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On the outside chance its reversable let me ask:  can discolored reel strips be restored?   

Are they burnt, water or what?

Looks like burnt from the backlights. I'd have to say no, it's not repairable.

Since those are top box reels, they're smaller than regular reels, I'm not sure even if EI could make you a new set

I'm sure he would have to send them in to EI so dimesions would be worked out correctly. If they scan them, they should be able to clean up the background and bring back the colors of the symbols. Simple Photoshop techniques.

 Dan (tacman)

Try Jim at Blueridge Slots first. I have already sent those strips to EI for reproduction so they can do them.

I make reel strips like these all the time.
It's really pretty easy. First i would clean them.
Use "Mean Green" (dollar store product),
and spray on a rag. Then wipe the rag
across the strips. be careful though and
test on a small area as some inks are
water based.

On Wms strips (which are thicker), you can
spray the mean green right on the strip. But
on the ones shown above, that may be risky.
But Wms reels are much more durable and
don't use water based inks.

The mean green takes off the yellow/brown
crap. Sometimes pretty well to the point where
they are very usable.

In the cases where they are not usable, i scan
the strips in at 300 dpi and clean them up in
photoshop. Then i take them to Office Max and
have them re-printed on their large format
printer. They have some nice glossy stock that
is somewhat thin, and they come out perfect.
Even Wms backlite reel strips look great.

here's a sample of JP Party (2meg JPG file):
http://www.pinrepair.com/slots/wms/reels_jpparty.jpg (http://www.pinrepair.com/slots/wms/reels_jpparty.jpg)
Notice the lines down the sides. this makes cutting
them very easy. Office Max has a really nice long
format cutter that makes this a breeze.

Total cost on this is about $15. Sometimes they
have a sale at Office Max and i can print them
for about $8 for all three reels. I carry the files on
a memory stick and keep it in the car. When I see
the sale, i just hand them the memory stick and they
print them.  This is WAY cheaper than EI or anyone
else. And frankly, i think the quality is better too
(because i can micro-manage the files and the "look").
Last time i check EI was about $60 to do this, and
the other vendors wanted even more.

Before I used Office Max and their large format
printer, I could also print these at home. Did it on
legal sized glossy photo paper. Had to splice two
pieces together. It actually worked pretty good, but
not as nice as Office Max. Having two seams isn't
as nice as the seemless Office Max solution. But in
a pinch, it worked quite well.

I would use caution in applying any liquid on certain IGT reel strips due to the fact that some reel strip runs used a water soluble ink.  :81- Several members here, myself included have basically ruined strips trying to clean them up in this fashion. Unless you know for sure that these strips are not of this type, do not clean them with any type of liquid!!  :60-

 Dan (tacman)

Try alcohol on water based strips. As always try a spot first.

Most alcohols contain some water.
for example if you have 92% than
8% is water. if there are water based
inks you're pretty much screwed and
can't really clean them.

but unless the reels are repros, i do believe
all the 'real' reels are not printed with water
based inks. EI on the other hand probably
uses water based inks for their repros.

There are IGT reel strips that are water based and not plastic coated. I see them all the time in casinos. Also seen where someone wiped them with a damp cloth and damaged them!

With Universal strips I have seen some that never brown, some with severe uneven browning (like yours), and some that are evenly brown (almost like they were made that way). I believe it is the paper they are printed on and it is a reaction to UV light. More an exposer to sunlight or flourescent bulb problem than a backlight issue. IMO.
The browning is not repairable.
 

Kudos to all, thanks.

Not knowing any better I did wash them with soap & water, so I got lucky because they didn't run or smear. But the brownish color remained.  Looking more closely I see what looks like overheating and melting.  I'd suppose those bulbs get pretty hot if you don't get a bonus spin regularly. 

Double kudos to CFH for the Office Max description.  What do you use to scan them with since they are too long for a home scanner.

I too learned the hard way on an IGT factory original Munsters reel strip with the water soluble ink.
Before this I didn't know IGT made any this way.  Man was I mad.
Eric

i used a standard scanner and just put the piece together.
it's not that hard. but then i bought a big scanner, but
i still have to stitch the files together. two pieces though
instead of three files. that's a bit easier. the big scanner
was $150. I have all the Wms dotmation reel strips archived,
and a few of the non-dotmations. I also have a couple
IGT strips that are unique saved (Ms. Little Green Men visions,
Pinball visions, and S+ Harley Davidson).

Cool cfh, I'll have to give it a try.  Those reel strips are just bothering me, every time I look at them.

I'm hoping any burning from the backlight bulbs was from someone else using the wrong bulbs in the past and not these bulbs that are in it right now  :30-.  My S-plus manual and my MPU-5 manual say nothing about the bulb size

Don't you have to be careful when making your own backlight reels??  I made my own reels using photoshop and kinkos and they look fantastic but they are regular not backlight.  I would think the lights might get hot and cause damage or even fire.