I'm in New Zealand and we don't have a lot of pins available here. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty around but they're not often up for sale.
One particular seller has a list of pins that he wants to get rid of in a hurry. At this stage all I have is a list and the knowledge that they're in my price range with more detail being available when they're removed from storage and inspected. I've done a bunch of research and video-watching but I've played very few of them in real life and the seller is an 8-hour drive away so I can't test them besides, they're currently in storage. Condition-aside which would you recommend as the best first pin, if you were to go back and step into my shoes? Here's the list, and my current thoughts.
High Speed 2 The Getaway
—— What it does it does better than most pins, but it's not a deep ruleset so not good to hold interest for long as the only pin in a collection.
Fish Tales
—— Deeper than HS2 but still not deep enough to hold interest for as long as other pins. It's a little unconventional and I think I'd prefer a more conventional playfield layout.
Bram Stoker's Dracula
—— Several cool multi ball modes to stack, fairly interesting layout but apparently brutally difficult for beginners
Bride of Pin•Bot
—— I'd like a DMD on my first pin and I've already played this to death on the Pinball Arcade game so would get less longevity out of it. Rinse/repeat gameplay but strong following so probably easy to resell
Tales from the Crypt
—— Often regarded as the best Data East pin. Lots of features and lots of objective/modes with a few tough to reach wizard modes.
Rocky & Bullwinkle
—— Looks like lots of fun and quite accessible. Plenty of modes and not too short on features. But it's not as highly regarded as many of my other options so I'm unsure about it.
World Cup Soccer 94
—— Fun and fairly deep gameplay but not a very appealing theme
Bally Doctor Who
—— Good solid pin with an interesting multi-level playfield toy. Quite difficult and not very friendly theme. I've heard many say it isn't terribly fun.
The Flintstones
—— Great artwork, fairly deep gameplay and some cool features. Looks like lots of fun but not a big fan of the audio.
At this stage I'm feeling strongest about TFTC because it has so much to offer. I like that there are lots of modes and objective while remaining quite clear and easy to understand. I like that it's tough to get to the wizard mode(s) and that there are lots of features that many of my other options only offer some of. But the downers are that it's a DE (I know they're fine but I always imagined kicking off my collection with a W/B) and that the PF artwork and theming kinda sucks (especially in comparison to something like The Flintstones).
It's worth noting that the pins are likely to be in average condition and will need some shopping so if any of these are particularly hard to shop or suffer from notorious issues please let me know. I have a family friend who used to run a pinball business so I'm not short on expertise to help.
Thanks in advance for your opinions!