Quoted from jgelman:

Having sold 2 machines and with a plan to give my Buckaroo to my daughter, I was thinking for the first time in 15 years, I would add machines, 2 of them, and they would be TZ and EBD. I think it would be nice for them to be HEP restored. Some people sell their HEP TZ machines, and buying one, especially in the 11k range if available, seems less expensive than buying a machine and sending it to HEP for restoration. However, when you buy a HEP restored machine, you do not get to pick every detail. I was offered a basic HEP restored TZ for 15k, but after seeing one sell recently for 10.8, I thought maybe that was above market value even though it would cost a lot to have one restored.
The HEP website has pictures of the TZ restorations in the photo gallery. Do you think any particular restoration stands out? If you were to have a HEP TZ, would you have any particular requests or preferences?

Quoted from jgelman:

Thank you, and as I understand, a 2021 HEP restored TZ may offer some benefits (other than time from restoration) over a 2015 restoration due to refinements and beneficial changes in how they are restored.
When I purchased EM, things were not so complicated - no mods, no issue of color DMD or speaker upgrades or black powdercoat vs chrome (although Herb Silvers liked polished chrome, but it was that or the factory look which I preferred for EMs).
Trying to understand if a HEP restored TZ on the secondary market is the way to go, and if so, what makes such a machine worth 10.8k vs 15k vs more or less, and how those machines would compare to what I would get from a 2021 restoration.
I am on the learning curve.