Pre-lock popcorn at the ready!

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That's a hot mess!

Lots of ribbing there... sorry that happened to ya man.

That's pretty much normal.
The one at PHoF is aboot the same.
Nothing to see here......

Dimpling WILL HAPPEN to a new game. Sorry for your loss bro.
My Deadpool looks the same right now. Should look fine another 15k plays from now.

I think we need a pic without the glare.

This always comes up...dimpling is normal. Those who have bought NIB notice it most. Why didn’t they years ago, they were operators who didn’t care...it was only about profit, not what the game looked liked. This is a different era. Yes, there is softer wood that the major producers ( Stern, JJP, CGC, etc.) should be called out on, but dimpling, for the most part is NORMAL. Expect it on all NIB.

To summarize the last mega-thread. SOME dimpling is normal, but modern Sterns have WIDELY varying quality of playfield wood (proven by a pinsider with a device that tests material hardness), and some playfield/machine runs are WAY softer than others, resulting in much deeper dimples than B/W era or some other Stern pins.

I had NIB B/W and the pits were not as deep as some of the Sterns of the last 10 years, and it seems to be getting worse overall. So yes, dimpling is normal, but not these new Stern crater dimples born from cost-cutting (like with the newer, softer, crappier cabinet wood they slipped in sometime around KISS). If it was "the way it is" then JJP's pins would have mega crater dimples, too, and they simply don't. They have "normal" small dimples, closer to classic B/W. This is (another) Stern cost-cutting issue, and probably the most visible one.

Forget the dimpling, but that pf is got the wood grain coming through the art for some reason, it's as if the wood is still curing after the art was screened.

Never play your new games!

If you absolutely must play a brand new game, always put down a playfield protector BEFORE you launch that first ball.

Nubes, you have been warned - don't come crying to Pinside.

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Good advice. Never start flipping your balls around without protection!

FFS that pic is crap and biased. Mine has 1000+ plays and would look the same way with the game off under ultra violet lights at that angle. Turn the game on and give us a straight on shot of it without the overhead lighting.

Dimpling normal.

Ribbing is the new normal.

B/W games dimpled, but didn't have ribbing.

Cheaper materials.

They just dont make em like they used to guys, i dont care what Vid says!

Oooooh im telling Steve Ritchie on you...

Bullshit.
I got an IMDNLE, played the crap out of it, and it has normal dimpling. Just like the rest of my collection.

This here is unacceptable dimpling, quit drinking the cool aid, you sound ridiculous and are obviously uninformed.

Every time these threads come up about games I own, I look at my games from normal players perspective and never notice anything. Only when I shove my face down with the glass off or take close up photos with light reflecting might I notice.

Dunno, just glad these are the problems in my life.

The new wood they use sucks. The 90's Williams I play don't have dimples the new stern and jjp pins do. Simple as that.

My Iron Maiden looks the same way, but you have to get it at the perfect angle to see it like that. It just has raised grain... all of that is under the clearcoat... it’s not like it’s rough to the touch

Don't be so sure. If you had it recleared, the graining would go away.

FFS, I was eating man!

You would know better than me. My clearcoats really thick unlike my Aerosmith which looks perfect.. I’m not about to start wet sanding on it to prove either of us right or wrong tho.
Interesting..... So if it’s not the wood, then it’s improper treatment between coats?

There is nothing new under the sun.

Not today, not 40 years ago.

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ALL pinballs have this issue. Some worse than others, yes. I was at York yesterday and Deadpool had it bad. But, im not saying others dont. I think we either have to live with it or just dont buy pins.

I have a 1981 Gottlieb Volcano. Lets assume as we all know, it was routed.
I sanded and touched up the playfield.
I clear coated it with 2pak.
It had to have a kazillion plays on it before I clearcoated it.

Was it dimpled before, not really noticeable but lets assume yes.
The wood should have been completely compressed by now.

It is now dimpling.
I suspect it is the thickness of the 2pak. The clear is about 15 months old now, curing would not be the issue.
It is not the lacquer of old and I think the NIB games are clear coated with modern coatings and are likely thicker than the once over lacquer of days past.

Unfortunately , dimpling is not new, it is not consistent from game to game and sadly we are so anal in the hobby that it comes up to be rehashed once a week.

When a 80 gram orb is flying around banging into everything, there will be damage. How come there are no threads complaining about all the other items that wear out? Could one say, pinball machines were made to self destruct, if you will.?

