Looks like a good first project to me. Back glass looks like it's in nice shape.

You are already ahead of many first time posters as you realized the value of pictures along with your questions

Where do you live? Before you plunge in it might be good to meet fellow pinheads and have them give you advice so you don't make simple mistakes

You did good, congrats!

Before you play it too much, wax the playfield with a non-cleaner paste wax, and put a new ball in (old balls tear up the playfield)

As you play, make a list of anything that does not light up or work (you will notice more after a few days).

It will be easy to bring this game up to 100% function.

Congrats on getting a Playboy! Fun game with cool artwork.

Search for "playboy restore" on pinside, there are a few threads on guys that fixed up their machines.
You may pick up a few ideas on what to do and how-to fix some things on your pin.

Welcome to the addiction!

The correct answer is, "Yes this is a good deal".. because if it's not you'll never have another deal

This is a great game to start learning with! These Bally games are prolific and there's lots of passion around them.
So, when something is not perfect, there's plenty of help waiting.

Congrats!
faz

Very nice score! You can clean the boards in the sink with something like simple green (no wax) and let them dry for 24 hrs before reinstalling them. I like to use a orange cleaner on the wires it seems to clean the vinyl sheathing the best. Wax that pf & get some leds in there dude!

That's fine, there will always be dirt you can't get off.

Wax and enjoy.

Yes that's a good deal. I would ask around locally for a free steel plate that the transformer & power supply should use.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/vids-guide-to-ultimate-playfield-restoration

You need the wall mount plate for the transformer & retifier board. I may have one, I will look to ge sure.

The backglass looks very nice!

CPR just moved Playboy into production

Ha, that figures as I just sold mine! I'd been waiting to see if they were going to be put into production but got to the point of needing to move some games to freshen up the lineup. It'll be great though for folks that want to do a top notch restore job now.

If you would like to keep your play field from getting more worn, buy a protector.

https://www.playfield-protectors.com/Home/Details/hUcYcAPAgkqcXfi6yb-Q9g?categoryid=22&category=Playfield%20Protectors&name=Playboy%20%7C%201978

One way to clean the wires is to go buy a large sack of small 4" tie wraps. Get some 409 and gloves and cleaning rags. Decide which wire bundle you want to clean and cut a few tie wraps ( You don't have to cut the tie wraps but if you do make sure to don't cut a wire), spray some cleaner on a rag and go to work. Scrub. Scrub. Scrub. Then replace the tie wraps you cut and move farther down the bundle and repeat.

Go to Walmart an get some cheap make up brushes to brush dust away from your boards. i like to unplug my pins before I start brushing around anything; Just to be safe.

Here is a decal you can get to cover that rabbit.

ebay.com link: Bally PLAYBOY Pinball Machine Playfield Insert Decals UV Cured Inks Not INKJET

s-l1600 (resized).jpg

If you want to get crazy go onto CPR website and get on the preorder for a new playfield!

http://www.classicplayfields.com/order.html

Buy the playfield. They won't run it again.

You got a good deal on it and a great starter learning pin. Looks like you already put new rubbers on it, agree with others clean and waxed the playfeild and replace the ball. There are some really good repair guides on the Internet read up on them. On your displays you will probably just find cracked solder joints easy to fix. Same on you driver board recap it and check the back side of the board and reflow bad and or cracked solder. The biggest thing I find is connection / connection / conection. You will learn how to repin connectors and how important a good conection is.

But mostly enjoy it playing, learning and fixing.

That's a great buy and I am jealous! Before you do anything, do some reading at The Pinside Compendium. You should learn some of the basics first on the tech pages and PinWiki...such as how to check the fuses and make sure the game isn't overfused, basics about your system components and how it works.

Why do I want to say send it to niftyled for restoration.

