Thanks for the info. Based on this acknowledgment of the problem and reassurance to buyers, I'm going to keep my GB Prem order. I get that any resolution (though hopefully not necessary for games yet to be delivered!) will take a while and will probably be an annoying hassle, but as long as the game is playable during the waiting I can deal with it.

I am also less concerned about minor cosmetic issues, but at what point can we determine that's all it is? Obviously, there is a problem that at least in some cases has gotten worse--to the point of inserts cracking and clearcoat failing. Even if it seems minor at first, how do we know that the issue won't get worse at some point down the line? Also, cosmetic issues will surely impact the value when it comes time to sell, as others have pointed out.

Until Stern identifies and remedies the underlying cause, the uncertainty will remain. I'm hoping the rumor of an upcoming statement from Stern is true and we will get some answers soon.

Given that the playfields were generally fine until a few months ago, blaming the EPA for this mess seems off base. I think we can still blame Stern--at least for continuing to send out defective playfields if they knew about the continuing problems and not adequately communicating with distros/customers about the situation.

That sucks. Sorry to see it. Hopefully, Stern will do right by you. In the meantime, at least you have two sweet games to keep playing while we all wait to see what the "program" will entail.

Part of the problem is that Stern is not handling the distributor business model consistently. Why is Gary Stern reaching out to select individual customers and not handling the issue through their distributors if that is supposedly how they operate?

My distributor asks me for information on this situation because he knows I monitor these threads and Stern doesn't tell him anything. Is something wrong with this picture?

They never publicly acknowledged there was a problem, so I'm guessing nobody...at least publicly. If someone has more info than just speculation, please share. Reports that playfields seem to be good out of the box at this point are encouraging (and I'm keeping my order For now) but don't put the questions to rest.

Best left to the experts, in that case.

+ 1

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.