The most important things are:

1) how much do you have to spend?

2) how much do you have to spend?

3) how much do you have to spend?

4) what are your favorite pins that you have played?

Jersey Jack Pirates of the Caribbean CE, because once you've dropped $17k-$20k on one (fantastic) machine, everything else seems like a raging bargain.

Consider getting 3 to start out with that are not total disasters and not super pristene, so you can enjoy playing them, and not get frustrated having machines needing tons of repairs. You can learn about repairs/maint/mods/etc as you go forward and don't have to stare at non-working boxes of parts.
Buy a machine within driving distance that you personally inspect, then agree on price, pay cash when deal reached, load it up and drive it home.

Instead of getting one $8000 new machine, consider getting:
(1) nice working e-m type machine from the 70's, approx. price $750 to $1100
(1) decent solid-state machine from the 80's, approx. price $1300 - $2100
(1) pin from 90's to 2005 time frame, approx. price $2200 - $5000
Total estimate = $1000 + $2000 + $4000 = $7000
Later this yr or next yr you can decide if you love all 3 and want to keep them, or perhaps sell (or trade) one or two of those machines.

For where you plan to place the machines in your house (or elsewhere), will they be on ground level floor, or will you need to move pin upstairs or downstairs? This may help you to decide what type of dolly to get to help move machines.

Post a few pics when you get a machine or two set-up. Enjoy!

"sentimental appeal of something I spent hours playing is hard to resist. Go with the heart and something old"
I think you are on track to making a informed pinball purchase. I would buy a Theatre of Magic if that is your all time favorite. JPOP pinball machines are so fun . He is one of the best . Mine have been reliable.

TOM # 21 (resized).jpg

TOM # 24 (resized).jpg

Buy a Stern Spiderman
Great theme
Good art
Fun to play
Not much that can break

I just bought my first pin almost two years ago. It was a Star Trek: The Next Generation from the 90s. I have no electrical/ handyman skills at all but I enjoyed pinball enough that I wanted to go for it and have enjoyed it a ton! Upgrading/fixing/cleaning my pins is almost as fun as playing them! Pinside is also extremely helpful and any issue I have had somebody is able to help me out. New pins are fun too but something can still go wrong and you will have to work on it I feel. I would recommend making sure what ever you get (if it is older) to make sure parts are attainable. I have a machine that doesn’t have many reproduction pieces and that can get annoying at times. Good luck!

Get the Theatre of Magic if you can find one. They are not cheap but it is a good game. Buy the games you enjoy.

Lots of willing Pinsiders with knowledge to help with all the problems you will have.

But a fully working Theater of Magic as you have a lot of good memories playing it. A lot of people get turned off by the hobby because they buy a project as a first pin and can’t play it for days or weeks. Also not knowing what to look for in a project can lead to a lot of expensive part purchases.

Buy a fully working pin and then buy a cheap project em or ss pin to work on to learn how to repair pins later. I know a collector in your area that can help you find a project later on.

What is your budget? If it is 20k, then I would buy a TOM and have HEP do a full resto. That would save all your problems/questions/issues.

Have you played POTC, WOZ, Wonka, Tron, MM, MB, AFM, JP2, MET, IM, DP, TBL, etc? All these are newer top tier games with depth. I love TOM too, but until you have seen everything out there and played them (or at least watched a youtube video of gameplay), it is hard to say what you should go for. Again, budget may be a concern.

You will ALWAYS have a better chance of a newer game (or fully restored older game) playing better for longer. TOM is also expensive, however, so buying older wouldn't really net you big bank account savings.

I typically move pinballs by myself. Pinball skates and/or a harbor freight lift are great. You need wrenches or sockets, Phillips head and flat head screw drivers, extra rubber rings and light bulbs, novus products, and micro fiber towels. Pin footies, mats, and dust covers are nice, but not necessary.

This really all comes down to how much you have to spend. Without that answered, there is no way to really give sound advice. Looking at a 7k machine won't help if you only have 3k to spend. More money equals more/better options.

What is your budget?

