Totally different direction but I just picked up a sterns POTC based on other recommendation as being for my family (8 and 10 girls) and deep enough for adults.

It was a hit over thanksgiving, put on ~150 plays!

Check out the thread under my user name with some great insights on a first pin for the family.

I have only played about 5 games on LOTR so can’t offer my input there. I just knew that theme wasn’t going to get past my wife so didn’t really dive deep on it.

For reference here was my thread with very similar questions. Lots of good advice for what is the best 1st pin for someone with a family.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/1st-pin-advice-houdini-or-something-else

Sinking the ship on pirates is fun for everyone! I also agree that the rules are deep enough but not too deep to understand.

I was also debating between new,GoG, vs used. I’m ultimately happy with POTC. I have played a few GoG games since picking up POTC and I like POTC better.

I do like the GoG theme and Movies better and the cool display but the gameplay on POTC seems better to me. I also liked the idea of buying a ~10 year old game knowing I can sell it for little to no loss (maybe even make a little $$$ ). Whereas even with a used GoG I figured I would likely lose money when I sold.

Now if I had found a recent release of AFM LE, MM or WOZ for close to $6k I would have been all over that!!

I recently played a new MB premium and it’s a cool game with lots of toys but I wasn’t hitting the shots. Feel like POTC has easier shots. MB seems like it would really come alive with a good player.