TESTIMONIALS

 

I've read many positive posts about Chris Hutchins of High End Pins and I thought it was about time I shared my great experience.  My hopes are that along with other pinball enthusiast, perhaps those new to pinball will read this and understand that there is a trusted craftsman out there that can take their pinball and make it better than new again.  Of course I speak of Chris Hutchins and 'Craftsman' is an understatement.  Read on.

 

I have a modest game room with a few pinball machines for family and friends to enjoy.  I purchased my pins from a game dealer.  I enjoy tinkering with pins but over time I found myself spending too much time repairing them and not enough time playing.

 

My wife and I decided to either buy new-in-box games or get our games refurbished.  After doing a lot of research we discovered Chris Hutchins of High End Pins and began looking at his work and checking references.  After we did our due diligence; it was easy to conclude that having Chris Hutchins restore our pins was the superior choice and that it would be better than buying new-in-box.  Why?

 

Here's the best way to describe Chris Hutchins of High End Pins: World-Class Pinball Restorer - We all can appreciate detailed resumes and nice references; it's a good thing.  But when it comes to restoring treasured collectables like high-end automobiles, antique furniture, or priceless artwork; the proof is how well the collectable looks, performs, and ages over time.  Ask anyone who's received a Chris Hutchins Pin, including myself.  I've had my pins from Chris for a couple of years now and
they still look beautiful and perform great.  People who play my pins think they are brand new when actually their 15 years old but literally are brought back to perfection by Chris.

 

Superior Product:  Chris Hutchins doesn't simply clean-up a machine to resell.  Chris actually tears pins completely down to the bare cabinet and remanufactures them.  I researched pin restorations and found no one that offered the level of restore that Chris provides.  Check-out his website to see the process.  I was amazed to see pictures and watch my pin being restored back to new.

 

First Class Service:  I was pleasantly surprised that Chris was with us every step of the way starting when he first received our machines.  Truly a skilled technician,; he discussed every detail of the process, gave a full estimate, documented his work, shipped the pin in a crush-proof crate, and amazingly provided 24/7 phone support to walk me through setting and adjusting the pin until it played perfect.  The level of service and attention to detail was truly impressive and remains so to this day.

 

Pinball at it's best.  My family and friends now enjoy pinball every weekend.  My pins look and play great.  I've since sent additional pins to Chris Hutchins knowing they will be returned as works of art and will be cherished for many years to come.  There's no other experience quite like it.  Though I've never met Chris in person, he's become a trusted friend and someone I'd gladly provide reference for. -- Eric Kowalski
 


Repeat after me.... Christopher Hutchins, Christopher Hutchins, Christopher Hutchins

As far as I know there's only one restorer out there who is doing the level of work Christopher is doing. He totally disassembles every part on the game, clearcoats the playfield (see other posts in this thread on his experience and background in the automobile business), rebuilds flippers and bumpers, does board work, replaces anything that needs to be for cosmetic and mechanical reasons. Christ, I've even seen him recommend that I replace certain parts or boards that are working now, but should be ready to go soon. That's the level of service I choose to pay for - he doesn't cut corners, he skip over fixing things that his customer will probably never know about, he
doesn't send you a game quick to get your check knowing there's going to be issues on it down the road. Christopher truly has a love and respect for the games and will not pull punches about doing whatever is necessary to make the perfect before they leave. It's not all about the money with him.

With that said, it's not cheap to have your game restored, but when you add up what he's doing to the game in time, parts, labor, etc... and what you have when he's done - it's worth it if you truly want the BEST example of that pinball machine in your collection, which is what I believe this post was originally asking about. Face it, nobody that does this type of work does it cheap - there's a lot of labor and expertise involved here.

For me, I'm technically challenged, have a big collection, and got tired of never having the time to play the games with my family on the weekends since I always had my head under the playfield trying to fix this or that. I bought my games and started in the hobby basically for my kids and family to have time to spend together. After I got
into the hobby I sort of lost track of why I got into it to begin with. That's when I started with Christopher and decided I wanted my games done in a way I don't have to keep working on them over and over and over... I like to tinker, as we all do, and I still will, but now after my collection has been run through Christopher I can do it when
I want to knowing my games really, really are now BETTER than NIB.

I know of what I speak - I've had the following games restored by Christopher : TAF, TZ, TOTAN. I'm currently have the following game being restored : CV, MB - and then my MM, and RS will follow afterward. I've outright bought the following games from Christopher : CC, AFM, SC. I've recently purchased the following games from
Christopher that are still the in process of being done : FH, IJ. Add it up - that's 12 games. You do the math and figure out the money I'm 'investing' in Christopher's work. I want the best and I'm getting the best. The post asked about money not being an object and who does the BEST work - you've got another vote here for Christopher Hutchins.

