Sorry to hear about your issues. Hopefully it won't deter from your enjoyment of the game.

After looking at the initial pics of the captive block I had these concerns. a welded metal box can't absorb the amount of force nearly as well as a standard captive ball can. I also wonder how well the welds will hold up over time and if this will be an issue long term like the TZ slot scoop was? Might be a good part for Mantis Amusements to start designing to create a suitable and more durable replacement?

Les (John) doesn't own an LE. The game he played and took pictures/video of is at Mortimer's bar in Minneapolis. It would be nice to get a report on that game and how it is holding up and if there is any unusual/excessive wear to note.-primarily on the captive box and around the coffin magnet.

If there are QC issues I'm sure Stern will address them on future Premium runs similar to what they did with ACDC and the cloudy windows on early LE/Premium games. The smart money may be buying a later run Premium and having your own custom powdercoat done by Pinchroma or one of the other custom guys on Pinside since that seems to be a weak spot on the LE.

Hank, I wonder if it would help if you put a piece of drop dead foam on the captive box to help deaden the impact and prevent wear? A similar idea was used on the Elvis houndog target and it works quite well.