flipper parts found in rebuild kits are not created equally i have found too.

I bought some black lightning flippers from Marco and they are really nice. Glossy finish except for the logo and lightning. Would these be similar to the PBRs?

So I am interpreting this to mean PBR's are "better"?

What does the underside of each bat look like? Any structural differences?

Differences in cost to mitigate the physical differences?

I purchased some Data East logo flippers from PBL and same thing. Logo isn't crisp and flashing around the bottom edge. But better than what I took out.

Wow thanks ForceFlow for the info...cost less and better bats.
Many times I look for the better price, thinking the parts will be the same.
In this case, I would have been fine. But glad to have the info.

Well, Pinball Resource has been in this game a long time, and strive to keep prices affordable that's in their power to do.

I can't tell for sure from the pic, but the one from Pinball Life looks to be the later style (1994-1999) with a larger circle around the "W" and the PBR looks to be the correct narrow circle for T2 era.

I have about 20 new white ones from Pinball Life, and they look like the ones on the left. I do have a few that look like the one on the right, but I am not sure where they came from. I don't use them since the logo seems way too big. Wonder if they get parts from different vendors at times.

A long time ago Pinball Life sold two varieties of flipper bat: one with the narrow ring around the "W", and one with the larger ring. There are different part numbers for the two varieties, but it sounds like that distinction is being lost.

I believe you are correct. Suppliers may be using whatever they have instead of differentiating.

Everyone here loves to give shout outs to Terry at PBL. Just don't worry about these minor differences.

Those would be some minor differences alright. They are the same exact part from the same exact manufacturer.
Terry.

Please post a picture of the uncrisp logo. All the DE bats we have here are very crisp.
Terry.

Rick from Planetary Pinball in control of all parts with a Williams "W" on them. He owns the rights.

Wms used 2 different logos over the years. Up until No Fear they used a thinner W and it faced one way. The then went to a fatter W and it faced the other way. Local USA vendors made these bats.

The bats we are now buying (and everyone will be buying once their supply runs out) have to flow through Planetary Pinball originally. These bats are not made from the original tooling, and I assume they are not made by the original manufacturer either, but I have no way of knowing this for sure.

We have no control over the quality or the manufacturing source at this point.

Terry.

The other and most important difference between the pbl and pbr flipper bats is that at pbl you can order the parts online, pay, and receive in a couple days while at pbr you have to mail a silly check off and wait for that crap to arrive first.

"silly"? That's a pretty lame swipe at PBR. If you want to support PBL, that's fine...share the positives of that company. Most people are familiar and comfortable writing a check, and you only have to wait for the first order, and sometimes no even then. I don't know what the diffs are, but a check certainly isn't the "most important difference"...

There are probably no less than 5 manufacturers of flipper bats - the "W" facing the wrong way is a completely different part #. Some are original tooling and some are new tooling, some were made by IPB, some were made by TPF, etc ... any "W" tooled parts from PBR are used with our permission as well.

Disagree. "Most" people don't even have a checkbook any more. This isn't the 80's. Checks are obsolete replaced by online bill pays and electronic payments. Even employers usually don't write checks anymore. When you open a bank account they use to give you checks. Now those are optional and you walk out with a card. I suppose he wants to *fax* the receipt to us as well.

I disagree with you. In this case, you get a money order from your bank/credit union/check cashing store OR electronically have a check mailed from your bank directly to PBR. When I do certain work for clients I expect payment by cash or check. Those without cash on hand either bring it to me within 48 hours, write me a check or, since like you, some are not living in the 1950's-1990's and don't have paper checks. They go to their app or financial institution's website and have a check mailed to me. That works as well.

Otherwise pay more for the product or service as the electronic payment systems charge for their service (they charge the vendor accepting the payment) which gets passed on to you eventually.

I like cash the best. However, for transactions that involve shipping a product, cash does not work.