This is nonsense. I've had them installed on many of my machines for years. They look as good as the day they were installed - if you wipe down your machine and change balls regularly there will be no issues with looking "like complete crap". And they sure as hell prevent dimples from kickouts and VUKs - the ball does not impact or contact the playfield in any way - how can you even make that dumbass statement?

You obviously have zero experience with them.

I just wipe mine with Novus 1 and a clean cloth once in a while.

I wish they made them for all of my old machines - I would buy them all. They are easy to install, but you do have to disassemble the flippers and pull a few wireforms, etc. Modern machines are a little more complicated, so you have to take notes/pictures to ensure you get it back together correctly - still isn't that bad. They tell me they are working on Royal Flush and will have them by the end of this year. I'm providing them measurements for Super Spin/Jet Spin so hopefully they will be producing it soon as well.

Don't get me wrong, obviously nothing beats a clearcoat playfield for beauty. On new machines, I believe it is worth $150 to protect that beauty with a .030" thick sheet of polycarbonate. On old machines, I believe it is worth $150 to cover the cupped inserts (and artwork touch-ups) to instantly make it into a fun, playable machine again - that is a much better solution than "just leave the game alone". The difference in speed is negligible to me and not even a factor, but as stated many times before, that is why the leg height is adjustable.

The protectors being sold are 0.030" - not 0.020". They are not soft mylar pop bumper platters. They are not PET-G. They are hard Lexan. They make "bullet-proof glass" from this stuff. I can drop a pinball from a yard onto a playfield protected with this lexan sheet - there won't be the slightest indentation in the playfield.

People who have no experience with the actual product - your "scientific" analysis is meaningless!

Why did you choose 300, why not 3000? That would be $450K. That's a more impressive number you know. You could buy a new house with that (to store those 3000 pinball machines in). Still doesn't mean anything because I own 10 machines, but if you don't have anything to say that's actually "on point", why not go for total shock and awe, huh?

Yes, the pool ball rack inserts on my Pinball Pool were severely cupped like that - it was unplayable. It wasn't worth spending $1000+ (and labor) to get the playfield CC'd for a $400 machine, but it sure was worth spending $150 (fortunately they make that protector) and 2 hours to put a playfield protector on it. Plays like new now.

I never thought about match drilling a full piece protector. With no visible cut lines, it should look even better than the factory-made. The challenge will be cutting the nice ovals for the lane switches (unless you have access to a CNC milling machine). You are picky, so I know it will turn out good. Hopefully, you can have it ready for FPF in November!

I haven't tried them, so I won't judge them. I do suspect they went to them for reasons that aren't beneficial to the consumer though (like everything else in this world).

Also, the old Lexan playfield protectors that they used to sell (and I have installed on my machines) is 0.030" - not 0.070" (my mistake - I was thinking of some playfield plastics I had custom made). Even at 0.030" though, they bridge cupped inserts well and prevent dimpling. We'll have to actually test the "next generation" protectors to see if their performance is comparable.

cottonm4 - very impressive work. That took some time and patience. Did you end up using the same cutout pattern as the German manufacturer for the star rollovers? I have some star rollovers on a couple of my games and if there is one complaint I have about the these overlays, it is how the ball gets re-vectored on those particular cutouts.

You guys seem to be on the same wavelength. Sounds like a good plan and a definite advantage to custom-building your own overlay. I may try making a "patch" to fill in my factory cutouts, then do what you guys did and raise the rollover insert to the same level as the overlay via a hole in the patch. If it looks too funky, I can always start from scratch.

John - Did they ship the sheet flat or rolled up? I bought a protector from BAA once - they shipped it rolled up and I had to send it back because it was permanently deformed. The ones ordered directly from Germany are shipped flat.

I finally finished a protector for my Super Spin. It took a lot of time, but I'm very pleased with the results. Machine plays like a dream now. The punch set called out by John_I worked very well!1 Stripped Playfield (resized).JPG2 Border Cut (resized).JPG3 Details Cut (resized).JPG4 Protector Fit Check (resized).JPG5 Final Assembly (resized).JPG