I have one in my basement that looks exactly the same. I have tried everything and the color won't come back. i was planning on repainting it but I thought better of it and found a replacement PF.

A Magic Eraser (melamine foam) wetted with isopropyl alcohol will do wonders on those areas. Go easy, the foam is mildly abrasive and if you are too aggressive you will eat through the lacquer top coat. After you get it cleaned, it will be dull and have a white film on it. Clean off the film and it will still be dull. You'll think you messed it up. But polish it with a very mild auto polish and the shine will come back. I use Treasure Cove's Power Cut #1 to polish after cleaning with the foam.

If you are going to do a Mylar removal and clearcoat, you can be pretty aggressive with the foam and get it really clean since you aren't concerned if you remove the lacquer top coat. If you just want to clean the area, err on the safe side and clean until it looks nice.

Practice on a spot under a plastic or a ramp if you are worried. The results are worth it though, it really helps.

That's an example of being too aggressive with sandpaper.

that was pretty bad, your original question, I do not think that PF is that bad. Not bright but still in good condition

Forgot, congrats on the new pin

Just an FYI. I contacted them about 3 months ago to see about the status on the taxi playfield. They said that if their artist submitted his work today it would be at least 3 years before it was cut.

As to your original question, the yellowing is primarily a discoloration of the clear coat. Unfortunately, it's not something you can clean away. Unless you rub the cc off, as you unfortunately learned.

No, at least in my experience. It's usually not the inserts themselves, but the cracked/fractured clearcoat on top of the inserts. To do it "right" involves removing them and basically restoring them by sanding/polishing with increasingly fine paper/polish.

As examiner stated, the yellowing won't disappear, but you can get the dirt out with the foam, which really helps. Here's some work I did on BOP. Click and download the images at the bottom rather than looking at them using the forum software. It isn't night and day, but it is definitely an improvement.

DSC_6922_(Custom).JPG DSC_6961_(Custom).JPG

No, no clear coat. Tore it down, cleaned it up, and touched up some areas.

Pics here:
http://kcpins.com/archives/309

If you want to see anything else, let me know.

My taxi was discolored too. The treasure cove polishing kit brought it back to like new swirl marks carbon tracks and mylar came up sniny and new. I swear by the stuff now.

The guy I sold it to actually said when he saw it " That playfield looks amazing, is it a repro one?"
I said "No, I just cleaned it up." His response, " I have never seen one that shiny."

that's awesome! mine is to far gone for that though and I suspect more damage than just UV and grime. you can rub your finger on the spots without Mylar and the paint starts to powder off. I'm thinking that it got wet at some point.

the good part is that a fellow pinsider (out-west) has a restored and CC replacement that he's selling me. now I'm actually looking forward to swapping out the playfield and refinishing the cabinet over the winter.