Confused between IGT’s Player’s Edge and Player’s Edge Plus machines? In this video, Lawton Barnes breaks down the visual and internal differences between these two classic gaming machines—from pay tables to manufacturing dates and internal layouts. Whether you’re buying or restoring, here’s how to identify them like a pro.
TRANSCRIPT: These two machines look almost identical. But one of them is a Player’s Edge, and the other is a Player’s Edge Plus. Can you tell the difference between them without removing the MPU board? I’m going to show you how. I’m Lawton Barnes. You’re in the Metal Shop. Okay. So these two IGT machines… The Player’s Edge was the original name of the product. Then there were some updates and improvements that became the Player’s Edge Plus. And, they do look extremely similar. So, let’s see if we can tell the difference between the two. The first thing I’m going to show you is if the machines are working, you are in luck, because there’s a very obvious difference between the two. And it’s to look at the pay tables. So this machine here is the older version of the Player’s Edge. This is from the late 1980s. This is going to be probably ‘87, ’88, ‘89, was when these machines were built, with the 1990s transitioning into the P E Plus. But looking at the pay table here, you see, this has got a cyan and magenta font over a blue background, with the hands on it. Come over to the more, newer version. This is when they introduced the box around the pay table with the dark blue background, and the red showing you the number of coins that you’ve got in the machine. So that’s a real easy giveaway between players edge and the slightly newer Players Edge Plus. Now, if your machine is not working and, you may, you know, maybe you’re trying to buy one, the next place I would look is going to be to go to the manufacturer’s plate on the side of the machine. I’ve got about 15 of these machines. And maybe out of those 15 like two of them will actually say P E Plus on the manufacturer’s plate here. Normally what you’re going to get… Like on this one, is just a code number, and that doesn’t really help you very much. What might help you more is that they typically have a date of manufacture here. So this one is 3/94. The older machine here is a little hard to read, but that one is 6/87. I believe. from the machines that I have, I think October of ‘89 is the first example I can find of a Player’s Edge Plus. So at some point, in ‘89, was when they made the switch. And so I would say, just as a rule of thumb, if it was built in the ‘90s, you’ve got a Player’s Edge Plus. And if it was built in the late ‘80s, you probably have a Player’s Edge. And just to be clear, if it was built in the mid ‘80s, you may have a Fortune II which is a different animal from these. If you’re still not sure after checking the date of manufacture, whether it’s a Player’s Edge or a Plus, Then I would go inside the machine. And we’re going to pull the hoppers. And this will tell you pretty clearly, with the original Player’s Edge, the power supply was over on the left side of the machine. This aluminum box on the back is the MPU board with these cable harnesses going into the top of it. So power supply on the left, MPU board at the back. That’s a Player’s Edge. Let’s come over here. This is the Player’s Edge Plus. In this machine, We have the MPU board up against this side. And the power supply is in the back. And, I consider this to be a better design. It is an improvement because the MPU board slots down into a motherboard in the bottom of the cabinet. It’s a lot easier to get in and out and service this than it is with the older design. So that is how we tell the difference between an original Players Edge from the late ‘80s, and the new and improved Player’s Edge Plus likely built in the 1990s.
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