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

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.

Sadly this is the only way this trend of quality continuing on a downward spiral while prices continue to rise will end. Stern don't give a crap what we think but they certainly care what our wallets think.

That's what happens when you apply cabinet decals with these

image_(resized).jpeg

One of the best shooter lanes I ever had in my collection and I played my Avatar ALOT was my LE, the shooter lane had metal sides to detect when the power/ceramic ball was in use, I never had any wear on the shooter lane plus I always felt it looked more factory/stock than Mylar.

It would be great if Cliffy could maybe make something similar for Sterns, if the playfields are getting cheaper/softer etc it could be a useful mod.

image_(resized).jpeg

I've used these on all my games and they are great, I simply ment that the best shooter lane I've ever had was on my Avatar LE probably due to the way the shooter lane is designed with the metal tracks that capture the ball before it really hits any part of the shooter lane.

Until the quality issue at Stern improve and seem to settle down a little the only NIB sterns I'll be buying are older titles without all these playfield and decal issues. I don't expect a pin to stay completely perfect but for £6950 ($9800) for a premium when I open the box I expect it to be near perfect.

Shouldn't be opening a NIB pin to find peeling decals or decals hanging off and serious playfield issues like cracks and chips before a single ball has rolled down it.

Something must have changed at Stern or one of their suppliers, I don't recall ever seeing these common issues on older games. These issues all started becoming common place a couple games back. Question is what has changed?

Maybe you should have checked my previously owned games I've had 6 NIB Sterns

as much as I loved my Tron & the franchise, my son is called Flynn. When there mum ran up a shit load of debt and left as a result, all my pins but one had to go. Roof above their heads was more important than daddy's gameroom

Within next couple of months I'll hopefully be rebuilding my collection and probably adding a TWD prem & ST prem to the lineup if all goes well

Everyone knows Tron box only has 1 bedroom I needed 3 rooms so the house was the choice

But I'll be getting a Tron again hopefully with a couple fresh additions.

If only Stern knew how to use social media and had someone with half a brain running it, they could deal with most of the complaints and negativity before it goes viral with hastags, facebook share slogans etc.

It is either stupidity or plain ignorance in this day and age to not realise that communication and informing your customers even of bad news can get the pitchforks put down, to not just say "we have an issue with .......... we are aware of the problem, we have it in hand and will announce a resolution for all buyers effected shortly, thank you for your continued support, Stern Pinball" it literally took me 10 seconds or less to type that

The Heighway/Alien thread is a perfect example of it, someone complains about something, lack of communication/ignored emails, missed dates for promo/reveals, the crowd of complaints builds but Andrew comes in holds his hands up, apologies and either replies directly or informs everyone in the thread as group, everyone is happy again, rinse and repeat but it works, it keeps people happy and extends their patience where as ignorance just pisses people off.

Sad for Stern? It is their own fault for trying to cut costs and cheap out on every physical element of the game on a theme they knew would be a huge hit and to not be addressing the problems directly with those customers as a priority and keeping them informed is BS.

Read above KPG was promised a swap by Gary Stern himself, yet he hasn't heard a single thing other than the usual radio silence, we are working in it "stay tuned".

Feel sad for Stern?? I feel sad for all the GB owners with defective playfields & board sets being left in the dark when they are going to get their issues resolved.

100% accurate and I'm guilty somewhat myself, I was fully aware of the problems with SMVE & GBLE, but as it seemed the playfield issues had been sorted I ordered a BM66 LE, however I will not be buying any more NIB from Stern at this point, not because I can't afford too or don't want to

I might like a SW & would love a JAWs pin. I would just do what I can to help out other pinheads like the GB owners who Stern seem to be leaving in the dark, if we don't start coming together then at some point the lucky ones this round won't be lucky next time round and we will all be telling each other we are idiots

Sometimes you have to stand together, Mr Spock said it best "the needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few" so I can go without anymore NIBs Sterns if it helps give them a wake up slap and sort their shit out.

Your practically giving the answer away

Couldn't be more right, the internet has lead modern society to want answers and product asap and social media has only added to that immediate need and demand, but if its used correctly it can satisfy those demands faster than any other method, its an open door to your customers lives and buying habits, but unfortunately like you have said "that unnamed person" just doesn't seem to be taking full advantage of it and using it to communities, buying market and ultimately Sterns full benefit.

When Judge Dredd tells you to go dark, you do what he says

Welcome to the addiction

Sorry to hear your first pin experience had had issues but great news knowing they are being rectified for you, SM is one of the best games period so great choice for your first....... of many

What if your bringing your "own property back" through the border? Surely you can't get taxed on that?

