Many EM guys will say that 'El Dorado' is an A-List pin. But just as many will state it is not.

If you want to go that route, look no further than the pinside top 100. It never lies....

And unlike the DMD crowd, with so many great games to choose from, you will rarely find somebody that feels the need to hype one manufacturer over another.

The reason these haven't been mentioned is likely they are not much for playing in most cases
but were nice titles for beginners that were successful on route. Yes they made quite a few of many
of these titles, but honestly from a player's perspective these games are simple or just not that good.
The exception may be Jet Spin. For instance on your list, its clearly understood that Faces and Prospector
are far inferior to Mars Trek. Jet Spin is far inferior to many other GTB titles. Your WMS titles are far
inferior to ... Its just more of a matter of what we have played, and have in our collections that determines
the collectors opinion, number produced influences that on call outs in threads like this. GetDaVic has it right,
play people's/collections/shows games, decide for yourself. Ask two people, you get three opinions.

Atlantis, King of Diamonds, Sky Jump, not necessarily in that order.

<<Intentionally Left Blank>>

Centigrade 37 seems like the one in most demand. 124 on the wishlist. Definitely an A game.

image (resized).png

Different strokes for different folks for sure. I found nothing about that game to be overly special.

And people that really want games, usually tend to go out and get them.

It's not on my wishlist. Actually, have never played it. Must be good though. Big demand. Setting myself up here.

A buddy of mine had two of them, collector quality sitting right next to each other. I played them both. It was a while ago in my early days of collecting EMs. He wanted to sell me one. They were fairly priced, but to me just weren't much fun or all that great to look at. I then started playing his Grand Prix and after ripping those spinners for a while, I took that one home instead.

Nothing wrong with making money. You should bought the Centigrade 37.

https://pinside.com/pinball/community/pinsiders/znet/stories/20140619-the-thing-about-thing-chicago-coins-contribution-to-the-afterlife

I get that, ya know.

But for me it's more about finding games I haven't played that I like the artwork and layout, or one I play and think it's a riot, more than buying them just to play middleman or get them because others say they are the greatest. Believe me, I've already played middleman with quite a few games others raved about, but couldn't make the cut here.

Rule#1- As long as it keeps getting played, it stays.

I just love the look of the Centigrade 37 backglass, two blondes and what looks to be a time machine.

It may not be one of my best players but looks nice in the line up.

20181019_190933 (resized).jpg

With C37 it is all about the artwork. The gameplay is just average. But it is pretty!!!

Totally agree, C-37 is all artwork, the game is not even average play IMHO. Not a reason to own the game.

Beautiful artwork but I'm a big fan of slingshots...

You take a game like Heat Wave that also has a thermometer, in fact the first game to do so, and you not only have a great artwork, but also great gameplay and rules.

But alas, after a while it also went away and I kept River Boat instead. It's not that I didn't love the game, I did, but too many swinging targets makes me dizzy.

After 4 years of research I have figured out my top 10 list. Shame I can't share it, as Pinside carries a lot of weight with pricing and desirability. I have seen pins mentioned here and their price shoot up 2,3, even tenfold soon after.
Most of the "Old Pin Heads" here have figured out the best and the worst,so its not like a secret.
Just look at the Wanted Ads.

I already posted mine in this thread, and for now they are done coming in and done leaving. Of the maybe 100 or so that already did.

I would still consider getting another Beat The Clock if one in nice condition came my way, as that is an all around neat game and perhaps the only single player EM with multiball. That one doesn't even make the pinside top 250 list, although with the price they go for and the rarity of them actually coming up for sale tells me it is a very desirable game that people hold onto.

Great game, i have one with a great cabinet, playfield and backglass.... just need to find some time to shop it out and get it playing

In a larger collection C37 stands out as having a unique and intrigung art package (yellow & pink, futuristic frankensteinesque theme, art on bg, pf and cab art all tie into each other nicely etc). A hot blonde is trying to raise the body temperature of another hot blonde to 37 degrees using an animated backglass. Wicked cool IMO and stands out as something special when it come to 70’s GTBs. This is why collectors want C37.

