As others have mentioned, I believe it depends on the game. If you can pick up a beat up SS for $800 and you could get your hands on a CPR playfield for $599, your total investment, not including your free labour to do the swap, isn't so bad. But with the market what it is right now (at least here in Canada) a crappy machine is still selling for $1000 to $1500 and that's if there isn't a bidding war. So the CPR option isn't as viable.

And are people just buying playfields and holding on to them to drive up prices? A couple months ago a CPR Firepower playfield sold for $1200 USD on Ebay. To me, that seems crazy but it's what the market will bear. When I was looking for a CPR playfield for my Firepower a year ago, if a hardtop like this was available, I would have seriously considered it given the price point. I know that I will never get back what I've sunk into my Firepower but the hardtop would have reduced my total investment and would have cut my loses if I ever decided to sell it.

I believe the hardtop is a great option for the average person, not the collector who even turns his nose up at machines with CPR playfields in them. I would love to snag a beat up project machine for $750 and would be happy to install a hardtop in it. This seems to be the best option for those high production run games that are worn down to the wood that someone wants to bring back to life.

And even though I already have a CPR playfield in my Firepower, my vote would be for a Firepower hardtop seeing as there were only 17000+ of them produced!

Patiently waiting for Black Knight. Okay, maybe not patiently. My money is burning a hole in my pocket. This is what I have to work with. Beyond saving if you ask me and the top playfield isn't much better. What would be nice is if someone posted some pictures of the work in progress on the BK hardtop!

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Yeah, just let a ball roll down the playfield slowly and watch how it wanders. Working perfectly my ass!

That and a few touch ups and it will play like your old Space Shuttle!

Can I pre-pay for a hardtop while I wait???!!! I might just start the tear down and the sanding now...

It almost ended up at my house but we were haggling over less than $100. So I told him to keep it. He hasn't sold it so I still get to play it when I go over to his house!

Are we close enough that I can start my tear down or should I wait a bit and play it a few more times...?

I've asked for shipping charges. The say $30 to $40. Who knows what our friends at Canada Customs will ding us as it comes across the border. I'm waiting on a Black Knight. If you happen to order something and get it before I do, let me know how you make out.

Thanks!

Sorry guys, off topic...

Can't figure it out. It's up for sale again even though I'm not sure if he is serious. The saga continues...

Looks like my Black Knight! Brutal!

How close are we to seeing Black Knight for sale? We gotta be close right...?

Any Canucks out there purchase a hardtop yet? Do we have an idea what we are being charged to get them across the border?

If I dream hard enough when I go to sleep tonight for Black Knight to be released maybe it will actually happen...

Are we close? We gotta be close, right? The anticipation is just killing me! I want to get this project started!

If this was around a couple of years ago, I may have gone this route with my FP. I was able to find a CPR playfield and it "only" cost me $600 CDN (a little less than $500 USD). Tough deal to pass up even though I thought it was pricey at the time!

I am now waiting very impatiently for BK to go up for sale on the website. Whoever is out there test fitting BK for Outside Edge, hurry up already!

Oh, I understand how the process works. I realize that it takes time to reassemble. I've done 3 full playfield swaps over the last 2 years and know the effort that goes into it. I've put in over 40 hours work on each one. I've touched base with Outside Edge a few times over the last few months. I know someone is working on it, I just know I would be done by now!

I'm trying to be patient. I spent yesterday and today tearing down my BK. Both playfields are sanded clean, need to do some work on the inserts and make myself some new rails.

Just one big piece is still missing!

I'm kinda committed to BK. No turning back at this point otherwise I now own an interesting whitewood or I'm on the hunt for another playfield!

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I'm working on it Keith! I've got a few that need to be popped out and epoxied back in before I start polishing. I'm fixing some other little issues while I wait. I've emailed Outside Edge (assuming it's Bruce that's responding) for an update and it looks like something is holding things up. Sigh...