Congrats on your new pin!!! Great deal and good first pin, will allow u to tinker a bit and learn your way around these things . Excited for you, wish I had me a project

Not sure I would recommend a Playfield swap as your entry into pinball? Like anything pinball, small steps and slow steps are usually the least costly. Doing a playfield swap as a Starting point will Very soon turn into a Ton more money for plastics, sockets, caps, etc etc as there is no finish line so to speak. I think Vid gave the best advice, protect what you have with some quality wax, some new balls, and weekend research projects to get those last details working perfectly! And most of all Play It and hopefully your wife (like mine did) will warm up to enjoying this time with you also! It is a Wonderful hobby with some Amazing people around to meet and help you enjoy it. You got a Great deal and a really fun title! Congrats! Imperfection is part of the beauty of Pinball. It wont play better with clean wires. lol

Get it working first, then worry about how it looks. Have fun!

Congrats on your first pin.

Do not go crazy and do a playfield swap or some of the other things suggested on your first game or worry about appearance including LEDs at all.

Play the crap out of it and have fun. Repeat, Repeat, Repeat.

Enjoy it and take is slow so you don't burn out or get divorced. You will meet people who promote both sides of this coin and in my 15 years of serious collecting I have learned not to listen to friends who have no living room or dining room furniture so they can have more pins. Please do not take your wife to any of their parties if you want a second game.

Also don't buy too many before you are ready. That can kill the joy when you feel like you have to fix the car to get to work every day.

Have fun

Hell no.

Just play the game.

Don't buy any LEDs, don't paint any playfields, don't buy any cabinet stencils, don't remove any Mylar.

For the love of Allah, fix the few problems that are going to pop up and play pinball.

Amen! There's many parts of this hobby to delve into, but this should be the 1st commandment of pinball

I drove out to see a locally listed Playboy a couple of years ago. I couldn't see the details in the pictures very well, the resolution was poor and no matter how much I zoomed in I couldn't see it very well. When I got there it was roached. There wasn't a saving grace on it. Backglass was bad, cabinet was bad, everything on the playfield was cracked and rusted....and it didn't work so it needed helluva lot of attention. They wanted twice as much as yours and I couldn't talk them into anything realistic, which may have been a good thing anyways.

I painted the worn areas by hand ( I am good with that) and then put the protector on top. You have to get really close to see its touched up. The acrylic paint holds up well under the protector. Without the protector it would probably wear off soon.
Of course a CPR playfield is better but it is a lot more $$ and a lot more work.

Starbrite Premium Marine Polish works well on any painted surface. Use as directed.

I think most will recommend any 100% pure carnauba wax, as usually cleaner/polish/wax combo products might contain suubstances that could be harmful to the playfield, such as water.

Before I even plug a game in:

- Check line cord and plug for damage (3rd prong ok?, cord nicked?, etc)
- Download the manual
- Pull each fuse out completely and check their value vs. manual
-- you want same amperage and same slow vs. fast/"normal" speed
-- ok to have higher voltage rating than called for
- Inspect fuse holders for tarnishing/weakness/damage
- test each fuse with multimeter (or not, as any blown fuse will become obvious during gameplay)

For $525 you probably got the best ever deal in the history of Playboy pinballs. Period.
Your machine looks fantastic and the playfield is easy to fix.

I would pay eagerly twice that amount of money for a machine in that condition. It is simply unbelievable. Once you fix it and if you decide to resell it, you can most likely get back three to four times the price you paid.

Yves

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/cleaning-and-waxing-pinball-machines-vids-guide/page/2#post-2657721

Replace it before you die:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/replacing-line-cords-plugs-wall-sockets-vids-guide

Just take the cab to the local hardware store on a dolly, and they will computer match the pink. Get a quart of the BEST QUALITY semi-gloss they have.

Black is just "Lamp Black".

Let them match the white, don't get it too bright, or it will look like garbage.

The proper color is probably under the legs where no sun never faded it.

You are headed down the path of doom .....but the stencils to repaint the cab are here:

http://pinballpimpstencils.com/?page_id=327

The path of doom? As in, " It is so easy to turn a decent buy into deep hole you will never get your money back out of type of doom? "

Although the website shows a playboy that they repainted, he doesn't list the stencil for sale on the site. Not sure why...