Well, all I can say is I have no idea who to believe on this issue. Very divided opinion. My mate's AC/DC is heavily dimpled at 200-odd plays - but are you saying this will disappear the more it is used? That doesn't make a lot of sense, but I'm not saying you are wrong. I am however in the camp that thinks a $8k plus bnib pin should come with a super-hard, super-glossy clearcoat. At the end of the day it's close to, if not the most important & most looked at piece of a pin.

I think it is tongue in cheek about the dimples disappearing, basically the more the whole playfield is dimpled it starts to look flat again 

I think the hardness of the clear is a good point and read 60 days is a good time period up to 90 days. So imagine the playfields are just made and if Stern are doing the just in time manufacturing the playfields arrive maybe 1 week fresh. They are immediately assembled, packed and sent out - another 1 week. Then over to say Aus via ship and to distributors - about 2-3 weeks. So total of 5 weeks, so short of 3-4 weeks of full curing time if all the dates were tight for a 60 day wait period. Do they still stamp the playfield with the date of manufacturer (screening) as then you will have a good indication of potential softness.

And I still believe the quality of the ply is the other huge potential component but with a thick cured CC on it would have a better chance of dimple resistance.