I'm not an EM "enthusiast" but have come to appreciate them more over time. I have come to appreciate "breath" in the pinball hobby over the years. I understand lots of people love new Stern Pins (they're great!) but seeing a lineup of just Stern Pins in someone's basement gets to me. Having a DMD, EM, early solid state of system 11 in there can really mix things up. As stated elsewhere, EMs generally play alot shorter games, and if you have 5 minutes to sneak in a game you can do that on an EM, but not on many modern Sterns.
I see the same pattern in alot of people that fall off the deepend into this hobby. It goes in phases.
1. A pinball machine at home? People do that?
2. Wow new pinball machines are expensive.
3. Lets start out with a DMD machine to learn on. I played this one as a kid.
4. F-it... I really like this DMD game, I'm buying a NIB Stern.
5. Wow... have you guys seen these 80s pins?
6. Now that I've played a few... these EMs are neat. They are only how much?
That is my exact path to the EMs I've owned.
The other folks are people who just grew up with them (none have been made since I was born). These hold 0 nostalgia for me.
Now... the first time I played an EM it was a Hot Tip and I thought it was the dumbest thing. Why would anyone play this when there is a Hobbit right over there? As I've "Grown" in the hobby I've come to appreciate them. I've had an El Dorado, found a rough Time Zone that was beyond me (super cheap at estate sale... OP has it now) and just picked up my second EM, a Vulcan. I had looked at a restored on at someone's house with a nice clear coated playfield but figured at $2200 I'd be stuck with it forever if I got it. I'm in mine $708 with new leg levelers. Cheapest (working) pin I've ever gotten. I'm having fun fixing it up. To me, an EM isn't a toy. It's a puzzle you get to play with when you are done. There are a few EMs out there I think are really neat. I'm a fan of Sure Shot, Abra Cadabra, Jungle Queen, Fireball, Ship Ahoy, Hot Tip, Vulcan, and Argosy. I have found I really enjoy the late 70s EMs the most. I'm not willing to give up a space in my lineup for an EM, but am planning to more or less get one as a garage project every summer. Pick up an EM at Allentown, fix it up, enjoy it, then sell it at York. Seems pretty much like "free" pinball to me. I have not gotten into the older EMs yet, but I could see rotating one through some day.
Also... the sound is great.