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Nudging of any kind during gameplay is now prohibited by the manufacturer.
IKEA - Stern's new cabinet replacement program partner. The philosophy is, if you think you can do better then do it yourself.
They'll include a bottle of GB original insert glue with every NIB machine as a precautionary measure.
Quoted from TimeBandit:This actually looks like the laminate separating, not the joint failing. Yes, it's still something going bad, but I think the issue may be with the ply they are using and not with suggested manufacturing changes.
Clearly as previous pictures show they have adjusted the underlying design substrate without sufficient prior real world testing.
You can't expect the outer structure to maintain its integrity if it is built on a poor foundation.
Either it is just another deliberate attempt at more cost cutting to save on the overall BOM or they have decided that once again early adopter purchasers can be the beta testers and any fallout from it will as per the ghosting playfields be addressed on a clandestine case by case basis. If the fallout and cost of returns is deemed acceptable by those controlling the purse strings (Hagerty Peterson) then expect to see more of the same in future releases.
I'm just glad I stopped rewarding mediocrity a long time ago.
Quoted from zr11990:I think the solution is for stern to raise their prices again.
Pushing the pricing envelope and wait for the tipping/breaking point (BM66) then pull back slightly on the next couple of releases. Then watch everyone nodding their heads in approval at the great pricing strategy that was planned from the outset.
They could theoretically repeat this price cycle for years with every few releases being over the top pricing on a particular title then drop it back for the next couple.
Quoted from Squizz:Exactly 100%
Prices go up every year! and we get less and less.
This is just BS.
The optimal way to ensure the current manufacturing/pricing philosophy continues at Stern is to choose to give it tacit approval as a consumer by rewarding it financially.
Quoted from rubberducks:If people keep buying more and more of their games as quality drops, I'd have a hard time not calling that explicit approval. Especially as almost all of the long time buyers or hobbyists are fully cognisant of what's happening.
Yes, and even with full cognisance of the situation one can see the effects of post purchase rationalisation having a major influence on an individual buyer's justification.
Overlooking the pragmatic present negatives (having to do your own running repairs on basic cabinet construction) and accentuate the largely faith based future positives (Lyman and by proxy Stern will make it right eventually).
Any manufacturer who thinks that marketing and its related underlying psychological aspects don't play a crucial role in a consumer purchasing decision needs their head read. 
Quoted from Colsond3:Wait, the LE doesn't come standard with a shaker? LOL. Really getting your money's worth from Stern. #Anti-Stern Army
Well it is a "limited" edition.
Quoted from Black_Knight:Really? I believed he saved pinball from disappearing. Wasn't aware he did anything to take over the market and become a monopoly.
Maybe some of these cost savings help the industry survive.
I'm not apologizing for QC issues but show me one other industry or product that hasn't implemented cost savings.
Stern is cannibalising the current market though there is no doubt about that. The boutiques that have popped up over the last few years are finding/going to find that out the hard way through lack of incoming cash flow.
Personally I wouldn't have minded if Stern had moved on to other ventures back in 2008 when their back was to the wall. The core pinball consumer base will always be there and it would have made it much easier for some of these new entrants to get a foothold with the spinoff is that pinball would have seen much more innovation over the last 10 years with genuine competition between companies trying to gain market dominance. And those companies would have in their own best interests been actively trying to expand the consumer base rather than taking the easy option and simply tailoring their product releases to the existing one for a quick cash grab.
The pinball landscape would have been much different in 2017 had Stern not been around with I predict at least half a dozen flourishing manufacturers who would have filled the vacuum created by Stern's departure rather than one dominant player and half a dozen floundering companies currently fighting over Stern's table scraps.
Quoted from DaveH:A world without Tron? Bah.
But don't worry. Stern is moving in the direction of not being around long. They kept new pinball alive for years when others couldn't. And now they are cost cutting that goose until it dies.
No obvious succession plan in place and the average age of upper level management is mid to late 60's/early 70's.
Scorched earth policy is the interim short term strategy with broader long term consequences.
Price everyone out of the market but the most hardcore home collectors who will overlook/justify QC and other manufacturing defects combined with alienating the one segment (operators) who are the only viable option in revitalising the hobby with new entrants and mainstream appeal.
Quoted from ledge:even 2001 - right thru to ACDC (2012) for me ....
solid.
Absolutely. I count my BIBLE as one of the last rock solid (pardon the pun) pins in terms of materials used and overall build quality from Stern.
The real slide in quality only started gradually after that with the biggest drop in the last 12-18 months.
Quoted from rubberducks:Stern's response to competition has been to release more machines, whilst selectively increasing fixed costs (art, and LCD animation on Aerosmith) that increase perceived quality, whilst savagely cutting variable - i.e. per unit - costs (cabinet, playfields, lockdown bar, service rails, spike, rehashing old layouts). Though they're also cheaping out badly on some fixed costs too ... some machines are being released poorly engineered with too little testing (GB & BM'66), and there's plenty of code abandonment.
Ultimately, they're offering an open door to JJP, and other potential high volume competitors; AP & HomePin, maybe Spooky. They might be rolling in the profits generated by their obscene and unsustainable cost cutting in the short term, but the day is soon coming when Stern will be making a minority of pinball machines produced. Their actions will lose them many thousands of sales in the long run, and ensure that the market grows more slowly than it could, whilst their market share falls more swiftly. They're establishing a really shitty reputation, and it's going to be very hard for them to shake it.
Spot on - when you see quite obvious cutbacks in the basic elements of a machine at the expense of adding ultimately superfluous accoutrements to justify a price increase the manufacturing ideology is clearly off kilter.
It's a simple philosophy, but when build quality goes back up to match the price increases I'll start buying NIB again.
Having to organise post purchase playfield swaps or monitor ongoing cabinet integrity just isn't worth my time.
Quoted from Wakky:Bloody annoying at most..
Ok im going to list some pins by your abbreviations can you guess what they are?
BR
Ch
Bf
Lw
Tftc
Stpro
Dd
Eatpm
Ft
Pz
Doing your head in yet? Would be much easy and reader friendly just to say what they are instead of abbreviations...
Only reason you say its been like this as people allowed it...
Don't forget FW.
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