The metal ones from Stern are the best. They space the leg out, and do not extend past the leg, so there will be no wear.
http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=2711

Not felt. The legs wiggle too much with it.

http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=2711

I would recommend this if your cab corners are not already wrinkled or damaged otherwise I use pincab protectors on all my games.

Tried felt - as as already mentioned, too much leg wiggle.

Pincab protectors all the way for me.

Awhile ago I bought a bunch of PINBALL LIFE felt leg protectors for my pins and the first chance I had to use them was last week when my my first NIB, a NIB MET LED PRO shows up and apparently Stern includes plastic protectors now, which I did not know. Anyway why let my felt go to waste so I used it on top of the Stern Plastic protectors. WOW is FELT useless makes the legs wiggle too much as this thread suggests.

So is just using the plastic protectors included on MET good enough? What about my other pins will felt be the same, useless?

it's a fine line. wrinklage vs. wigglage

The steel leg protectors are actually best for cabinets with decals in order to avoid wrinkling. For cabinets with screened art, either plastic or felt is fine since there is nothing to wrinkle.

I use Felt, when I dont have to cover damage. Sometimes the damage is from plastic.

I didnt know PBL has felt, so when I looked them up, I can see why "wiggle" is an issue.

Ive had good luck with these much heavier felt:
ebay.com link: itm

Some savings too.

Wasn't there some sort of controversy that one kind of these was actually WORSE for the machine?

The full size plastic ones can cause damage. Especially with decalled machines, never use them on those. Personally, I wouldn't use them at all (and I don't..)

For decalled machines, use the metal (or plastic, doesn't matter) stern style ones as ODIN said above. They lift the leg right away from the decal.
http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=2711

I have 2mm commercial felt protectors on all my machines, except for the machines that have the Stern style fitted. None of my machines "wiggle". Tighten up your bolts.

rd

I like to use the Stern OEM protectors on all of my games
http://pinballpro.net/shop/leg-cabinet-protectors/

image_(resized).jpeg

I do too, but I prefer the original metal ones
http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=2711
stern_metal_leg_protectors_(resized).jpg

i use a heavier type of felt.... no wiggle here.

no drill but wood screws

Since we're resurrecting a 4 year old thread, I'll give a big recommendation for the Mantis protectors. Nice and thick.

https://mantispinball.com/product/misc-leg-protector-hidden/

I usually drill pilot holes. First one side, then screw it down, then the pilot holes for the other side, then screw that down. It makes things a little easier, and is less likely to split the wood, especially since you're working so close to the corners.

So to protect the sticker you all drill extra holes into the wood of your machines?

Wood is made for drillin'!

And not only a few, four for each leg so a whopping 16 holes! Omg, I would never do that.

But won't the protectors rub just like the legs would? Something has to connect in that area.

Personally I don't own any brand new games so all my pins have more or less wrinkles after ~25 years of abuse. This means that I use the plastic protectors that are slightly larger than the legs, but not to protect the decals but to hide the wrinkles already there.

Normally I don't like doing something that isn't easily reversible, but it's in a hidden area, and it helps protect the decals/artwork from serious damage.

Without those protectors, the legs wiggle and mash against the cabinet, causing damage/wrinkling.

For me, the trade-off is a no brainer.

Nope. The protectors are snug against the cabinet, and don't really move. The protectors provide a enough of a gap between the legs and the cabinet so that the edge of the legs no longer make contact with the cabinet. So, the artwork remains safe.

Ok I can see how that can help cover up on old games. Then somewhat even out and prevent wear on new games. I won't use them but it does seem like a possible good idea in certain situations.

Do legs really dig into the cabinet? I dont really see how thats possible. Most games these days have legs that are powder coated. How exactly is that going to cut into the machine? Also, I would imagine if the legs are bolted tight, the pivot point for the machine is at the feet, not at the bolts?

Ive never seen any cabinet damage behind my legs.. And then the other point of.. who cares, the damage is always hidden by the legs.

Yes.

They are bolted to the cabinet, after all.

Powder coating doesn't matter. If you bolt legs directly to the cabinet, they still make contact with the cabinet.

The leg bolts are still a pivot point under stress due to the weight, regardless of how tight they are bolted.

If you deal with a used games, it's painfully obvious. Probably half of my games have it to one degree or another.

Some of the damage, yes, but a lot of the damage accumulates just around the edge of the legs. That's why a lot of people use the plastic protectors to cover up the damage, since those extend past the edge of the legs.

Interesting. Thanks.

And no, I don't have much experience with used games, just the ones I own.

Your collection list isn't visible, so I wasn't sure what games you had.

Oh, dont know why that is.. I have TWD, GB, Willy Wonka and WOZ.

Absolutely! Nothing is seen once the legs are on and it beats damage to the cabinet.

Wouldnt the drilling of the sticker/cabinet be defeating the purpose?

I think all new games come with some type of protector screwed in place. It's just a standard way of doing things today.

Oh, and you don't have to screw them in place. You can just let them float.

You probably already have them on your machines. GB should at least

No, they arent on them. I actually dont think ive ever seen them come with a machine except for Wonka, which I threw out because I thought the felt was packing material haha.

Edit - Whoops, I forgot what we were talking about. Perhaps there is something screwed into place and I didnt realize it.

GB definitely has them. I have the game too. They are black plastic and look like the pic in post #13 of this thread. They are screwed in so you wouldn’t have thrown them out by accident.

And to those questioning drilling the art, It’s been a minute, but I believe it gets screwed in where the art isn’t. Regardless, it’s behind the leg so you’ll never see it, but they do prevent wrinkling, indentations and other long term damage that you would see. Like ForceFlow said, it’s a no brainer. Those of us with older games knows what this looks like and we want to avoid history repeating itself.

Hell, go find yourself a Transformers and you’ll see it. This modern game was notorious for wrinkling art by the leg area.