They went as far as they could before they ran out of parts.

They went as far as they could before they ran out of money.

They went as far as they could before the wife said it must go.

They went as far as they could until they couldn't get it running.

They went as far as they could until the money invested was higher than they could ever hope to sell it for.

LTG : )

Or they went as far as they could with their skill set.

Replaced the burned out bulbs. Polished and waxed the B-Jesus out of the playfield. Replaced that broken rubber ring. Put new balls into the game.

Could be anything. They started, but didn't finish. To what degree can vary wildly.

they bought a game cheap, they put color leds under the plastics to make it look horrible and called it a day.
then they post it FS at 10x what they bought it for and state its "partially restored"

With all due respect, I have a completely different take on this, and I use that term often. There is a limited number of choices that apply to a game that is partially original, and sometimes in fantastic shape.

For instance, the cabinet is redone, but the playfield is in incredible original shape, or vice versa. I suppose a seller that lacks integrity could list such a machine as "fully restored," "HUO" or "shopped and fully refurbished" but sometimes none of those fit the description better than partially restored.

If someone posts a game as fully restored, I assume that every single part, including the cabinet, the boards, the mechs, switches, backglass, displays and yes playfield are COMPLETELY restored. How many machines that are listed as such truly are? I would imagine that number is pretty small.

Maybe it is a matter of looking at the glass as half empty vs half full, but I accurately and confidently mark some of my machines as partially restored, because they are. I can assure you it is not a lack of money, a half ass mentality or a desire to inflate the price of something that isn't justified. I wish there were more descriptors in the drop down menu but I usually elaborate in the text of the for sale ad and that seems to be plenty explanation to most buyers.

My tone is respectful here. I just wanted to give my interpretation and use of it. It is a shame that some sellers have tainted the term, if that is the case.

I restored a TAF, but I didn’t touch the cabinet. That was a choice of mine, and I called it a partial restoration (ABC - all but cabinet).

I agree that complete is everything. Absolutely everything is restored. If you just swap a PF, that’s not a fully restored.

Love the ABC! That’s good. Yes, playfield swap is just that. A small piece of the pie. I like that there’s a partially restored option because you see restored thrown around here a lot. That has always meant to me 100%. I can say I never have restored anything. And sometimes intentions are good to get it close to 100% but limitations are parts availability.

I feel like I am doing a partially restoration on my Fish Tales. I've gone through the entire game, disassembled the entire playfield, fixed a ton of stuff, cleaned everything, and replaced a lot of parts. I'm not doing the cab decals, replacing the playfield, or going overboard so I wouldn't call it a true restoration. However, it sure is a lot more work than wiping down the playfield, swapping some rubbers, and throwing in some bulbs like what most people call a shop job.

It’s just a fuse

As the owner of the Route I worked for once said to one of the techs: " Even if you don't know what you're doing, just clean the fcukin' glass".

He's still alive at 93. Bert Steir. Now in So Cal. Google and look at all the shit he got busted for and sued for with his many investments.

We need a national love an operator day.

LTG : )

OK, as the question is Slightly on topic. Though I would NEVER sell my HEP TZ, what would a HEP full blown restoration be classified other then a work of art? With new cabinet and basically everything down to the wires would it be NIB again? SuperNIB?

I like to call it remanufactured

Ran out of Sharpie markers.

LTG : )

Did the PF but not the cab? O_o

I've done the cab but not the playfield.

Oh sure, could be that too.

New levelers and leg bolts. All my games are partially restored.

Or restored with the Power Cosmic!

For me or my expectations of buying Partially restored I always defined it as:

Game top side Completely torn down Everything. All parts tumbled polished perfect screws included. All metal regrained. New plastic set. Playfield buffed and prepared to the best it can be including replacing worn mylar. Bottom side cleaned and Every mech completely rebuild with new parts. Cabinet cleaned inside and out with proper touch ups (no sharpies!) new legs and levelers. Bulbs of choice all around new and if an older title, all board pins refloated and connectors replaced as needed or questionable. But thats me. A Shop job is just how much wax can you put on it with rubbers.

Yeah - I don’t play the cabinets. Could care less personally. I don’t really even look at the cabs.

So what happened to just selling the game and not labeling it as anything but for sale? (Restored, partially restored, shopped, cleaned, HUO, Moded, ect...)
Partially restored means nothing. It is just a run around to try and label a sale. Just say what you did to the thing.

It also means BOHICA in some cases right?

Once again, the real issue is Pinside promotes the use of it in the marketplace by making it an option.
It's next to other dumb shit like
"Old in Box"
"partially Shopped"
and of course every idiots fave; "New Out Of Box"

Probably trying to make sellers happy once the site went profit.

You forgot W@W and L@@K

LTG : )

Yep you cant go wrong with this procedure. I found that you have to turn a deaf ear to the clichés and just buy it for what it is. Request good pics if your buying online. Heck I would be up for going over to look at a game local here in Denver for pinsider that was interested in a game here from another state. I know there other guys out there that would also.