Read the reviews of games after the FOMO has worn off. Everyone's opinions change once the next shiny thing is released.

If you want a jjp, just buy a used one where you can inspect it beforehand.

I think this goes for most manufactures if quality is priority number 1. Buying used will allow you to visually inspect each title you are considering and make the decision you are comfortable with. If you insist on buying NIB then keep in mind you might not see a game for some time with the current backlog and quality might change, for better or worse, from machines being built at the moment vs months from now. You really never know what you are going to receive when it's NIB which is why a good distributer is important.

It's a crapshoot if you want perfection DO NOT take the chance of NIB buy used ... simple

People around here call it the playfield lottery. Most companies have had playfield issues at some point. I had a pirates that had pooling and chipping - Jack took care of me. I've heard they no longer provide playfields though

At the end of the day it's a toy not something that's going to be sitting next to the declaration of independence lol

JJP and Stern also keep raising prices in this environment.
You may be able to find a newer game in great condition local below NIB+ tax/ship if you are patient.

If you’re the type of person who looks at the glass as half empty instead of half full, you are in for a rough ride with NIB. There are so many factors that go into the process of producing a pinball machine. Educate yourself and hopefully you are handy with, or enjoy fixing/tinkering with things.

Rough times since you been gone.
PF have gone thru a shitty period out of nowhere. Both Stern & JJP had pooling clear around posts and worse than that.
JJP also changed leadership or some shit and no longer backs their product.
Stern newest machine, Rush, has a scoop that gets blown out immediate and has a "protector" made out of tinfoil that gets deformed in half a day of play.
And for all that, the prices have skyrocketed and people can't pay/companies can't make machines fast enough.

Maybe you should take another break? Take me with you!

Agreed that there are issues with NIB - on the other hand, new pins are a lot of fun to play, generally with deep software and many of the out-of-box issues get address by the manufacturers along the way (and software upgrades too). As expensive as they are, with the size of the runs more perfection and polish would make them even more expensive and unaffordable.

Old pins were made to make money on route and the list of know issues on them is very long (e.g. lack of fuses between the transformer on Williams System 3-11 pins = fire) Playfield pooling is frustrating and hard to fix, as well as the other issues mentioned. However, often the manufacturer is making some of these issues right. For example, Stern replaced the easy to break Herman plastic breaking on Munsters for free with a bracket protector.

Buy used (and pay more most likely), put a NIB order in and wait and take your chance on playfield issues, go play on location if you are not sure, but don't avoid these new pins because the value might drop due to playfield chipping, dimples, scope wear, etc.

Perhaps a just as good of a question as initial quality is how does the manufacture continue support after the sale?

In that case I would rate them as such (my personal opinion only):
Top three:

American, Spooky and Stern
Edit: Left out CGC - also pretty good customer service I understand
Good start - Pinball Brothers with Aliens (not much history and some initial quality issues but very responsive so far)

Not as Good - JJP (lost of LTG was not good IMO).

I do not have any personal experience with Dutch Pinball, Haggas, Metamorphic so I can not comment on them, perhaps someone else can.

He will have no playfield issues if he buys a new CGC remake, a new AP pin, or a new Spooky pin. It's just JJP and Stern that are hit and miss lately.

My experience helping set up some NIB pinball machines is that you need to do your research if you aren't one of the lucky few to get one of the first ones produced. The owners' club typically has key posts of known issues to watch out for regarding inspecting your machine out of the box for anything that may damage the playfield. If you were one of those lucky few, then I guess get in there and start doing your own QC and report back to Pinside your findings.

Doesn't really help in the situation that you are delivered a subpar playfield though.

Pinside is a great community and has many experienced members that offer advice.

Questions like yours are often answered with opinion and anecdotal evidence. Then, strong arguments follow.

The companies do not release the numbers for us to objectively assess the true incidence of playfield quality issues.

What in the world else would you or anyone buy sight unseen, without the opportunity to inspect it before purchase? A car, house, boat, diamond ring? Same thing with a NIB pinball. If you are concerned about quality (you should be at today's prices) don't buy NIB. Make sure whoever you buy a game from lets you look it over and play it before the money crosses the palm. Otherwise, you get what you get. Sometimes good, sometimes not so good.

I'd go with CGC and American...both companies make quality pins.

You asked for opinions on whether it's a big deal. In my opinion, it's not. Live life on the edge and buy a NIB. Enjoy life. Enjoy pinball. If you get pooling around one post, it won't ruin your life. It's like saying you're going to never leave your home because something slightly uncomfortable may happen to you.

There are a number of threads documenting JJPs descent into customer service hell and terrible product QC.

