# Rating Pinball Condition

**Source:** Cary Hardy  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2019-02-18  
**Duration:** 10m 20s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NJhE1-ajEg

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## Analysis

Cary Hardy provides a detailed tutorial on rating pinball machine condition using a newly acquired Gottlieb Waterworld as a case study. He demonstrates a 1-10 scale for both cabinet and playfield condition, explaining how to assess wear, damage, and defects. Hardy rates the Waterworld cabinet 7/10 and playfield 6/10, with potential for improvement after restoration.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] A 10/10 rating should only be given to new-in-box machines or exceptional restorations — _Hardy states definitively that '10, which is reserved for new in-box machines' and 'whenever you're looking at machines and someone wants to say that their cabinet or playfield is a 10 out of 10, then it better be new in box or it better be one hell of a restoration.'_
- [HIGH] Cabinet condition is easier to repair than playfield condition — _Hardy explicitly states 'cabinet work is a little bit more easier to fix. It's not as sensitive as your play field' and 'I'm not as critical on my rating due to the fact that cabinet work is a little bit more easier to fix.'_
- [MEDIUM] Gottlieb machines have problematic side rails that rust easily in adverse weather — _Hardy observes 'I don't know what it is with these side rails but whenever you leave one in adverse weather conditions you're pretty much guaranteed to have rusted up side rails' and 'I'm not sure what the deal is with this company and their side rails'_
- [HIGH] The Waterworld cabinet overall needs cleaning, waxing, and minor touch-ups but no major repairs — _Hardy concludes 'The cabinet overall I want to say is in very good shape' and rates it 7/10, noting 'It just probably needs a good cleaning and maybe even a good wax'_
- [HIGH] The Waterworld playfield has two major defects: worn rubbers above right flipper and a thin line wear mark near harpoon shooter — _Hardy identifies these as 'two total major defects on this play field one of them is above the right flipper' and discusses the harpoon shooter area wear_

### Notable Quotes

> "whenever you're looking at machines and someone wants to say that their cabinet or playfield is a 10 out of 10, then it better be new in box or it better be one hell of a restoration"
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~0:30-0:50
> _Establishes the strict definition of perfect condition ratings, setting expectations for the rating scale used throughout the video_

> "I'm not as critical on my rating due to the fact that cabinet work is a little bit more easier to fix. It's not as sensitive as your play field."
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~1:20
> _Explains the methodology difference between cabinet and playfield ratings, key to understanding Hardy's approach_

> "I don't know what it is with these side rails but whenever you leave one in adverse weather conditions you're pretty much guaranteed to have rusted up side rails"
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~3:30
> _Notes a potential manufacturing or design issue with Gottlieb machines regarding side rail durability_

> "These rubbers, I fear if I look at them wrong, they will bust. So I'm just trying to give you a good, closer view of how close these damn things are to busting. Easy fix, though."
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~8:00
> _Demonstrates how to identify critical wear issues and prioritize repair needs_

> "I'm going to rate this cabinet a 7 out of 10. Once you get it all touched up, cleaned up and everything and waxed and get a good little sheen on it, then it might even be an 8."
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~7:45
> _Shows how ratings account for potential improvement through restoration work_

> "I'm having to judge this machine and play field on its current state not what it could be"
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~12:30
> _Clarifies the rating philosophy: assessing actual condition rather than potential after restoration_

> "I'm going to give this play field a six and once it gets all cleaned and waxed up i might even bump it up to a seven"
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~12:45
> _Final playfield rating with acknowledgment of improvement potential through routine maintenance_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Cary Hardy | person | YouTube content creator who discusses pinball machine condition rating methodology |
| Gottlieb Waterworld | game | Gottlieb pinball machine used as case study for condition rating demonstration; acquired by Hardy for location placement, not personal collection |
| Gottlieb | company | Pinball manufacturer noted for potentially problematic side rail durability in adverse weather conditions |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Pinball machine condition grading scale (1-10), Cabinet condition assessment and restoration, Playfield condition assessment and wear patterns
- **Secondary:** Location pinball vs collection machines, Gottlieb manufacturing quality and durability issues, Cosmetic restoration and preservation techniques

### Sentiment

**Neutral** (0.5) — Hardy maintains an objective, educational tone throughout. Waterworld is not criticized harshly; it's presented as a typical example with expected wear for its age. No strong positive or negative emotional content, focused on practical assessment.

