I doubt it would be a conscious decision. Just looks like sh#!print to me.

Because people cant handle the truth in this world we live in today, they are much too soft. I am getting ready to retire and I want a Elvira 3 really bad for my retirement gift to myself but it ain't happening. Stern has to make a better product before I buy from them again.

at first i also thought people are just making this up with the super zoom, and maybe some do so, but your images show that there is an issue.
those PFs never should leave the factory.

Like this? What’s this, about 2-300%? Doesn’t look grainy to me.
FE42F321-0C22-4C7E-8667-30C743F79F70 (resized).jpeg670AE165-474A-4C11-8ADD-4D92CFDE2068 (resized).jpeg

Too bad, you are missing out on a great game! Oh well, more pinball for me!!!

I know I am. If they would stand behind their product and guarantee me a good quality game for my eight thousand dollars I would buy one. That's all I want really is a guarantee that my game will be of good quality when I open the box and not give me the run around if it's not. I know that's a lot to ask from a company that I'm only spending 8K with but thats what I will need to have happen before I buy.

Okieeeeeeeee

Don’t hold your breath. Stern ain’t changing.
Their most recent releases are quite fun to play. However, let’s face it, the overall quality and attention to detail does not warrant the ridiculous price.

When taking stock of the different items I own that had a purchase price exceeding 5K, my pinball machines are the most disappointing in terms of overall execution.

And, admittedly, if they release a Jaws LE, I’m buying it.

Looks like you’re never owning another stern. You know they are never going to do that. Life’s too short, start blowing that retirement money! Haha

More pooling found. JP Premium. June build.

D27771D2-A0B8-46CB-8564-6D090A87E734 (resized).jpeg

Ok screw it, I will buy one when I retire. You talked me into it. If Elvira didnt have the best boobs on the planet though I wouldnt buy one dammit!

That’s the spirit! Haha

Some say it's the best looking Stern ever!

Nice cat.

its like they need to clean the print wires/heads or something.
The vertical stripes on the turtles chest seem to be a quality artifact of that.

Anyone know what process are these actually make with? its not screenprinting so ... Inkjet/laser/dye sublimation/uv led (like this

) ?

What a terrible loss we have just suffered!

I already own some of the best games in pinball.
However, the quality of the product doesn’t match the price point. If you’re willing to accept mediocrity at 8K then keep enjoying, bitch. That’s certainly your prerogative.