Yes, this is an amazing offer. My hat is off to you, sir.

And Yes, giving him $1000 to do the swap is probably fair.

If JJP and/or Stern were shipping unpopulated playfields AND including $1000 for someone to be paid to perform the swap - then you could argue they were making people "whole". But just shipping a piece of painted wood is not the same thing.

Listen, if you ever more to Buffalo, we can be best friends.

Old

"Stern Pinball, Inc., the world's oldest and largest producer of arcade-quality pinball machines".

New

"Stern Pinball, Inc. is a global lifestyle brand based on the iconic and outrageously fun modern American game of pinball."

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People helping people. It’s powerful stuff.

Hey we Love you guys for ALL you do for this hobby so we already consider you friends. Plus an appreciated sponsor lol. Though I would help you guys anyway. Truth is IF it's something you actually enjoy doing its really not that major. I have met Soooo many amazing people in this hobby both locally and around the world its half the reason we love pinball. Yes its a fun game but the people you meet can be priceless. Every one of us started out knowing Nothing about this rather complicated hobby so to help or guide someone from frustration is part of why we are all here.

Well I'll shall offer the same thing. If you're near me and want help with anything, I'll be happy to do so. Problem is, pretty much everyone near me in this hobby can and has done playfield swaps themselves.

Got pics of the completed swap? I'm really interested in seeing the results of your handiwork!

Sure. I'm at work but I can take a pic. Basically looks like a new game, so you may not be too impressed with the actual pic. Plays actually correctly now, which is refreshing.

Edit. In the meanwhile, here's a pic of me stripping the old one down proving I did SOMETHING lol.

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Turned out great. Still bet you will miss the "Warped Speed" feature... lol Well done.

I guess it's one of those "you had to be there" things. Just impressed with your accomplishment and sharing in your victory of a problem well solved!

Anyone watch IE pinball? I don’t very often but at the start of the one video he mentioned that he was getting a box for a replacement playfield.

Does anyone know what the damage was on his or how he was able to get a replacement?

It was at the beginning of the video named “More Avengers Infinity Quest v1.00!”.

Maybe I’ll be lucky and he’ll be in this thread.

His AIQ Playfield was warped so stern is sending him a new one. It’s actually not that hard to get a replacement PF, just go through your distributor and they’ll do what they can to make it right. Send pictures and stuff to prove that the PF is warped and you’re set.

Karl is one of pinballs top streamers on Twitch so I’m sure that helps “move things along” in the process of getting a new PF. I heard a rumor that Stern even game him a stranger things premium for free to stream lol.

New populated LZ playfield arrived today. Easy to plug back in (three connectors and a cat5). Smooth like glass, not even a hair of a warp. Now to update the code and get back to playing it (I tried one game to make sure everything was working and its like a different game .... no more watching the ball curve into the outlanes LOL)

Happy to hear that. How long did it take to get it once you submitted the issue?

Nice!

You know we need pics of the unboxing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm really confused by the warping issue. That's certainly something we haven't cried about here, and yet it's popped up a few times super recently, now. :/

Man I am glad I own a collection of WPC machines. Routed, tried and tested machines. The issues these new machines are having and they are HUO tells me they won’t last like the machines of the past.

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If you have never bought a new game how do you know they will not last or they have issues? I can tell you that the new games have way less issues than the old games. I remember buying games in the late 80s and early 90s and they were pieces of junk. Ribbing, planking, playfield chipping, shit electronics, shit cabinets etc etc. There was no Pinside or internet where people could share their issues so you did not hear about them.

I think you are missing out on some of the best games ever made. We have minor issues with our new games and love them way more than the old ones.

THIS. This is how a warranty replacement should be done.

So I installed it before I thought about pics LOL .... but here are some from the old playfield boxed and ready to ship back to Stern (they sent me the empty box and packing with a prepaid shipping label), the empty cab, and the new box and playfield.

While the process did take a while, after much back and forth with videos and pics, I did get a new playfield. The old one was warped pretty badly, so when I tried this one, it played like a different game (and my scores were about 5x as high as before LOL)

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I feel like Stern has recently dropped to cheaper quality wood in their PF blank layers, specifically softer wood in the middle of the PF "sandwich" and that has caused the substantial increase in convex and concave playfield warping recently. Both LZ and AIQ recent runs have had quite a few warped (convex/concave) playfields I've heard about (and in some cases seen pictures of). More "invisible" cost cutting that became very visible with all the recent PF warping.

No inside information, just speculation based on how it went before when they quietly did this to the cabinet wood around the time of the KISS initial run - and that led to a large increase in split cabinet corners until Stern added back corner brackets.

I just shipped a PF back for one of my games too. What was the turnaround time for shipping out your new PF once they received the old one?

Yes, let's trash the environment and put people's health at risk.

How about this: rather than repeatedly going back to the same tired old well... Innovate. Come up with something better.

Same day. As soon as mine arrived at Stern, they had the new one out the door to me.

Because that has obviously worked so well thus far!

