Older machines usually have so many dimples that you can't see them anymore. Happened with all the diamond plate playfields that I owned and every clear coated restored playfield that I've seen.

paging vid in three, two, one...

(in the meantime, I'll reiterate what he will say, metal > wood. steel "air" balls pounding your playfield is always going to leave some sort of impression on the wood. as time goes on, the number of dents will increase to the point where that top layer of wood is compressed to the point where it appears practically [smoothed] out again.

I have pinballs that have it and some that don't. It's obvious all the newer ones have it. My SS, tranformers and CSI don't have it at all. NBA is such a good playfield too, doesn't have it at all. All the others have it. Some more than other. I always put my coils and slingshots on soft. Some people say that "if you play enough it gets flat again." Well that's all talk. That could only happen if all spots got equally smashed... I've seen games on location with 1000's of games and they were not flat at all, only looked worse...

I guess it depends on how long the playfields have been sitting around before they were installed. The clear has to have time to cure. The longer the better. I bet the playfields of these brand new titles haven't been sitting for very long compared to a NIB of an older title.

I have owned over 100 games. I have purchased every new Stern since 2001 other than Mustang and CSI. I have NEVER had a playfield that didn't dimple. Not from Stern, Not from Bally/Williams, Not from Sega, Not from Data East.

God da---it...this AGAIN?

Every game dimples. Just like every car gets swirls.

Drop a metal ball on anything, your coffee table, hood of your car, playfield....its gonna dimple....

Key to not dimpling is not putting any balls into the game. Then it's perfect forever!

I love dimples on my PFs...means I'm playing my pins

Anyone have dimples on there ass?? Maybe that's a better discussion

CSI I can understand, but no Mustang?!

I'll say this when I was making my first purchase I had the same concern I looked at an AC dc that looked like a golf ball. While its true my older games look like they have been completely depressed by the ball over the years.. I think something is in fact different now vs then… but at the end of the day since they are all the same… it is what it is.. you get a golf ball playfield that I don't think will ever even out.

The new KISS certainly dimples mines covered in them which I did expect just below Genes tongue it's pretty bad in the black area, I suppose it's where the balls drops! It's covered in Mylar but still dimples weird??

Just to weigh in....I visited a Kiss on location yesterday and the entire playfield was pretty well dimpled.

OMG DIMPLES!!!

DSC06380.jpg

This is a brand new CPR playfield (that cured for over six months) after just a few plays. You do seem to notice it more right at first - but once you've played it more, they don't seem as obvious.

Wood vs steel... Wood loses every time.

It's nothing bad. The clear has to be a bit "soft" and will compress from the ball over time. If the clear was rock solid it would spiderweb and crack from hits.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/playfield-dimple-reality-check

All playfields dimple