Looks like Stern's supplier sent a bad batch of flippers.

It will be a Pinside Holocaust.

I'd guess that the welding machine ran out of either Argon or CO2 and produced a run of worthless joints.

...or the gas company filled the canisters with the wrong gas; that can be bad when they are supposed to be O2, instead are filled with Nitrogen, and a bunch of people die at the hospital.....

https://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/09/us/oxygen-and-nitrogen-mix-up-is-suspected-in-three-deaths.html

Any manufacturer can get a bad batch of parts from one of their suppliers.

If any of you guys have ever bought a new $80,000 BMW, you know that a ton of stuff gets recalled. The airbags are killing people and have to be replaced, the car catches fire or stalls for no reason.

If you've ever had an older Galaxy Phone, you know the batteries could catch fire, and got recalled.

If you bought a Cuisinart food processor in the last few years, you know that the blades were putting chips of steel into your food, and all got recalled.

Recalls can happen with any company, even those much larger than tiny Stern.

Relax.

Exactly.

You call Sterns 800 number, you tell them that you got the bad flippers.

Stern sends you a replacement pair; right to your door.

Without even making a trip to the dealership, you have your game fixed with 5 minutes & your socket wrench.

Don't let tiny setbacks upset you.

"If it ain't broke, it ain't Pinball"- Jersey Jack

Stern has been buying those same flippers, from the same IL company, for years.

No one is going to do any individual testing on a $1 part; not Stern, not the company that made them.

It's for the best that you could not buy a Primus.

Make sure you buy all your games from a local distributor.

They will set up and test your game before they deliver it to you.

If a plastic post cracks, or a flipper breaks, they will replace it before delivery....you'll never even know about the tragedy .

I've been to Stern, at the old and new factories.

They do flip every game, and test every switch before boxing.

But welds made without the proper shielding gas are brittle. Maybe they will break in the first 20 hits, maybe they will break in the first 500. Maybe they had 49 hits at Stern, and then the dealer's 50th flip was the straw that broke the camel's back?

It's a disposable part, and Stern is replacing them for free.

Wait till you guys find out that a steel ball is harder than a piece of painted plywood - you ain't gonna be happy.....

I'm sure the flipper supplier found the gas problem in a few hours and it's back to normal.

People make mistakes running machinery and don't even know it.

You get 1100 flippers in a box (maybe even more on the 2" ones). If 90 are bad due to poor welds, it's not like you can visually find the problem ones. Maybe Stern already replaced a bunch that broke after a single flip in testing.

You said the magic phrase, it's a toy.

It's not a child car seat, it's not an airbag, it's not a heart monitor.

It's a toy for rich people.

If you are not a pinhead, you call the 800 number, and Stern sends you a new set of flippers - same as anyone else

Child car seats get recalled, and they are made by companies who love and care about children.

Car seats are one of the most tested and regulated products in the world, yet things still go wrong.

Pinball machines have about 9,000 more parts than a car seat.

Exactly.

That's that problem with sad people.

They are OUTRAGED that a piece of plastic/metal on a toy broke.

Even worse, it's people who did not even buy the toy that are outraged, lol

It's a toy.

It's a toy made of plastic, and wood.

Who would have thought that in 2019 they'd still be making painted wooden toys?

(And adults would fight like toddlers over them?)

Exactly.

Just don't buy them, and don't get involved in threads about things you did not buy.

That's what I'm saying.

If you can become outraged over a TOY, don't buy it.

You don't need the headache.

Every moving part of a pinball machine is going to break, maybe the day you get it, maybe years from now.

If you heart cant take it, don't buy it.

It's a disposable part.

The same company in IL has been making those same flippers, with the same specs, for over 60 years.

If you concerned about "quality", you are going to have to face the fact that EVERY product will have some defective units reach the public.

No amount of testing can catch every defect.

Sorry.

Yep, and JJP replaced a ton of playfields, and gave other owners stickers to cover the damage.

As long as the manufacturer stands behind it's products, real men can handle normal production defects without outrage.

That's the benefit of buying from a local dealer, rather than mail-order.

Your local distro would have seen the "angel wing" problem, and polished it out before delivering it to you.

You would have never even known it happened.

I've been on my own since I left the motherland at 15.

So yeah, I might know a thing or two about being a real man.

Usually I'm the one banging at the backdoor, but you can imagine your fantasies about me in any way that pleases you.

Uggggg! I missed the 2 screws in the back vent panel.

I'm outraged!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

It can take years for every insert light to get coded in....us Stern owners know that, lol

So you got free flashers, and you guys are complaining???

Did you ever take your Moto cell phone apart and notice that there are "notification" LEDs inside, that are never used in the software? "Rooting" your phone is the only way to assign and utilize them.

Did you ever look at your Ford engine and notice that there is a NOS port and wiring harness, even though Ford does not offer an NOS package for your car?

Did you ever press the sound test button on your Bally Vector pin and hear all the voice samples that were never programmed into gameplay?

Did you ever hack your Arcade1Up, and find that the full Atari Breakout is programmed into the gamecode, but no menu to access it?

Cry, Cry, Cry all the way home

The backbox flashers are flashing!!!!

My life is now complete