A local Pittsburgh pinball dealer quoted me $2,000 to replace the playfield on my LOTR, and he really did not want to do it. What are people to do when Stern or JJP gives them a new playfield because the original was defective?

Update... Yes the playfield on LOTR was dimpled and drilled. The quote for $2k assumed it was not dimpled or drilled. Thanks.

I ended up changing the playfield myself. It took two weeks working a few hours each day or about 30 hours. It was my first attempt, and it took another two weeks to fix the fuse blowing problem. Turned out it was the staple holding the light under the flipper assembly. This light is fastened with a staple on the light’s wire lead. The positive wire staple was touching the light socket, so add another ten hours. It took 40 hours on first attempt. Plays perfect now!

Greetings to The Mod Couple, I am just trying to come to terms with my situation which I volunteered for, and other who didn’t. In other words, I choose to do the playfield swap because of the economics of having another $2k invested in a pinball machine, which I will never get back. Now compare that with someone who did not volunteer for the job, but simply shelled out six to 12 grand, and has the task of swapping a playfield. This is my passion not my business.

Agree, playfieldS are expensive, so this is a bring your own playfield (byop).

The LOTR play field was new old stock. I purchased it on eBay for approx. $860.

Now you have me in a tizzy!!! How do you know? Please tell?

Agree spike systems are much more playfield replacement friendly.

On “continued playfield issues” forum, I have read about populated playfield replacements. Wondering why I am also seeing games for sale that come with an unpopulated playfield. Which one is it, or is Stern settling the pooling issues differently?

This is how you can label the different sub assemblies.... measure and mark off one inch increments, then label, long side dash short side. This method makes reassembly easier.

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