This one was delivered about July 28th, so it has been on route for about 3 weeks now.

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I wonder what would happen if you hit the playfield with a rubber mallet?

The clear coat would shatter into a million pieces and cut your face all up.

I won't buy another NIB Stern until they lift their game quality-wise. Their ridiculously high prices demand they do this. To be blunt, Stern need to stop taking the piss. They have lost my custom until things change, and if they don't change there are plenty of places to spend my coin, so it's their loss.

+1

Elvira is my next game but if it is the next title out I wouldn't buy one. I would at least have to wait and see if the playfields was ghosting like the Star Wars games and if they were* no way.

Best bet these days is don't go LE, that way there is no need to buy blind, just sit back and watch how the code comes along and how the build quality holds up.

"Homie don't play that game any more"

Hey Stern... are you listening?

And if things improve I will buy one But not currently. No way currently.

Man...what really stinks about this is all of us with games from last year that have playfields that need to be replaced. I've been waiting on a replacement for my GBLE for over a year now. I was trying really hard to get one a few months ago when everyone was reporting the issue was gone but now here we are again.

It'll be very disappointing if I get a replacement playfield and have ghosting again.

Wow...has it been a year since they told you they would replace the playfield, or have you been trying to get Stern to agree to replace it? I was just told Stern would replace my ghosting GB prem playfield, but assumed (was not told) the swap would happen pretty quickly.

Have you spoken to anyone at Stern, directly?
I would be all over that. Sounds like you may have been forgotten about.
At the very least, they should give you an ETA on when you can expect your replacement.

Just installed my replacement KISS LE play field and the quality is noticeably different, not for better. I am hoping not to catch anymore ghosting as well. Now if I can just get Stern to replace the Game of thrones drop target they put on the kiss machine for the correct one, that would be swell

Wrong drop down targets...really? Pics please. Because that would be a new low in QC for me.

Worse than different colored rails on each side of the same machine? That was the craziest one so far IMO.

Maybe there is no QC anymore.

build em, ship em out.... let the buyer come across whatever anomalies there are.

Kiss of Thrones anyone?

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The year long wait has mostly been due to Stern flat out ignoring most of my emails. I finally got sick of them ignoring my emails and got my distro involved. Interestingly enough, Stern was quick to respond to all of their emails. They agreed to a replacement in June of this year and said that they don't have an ETA on playfields yet but were hoping to have more in stock in July. We're past July now obviously and inching closer to being past August. My plan was to contact my distro again the first week in September but now I'm worried that I'll just end up with another bad playfield. My current playfield has been ghosting since I got it last year and has been progressively getting worse. I also have chipped clear in the shooter lane.

Wow! Literally no words for the screw ups Stern are continuing to make, its at the point where its laughable now.

Can you explain what you mean about the noticeable difference in quality of the playfields and it not being for the better? I have a replacement playfield due hopefully sometime this year for my BM66, so you have me curious and a little worried.

1. Clear coat seems noticeably thinner
2. Inserts are noticeably felt on play field (I have other Sterns where play field clear coat feels smoother over inserts)
3. Play field plastics and mechs seem like they are second run/bottom of the bin (noticeable lesser quality)
4. Other left side drop targets had to be adjusted as they would not drop due to being to close to play field
5. Play field was literally covered in dust like, it was a first run and back in the day QC decided it wasn't good quality so it was set aside and now all of a sudden its good enough for a replacement.

While I appreciate the swap from Stern as it was needed. I am worried that in a years time the new play field will have the same issues if not more and worse. Here is hoping not....

see it the other way : as its from factory, STERN make you a big gift, your pin is unique and a true SUPER LE version

(joking friendly of course) than yes, its a shame

I received a replacement KISS Pro PF. On the new one, while the clear coat looks fantastic, the printing quality is a step down from the original. The colors seem a bit washed out, especially for the black on clear inserts. In hindsight I might have preferred the original PF with ghosting LOCK insert and chipped inlane with more vibrant colors over the replacement.

capguntrooper: Did you notice the same with your new replacement?

Man I feel for you guys. I can not believe Stern could be so blatant with their we don't give a fuck attitude. The replacement playfield should be mint and inspected to be absolutely flawless. The moral of their employees must be shit, this reeks of guys that just don't give a fuck. If I was a Stern I would clean house.