Theatre of Magic would be a great choice, as you already like it and Bally machines from that era are very reliable and tend to hold or go up in value. Find one that’s nice but not overpriced and have fun learning and playing.

Don’t buy a project as your first pin though, that will be frustrating. Second pin as a little project maybe ok, as you still have the first to play.

My first pin which i still own today was Cirqus Voltaire. To this date i have done nothing more than replace batteries. So i am not in the camp that 25 year old pins are ticking time bombs and will need a lot of work. Especially in a home environment.

Of course it also depends on how it was used for the last 25 years. Heavily routed / or used in a home. And more important is who cared for it and how it was cared for.

Anyway my two cents is get what you want. I regret nothing from my first purchase because thats the one i really wanted. TOM is a gorgeous game and imo fun to play. I would just get one off of a collector who has shown it some love and taken care of it . And when the day comes when you do need to fix something there is Pinside who will help you if needed.

the best pin (IMO) is Attack From Mars remake it's a 25 year old classic that's also brand new best of both world imo.

With that budget, find yourself a nice TOM and Buy It.

Then, keep your eyes out for something in an earlier solid state to either spruce up or wrench on and learn the repair ropes.

With 7k-8k, you have a lot of options. Here would be my thought process:

1) Would I get more enjoyment out of one pin or multiple?

2) What is the best pin (or pins ) I could get?

3) How much does newness/low plays matter to me?

I cannot answer those questions for you...only you can, but here is what I would suggest:

If it were me, I would have more fun with 2 or 3 (or more), instead of 1...so I would make a list of my favorite pins. For instance, I love medieval madness, but for the same price I could get a flash Gordon, paragon, the shadow, and a pinbot...i would MUCH RATHER have those.

I would recommend "bang for the buck" pins or ones that are under priced. There are lists on pinside threads, on the pinside top 100 custom settings, and on the internet. These will depend largely on your tastes, of course, but older pins tend to have a much better bang for the buck...so finding restored/pristine/huo examples is the best of both worlds. For 7-8k, you could easily get 7-15 EMs, 5-10 early SS pins, 3-4 great Williams system 11 games, 2-3 early dmd games, 2 newer "b" titles or lower priced games, or just 1 new game.

Some underpriced titles I would suggest are paragon, pinbot, high speed, the getaway, judge dread, fish tales, revenge from Mars, world cup soccer, taxi, flash Gordon, 8 ball deluxe LE, stargate, nba fastbreak, black hole, etc.

TOM costs around 7k already...but for that, you could have multiples that would probably hold your interest longer. Home games are way different than games on route because depth and variation starts to become EXTREMELY important.

Next, you can ask how good of condition can you get them in. A lot of people fix up early SS and Williams system 11 games...so finding a really nice example often isn't a lot more than just a "players quality" game...plus they are fairly easy to work on if you need to down the line.

Newness of a game doesn't always equate less trouble-shooting. Poorly made new games will break down as easy as extremely well kept older games. You will eventually have to do some maintenance regardless.

If TOM is far better than owning 2-5 games for you, then I would go for it. It likely won't be, however...it isn't for most collectors. If you decide on multiple games, get the best bang for the buck pins. Get the best examples you can get. Use the top 100 list to get an idea of what others like compared to you, along with what will hold/increase in value.

I disagree on point #4...

I would have to say buy the Theater of Magic or you will always wish you did. I bought Addams Family as that was the game I always played and have no regrets.

https://www.chicago-gaming.com/coinop/attack-from-mars

Any game by Pat Lawlor is a win in my book. If your looking for games that are well designed, and keep you coming back for more. Twilight Zone, Funhouse, Addams Family are in your price range. At least by reasonable sellers.

I keep my collection very up to date here on pinside. If you check it out, you will see that I like games from ALL eras. They all offer different things. Sometimes I want a quick game and sometimes a marathon game. Sometimes I like ramps and sometimes I like drop targets. On and on.Variety is the spice of life. Only you know what you value the most.

