Great insights here...many thanks from a big pinball fan and lurker looking to buy that first pin!

You played mine with audio from the movies, not the stock audio. You might search Pinside to see if that link is still active if you want it in your game.

LTG : )

dont get any mods. the toy potc mods with cannons on lane guides etc, if balls jump up they will get stuck. keep the game stock. mods don't help game play. they create issues when fixing, lifting playfields, etc. Maybe a color dmd. nothing else is needed.

Color dmd is a no brained since can be switched to other games or sold easily on pinside.

Getting the movie audio like LTG’s sounds awesome too.

If you live near Lloyd’s place, why settle for just one pin!? Give him your 6k for a sleeping bag and a space on his floor

POTC really does not need many mods, the only mods that make a big difference are LED's and maybe a shaker motor. I also am not big on the $400 color dmd. To me $400 is a considerable amount of money to spend on a mod. I do not pay much attention to the dmd when I am playing, and honestly I would rather save the $400 and put it towards purchasing additional games for my collection.

I left my POTC ship protector(sneeze guard) in from factory. It does not bother me one bit, people come over and say 'you have to get rid of that sneeze guard', and I say why? You can remove it and then purchase a smaller air ball protector-or just leave it alone and play the game. You can also add figurines and hand paint your chest for more detail. POTC is a very solid game, I would not worry about adding mods or doing anything to it, just plug and play-and enjoy.

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Man that is a tough question. My pins are like my children, having to choose just one is hard. Honestly owning just one pin would be torture, I would probably switch out every three months or so in order not to lose my sanity.

Under $6000-damn Star Wars LE is out, but my X-MEN Magneto LE would be in, so I would say Magneto. I say X-MEN because I love it, but OP is looking for 'family friendly'. I suppose X-MEN could be considered as a family theme as well, but POTC and TSSP stand out to me as better 'family titles'. My second choice for only one game is STTNG-I have played thousands of times and still cannot get enough.

Great idea! I almost bought a WOZ, because my wife said it looked nice,when I showed her a video of the game.I ended up getting a Dialed In because it was available for me to try,at a local arcade. I liked it,and that's what I bought for my first pin.
After two weeks of ownership, my wife says"Pinballs not my thing".And she hasn't played since. My point is,get something you like. I'm not saying that I wouldn't have enjoyed a WOZ for my first machine,but I'm glad I picked something that I knew I liked to play.
P.S
My local arcade has their games setup for free play. They have something like 80 games,and after playing there for awhile,I found a ton of games I'd be happy owning.So get out there and play as many games as you can,before pulling the trigger.

My Wife primarily only plays WOZ, she dabbles on a lot of games and pre-WOZ said the exact same thing, "pinball is not her thing".
Now she is very into pinball (plays a few games on WOZ daily), and loves Farfalla.

She also loves IJ, another widebody, and plays it daily.

Everyone has a game they love, sometimes they just haven't found it yet.

So, if your wife identified with WOZ, get one and I think she will love "Her game".

Pinballgoddess current hi-score on WOZ is over 5 million.

Women that I have talked to about pinball, have a very different view compare to the men.
Often they like similar games, but for very different reasons.

Woz is so fantastic, I have DI LE as well they’re both phenomenal. I hate spending so much but they’re worth the money to me.

My wife loves our MET Pro. I'm struggling to find another pin to buy because I want her to like it as much as MET. So far everything else we've purchased and sold ended up not passing the "MET" test of daily play with my wife and myself.

While a small collection might not want to have too many similar pins but I have IM and think it's a lot of the good stuff of Met pro. It's different enough for me, and I think Tron as well have some of that Borg/Lyman magic

It's everything, theme, music, gameplay. It all comes together perfectly. AC/DC music we like just as much but I'm afraid the playfield layout would get boring, not sure if I should get that one.

AcDc is nice as well the premium with the lower PF is definitely worth the extra cabbage.

I’m down with Stern pins (have owned 12 at least). But JJP is a step above. I’d see if you can get a DI or Woz later.

AFM is one of a small handful of pins I world consider perfect (without super complicated rules).

Congrats! Great first pin choice.

Excellent ! Glad you had a safe trip and your kids are having fun !

LTG : )

Congrats you chose wisely. A great deal has no value if the you and the family don't enjoy it. POTC will do well for you and in short order get you to your next pin and so on, and so on, and.......

Had my two new neighbors over had not played pinball in ‘30 years’. They loved sinking the ship. It’s also easy to explain the rules to people who aren’t pinball people.

When I play our PoTC with my 5yo granddaughter... She sings "Yo Ho Yo Ho a Pirates life for me". I chuckle every time !

Congrats on the first pin!! They’ll have a blast.

My 5 year old prefers BF, but she loves it. Here she is while I was working on BSD last week...makes me get her a chair so she can settle in.

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Congrats on your POTC. I’ve added and traded about 17 pins since getting into collecting in 2016. I just finally added a minty POTC and I’m so glad I did. It’s beautiful, challenging (I like that completing the compass is a realistic goal), and I finally beat Davy Jones a couple nights ago. Great, durable, fun pin for everyone to enjoy. Anyone can sink a ship and enjoy this game. Solid first pin!

congrats on your pickup, I think you made a good choice.

been there don't that.

Now you can start looking for your second pin

Check out the Des Moines craigslist, typically has some good stuff with great prices. If you really don't mind a drive I've found great deals in Omaha as well. There is currently a Star Trek Pro for $4200, excellent game and I'd own it again if I didn't just buy an IMDN.

Dont get greedy. Cater to her needs so when you want the 2nd game, she will remember you bought the cocktail game first and you'll get a better blessing.

Trust me on this.

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