Great topic so I thought I should bring it back. I just stared playing in the arcades in 80 and was struggling to find location pinball in 93.
The vibe between the 2 was the difference between day 81 and night 93. So maybe for collectors 93 was a great year but Bally 81 was no doubt the best year for pinball that I experienced.
If you went to the beach you could find multiples of the same Bally of this year lined up next to each other and you would play the EBD that had the most Deluxe letters spelled out in hopes of a free game. While you could find TAF in 93 finding a TZ or any of the others was hard.
Even today I have never seen multiple LOTR, TSPP, Godzilla at a location.