Got around to unboxing a Metallica LE i bought at the start of the year which had been in storage. With 0 plays on it this is how the playfield looked out of the box from factory, these swirls or scratches were all over the payfield. Long story short but after 12 weeks of investigation from the distributor to Stern i received a personalised email from Gary himself claiming this is normal as all playfields are "unique" He refused to do anything about it

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It was as though it had not been cleared or buffed correctly, noticed it as soon as i pulled it out of the box. The distributor even claimed they had never seen one come out of the box looking like that and claimed it had been played on, the distributor sent a tech out to investigate the machine who took numerous videos and photos of the machine, to send back to Stern and Gary himself, he even noticed markings underneath the pf which suggested (based on his experience in the industry) that the playfield was flawed and not meant to be sent out, how ever it still got installed in the machine and sent out. So how can the Stern distributor say they have never seen anything like this before, yet Gary can send me a personalised email telling me how a playfield is cleared and that this is completely normal and not taking responsibility for what is clearly a defective playfield which has been made and sent out???

Couldnt agree more with what has been said, and yes after this experience i would encourage everyone to inspect their machines before taking possession of them, machines can no longer be kept nib to open later on down the track only to find an issue such as this with Stern wiping their hands of the matter.
I was lucky enough to have some really decent contacts in pinball who stepped in for support and after more then 12 painful and stressful weeks of dealing with this, the distributor finally agreed to take back the machine and refund the money.

Guys check your machines, don't let them sit in the boxes unopened for years to come!!!

The distributor actually claimed that they cant do anything with issues such as this, they have to "present a case" to Stern, and then its up to Stern what happens, which is pretty pathetic in itself when we are paying upwards of $10k for a pinball machine. Basically no one wanted to accept responsibilty for this "one off" machine which had been sent out

They didn't send me a new playfield or suggest any solution to the problem as Gary clearly believes there is nothing wrong with it, quoted by the man himself in his email - "As noted on the cover of our game manuals, each pinball machine has unique characteristics that make it a one of a kind American made product. Each machine will have variations in appearance resulting from differences in the machine’s particular wood parts, individual silk screened art and mechanical assemblies."
Also another fact to consider, is that the sales of Stern Pinball machines in Australia may be so insignificant when compared to the amount Gary sells in the rest of the world that he simply does not care about his fan base down under, maybe it was shipped here on purpose thinking it would never come back to him, or that no one would notice. Someone in that factory knows about this playfield. Or is there simply a lack of quality control??

As for selling it i no longer have the machine as its with the distributor. Im hoping if they decide to sell it in the future that they are honest with the buyer and it is heavily discounted

Novus 2 and all those other little magical wax products out there did not remove or make a difference to any of those scratches on the playfield..

If im paying $10k+ for a NIB pinball machine i expect it to look like new when i get it, not covered in scratches that i need to buff out to make it look how it should from factory. If thats what the playfield is supposed to look like after numberous plays, then so be it, but i should be the one putting those "swirls" on the playfield from first plays on the machine. If you go to a car dealership and buy a brand new car, would you take delivery of it if it was all scratched up? I dont think so. Regardless of whatever it is im buying, if im buying something new i expect it to look new. As far as im aware, if these "swirls or scratches" were in fact caused from the ball during a few test plays, why did they not buff out with novus 2 or the like? I have owned machines which are over 20 years old with tens of thousands of games on them which looked nothing like that. The tech that the distributor sent out to inspect the machine even claimed he had seen nothing like that before, and it actually got back to me that the distributor did not want to take the machine back into their possession as they "wouldnt be able to sell it"

Theses marks were noticed as soon as the machine came out of the box, glass on, in a low lit room by all who were there to help unbox. The coffin especially, you could hardly see through it. Yes the photos were taken "with a flash from 2 inches away from the PF" because i was required to take photos to show the distributor, and that was the only way i could make the damage in the photo... Go take a photo of scratches such as this on your car, pretty sure you would have to take the photo the same way to see it in a picture.

The distributor did not want the game back because in their own words they claimed to have never of seen anything like this before and stated they do NOT come nib looking like the way mine did, they actually accused me of having hundreds of games on it and thought i was just trying to scam a new playfield. They asked to see a photo of how many plays were on the actually machine to prove what i was saying was correct and true.

Do you know what new in box actually means? Your missing the whole point champ, the thread is about Stern NIB playfield quality and i have added to it by showing how a NIB LE game was made and distributed. If you are happy to pay upwards of 10k for a machine and have it delivered in the condition mine was, good luck to you then. Most people out there generally take something back and demand a refund or a replacement when they purchase goods that are faulty or not as described. Im spending 10k+ and your saying my expectations are to high?? So if i was to buy another nib title from Stern i should expect flaws or issues i am then supposed to rectify myself? Dont think so buddy

Would love to know how many people actually think this is normal and acceptable on a nib game. Anyone else opened their machine to see the same amount of swirls which cannot be buffed nor polished out by the average collector?

WOW....

Im all for testing the machine before it is sent out, the last thing i want is to set up my new pinball only to find something is not working correctly or at all. Everything a consumer buys is tested before being sent out. But let me ask you this, in the 19kms that your bike was tested was it delivered to you with scratches all over the paintwork form the 19kms then bike had travelled? Pretty sure if it did you would be crying about it mate, and also hitting up the dealer as to why your new bike which has only travelled 19kms looks the way it does with so little use. If this amount of damage is going to be done to the playfield within a few test games, why cant the manufacturer then buff or polish out these marks before it was sent if indeed these were caused from test plays.