I think the heat is more of an issue in the backbox than the playfield. What is it you are not liking? Is it too bright? I've always thought your ToM looked great in the photos. Can you post a video of it?

Keep the LEDs . If you don't like the way you have them. Switch the GI to warm white LEDs .It will look more like original .

Nice to see a properly lit TOM. The one on route near me has half the GI out. Not to mention a trunk that only works half the time. Ugh...

I like mine without LEDs just because the colors are warmer reds and oranges etc and I think the GI lights need to be warm and work better with the original bulbs - I change the back box out to reduce some heat - but even then I play them for maybe an hour at a time so unlike when they sat on all day at an arcade I think its pretty minimal.

This is not a bad idea. Certain games are probably better candidates for cool white LEDs than others. For example, sci-fi games like STTNG, Avatar, or even Pinbot are just begging for cool white LEDs. Perhaps ToM would indeed be best served by some warmer LEDs, or even good old fashioned bulbs in the GI. As for the inserts, you may simply have too bright of LEDs in there. When I received my Tommy, it was fully tricked out with LEDs. I've since toned down many of them to a level that I think is more appropriate. I even changed out some of the LED flashers to bulbs. LEDs are great, but it is possible to have too much of a good thing.

I gotta say i really do prefer the softer look that the original bulbs deliver on this pin..i really think visually theres not a pin out there that beats TOM,they got it bang on first time.

I realize that pictures only say so much but with the LEDS it seems to take away alot of the playfield art and individually lit areas,if that makes any sense at all?

Ok, coasterguy, you did ask! I will give my opinion as in the next few months I am going to be putting some LED's in my TOM.

I think TOM with bulbs looks great - the soft lighting accentuates the overall look. I am not sure yet if LED's will add or detract from this.

I will certainly put a lot in the back box and I will put as many as I can in the playfield as I can get away with, but I want to keep the soft ambience.

Your TOM looks great......but, it does not look like a TOM! I think there is too much purple. When I have done mine, I will post some pictures up and feel free to be honest

Here is another bulb picture...

I can see I am going to spend hours, days obsessing with a whole range of combinations

tom_bulbs.jpg

That could be interesting for sure.

Let us know how you get on.

Yours looks like mine coasterguy. I have purple in a lot of the GI as well. I love it but it is a bright game. You could switch from supers (I'm assuming you have these) to 90s or even 170s for inserts and GI.... Actually you can't for inserts as most in this game are flex. It was a real headache to LED this game... I am remembering now due to all the flexs.

why not LEDs and regular bulbs?

This is why I'd really like to see a larger variety of flexible LEDs available. Some flexible non-ghosting LEDS would really come in handy.

I'm sorry but in my opinion Coaster's TOM with LEDs looks ten times better than one with regular bulbs. No comparison in my book. It does not look like a dim lit old school TOM it looks like a bad ass new age rockin TOM. Well played Coaster!

They had a TOM at California Extreme this year fired out with LEDs and man it was a sight to see! I know we all have our own tastes so I can see how some may like the old school look of bulbs. To each their own.

+1

It does look amazing

I am just not sure I want to go that far from the original look but who knows.

I think some more yellow could look very good

Need to see in person.....I will play around and try and do similar versions and see what looks best in real life

hmm I love the game with it's original lighting so would be looking not to make major changes in colour or brightness. I tend to play a game for hours and can't live with the over bright stuff.

I like the look of the bulbs in GI, but I really do think the inserts need a little extra pop with some leds. You might want to experiment with the "theatre" inserts. The led pics seems to wash the color out of them. I have retros in some of my games and like them a lot. If the bulb is in clear view you might want to try a frosted warm or a bulb condom to keep it toned down. They can be a little bright if viewed straight on, but they don't seem to have hot spots like other leds. Something about having that clear plastic cap on them helps to disperse the light better.

Pics are of a SST with leds in inserts with retros for GI and retros with blue condoms under ramp and a JP with retro GI, retros with bulb condoms under slings and regular bulbs for inserts. Lights look brighter in the pics than in real life. There are a couple in the JP that are visable under the plastics that would look better with warm frosted ones, since they are too visible.

I like a mix in mine personally, but it really just depends on what you like. I like to mix up the back box too with regular bulbs and leds. Post your results.

IMG_0946.JPG IMG_0950.JPG

Looking at them side by side the LEDs really pop.

LEDs are great as they allow us to customize the look of machines, which further adds to the variety of “machine” we can achieve.

There are no wrong answers, only options.

my tom leded and moded

my tom leded and moded

My ToM came with LEDs and I changed it back to normal bulbs. With the theme, normal bulbs look better times a billion.

We have one at our league location. It's quite bright. It doesn't bother me, but a couple players say they can't play it because it gives them headaches.

I used warm white frosted LEDs in my TOM, top and bottom. Looks pretty close to regular bulbs, but is a little brighter and the colors on the inserts are cleaner in my opinion. I used non-polarized bulbs as I am very sensitive to the cheaper LEDs which strobe and will give me headaches too*. I had to use about 5 or 6 superflexs (most obvious were "G" in M-A-G-I-C and the first "T" and last "E" in Theatre).

I think it's also hard to judge bulbs vs LEDs with photos or videos. The TOM I have was originally for sale with colored LEDs and the photos of it looked fantastic with the LEDs being matched up to accentuate the colors throughout the game. Seeing it in person I didn't care for it and that's why I spent a couple of months playing with lots of samples to see what I did like. I'm not saying warm white is for everyone, but rather that it can be difficult to judge what you like without seeing it in person on another game or trying out samples for yourself.

* - the CFTBL game for the CAX tournament had LEDs! I couldn't break 50 million on it. Huge disadvantage to anyone sensitive to it...