If you want a better clear coat job, you can always have a professional reclear it. The grain will be gone and the insert outlines won’t be prominent anymore.

I had my TWD playfield clear coated by HEP and I couldn’t be happier with the result.

Here is one for ya. My 2009 HEP CV has no dimpling on the pf. When I got it in March, friends were asking if I was going to put a PF protector on it. Nope, why should I.

The game will be fine and the more you play it the better it will look. Just play it and have fun.

Yes my new DP LE has it bad. It sits right next to my 2013 Avengers LE with not a dimple in sight.

Baloney

I can understand dimpling and accept that. But the linear ridges is a big time eyesore. Is this the new norm for Stern Pros? Is it from not enough sanding prep before the art is applied, or is it that the clear coat is too thin?

For anyone who has these ridges in the playfield and have installed a playfield protector, do they do much to hide them?

I think a photo of light reflected off the playfield may disagree with your eval.

I get that this (these) posts are a bit old, but... My DPLE had the dimpling when it was first delivered, and after about 800 plays its flat and fine. I didn't care to begin with as it didn't affect game play. But it was time for heavy maintenance/deep cleaning (because its routed in the bar that I manage), and i found this horror caused by the rails not being spaced away from the PF with washers (see pics) and EVERY insert is lifting and in time will destroy itself (can't see in pics). Also, yes i understand that the 90's games didn't have washers either, but also don't have this problem. I was thinking about contacting the pinball company (who i bought it from) and seeing if i can get a warranty PF. Ideas/suggestions?

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Wow, major ink adhesion problems. Yikes.

Contact your distributor with these pics. They will get with stern to get you a populated replacement playfield. Should not be a problem.

I don’t care how many plays it has, this shouldn’t have happened.

No question there is greater hardness variability in modern playfields.

I think the real questions we should be asking are 1) How effectively do current suppliers and manufacturers measure for and screen out soft wood. And 2) Is playfield hardness a factor in determining what goes into premium games versus which ones go in the standard pins.

If I were Sterns marketing and manufacturing departments I would be positioning this till the cows come home.

Paging vid. Please come back and slay this dragon one more time. Pretty please?

Withiut arguing for or against the “nowadays we got some soft wood” debate, I take issue with there’s “no question there is greater hardness variation”. Really? Proof please. I’m talking actual hardness numbers with an actual calibrated testing apparatus and a trained tester. Statistically significant pool size and statistically significant variability. Otherwise you are flying by the seat of your pants.

No question? Please. Best you can say is “I’m no expert, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night and...”

The metal rails flex between the supports when the ball hits it and it buckled the clearcoat/paint. I think this could have been prevented if the rails were washers up fron the PF.

So I get a new premium this week. I guess put metal washers under rails before play.

It’s funny you mention it. If you follow forestry products, harvesting, and production, you would know that quality variability is a big priority in that industry and supply chain. Of course I don’t have the data on actual machines aside from my own eyes. Saw a Beatles pin in nyc that looked like the moon. In my 34 years of playing pinball, never saw a machine like that. The net is if Vegas was putting odds on “is the proportion of pinball machines manufactured today have more variation in wood fiber characteristics that adversely affect surface strength, toughness, hardness etc I’d bet my house and first born. Only a fool would bet opposite when compared to wood products harvested between 1985 to 1995.

And before you get all literal with my singular cited example, I pay attention all the time. Huge variation between machines and I think it’s a reasonable conclusion number of plays isn’t the only factor.

You can’t even buy clear heart redwood anymore in the US for crying out loud. A LOT more young, green wood being produced these days.

Only a moron, shill, or vid is arguing that this isn't a problem with playfields now, dispite tons of real-world experience and actual testing with hardness equipment on early 2000 playfields and current Sterns that lines up with what people have witnessed in the wild. Anyone who has been around pins for a long time and trafficks a lot of pins every year can SEE the variations, it's a thing. Maybe vid will get so hot he'll accidentally jump into this and "reappear" with one of his shill accounts still being used almost daily...but he'll still be wrong.

Installed a playfield protector on my BM66 before playing the first game. Will do the same with any new stern I buy. I am pretty much out of the used stern pinball market. Just too many craters. In the market for a deadpool and it the only decision is pro or premium, but it will be new and have a playfield protector installed

Fun http://funindustries.com should not be building playfields.