The Shadow pinball game during a match sequence: "The Shadow knows..."

Me: "Your mom's phone number..."

YES.

I talk back to pinball games.

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Let's cut the shit it doesn't matter; just pick the first one you can and start making room for the others

I took a chance on Demolition Man, only because it was a Williams wide body and I'm glad I did. What a fun pin, plenty to do, lots to shoot at. I just wish it wasn't so dang ugly, there is nothing visually appealing on this machine.

No love for Black Rose? Been very, very pleasantly surprised by that title. Currently one of my favorite WPCs.

Doctor Who is a good one to add to the list.

Here's the best advice for a new collector; don't worry aboot themes. For Example Fish Tales is an all time classic W/B machine and I sure as shit don;t care aboot fishing. BSD, Congo, many more are horrible movies but fantastic Pins.

BSD is my personal favorite from that list, but The Shadow probably has more widespread appeal

Shadow is my favorite 90's game at any price. Balanced rule-set with challenging modes, tons of flow, great toys, and the theme is well implemented. My only knock on the game is that it doesn't have a spinner. It seems like most of the top games from the 90's like MM, AFM, TZ, TAF, and even BSD didn't have them though.

It's all personal preference so what I like (or not) doesn't need to mean anything for you. To comment on a couple...

1. The Shadow.

I just don't get this game or what the fuss is, so it's not for me. I've had a couple opportunities to get one (as recently as last year). Last year I thought "Oh, I'll just buy and... I must have been wrong w/my previous thoughts." Well... Nope. Got to play it again and decided to not get it. It's just not for me at all.

2. Doctor Who

I tend to keep games for a LONG time. After getting Doctor Who, it was gone within 4 months. I enjoy a game or two on it but it's not a game for my ownership.

3. Judge Dredd

I've owned Judge Dreed for about 5 years now. I like it, but it's not the right game for a smaller collection

4. Terminator 2

T2 is a great flowing game with real Arnold callouts (sadly missing in most modern games).

5. Data East Jurassic Park

JP is also a great game. Get's a lot of play.

There are many other good game, but I'd favor T2 and JP

Highly underrated are Indy500 and Jackbot. Both reasonably priced with a good upside for wanting more. Plus niche enough where people want them. Dude stay away from waterworld. Shadow is overrated, when they game comes back down to 4200 then maybe. Dredd may be the worst DMD to own. That is a promise. Demo, Hurricame, JM are just not great for the "bang for the buck".

You need to join us on Facebook- a lot of nice games are for sale locally

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My top 10 at $5000,

1. Bram Stoker's Dracula
2. The Shadow
3. Revenge From Mars
4. Indianapolis 500
5. Pirates of the Carribean (Stern)
6. Fish Tales
7. Pinball Magic
8. No Good Gophers
9. Diner
10. NBA Fastbreak

I'm biased, buy my choice is BW. However, I did speak with my money and did a road trip with the wife to buy one.

I voted BSD but would like to also mention Congo and No fear.

I was going to ask why no love for TFTC?

I really miss my roadshow , but my wife hated that game and my daughter thought it was creepy and yes, when I worked on it, I freaked them out by putting Red’s face on my own!

Congo is my choice. Owned most of em.

Congo volcano shot is fun to nail.

I'm remaking all my fav 90s pins, I know there's a lot of nostalgic attachment to these games, but I'm more nostalgic for the theme rather than the pinball game. And with updated code, audio design and new features... you ain't seen nothing yet.

My fav so far is my LAH remake... phenomenal...

On that list:

Beginner or Intermediate Player: Congo. - with Demo Man a close 2nd.

STTNG
BSD
FT
GETAWAY
SHADOW

Like another poster, I miss my RS and would buy another one if I had the opportunity.
Once you learn about sonic booms, DW gets very addicting imho.

Just go back and find the lists for best $2K or $3K pin depending on year and insert here. There are some exceptions. The Shadow, Congo, Fish Tales, and probably a few others have outpaced the lists. However, I'm surprised that I'm not seeing much Johny Mnemonic love anymore. That was always up there with these other titles.

I couldn’t stand bsd and couldn’t wait to sell it but I’m in the minority on that one. Everyone seems to love it. I found it boring

Agreed on how you don't need to be a fan of the theme to love the game.

Fish Tales is really fun and bright and the colours are amazing.

World Cup Soccer 94 has a ton to do, different shots to hit, reasonably achievable goals and jackpots for all skill levels. It will definitely get your heart going as it's fast and LOUD. If anything might detract from you or anyone else buying WCS as their first game it's that the spinning soccer ball tends to fling the pinball into places it wasn't meant to go, and breaking plastics along the way. Not all the time, but more toys and gimmicks and gadgets means more to break. Consider how you are going to fix and maintain the game as you're deciding on a title.

Getaway is wicked fun and wicked fast.

