Wait let me get this straight you want to be made whole for something that might happen

It really shouldn't happen on such a low play game and the rest of the playfield is perfect. I've tried to call the manufacturer in the past, but couldn't even get thru to order a BK2K T-shirt.

I'm probably going to get down voted for this, but this thread was started a year ago. If you knew about these issues before you bought a game, then I'm sorry to say, but you knew what you were getting into so you should accept it. No bitching, no complaining, no replacements.

I'm constantly shocked at people that post pictures of their brand new games and then whine about them being screwed up. I purchased mine before this shit show started and I'm still waiting for a play field from Stern. If you didn't know, then my apologies, but I'd bet $100 most of the people in the last 6 months knew about these issues.

I want a JP Premium more than you can imagine. I worked my ass off all of last year making the IFPA top 1,000 so I could get the discount and haven't used it. I won't use it until they fix my Catwoman and get their act together.

We definitely need a come to jesus moment from these manufacturers where they acknowledge that there is/was an issue and how they have overcome it.
Manufacturers ignoring it and hoping it will go away is bad for the hobby.

This seems a bit over the top to me. If you buy a brand new car, you know there MIGHT be issues with it, you don't just forfeit any right to have your issues addressed. The same should be true with brand new pinball machines. So while I agree that people shouldn't be shocked when issues exist, I think they have a right to expect some type of recourse when there is a major issue with their machine.

The issue is Stern has set a standard that they really don't care. They sent some of the worst cases an unpopulated playfield, which is not a solution. At this point they will probably send you a coupon for $50 off your next NIB and people will be happy with it. It's hard to muster up any sympathy at this point. People are gambling and some of them are losing.

I thought all issues were fix. And now I see your Avengers playfield has turned to shit. Did you call Stern?

Where did you find wood to touch, a machines from the 80's?

Well I get where you are coming from, but what's the point of suffering in silence hoping for change? Seems like a passive-aggressive stance to me. The point of this thread, after all, is to document "continued playfield issues with JJP and Stern", and that's what we're doing. It's a public service.

Q: "Is is safe to buy an NIB Stern now?" A: "No."

...and hey, I paid my $, I'll bloody bitch if I want to.

That's not my playfield. I don't have an Avengers or TMNT for that matter.

More like those stuck in the 80s touching each others wood.

You seem to be in an anti-nostalgia k-hole tonight. You get stuck watching a too close for
Comfort marathon or something?

Too Close For Comfort is on?

And yet with almost 6700k posts in this thread, people will still buy them and then complain about them after knowing all of Sterns shitty business practices and low grade quality of their machines.
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
Just by reading this thread, I will never buy one. Hope everyone's issues are addressed and are made whole, but I doubt it.

Because of the 6700 posts, a very small fraction of them are actual owners with issues!
Yes, there are some but considering the number of games being produced and the past experience I’ve had with both my supplier and Stern, I’ll take the chance. I figure worst case, you sell your game at a loss when you’re done enjoying it to someone else? We all lose on resale so taking a small risk that it’s another $500?
Especially when it appears as though there have been minimal issues with the last couple/few titles from what I’ve seen.
Not to mention, if I see pooling, I’m buying one of those irons for $40 on Amazon.

Has anyone successfully pulled a rail up that was digging into art without chipping the art, in order to fix it?

I think of this thread as more of a support group. We know issues are going to happen but it’s nice to have a place to unload your frustrations and maybe get a little help along the way.

I've recently done it using Yelobird's vinyl repair iron method to flatten the damaged area out. You'll still have a depression where the rail originally sat, but when you reinstall the rail, it should cover that. I'm going to experiment with putting some small fiber washers under the offending attachment points tonight to see if I can elevate the rail slightly to keep it from digging into the art/clear again. I might have to elevate the entire rail.. I don't know, as I'm in the middle of the project.

Personally, I have had twice as many newer games WITH problems as without problems. I may just be one unlucky SOB, but unfortuntely I think this is just the new normal. We the consumers have lost, and have to either accept these issues or give up on owning new games going forward. There's just not enough people that care enough to put their wallets away.

Yeah, I'm 3/4 on premature chipping with NIB Sterns since 2016, and the other one has the kinda fugly vertical lines in the clear-coat.

At this point if I see a game *without* these common issues it's like finding a unicorn.

Stern is making Cliffy a rich man.

They just showed Mirco doing a hammer test (hammer flat and hammer point) on the PinballExpo20 video feed.
Very impressive. If someone has that video they should post it here. I think Mirco/JJP may have this problem licked.

Bad news regarding playfield finish. My Willy Wonka LE has a August 2020 production date. I've submitted a support request and am waiting to hear back from JJP at this time.

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They didn't use gobstopper material on yours? That shit's supposed to be everlasting.

