I know the playfield you wanted, its not what you have
With all the shills talking, it's driving you mad
If Micro was standing by you, how would you feel
Knowing your artwork isn’t adhering, and that is the deal. Yeah, baby

I tried all the different fixes on a very pooled and art lifting/torn Wonka le I bought about 1.5 years ago. First I used a heat gun and metal washer to flatten out the pooling and art which worked very well. Then I used rubber and nylon washers under the posts to help with spreading the post movement that causes the issue. I really like the clear flexible rubber / silicone/ nylon washers the best as they absorb the post movement and prevent the playfield from pooling on the outside of the washers. I tried more rigid type washers and it wld still pooll a little bit but nothing like without any washers. I will be getting a g@r le july/August and will do the same thing and I recommend all g@r / wonka owners to do the same. I played the heck out of wonka with over thousand plays and its holding up well with fixes in place . Sucks to have to do this but I wanna enjoy these amazing pins that are being released . I also had to do this on some posts on a tmnt pro.

When are the jackets coming in.......

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its way more than the issue ,, its the whole attitude of jjp

Alright dude, let it go...

Why

I like this jacket better. Mainly cuz it comes with washers

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The prospect of unscrewing many posts and putting mylar rings/washers or an equivalent is a bit daunting for a total newbie... are there any videos somewhere or written tutorials on how best to remove posts from the playfield ? Never had to do it and I'd like to avoid any mishaps...

Easy answer, do not buy a NIB JJP.
As an example, just go back to post #680 and look for yourself.

Not what I want to hear . Decision's taken, and I've seen where the tricky posts are but Im' looking for potential details on how to remove them properly and efficiently.

FWIW, I have fixed playfield pooling with the ironing tool and it worked great for me. I have also repaired areas with chipping by using thin, clear, water-based super glue. I glue down as much of the chipped off or lifting artwork as possible by applying the glue with a small paintbrush, pushing the glue into all the gaps. Then brush a small amount of glue over the damaged area to seal it all in. I usually can't even see the line where the glue begins on the original clearcoat. Depending on where the damage is, I'll then cover it with a cliffy or mylar for extra protection. I haven't added any washers, but have used wider posts in some places. I'm not sure how well it would hold up with narrow posts that take direct ball strikes, as I haven't had that exact situation, but I have yet to have one of these repairs chip away again. YMMV.

**edit for clarification** I am not ok with any of this and it does not make the pf as good as new. I haven't bought a NIB game in over 5 years because of my experiences. It's complete b.s. and needs to stop. This is just how I made the best of some bad situations.

Am I the only person on the sidelines reading these threads about

-ironing brand new playfields,
-disassembling the topside of a brand new playfield to add washers (and creating a sub-debate on the correct washers to add)
-adding clearcoat and glue *on a brand new game*

and wondering why in the world people keep subjecting themselves to this NIB purchasing madness?

I love pinball, but come on, this is ridiculous.

Absolute insanity.

I think it is funny as shit. People spend insane amount of money on a CE and JJP kicks em in the balls. Not once but twice. When the next title comes out are you gonna line up again?

Doubt it. It will be my first, last and only pin.
I will love it and pet it, and call it George.
To me, GnR is a unicorn pin.
Once in a lifetime.

For existing owners I can understand wanting and needing to do those things to prevent further issues. As someone with an LE on order at the $9500 price point I don't want to deal with these issues at all, I'll cancel my order before doing the items above. Like you said it's ridiculous to have to do these items when spending this type of money on a pin. I don't care how much fun GNR is, there's no way in hell I'm spending nearly $10k on a pin that is having these types of quality issues. I was planning to sell an HUO Family Guy for GNR LE but if these issues continue screw that, I rather keep and play a nice game that won't fall apart.

On a related note I wouldn't worry about buying a NIB Stern at this time. Are their latest playfields the best ever made? No. Do they overall look nice and don't pool / chip at posts? Yes. That's the experience I had with a NIB TMNT Premium I just received. It was nice to simply open the game and play it without having to pull out irons, washers, etc. When opening a new pinball machine in 2021 the last thing customers should have to worry about are quality issues on one of the most foundational items in a pin.

Maybe JJP should start using these instead of metal posts!

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Make quality products and stand behind them? Because some people actually want to play the games and not refund them?

