That is butt ugly. Was that a Bronze play field?

Some thought and observations:

In 1982, I bought a 1960 Corvette with the original paint still looking good. However, there was a flaw in the paint on the trunk lid. The factory painter got the paint on too heavy and the paint gathered in a thick glob at the edge of the trunk. The defect measured 6 inches long by 1/4 inch wide and had bubbled. Whether the car was produced as a normal factory run or special ordered will never be known. But either the factory, or the dealer sanded the bubbled area down and sold the car to its original owner. Either that owner was given a discount or never noticed the defect or just did not care. The defect was there but to the casual observer it was a flaw that would never be noticed. When I got the car it drove like a bat out of hell and that was 80% of what mattered.

The point here is that this type of defect would not be allowed to pass a factory level inspection at today's standards. Back then, cars had a 12,000 mile/12 month warranty and then it was all on you. Cars did not last that many years so people did not make a big deal about minor stuff.
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Here is a copy of the Data East warranty from 1989. You got a 60 day warranty on circuit boards. No nothing more. There was no warranty for cosmetic issues. Everybody knew the pins were going to get beat to shit. All that mattered is did the pin make money. As Vid said some time ago, they were designed to last for 3 years; Not 30 !.

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In my short time in the hobby I have seen a Stern Seawitch and a Bally Strikes & Spares with play fields that are in real nice condition. But neither of these two play fields are worth restoring due to the keylines/registrations being off center by at least 1/4" and perhaps at least 3/8". Nobody cared at the time; the bars were dark, the players were drunk, and the operators made money.

Nowadays, somebody wants a pretty pin to sit in the garage next to his Mercedes that possesses that quality German engineering (Volkswagon does not count, anymore ) and the pinball makers are sort of stuck trying to make game that is affordable, looks good, does not cost a fortune to make, doesn't fall apart, and deal with a lot of picky buyers, named Joe Suburb, that are PO'd because they seek the level of perfection that is not possible to make at a price that Joe can afford.