It is for sure but how far you willing to go, I had a space shuttle in similar shape that I got back to be a really nice player.

You can do it! Don't bother with that lockdown bar though.

Ah. A little hammerin' an' putty, and that lockdown bar will be good as new!

this is totally worth a restoration if you are willing to put the time and money into it. Restorations also require many skills such as wood working and soldering skills that some may find difficult. But nothing is more rewarding to me than take something like this and turn it into a good looking, great playing pinball machine.

You can do it!! Keep us posted on your progress. It's gonna take a lot of time and effort, but totally worth it in my opinion.

greatwichjohn is making repro playfields and backglass for SG if you decide to go that route.

Good luck!

Fucking yikes, they shipped it with the head up?!

My Paragon has some interesting hacks on the rectifier board. Your’s is so much beyond that.

Oh, that's how you take off the lockdown bar...

Well I’d just replace that rectifier board with a new one. They make those replacements now that are so much better.
That Star Gazer is 100% restorable. The lockdown is shot but you can hammer it back for a temporary fix since replacing it may be difficult. The head can be fixed as well with enough dedication. Otherwise where on earth would you find another Star Gazer?

Yep, it has had a rough life. Go for it, bring it back to life.

I don't know, I kinda like the homemade 4 diode rectifier
Sarcasm aside, while I've replaced the old selenium rectifiers with bridge rectifiers, that's about the extent of my knowledge so I am somewhat in awe that someone was able to figure out how to do all that hacking presumably getting the game to work while not electrocuting themselves or burning their house down.

Hey, at least it has an external battery holder!

It'll buff right out

Take a look at where I started with my Sorcerer...
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/to-save-a-sorcerer-or-how-to-spend-3000-on-a-1200-machine

I’ve found that restorations are all about the resources you have available to you. In my case, as long as I have a good backglass, a decent playfield and plastics, and a complete board set, the rest can be refurbished or replaced.

Here is that sorcerer today.
3E6E34DA-AFA5-4858-B61F-70517E662F72 (resized).jpeg

The question is which is the easier route to take? Getting a used bar from another country, or just straitening it, and re-graining.

Why?

Lots of work? Yep.
Cost effective? Probably not.
Worth doing? Absolutely.

What's up with her face on the playfield above the flippers? Touched up at some point, i would have to presume. This is how she looks on a picture from the internet pinball database:

Screenshot_20190824_114059_org.mozilla.firefox(1).jpg

Very cool machine, Axaios! Your lower playfield has several interesting differences in that area compared to some IPDB photos.

The shape of some of the Star Gazer letters are different, the gradient color fill/blend of those letters is different, the words "Bonus Multiplier" and "Plus" are absent, the shape of the right starburst, the woman's clothing colors/design, her face/hair, etc.
Star Gazer Side-By-Side (resized).png

General rule-anything built by man can be rebuilt by man. Whether it's worth it is what the question usually is. This pin is bad-but not beyond repair. It certainly needs to be "curated".

What’s the serial number? I’m sure someone will know why this playfield is so different. I think it’s cool! I would definitely restore it, including the original playfield. This machine has good vibes.

Everything is fixable...the real question is whether or not your time and expenses are worth it. With a project like this, it usually becomes a passion project (e.g. you fix it without accounting for your time). If you truly enjoy fixing and restoring pins, then it isn't really a loss. If you are looking to make money, you would likely do better with something else.

There us something to be said for resurrecting a pin, however.

It's a Stargazer. It's always restorable to SOMEONE.

It's possible his example is prototype or sample, the serial number should give a clue

The only opinion that matters is yours. Some people want their machine better than factory fresh, some people play crazy worn out fields and absolutely don't care. What do YOU want in the end?

If it were mine, I'd want to preserve as much of it's history as possible, I'd probably touch up the playfield and clear coat....that's just me though

Just part it out and help bring other games back to life.

Are you sure it’s entirely been repainted? That sounds like a ton of work that I doubt anyone would be bothered with back in a time when pinball was so plentiful they just threw out machines regularly.

Save it as it is, find someone to repaint the parts down to bare wood and enjoy the amazing STAR GAZER.
Parting it out is absolutely stupid, especially in Europe where pinball is extremely uncommon in the wild.

Everything looks complete and it will be a passionate project that involves deep love of the hobby and pride in bringing such a rare and popular machine back to life!

According to the pinball database, your pin was one of the last few made! Only 869 total were made, this could explain your artwork, I wouldn't change it!

Europe and South America, man. All the most messed-up pins I ever worked on were European or South American hack specials. Some of the dumbest hacks I've ever seen. I stopped asking why a long time ago and just accepted it.

These are not a dime a dozen game so fix/save just don't break the bank on it. Star Gazer is a good playing game i would put that back together myself. As to the playfeild some pic's it looks good but a few wear spots. Then in others it looks as if the surface is all lumpy not that can't be fixed. But looking at the rest off the work i'd look at a playfeild swap not that's a simple 2 hour task and save the old one as wall art. In doing the swap you could rebuild each section as you transfer it over to the new playfeild. leaving the cabinet work left. Boards fix what you can and replace whats not worth the fight.

Sounds good, I would do the same. Regardless of the source of the unique art it gives the machine provenance. Post pictures along the way!

Why not? It's pinball!