If a pinball company cannot offer games with at least quality playfields then they shouldn't be making pinball machines at all in my opinion. The playfield and cabinet and two of the most foundational items in a pin and both should be a given to be made correctly. What's occurring with JJP would be the equivalent to an automaker making cars with faulty frames, and a company building homes with cracked foundations all while continuing business knowing the issues exist. It's bizarre, it's crazy, and it's been embarrassing for a long time now.

I’ve never owned one so I hardly find myself qualified to add my $0.02 about what should be done. But if I did, I would consider beyond what some argue as compensation with a replacement playfield. Getting it replaced and the labor AND putting everything back together with working error free is probably another.

As a player of JJP games I find them to be some impressive pieces so it’s disappointing to hear threads like this and people getting discouraged. Years past games were meant to be played and then thrown in the trash but more recently (decades) they’ve become collector pieces. If these kind of issues took place in the 80s or whatever you might get some grumbles and laughs from operators but they’d probably earn just as well.

Remember that time Stern showed us how they make their pf's in-house but never showed us the clearcoat room?

If it's that much of a bummer, get your money back and buy again down the road!

I remember watching this and thinking "they're mocking us" when he points out the clear coat room and says "we're not going to show you."

I will let it go when he stops mocking people who are rightfully upset with getting a defective playfield. And calling me an A hole isn’t helping to make me stop either.

So someone needs make shirts that say Jersey Junk Pinball and then underneath that Guaranteed to crack you up but have the you Xed out. We can wear those to the pinball shows

My guess would be JJP is lucky there are no major pinball shows right now because I bet they wouldn’t show their faces at one.

It’s been years since either Stern or JJP was sending out populated replacement playfields. So if this is your expectation you definitely should not be buying NIB.

My understanding is Stern has sent out populated replacement playfields for some that have had warped playfields.

I know Stern has sent populated replacement pfs in the past. Has JJP ever done that ? Can't recall seeing one ever posted, but could have easily missed it I suppose. Will be hard for them to pivot on this one I'm afraid....

Was about to say the same thing when I saw those big carbon fiber washers. Appreciate Cliff for coming up with that solution, but its nuts that that's the "fix".

Was this recently though? I thought they were swapping populated playfields with GB, but then switched to just sending out unpopulated. Happy to be corrected if I’m wrong and Stern is still doing this (as they should) with clearly defective playfields.

You definetly aren't the only one.

No plans to buy anything NIB haven’t since GB. I’m on an EM bender right now anyway

I know of one Led Zeppelin and one Avengers IQ.

To my knowledge No. I did receive a replacement Wonka standard playfield from JJP but not populated. It seems now with GnR that they are no longer doing this which seems odd given some of the issues people are having.

This is what really puzzles me...these are crazy expensive toys.

I know two people who have received populated playfields in the last year from Stern. The bar is high though. The defect must affect gameplay. This means a warped playfield or a sunken insert.

Fortunately (unfortunately?) not that uncommon to have warped playfield be the Stern defect du jour. Was VERY uncommon before the last 18 months or so, but now not surprising. I've heard of multiples on multiple recent pins firsthand - mostly AIQ and LZ. Something changed with the blanks.

I received a populated playfield for one of my games a couple months ago. It was an extremely smooth process and immediately offered when I sent pictures of the defect. As mentioned above, it seems like they will do populated replacements if the defect impacts gameplay (as mine did).

Not sure if his is.... I don't own one... But this thread is great. Super informative and great points being made.
And the t-shirt idea is amazing!

Jersey Junk Pinball

It's perfect and well deserved.

Stern sends populated playfields for series playfield issues.

i had a warped LZ. Stern was great about sending a populated playfield. I just had to wait until the game went back on the line (which was fine with me since i got to play it a ton before essentially getting a new game)

Unboxed #58 yesterday, playfield perfect (like all out of the box).
Now I don't dare to play it.
Production date 3/21, no date on playfield.
And clear washers on the slings.

Here's a template

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I've got a heat press and sublimation ink.... This is easy.

Who wants one? Should I start another thread for orders? Probably just take pm's so jersey Junk can't jump me.

That is my idea. You have to give me a cut. Amd a shirt.

I heard that the Pinball Arcade was working on a digital version of JJP GnR, but they couldn't get the physics right for the artwork crumbling at the posts.

How did I miss all these years that JJP slipped a LotR dickbeard tribute at the top of the JJP logo? It was basically a key milestone in the genesis of JJP, so it makes sense, but HOW did I miss it all these years?

jjp-logo-compare.jpg

Y’all gotta blow up and wheatpaste these all around the neighborhood in Chicago where Jersey Jack is now