Bumping....have you had a chance to get into any of these Rob?

You will get good results from the CPR playfield swap if you do the following:

1) Never trust any of the dimples. IMO it would be better without them because they are ballparky at best. Even the Bally playfields were this way. When you do a swap yourself, it is an opportunity to layout all the posts and assemble everything with a level of precision that wasn't originally achieved at the factory. These games were mass-produced. Some turned-out better than others. By doing your own playfield swap you can make yours perfect.

I use rulers and calipers to spot all of the posts and use the original playfield as a guideline in reference to the pre-drilled "thru" holes already in the playfield. Taking the extra time is worth it. Why hurry? Look at the swap as a multi-session project.

2) One thing you'll notice about the CPR EBD and Fathom playfields is that they drilled the lamp socket holes the wrong size. They are drilled for #44 style bayonet sockets rather than #555 wedge sockets and must be opened-up if you plan to use the #555 lamps. This can be done without damaging the clear coat with a Dremel tool with the sanding drum. It takes a while though. This was an oversight by CPR. If they would have drilled the playfields to the correct sizes either style lamp socket would have fit well.

The Illinois Pinball (IPB) Eight Ball Deluxe playfields were superior to the CPR EBD playfields in several ways but the CPR playfields aren't too bad and you can get good results with either.

Some of the features that were better about the IPB playfields were:

1) The artwork registration is better.

2) The colors are more accurate to OEM. Contrary to what anyone tells you, the areas under the plastics were not the pale while some think it was. Just look at other Ballys from the era. Most were white and they didn't "yellow" to the level EBD would have had to have yellowed if it were originally the same white. The theme of EBD was a custard hue as the cabinet and playfield apron were too.

3) The wood seemed to be a little better (less warpage).

4) The lamp socket holes are the correct diameter.

5) The pre-drilled thru holes are more accurate.

6) The playfields are not dimpled (for me it's better without them since I don't go by them anyway). This is really a non-issue because most of the CPR dimples aren't so far off they would be exposed.

The CPR EBD playfields are definitely nice pieces too so I don't mean to trash them. The IPB ones were just a little better that's all. Gene had decades of experience in the industry and was a stickler for accuracy on the EBD and Kiss playfields. Both IPB and CPR had "seconds" and rejects for various issues though so that's something to look out for too if buying either.

If you take the time to assemble either one nicely, you will end-up with a showpiece you can be proud of. Just don't get too hung-up on the dimples. You can use them if you want but it's not that much harder to spot the holes yourself. You can use the dimple as a ballpark reference if you want and then position the post or lamp socket that is supposed to go there and tweak the location some by eyeballing it and get good results. Use more precise measurements if you are a perfectionist.

Once you install the plastics you can't see the white or custard areas underneath so it really isn't a deal-breaker either way. I've done both playfields plus several NOS EBD playfield swaps and always get great results regardless.

If and when CPR decides to manufacture another batch of EBD playfields (and they should because it is probably the single most in-demand title out there), I'm sure they will address most of the issues the 1st edition had. They seem pretty hard-headed about the colors but that's OK. They are still beautiful.

If you are lucky enough to find any of these playfields you have something that a lot of people would love to have and would spend big bucks to get their hands on.

Thanks for the info Gatecrasher. EBD is a game many remember playing even if their not pinheads. Luckily there are a lot out there....just really nice ones with stellar playfields are harder to find...game got a lot of play on location.

Eight Ball Deluxe is one of the few early Bally SS titles that is worth a $1,000 (give or take) playfield swap. There are a few other titles like Fathom and Kiss, but for the majority of the other titles you really need to have a sentimental interest because you will probably have a harder time getting much of a return out of them if your goal is to simply flip it for profit.

I don't think the majority of people doing playfield swaps do them just to flip the machine though. They do it because they want to keep the machine.

Even after Kevin showed you the *original separations* that have no "creme" there, you're still trumpeting this nonsense?

Even proof you're wrong doesn't change your opinion.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/will-cpr-run-eight-ball-deluxe-playfields?tu=kevincpr

Make them the way you want.

I'll still buy them.

Rob....any update on getting any of these started soon?