My fathom backglass arrived today. Was a very expensive operation getting this from Bay Area Amusements in the US.
Usd 200 cost
Usd 60 shipping
£41 uk duties
I think the original fathom backglass is an absolute classic piece of pinball art, one of the very very best. So I was prepared to "go the extra mile" as my games is a keeper and the art is lifting badly from the glass.
the original Bally one
The CPR
Side by side - you can see how much darker and less detailed the CPR is.
Detail shot - Bally
Detail shot - CPR, showing the blurry signature and loss of subtle tones in the surrounding artwork
The CPR also has areas that look like dirty head tracks on an inkjet printer. It is nowhere near the quality of the original.
In short I am disappointed. It is great that CPR is helping to keep old games alive. The CPR plastics seem much higher quality to me than the backglasses.
The original Bally is far higher resolution. The original one is also lighter so the innumerate subtle details of shades and colours in it are just "drowned out" on the CPR one. The CPR one does have better mirroring though, as the mirror is against much darker colours.
Despite the lifting of the art, I think my original looks much better
Based on this I would say that a CPR backglass is better than not having a backglass. But the original needs to be quite damaged (meaningful areas of missing art) before the CPR will look better. So think long and hard before you buy one
Usd 200 cost
Usd 60 shipping
£41 uk duties
I think the original fathom backglass is an absolute classic piece of pinball art, one of the very very best. So I was prepared to "go the extra mile" as my games is a keeper and the art is lifting badly from the glass.
the original Bally one
The CPR
Side by side - you can see how much darker and less detailed the CPR is.
Detail shot - Bally
Detail shot - CPR, showing the blurry signature and loss of subtle tones in the surrounding artwork
The CPR also has areas that look like dirty head tracks on an inkjet printer. It is nowhere near the quality of the original.
In short I am disappointed. It is great that CPR is helping to keep old games alive. The CPR plastics seem much higher quality to me than the backglasses.
The original Bally is far higher resolution. The original one is also lighter so the innumerate subtle details of shades and colours in it are just "drowned out" on the CPR one. The CPR one does have better mirroring though, as the mirror is against much darker colours.
Despite the lifting of the art, I think my original looks much better
Based on this I would say that a CPR backglass is better than not having a backglass. But the original needs to be quite damaged (meaningful areas of missing art) before the CPR will look better. So think long and hard before you buy one
Last edited: