(Topic ID: 161795)

Hey Stern! Are you serious?

By mayuh

7 years ago


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There are 6,561 posts in this topic. You are on page 1 of 132.
23
#1 7 years ago

I bought my first NiB. A Spidey VE. Although I already knew, that your GOT playfields were not the best quality. A friend of mine had swapped it for a premium.

And me dumbass, I also ordered a GB premium.

So, just have a look at what you sold me for a frigging €8,640 euro. A piece of 130kg, that sucks air through its inserts. After 270 games(!) Well, thank you!

Not.

Every insert has air bubbles. Every f*cking single one of them. And the 'R' of hero is even cracked - though no ball would ever fall on that insert! As you don't answer any emails, here is your chance to reply.

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#2 7 years ago

#3 7 years ago

When did you start emailing Stern? It took them a few days to return my emails

#4 7 years ago

I can see the crack on the 'R', but the inserts look normal.
When they're lit up they probably don't look perfect, but I guess I've just gotten use to that being the norm.

DOUBLE EDIT (unsure of what I was looking for at first) - Yes, that's commonly referred to as "ghosting" - that sucks - call your distributor for assistance.

11
#5 7 years ago
Quoted from T7:

I can see the crack on the 'R', but the inserts look normal.
When they're lit up they probably don't look perfect, but I guess I've just gotten use to that being the norm.

Better?

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#6 7 years ago
Quoted from T7:

I can see the crack on the 'R', but the inserts look normal.
When they're lit up they probably don't look perfect, but I guess I've just gotten use to that being the norm.

Same here. When I zoom in on the "R" ....that's pretty good sized crack....I would be kind of pissed too. I'm sure that's an eye sore..when lit up

11
#7 7 years ago

Stern is partying like it's 1998.. looks just like all those defective Voltaire (and CP and NGG) playfields that had clearcoat delaminating from the inserts.

Why is it suddenly impossible to make proper playfields? Did some new environmental regs go into effect, or are they just trying to get away with using cheaper components?

#8 7 years ago

Thanks - but I said that I did see the "R" crack - it was the bubbles that I couldn't see in the other pics, until I zoomed in.

#9 7 years ago

Should be a shit show for a while.. Stern producing their own play fields now? I hope Churchill did the gble play fields

#10 7 years ago

Have you talked to your distributor? They should be able to advocate on your behalf to Stern.

#11 7 years ago
Quoted from lllvjr:

Should be a shit show for a while.. Stern producing their own play fields now? I hope Churchill did the gble play fields

Has it been confirmed that Stern is making the Spiderman VE playfields in-house? I would have thought those were contracted out since Stern is supposedly still getting its playfield production capacity up and running.

#12 7 years ago

Wow, that's bad.

#13 7 years ago
Quoted from T7:

I can see the crack on the 'R', but the inserts look normal.
When they're lit up they probably don't look perfect, but I guess I've just gotten use to that being the norm.
EDIT - I had to zoom in to see the "bubbles", but could see when zoomed in. This looks pretty typical - I'm sure they were like this from day 1 and has nothing to do with 270 plays regardless.

No zooming in needed here. Those are pretty obvious

#14 7 years ago
Quoted from fosaisu:

Has it been confirmed that Stern is making the Spiderman VE playfields in-house? I would have thought those were contracted out since Stern is supposedly still getting its playfield production capacity up and running.

No I don't know if it's already happening. I know it's coming... And I hope it doesn't happen till after gble...

40
#15 7 years ago
Quoted from metallik:

Stern is partying like it's 1998.. looks just like all those defective Voltaire (and CP and NGG) playfields that had clearcoat delaminating from the inserts.
Why is it suddenly impossible to make proper playfields? Did some new environmental regs go into effect, or are they just trying to get away with using cheaper components?

Cheaper is my guess. Look at Sterns other cost saving efforts such as putting the power button in an inconvenient location, putting pegs instead of proper support rails on pros, the Spike system itself, games still come with a DMD, etc. Has the price of games gone down due to these cost saving moves? Nope, actually they have gone up! Now look at GB LE not having a real backglass (translite) and special armor being offered for it for another $250. Ridiculous.

