Recipe for disaster....
Always find what you dropped or it WILL short something out or jam something up.

I jb welded a tiny neodymium magnet to the end of a piece of wire coat hanger exactly for this sort of thing. Even if you don't know exactly where the part went, just waving it around in the general area works a surprising amount of time.

I recently changed some tiny post rubbers on GB. I dropped one and after raising the playfield and searching all over the place, o figured at last it's rubber so nothing will short...I will find it when something jams. A week later during a game, I noticed it stuck behind that clear shield up by the rollovers. Whew! It is amazing how things can disappear like that. If it's a screw, I look forever until I find it so I don't fry something.

I am such a clutz! I am always dropping tiny screws & washers into the machine. I *usually* manage to find them.

GoT upper playfield is the worst for me. I usually wait until the very last screw to DROP into and thru the upper playfield - requires me to dis-assemble, remove & retrieve. Ugh. I need stronger magnetic tips on my screw driver. I sometime add a piece of painters tape to the tip to retain the screw/washer until I can get into position and screw it in. Or, I use a screwholder like this:

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I have a magnetic, bendy, telescoping tool with an LED headlight to help the retrieval process.

When a screw starts to drop, don't try to fumble around and try to catch it. It will end up bouncing somewhere and you'll be looking for it for an hour. Instead, let it drop and try to follow where it goes with your eyes.

If you drop a screw and can't find it, don't keep looking for it in the same position, move around so you can see different angles around wiring and assemblies. Chances are that it's hiding behind something you can't see from a particular angle.

I usually don't sweat it too much and most of the time I find a screw or two fall to the back corner the next time I break down the game if I ever do that is! I just leave it and look at it as living dangerously! LOL!

I think most of us can relate to this thread. I always hope the speaker magnet catches the part but if not, I will keep looking until I find it. Otherwise it will cause grief.

I am so clumsy, I always drop some screws when I do a shop job. I am certain that my show jobs would be cut 1/4 if i didn't..
Finding the screws again eats up a lot of time. But I don't stop till I have find them.