I am sure there are some HEP TAF ads from the past you can go off of but $20k is ridiculous. What did you pay for it with 250 plays? that might be a good start.

This is a work of art.

i'm going nuts over the price over here...

What does hep charge now?

How has hep's process changed since 2013. I know he has said on here that his older stuff is less thorough, but I do not know what he considers older at this point.

Those would be big questions to answer to determine value.

I do, I sell all my games for what I have in them or fair market value and they all sell in 24-48 hours. Last game I sold on here sold in 4 minutes. It is hobby not my job.

I mean it is kinda hard to compare, depending on what is added or done to the machine. You need a donor machine... so off the bat you have to find a halfway decent players condition TAF.... the add a PF, cabinet, decals... and whatever else you want added (standard chrome, SS, brass, powder). It can adds up....

you will not be selling this one at $20k.

Buy a players taf at $6k, pay HEP $6k, and $3k in parts and you can have one for $15k or less.

And a more recent and better build. 8 years ago things have to have gotten a lot better with High Ends.

Definitely great condition. A 2013 restoration was like 3 Presidents ago. 155 plays after NVRAM installed. Did the NVRAM get installed during the resto or 7 years later? Not knocking the price, someone might buy it but prob not regular Pinside people, maybe Facebook or craigslist. Could probably get 12k to 15k. It is my all-time favorite and would love to own this one, just not at this price. I could do a decent Fishtales plus 8k.

No way that's a 2013 restore. False advertising.

I'd go 20 on TAF and that beautiful IJ sitting next to it.....

Always interesting to test my memory on these.
This is the game.
Looks like I did it back in 2012 so fairly close on the date.
I remember it well it was done for Jon Brady owner of Brady Distributing at the time.
http://christopherhutchins.com/gallery/album411
I will dig up the restoration gallery on it. It was a challenging one I believe.

Found it.Here is the actual restoration log on it.
http://christopherhutchins.com/gallery/album305

hell of a memory

I don’t think the price is that far off, as someone said you “could” buy a pin cheaper and pay Chris to do a HEP restore, but clearly recent pin sales show that we have some collectors with WAY more money than patience. Some collectors would rather just pay for completed work than wait..

Good luck with the sale

For reference - I sold a 2008 HEP TAF for 10.5k in trade/cash at the end of 2020. Sold/traded it for what I purchased it for as it was going back to the previous owner and a stand-up Pinsider.

I don’t think the price is too far off either. Always have the pricing police in these threads. I wouldn’t guessed people would pay $13,000 for a tron le and pay $20,000 plus for a jersey jack pirates or guns and roses either. But they do.

That's a hell of a deal. I would think a HEP TAF would be worth more.

i just spent 6500.00 on an F14 a few months ago... (yeah i know, stupid me) but the machine is gorgeous.

all 3 much better games.

It is still a F14 though, just a little prettier. This hurts me, that is like $5k over what I would ever pay for one.

I’ll throw out 10,500. It’s eight years old and not rare for the title.

What does that have to do with anything i said? Nothing...

I think he is referring to the labor charged to do his F-14.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/hep-this-week-9-17-18/page/162#post-5927173

You're not stupid and that was the first game I ever owned. More impressive then seeing another A title done by HEP for the hundredth time. If you ever sold I would likely be one of the first to inquire since I'm stupid enough to probably buy it.

The fact of the matter is it is more expensive to get an HEP game done today than 8 years ago. The base game is more expensive now. Plus the older ones have the better clear coat. The fact of the matter is a game is reborn once it is restored by HEP. The game is better than new and plays wonderful! It’s condition since the restore is really based on how well it is cared for and how much it is played. My CV was a 2009 HEP and it looks and plays as good as it did in 09. (Actually may even play better)

Add a 1 in front of the price and let's see what the reaction to that is...
The market is high right now and this is an outstanding example so the market should bear what its worth and from what you've posted about just throwing a number out there that's probably a I really don't want to sell it price but if someone wants to pony up those kind of bucks that's there business glws

The greatest selling game of all time! HEP restored! Straight up restore. No frills/ No chrome/No powder.. A beautiful game!
Disclaimer. I put in an offer. The market will determine value. GLWTT

Crazy thing I just found while doing something else on my channel is that I have an actual game play video of this game when I finished it years ago.
I can't remember why it was done or needed but it is there so I unlocked it for a bit just for fun.
I couldn't care less what the game was worth back then and even less now but it is so cool to see the longevity of some of these projects.Where they pop up and the story presented verses what I know or experienced at the time..Sometimes they are accurate sometimes a bit far fetched, inaccurate or completely clueless but it is interesting.

In your opinion. I’m sure you know everything as we can see.

Personally, I hope it sells for 20k. HEP reconditioned and you can have it today vs buying a diff, shipping to HEP, and waiting 6 months and still costs you 15k.

A crapper TAF just sold here from Lloyd’s auctions. $26000 AUD.plus buyers premium!! Buyer has paid in excess of $10K over current pricing.......and a tech is doing some repairs to it today. Auction prices have been stupidly newbie here the last few months. More money than sense some people!

Give me this HEP version any day and as OP has said this is just a starting price. I’m sure a good deal could be worked out here. MinusWorlds GLWS. Looks stunning.

So I am not familiar with HEP restorations, but looks amazing nonetheless. Just curious why it was worth it to start with a machine in the worst of conditions. Unless it has sentimental value, I would hope there were better examples out there to rework. I would actually prefer an original HUO machine for this price, but that is just my opinion.

There are lots of beautiful hep games out there with no wear and low plays. But I want to see one that hep restored and was played hard again. Any photos out there of old hep games that have been routed or lived hard lives since?

Whether you start with a turd or lightly routed machine they are going to be very similar once HEP is done with them. He is just that good and is the best in the business. There is no second place or anyone who is even close because nobody has his painting skills. So instead of paying a premium just to acquire a nice machine why not save some money and find a machine in lesser condition. The labor and parts costs might end up costing less if you send him a nicer example however it might not be enough to offset paying a premium to get a nicer base machine. Seeing him bring a machine back from the dead is one of the neatest things.

I'm in the same camp as you and would much rather have a nice original HUO machine however we are in the minority. While a HEP machine will always be in nicer condition then a HUO or NIB machine anyone with money can send him a machine to restore. However people cannot get in a time machine and go back to the 1990's and buy a NIB or HUO machine. Yes, every now and then a HUO or NIB machine from a few decades ago will come up for sale but it's not that often. And some of the HUO machines from the 1990's were neglected and in rough shape since they were in some rich persons house who didn't even know how to take off the glass to change balls or wipe down the PF.

I do, let me know if you need anything

I think that is a good estimate. Looks like most of the older HEP restores are running between 10-12500. With the market as stupid as it is maybe a little more.

I don’t think the idea is to start with the worst machine possible and restore it.
You need to have a good canvas to create a painting.
On the turn side a machine is only original once. I don’t think you want to take a true low play survivor or home use machine and do a ground up nuts and bolts restore.
The answer is somewhere in the middle.