Just out of curiosity, why is no one making playfield overlays? Also, why not translites for games that didn't originally come with translites? I know there is a TON of work and many hours that go into the scanning, touching up and vectorization of playfield and translite art and the end result is fantastic. However, once that work is complete, it seems only logical to make as much of a return on your investment as possible right?

I'm assuming that companies like CPR still have images for past run playfields and backglasses, so why not make an alternative to direct playfield or backglass reproductions like mylar overlays and translites? Printing the playfield art on a piece of mylar seems like nearly zero work involved in comparison. You could sell them for a high profit margin, no cnc of the playfield wood, no insert plastic sourcing/recreation, no sourcing of wood, no screening process, no clearing process, less packaging, less time, manufactured based on actual demand and orders, less overstock, less space. I'm not suggesting that CPR shouldn't make playfields because I think thats obviously the preferred product when restoring a game. I'm also not suggesting that CPR should never re-run old playfields and instead only produce overlays.

So, lets use Playboy as an example. Bally made a ton of playboys so there should be plenty of junkers out there, I have two. Look at CPR's fantastic recreation! http://www.classicplayfields.com/photo69.html So for those of use who missed out on the original run like me, but would still like to do something with our junked out playfields, how much would you be willing to pay for an overlay? I've never seen a game with an overlay and have no experience using overlays so its very possible that there is no interest, but if I had the choice of waiting an unknown amount of time for a re-run maybe never, playing on wood with no artwork left or buying an overlay for say $300+ I think I would give the overlay a shot. Would you guys do the same or do you think in the end it would be a waste of time?

Yea there are definite issues with mylar like bubbling over inserts because of incandescent bulb heat, peeling edges and I would agree than mylared playfields tend to play slower. I also have a playboy playfield thats nearly white wood probably from being treated like crap and stored in a poor environment for years. On the other hand I've seen games that are totally trashed except for areas protected by clear mylar sheets.

Well I think we have our answer. Interesting that they would add that stipulation to the license and I'm not exactly sure why since they aren't in the business of making pinball machines, plastics, playfields etc.

I don't have any picture of Playboy #2, the really bad one, but a touch up job would basically be repainting the entire playfield from scratch. Its realllly bad! Basically I'm taking the best of Playboy #1 and #2 and putting them together but if there were a cheap options I could have two. I agree 100% that its less than ideal to use mylar but, the options for Playboy #2 currently are Mylar, new playfield or the dumpster. Its a shame really. I think I could have a decent looking playable game with an overlay and since theres no real eta or maybe even possibility on a re-run, its probably dumpster bound. One more old pin someone might enjoy for a while vs a landfill is the way I see it. Oh wait, theres always the "They Live" Playboy re-theme option!

Looks a lot nicer than my current EBD PF http://homepinballrepair.com/pinballrestore3.html