I have a friend who is one of the largest operators in Minnesota, if not THE largest. Your second sentence in the quote above seems to be the reason why true operators (those who do it for a full time living) will NOT get back into pinball anytime soon. At least from talking to him, the labor cost of maintaining and repairing just do not make business sense, when redemption or other non-pinball machines can rake in the cash at a fraction of the labor costs. That seems to be why small "side hobby" operators have sprung up all over the country. Many feel that they don't mind spending 10-15+ hours a week working for less than minimum wage hourly rate, because it's a hobby and passion for them. As a collector and route player, I can tell you that I am glad those people are out there, or we wouldn't have many pins at all on route.

Ha. That's funny. I'm gonna go out on a limb and agree with Pez... my HUO MMR will likely never see 10,000 plays in my lifetime or even my 18 y/o son's lifetime (who plays it more than me anyway), so patience would be asking my great grandchildren to report back to pinside after it's handed down from generation to generation. But I still think there's zero chance it will ever even out.

Clearly (pun intended) it's not in the clear coat. You can see that the inserts (which have the same clear on top of them) show ZERO dimples. Smooth as glass. My guess is that the plywood used for the playfield is just too darn soft. The cheapest wood available is used to make much of the plywood these days.