I've seen a few people say not to wax a brand new playfield until it's had time to 'cure' - is there actually something to this or just superstition? I actually have a NIB on the way myself but it's an older title so the playfield could easily be several months old - still curious though.

It does seem a shame that Stern recommend people just regularly clean with Novus 2 - they should know better. Novus 2 is for when you have a filthy game with ground-in dirt.

As for the 'investment' thing, people need to stop getting so uptight about the use of that word. Yes some purchases are an investment, but even where they aren't every sane buyer wants to protect as much of the residual value as possible. I see a lot of drama about it in the arcade collecting scene lately, a real backlash against people collecting games and being perceived as just holding them for value instead of playing.

It's pretty simple. Buy a new car. A bird craps all over the roof. Most careful owners will clean that off rather than letting it destroy the paintwork. The car is a tool/toy and will depreciate but they're still protecting their investment of money to try to lose less over the course of ownership.

If you wanted to mock someone who was buying NIB to store in a warehouse and profit from later - well fair enough (I'm not sure I'd do it with a Premium...), but the OP is specifically asking questions that show they want to protect it from wear and tear during use..