My CE is similar. February 2020 build. I posted picks up on the other Wonka thread but am currently locked out from replying there cause it's a hot topic? or some stuff. Putting the playfield together without proper (clear) cure time. It's as simple as that. I'm interested to see how JJP responds to your ticket. Please keep us posted.
r/

A more accurate analogy would be buying a car, having issues with it and with the company addressing those issues, selling it, then keeping an ear to the ground and hearing about other owners buying newer versions of the car that still have the same issues and the same difficulties getting them resolved, and after all of that still buying the next car they churn out - because you really like the look of it - on the sheer hope that you won’t suffer the same problems again.

Stern know that people will keep buying their pins in spite of these issues, even if those same people have already experienced the issues themselves! People hear about a new theme coming out and immediately forget this thread and even their own experiences in some cases. FOTM is real.

Stern will never change until people stop putting up with it, and as long as people think it’s a thing that happens to other people, or “I’ll be lucky this time”, then people won’t stop putting up with it.

that doesn't bode well for GNR

Exactly.

I cannot fathom for the life of me why this problem is so f*cking hard to solve. Seems like the playfield production process just isn't setup for mass production, controlled variables, identical results at scale. These companies need to bit the bullet and invest in the equipment and processes that will let them pump out high quality playfields in mass quantities, but I guess they'd rather not...

Dude if you go that far out of your way to look for issues pinball is not for you.

https://www.twitch.tv/pinballexpo/video/772313718?t=22m05s

It will surprise you that I totally agree with you. I've got a Star Trip that's in much worse shape and I play it. Maybe someday I'll touch it up and clear it but for now it's fine. These machines are designed for commercial route/arcade operation and these defects won't affect the money that a machine in an arcade/on a route makes.

I knew about the possible playfield issue before I purchased the machine and wanted to let others know that the issue still exists if it's a show stopper for them, it's not a show stopper for me. I also plan to purchase a Mirco repro Safe Cracker playfield to replace the oem one that has missing insert information on the red inserts from my failed mylar install/removal attempt and raised inserts on the lower playfield. If the clearcoat/art defects bothered me I wouldn't be buying another playfield from the same manufacturer that produced this playfield.

I've reached out to JJP to see what possible solutions exist and I'm perfectly happy to leave the playfield exactly as it is now. If customers don't contact the manufacturer, the manufacturers won't know that the issue exists. I like playing the game and I think that most of these defects won't be an issue because the rubber on the post will hold the ball away from the defect and the art/clear won't flake off.

Just think, soon they'll just get rid of the art altogether and you can take some colored sharpies and make your own art!!!!!!

TRUE LE right there!!! No one will have the same artwork as you!!! Special snowflake machines for EVERYBODY!!!!

*checks my 30 year old games* Art looks great still!

I have this on my strangers things LE on the apron. I’ve taken the apron off no less than 100 times and the situation has never gotten worse.

Pros maybe, but Premiums and LEs are clearly aimed at home users nowadays (and have been for some time).

In this post-COVID world arguably Stern’s primary market is going to be home users.

100 times?!? Why on earth?

4ivrk8 (resized).jpg

Not trolling. Why is that knot or blemish in the shooter lane a problem, or is it just aesthetic? Is it smooth?

What time is Mirco Playfield “test”
I couldn’t find it Skipping through.

https://www.twitch.tv/pinballexpo/video/772313718?t=22m05s

Skip to 22m if the link doesn’t take you there.

Thanks

I would like to see someone take a hammer to a stern playfield. I bet it would bust it to pieces. When Stern gets playfields like this i will start buying their games again. Until then though i will be holding onto my money.

Now that Mirco claims they have fixed their poor quality process, I’m sure they’ll happily replace all of their bad playfields under warranty...

I get the feeling they stole their hammerproof playfieilds from deeproot.

a handy test! because all my games have hammers banging the playfield multi ball!

I want to see a test rig that has thousands of pinballs being fired at a populated playfield constantly for days/weeks on end.

I'd say aesthetics and playfield integrity. When sorting playfields for Limited Edition assembly; I'd save that one for a lesser valued machine. When resources are low, I can imagine sorting defected materials to find a solution.

That playfield should be fine and it has character too. A knot can be frozen, filled and smoothed before clear, but we know that layer of Baltic has a number of large, hidden knots that are not addressed depending on the diameter of the tree. It'd be interesting if an ultrasound certification was provided, but that's overkill.

Probably because the projector needs constant attention?? Guessing...

It is encouraging that at least two pinball playfield manufacturers are at least looking at the problem seriously (well 1 current, one prospective). There is hope that glassy beautiful robust playfields might be a common/expected thing again sometime in the foreseeable future.

Only once competitors are able to routinely produce these amazing playfields will Stern bother to take notice, if then. Here's to hoping.

Impressive....nice to see someone is actually proactive in trying to fix these play field issues.

I had to replace the projector twice and the focus is very hard to get perfect.

I will accept nothing less than an MRI for my playfield