Been following this for a long time and I also did not order Wonka. First JJP I did not order at all. Does not make a dent in the sales but it is the only thing I can do to make it clear that I am not accepting the bad quality and bad after sales. This is not in the spirit of JJP and it is sad to see that it eventually always boils down to money no mattter what the initial intentions of a company were.
But what puzzles me is this: times change, environmental laws change, everyting changes. But why do the playfields not change? I can think of several ways to make playfields completely differently than the "wood with ink on it" that the manufacturers keep clinging onto that would hold up much better than the current playfields. They would need no protectors, no cliffy's no nothing.
It is the same as with the clinging on to the DMD for so long, the manufacturers just do not want to change or are too set in their old ways to be able to think further than what they know. Very shortsighted if you ask me, because what they know has changed and they are not able to return to the old ways because of legislation. Instead of solving the problem, they just keep silent and keep on doing what they know, but does not work anymore.
Changing the playfield to something better does not take the soul out of pinball, it may just be that it could bring back the joy of it. Without the need for clearcoating there is also no worrying about the clearcoat.