Sadly this is not surprisingly at all and its BS. For the worlds oldest and largest manufacturer of quality pinball machines I expect better.

#16 7 years ago
Quoted from Slim64:

No zooming in needed here. Those are pretty obvious

Correct - I was looking for a different kind of "air bubble" - but I see it now.

#17 7 years ago
Quoted from T7:

Thanks - but I said that I did see the "R" crack - it was the bubbles that I couldn't see in the other pics, until I zoomed in.

Haha, yep, I for sure didn't read that properly I'm just so damn pissed... I mean, I saw all the shit that was going on with a friend of mine's GOT pro. To a time when the distributor said, f* it! You get a premium for a bargain instead...

I really just wonder how long it will take until my distributor says, well, nice stern, get your sh*t together, I don't have the nerves to sell your stuff anymore... 3 of 4 machines in my surrounding (1/2 a mile) have that insert problem. GB was delivered last week - 2 more weeks to report on that one. And I'm sure I will.

#18 7 years ago

Stern doesnt make their playfields in house, they havent ever that I am aware of.

Chicago Gaming/Churchill Cabinet makes the playfields and the cabinets.

Shit happens, contact your distributor who will in turn contact Stern to make this right

#19 7 years ago

Holy shit, that'd piss me off too.

This better not happen on my Ghost(inginsert)busters.

#20 7 years ago
Quoted from iwantansi:

Stern doesnt make their playfields in house, they havent ever that I am aware of.
Chicago Gaming/Churchill Cabinet makes the playfields and the cabinets.
Shit happens, contact your distributor who will in turn contact Stern to make this right

may want to get your facts straight. things have changed.

FUN industries appears to be making current junk. Stern appears to be bringing stuff in house and is somewhere in transition.

#21 7 years ago
Quoted from Whysnow:

may want to get your facts straight. things have changed.
FUN industries appears to be making current junk. Stern appears to be bringing stuff in house and is somewhere in transition.

Record of this? Because I don't know one way or the other, one of you saying one, one saying another. need facts, man!

#22 7 years ago

Holy cow! That's absolutely unacceptable. Imagine putting your game on location and in a week's time the clearcoat starts chipping all over the place. Every Bally, Williams, Data East, and Sega game I work on doesn't show these kinds of issues. Typical insert wear is one thing, but immediate failure on a brand new game that costs as much as a car is infuriating. I'm still looking for a reason to buy Stern games, and I just don't see it.

10
#23 7 years ago
Quoted from Crash:

Holy cow! That's absolutely unacceptable. Imagine putting your game on location and in a week's time the clearcoat starts chipping all over the place. Every Bally, Williams, Data East, and Sega game I work on doesn't show these kinds of issues. Typical insert wear is one thing, but immediate failure on a brand new game that costs as much as a car is infuriating. I'm still looking for a reason to buy Stern games, and I just don't see it.

Yeah this makes me feel a bit uneasy about my premium order. The price increases don't help either. A Full Throttle for only another $300 over a GB premium is starting to sound like a good alternative.

-12
#24 7 years ago

ghosting you can't do anything about. No matter who you are. If you have a clearcoated playfield, ghosting can happen. Nothing anyone can do about it. Whether it's diamond plated, restored, or whatever. If there is some sort of clearcoat on it. The expanding and contracting of wood vs plastic, does create faults along the edges which can let air seep in.

the cracking on the other hand, looks like a weak fault in the plastic or someone dropped something on it.

#25 7 years ago

Yea.. I got lucky on my Met Pro. One and out. Good luck, Stern. Sorry to everyone who is going to get this new junk they're sending out.

11
#26 7 years ago
Quoted from CaptainNeo:

ghosting you can't do anything about. No matter who you are. If you have a clearcoated playfield, ghosting can happen. Nothing anyone can do about it. Whether it's diamond plated, restored, or whatever. If there is some sort of clearcoat on it. The expanding and contracting of wood vs plastic, does create faults along the edges which can let air seep in.
the cracking on the other hand, looks like a weak fault in the plastic or someone dropped something on it.

