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That's not an original, that's a hollow remake. Those remakes sell for $99 - $150 new. See Planetary Pinball.

The original ones aren't just a plastic shell, they're a solid clay-like material.

I'm pretty sure the originals were hollow and the solid ones were a very early repo... but I could be wrong.

You are right, at least about the originals. The original eagle I had on my machine was exactly like the one advertised here. This was before repros existed.

The fact that these hollow originals break easily is the main reason most JD's miss their original topper.

Judging from those votes from veterans, perhaps you are right.

The guy I bought my machine from said it had the original (solid), and I have heard the same from others. Every advertised remake I've seen going back to the Illinois Pinball ones were hollow. But I wasn't aware of earlier remakes.

So can anyone clarify definitively what are the identifying characteristics of an original then?

The gold sparkle in the plastic.

I'm fairly certain the remakes are either just flat mustard yellow or metalized gold paint.

This exactly

Are the molds the same? Sparkle in the paint doesn't seem a reliable identifier, anyone can spray paint a remake with that.

Heres my old broken original

366B386C-7E05-4CB5-85FE-F8BE7B0E1845 (resized).jpeg

IMO $300 or anywhere near that is WAY to much for a JD topper.

yeah sparkly paint don't triple its value.

You can usually tell the difference between the molded color and when a surface has been spray painted. Plus, the spray painted surface with that type of paint wouldn't be very durable. I'd expect to start seeing it come off after a period of time.

The gold sparkle molded plastic is probably difficult/expensive to reproduce, which is probably why it hasn't been successfully reproduced.

Well, he did say OBO... and it is going to sit on a HEP machine, so there is that.

If I had mine done by HEP I’d put the shiny gold repro topper on it, like how they originally had intended to produce the eagles before they ended up using the dull colored cost saving eagle. It would be easy to do to since I already sold my original eagle and replaced it with the shiny gold one.

Just two weeks ago another original was lost.

I was moving JD and forgot that I didn't secure the topper to the head. Thing came crashing down on the glass (thank God the metal mount didn't break the pf glass), it then shattered into a hundred pieces on the concrete floor.

Cointaker replacement arrived last week. Funny then this ad is put up. Totally would have got this if it was posted a week earlier.

Nice find. Good luck with the sale OP.

I have the shiny gold topper as well, so if for some reason I decide to change my mind, I can always put it on. But I think the gold flake topper looks better IMO, at least off of the machine. Ill have to see it on for final decision.

Just to say these are my favorite kind of posts on this here website: a little bit of esoteric pinball history, some personal stories about past pinball, and some very minor disagreements on aesthetics. GLWTS!