The clear coat on Sterns have been very good for a long time.
I can speak for the following titles for which the factory clear coat appears to be very thick and shiny on
ACDC
X Men
Star Trek
Mustang
The Walking Dead
After plenty of games with new balls, I cant/haven't yet seen any ball swirl marks at all.
It would be good if Stern released a video of their playfields being manufactured but I guess that is a trade secret they want to keep secret.
I can't see why they would have changed the clear coat process just for KISS but given Stern are great at keeping manufacturing secrets, I guess we will never know.
A friend has a Avatar, Big Buck Hunter and a Transformers and the clear on those are also excellent.
Maybe as the years go past, the products companies like Stern are using are just getting better with technology.
The video of KISS definately makes the Playfield art look amazing.
If the Aussie dollar was the same as ACDC, I wonder would KISS outsell ACDC in Australia ?