I've got a fishtales that im going to strip down next month. Ill probably order one of these and see how it plays and looks. At least it will be way cheaper through bay area amusments than through the german distributor.

I wish they made one for JM!!

Do they make one for CFTBL that covers the entire creature window? I was thinking that might make that game play silky smooth, with no chance of the ball catching the edge of Creechy's window and changing direction.

Edit. Ohhhh.. They do make it for CFTBL with the cover going over the whole window. Hmmm... May have to try this.

@Luckydogg420, on the German pinball forum lots of people are complaining about more airballs than usual, did you notice anything like that?
Also, most have problems with really slow balls getting stuck somewhere. A nudge will do but sometimes the glass has to be taken off.

I would really like to hear more about the air balls and balls getting stuck. I'm almost positive I want to try this out.

I think playfield protection is great but is it a little extreme or is it just me.

Not much different than adding 10 layers of clear coat. Probably plays differently, but it will protect the playfield.

Seems like a great option on non Clearcoated games to protect while keeping things original. Not sure that it's really needed on Clearcoated games.

Here's the 15 page thread on German pinball forum Flippermarkt.de through Google-translate.

http://translate.google.nl/translate?sl=de&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=nl&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.flippermarkt.de%2Fcommunity%2Fforum%2Fshowthread.php%3Ft%3D116404&act=url

I have installed the protectors on my TAF, AC/DC Premium, Fishtales, Terminator and (soon) Getaway.

Pros: The look is great, the protection is perfect and the amount of time needed for the installation is absolutely "fair" for the result you get - I am very satisfied.

Cons: The ball flow is a little different (it feels a little bit slower, but not in a bad way) and you definitely get more airballs. I can't say how often airballs occur compared to a normal playfield, but it is noticeable. I don't see this as a problem for me personally and I haven't damaged anything because of the airballs. Very slow balls get sometimes stuck, but very very rarely (ACDC never, TAF inlane rollback at the switch) - a simple nudge does the trick.

This seems like a good idea but I would be worried that crud would go between the pf and the protector and cause more wear.

OP: did you remove mylar? How much paint came up, touch ups needed?

Most games the coil dust that gets caked on a playfield will protect it. So with that being said I don't see how a game could get damaged with a piece of plastic that doesn't move protecting it. If the playfield is completely cleaned before installation I think it will be fine. I think I may get one for The Shadow since I have it completely torn down right now and don't want to have someone clearcoat it.

^^thanks for the info.

I installed the protector on my TAF, as I had to install a new mansion decal and power magnet decal on the playfield. I also had installed all the TAF Cliffy protectors on the playfield. The playfield protector now lays on top of the playfield and also the Cliffy protectors are under it. Works very well - actually I have yet to come up a single bad thing to say about the protector. So far it has simply been perfect! I put an order in for a protector for my MM as well. If once's playfield has been clearcoated, there should be no need then for the protector IMHO.

I did the same w/my Funhouse. I put down some new playfield stickers (including the full clock) and this protector covers it all and looks great.

I haven't experienced any air balls and only 1 ball got hung up so far but I was able to gently nudge it back into play.

Recommended!

Ordered mine for my BOP today , cant wait to see the result ..

99 bucks from Bay Area. Should be here tomorrow or Wednesday!
Will post my thought when install on my FT

Can't believe it, it just arrived right after I posted!! Too cool!!

Now, I have a question! How do you remove the metal lane dividers? I want to play it!

image.jpg image.jpg

I removed mine on T2 just by pulling up on them. Nothing holds them in it seems.

yep, just pull them up.

Thank-you worked excellent, didn't want to try and reck pf.
Reassembly back on track!!
Love this site!!!

Ordered one for a FH today from BAA. Waiting for the decals to be in stock.

I started an other post re FT playfield sliding around, but want to ask people that have installed one before hopefully a FT one. Does this fit and the fact that it slides around so much normal?
http://www.youtube.com/embed/rKxltTxTfi8?autoplay=1&rel=0

OK, I want one for a WW, Cyclone, Taxi, ES ,and a RS.

Yup , earthshaker , FT , BOP, BSD, and WW , those are the ones I want .

And I want them stateside. None of that crazy Euro VAT BS.....

Chris

They are at bay area amusements, which I believe is state side.

Some of them are. Just none that I need.....

How are you planning to keep it from scratching? I have an Interflip Dragon with an acrylic PF. You really need to clean it and the ball more often than a screened pf. I'll probably use Novus or brilliance on my protector. Should arrive Friday from BAA.

It looks like the price is creeping up. Now $119. Are there any PinSide discounts?

He he. I had the price jump on me, from $99 to $119, in the span of fifteen minutes while it was in my cart! I guess I coulda made a fuss, but no big deal as I decided I didn't really need that one anyway.

Did my LOTR. For new owners/moders, it's not too onerous a job. Just take lots of photos before you start, and during the strip down. I ended up with few spacers, washers and screws that didn't seem to have a home any more, and had to play a few times to realise where they went.
The machine seems quieter when playing as the ball doen's "echo" off the wood. This will mean less wear as well. I agree, the sheet doen't move when everythings screwed back down.
I'm fitting one to my ACDC as well - should help protect the lower playfield window.

No protector available for Firepower?? Jeez, what a letdown....it's not like they made 17,000 of them or anything....

Just installed mine on my BOP , amazing mirror like finish , doesnt move at all , gameplay is fantastic and seem to be a little faster , i do recommend protector for sure

That's great to hear, I've got a BOP one coming as well as a Centaur

I asked them if they had any intentions of making protectors for Paragon and Space Invaders and was told that they're having problems with the production run because these play fields are 'tricky'.

Interested to see how these protectors hold up over time: scratches, Nicks, divots, etc.
Does it slow down the ball?

The ball is faster in my BoP , i like that

Cant wait to see too how it hold up with scratch and cleanup ...

Has anyone tried waxing one of these? Poly should wax well....just not sure if it would resolve the differences people noted in game play/ball motion after applying one.

Haven't waxed mine yet .. but i think it should be well

Ok, I did an error when installing my protector for MM.

As I looked at the protector on the playfield, the troll-holes looked to be to small for the troll-doors. Furthermore I remembered that the earlier owner told me that he had
bought some enhancement for the trolls.

Well, I then thought that the holed for the trolls were too small because of the "enhanced" i.e. bigger troll doors installed by the earlier owner... For this reason I cut the holes bigger with not that much of success - the cutout look quite terrible now. I also tried to iron out any cut-errors with sandpaper and it turned out that the sandpaper made the macrolon look cloudy there were I had used the sandpaper.

After making the holes bigger I realized that the intention of the manufacturer probably is that the troll-doors stay on top of the protector all the time and that's why only smaller holes are needed.

So, now I have the first complaint about the product: I do feel that in situations like this proper install instructions should follow the protector - while the solution probably self-evident to some people, for me it was not in this case.

I have emailed bestofpinball and asked, whether they would offer a replacement. I'll post a follow-up here. P1030002.JPG

I thought I'd post a photo of the protector on my FT. Im happy with it so far. I thought this would be a good solution for protecting the tacklebox decal and it makes it look nice and shinny.

IMG_0383.jpg

I saw it the other day on John's FT and I have to say it made the machine look fantastic. Now if he would only finish putting it back together.........