Quoted from golfergordy:1) were there any problems (defects) with the early builds that have been corrected on the subsequent builds, that I should be aware of?
The ball guide next to Lil' Deadpool can rub into the playfield. If you look at where the blue rubber nub is, it can wear into the clear and paint with vibration. Putting washers under this ball guide will protect it. Newer builds have a cutout on the bottom part of the metal here so that it cannot rub.
You may want to inspect the left ramp as the edges can also touch the clear. You might have to take it off to notice damage but you can put some washers under the front of the ramp and mylar under the metal edges if needed.
Behind the wolverine spinner, this ball guide can also dig into the clear which may not be noticeable unless you take the plastics off. Once again washers are your friend.
There are numerous posts about these issues in the thread, many with photos. In particular for the Katana ball guide.
Quoted from golfergordy:2) I noticed 3-steel posts in the pf which didn't have rubber rings, but looked like they should have, so I put them on. 2 of these posts are at the tops of the dividers between the out lanes and return lanes on both the left & right sides of the pf; the other post is below and approx. 3" in front of the disco ball.
DP shipped with 2 of those posts rubbers in the goodybag as an option to add to the outlane posts. I believe they were intentionally left off to reduce ball times, but as you have said there are a lot of machines with them on out in the wild. As for the Colossus horseshoe, I have never seen rubber put there. I am curious how that might affect gameplay. In my mind I wanna say that could make that shot even more difficult if it can hit that rubber and potentially reject. But it is your game so if it works it works.
Welcome to the club!