You hear the term “museum quality” quite a bit. Well, a few years ago I curated a history of Pinball show at a museum in SoCal. I had some beautiful original examples of games on display as well as some “well loved” worn and abused games. The games that got the most attention/comments were the games that showed their pasts. The vandalism is testament to the lives these games lived, often “underground” and hidden from the law since they were illegal in so many places.
Unless my cabinets are completely damaged, or I’m forced to recabibet a game, I like to preserve that history.