That looks like it was mylar removal damage.

Yeah, I could see that. No way of knowing for sure though. There were multiple crappy touch-ups to compliment the fade. The hardtop looks and plays great.

Good to hear! I just ordered my Flash Hardtop last night! Hopefully I'll have it installed shortly after the new year.

I still have a Flash Gordon hardtop for sale if anyone needs

Got my F14 hardtop installed.
Overall, quite pleased with it.
Only issue I have is there was apparently some sort of residue left on some of the printed areas for the inserts.
Didn't see it until I peeled off the top side protective layer.
Kinda ruins all the work that went into polishing the inserts
Hopefully once back in the cabinet and glass is on it is not as noticeable.... I'll probably be the only one that ever even notices it anyway!
Now to finish getting it put back together and play some PINBALL!!!!!!!!
20221225_153030 (resized).jpg20221225_164956 (resized).jpg20221228_213731 (resized).jpg

Screenshot_20221228_210110_Gallery (resized).jpg

I picked up a Flash hardtop and have a couple questions.

My inserts have cupping and I keep seeing people say that the hardtop works great for cupping, no need to do anything. If you're already stripping and sanding down the playfield, why not just replace the inserts? Their printed instructions included, which I didn't see on their website, states that "leveling inserts and "eye dropper" filling cupped inserts is acceptable." My first pin and new to all this, but replacing "looks" easy...provided I can find the right inserts, so wouldn't that be a better option? Caveats?

Second, my shooter lane is pretty off between the playfield and hardtop. I planned on calling Outside Edge next week, but did anyone else encounter this? Hard to tell, but including a photo.

It's just sitting on top currently, going to start sanding tomorrow! Hopefully can install it next weekend!

PXL_20221231_201231616 (resized).jpg

Would you guys hardtop this playfield?

14AECE07-E96C-474C-BAC6-1A8A7210B171 (resized).jpeg

29837BC9-E984-4515-819D-B1FE0F28B2F8 (resized).jpeg

3DC40E32-BA9D-4B9C-81DA-7E2A04F709D1 (resized).jpeg

A1AE0DBB-5DB5-41DC-8454-D1F8BACBDBF6 (resized).jpeg

CE5234CC-C220-45A3-AB46-BEE7AEA8DB92 (resized).jpeg

DB65A7B4-09BB-4616-8817-6E4F2CF70289 (resized).jpeg

DEEC3C12-D221-4F2D-AC64-CF27C0C6B4A2 (resized).jpeg

HELL NO!

Yes.

Previous owner put decals over some of the inserts, like the white bonus lights and S-H-U-T-T-L-E, which I’m not a huge fan of. Also makes the ball roll weird sometimes when it catches an edge. There are decals over some inserts, which is not a big deal though. Some planking here and there; a few bare spots.

I wouldn't either. Here's the one that I redid. A bit further gone than yours.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/official-hardtops-thread/page/55#post-7081686

I probably wouldn't but who cares what we think. Go for it!

Depends on that planking. You could touch it up and clear it but depending on what the woods doing under that first layer of planked ply, if it’s softening up you could get into some bummer situations after clearing where the clear ghosts. Especially at the pop bumpers.

Use a straight edge & razor knife, and just trim up the overlap

4 different companies did playfields for Flash, so lots of variation

Your game, your choice. Based on the planking, some art loss, and the hacky sticker job by a previous owner, I'd hardtop it and not look back.

No I would swap it with a CPR.

"I picked up a Flash hardtop and have a couple questions.
My inserts have cupping and I keep seeing people say that the hardtop works great for cupping, no need to do anything. If you're already stripping and sanding down the playfield, why not just replace the inserts? Their printed instructions included, which I didn't see on their website, states that "leveling inserts and "eye dropper" filling cupped inserts is acceptable." My first pin and new to all this, but replacing "looks" easy...provided I can find the right inserts, so wouldn't that be a better option? Caveats?"

Replacing the inserts is a lot of labor for not a big pay off as the Hardtop will cover and level all inserts. I would definitely sand and clear coat to make them shine again, but that's it. Just my 2 cents

Cupping it can cover. Just make sure there are no RAISED inserts. Those would be a problem. As long as any that are raised get sanded level should be ok.

Thanks everyone. I think I will hardtop it in the near future. It was my first pin and still my favorite; really want it to look super nice.

Has there been any talk about possible early Gottlieb Solid-state Hardtops?

