The playfield is the one part of a pinball machine you can't easily put right. Cabinets get new decals, many plastics can be replaced, and boards can be repaired or swapped. Worn playfield paint mostly stays worn. Once the damage is done, there isn't a lot you can do about it beyond careful touch-up, so the playfield is where most of your attention should go in a listing. Each kind of damage shows up differently in the photos, and some of it only shows if you ask for the right shot.
How wear starts
Dirt builds up on the playfield from the ball hitting rubber and from coil dust, and the ball has to plow through it. That dirt acts like sandpaper. It scratches the ball too, which turns the ball into fine sandpaper as well. Once a spot is worn, it gets worse on its own. The ball hits the edge of the low spot, jumps a little and lands, and every landing takes more paint. A scratched ball wears a playfield down faster, so dull, rusty or pitted balls should be replaced.
That gives you two useful questions for the seller. When were the balls last changed, and when was the playfield last cleaned and waxed? A game that's been cleaned, waxed and given fresh balls has had its wear slowed down. A game that sat dirty for years has been wearing the whole time.
Where to look in the photos
Wear shows up first where the ball lands, stops or gets hit hard. That means kickout holes, saucers, jet bumpers and slingshots, the gap right between the flippers and the area right in front of targets. Spinners take it too, and a worn Whirlwind usually shows it around its spinners. On the games themselves, look hard at spots like the skill shot saucer in front of Thing's box on The Addams Family, or the Merlin saucer beside the castle on Medieval Madness.
On older games, also look for ball swirls. They're fine black lines from dirt that settles into cracks in the paint, and they're hard to remove. Check the cabinet near the flipper buttons too. Heavy wear there means the game has been played a lot, so expect wear on the moving parts as well.
Inserts that sit low or cup
Inserts are the plastic windows in the playfield that light up from below. They can shrink and end up lower than the playfield surface, and a low insert makes the game play oddly, sometimes badly enough that the ball hangs up on it. Left alone, the playfield wears around the edge of the insert. It's worst on 1950s games, but it turns up on games as late as the 1980s. Restorers also run into cupped inserts that have to be removed, sanded flat and glued back in.
Flat, straight-on photos won't show this. Ask the seller for a low-angle shot across the playfield with a flashlight held off to one side, so any step at the edge of an insert casts a shadow. Look at the black outlines around the inserts too, since that's often where the black wear is worst.
Mylar
Mylar is a clear plastic film stuck over parts of the playfield to protect the paint. Worn mylar can sometimes be polished, but once it's lifting or bubbling around the inserts, no amount of polishing will make it look good. Taking it off has real risk, because removal can pull the screened artwork off the inserts and leave you to hand-paint them or fit insert decals.
Old cleaning products are part of the story. In 1989 Williams issued a warning bulletin about cleaners with petroleum distillates, such as Mill Wax and Wildcat, because they destroyed the mylar adhesive and made it lift. If a listing shows cloudy or lifting mylar, ask how the playfield has been cleaned.
Clearcoat, cleaners and planking
Williams' later playfields have a tough finish. The "diamond-plated" coat is close to the hard-curing urethanes used on wood floors, and urethane resists wear far better than many other finishes. Even so, the wrong products do damage. Water-based cleaners raise the wood grain and cause planking, where the grain rises and shows through the finish. Novus #2 is abrasive and wears down the protective surface, so save it for a single major cleaning. Silicone products like Pledge soak into the cracks and later cause fisheye defects if anyone tries to clearcoat the playfield.
A very shiny playfield in photos isn't proof of a good one. Ask what it was cleaned and waxed with. Carnauba paste wax is the usual recommendation, and a seller who names it has probably looked after the game.
Touch-ups and restored playfields
Some sellers will have touched up the worn spots. Most collectors would rather have a worn playfield than a poorly touched-up one, and some don't want touch-ups even when they're done well. Acrylic touch-up paint isn't durable in ball traffic areas, so it needs a clearcoat or a piece of mylar over it. If a listing mentions touch-ups or a fresh clearcoat, ask who did the work, when, and for close photos of the repaired areas. Careful restorers let new clearcoat cure 30 days before anyone plays on it, so a game cleared last week isn't ready yet.
Ramps, plastics and toys
Clear ramps often crack at their entry points and curves, and replacements can be hard to find. Cracks can be repaired or covered with metal protectors, so ask whether any ramps have been patched. Slingshot plastics break often but are easy to replace for most games. Other plastics are harder to find and usually sold only as full sets. Look closely at the game's own parts too, like the four Martians and saucers on Attack from Mars or the Powerfield on Twilight Zone.
The photos to ask for
- The whole playfield with the glass off and the room well lit.
- A low-angle flashlight shot across the inserts.
- Close-ups of the area between the flippers, the inlanes and every saucer or kickout.
- Each ramp entrance, up close.
- The cabinet sides and the area around the flipper buttons.
Next, read the battery guide and the listing red flags, or browse the full catalog.