Precision milled aluminum is nice, but metal-on-metal movement and the need for grease is a big red flag to me and potential point of failure. Metal-on-metal movement is pretty much going to be a no-go long-term since they will end up grinding together, especially with the frequency of movement with these particular parts. Plus all the fine dust that will eventually gum up the joint. There's a reason why the only place where grease is used is in a sealed gearbox.

I would be interested to see what the mech looks like after at least 10,000 plays.

Yeah, this probably wouldn't result in a graceful failure.

Personally, I'm not thrilled with the idea with a new non-standard mech that requires maintenance.

I wouldn't mind so much if something catches on and becomes the "new standard". But very rarely does something go on to supersede the old established standard to become "the new standard". You just end up with a dozen different smaller ideas/products floating around that you have to keep track of (and keep parts stocked for).

Do you have any idea what a pain it is to try to restore an Allied Leisure game these days now that all the commonly replaced NOS parts have dried up? Ugh. You're basically SOL unless you replace the mech with another standard, or wait around hoping someone starts manufacturing replacement parts.

Hasn't there been several attempts at aluminium flipper bats in the past 10 years? I can't say that I recall any of them sticking around long-term.

Where exactly is all this information coming from?

Coil stops and plungers make contact upon impact--that is quite different from rotational or linear motion between two or more parts, such as a flipper bat shaft and bushing.

The point was those are two completely different interactions that aren't worth comparing.

Maybe, maybe not. But other mechanisms sure do. Pins can get completely covered in coil dust. This all metal mechanism would still have to deal with that. Like I said earlier, it would gum up any lubricant, and once the dust gets inside the mech, it will start grinding.

While I can't say that I've studied ultra-precision metal-on-metal parts operation in a pinball machine, I would want to see at least 10,000 plays first to get an indication of what may happen.

To start, the high level of familiarity with the product that nobody has heard about before and offering details that were not on the product page were potentially suspicious.

This isn't about you personally--it's all about the product that you brought to our attention.

What it basically boils down to is this:

1) Does the product do what is claimed?
2) Does it offer any benefits over current products?
3) Does it compromise in any areas compared to current products?
4) Does the product stand up to long-term use?

Maybe, but I can't play it to judge for myself (without buying it, anyway). The best thing to do would be to bring it to shows/events/tournaments and let others have a crack at it too and see what they think.

I would argue that making shots like that which might be impossible on a game with traditional flipper parts on a game designed with traditional flipper parts might not be how the game designer intended it to play.

Essentially, you said they play nice. A lot of mods look nice or operate well for a few games when freshly installed.

The point to most of my comments is that pinball machines are a rough environment for mechs. I would like to see some longer term testing, rather than just a handful of games. Put this mod through its paces. Really beat on it and see how it stands up to the abuse.

While your review serves as an interesting introduction to this new product, it's incomplete.

I can make repeat shots all the time with standard flippers. If they were wildly inconsistent, I probably wouldn't be able to do that.