As I am new to pinball (only in the hobby for 2 yrs now), my plan currently is to be long-term. That said, I am currently buying, selling and trading games frequently as I am looking for those games that fulfill my criteria for a long-term keeper. So far, Tron and LOTR have made the cut. Yes, Tron has a more simple rule set (sort of like a system 11) and LOTR is super deep with multiple objectives (some of which I may never achieve), but they both have that magic combination of game-play & rule-set, aesthetics, sound, and that "just-one-more-game" appeal to them. Long-term keepers also need to be somewhat different in game-play and rule-set from the other long-term keepers. I like Tron because the objectives easy to understand and are specific in requiring different shots using the whole of targets, ramps, scoops, roll-overs and drops all over the entire playfield. LOTR involves similar diversity in shot making but also involves strategy about order in which things are achieved. Former games in the collection like Stern's Transformers or Iron Man have aesthetics and sound but didn't make the long-term cut because the game-play in them, at least to me, seems like chopping wood by just endlessly hitting ramps and loops that just happen to be blinking as part of some arbitrary mode.

New to my collection are Spider-Man along with original versions of Medieval Madness and Attack From Mars. These games all seem to have long term potential... I am establishing a cap of 7 games (that's what I have room for), so I have to be somewhat critical in making choices. POTC almost got cut but there was just something about it that made want to keep it. I realize that MM and AFM may be too similar to one another for both to be kept long term but they were both high end restorations and available so I went for it.

Probably the best plan would be to have 4 or 5 ultimate long-term keepers and then the other 2 or 3 slots in the collection will rotate games through. So maybe my collection of pins will end up being similar to my wife's garden when she says, "Well it's a garden, so it will NEVER really be finished..."