by watlingboy » Sat Jun 28, 2014 9:04 pm
Here's my 2 cents and my opinion. The answer to your question is a black and white but also a little gray. You can have an original machine with a replacement back bonnet, back door, cash box, etc. It is still an original machine but it has a replacement back door, cash box or whatever. You can have an original machine that has had the case ruined and the case has been replaced. This does not make it a reproduction. It's an original machine with a new case. California tried to pass a law a few years ago, I don't know whether it went through or not but it seemed like a good idea and that was that 2/3rds of the machine had to be original to not be considered a reproduction. If you find a good machine that is missing something, i.e. bonnet, you don't throw it away or tear it down for parts because of this. The problem exists when it passes to the next guy and the replacement parts are not disclosed.
The reproductions that people complain about have new castings, new cabinet and most of the mech is made up of new parts, that is a reproduction. The fake machines are those that MAY or may not be original machines but they have been made into something else. A Diamond Front, Black Cherry or Golden Falls made into a fake Golden Nugget.
A restored machine is one that has been redone. No different than a restored car or anything else. If you are restoring a car and the radiator is bad you replace it, also some parts need replating, the same goes for slots. Award cards, reel strips, springs, etc. are all acceptable to replace. Some collectors might not want a machine that does not have the original strips and that is an individual choice. You might even have to replace some of these things on a machine that you are keeping as an unrestored machine if they are bad. I try to preserve anything I can on a machine I'm trying to clean up but sometimes you might need to replace something. It then is an original unrestored machine with a new award card or whatever.
If it has to be restored, make it as close to the original as possible without making it better than it was. Unless the mechanism is a rust bucket, don't bead blast it and ruin the original look and patina of the metal. Clean it and preserve it.
Watlingboy