### Signals

- **[community_signal]** Hardy distinguishes between location machines (more tolerant of cosmetic defects) and collection machines (require higher standards), indicating different buyer/operator priorities (confidence: high) — Hardy emphasizes Waterworld is 'not going in my collection' and 'will be a location pin,' with different repair approach (mylar vs. airbrushing/clearcoat) based on intended use
- **[product_concern]** Gottlieb side rails demonstrate systematic rust and flaking in adverse weather conditions, suggesting potential manufacturing or material issue (confidence: medium) — Hardy notes multiple instances of rust and black paint flaking on side rails, speculates about design or material quality with Gottlieb machines in humid/wet environments

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## Transcript

 I did a thing. What's up everyone and welcome back to my channel where I talk and do everything pinball. So if that sounds interesting to you, then hit that subscribe button down below. I bought a Gottlieb Waterworld. Now, this is not going to be going in my collection. I need to add that this is not going in my collection. This will be a location pin. I will be doing a separate video showing you some before, during, and after of shopping this machine up because it definitely needs it, as you will see in this video. But what this video is going to be about is essentially rating a machine when purchasing or just having a good knowledge of what you would rate your own machine. Now, when I say rating, there is a universal slash very subjective scale whenever you're talking about a pinball machine that you're going to purchase. That scale ranges from 1 to 10. 1 being basically pretty much the machines you saw maybe in my previous video when I went barn diving. And then you have 10, which is reserved for new in-box machines, okay? So whenever you're looking at machines and someone wants to say that their cabinet or playfield is a 10 out of 10, then it better be new in box or it better be one hell of a restoration. But typically the 10 rating is reserved for new in box. So majority of the time your rating should range between 9 and 1. Two separate categories, one for cabinet, one for playfield. Now my cabinet overview, I'm not as critical on my rating due to the fact that cabinet work is a little bit more easier to fix. It's not as sensitive as your play field. So what I want to do is go over the cabinet to see what all is going through my head visually when I'm observing a machine when I'm going to purchase it. Or when I'm selling my machines, how I can give someone a number to give them an idea of the machine's integrity. So let pan over the cabinet now and let find all the defects or issues that I need to be concerned about and then let give my rating and I want to see what you think about that So here we are on the left side box artwork It looks to be intact with no major flaws or defects other than a chip on the bottom corner there With probably just a good cleaning will fix that up. Here I can see some moderate planking throughout the artwork with of course some occasional dirt spots and a little bit of chipping paint. Just little spots here and there. now another concern are the side rails which team that you know godly I don't know what it is with these side rails but whenever you leave one in adverse Carl Weathers conditions you're pretty much guaranteed to have rusted up side rails I'm not sure what the deal is with this company and their side rails here I can see some flaking around the black edge missing right there at the top some dirt a decal smudge right there as well as a deep scratch into the wood and of course wherever the legs are at they've been dug into the wood and some more planking throughout the artwork. The door looks to be pretty intact. Going up here the right side rail must have been close to a window or more moisture than the other side because this side rail it's hard to catch on the video but this has more rust on it a lot of black missing right here on the side this side like I said had to been facing towards the window or more humidity because the planking on this side is a little more heavier but overall still not that bad the colors that are missing the pains of chips are solid like yellow and black so that would be easy to touch up it's not like I've had to like really mix up a lot of different kind of color to get something right and yep just usual planking some black on the sides right there missing deep gouges in the wood for the legs it's pretty typical yeah let's see what the decide black missing on the edges artwork seems to be intact artwork and trans light are all intact looks pretty good. Let's see what the very back of the machine looks like now. Alright no big deep gouges or missing text or anything like that. Some black missing. There's a piece of tape that needs to be taken off. Hopefully it won't take