Backglass Reproductions

The following information is from Richard Gerlitz. While I haven't seen one of these glasses myself, I have dealt with Richard in the past and wouldn't hesitate to try this if I needed a glass. In fact, I may eventually get a Bikini glass (in a year or so...don't wait for me). If anyone tries this, let me know how it works out.

I thought you might be interested in my graphic work. I have bought and sold over 700 bingo's in my time. When I would purchase a warehouse, we would always leave behind, or part out, the games with broken or missing backglasses.

I developed a way to make high-quality reproduction backglasses, one at a time, as needed. Over the years, I have scanned new old stock glass, or mint original used glass, for Carnival Queen through Bounty games. These were then digitized and color corrected and any imperfections removed. I've included a reduced jpg of the Golden Gate backglass. The reduced backglass is only 500,000 bytes at 72dpi on your screen. The original file is over 100 million bytes. Printed at full size, these are exact reproductions of an original glass, including original silk-screen markings.

Now here's the cool part. The image is printed in absolute vivid color on white paper. It is placed between two 1/8" pieces of glass and superglue applied at the edges. This glues the paper and the 2 pieces of glass together, and you have a backglass! Everything is perfectly flat between the glasses and the image appears to be printed on the back of the glass, just like the original. The area you don't want light shining through has to be taped, or painted out, on the back of the second glass. I've included stencil patterns for arrows, circles, tilt etc. Because the print is protected between the glass, the tape or paint never touches the print if you make a mistake. You can't tell it isn't an original when it is on the machine.

Everyone has flipped out when they see the print, or the finished backglass. Anyway, the print is shipped in a Priority Mailing tube, and you purchase the 2 pieces of glass locally. (about $10 each) Nothing gets broken in shipment. This may not meet your current needs, but perhaps for some game in the future. Price of the prints are $100 each, plus $5 postage. If you are not 100% happy with the print, you can return it up to 7 days for a full refund. I've never had one returned yet.

Richard Gerlitz
rgerlitz@aol.com