Dimples within normal depth aren't a cause for concern. It's the deep pits that are concerning. Dimples are normal and the ball travels too quickly to be thrown off by a few (or even a few hundred) dimples, so you'll never notice them affecting play. There have been some pics of really deep pits that go beyond pitting, but I'm willing to bet that those are extreme edge cases.

All that said, something has changed. A game with the same design (Spider-Man) as another (SMVE) has definitely shown to show a big difference in the number and depth of dimples. SMVE definitely sports a lesser-quality playfield, but it's within the window of when things were going wrong in Stern's production. Maybe that's been cleaned up by now.

Seriously though, don't let dimples bother you much. Do keep an eye on big pits in the playfield. If that happens, something is wrong.

I really wonder if modern games have just been sped up too much. I turned my coil strength down on Ghostbusters LE and I'm still making my ramp shots easily (even backhanding the left ramp). If dimples do bother you a lot, slow down your game a bit. In the end, the dimpling is unavoidable, but you can slow down the process to some degree. But as long as the dimpling is within normal range, might as well let it happen until things even out.

SMVEs definitely have more wear showing on them than the SM playfields have. Heck, my SM looks better than any of the SMVEs I've seen. Softer wood, thicker clear, whatever it is. There is a difference. They are not the same. I got my SM with under 200 plays on it, and there are two Black LEs here locally. All of them wore significantly better than the SMVEs have.

SM isn't really an airball game though. I don't really understand it. Of course, I have not seen any recent run SMVEs, every one I've played is from earlier in their production schedule.

I'm not claiming it's that. I'm saying whatever anybody wants to call it, something is different. There's a big difference between playfields from today and playfields from a few years ago. Stern or their supplier knows. Whatever we call it doesn't change what the difference is, but there IS a difference.

And for the record, there are different types of maple used for wood. http://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/differences-between-hard-maple-and-soft-maple/

I'm sure one could examine the wood and know what what used and put the difference in wood question to bed. It's probably a clear coat difference, but we just don't know.

Birch syrup is better, but it's harder to harvest. They sell it up in Alaska and I always pick some up.

Not sweeter, but it could be if they dissolved a pound of sugar into a bottle. It's definitely thicker and more flavorful. It has a bit more of a woody flavor than maple. It's really quite good stuff. It's way more expensive though.

I don't think that the question is about the dimpling anymore. It's pretty clear that every game dimples. I think the question is more about the overall rate of playfield wear on new games. HUO games are wearing alarmingly fast compared to how they were wearing not all that long ago. My Tron, SM, LOTR, TSPP, AC/DC, and IM have all worn significantly less than GBLE has, and GBLE still has a very long way to go in order to catch up to the others in overall plays. Even games I've taken off route have fared better.

Maybe we need to stop chasing the glassy surface on playfield clearcoats. The oohs and ahhs aren't worth the slip in durability. If the wood is the same, it has to be the clearcoat itself or the clearing process, right? There must be a change in clearcoat hardness, flexibility, or adhesion.

Edit: And saying that people are noticing these things because they're new in pinball doesn't really add up. We didn't have these issues with NIB games like this back in the RGP days. Sure, there were fewer NIB sales and people posting, but we just weren't seeing it like this in proportion.

Dimples, sure, but the other issues aren't the same. I never had a NIB game with all the chipping, ghosting, and cracking. This is a different beast entirely.

No matter how hard you compressed the wood, a steel ball will steel mark it up anyway. The top layer is probably as hard as you're going to get it through pressure treatment.

It's not the dimples that we need to worry about. It's the clearcoat that is chipping way too prematurely and the cracking. I have cracked and chipped clear on my GBLE, and it was happening in under 300 plays. That's...not good. Dimples are fine, as long as they're normal. If they're deep enough that the ball travel is affected, then that goes beyond what I would call a dimple. But the really early serious wear is not great to be seeing.

Somebody asked for pics and he shared them. Easy on the trigger, Mr. Stern Defender.

Is there additional mylar over those inserts on AC/DC, or is the album multiball insert lifting?

Oh, yeah, it's his own question, but he found the pics and then posted them to save anybody else the trouble. Sometimes when you ask a question, if you find the answer first, you post it so people don't waste time looking for you. It's a common courtesy.

Mine isn't that way, but I have a premium. Did they get an extra coat over the pro?