Evaluation - Step One

The first step in the evaluation process is to assess the condition of the machine’s cabinet body, head, coin door and legs.

Classic Pinball Machine

The condition of the cabinet and associated parts are judged based on the following criteria:

  • If the original cabinet artwork is painted on, has the painted noticeably faded?

  • If the original cabinet artwork is a large decal (sticker), has any part of the decal been torn, ripped, or peeled off?

  • Is the cabinet dinged, scratched, or damaged in any way?  Has the cabinet been drilled for a lock bar that goes across the coin door or does it have any aftermarket modifications which may devalue it?

  • Is the coin door dented, rusted, or has any of the paint chipped off?

  • Are the legs bent or rusted?

 Here is an example of a very nice cabinet. 
The painted image is not damaged and the cabinet shows no dings, dents, or scratches.

When the cabinet gets so bad, a serious pinball restorer will spend hours and hours repainting a cabinet with a stencil kit.

The paint on some cabinets become so faded from sun exposure that they are in desperate need of being repainted.

Here is a cabinet from a documented home use only (HUO) pinball machine that sat in the same room for over 30 years. 

Some pinball manufacturers starting using decals on their cabinets, which were easy to peel off, leaving the cabinet looking horrible.

Here is another perfect example of a coin door.  No damage whatsoever.

Here is an example of a near flawless backbox. The paint is not faded and the wood is not damaged in any way.

Some cabinets become badly damaged when they are exposed to the elements, such as this machine that sustained water damage.

Here are 2 coin doors from a Bally Xenon.  The picture on the left shows a machine that was damaged by a break-in. Note the red color pattern on the bottom half was painted over in black when the cabinet damage was repaired.  The picture on the right shows a cabinet that has been drilled with extra holes that were used for a lock bar that went across the coin door to provide extra security.

The photo on the left is a Bally Rolling Stones with a dull and rusted coin door. The cabinet paint is also badly faded and in need of restoration. The photo on the right is the same Bally Rolling Stones machine that has been fully restored with a new coin door and the cabinet was repainted with a stencil kit.