I hear you on Met. I have played it many times, and just dont like it. Not sure why. I dont like Kiss either and that game feel similar.

We have an IMLE at our office. I can say I really dont care for the game without the lifting ramp in the middle. Thats just my opinion, but I wouldnt get an IM pro.

If I was getting one pin I would buy the 5k loaded ghostbusters I see on craigslist, 2 pins and I would get a classic Bally Williams dmd from the 90's and another 90's or newer dmd. There is a long list of ones I would consider from the 90's but my favorites would include getaway, shadow, indy 500, no fear, nascar, fish tales, too many to list.

I have a TSPP and a TWD Prem so if i had 5,000 i would get a Aerosmith Pro.

If you could get shadow and anything it would be my choice but current price you can’t so I would just get a shadow and save 1000-1500.

Champion Pub or ACDC Pro

Same here. You really have to understand basic rules of MET to enjoy it imo. I didn't think much of it at first when just shooting around. Once I started focusing on rules and getting to CIU modes, I was hooked. Iron Maiden is a game that is just flat out fun to flip even before you start picking up on the rules. Pro is probably the smarter choice since you are not missing much in terms of gameplay but I do like the premium art and features. Hoping prices will come down in a year or so when more shiny new games flood the market.

Met Pro all day long. I play it more than the rest of my pins combined.

I'm in the same situation currently. I have about $5,000 cash but only one space in my game room. Right now I'm considering a show special AFMr (CE), if I can find one in the neighborhood of $5,500. I'd also consider an Iron Maiden or Lord of the Rings. Other then that, I'm just going to sit on the cash and jump on any machine I haven't owned that is under priced.

PS: I currently own Metallica and agree with others that have made that suggestion.

If I had $5K for whatever pinball machines I wanted - I’d buy 40 project EMs and make a fortune.

New Hot tub...

Star Trek Pro, Deadpool pro, spider man, Iron man, Metallica pro, Guardians of the Galaxy pro, Iron Maiden pro, Star Wars pro- should be able to find any one of these for around $5000 or less. Stern pros seem to be very reliable and enjoyable pins.

I picked up a Star Trek: Next Generation not too long ago and I love it. So much stuff, great shots, great callouts by the entire cast.

Find a used WOZ. So much fun.

I've recently traded from Congo to Star Trek: Then Next Generations to Ghostbusters (Pro). Honestly, each step along the way, I've felt it's been a step down. If you don't mind the theme, I think Congo is the best player of the bunch.

AFM remake is my favorite choice of a pin in the reasonable price range. Still greater than $5K but such a great pin it’s almost everything I want in one package.

Jackbot and a Dirty Harry

Seems like you might be more into nostalgia of the 80's/90's when you were growing up (similar to me)....

I would take my time and find 2 pin's from that era. I have had lot's of these (Starship Troopers, X-Files, T3, Last Action Hero, Twister, Getaway), and all of them were obtained for under $2500.

Iron Maiden

Nominated for post of the week.

I had the Met Pro and sold it to buy the premium which I still have and enjoy. My wife and I played INMDN Pro at Zapcon last year and we were in the market for one immediately after we played it. That was pretty rare that a pin clicked with my wife since she doesn't even play with me at home. We ended up grabbing a like new pro with 100ish plays on it for a good price. At Zapcon this year they had a premium we got the chance to put 10 plays on or so and neither of us felt the need to sell the pro to buy the premium. I am much more of a fan of Metallica music but I would say that I enjoy the IMDN pin more right now.

Good advice so far from folks. Myself being a “value” pinball guy, reading this makes me pretty stoked to own AFMR CE, along with IMDN and Met Pros.

If you like the theme you can’t go wrong with ST . Very fun game !

Even if you don't like the theme(I don't), it's still a great game.

Firepower 1k range
F-14 $1700
Demo man $2300

Deadpool for the kickass layout!

No one is doing that. Most that use pinball acronyms are now just referring to Iron Maiden as "Maiden". I always liked IrMa but no one uses that at all.

IM= Classic Stern Iron Maiden (or) New Stern Iron Man
IM2= New Stern Iron Man
Maiden= New Stern Iron Maiden

Genie, Austin Powers or RTC and Lazer War

Metallica pro would be my pick.

Iron man and a fun em.

TSPP, Met pro, LOTR, TWD pro

Dear lord, please don’t even think about virtual pinball. It’s all fine but you be missing the entire world of real pinball which you will eventually find anyway and then have to sell your vpin. I play games on my ipad but get a real pin and don’t look back.

