Quoted from DeeGor:

It would be interesting to see what these hardtops look like after 20k plays on them. The good thing is you could do a top side tear down, swap in a new one and your machine looks like new again.

Quoted from Bryan_Kelly:

Pay me travel money. I'll dress up and entertain the kids. They'll have a new vocabulary when I'm done with them too.

Quoted from hawkmoon77:

Quick Update:
Stern has been fast to respond to my emails. They said they sent my pictures to quality control and offered to send me a bottle of clear touch-up to mitigate the paint peeling issue.

Quoted from Bryan_Kelly:

Pay me travel money. I'll dress up and entertain the kids. They'll have a new vocabulary when I'm done with them too.

Quoted from Bryan_Kelly:

Pay me travel money. I'll dress up and entertain the kids. They'll have a new vocabulary when I'm done with them too.

Quoted from Oaken:

I’ve mentioned it before, but switching back to screen printing is probably not even possible at this point.
My impressions:
1) That tech is aging fast so when a screening machine breaks down (and it will) it’s hard to find parts.
2) Those that know how to do it are nearing retirement. Hard to find replacement technicians to run the presses since it really isn’t taught or pursued much any more.
3) throughput issues
So sure the new way is likely much cheaper, but they probably felt they needed to make the switch anyway given obsolescence of the old ways.
At least in my experience, my company pushed hard to replace working tech as soon as the vendor stopped supporting the tech. Freaked out the business people to have an unknown cost/liability just hanging out there.

Quoted from bangerjay:

He knew dinosaurs!

Quoted from DeeGor:

It would be interesting to see what these hardtops look like after 20k plays on them. The good thing is you could do a top side tear down, swap in a new one and your machine looks like new again.

Quoted from hawkmoon77:

Quick Update:
Stern has been fast to respond to my emails. They said they sent my pictures to quality control and offered to send me a bottle of clear touch-up to mitigate the paint peeling issue.

Quoted from hawkmoon77:

Quick Update:
Stern has been fast to respond to my emails. They said they sent my pictures to quality control and offered to send me a bottle of clear touch-up to mitigate the paint peeling issue.

Quoted from RC_like_the_cola:

Hopefully, this is a temp solution until your populated and corrected PF arrives? My friend has a JP Pro with that pooling issue and has been advised by his distributor that he will get a new populated PF shipped to him to swap out. His has no tearing like yours, that I saw.

Quoted from hawkmoon77:

Quick Update:
Stern has been fast to respond to my emails. They said they sent my pictures to quality control and offered to send me a bottle of clear touch-up to mitigate the paint peeling issue.

Quoted from flynnibus:

Ehh... screen printing is alive and well in other industries. The beauty is there is no tech to support! The only thing to go “eol” is your screen material... and that is not happening now. It’s literally squeegees on a pivot arm.
And for volume... the industry makes far less playfield these days then in the past... so this isn’t a scale constraint.
Digital printing is desirable because it’s more efficient. Less labor, less time, less space, and less waste. Nothing to do with obsolescence.

Quoted from hawkmoon77:

Quick Update:
Stern has been fast to respond to my emails. They said they sent my pictures to quality control and offered to send me a bottle of clear touch-up to mitigate the paint peeling issue.

Quoted from cpr9999:

That’s what they did for me years ago, a jar of clearcoat. This is ok if it is not a NIB game. But NIB - wtf!

Quoted from Dr-pin:

LOL, this is a joke right?

Quoted from zaphX:

What say you, Pinsiders? Blasphemy? Or better tech?

Quoted from zaphX:

New games ought to be made with hardtops.

Quoted from littlecammi:

So is this how deeproot intends to reduce cost and yet provide a ten year warranty on playfields?

Quoted from Kiwipinhead:

Looks like this is the only way I will be playing new Stern Pinballs soon.

Quoted from o-din:

Have those virtual games become real enough to include playfield cratering, pooling, and peeling yet?

Quoted from Kiwipinhead:

There will be an update soon so it can in the options, Would you like cratering, pooling or peeling? NIB or in 2 month, 6 months or 1 year? Please select.

Quoted from Kiwipinhead:

There will be an update soon so it can in the options, Would you like cratering, pooling or peeling? NIB or in 2 month, 6 months or 1 year? Please select.

Quoted from o-din:

I want an option where I can see cabinet corners splitting too.

Quoted from littlecammi:

So is this how deeproot intends to reduce cost and yet provide a ten year warranty on playfields?

Quoted from Shapeshifter:

I want Stern to succeed but this is just crazy.

Quoted from bangerjay:

He knew dinosaurs!

Quoted from kermit24:

Before Stern swapped out my Ghostbusters PF they sent me a bottle of clear. That won't be the final resolution for those with a truly bad playfield. The frenzy on here, while understandable to a certain extent, is also quite over the top. Give Stern a chance to make it right. Can't speak for JJP as I have not been a customer, but I have not seen an example of a populated playfield replacement from them.

