Considering its age, I think it looks pretty dang nice. Question is, how much time do you want to spend on trying to make it look perfect? Some of it should be easy to do.

Far as the white rings around the inserts, that would be because either the inserts are too low or too high. Once you correct the height, then you could just use a black acrylic paint pen to paint over the white areas of the inserts. May not be as easy color matching the red. Though, even if the color is off a bit, it would look better than bare wood.

All depends on the price.

I thought this might contain a link to the aliens thread...

Sure it is...

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/need-70s-williams-text-scan#post-2972301

I don't have a problem with owning a player's quality pin myself. Would I prefer to not have paint missing?... Sure... But some missing paint wouldn't keep me from buying a title I really want if it is priced accordingly. Especially since I only buy older pins anyway, I'm not that picky.

-Steve

It's 40 years old. That's pretty normal playfield wear and it can be much worse.

If you like the game and/or the price is right go get it.

Sure it is. It probably won't look mint or pristine unless you put some extra work into it, but I'm sure you could get the game back up and running and flipping again.

Most Space Missions look like this.
It's a surprisingly good game.
Pick it up and enjoy it. Don't fret the cosmetics.
--
Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
http://ChrisHiblerPinball.com/contact/
http://webpages.charter.net/chibler/Pinball/index.htm
http://www.PinWiki.com - The Place to go for Pinball Repair Info

Have to go with the crowd here and say that if it's a good price get it. Don't sweat the paint loss on the playfield like others have said I too have seen worse. Besides it's a Steve Kordec classic; on my short list of EM pins to get (money/storage space permitting).

Buy it and play it if it's cheap enough. If you like it you can always sell it and upgrade to another one in nicer condition. That's the easiest way to go about it They made over 11,000 of them.

Most anything can be fixed or restored to original. Just at what cost?

What is the seller's asking price? What is the condition of the backglass?

$300, no brainer, you'll be able to get that or more easily if you decide to resell.

...And does it power up, does the game look complete. -- Price, price, price. I will buy anything for the right price.

OP. I don't know your skill or repair knowledge but this could be a great project and learning opportunity for you. There is something so very satisfying about taking a turd and polishing it. And you get to decide along the way how extensive a restoration you want to do.

Even if the end result isn't glamours the machine becomes yours because you brought it back to life with your efforts. You will have a different kind of pride in this ole machine as compared to a NIB Stern.

Good luck

I kinda want a machine with playfield wear to clearcoat over to create a cool looking worn out look that plays like new. I'd still rebuild everything on the playfield like targets, pops, and flippers. But I just kinda like that look. Not for an A game, but for something to play the crap out of.

$300 is a no brainer. The game looks pretty decent for it's age. Buy it, clean it up a bit, and play the heck out of it. What a good game Space Mission is too.

Level your inserts, then clear over the wear with 2PAC.

It will create a "relic-ed" game (like all the guitars at Guitarcenter) that will play like new, but not allow any additional wear.

Latter, if the bug strikes you, you can still restore the playfield.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/vids-guide-to-ultimate-playfield-restoration/page/16#post-1668988

download_(resized).jpg

Damn you O-din. By 4 seconds.