They promised me a new playfield before Covid shutdown, no respons at all since July.
I don't think i will get anything from Stern....

Put some shooter lane Cliffys in before the shooter chips out worse. We have bought way more than 15 NIBs and do not expect a replacement playfield for a chipped shooter lane. Your friend is very lucky if this is the first shooter lane that has chipped.

Yea no way they are going to send a replacement for shooter lane chipping.

Did they pull back the art on your SW Pro from around the posts? Mind posting some pics if so? I am waiting on mine to be built and curious if they pulled the art back.

Every lottery has a winner otherwise no one would play.

No they did not move the artwork on star wars.. tmnt is though

Took me 9 months for jp, unpopulated replacement was just as bad as the defective one in the game, so i just took my loss and sold it, havent bought a new stern since, customer service and communication is the worst.

Agreed. You should always put down protection on the shooter lanes before the first game is played. Cliffy, the molded plastic ones or even just get creative with some mylar. If I buy a 25 year old WPC game and it has a pristine shooter lane, I put on protection before playing the first game.

The art is pulled back away from the posts on my SW Comic playfield built in Oct 30th, 2019, and also on my Iron Maiden built in September 2020 (early Iron Maidens weren't). Based on this, I think they might have modified the recent and upcoming SW art. It would be crazy not to.

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Pretty standard. I say cover it with Mylar so it doesn’t get worse and live with it.

I’ve heard nothing on my JP been months. No new Sterns for me or JJP.

Im not surprised, no support after the sale. From what i hearing theres no phone tech support either. Email only. And since there’s no shows they dont have to see anyone in public that they’re screwing.

It sucks but it's a shooter lane don't expect a replacement try https://mezelmods.com/products/pinball-shooter-lane-protector?variant=18133347500129 https://www.pinballlife.com/pinguard-spike-shooter-lane-protector.html

If I was your friend, and I had purchased 15 LE Stern's from the same distributor in that time-frame, I'd be having a very succinct conversation with them about exchanging the defective game with a new one, at their/Stern's expense, or lose all future business.

The only way this gets better is if it becomes a real pain point for everyone in the Stern sales channel. Your friend should have lots of leverage with that kind of purchase history.

Someone beat me to the Pinball Universe shooter lane protectors, they are a good option as well as Cliffy's.

"You can cover that nasty black eye your abusive vendor gave you with this wonderful makeup!"

Trying to help, I get it, defeated...

Took me over 8 months and numerous emails and calls to get an unpopulated playfield.

Yep, unfortunately, these games are kind of crappy compared to their older stuff.
Definitely fun, but something of a crapfest.

Stern just shared a video of the Star Wars comic art production on social media. The play fields appear to be MDF. How do you guys feel about that.

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If there is a cheaper way, Stern will find it.

Same playfield as the home pin. Mine is holding up pretty well. As good as their current stuff anyway.

Hmmmmm... at first thought I don't like it, but after thinking about it further, it seems like it would be more compressed/tightly packed than traditional ply lumber, making it more resistant to dimpling. Has anyone looked at how the home pins with MDF playfields hold up to dimpling?

Home pin?

In the video it's clearly the home pin and not the full size

This is obviously cost cutting and the home edition pin. That being said if Stern was actually invested in improvement there are things you can do with MDF. Years ago I made a MAME cabinet out of MDF and wanted to paint it with automotive paint. I don't know much about the process but they sprayed it with a resin to seal and harden the MDF before they painted it. It has the smooth lustrous shine of a Hot Rod and is as hard as rock. I would love a playfield like it. A cheap piece of MDF to save a couple of dollars no thanks.

Stern like to trial new cost saving ideas on the home The Pin lines before bringing them to their "commercial" grade games. Spike board system being an example. I don't care what they make the PF out of so long as it's robust and beautiful and plays well.

Be interested to see hardness test done on it compared to plywood. I always thought that a 1/4" plywood glued to a 1/4" Masonite would be the way to go. Masonite is hard as Hell and wont dent.

I would however be a bit concerned about screws grabbing in the MDF. They will tighten down the first time, and then strip out if your not very careful the next time...much more so than plywood IMO.

I hope this is an exercise to reduce dimpling rather than reducing costs.

glad i have my Munster's BW love it parked right next to Elvira LE.
Both have some dimples .My 30 year old Simpson's hasn't a one????

