What game do you have?

.

Not sure I would spend that kind of loot on a silver ball mania

High End Pins, Chris did a TZ for me several years ago me and gave me a machine that was better than new. He will also customize it. I sent him some parts to put in it which he did and I asked that it be power coated black with black legs and LEDs. It came out better than I could have hoped for.

is there anything you want special done to your game?

you might just go for great, rather than amazing and save some money

Your kids must really love silver ball mania !

High_End_Pins is better known by far so most people don’t have an informed opinion about Pinball Pimp.

If by heirloom you mean a junk table in the spare room that they glance at once a month while thinking about getting rid of that old thing then sure.

All you have to do is follow HEPs threads. His work is second to none IMO

Pinball Pimp if I recall specializes in the older games.

I think he can and will do more modern stuff but his wheelhouse is 70s and 80s pins.

I think he does art for CRP on those older games also.

There is no question that Chris at HEP has no equal. The only question could be who is second best.

Chris at HEP did a MB for me, and I will say his work is incredible. He’s also the most well known, so that may lead to a longer wait time. You’d have to contact him to find out.

His work speaks for itself: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/hep-this-week-9-17-18

Why not do it yourself?

a Bally restoration is a good candidate for a personal restoration
nothing in it is too hard for you

I’m sure you can’t go wrong either way.
Jeff is a friend and I have collaborated with him on many of my custom projects.
His stencils are used regularly on my own restorations and I would consider no others unless there is no choice.
We both have different styles,processes and skill sets that we use and rely on to offer these services to the public and I think generally most are happy with the results we are able to achieve.

Very classy, Chris. I wouldn’t expect anything less of you. Just one more reason why you’re the best.

I actually bought the game from someone and had it shipped directly to Chris. Then he took over everything from there. I know you said money isn’t really an issue, but you’d save a few bucks delivering it yourself. And you would also know that there wouldn’t be issues with shippers causing damage. Although if it was damaged, you’d be sending it to the best person to handle it.

No problem. If you’ve got any other questions, feel free to send me a PM. Or post it here, there are plenty of other customers that may be able to answer if I forget to check back.

I have a MM that Chris restored about 12 years ago. It still looks brand new.
When my kids were in High School and had their friends over, it got a lot of play. Never had a single problem with it!

I know nothing about Jeff’s work so I won’t opine on a comparison obviously, that said, HEP’s work is stellar and if you are looking for legacy family heirloom quality and last ability he does that level quality work. No issue with shipping from HEP, he protects the games incredibly well...they look ready for a landing on Mars.

I've only seen the work of Bryan Kelly. It is incredible! I'm lucky enough that my local pinball bar often has a few of his restorations in rotation and I can't stop myself from staring when I come across them. His Whirlwind is the most beautiful System 11 machine I've ever laid eyes on. Not garish. Just like-new. And his lighting complements the playfield perfectly. He may be semi-retired now. I don't think he likes compliments too much though. I once tried to praise his work and he responded by blocking me.

This Guy at HEP is from Mars. The level of these restorations are phenomenal.

Toast Mach Restorations in Kingston NY. They do really high quality work.

You will not be disappointed with either one.

I have known Jeff for years and his work is just amazing. His talent and energy level are both off the charts along with his incredible attention to detail.

HEP is fantastic

Ken Head also does great restos.
pinhead52 here on pinside.

“No issue with shipping from HEP, he protects the games incredibly well...they look ready for a landing on Mars.”

As above

Shameless plug for Jjsmooth he does amazing work.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stern-nine-ball-resto#post-5963053

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/making-a-quicksilver/page/3#post-6032148

I've never seen either's work in person. From the pictures you couldn't go wrong either way. I think I do a decent job but I'm amateur hour compared to those guys. It does motivate you to improve your own skills for sure.

I use Jeff's stencils in my own restorations and they are fantastic. If you mess one up he'll cut you the one you screwed up. A great guy to work with.

HEP does “better than new” restorations. But all of these guys are doing exceptional, time consuming work. so it can take a LONG time (where you will not have your game) to get it back. It’ll be worth it, but factor that into your decision.

Bally Old Chicago has long been a grail pin for me and I finally got one. The playfield is really pretty good but I decided to go all out so I got a CPR playfield and sent it to Ron Kruzman. I've never had one done by him before. It's the same thing here, you know it will take some time and you'll never recoup your money but in the end it will be worth it. I'll do the rest myself and hope I can come out somewhere near where guys like Chris and Jeff end up.

Playfields.

Because he will dial it up to 11. A lot of those new playfields have minor imperfections, or clear that is "pretty good". He makes them perfect.

That's pretty much it.

When you add Ron's charge on top of the cost of the playfield itself it makes little economic sense and if it was an game I wouldn't keep I wouldn't do it but this is a keeper. If I'm going to restore it and keep it then I want it as good as it can get.

I think he will put the dimples in the proper places too. CPRs aren’t always perfect there either.

I used to do tons of restorations starting back 15 years ago. In the last five years I really haven’t done as many since the stencil business blew up and I’m cutting stencils for guys all over the world on a daily basis. It just doesn’t leave any time to do these 120+ Hour restorations. Also when doing machines to this level you limit your customer base because they get very, very expensive by the time they’re finished and most guys freak out when you give them a price!

With the prices of donor machines these days and brand new everything plus labor... they are easily usually $10,000 or more in the end. They ain’t cheap folks when you go down to the screw and basically build a one off pinball machine from the ground up!

http://www.pinballpimp.com/

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Bryan can be a dick now and then but he's never blocked (not sure what you mean by that) anyone, as far as I now.

I've seen both Chris and Jeff's restores and you can't go wrong with either one.

My goal is to be known as “The OK-est” Pinball Restoration guy one day.