If you cross the border with a pin in your truck and return with "the same" pin in your truck, they couldn't possibly tax you?

Glad you finally got a resolution and an end to your issues @tacshose, gutted for you that you couldn't get the solution you wanted in order to continue enjoying your game but there is a tonne of new games coming out from a number of manufacturers that can hopefully give you that special NIB experience.

Like denmark71 says above, get Cliffys shooter lane protector kit but grab his trough protector as well to add some protection to the edge of your playfield there.

I wouldn't put Chas or Pat in that category.

I have an issue with a NIB game, I emailed Chas at Stern and he replied within the hour with a resolution to send the part out to me asap.

It seems to be if it's something small Chas or Pat can authorise themselves then problems are sorted immediatly, anything larger/more expensive that needs authorisation further up the management chain and that's when issues seem to occur.

But Chas and Pat have always been awesome it's just a shame there excellent customer service doesn't flow up through management.

SM is complete and one of Lymans masterpieces

I put nail polish on my scoops use a super hard polish, works wonders never had an issue and if the polish chips just refill it - never had it chip though.

Cut too many corners and cheapened processes too much, to save a few dollars per game (the margins are real healthy already) and it back fired ended up costing them thousands per game

I know what you mean by things feeling like they don't line up and not feeling particularly fluid, but TWD comes with plenty of hardware on it

2 x magnets
3 (4 if you say doors & head are seperate) x bash toys
And some of the best code in pinball.

Certainly gives you your money's worth.

Pretty sure there have been several times when characters say the name of places that are featured in the game during the show.

When they are heading to and reach places in each session they often do a lot of talking about them so there must be some create audio clips that could be lifted featuring - CDC, barn, terminus, tunnel, prison and they definitely say shoot a lot in the show, with some creative editing and cutting, these could be made to direct the player like the original hillbilly callouts.

This is the only way we will see Stern, until people stop buying and in essence make a stand we will continue to see Sterns standards slip lower and lower.

It isn't normal, I had had games that are 20-30 years old with no ghosting, this is just another way for Stern to avoid responsibility.

don't give them ideas

Sorry I don't buy it, I have had games 20-30 years old with no ghosting and I have plenty of Sterns myself and friends with rows of Sterns with no ghosting, my Goldeneye & my Goldeneye NOS playfield have zero ghosting on either of them.

Its like Stern want us to stop buying their games!? I am greatful Stern kept pinball alive through the bad times and I supported them through those stripped down years, but my god what has happened to this company over the last couple of years!?

How do you interpret I though? The whole thing is left to interpretation.

Are they saying a little ghosting is normal "small cloudy lines around insert edges" and they would replace serious ghosting or would they say full on large cloudy/ghosting inserts and inserts lifting is a result of normal manufacturing?

English might not be his first language? If it is then I agree he needs to go back to school

C'mon Boob leave Ice alone

So have you dropped out of your LE Ice? Your a well known presence here so if you have dropped out that's quite telling of Sterns decisions to shoot themselves in the foot again - Gary must be running out of toes!

Think you miss my point, iceman44 often goes to bat for Stern, rightly so he has had a lot of NIB with little to no issues and issues I know he has had Stern have sorted for him, but this next push from Stern to ensure further production issues are no longer going to be sorted clearly has him waning a little.

My point was and it still stands imo, is if Sterns biggest fans and supporters start dropping out of LE (hell even premium) orders, that is a big old indicator on the barometer of whether a company has pushed things to far with its customers.

Oh I know Greg you where massive Stern NIB customer, just furthers my point above a lot of big Stern supporters have already or are now taking a step back from Stern.

Question is how many of their big multiple NIB LE buyers can they afford to loose? I know I am now out as well and I spent 35k on NIB Sterns this last 12-18months another 9 people who do the same but are also dropping out that's 350,000k lost in sales.

Maybe that's nothing to Stern but I sure as sh*t would be concerned if I suddenly started loosing that business.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

Well that does make sense, being totally honest I thought it was a Kiss playfield

Although there is saying when Stern had the GB playfields made, maybe they are sending out prototypes? Does your new playfield have the correct spelling on the Negative Reinforcement insert?

I didn't see you mention about the insert spelling, but to be fair it is 1am here and I have been up for approx 46 hours and counting so forgive me I missed it

Something I didn't miss was how good those colours look on GB, its a playfield I want at some point for wall art, the thing is gorgeous.