Quoted from John_I:

I posted this in the JP2 thread, but thought it might help some people here:
Whenever I buy a new Stern that has a metal apron, first thing I do is take the apron out and put a layer of mylar under it. When I put it back in, I try not to over tighten. Recently I got a 3D printer and decided to go the extra mile to protect my BKLE by making small u-channels to snap on the bottom of the apron where it meets the playfield. That was before all this clear coat stuff came up, so I'm glad I did. If you want the file to print yourself shoot me a PM. Otherwise I suppose I could make a run or two if there is demand...[quoted image][quoted image]

Quoted from John_I:

I posted this in the JP2 thread, but thought it might help some people here:
Whenever I buy a new Stern that has a metal apron, first thing I do is take the apron out and put a layer of mylar under it. When I put it back in, I try not to over tighten. Recently I got a 3D printer and decided to go the extra mile to protect my BKLE by making small u-channels to snap on the bottom of the apron where it meets the playfield. That was before all this clear coat stuff came up, so I'm glad I did. If you want the file to print yourself shoot me a PM. Otherwise I suppose I could make a run or two if there is demand...[quoted image][quoted image]

Quoted from Faustria:

That's just going to make the apron effectively tighter and dig harder over a larger area

Quoted from John_I:

You tighten it from below with a nut. You can make it as tight or loose as you want. Spreading the force over a larger, flatter area will make it dig in less. Win win.

Quoted from kermit24:

Before Stern swapped out my Ghostbusters PF they sent me a bottle of clear. That won't be the final resolution for those with a truly bad playfield. The frenzy on here, while understandable to a certain extent, is also quite over the top. Give Stern a chance to make it right. Can't speak for JJP as I have not been a customer, but I have not seen an example of a populated playfield replacement from them.

Quoted from NPO:

Yeah, thankfully they made an announcement ackowledging the PF problems, helping give consumers and customers the assurance they need that the problem has been identified, that they understand it's a problem to address, and that they're hard at work fixing it to regain the community's confidence.
And they did it without a single word:
[quoted image]
Wonder if they can hire Cliffy to start making apron-long cliffies for artwork that tears off the PF. I'm sure they'll make an announcement ANY second......!

Quoted from kermit24:

Stern has replaced Ghostbusters, Spider-Man Vault, Star Wars, Metalica, Iron Maiden, Beatles (just that I personally know of) games with populated playfields.

Quoted from kermit24:

Stern has replaced Ghostbusters, Spider-Man Vault, Star Wars, Metalica, Iron Maiden, Beatles (just that I personally know of) games with populated playfields. Zero announcements. These are dealt with on a case by case individual basis.

Quoted from bellbrand:

I wonder what qualifies for a replacement.

Quoted from bellbrand:

I wonder what qualifies for a replacement

Quoted from Wickerman2:

That’s why they never make an announcement about “issues”. It would lock them in to making everyone whole and not just the squeaky wheels.
I assume they also hope people will just think it’s not worth the trouble and give up.

Quoted from kermit24:

Before Stern swapped out my Ghostbusters PF they sent me a bottle of clear. That won't be the final resolution for those with a truly bad playfield. The frenzy on here, while understandable to a certain extent, is also quite over the top. Give Stern a chance to make it right. Can't speak for JJP as I have not been a customer, but I have not seen an example of a populated playfield replacement from them.

Quoted from kermit24:

Before Stern swapped out my Ghostbusters PF they sent me a bottle of clear. That won't be the final resolution for those with a truly bad playfield. The frenzy on here, while understandable to a certain extent, is also quite over the top. Give Stern a chance to make it right. Can't speak for JJP as I have not been a customer, but I have not seen an example of a populated playfield replacement from them.

Quoted from kermit24:

Before Stern swapped out my Ghostbusters PF they sent me a bottle of clear. That won't be the final resolution for those with a truly bad playfield. The frenzy on here, while understandable to a certain extent, is also quite over the top. Give Stern a chance to make it right. Can't speak for JJP as I have not been a customer, but I have not seen an example of a populated playfield replacement from them.

Quoted from Kiwipinhead:

Over the top is yet to come...

Quoted from indypinhead:

I "fought" with Stern for over a year before they finally sent me a replacement playfield for my GBLE. To this day, there hasn't been a single ball played on it.

Quoted from RC_like_the_cola:

Hopefully, this is a temp solution until your populated and corrected PF arrives? My friend has a JP Pro with that pooling issue and has been advised by his distributor that he will get a new populated PF shipped to him to swap out. His has no tearing like yours, that I saw.

Quoted from seenev:

I feel like I've read you say that dozens of times in recent months. You should really just play the game or sell it. What good is it just sitting there?

Quoted from hawkmoon77:

Quick Update:
Stern has been fast to respond to my emails. They said they sent my pictures to quality control and offered to send me a bottle of clear touch-up to mitigate the paint peeling issue.