Gang, need to crowdsource some pinball intelligence please.

I have a TSPP and an MMR. Loved the TSPP until the MMR, now that's all we play. Had a ToM before MMR too but it played too fast for me. I prefer 'point and shoot' (or whatever I should call it).

Sold the ToM to an awesome Pinsider. On to Spider-Man, I think (never played...hope it's not ToM-style). VE would be a slam-dunk (though $ might cause pause when/after clicking 'buy') if not for apparent quality concerns and supposedly sickening call-outs. Prefer NIB, comic-book fan, and real-life images of actors feel wrong to me for some reason. Quality is the #1 deal-breaker though. Would aim for a late-build VE if I go that route, and get pre-confirmation that problems were acknowledged and fixed.

Are Black, SM, and SMVE identical in layout/rules/gameplay? Should I go black? Anything different, other than the color?

I'm also an AC/DC nut (and intrigued by the cult of Tron). Thoughts welcome...and as always, much appreciated.

Thanks everybody.

Zene, might take you up on that. I'm actually in Aldie, SW of Sterling...swing by as well if ever in area.

So despite Stoptap's excellent point and logic, I'm sold on VE. Saw a YouTube that pointed out the Cliffys and heard the call-outs...they sounded comic-bookish to me. Bonus!

Also thinking to take AC/DC off list, though it makes me sad to fall short in an otherwise lifelong allegiance.

Tron is not 'if'...it's 'when'.

But I'll be dad-gummed if another machine didn't pop up to challenge. Went to buy and right alongside was Metallica Monsters at the same price. Focus in play I've seen was solely on Sparky. Must be more to it or wouldn't rate so well. Will YouTube that soon and before pulling trigger.

Love the idea to find and play...apparently nothing in VA (per the Pinside map) but hope to have a chance on travel to Chicago this week. Between 'no time' and 'no patience' (ie, I want that open spot filled now), I tend to live impulse-to-impulse.

Thanks again. You guys make Pinside awesome.

Regarding LOTR and Hobbit...read the books so many times in my youth I can basically recite them. Read the Silmarillion to the same extent...perhaps the only person in history to get past first 80 pages. Read Christopher Tolkien's books based on his father's notes. I can tell you how the world ultimately ends, who ends it, and why. If someone had told me in my youth that 1) they'd make awesome movies (which I always intended to do, in my fandom/nerdness) and 2) I'd have a chance to buy related pinball machines, I would've had to stay seated for weeks.

Likely will never own LOTR or Hobbit. Such is my distaste for actors on pinball machines.

OK, OK. Enough with the begging!

So...there were multiple Gods residing in Valinor (ie, heaven, for elves only, though also two hobbits and a dwarf), which is where ships sail when they leave Middle-Earth. The one big God (who created all others and the world) didn't hang in Valinor. At the very beginning he made two gods stronger than the others: Manwe and Morgoth. Then he made elves. One of the first was Feanor, Galadriel's dad. He made some cool jewels (the Silmarils). Morgoth coveted/stole them, killed Feanor, and enlisted the aid of a giant spider (Ungoliant, Shelob's ancestor) to escape the sight of the Gods and flee to Middle Earth. Galadriel and her brothers vowed to follow him to the edges and retrieve the Silmarils.

Most of her brothers died in the quest, typically either fighting Morgoth or his lieutenant Sauron. Finally the Valinor Gods got tired of Morgoth's schtick, led an army to Middle-Earth, and captured him. He was banished to the Phantom Zone. Sauron...and some Balrogs...escaped. The Gods tell Galadriel they're steamed she disavowed Valinor in her pursuit of Morgoth, and banish her to Middle-Earth. Much...much...later she realizes when she rejects Frodo's offer of the ring that she is forgiven and can pass into the West (ie, sail to Valinor).

Manwe had lesser Gods serving him. One was Olorin...aka Gandalf. When Sauron popped up and started agitating in Middle-Earth again, Manwe sent Gandalf and other wizards to counter. You might've noticed that whenever Gandalf got into trouble, Manwe's prize giant eagles bailed him out.

Tolkien's material could rival Marvel's. Hobbit and LOTR is but a teensy slice. Also of interest is how Sauron deviously led Aragorn's people/ancestors to destroy themselves. Anyway, everybody dies...even Arwen freaks out when it's her turn, as her dad predicted (Elrond wisely sailed to Valinor). Centuries/Ages pass, and Manwe's son, Fionwe, has a (likely) hot girlfriend. Morgoth either escapes the Phantom Zone or is released. He somehow kills Fionwe's girlfriend, and Fionwe, in his rage battling Morgoth, destroys the world.

Curtain drop. I wipe a tear and, now many years into my Tolkien study (and older than I care to admit), figure kissing girls isn't so yucky after all. I begin my pursuit and slightly-less-epic adventures. I learn that suppressing my Tolkien affinity increases my chances significantly.