Gameplay of C37 is just OK compard to other top 70’s GTB’s IMO but in a larger collection *it’s OK to have pins that exhibit some diversity* of characterisitcs of great pins - they don’t all have to be the top players as the only way to judge. Of course I do agree that playability and fun is most important I’m just saying not the only factor. For example, I would love to own a TKO someday for yet a different reason. Not best art, not best player but rare as hell - I’ve only seen pics.

For fun drop-target happiness, I prefer my Volley but art is not outstanding - luckily they are available everywhere.

My point is that another difficulty of a having a single pin ranking is that *pins can be desirable to different collectors for different reasons AND for combinations of different reasons*.

For God’s sake though, if it’s your first or only pin, buy for gameplay.

Finally was able play something close to El Dorado, Solar City. Not sure if I’d want an El Dorado now. Really like the theme and looks but didn’t like the bonus countdown after each ball. I think C37 has the same feature.

Personally, even in a larger collection, I wouldn't have any games that didn't both play well and look great. And rarity sometimes only takes up space and then trying to find a buyer when you decide it's not all it's cracked up to be and you no longer want to be the caretaker.

So yeah, none of those would be "A" games in my book . Or ones that I would even care to own.

Or to each his own.

C-37 does not have a end of ball bonus countdown. El Dorado gameplay is quite different from the multiplayer counterparts SolarCity and Target Alpha. I've owned SolarCity and Eldorado as well as gold strike. The single player version is definitely Superior though neither of those single players have stayed in my collection.
I agree with Odin that superior gameplay trumps rarity but looks are Subject to approval by the owner.

Truth is for me there has been a lot of trial and error in getting my current collection where it is now. Way more games have come and gone than what is there now. That's probably the only way I could have decided what to keep and what not to and be satisfied with the end result.

Fortunately, I have had the opportunity to possess or play not only most all the games I remembered playing when I was young, but also a wide variety of other games from different manufacturers from the beginning of the flipper era all the way to the end of the EM era and beyond.

As of late I have thinned the herd quite a bit so those that have stayed have to be the games that not only continue to get love and be played on a regular basis, but are also what I want to look at day after day and they need to compliment each other. It hasn't been easy as the thinning continues, I have parted with some great games that would have otherwise stayed.

Beside Big Daddy and Fun Park, which are in the house, this is all the EMs left. They have all been here for some time, get played regularly, and are a joy to look at day after day. None I ever played when I was young. That works for me!

thumbnail_DSCN6039 (resized).jpg

The only game in my collection that I played when I was young is Whirlwind. Everything else was a careful consideration (or just a good deal at a good time), and being in my 20s, not a single EM in my collection is driven by nostalgia. They're just (mostly) games I personally enjoy playing.

Thinking back, when I first started buying games, a Fireball, a Klondike, and an EM Joker Poker were some of the memorable games I did play when I was young and looked to acquire one of each.

At first it looked to be a daunting task especially the EM Joker Poker, but I had played one at the local community college walking home from high school and I remembered it well. Used to win a bunch of free games so my quarter went a long way.

Soon a beat up Klondike and Fireball appeared on CL so I grabbed them and proceeded to make them work and play the heck out of them. Then I got a German Fireball and soon after a collector quality original Fireball.

Somewhere in between Mr68 hooked me up with a HUO EM Joker Poker.

In the end none of these stayed around too long as others wanted them and reality is it wasn't too long before they were no longer that fun to play for one reason or another. So what I thought at one time were "A" titles became "C"s at best and those pictured above are now my true "A" titles that have never gotten old to play. But I did get it out of my system and I will say this hobby has been very very good to me!

Ah...to be an old schooler and have a chance to play so many titles over the years. When I go to the pinball expos, I go straight to the ems..there’s still so many that I haven’t played that I’d like..thinking of going to the pin museum in Seattle soon..they have an assortment..even if their traffic really sucks..

Funny, I don't feel old.

For me, A-List with EM’s is which machines bring back the best memories. Playing Aladdin’s Castle with my dad and betting on who could get “Over The Top” makes that an A-List EM Pinball.

They still have that pinball in their garage and I hope to do a full restoration on it.

Having been privileged to play Vic's collection I have to say he has the nicest, best playing games I've ever encountered. I've owned about a dozen EM's, but none played as nice as his. My #1 after visiting Vic would be C37. I've played it at shows but none played as fast and crisp as Vic's. It now on my wish list.

My current Project Merry Widow will soon hit the Top Ten.