I get that some people want to be the first on their block with the newest, latest bestest thing, so they rush out to buy a sight unseen NIB game. But this playfield crap ain't never gonna stop as long as so many people are plunking their money down without even knowing what they are buying.
If people waited until the game was released, looked at the game in person, said no way am I paying $10k for this POS with the playfield damage, things would of necessity change. But as long as people are in a mad rush to pay many thousands of dollars sight unseen, they are going to get ripped.
Its like a trendy restaurant that serves bad food but has a 2 month waiting list to get in. As long as the owner is filling every seat in the restaurant every night of the week and is booked out months in the future, he is never going to change his menu. If you really want change, STOP BUYING NIB SIGHT UNSEEN!