I thought ghosting is something that happened over the course of years, like in my 20-year old Afm.

This game was built weeks ago!

#27 7 years ago

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25
#28 7 years ago
Quoted from CaptainNeo:

ghosting you can't do anything about. No matter who you are. If you have a clearcoated playfield, ghosting can happen. Nothing anyone can do about it. Whether it's diamond plated, restored, or whatever. If there is some sort of clearcoat on it. The expanding and contracting of wood vs plastic, does create faults along the edges which can let air seep in.
the cracking on the other hand, looks like a weak fault in the plastic or someone dropped something on it.

Ah come on... Really... I have 16 pinball machines here (4 of them recently restored and clear coated by an absolute idiot (=me), and the only one that sucked air to its inserts is a 3 weeks old NIB Stern spiderman VE.

Coming back to that the GOT premium I mentioned earlier - the one that was exchanged for the air sucking GOT pro - does NOT have that problem. Nor does the Star Trek pro that is 10 inches away. Or the Walking Dead, 10 inches on the other side...

It's a problem Stern didn't have a year ago - but now they do. Period.

#29 7 years ago
Quoted from mayuh:

It's a problem Stern didn't have a year ago - but now they do. Period.

Common problem on GOT machines. So I agree...a yearish

24
#30 7 years ago
Quoted from CaptainNeo:

ghosting you can't do anything about. No matter who you are. If you have a clearcoated playfield, ghosting can happen. Nothing anyone can do about it. Whether it's diamond plated, restored, or whatever. If there is some sort of clearcoat on it. The expanding and contracting of wood vs plastic, does create faults along the edges which can let air seep in

If the playfield was properly prepped and sprayed, the clearcoat will simply crack around the insert. That's why it's nice to have black keyline around the insert - it hides the eventual crack. Delamination from the insert plastic after one week simply means the job wasn't done right or the proper materials weren't used. There have been hundreds of thousands of polyurethane cleared playfield made since the late 80s, absolutely no reason for this kind of crap today.

#31 7 years ago

These issues with Sterns playfields seem to be popping up more and more recently. What are they doing different and if theyre reading this, I wonder if they'll take any action moving forward as well as for consumers affected.

-1
#32 7 years ago
Quoted from CrazyLevi:

I thought ghosting is something that happened over the course of years, like in my 20-year old Afm.
This game was built weeks ago!

no. can happen anytime. Sometimes as little as a week. Sometimes years, sometimes never. I've playfields from everyone, manufacturers, and restorers have ghosting on the way to the destination.

happens, from stern, Bally, Williams, Zaccaria, Taito, Inder, Data east, Sega, Gottlieb. And seen it happen from every restorer. No matter how you prep a playfield. If you get expanding and contracting at 2 different rates, it will create a fault line, but can also pop it up along that fault. there isn't any control over there. Better prep will reduce it, but will not make it impossible to happen.

#33 7 years ago

The GB clear doesn;t seem anywhere near as good as GOTs....although I'm a layman in such matters. You can see/feel dips where the inserts are.

#34 7 years ago

Wouldn't a rougher sanding help give the clear slash ink better grip?

-3
#35 7 years ago
Quoted from TheLaw:

The GB clear doesn;t seem anywhere near as good as GOTs....although I'm a layman in such matters.

You're also a layman on toppers.

#36 7 years ago
Quoted from Captain_Kirk:

You're also a layman on toppers.

ha...fuckign n00bs.

33
#37 7 years ago

Stern really needs to get their playfield issues handled and quick. I love many of their pins but if I see that other manufacturers have better quality PFs then I may just have to stop buying Sterns. Nothing stinks worse then opening a $6-8K pin up then having issues like this show up after a few hundred plays. Please keep us posted on if/how Stern makes this right.

#38 7 years ago
Quoted from TheLaw:

The GB clear doesn;t seem anywhere near as good as GOTs....although I'm a layman in such matters.