I also know he's currently got a FT and TAF that he's going to be restoring to sell – I've got a TAF and I don't have room for a FT or I would have bought those too ! Just some info for anyone who may be interested and want to give him a try. He replies to emails quickly, answers all your questions without an attitude, and builds crates to ship games that's built like Fort Knox. Oh yeah, he's a super nice guy to boot. :)


I know this topic has been well-documented, but somehow I'd feel remiss to not tell the world about my great CH experience.  He has just completed 3 of my pins and no surprise that they are beautiful and indeed, they play even better than they look.  But what is even more gratifying about my experience was working with Chris himself - the guy is just one of those people that is so nice that it is almost annoying.

I'm a skeptical sort and the idea of shipping pins across the country and finding out much later how much it would all cost, left me with the sinking feeling I get when taking my car to a German mechanic.  Who knows what it will cost and how much work will really be done?  But with Chris, I got photo updates almost daily, and continuous contact about exactly how things were going.  The guy is a work-a-holic but he always answers the phone and spends as much time with customers as they'd like.  It took me a little while, but I learned to trust Chris, and now I'd consider my experience with him as among the best I'd ever had with any vendor in any trade.

I respect that some collectors/enthusiasts don't get the point of such a large investment in a game meant to *play*.  But for those who want the best, and choose to allocate their scarce resources towards this endeavor, CH has proved to me that he is the gold-standard. I've used a couple other well-known pinball restorers, and to me, the difference is sizable. --Warner


Public thanks to Chris Hutchins for the *amazing* restoration job that he performed on my Twilight Zone. I sent to Chris a TZ with a faded cabinet, a 9 playfield, one of Steve's 3rd magnet kits, and a set of cabinet decals. Chris returned to me a 10+ TZ that plays better than any machine I've ever played.

Both playfields were stripped, cleaned, touched-up, and clearcoated. The cabinet was stripped, rebuilt internally and externally, repainted, and decaled. All metal parts, above and below the playfield, were stripped to their atomic structures and polished. All new parts for the moveable parts. Some new "stickers", such as the mini-playfield teardown sticker. Every part of the machine, down to the wood screws, shines. His website posted pictures of the progress, before, during and after. Finally, the machine was
returned to me in a custom-built, reusable crate.

I *love* the way that the game plays. I've never played a NIB TZ, but I intuitively know that this machine plays the way the game is supposed to play, the way a pinball machine is supposed to play. I have a sense that this machine is better put together and detailed that a NIB TZ.

If you've got a machine that you know is a keeper and you want it to perform better than NIB, send it to Chris. I think you'll be very happy with the result. -- Todd


Just took delivery of Chris's FH from his new shop. Nos pf, new ramps, decals, plastics, the whole shootin match.

It plays and looks better than NIB. Amazing.

I can't put it next to any other pin because it makes them pale in comparison.

Now on to the Creature. Can't wait. -- Thanks, Buddy


What a great job Chris did on these 2 games.

I believe these are the ones he shows on homegameroom site.

Thanks Chris for the great work and being such a pleasure to work with.

Can't wait for the Creature which is up next. -- Mike
 


Chris is the best there is in every respect - skill, attitude, dedication to his work, attention to detail, service after the sale, and so on and so on.

Chris is a class act to deal with from start to finish and that's even before you see the finished product. When you get the finished product then you know you've got something you will never part with. Your post is timely as just today I cleaned my game room up of a lot of clutter and when done I stood back and looked at my lineup of 11 Chris Hutchins pins, knowing that no matter what other stuff rotates in and out Chris's games will always be the part of my collection I'm most proud of owning. Glad to see another happy customer (oh yeah, that's the only type there ever is). Enjoy your new game, it looks super!
-- Joe Newhart in PA.


And all I can say is WOW!! Christopher Hutchins really does some nice work. This machine is actually *nicer* than my NIB TSPP was. The NOS cabinet decals and clearcoated playfield really make this machine "feel" like a new Williams pin. No disrespect to the gentleman who is selling a NIB CC, but this one really comes close. Even the inside of the cabinet looks new.

Anyway, if anyone is looking for someone to restore a machine for them, Christopher really does nice work. -- Jeff


Just unpacked (no small feat- this thing is crated to perfection) my Chris Hutchins special Funhouse. Words don't do it justice- so excuse my subjected wording- but nothing else comes close. This thing is awesome!

No expense spared- no screw left unturned (in fact- all of the screw heads are lined up in the same direction- how's that for picky!) If you are looking for the absolute best- give Chris a call! Chad, Allen, are not even in the same league (as I used to think they were).

Envious? You should be. This bad boy is unbelievable. -- Marc


If you would like to research our reputation further please click here