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I tend to agree. Minor ribbing wouldn’t bother me too much since it is usually only noticeable if you are actively searching for it, and I doubt it will cause long term problems. Probably a variant since wood is an organic product. Ghosting, on the other hand, would bother me since it is unsightly and can definitely cause premature playfield wear.
Quoted from Monster_Bash:Here's our replacement sw playfield
Pretty much all the inserts are raised also
Yikes! Now that would bother me. Forget what I said above since I obviously am wrong about this.
Quoted from Onwallst:That is all hearsay I want to know who knows for sure. To say they are the least is different than many distributors have told me. CGC playfeilds were the bad ones on ghostbuster as only supplier in the beginning. I was told SW LE/Premium was the last game that stern was usung Churchill by a distributor. Someone has to know. You are correct on the 4 color but the CGC many were 4 color for stern nearing the end. Someone has to know who is manufacturing as can’t be a secret. Is stern making their own playfeilds now? A game like Metallica they aren’t going to another manufacture at nearly the end of production as has to still be CGC. My Metallica’s and Star Treks were awesome. The poor playfeilds is something recent. That said stern does fully honor warranty and replaces with a populated playfeild unlike CGC.
I also think you are incorrect. We know the ghosting issues with GB largely went away starting around Sept 2016 (although a few remaining defective playfields seemed to pop up occasionally, perhaps from leftover stock that was used). We also know for a fact that CGC/Churchill were the ones making the playfields after the issue was solved based on photos from this article published in Oct 2016:
http://www.pinballnews.com/learn/churchill/index.html
I followed this very closely as I had a nib GB Premium on order and was understandably concerned about it. My machine was delivered in Dec 2016. The playfield was made by CGC/Churchill and was perfect. CGC has been in the playfield business for decades. It’s highly unlikely they would change their process since it’s already generally proven. It would make more sense that Stern tried to go with a different playfield producer early on once CGC announced they would be manufacturing their own games and would therefore be a competitor. This argument is supported by others who at the time claim that FUN was the manufacturer producing the faulty GB playfields (different from the TX company that sells games and are great).
Quoted from Travish:Seems like its more of a different manufacturing issue (fun=bad, Churchill=good) thing instead of a serial number.
Quoted from WillSmuz8999:Stern has their PFs cut by The Fun Company in WI. They route the board, install inserts and base coat. The boards are then sent for digital printing and then finally are sent somewhere else for the clear automotive top coat. I know that is one supply source. I am not sure if they have a second.
Contrary to earlier posts, Spooky does make their own playfields.
That it interesting. During the GB ghosting ordeal a lot of people were saying the defective playfields were made by The Fun Company. Stern switching from their longtime provider CGC/Churchill may explain some of the problems.
Quoted from scott_freeman:And, how long does Fun company age/cure their stock of plywood?
Great question. And how does digitally printing the playfield compare with traditional screen printing? I'm ignorant regarding all this but find it fascinating and would like to learn more.
Quoted from WillSmuz8999:I am not sure how long Fun cures the wood they cut. I do know Spooky, Mirco, and Stern's printer, all use the digital printing process. I am not sure about CGC.
CGC uses the traditional screen printing process done by hand. Maybe they are the only ones left doing this?
http://www.pinballnews.com/learn/churchill/index.html
"Once a playfield is checked and passed it moves on to the screen printing room where the individual inks are applied by hand, one-by-one.
The artwork is traditionally printed using a CMYK process which has additional layers added to print white or other specific colours not adequately reproduced by CYMK inks.
Each ink requires a separate screen to be made. A screen is a semi-porous sheet which allows the ink to pass through in varying amounts in specific areas. Churchill don't make the screens themselves, so before a screen is used it is verified in the screens room."
Quoted from Onwallst:I was still told by a few distributors that Stern switched playfeilds after GB issues from Churchill and SW le/premium was the last one done. They are very adamant that switch was done after not before like many are posting. You can also see in the article they are testing ghost buster clearcoats. I was told by stern it was an issue in ingredients that were in the clear that was changed without anyone knowing due to EPA recommendations. It appears many believe FUN is the new manufacture. Are they doing Stern’s new cabinets to? Any issues on Guardians of the Galaxy playfeilds?
Is this them? http://www.funcompanygamestore.com
Could you tell us the distributors who told you that?
The photos I showed a few posts back demonstrate GB playfields being made by CGC. They were published October 2016 (click on the link to see), about a month after the issue was finally solved. Stern realized they made a mistake and went back to CGC as their playfield supplier for GB. This is solid proof that the non-ghosting playfields were definitely made by CGC/Churchill. Everything else is hearsay unless it can be validated with photos or other evidence.
FUN Industries was responsible for the defective GB playfields, not CGC, as shown by these posts from the “Hey Stern are You Serious?” thread:
Quoted from Aurich:Nothing official announced that I know of (and knowing Stern never will be) but for what it's worth I've heard the same thing from sources that are usually very accurate.
http://www.funindustries.com
I'm not shit talking Fun, don't know a thing about them. Could be an upgrade for all I know. But probably something to pay attention to in case it's not.
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.
Quoted from rubberducks:They're likely to exhaust existing supply of 'Fun' pfs, and there's also no information yet that Stern will return to using Churchill exclusively.
I would wait. There's absolutely no reason not to.
Quoted from Guinnesstime:All of these problems have been Fun!
Quoted from Phbooms:it only matters because people think that if Churchill makes the playfields that there wont be any issues and people are thinking they are getting Churchill playfields from Stern now but from what ive seen and heard Sterns still dealing with FUN who created this ghosting inserts, cracking clear in shooters and drain area situation within a few plays of brand new out of box games.
Quoted from NeilMcRae:so via Martin at Pinball News he posted a picture that I thought was interesting. Churchill are indeed now making play fields for stern again, when they are assembled into machines who knows but apparently Stern used a company called Fun and thats when the problems started. Here is a picture Martin took at Churchill with a well known play field Lets hope this is the beginning of the end of this shit.
So we know there are atleast two suppliers now.
Quoted from pindude80:Thanks for posting, I think I am going to hold off on getting a game until the "Fun" brand PFs are gone and all are Churchills again, but that means waiting for current stock to run out and my dist getting a "fresh" order. It may have been discussed before, but does anyone know how to distinguish a Churchill PF from a Fun one, other than the obvious ghosting and chipped clear
I could go on and on but you get the idea. FUN=“bad”. CGC=“good”. I went to the effort to post this because I don’t want Pinsiders to make purchasing decisions based on false information. That’s not fair to them.
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Fort Worth, TX