When you are satisfied… seriously some are happy that all the bulbs are lit and the flippers work. Others will do a thorough rebuild including cleaning the screw heads…

With a game this age and play you really need to do a complete tear down and rebuild to make it both reliable and playable as intended…

Replace ALL the optical transmitters. I’ve shopped maybe 10 to 15 Star Treks. You’ll be back for another opto eventually if they are all factory age. Replace the wire harnesses going to the two cannons as well. Get a new trough opto board set.

Don’t stop at the playfield. If the ribbon cables in the backbox look aged/ yellowed replace all them too especially the one between the CPU and power driver board. That can cause strange things to activate even when the game isn’t played. If it’s only one thing a fuse might not catch it.

every game coming into my house will be played a couple of time s and checked for issues then complete gutted and deep cleaned!
from there regular maintenance and you pin has increased in value and will provide years of enjoyment !

now that's funny ... I don't get the Table thing either , somehow just sounds wrong !

When you are broke?

When you are too busy to make up work for yourself to do?

When you realize that making this or that more shiny won't alter your enjoyment or how often you play a given game?

Considering people send NIB games to HEP for "restoration" there really is no limit.

In my case, projects like re-doing my Flash Gordon Cabinet would make it look "better", but is not going to alter how much I enjoy the game at all. I would have 15-20 more hours of my life into making the game "better" (I already brought it back from the dead and did a budget playfield swap in that game's case).

Oh for Pete's sake. Try reading about the history of pinball. The early pinball were a descendant of a parlor game called a bagatelle table. Pinballs were referred to as tables long before they became mechanized. It's still very common to refer to them as tables by many hobbyists. Personally, I feel it a classy reference.

Restoration completion is very subjective, and especially can take into account hobbyist skillset, budget, and personal objectives. My restos have varied greatly depending on the game.

It's got 4 legs and you can pile stuff on it - it's a table.