My Maverick and Party Zone have dimples...

I think in normal use it will also hold. But if I remember how some old machines came back from the coin-ops ... standing outside, wet environment .. that is a killer for MDF.
I am sure they will not seal all holes and corners properly.

I just bought some playfield wood from a manufacturer for around 50 Euro a sheet ... so that isnt really expensive. Inserts for a playfield will be around 30 Euro, one layer print is 15 Euro .... , a layer white under it is also 15 Euro ... clearcoat around 30 Euro, Milling and drilling ... 20 Euro with CNC. So you see a coated playfield is around 160 Euro in production and this prices are from a hobby project, so big companies will get it even cheaper.
Good to hear that Stern found a way to get rid off the expenses on wood

I wonder sometimes if Stern has monthly "How can we make this cheaper" type meetings.

Employee 1: "We can save $1 a game if we use thinner metal on coil stops"
Employee 2: "Great idea, but won't customers complain"?
Employee 1: "Nah, they will just buy better replacements from Pinball Life"

LOL you need to put JJP in there with Stern as JJP has never put out an issue free game

Long story short...another problem with Stern.....In the last month I purchased a NIB Stern JP Prem Game and it played great until I purchased the Stern Authorized Shaker Motor from Pinball Life and installed it. Yes, it was the Stern Authorized shaker and I payed more for that one, and yes it was installed correctly, in fact I don't think you can install it any other way. Immediately got node board 1 error and trough error and while game played ok once you get passed the service alerts, the shaker did not work. Emails to Stern were never replied to in over 2 weeks and Pinball Life only refunded my $ once they got it back and washed their hands of it and said it was an issue for Stern and they would do nothing more. I told them Stern hasen't replied to my emails. The good (great) news is that the distributor (Operation Pinball) I purchased the machine from stepped up BIG time. Even though it was not their problem they shipped me 2 new boards which took care of the problem. Only being able to contact Stern via email is a non starter for me. In my case at least they simply chose not to respond to me...never did in fact. No more Stern games for me knowing if I have a problem under warranty I'll get no help what so ever. Scared to death to try another "Stern Authorized Shaker"...the Premium should have come with one IMO.

just to say, the MDF playfields are for home pins only...

Awesome news. Thanks for providing this info so we can recognize the distributors that go out of their way to support their customers.

From the website:
"Operation Pinball is a family owned and operated dealership founded in 2015 by Gregory and Vanessa Yanish who are true pinball fanatics and collectors."

https://operationpinball.com/

If you screw and unscrew things a few times into an mdf board, is it ruined?

For now...

If you take my anecdotal evidence, every piece of MDF furniture I have ever witnessed is unmovable. You don't even have to take it apart just the act of trying to carry it from one location to another with result in it self destructing. Earlier I was thinking about dimpling, when it comes to screwing in post and object then hitting them with the ball, yeah no thanks these are going to get destroyed.

I can’t wait to see Stern LED Zeppelins playfield issues next month in this thread. Waiting patiently.

Nah, JJP has had issues but they are not trying to save money on coil stops of all things. Theres standard items you don't try and save money on when selling a $6k - $9k+ pin. Its not only embarrassing but insulting in my opinion to customers how Stern cheapens out on certain items.

Gonna be funny in about 5 years when all those MDF PFs start shitting mechs into the cab because the vibrating screws turned the surrounding MDF to powder.

I had a fantastic experience with operation pinball when I purchased my Deadpool premium. Great people to work with in all ways.

good point

Would you really get in touch with Ford if you bought a Ford authorized part at your local car parts shop

By now the people buying these things should know better. If they buy it then come here complaining about PF pooling, chipping lifting etc.. Then they should be booted from the thread. Look Everyone here has know about this issue for over 7000 posts. They should know by now, they are wasting money on crap.

Couldn't agree more. Go back to page 146 post #7286

I hope you are not playing any of these Sterns.

Big difference in playing them where I live ( $12 for an hour of free play, 26 pins) then shelling out 7-10 grand for Sterns lousy ass QC and the worst customer service in the pinball world.

Not sure if this is sarcasm or a joke I'm not getting. The idea that only those privileged enough to be able to be able to throw thousands around like its nothing should be allowed to play pinball is a whole new level of arrogance and elitism. Do you turn your nose to the peasants that drop money on location. The fucking snobbery here can be nauseating.