Well they've tried with no success.

Proof?

Apparently they haven't tried, because as far as I can tell Stern, JJP, Spooky... they all are attempting to replicate an old process with new materials.

Ever hear of Haggis pinball?

Now that's looking at the whole issue with a new lense.

But the solution isn't to throw harmful chemical processes at the problem.

Let me ask: Do you take a dump in your own bed?

I'm hoping the answer to that is: NO. If that's the case, then you shouldn't take a dump in your neighbor's bed either. Especially when it comes to something as inconsequential as a pinball machine.

Wait, Haggis has invented a new method to produce polycarbonate playfields without harmful chemical processes? Do tell...

And manufacture/disposal aside, you have this gem:

"Studies have shown that at temperatures above 70 °C, and high humidity, polycarbonate will hydrolyze to Bis-phenol A (BPA)."

"BPA is a compound that is currently on the list of potential environmental hazardous chemicals. It is on the watch list of many countries, such as United States and Germany."

"BPA has been shown to play a role in the pathogenesis of several endocrine disorders including female and male infertility, precocious puberty, hormone dependent tumours such as breast and prostate cancer and several metabolic disorders including polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). "

It is not uncommon for flipper coils to reach or exceed that 158F threshold on play over 45 minutes or so. So, yay for damaging chemicals leeching out of the playfield over time?

I'm sure your "pooping in your bed" analogy was devilishly clever in your head, but I haven't a clue what you're talking about.

These companies are changing things, and keep making changes... which is why we see cracking/dimpling/warping etc. So they are definitly doing something different and keep trying to do so to fix things. Also, deeproot is trying, but that is leaving an "orange peel" finish behind. So yeah, manufacturers are trying.

The aftermarket clearcoaters are able to do it well consistently, even now. But the base issue is cost and speed. The manufacturers want it fast and cheap, and that gives you the results they're shipping.

I see... we need to slow things down for you. No prob.

My response is to the "well hell, if the chemicals have been banned here, let's just outsource it to our friends in Mexico or China. Let them take the risk and pollute."

The days of blindly trashing your own backyard are over, and the next step isn't to ask someone else to trash theirs. Get it?

The "solution" isn't to go back to old practices... and apparently, the "solution" isn't to try and re-invent the same wheel using different concoctions.

Still with me?

Innovation addresses a need to a problem with something completely different. These companies aren't innovating. They're simply revisiting ideas from the past and it isn't working.

I appreciate you talking to me like I'm a moron. Everyone loves making fun of someone else. You've won me over by being a cunt to me. However, next time when you're referring to what someone else said, say it to them, not to me. You were talking about trashing the environment. I didn't bring up that subject. I simply said they're trying to change things (which you ignored to be a dick).

Do you have to buy a game to read these comments an come to a logical conclusion? NIB, HUO and all kinds of complaints here.

To the comment “I remember buying games in the late 80’s and 90’s”. So you bought NIB games in the 80’s and 90’s, or are you comparing a routed game in the 80’s and 90’s to these NIB issues? Will have a hard time believing you bought NIB in the 80’s.

You say you have minor issues and I am adding a comment to page 160! Of this complaint thread.

No offense, but I evidently hit a nerve with you and the 160 pages of discussion tells me a different story.

No offence taken but respectfully you have no idea what you are on about.

Believe what you like. Beauty of this hobby is each to their own!

(Not mine, was pasted on FB this morning)

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LE or SE?

That sucks! I'm so ocd with my old pins
and my sw comic pro about any little thing.

I would lose my freaking mind if I spent jjp
money and had that chipping/delamination
happening.

It would be one thing if I caused any damage
to my game but all these examples in this thread
are not the result of anything the owner did.

Hope u get some good customer service.

He has posted those same pics multiple times and possibly already sold the game.

Has a build date been confirmed? So far these issues have only been reported on very early builds. Still not acceptable either way.

He'll get jack shit, which is even less than I got for the same problem.

DO NOT BUY NIB PINS

I never will again.

Thanks very much. Good to see someone keeping tabs on how many games have pooling and chipping issues. Accurate data is much better than hype.

One was too many. And it's WAY more than that.

Yes one is too many,but it was an early SE’s that had issues and then the correction was made by Mirco

Mirco doesn't make corrections. He makes excuses. LOOOOONG history of excuses for his work. This is likely not the end of PF issues as long as Mirco is in it.

I know JJP had a disastrous first go with Bader on original WoZ machines where big chunks of playfield art was coming off clean from the wood (pop bumper area, by the drop target, etc), but Spooky seems to be doing well with Bader now. They should give it another look. Couldn't be much worse than the ongoing pooling/chipping mess Mirco has been serving up for years, and Bader is right up the road, not halfway across the world.

Woah slow down all I was saying is ever since the initial batch the GnR playfields have been good.The same happened with Wonka first runs were bad and I then they corrected it!

Nobody enjoys being the guinea pig.

I agree one is too many. So how many Gunners games do you think have pooling and chipping?