A Question about those unique Data East posts

[Wiredworm]

So, the rebuild of the upper side of the playfield starts. And of course one of the first jobs i've had to do is dig through all the parts and sort out what needs to go into the tumbler.

Now, I believe that most DE tables have some special posts which are unique to these machines and are pretty much unobtanium. They look like this.



So, my question is this. Are the rubbers on these posts removable or not? I gave one a really good pull and tried to waggle it off but they seem to be rock solid.

Bearing in mind they're unobanium the last thing I want to do is break one of them, although it's also possible that I might not use them all and will possibly fit star posts in some locations instead because i've seen a few other people do this and it actually looks nicer.

If the rubbers aren't removable then can I tumble them with the rubbers still in place? Is it likely to cause any problems to the rubber?

 

[Tony]

I "think" there the same as the ones on my LW3 ended up getting them from Andy @pinballmania if I can remember LW3 has something daft like 16?
I'd ask Andy

 

[Spandangler]

I've just bought the new rubbers for my jp. Available from all good retailers. Just pull em off. Said the actress to the bishop

 

[PinballDaze]

Have some here in stock.

 

[Wiredworm]

They were tight but nothing that a little tweak with a pair of pliers wouldn't shift.

All posts now stripped, including the taller ones. Some of these won't get refitted but those that do might have their rubbers swapped out for coloured post sleeves. Will take a look into it. I've seen some people colour match the ones near the BOMB targets.

Thanks for the help to those who commented.