CPR is junk. They don't stand by their products and constantly have quality issues.

Do you have examples to provide for this claim?

This isn’t the CPR thread but they have sent out playfields without the switch slit in the shooter lane, the Paragon saucers are the wrong depth/size and their mirrored backglasses aren’t mirrored anymore, just shiny paint.

You don't have to but I've redone the inserts on all my Hardtop installs.

Yeah my Space Shuttle backglass from them was supposed to be mirrored… definitely not. It’s like a silvery paint.

Same with their Firepower I got from them.

Well I am glad this has come up because I was ready to drop coin for a AFM and a FH mirrored backglass. Is there any buyers remorse here with the backglasses from CPR? Or would it have been just as well to purchase repro translites?

I've purchased two CPR backglasses in the last three years - Mata Hari and Meteor. Meteor arrived mirrored as advertised, not painted silver. Both packed extremely well. No buyers remorse here.

Specifically we were talking about a space shuttle. I don't know of any problems with the CPR SS PF. To be fair my SS hardtop ain't perfect either.

It ain't $900 either..lol

Last time i checked cpr does not have space shuttle playfields and there is no eta.

They just released more last week but sold out.

ss play (resized).JPG

I would suggest asking in a CPR, AFM or FH thread.

If you’re looking for a true mirrored backglass order a digitally printed film here (similar quality as Bgresto), strip the ink off your glass and adhere the film. Takes 2-3 weeks to deliver and about the same price as BGresto. Bgresto will ship you a complete backglass in 2-6 months.
https://www.coos.net/bingo_e/backglasses.html

Sorry to continue the off-topic comments, but to answer the question, I have a bit of buyer’s remorse. Last year’s end-of-year sale at CPR, I purchased High Speed (mirrored) and Joker Poker (blue colored score windows) backglasses. The High Speed mirroring isn’t mirrored like the original. It’s somewhat reflective, but not mirrored like the original (which is how it’s advertised). And the blue score windows on the Joker Poker are painted rather than using a clear film. So there is some texture/pebbling in the windows which causes the displays to be a little blurry.

Aside from that, they look great and they’re still in my games, but it was a disappointment when they were advertised as being just like the originals.

I don’t know… my new for playfield for my Bad Cats is so smooth it plays very similar to a hardtop.

Just wondering if anyone has ever seen any options for a Millionaire playfield hardtop, overlay, or remake?

Not 3x better. And more work.

To each their own, but my experience w/ my Taxi hardtop has been very good. Plays great and honestly I have not noticed any issues. Maybe I'd feel different if I had adhesion or other problems others have mentioned but it's been great so far. I'll likely do another hardtop again someday on another game.

I had to send one back as the print was off, looked blurry, inserts not level and the shooter lane switch slot was not cut out.
Next one came damaged but was much better.
BK backglass has the proper mirror, both bought 6 months ago.

Hardtop BK was indeed a lot of work, but very happy with the end result despite minor junk embedded in the adhesive.

CPR BK backglass was proper mirror. My only complaint is that the horse is a dark blue rather than the dark grey. I have gotten over it after some time, and after I removed the light bulb behind the hoof because it was glowing medium blue.

And it’s a white knight instead of a black knight. It really is horrid.
Mine is more like Silver paint than actual mirror.

It’s weird because the original that I took off and is now displayed on my wall also has that blue colour, luckily my BK playfield is really nice so just put a protector over the top and now plays great. Has cupped inserts.

I don’t mind the lighter grey BK.

00FE7383-048B-4141-8861-9A9D57F0B2F7 (resized).jpeg

C255D4A8-25B4-4B53-97A6-B47DDE324F7B (resized).jpeg

Thank you for the back-to-back pictures. You are right: the old one does have a dark blue tint, though not quite as bright. Ultimately, if I was to do it again, I would have picked the reproduction from Mayfair (again: CPR one is absolutely fine).
https://mayfairamusement.com/product/black-knight-reproduction-backglass/

BK_Mayfair2 (resized).PNG

The journey has just begun. It's amazing how much dirt accumulates over the years. I've got a lot of mylar adhesive residue, does anyone have a recommendation for how to remove it before sanding?

IMG_20230112_210232417 (resized).jpg

I followed Vids guide where he used flour and alcohol worked really well for me.

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

I used a razor blade because I’m sanding the area down. I wasn’t trying to save the artwork.