any paint off whenever I do that either. And just some minor touch-ups and black on the back. So there the cabinet The cabinet overall I want to say is in very good shape The The paint touch are merely and mostly in the black area so it very simple to touch that stuff up It just probably needs a good cleaning and maybe even a good wax on there to help prevent that planking from getting any worse. But no major art mishaps or gouges in the wood that's going to have to require some Bondo to get it all fillered up and stuff like that. So I'm actually going to rate this cabinet a 7 out of 10. Once you get it all touched up, cleaned up and everything and waxed and get a good little sheen on it, then it might even be an 8. On to the playfield. Now like I've already stated, I'm much more critical on my playfields, especially if they're going into my collection. Now if they're not going into my collection, I have a lot more room for error. So let's start on this side of the playfield. I'm just going to kind of pan over and see what we can find. A lot of the issues I'm just seeing is dirt, but right here is the worst spot at the playfield, somewhere over the flipper. These rubbers, I fear if I look at them wrong, they will bust. So I'm just trying to give you a good, closer view of how close these damn things are to busting. Easy fix, though. It doesn't determine my score. It just determines the price I buy it for. Second area with some wear on it is this area for the harpoon shooter. It's got a trail marker for when the ball launches. not not too bad but it's there a lot of the stuff back here behind in the back area the playfield and on the plastics and it's just a bunch of dirt and dust just needs a good little cleaning so I want to say that was probably all the wear spots that I've already pointed out just some dirt trails there's even a little bit of rust on this area up here on the DS area so that's gonna have to be cleaned up around the pop bumpers nowhere because the mile are I'm sure you've got a clicky protector on the dive hole which is nice decal on the slide starting to bubble up right there other than that right there it looks pretty dang decent just needs a really good cleaning and waxing and it should shine up pretty nice Shooter lane, just a little bit of cleaning. It should look good. Not much given the flippers, but a little bit let's check underneath the flippers to make sure there's nothing under there. Underneath the flippers look pretty good too. Everything mechanically functional there are two total major defects on this play field one of them is above the right flipper as i've already stated now if it was going into my collection then i would do some touch-ups on this with some airbrushing and then i would eventually clear coat it to seal it into where there's no more issues. Since it's going on location I'm not really even going to worry about doing a touch-up on it. I'm just probably going to put a little sheet of mylar over that area to keep it from getting any worse. We're not down to the bare wood on it but the paint has kind of rubbed away so if we continue to do that on a dirty play field then it's just going to get worse. So we're going to put a little get it cleaned up get it waxed put a sheet of mylar just over that spot to prevent any further defect. The other issue on the play field is near the harpoon shooter lane it's just got like a thin line where the ball has been rolling over over the years it's not even really that big of a deal like i said it's going on location it's barely noticeable so i'm not too concerned with that but i do have to take that into effect on what the rating is going to be for any kind of defects that i see now obviously if this machine gets cleaned up waxed and everything's all nice and shiny then cosmetically that would improve the rating of the playfield right i would assume so so i'm having to judge this machine and play field on its current state not what it could be i can give that a separate rating but i want to rate it on what it is right now so in its current state with it being in the condition that it is with the roughness just around that it's not even that much i'm going to give this play field a six and once it gets all cleaned and waxed up i might even bump it up to a seven but once again this is completely subjective everyone that's why i want to get your feedback now on what you would rate this water world when it comes to the cabinet quality and the plate filled quality let me know down below thanks everyone for watching till the end if you like what you've seen here give me that thumbs up it really helps out the channel and in case you haven't already smash that subscribe button down below that way you can be notified of whenever i upload new material for your viewing pleasure until next time peace out Outro Music

_(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 7db893f7-e6e7-4440-9f19-eb5a7da063e6*