Very nice! I wish! But I knew what I was getting into. As soon as I saw my BK I figured a hardtop would be perfect for it and I knew it was in the Outside Edge pipeline. My next big decision once I have the hardtop is whether I want to spend a big chunk of change on a new backglass!

For your Magna Save, I could swear I saw decals somewhere for those. Not sure if you'd want to go that route or would prefer the touch up.

So is this the official one? Are we good to go? I'm assuming you were the test fitter?

Well, looking back, I apologize for unknowingly bashing you for the time it took you to get it installed! Just my impatience. Good to hear that it's almost ready to go public. Looks good and glad to see that it fits well. Guess I need to get back to finishing my prep work. A couple of inserts are loose, I need to sand a few more flush to the playfield and try to polish them up a bit and I need to make new rails and get them painted. I've found a vendor in Australia that has new plastics in stock as well as someone a bit more local that has a set. I'm still on the fence there but I think I might as well get them seeing as I've done all the of the other work. The backglass is another thing I need to deal with. Not sure that I want to drop a ton of money on that and I'm considering a few options.

Happy, happy!

That sounds like a busy few months. Glad to hear you got through it. Looking forward to seeing your game all put back together! Post some pics in the BK club thread if you can!

Come on Bruce, get this sucker up for sale!

So I have a few inserts that seem to be "floating". They still stick up a little above the playfield but if I push them down, they will drop below and then eventually spring back up. Is it advisable to keep sanding them until they are flush or would it be better to pop them out and epoxy them back in so they don't move any more?

I've already taken out a few so I might as well pull out the rest of them. Anything that moves will come out now!

What did you use for glue? I've heard a bit of crazy glue will do the trick and will dry quickly. Or I can take them out completely, clean up the holes and epoxy them.

Of course we aren't privy to your conversations with Outside Edge but I think it might have to do something with licensing agreements and breach of contract...

Still. Waiting. For. Black. Knight. To. Go. On. Sale!

Thanks Keith. I stopped pestering Bruce a couple of weeks ago and just figured I would have to be patient. I still have some work to do, a few more inserts to re-glue and some sanding and clearing. This will motivate me to get moving again!

Hey Bruce, what happened to BK?

I know, I know...

That a boy! I'm going to get Walt M. to pick up my Black Knight hard top at PinFest. Save a little bit on the shipping charges. I've been talking about this with the boys at Bluffs for a few months. A few of them are curious how this is going to work out. For an absolutely trashed playfield, this seems like a great option! I'm dying to get this BK finished as it's been sitting in my basement sanded down for a few months!

I think my guys are a bit skeptical as to how this will play. The BK I'm working on had a horribly bad playfield and I immediately thought this would be a great candidate for a hardtop. And good luck finding a CPR playfield that wouldn't completely break the bank. I think this is a lot better than parting out a working machine because of a crappy playfield. Will it be "original" or perfect? No, but it will give it new life at a decent price and it isn't a huge undertaking like a full playfield swap!

I want to put one on my toolbox!

Interesting comment. I've had plenty of CPR playfields pass through my hands. I haven't seen any that I would consider anywhere close to "crappy". Guess you had a bit of bad luck. Did you try addressing it with them? You do realize that CPR is just a handful of people and not some huge corporation, right? Just like Outside Edge.

I'm just happy that we have options now, whether it's replacement playfields or hardtops. And if you don't like either of those, good luck finding something NOS.

Yeah, I did hear about that particular issue and yes it does suck. I don't blame you for being upset with that. I believe it was addressed on the last run of playfields. Their new production process, using a flat bed UV printer rather than old school screen printing, should give them an opportunity to re-run playfields that they have done in the past and make any necessary corrections, licensing issues notwithstanding. I think the old method really tied their hands at times and prevented smaller runs or re-runs. As with most things in the hobby, things seem to have improved over time.

And I understand your point about how much you want to invest in a playfield versus the value of the game. That's why the hardtops are such a great option. Good luck with your Meteor, whichever way you go!