If you decide to go NIB and it all goes to hell, you have no one to blame but yourself.

Just my own experience. I bought a JJP nib in January. I had two quality issues. JJP resolved both promptly by sending me new parts in two days with few questions asked. And one of them was a $300 part.

JJP has had several playfield issues with several games. Some early Dialed In's, early Pirates, early Wonka's and yup early GNR's had playfield issues. If you buy a GNR LE made around May - June 2021 or later you will be fine, widespread playfield issues stopped then. Early Dialed In's had their playfield issues resolved fairly early in with protectors installed at the scoops from the factory. Some early Pirates and early Wonka's had chipping / pooling at the posts. Not all early builds of those runs were affected.

I'll say this I've bought every JJP pin NIB (have 4 of them today) and to this day will say they make the best pinball machines out there. I won't defend their playfield issues and the way they handled complaints from customers, it's not right. However, I have no concern buying a JJP pin 6+ months after release. There's always early build headaches regardless of the manufacturer that at these prices make buying early not worth it IMO. Both the July 2021 build GNR LE and October 2021 build Wonka LE I bought are excellent but again those were made 6+ months after initial release.

One thing to keep in mind is that there's a group of people on Pinside that will never say anything good about JJP. That's been going on since the WOZ days and hasn't changed. Why? Who knows, my theory is that some of them still cannot stand that a new pinball company came out of nowhere and started producing pinball machines that looked vastly superior to Stern's at the time.

Personally I've had nothing but a great customer service experience with JJP. I had a cosmetic issue with one game, JJP customer service replied within 24 hours and I had a new replacement lockdown bar (original had some scratches out of the box) to my door within 48 hours. On my Pirates I had a couple scratches on one of the powder coated legs and had a new replacement leg within days. Years ago I stupidly wasn't watching how close my WOZ topper was to my basement ceiling when moving the game and broke it, contacted JJP customer service and they sent me a new one for under $100 (this was years after I bought it). The JJP haters won't tell you stories like.

I have one Stern and one CGC remake. I'd have no reservations recommending either as NIB. I realize CGC makes games you have already owned, but don't be afraid to buy a recent Stern. For all of the reported NIB issues, you don't see many Pinside listed expensive used Sterns mention "ghosting inserts" or "pooled playfield post locations" or "cracked cab joints" that could affect re-sale value. I have wondered why that is the case with widely reported on Pinside manufacturing issues. If anything, it sounds like Stern makes good with playfield or part replacement?

All the new in box stories I have listened to for about three years have been positive in every case.

I know that issues arise and when they did everyone Was made whole to their satisfaction. As I was told. I would assume my own data is about 100 games though. Bought new in box and also in many cases dealer delivered.

The only damage I see now more consistently is in transit damage from fork lifts. Which I have seen twice in two years.

Two cents.

I have 3 jjp including gnr with a ton of plays on each and all are perfect play fields, and zero issues ever. I also have a couple sterns about 5-7 years old, and still perfect with the exception of dimples on pf, and both have never had any serious issues. My advice is to wait on any new release for about 6 months and let them iron out any new design flaws first. I’d feel comfortable buying nib from either company after the game has been out at least 6 months.

Look at it this way....

You've been out of the hobby for a decade. There have been 50+ titles released by Stern, JJP, Spooky, CGC & AP since 2012.

Just think of all the games you need to catch up on that will be new & exciting to you, while being old news to others. And all will have complete code. And probably blinged out by previous owners. And you can inspect firsthand yourself, then pick & choose what you want to buy.

Don'y jump right into the NIB rat race. You're in a great position to purchase plenty of used titles that others will be willing to let go.

I didn’t hear about any issues with Dialed In. Mine is perfect.

I remember some bitching about the "clearcoat chipping" at the SIM hole but certainly don't remember hearing or seeing any widespread issues on that game.

Both sim card and scoop had clear coat issues at the beginning; didn't come with protectors. That's when JJP tried their own shitty knock off "Cliffys" that were junk, and finally I think they were able to to contract Cliffy.

Edit: mind you I've never even taken the time to add Cliffys and mine isn't a help of sawdust or anything

"Jerseys"

The only thing you should be concerned about is your wallet.

Good memory! At this point we need a wiki that covers every JJP game, each version, and the time spans of various issues lol. It's too much to keep track of at this point.

Might want to take a look at Multimorphic's P3 system, they have a really good warranty and customer support and just released their first licensed game:
https://www.multimorphic.com/

If you have a problem with a nib Stern playfield they’ll ship you a new one free, and sometimes its populated. This depends on which distributor you bought the pin from. If you have a problem with a nib JJP pin, they will charge you for a replacement and it won’t be populated.