I wouldn't want to spend $7G on a tafg and have it come with rotton dogs.

I think you pretty much answered your own question on the cabinet. Sounds like it needs to be restored. Even if you restore the head and not the cabinet, I think you'll regret it. Once the head is perfect, the cab will look worse and every little defect will stand out.

As for the boards, as long as they're not hacked all to hell, original all the way. No question.

Send them to Clive at the Coinop Cauldron. They'll come back bulletproofed.

Reach out to ULMPHARMD. He just did something so amazing with a TAFG. It's a museum piece now. If you can't get him, PM me.

Also, there are a few very reputable board guys on Pinside. Rob Antbiny is my go to guy.

Stick with original boards if at all possible. A replacement cabinet, as long as it's an exact reproduction, won't hurt.

Origional boards, new cab. TAFG cab is special though and must be built right to be proper to origional specs. With new decals, there is no value in origional wood with a bunch of bondo. Better to have new perfect wood.

Normally I would say it's a toss-up on new boards vs original (some will want one, some will want the other), but with a TAFG, or any collectible game, I'd have to go with original.

Hi,
It's not the first time I heard this question, and I wondering why the TAFG would have a lower value with new cabinet decals? How about all the MM, MB, CC, etc.. with new decals, did they loose value on their final price? not sure... so why would it be different for a tafg? At the opposite, having this pin fully restored with domaged decals for the only reason, it has to keep the original ones, would be a lack of taste from my opinion.

Have we reached the point with pinball where "barn find" games are the holy grails? The value of the game should be in how it looks and how it plays. If it is restored or original, if it looks and plays like crap it is not going to be worth as much. If the original boards have been repaired so many times that they are more bus wire than pcb is it still better than a good quality new replacement? If the playfield has been correctly restored and cleared, is it less valuable than letting the original be played to the wood?

People need to figure out if they are in this for the games or the collectible value. We are in a price bubble due to the resurgence of interest in pinball.

If you are in it for the love of the machines and playing pinball, restore it to the level you are comfortable with and so that it plays the way you want it to without worrying about the value when you go to sell it. Your investment is for your personal enjoyment.

If you are in this as an investment, good luck with that. Buy them now and do not take them out of their packages. Hope that in a few years they are worth more than beanie babies.

For me personally, if the game looks great and plays great then that's all that matters to me. I personally don't care if the boards are not original and would want the most reliable/ stable boards possible. I am not sure if I am in the minority though.

Can we see some pics? Hard to make the call about originality if we don't know how bad it is.

I think TAFG is a completely different animal when talking about replacement cabinets repro parts etc. The way I see it, TAFG is really the same machine as TAF and the extra value is derived from it being set apart as a special edition. Just don't think I would consider throwing down the extra cash for a TAFG vs a TAF if it were not all original. It'd be much cheaper to just turn a TAF into a TAFG if it was only the look I was after and once you've replaced all the parts on a TAFG you've just got the look and it's lost it's true essence right? Kind of like great looking cars with salvage titles.

I value original boards over aftermarket ones. New cabinet is fine though as long as it's a good one.

If you can get gold decals I would do a new cab. I would always take a fresh cab with new decals over a rough original. It's not a 69 cuda.

I replaced my TAFG cabinet.

Looks better than new.

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^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Now that's what I'm talking about. Beautiful TAFG.

No question on the head. A nice quality new head with good decals will enhance the value IMO. Just too much damage on the current one. Cabinet could be a toss up. Might be worth trying your hand at some touch ups and see if you are happy with it. On the other hand will the head decals match the cabinet colors. If not then decals all around.
Clearly for most people with a TAFG an original silkscreened cabinet in excellent condition would be preferred, but a high quality restoration as we know you are capable of doing should be worth nice money for someone looking for an TAFG in that condition. There may be rarer more valuable pinballs but no matter how you slice it there were only 1000 golds made and that was 20 years ago.

What is the plaque number on yours?

I would restore it by replacing the cabinet with a brand new one and keep the original cabinet should you sell it and someone really cares about that.

I would be very excited about a new cabinet with properly installed decals.

Just got done restoring mine with a brand new cabinet with the screened gold decals...looks amazing!

That cabinet doesn't look bad to me at all. It looks original. I have never been put off a pinball machine faster than when it is painfully obvious that new decals have been added. It is definitely dirty with a few extra holes, but you can fill those and put a little touch up paint on them. I originally envisioned the artwork torn down the middle and possibly in a fire. You can always let the next guy restore it.

Does someone build/sell new cabinets? If so, what do they cost?

They are out there but they are not cheap.

http://www.letsplaypinball.com/cabinets.html

Cabinet option would be ok either way but don't replace the playfield with a new repro as then you no longer have a gold. The original playfield in the game under black light will have a serial # that will match what is on the sticker inside the game.

Just curious if it was on the TAFG owners list. 536, and 537 listed , not 538.

What happened here? My Doctor Who has these screw holes as well.

THIS! Hey, it's only pinball.