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I scratched it under the apron to see if I could polish it back.

It polished just like any other plastic.

King of Cranes has a few on route that I've installed, I'll have him take some wear pics if anyone is interested.

Little question here... Once hardtops are available for a game, do they stay available ? Or are we talking about limited quantities, and when it's out of stock it stays out of stock ?

Picked up my Black Knight Hardtop at Expo and looking forward to getting it down. Last year I talked to you guys about it and this year it's a reality. Look forward to High Speed!

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Looks like a really nice product. He needs an LEDOCD in that Comet though. Those flickering LEDs are terrible.

Any word on when we can order Flash Gordon?

Every night in my dreams...

Fingers crossed for the next run

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I'm surprised more people don't install these. I think they're one of the best mods out there for the money! My F-14 was so much nicer with one.
For Williams, LED OCD only makes controllers for System 11 and WPC. Comet is a System 9.

I'd give my left nut right now to get a scrap heap Black Night in terrible shape for around $500.00. Everything is now available to restore one.
I don't want to do another expensive repro playfield swap again. That can be a major PITA!

I missed a project comet for about that. Love the idea of these, and want to try one. My BK isn’t in too bad of shape, so I think I’ll route it first and restore later.

LED OCD should work in System 9 just fine.

You make it sound like the product has been available for 10 years. Seems most everyone wants a title that is not yet available.

If I got this wrong then you can tell me to stuff it.

I got that wrong since this was a hardtop thread.

Hardtop needs more internet advertising. It would be nice as you release one to put it on your FB page so I can share it to my usual 4 FB groups that I post new parts to.

Even though ColorDMD has been around a long time now, there are still people I've known for 4 years in pinball that had no clue of them either.

There will still be many that will want to see how one plays before purchasing.

My fingers are crossed!

Bally Strikes and Spares? Please!

TX Sector and Robo-Wars!

Cool! I didn't know that!

I would confirm with herg but I think it will work.

Also, as far as confidence in the product... I will say that Mark Ritchie purchased a Taxi Hardtop for the machine in his home. He absolutely loved the product when we sold this to him in 2017.

While the Hardtop is NOT impervious and will not last forever, I will say that we designed this product with care. We intend for this product to last AT LEAST as long as the original did... while stating "probably longer". If we really wanted to invest in excellerated wear testing... we could. The product price would also reflect this substantial investment that will be nothing more in the end, than a "feel good".

The Hardtop is also NOT a new playfield for those stanch restorers looking to maintain the machines original status of a wood playing surface.

As a reminder, the Hardtop is also NOT a great solution to "preserve" original art on a playing surface. It is intended from it's inception to take an otherwise unusable, undesirable piece of wood ... and use it as a donor to resurface with a Hardtop... resulting in a high gloss, hard, durable playing surface that eclipse the original in surface perfection. Faster? YES... Original feel... close, but no. It feels more modern in ball speed and play. It also (happy accident) really smooths the overall feel of play.

We now have a little over 200 units in the field, with some of them already more than 2 years old. Some of these games are routed and are reporting with glowing reviews to date. My Shuttle (the original product test bed) easily has over 2,000 plays. How fitting for Space Shuttle be the pioneer!

How long do they last... is understandably the golden question. I can tell you that you can take an "eye sore" old game and make it awesome again for many years to come for around 300 bucks. But...we would be lying if we claimed to know the answer for "how long"... WAAYYYYY too many variables to ever commit to such an ambiguous question. Storage conditions? Number of plays? How clean is it kept? Are the balls in good condition?.... much much more.

I can tell you the Hardtop WAS compared to the average clear coat in an ATSM taber test in Israel. Our Hardtop was MORE scratch resistant than clear coat.

Hope this helps! Thank you all for your interest in our product. We are thrilled to revive so many games stuck in the corner of your shop that have blown play fields. DON'T PART OUT GAMES! It makes us cry.

Grand Lizard and Blackout. Perfect. I'm in for both.

You will have another location with hardtop testing.

Outsidedge how long do you think before the SOF is ready to start shipping? Just asking for a friend.

Sorry folks... we will hardly ever commit to ship dates (or throw out guesses that turn into expectations). Way too many reasons why things sometimes don't go as planned. We will ALWAYS announce when they are ready... and "sometimes" call out when titles are almost ready. Anything further is setting ourselves up for failure. 12-14 months really is the best I can promise until we are almost "go time" on a title.

Current titles very near launching: High Speed and Mata Hari.

We will be working hard for you all though to get these titles rolling!

I'm in for Grand Lizard

Awww man! I was hoping Supersonic would squeak into the new 5 titles with its simple graphics. Or High Speed... Oh well, I still have a feeling both will make it to the presses someday, and I'm nothing if not patient.

So glad y'all are making this product and I can't wait to order and install my first!

Yopp.

Curious what happened with Flash Gordon.

Two posts above he stated that High a Speed is almost ready to release

You can say that again! This is probably the best time to be involved in the hobby. With tons of super high quality parts and resources, pretty much any game can be picked up with the reasonable confidence that anyone can get it going again. I can't think of too many hobbies with so many specialized manufacturers making products that are accessible for everyone.

I see a Swords of Fury in my future now!

Last time I got teased this bad I brought a stack of $1's

Blackout.........YES!!
Already have the repo backglass....
Now I just need Pinball Pimp to make stencils (hint, hint, to anyone out there with a Blackout nice enough to send scans to Jeff)

I have a black out and would be willing. What do I need, equipment wise, to do this?

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/vids-guide-hardtop-restoration-comet

Outsidedge

Swords of Fury! I would take two today if available

Keep us posted please. I have one that I need to get moving out, for a friend and have waited too long to try to restore his PF wear and art, unfortunately.

I have someone who might get a high-speed once ready.

Thank you, thank you for SOF!

Awesome thread Master Vid!!!
Thanks again!!

Question for folks who have installed a hardtop out there. Did you take out the pop bumper screws that are in the playfield? If yes, was it hard to reinstall them securely? I’ve ordered my space shuttle hardtop and am in the process of tearing down the playfield. Thanks!

I left mine in. Figured the odds of ever needing to replace them are tiny and I'd potentially do more damage taking them out and reinstalling. Plus I could always put a small hole in the hardtop if necessary.

I also left mine in. Jay's reasoning was the same as mine.

Oh, man. PINBOT. Thank the maker.

Xenon

I did take them out, only because old ones often break (just barely snug them up, and even then, any internal fractures may still snap them)

How many times have you gone out to service a pop that is hanging up, only to find that some idiot before you must have overtightened them at some point, and that 2 of the 3 screws are snapped?

My advice:

If you want to bury them, at least put brand new ones in.

Don't over-tighten them!

Thanks all!

Alien Poker! I was so excited when they released the back glass not long ago and the plastics. There's got to be a play field in the works somewhere, but a hard top would be just perfect!