The shadow is a game I would really recommend checking out. It is built incredibly well, it is VERY deep, its ranked high, and it is under priced. If you paired that with an iron man or x-men (for example), you would have an awesome, newer, underpriced 2 pin collection with variation.

The more I play mine the more I’m inclined to recommend Spiderman as a great first machine. They’re built like tanks (original run, can’t speak to the VEs) , it’s very approachable/easy to grasp, fun as hell, and there’s enough to do that it doesn’t get stale.

If I had a budget of 7 or 8k, I would seek out a pair of really solid titles in the range of 3-4k each. Maybe even a 3rd pin around the 2k mark.

You could potentially have a nice combination of 1990s DMD pins and something from the Williams System 11 series.

Then, if you get bored of one, sell or trade it so the variety stays fresh. Having a little variety can go a long way.

ToM is a beautiful pin, but it's pretty shallow for home. I have a friend who lost one in the Carr fire a couple years ago, but when he rebuilt his life, he got a Ghostbusters Prem, then a bit later an AfMr LE, and I asked him if he would ever get another ToM and he made a face that said "no." Once he had played the newer stuff, he couldn't go back.

That is the other good thing (besides variety and having a pin down with more to still enjoy) about buying multiple instead of just one...you can sell them off and get others or even trade up and build a collection.

I just think that if you have a dream pin, you should own it.

Not like you are gonna lose much on a TOM if you decide it isn't a keeper. And that really depends how well you buy it.

to be honest you can't expect us to pick a game for you, but give suggestions, some games I might like more than other members here so that it's not possible to say what is best for you. But IMO if you are worries about getting tired of a game then probably the depth is only part of the problem you will get tired of one single pin no matter what, you could have LotR or Tspp or PotC and if that's the only pin you have you can get tired of playing the same pin over and over. I suggest getting 2 pins to start even if they are two $4K pins (IMO) that's better than the best one $8K pin.

I have had one pin for 12 years and still play it numerous times but if that was my only pin I'd probably be well sick of it.

I love SW premium and have picked that over any of the newer pins in the last 2 years but not everyone loves SW as much.

Anyway think of owning pins as a long term proposition where you can buy and sell and learn as you go along, I started with two $1700 pins (back in the day) and have graduated to 12 pins.

I’d buy the best Stern Spiderman I could find.
It’s a great game.
It’s as bullet proof as any game in my collection.
It represents a great value.

And if you’re worried about the machine losing value, don’t buy one. At the end of the day, it’s just an expensive toy.

SM is great all around.

The best part of this hobby (besides playing pinball of course) is getting games, playing the shit out of them, then selling or trading them for something new. They all get stale if you play them as much as you should. No decision on getting a game is final. Sure it sucks hauling them up and down the stairs in/out of your car but who doesn’t love new pin day?

http://www.pinballnews.com/learn/toolkit/index.html

LTG : )

I have one single game in my collection, theater of magic.

I bought it first, and I will never get rid of it.

It is my favorite game so I went straight for it. I often want more games, but I have never regretted my purchase. Something tells me you won't regret it either.

If I can only ever have one I am done. Everyone is different of course.

I really enjoy location gaming but the pandemic has temporarily ended that. I really would like many other games but ultimately never at the cost of my theater. I guess it's a catch 22. But also I can't beat the game at all. Keeping it fresh in a way.

I can talk forever. Theater, for the win.

My sunset theater!

If you can wait a few years there is likely to be a TOM remake which will probably be perfect for you. In the interim whatever new game appeals to you most. When they come out with TOMr you can sell this one for a small loss and be most of the way to a beautiful TOMr.

Here is another good write up.
https://www.thisweekinpinball.com/new-to-pinball-share-your-thoughts/?fbclid=IwAR3vAcyzboJ419XHAFKUK9W0kiW8afgg2GfWS9_zcqVTLuq2FtZaEw7_w

Do you go to any local pinball tournaments? Know any local pinball people? Local Pinball tournaments are a good place to find out about games for sale. Also good to find out who fixes games locally too. Always are people willing to help.