Has anyone noticed all the orange peel in their brand new car's clear coat finish? This used to not be an issue with a quality experienced sprayer at the nozzle (or robot for that matter in the factories). However in the last several years EPA has been forcing everyone to change the chemical compounds in paints and clears to the point it is near impossible to lay down without some orange peel effect. Especially in a production environment. Unless of course the piece is able to lay level and flat during the spraying and drying process and you can thin the heck out of it its pretty acceptable you will have orange peel. Also I've noticed I've had to start holding my sprayer closer to the object being painted to get less orange peel. The droplets actually dry midair before hitting the surface not allowing them to spread out and level and this causes the orange peel. So the CC quality and composure has changed possible affecting the strength of the CC taking a beating and adhering to inserts. Clear coating has many issues that weren't there for a sprayer years ago. We adapt and try to catch up but the industry isn't there yet.

As to the wood ribbing, yeah I've noticed it in new games. None of it in my Williams and bally games. Let's remember this; wood sources are different than they were 20 years ago. Wood is being sourced from younger and younger crops. Kiln dry the wood all you want but that's not going to change the fact that the wood just isn't as dense as it was years ago. The land gets stripped and a new crop is planted. 20 years later the pine is cut and replanted. The pine grows quicker because the land it grew on is wide open - leading to less dense wood. Stratovarious violins are the perfect example of how wood grows affects the outcome.

I agree 100%. The costs might be enough to justify getting the less expensive ones in terms of passing it on to the customers. Perhaps Stern could look into this and offer premium playfields with their collector edition models. I'm like others that don't mind dimpling and ribbing so long as the game is reliable and play isn't affected. Others who want art get to pay more in the collector editions. Nothing wrong with either approach in my eyes. I'd be willing to pay less and incur some dimpling and ribbing possibly. Others willing to pay more for less likely of this happening. Stern are you listening?

Not the first time I've spoken before getting my facts.

Has any manufacturer ever dabbled with synthetic wood for playfields?

As a heart attack. Maybe you thought I was suggesting they charge more than what they charge now for the better quality wood. Nope. I'm suggesting they include the better quality wood for their LE's. Use the "ribbing" wood for the rest or some sort of pricing tier as this. Maybe this would justify the extra cost of the LE a bit? Of course we'd all rather see them use the best wood on all tier games. I definitely don't care to see NIB prices go up more than they are now. But prices will continue to go up justified or not as long as people pay.