Those would be my suggestions for you... considering you specified a certain price point. Can't go wrong with 90s Bally Williams. They were the best for a reason.

And get just ONE game he says....... bwaaaaahhhhhaaa. Good one

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No doctor who or road show on this list? Wtf.

I will be buried with Doctor Who. Favorite game ever.

BSD, Shadow, DW, Road Show and STTNG (price?) are my favs under these parameters.

I've had or played all of them, in the end BSD is the keeper for me. Fast, challenging, simple rules and moody theme - The complete package.

DW is awesome. I believe the Time Expander is one of the best toys/mechs in pinball. I haven't played a Godzilla yet though, which has something similar in concept.

The Shadow is just SO good. One if the best ever! I need to get a color dmd for mine though.

Just sold my Flintstones, but I feel it's definitely worthy of inclusion in this group.

The "Mustang" of the 90's Bally/Williams games - truly fun to play and underrated.

And Johnny Mnemonic. TheLaw loves JM...don't know why he forgets this one fairly regularly!!

Whirlwind(!!!!!!!!!), Fastbreak, NGG, Jackbot. You're missing out on so much good stuff, so many bangalangers with an arbitrary cut-off date of 1990. Taxi, Swords of Fury, Earthshaker, Pinbot, High Speed, Comet, Hardbody (your wife might not like this one because of the theme but it's a sleeper). I could keep going, but broaden your horizons a bit. When you get your first, you'll be planning your next 5 games.

Pinball Magic, Airborne and Breakshot are all fantastic. There’s Capcom.

Jackbot, Shadow, Congo, Dr Who, Fish Tales. There’s Bally/Williams.

…….There’s DE.

Get a Nip-It and invest the balance instead

NGG, Roadshow, Indy 500, STTNG. You need a new list.

What are STTNG's going for these days? Weren't they $5-6K before covid?

6-7K for the most part, super minty ones above that but lots around for 6-7K. For the purposes of this thread the upper budget of 6K will be a players condition one unless you get lucky.

I just sold one a month or so ago in that range. The market cooled on them a good bit.

I also had a good condition Shadow for sale for a while at $6kobo with no bites so I decided to keep it. Kind of funny reading all the comments in here about Shadow being more expensive than $6k. The market has cooled a little in my experience. Oh well, my family didn’t really want me to sell Shadow anyway haha

Thats pretty crazy no bites at 6K for Shadow, I thought those sold pretty quickly. Interesting the market right now

When you can get a very new stern for that price, why would you?

Shadow is cool, but it's dark and cold. I had one and sold for 3200 (I think) years ago. No way its a 6k pin imo. Market is nuts.

I don't disagree with you one bit a lot more value in the modern sterns, I was considering a Shadow awhile ago and 6K wouldn't even think about touching one so I never did get one.

For like 4k and under it's super fun. Lots of modes if that's your thing, and brutally hard, which is cool. Theme bugged me. I liked congo way way more.

The Shadow is one of those few games that has continued to rise as more people discover how good it is. It is nearly impossible to get one under 5500 today, and most all go for 6k+

If it's just you? Baywatch or Demolition Man.
If it's you and you have kids over at least occasionally, Jurassic Park or (distant second) Last Action Hero.

Baywatch and Demolition Man are both excellent games... that I have only played at pinball shows. There seems to be depth on both of them, and both are cheaper than they otherwise would be because of theme. Look at the art package on Demo Man objectively... it's ugly! But it is combo flow central. Baywatch I need more time on but it has a fun and unique layout. These games both have some depth that will keep you coming back.

Jurassic Park and Last Action Hero are both great games designed to compete with Bally Williams and blow them out of the water on Paper.

Jurassic park has a kickback, shaker motor, topper, 6 ball multiball, trigger launcher, a dinosaur that freaking eats the ball. The theme is great. The sound is great. It is a ripoff of a classic (compare layout to whirlwind). You can get a cheap "Chad2.0 chip" that you can use to randomize the mode order. Its a great game. But, it's not loved by pinball nerds as it is kind of clunky and not great in tournaments. If you are not spending hours on it the game is great. You'll never get tired of the dinosaur eating the ball.

Last Action hero is another great game... on paper. Pretty much built directly to compete with Addams. Mode based game, 2 captive balls, 6 ball multiball, built in topper, trigger action, drop targets, magnets under playfield, Arnold Swartzenneger in licensing, and a giant crane that moves the ball across the machine. Not as much fun as the others, but the price reflects and if this is going in a mancave for occasional play or as a decoration its another great choice.

The other interesting thing about Baywatch that I didn't think about until I read a review on the top 100 is how similar it is to Stern TMNT. Very similar shots but not as hungry left outlanes. It's a Balcer game so it isn't Borg reusing a layout but seems to be a good layout. Might help with the value component of the game.

I play my Diner,and my Fish Tales regularly! I've played most of these pins at PAGG and GSPF!Haven't played The Shadow!!