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Anyone concerned about playfield issues JJP and Stern? Or seen them?

Hmm not really he should be sending pop replacements!


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Agreed, but I think this may be the best you’ll see from JJP given their financials.
No one has had issues with the replacement playfields so far apparently so maybe they have Identified the issue......
BTW......did Stern want your 👻 busters PF back?
 
its going to get very smelly in the states for jjp and stern , playfields look like they’re not fit for purpose.
Hope it all gets sorted satisfactory, as could be very bad for new pinballs and our great hobby.
 
What did spooky do for you in the end?


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To be fair, I don't have any chipping or bubbling or whatever under the posts so I installed the rubber washers only because Spooky said to do it. Then all my star posts disintegrated as I'd used the clear silicone (?) washers. I contacted them primarily to try to get them to warn everyone about using the correct washers but they just don't want to admit to anything publicly, so they just sent me a new set of the neoprene(?) washers and offered to replacement my star posts at a shipping cost of $30-40, which was obviously ridiculous. As it stands, I have no damage so am not complaining but I don't like the way the companies won't be transparent about whats going on. Also the washers they sent me look naff, but there you go.

What did they do for you?
 
Guys, I've told them (JJP) I will not take any games until this issue is solved. Rest assured UK buyers, we won't have this problem.

Great stance Phil.

How about Stern? They seem to have similar issues....

to be fair, I am getting more and more convinced that they dont care as people keep buying them so there's no incentive to change.
 
Stern not too bothered....Maybe because the 💰are with the operator market buyers...... and less so the collectors.
Operators perhaps less fussy over a bit of clear coat.
 
Given Stern's attitude I might pie off J Park for a while. North of 6k is a lot of money for me and I can't afford to get a dodgy play field. Massive shame as it's a dream theme and the game looks amazing
 
Stern not too bothered....Maybe because the 💰are with the operator market buyers...... and less so the collectors.
Operators perhaps less fussy over a bit of clear coat.
Are you saying you believe the operator market is much larger than the home collector market? I'd have thought it was exactly the reverse of that.
 
Even in the UK there are still places you can place games and get some cash from them. In the UK you have to target hipster pub/clubs, nostalgic venues or the top-tier arcades/barcades that still exist.

In the USA they're not a shadow of what they used to be, but you can still route them and get money off them. Many more places to choose from and the simple difference of America having tons more space than the UK ever did all adjust the dynamics massively.
 
i don't think it'd put me off buying JP . All my Stern games have been ok clear wise. JJP do have some issues though, Dialed In suffered from some initial scratching problems (clear not cured) and my POTC has the cracking round the posts ( I put larger ones on & washers). Seems to be a Mirco problem more than anything.
 
I'd have to see some figures to believe that. Sure there are a lot more places to play out there but I can't imagine there's more new machines going on site than into homes. Happy to be wrong.
I don’t believe Stern release figures in the public domain....
I could be wrong but I would hazard an educated guess, it’s all about keeping the production line spewing out pins:-

If there were boat loads of collectors then why only make 500-600 LEs per theme? I’m not buying into the exclusivity pitch....
Jeez, you can still even buy a Metallica MOP now NIB if you want one.....

There will be a larger margin to be made per pin from the home punters buying LEs + Premiums

Not so on Pros - hence Gary Stern saying recently that Pros prices too cheap.
I would say operators represent a much larger percentage of their overall sales therefore overall profits in bulk sales on Pros so surely this is their target market.
Also, much easier client to deal with vs the home buyer/ collector who is naturally more demanding with the longer warranty.
 
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I love how folks claim to know about JJPs financial situation. I think one of their investors is like a retired billionaire or something.


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I love how folks claim to know about JJPs financial situation. I think one of their investors is like a retired billionaire or something.


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Well..... I wonder:- Have a read of this about losing the company- does this not make you wonder about a financial situation?
Also, just because you have a billionaire investor doesn’t mean he’s constantly pumping the dollars in now does it!
Jack's reply
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Hi Scott, sorry you had to write this short e mail.
I understand your points. I’ll see what we can do to help in the situation.
Thanks, Jack
<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Jack subsequently called me and I posted the synopsis of this conversation after the call:
-----------
Jack called me. We got disconnected, he was driving, but the gist is he understands there are issues. He says that it is not the clearcoat, it is the installation of the playfield pieces. He said he does not blame Mirco. I know we all have differing opinions, but this is what he told me. He said he can't/won't do something special for me and not everyone else (which I certainly didn't ask for and do agree with him). He said he couldn't solve the problem in the next 5 minutes on the phone, which I understood and agreed with and we chit chatted a bit. He seems genuinely concerned with the email I sent him and he explained that he reads every email, positive and negative. He commented that my email was actually short compared to many others (his email I thought was sarcasm when he said that, I told him I appreciated the sarcasm as I did know it was long). We got disconnected around this point, I left him a VM letting him know how much I appreciated the call, that he didn't need to call me right back as I got the message he was conveying and that I would look forward to hearing from him soon about what can be done. He also said he wants to do what he can but he doesn't know if he can give us all we are asking for (or all I was asking for) as he doesn't want to lose the company over this (hey, it's what he said) but he knows there is an issue and wants to help. He also mentioned he knows that it's not all games affected, that the folks who post about this being a non issue is not who is concerned with and he wants to take care of his dedicated customers.
----------
 
Also, just because you have a billionaire investor doesn’t mean he’s constantly pumping the dollars in now does it!
You say that like it's a justification for not making good on selling a faulty product. If anything, it's the exact opposite.
 
You say that like it's a justification for not making good on selling a faulty product. If anything, it's the exact opposite.
No, I meant the Investors will not constantly pump money into the company (JJP). They invest X amount to the Board and expect a return on their investment. They are not there to constantly bail out a company who make poor business decisions once they receive capital investments.
 
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It will sink someone like JJP in two ways: they make owners right with populated playfields and that cost kills them
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Neil.....what was that you were saying about people having knowledge about the JJP financial situation?
Hows their top line doing, can he afford this? Will the billionaire throw Jack a lifeline 😂
 
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Yes dood, do another stevie wonder at it:

“...it will sink someone like JJP...”

I don’t know the situation but I had dinner with Jack and the investors family last year; the main investor guy (who’s name I shockingly can’t remember lol) sat next to me. We chatted a lot and I got the sense he was in this for the long haul.


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He was in this for the long haul!
That's exactly what the new investors at Heighway said too.
 
Toads, true, but to be clear; he didn't say it- but I got that impression.
 
So how far back does the Stern problem go. Do all those people with $50000 sealed Supreme pinballs have ****ed playfield?
 
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