Here's a picture of mine with the Classic Arcades Insert decals installed. And one of my topper (you can barely see the topper, but it's the only pics i have...it was BAAAAD) with new Decals too. FYI my game was as dirty/bad if not worse then the OP's when i got it. It took a LOT of cleaning, time and love, but it wasn't horribly expensive to get it to where it is in these pictures.
My topper was cracked too. I repaired it with bondo, painted it with White epoxy appliance paint, painted the screen silver and installed new cloud decals (which i think you can still buy). New Clear Posts, new bumper bodies, new flippers etc.
My point is mine was just as bad, and ended up looking nearly new for what was mainly time on my end. His game isn't as thrashed as it looks, mainly dirty and insert wear (which may of just been a case of someone removing the Mylar incorrectly and lifting all the graphics). Yeah the starting price is high, but the OP seems to be aware of that that. The PF just looks dirty for the most part. And if you take the time to remove what's left of the clear coat/letters on the inserts with a tiny flat head screwdriver and patience (like i did) the decals come out looking REALLY good.
IMO $1800 would be a solid price in this condition. And with time about 2-400 in new parts you can have a REALLY nice Whirlwind for as little as $2000!
If you think his price is too much, then don't buy it, it's that simple! No need to get your blood pressure up over it.
If i hadn't just snatched up a Taxi I'd be first in line to try to work out a deal!
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