Tales from the Crypt
Data East, 1993So this is the TFTC Prototype I picked up from the warehouse deal.
As you can see from the pics it is FILTHY!
Everything top side needs full teardown and tumbling of the hardware (slight corrosion) but the underside of the playfield looks brand new!
A few scuffs and wood chunks missing around the cab but all that will get putty, filled, painted....
All in all I plan to document most of it on this thread.
So let's start at the beginning right now with some "dirty pics" lol.
Wow...impressive...uh...ya...
Makes sense though, how many "clean" crypts have your seen. 
Oh, and just some advice...you should probably get some new rubbers and a few lights...
Quoted from Mudflaps:Some people will look at that and see junk. I see opportunity! What a fun project... keep us posted!
The main reason I got it was because it was a prototype and you don't see them very often (inserts in the top of the head, slightly different art here and there).
Quoted from jwwhite15:Oh, and just some advice...you should probably get some new rubbers and a few lights...
Ha! But that's only after I finish going through every board and plug in the game and actually get the balls to fire this thing up 
Quoted from johnwartjr:The dirt hopefully protected the playfield nicely
Sure did. The Drop hole looks like it has virtually NO wear. Something tells me the game was maintained pretty nicely on location and then all the dirt just came from the last decade sitting in the warehouse when no one was playing it.
P.S. I'm sure i'll be hitting you for roms for 4 games pretty soon 
The tombstone on "mine" is wobbly, like it's not secured correctly or something. Haven't had a chance to look at it up close. Maybe you can find out how it's mounted?
whoa...haha..very dirty. Looks to be in good shape though! No broken plastics? When you get it all running, get the flipper finger mod from ebay. Only 20 bucks and I think it looks sweet!
Add some mouse poop, and that's pretty much exactly how mine looked 2 years ago. It cleaned up nice, I'm sure yours will too. I didn't tumble anything though - just pretty much cleaned it up and got it working. I learned my way around the game pretty good in the process, so if you run into any issues, let me know. Have fun!
Quoted from Crash:Which ones are you talking about? The slingshot rings have large cracks.
So when your wife ages and gets cracks in her face you going to just replace her too? 
Quoted from dlbuller:whoa...haha..very dirty. Looks to be in good shape though! No broken plastics? When you get it all running, get the flipper finger mod from ebay. Only 20 bucks and I think it looks sweet!
I didnt like those cause they were just stickers. I put in the scared stiff flipper bats in mine. Looks pretty good.
Quoted from centerflank:So when your wife ages and gets cracks in her face you going to just replace her too?
WTF, of course!
Quoted from markmon:WTF, of course!
Ive asked around if upgrading to a newer model is cost efficient and it just isnt, apparently its also frowned upon by your friends older models too....
Quoted from videobrain:Can we see pics of the proto backbox inserts and alternate artwork?
As soon as I start ripping into this thing there will be plenty of pics to come
Quoted from Don1:Clear coat over the dust, and add a ton of cobwebs all over it, I think you may be on to something then
HA! I like it!
Quoted from dsuperbee:Still in better shape than my dw!
When do we start? !?!?!
Tonight?
Quoted from BowlingJim:Mine was dirty but not that dirty. Cleaned up nice and looks great with LED's
jvespoint,
How long does it take to install LED's? Im contemplating getting it done on mine but am curious as to the cost and labor involved?
On TFTC it was a little more difficult because the GI lights are stapled on the bottom of the playfield. I had to take off a lot of things from the top. I think it took me a couple of hours but it was well worth the effort. I think it looks great with the blue.
I used the cheaper bulbs that Pinballlife sells so it was probably around $25-$35 for the whole game.
Are you going to do some video of this as you go along? Like how many shop rags and bottles of Novus it will take to get that playfield presentable?
Quoted from Crash:Are you going to do some video of this as you go along? Like how many shop rags and bottles of Novus it will take to get that playfield presentable?
HA! Answer = A Lot!
I will try and take as many pictures and videos as I can.
Here's my "plan of attack":
1. Air Compressor off as much crap and dust top side as I can.
2. A lightly moist towel (or 10) to get off most of the dirt layers.
3. Then probably a little simple green on a rag (or similar) around the PF.
4. Then apply Novus 2
Then I want to get it up and running, check all switches, lights e.t.c.
Then tear it all down and do the REAL restore/re-build.
I also know the very person, close friend actually who has the original resin cast of that door knocker and the mold to make more Working on getting it to Justin.
Quoted from fattrain:HA! Answer = A Lot!
I will try and take as many pictures and videos as I can.
Here's my "plan of attack":
1. Air Compressor off as much crap and dust top side as I can.
2. A lightly moist towel (or 10) to get off most of the dirt layers.
3. Then probably a little simple green on a rag (or similar) around the PF.
4. Then apply Novus 2
Then I want to get it up and running, check all switches, lights e.t.c.
Then tear it all down and do the REAL restore/re-build.
I'd be careful that you get the dirt out of all the components before you do much more.
Mmmm, looks like someone took a can of spray foam and went nuts! What's the green light in the backbox anyway? Looks like someone was trying to show off their pimped out 20 year old powerhouse computer.
And a quick video (HD) showing the dirt!
(My can of compressed air sucked since it didn't have the straw but you get the overall idea of filth from the lighting on the playfield, haha)
Great pics, thanks. Wish mine had the inserts in the backbox! Looks like your knocker head is a resin test cast from the final mold. Pretty crazy that they would send a machine out with that on! One playfield difference I noticed from mine in the video is the writing under the captive ball, could you take a pic of that area please?
I am fairly certain my TFTC is a prototype or sample. Don't have the green hotdogs though.
Here are some details that lead me to believe this;
The playfield mode lettering is different. Fonts and labels are not what you'll typically see.
No backbox warning lettering. I don't think it was ever painted over.
Speaker grills are black. I've since replaced them with the standard artistic ones.
No buy-in button. No cutout or indication it was supposed to have one.
The scoop playfield cutout is larger than standard. I realized this after I tried to install a Cliffy.
The guy I bought it from was a designer for Gameworks. Specifically the one in Chicagoland. He mentioned he got it directly from DataEast. I'm assuming, just like Stern, usee GameWorks as thier local test location.
Here are some pics.
https://picasaweb.google.com/103709188511291212724/TFTC#
https://picasaweb.google.com/103709188511291212724/TftcUploads#
Jeff
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