Both IMDN and Met pros are great games. I’d take IMDN over Met it has that one more game factor. Opens up quicker that Met, doesn’t feel like your trying to chop wood to get to the crank it up modes. IMDN Is never leaving the collection....Just saying

I don't care how great a game is... having only 1 is pretty tough. Being able to switch back and forth makes sense, unless space is an issue.

I'd go with a System 11 and a 90's DMD.

For System 11, I'd argue for something like Pinbot, Taxi, or SOF. I'd really wanna say WW here, but I doubt you could find one working for $2500 or less. Ideally you could get this pin for around $2k.

For 90's DMD, I'm partial to something like Judge Dredd or Shadow, both are findable at ~$3k. Road Show as well I'd say.

Shadow + Pinbot, I see them sell for roughly $3200 + $1800... right at $5k.
Judge Dredd + Taxi. I tend to see this combo more of the $2900 + $2100... again right at $5k.

Something like that. YMMV.

After reading the thread title and before entering the thread, I said to myself Metallica Pro. It was my first NiB and I still love it 2 years later. Second I would say Game of Thrones Pro. The Walking Dead Pro is a good game, but you must understand it is going to kick your ass.

DMD - MET pro

SS's - Eight ball deluxe & Seawitch

I would go with a newer Stern pro, such as Metallica, Deadpool, or Guardians of the Galaxy.

A lot of people do not like the shots on Houdini, but that is my sleeper pick here. It is frustrating for several plays until you find the shots. However, once you begin to open the game up it has such great and deep code and some very unique modes. It is challenging, but I believe it will have you coming back for more. A used one can be found for approximately $5,200 to $5,600, which is an incredible price considering the build quality.

Also, like others have said, The Shadow is excellent and you can save $1k from your price range. The game has great 90s toys and is very fast.

A time machine, go back 30 years and fill up the house.

Seriously, agree with other that BH is a great pin. Get that and perhaps
some later EM's like Capt Fantastic, Aztek or others that fit your interests.
Other early SS pins like Spiderman, MARS:GOW and Sinbad would be
high on my list if I didn't already have them.
Steve

I'd grab a Metallica for the $5000, but that's me. Grabbing 2 for the same price isn't a bad idea but the market for 2 decent $2500 pins is more limited than it was 4-5 years ago depending on your area.

Is it odd to hear from an owner of Rbion zero mods who thinks that it’s worth more than $5K?

The more I play the more I like Data East Machines. If I could find a deal I'd go for a Jurassic Park and Last Action Hero pair.

Join me - 1) Getaway & 2) Jurassic Park. Both fun games, very different, and great mod opportunities (if you are into that).

Funny, I'm seriously considering getting a getaway to sit next to my Jurassic Park.

Police force, pinbot, taxi

With a $5K budget, I recommend:

1) Bally Fireball Classic;
2) Gottlieb Joker Poker solid state version; and,
3) Capcom Breakshot.

All 3 titles are still excellent values in this escalating marketplace. Above-average examples can be found for under $2K. Also, each title is likely to hold its value or appreciate.

You would be acquiring well-regarded games from 3 different manufacturers, bestowing the benefit of variety in terms of the "feel" of each. Also, each game has a distinctive theme. Properly tuned older games (EMs included), play equally fast as the new releases.

Because of production and availability, you will always be able to buy a newer Stern title whereas the market for these somewhat older classics is drying up. Two years from now, the sub-$2K category will be even thinner. Good luck!

Just chiming in to reinforce this point! Save your money and floorspace for the real thing!

One good, genuine analog MACHINE is better than 500 emulated ones. The experience of playing emulated pinball in a physical cabinet has a cool novelty factor but is really not a sufficient enough improvement over simply playing through a PC or game console to justify the cost and space.

(I’d give the same advice about xxxx-in-1 video game cabinets. In addition to being no more fun than a cheap PC+Xarcade tankstick+MAME, you also fall into the trap of choice paralysis and spend more time selecting the games than playing them.)

Nice IMVE or WH2O

One other question I would consider in this equation- Do you have access to any other games for location play(assuming you want to play on location)? You might want some different eras or game play styles for your home games versus what you can go down the street in drop money into. The way this usually manifests is XYZ arcade bar has a lineup of all late model Stern machines. I like the idea that someone else brought up of an early solid state game and a 90's DMD game. Let's say $800-$1500 for the early SS and the rest for a 90's DMD. The 90's B and C tier titles are getting pricier by the day. These used to be the sweet spot in the market...

Black Hole and a Meteor.. Both fairly easy to find in decent shape, and likely will have money left over to think about another purchase.

If you go music route I would say MET all day.
ST Pro for great game play and flow.
TWD Pro if you dig the theme and code will keep you into it.
Or maybe just go AFMr or MBr classic with a little more $. You can't
go wrong with one of these two in a quick growing small collection.