Yes looks to me like the weak point is on the joint of the corner cabinet because of how thin the adjoining joint is. It may have a correlation with the quality and density of the plywood as well. The strongest joint is a full dove tail but I doubt they would consider going that route. I did have an idea, if Stern wanted to invest an extra couple of bucks in there production of machines they should consider adding metal L shaped brackets to support the inside structure corners and lessen the likelihood of having cabinets splitting apart when you fart close to them. Four metal support brackets would be cheap as hell and would probably pay for itself with not having all the callbacks for defects. While they are at it add a metal shooter lane protector. These machines can be made bulletproof with little investment and little effort. If Stern would realize that adding protection will reduce cost in the long run. -Lead a horse to water, but how do you get them to drink.

Typical plywood joint in cabinet.jpg

This is disappointing to see yet another factory defect from Stern. Add it to the growing list.... Bad playfields, bad node boards, bare bones incomplete code and now the cherry on the cake-flippin bad cabinet construction. Sounds like Stern needs to look for a quality control specialist and a good production line manager. Oh Vey!

Honestly who gives a rats ass about yesteryear. We do not live in the past-we live in the present, comparing shit to the good old days is irrelevant. Today's games are 3-10X the price and are being marketed not only to operators but home owner collectors that don't want their shit falling apart within weeks. People have a right to be concerned or upset.

The problem not only lies with the joining method and lack of bracing but also the adhesive used. There are different grades of adhesive and/or hot melt and there are some that are industrial strength and have tremendous bond strength. I can tell they are using cheap glue, formulas have come a long way over the last decade. Just like trying to find the right clear coat formula, they need to look into industrial strength hot melt glue.