Stock answer - you’re probably going need to tighten your nuts and buy shinier balls.

Hard to tell in the picture. If the non black parts kind of have a satin finish, time for new ones.

LTG : )_

Well first of all we need a poll for such a serious question delt but i would just be safe and replace them personally. Why risk ruining a 8-10K game over ten dollars worth of balls?

Incidentally. Not dumb question of the day. Not even the dumbest one I've had in the last hour.

LTG : )

I check my balls with a "10x jewelers loupe" - not only old balls but also new balls. 10x really helps you see stuff you can't see with just your eyes. You can grab a "cheap" jewelers loupe for under $10 and it will last you a life time. They are great for checking fuse values and other hard to see items also.

Full disclosure I have been selling loupes for over 20 years so I always have lots of them around. Which just made me realize I should be listing some of them on eBay with my used pinball parts as helpful as they are when working with pinball machines.

OK guys now that I set you up go ahead and have some fun with the "checking my balls" statement above. I hear it all the time anyway - "pretty sad when you need a 10x loupe to find them" is the one I hear most often!

Those look like Back Alley pinballs. I had one made that looked like an eye.

Yeah, Back Alley hand painted those, but they can wear out just like a regular pinball.

are these Pinballs toast??

No but this is.

toast (resized).jpg

When in doubt, change 'em out. That's my motto anyway. Pinballs are cheap compared to the potential damage the worn, pitted balls can do.

You can get new ones from Back Alley creations, they're not that expensive if I recall correctly but, you can get pretty much whatever design you'd like on them.

Not black paint, Put a pinball in some evaporust and see what happens

Yeah it is some type of chemical reaction that gives it that black look.

Using balls that are worn like that will eventually damage the playfield and other parts.
Balls are easy and cheap to replace, so I suggest that you get new ones and use these for your slingshot before you damage more expensive items on your machine.