Unfortunately, yes. I am starting to think the replacements are being pulled from the scratch and dent/off color bins.

To that point, the GBPrem that I purchased in July'17 (cabinet date April'17) had a 2016 date stamp on the playfield that was marked out and a new Jan '17 stamp was added. Who knows how they have been managing this.
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The hits just keep on coming.
Next up, Sparky in a Star Wars machine as the emperor.

Don't be ridiculous, The Death Star will be replaced with Gene Simmons head from Kiss.......

Is Weber still one of the playfield vendors for Stern, or just Churchill now? I remember the Weber PFs being crappier than the Churchill in the 2003-2007 era (?). Maybe it's a vendor issue.

I think that first stamp is actually 2015

You hit the nail on the head though, no one knows how they are managing all these issues and how much care is being put into them except Stern themselves, all we know is its starting to feel like Stern don't care.

Yes it is in fact 2015. Wow, freaking incredible! Selling first-run rejected playfields from 2 years ago and passing them off as new just because Stern thinks they're all of a sudden good enough! Someone needs to start a class action against this company.

I believe Weber is actually a sub-contractor to Churchill. The last run TSPP PF I have here says "Weber Playfield - Churchill Cabinet Co WoodwrkABC".

It's a nice one also. Still can't feel any of the inserts and no vertical drum sander lines, etc.

On the Kiss it's possible that they simply don't have many PF's left and don't want to pay for a run just for potential replacements... who knows.

Geeze. I hope everyone gets some sort of resolution from the company who is pushing out this trash. Its not right. I almost spent a major portion of my annual income on a NIB Stern recently. I feel like i dodged a bullet, but our community that often helps each other out, should not put up with this.

Return the game, eat the shipping cost, return it, and save yourself the headaches. I'm so glad that is what I did.

I just order a nib met pro fingers crossed

You read this then ordered one?? Hopefully you do ok. But why?

temporary insanity?

I thought it was from the original run at first because it said met pro, not pro LED. After I ordered I realized I never double checked and sure enough it was the led version. O well it will be fun whether it's ghosting or not.

Exactly why we wont see Stern change anytime soon, because they don't have to, ghosting is now normal, games left without code, splitting cabs, chipping clear, dodgy at best playfield replacements, wrong parts installed on games, incorrect playfields in games, mismatch of cabinet side rails, piss poor communication regarding everything just listed and they are still selling more games than they can keep up with

If people call it normal and keep buying, Stern calls it normal and keeps selling. Simple formula. "Oh Stern has REALLY done it this time! That's it, no more... oh did they just announce STARK TREK?!" *plunk*

Let's also remember the forum megaphone effect. Yes I also don't want to do the Stern lottery NIB thing anymore but MOST customers will end up with a decent game. Let's be honest with this.

The problem happens when your number DOES come up... the hassle, worry and depending on a company's "largess" to make it right because of short or non-existent warranties, etc.

My last machine was a TWD Premium and that was virtually perfect so I'm going to go out on a high note. I have a hard time justifying the 6k and up price tag with the "fun factor" as well. Thankfully people keep buying to keep the hobby alive.

Yes I'm stoopid

I think we all have to be a little stupid to be in this hobby so your just another member of this crazy club

Sorry but this isn't an acceptable approach. If they have to run pfs to correct peoples problems then they need to do it. They are the ones that created this problem not the consumer.

Hey you're preaching to the choir... I said the same thing when Churchill was happily sending out games with faded inserts.

But I guess things just don't work out that way in life

As much as I might want to get a Elvira 3 and support Dennis and Greg, I don't think I will be able to do that, as I won't buy anything new Stern touches at this point.

I bet it won't look like this.

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Interesting that Stern is reverting to the W/B cabinet hardware for the leg plates and have added reinforcement at the top, too. Pics from the latest Star Wars machines with this change here:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stern-announces-star-wars-pinball/page/137#post-3924456

Yeah I saw that. It will be interesting to see if it makes it to the Pro models. Step in the right direction but that is the least of their worries.

Given the size of the cabinets and cost of replacing them in the field, I would think it's one of the most expensive issues to fix, so spending another $3/cabinet (that they took out as part of their cost-cutting measures) is money well spent.

But yeah, I can see this formerly standard, now "extra" hardware becoming an "upgrade" not available on the Pros.