Really? I've seen a couple of GOT pro with paper thin clear that you can feel and see the raise of inserts in, if GB looks worse that's going to be an achievement in corner cutting, might as well just ship GB with no clear at all.

Btw Stern that's just in case

18
#39 7 years ago

QC on downward trend but why do Stern care when they see people paying 10k for a GBLE ?

15
#40 7 years ago

I like Sterns, but it's all too apparent how much they are shaving off their games now in order to ''save money'' All this saving and shaving yet they are demanding their distributors to raise the costs.

They are making a lot of money and it's seemingly becoming just all about profits. I mean, thanks for the clearer decal'ed cabinets (finally) but the rest feels like a real F U to the fan base that has put them where they are.

#42 7 years ago
Quoted from J85M:

Really? I've seen a couple of GOT pro with paper thin clear that you can feel and see the raise of inserts in, if goes GB looks worse that's going to be an achievement in corner cutting, might as well just ship GB with no clear at all.

Interesting...could be when they did or it what batch or no reason at all? I know a few of us around my area GOTs clear was , shockingly might I add, really thick. Hjmm...maybe an overseas thing?

Quoted from shacklersrevenge:

They are making a lot of money and it's seemingly becoming just all about profits.

Don;t think that's anything new

Quoted from The_Dude_Abides:

Nothing stinks worse then opening a $6-8K pin up then having issues like this show up after a few hundred plays.

Yeah actualy it sucks for pro owners too

#43 7 years ago

That's one of the worst examples I've seen. I'm sure that they will rectify it for you.

33
#44 7 years ago
Quoted from PanzerFreak:

Has the price of games gone down due to these cost saving moves? Nope, actually they have gone up!

This has everything to do with the fact that we all keep paying the prices. Thanks to JJP, who showed that the market would happily open its wallet for $7.5-9K games... why wouldn't Stern keep raising their prices? They'd be fools not to.

As long as we all keep slapping money down, the prices will continue to rise...quality or no quality.

#45 7 years ago

To OP: I think Stern will make this right. I just bought a NIB pin through a US distributor that had two issues (armor ding, head decal ding) and Stern sent replacements right away. No hassle.

#46 7 years ago

Where is the Quality Assurance and Quality Control at Stern? QA/QC? Apparently their QA/QC program is managed and led by someone with poor eyesight and foggy glasses. Maybe that foreign lost sailor from Gilligan's Island.....LOL.

Think of the Carbon Units spent solely from someone not performing their job appropriately at Stern? Mass production of materials that is doomed for the garbage dump. WTF? What a mess>>>>Keep it up boys and you get what you asked for, sad commentary on Stern, a once decent, quality product out the door.

#47 7 years ago
Quoted from shacklersrevenge:

I mean, thanks for the clearer decal'ed cabinets (finally) but the rest feels like a real F U to the fan base that has put them where they are.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I think you will find the decals was also another saving/shaving exercise, decals are cheaper than printing directly onto the cabs.

#48 7 years ago

That crack on the "R" insert in particular is really disappointing. I feel for you. No way that should ever happen on such a new game as you mentioned in an area where the ball doesn't fall on it. I hope Stern makes this right for you. Please keep us updated.

#49 7 years ago
Quoted from BenetBoy78:

Where is the Quality Assurance and Quality Control at Stern? QA/QC? Apparently their QA/QC program is managed and led by someone with poor eyesight and foggy glasses. Maybe that foreign lost sailor from Gilligan's Island.....LOL.
Think of the Carbon Units spent solely from someone not performing their job appropriately at Stern? Mass production of materials that is doomed for the garbage dump. WTF? What a mess>>>>Keep it up boys and you get what you asked for, sad commentary on Stern, a once decent, quality product out the door.

Stern's QC is a joke; on my Metallica LED, they put the red fuel light on the 'full' side instead of the 'empty' side.

#50 7 years ago
Quoted from SkillShot:

Stern's QC is a joke; on my Metallica LED, they put the red fuel light on the 'full' side instead of the 'empty' side.

Ouch.

Did they give you a new one?

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