This poll needs a "Neither"

First of all - don't think about old vs. new...it means nothing in Pinball (and is one of the reasons I love this hobby). People are forking out 8K for MMR's right now (including me) and that game is over 18 years old!

I don't know...if you want a sure thing and a game that has been proven time and time again to be one of the best/deepest - then LOTR. If you want to buy something that's going to excite you for the next two years (as the code is updated...and updated...etc.) - I'd go with Hobbit.

Personally, I think the LOTR Trilogy is in another category of filmmaking than Hobbit. I just like the movies better. That's why I'd probably go LOTR VE.

Where did you "find out" that a LOTR VE is a likely Stern release soon?

Just to clarify, my vote for LOTR requires remastered sound.

No way stern sells one of the best pins ever made for 5k. I'd say 7k

Ahh. Thanks. I would pop on one. I really like LOTR and love the super deep ruleset with long ball times.

What did the IM VE go for? I would imagine a LOTR VE would go for similar

Some great Pinside reading material

Why? Lord is a much more popular theme than ironman and better game too. Stern knows this.

Why charge $7K when a decent used game is $4,500. IM was released at $4,800 (street price) when used games were $6,000.

Popularity isn't the only factor in what a game is worth. If anything, LOTR should be cheaper.

Stern also knows that Pros and Premiums can be made and sold. I bet they would do both if they ever did a VE.

One thing for sure is if Gary Stern decides to rerun LOTR it will be from a demand and potential profit prospective only. This makes it unlikely it will be rerun.

LOTR are selling HUO for 4500. Stern's new price will certainly be higher, so I just don't see it happening. Tron pro would make more sense since HUO goes from 5400 bone stock to 6500 modded to the hilt. At least the NIB price could (possibly) come below the used market. In either case they are still competing against the secondary market.

I don't see how a 3rd run of LOTR is necessary. There's a ton of them out there if you want to buy one. Tron VE makes way more sense. Supply vs demand.

Neither !!!!!!

I don't think they really care that much about competing against the Hobbit. Besides, I think people that want a Hobbit are going to buy one regardless. The games are completely different aside from the similarity in the theme. I also don't see how they are going to release LOTR today for 5k.

Something else

They will be able to release it at that price or lower because they don't have to pay a designer or R & D costs, I think Metallica pro is a good example of comparison.

Are so many people THAT new to the hobby? because you could get NIB LOTR LEs for around $5k just a few short years ago. And it was already established as a great game. Glad I have my LOTR, so not gonna buy a LOTR Vault too. Will give TH a close look. My sense is both will be great and complement each other nicely in a collection.

LOTR is a Whitestar game so it would require more than a little tweaking.

I dunno. I personally feel that LOTR is more comparable to premiums today than pros. They would need to strip down some of the toys, wireforms, ect to bring it down to a pro.

A lot of us already have LOTR and look forward to placing TH beside it.

If Stern announced LOTR VE with SAM and upgraded sound, decals (etc.) for $5K my check would be in the mail.

LOTR FTW!

Yes. It's a Whitestar game. They're not going to do another run of Whitestar games. The SAM system is practically on its way out. It would have to be re-coded for SAM (or the new system) ...so, that's porting the game to a new system...that's more than "very little tweaking". Also, if it was re-coded for SAM, they'd likely have to remaster all of the audio.

Also, LOTR has far more going on than most Pro models. Releasing a game with "Premium" level features at a price point of their current Pro line won't make their current Pros look very good.

Does Stern even still own the IP license for LOTR? Don't those things normally expire after a set period of time?

While I'd love to have a NIB LOTR, I don't think it would make sense to port it over from Whitestar to SAM. IMO they would have to at least upgrade a new VE to LEDs which means SAM or a in-line driver board (like LEDOCD).

No way a LOTR with all the features will be available for 5k

Okay I'm really getting tired of this argument. LOTR is not a premium featured pin....it just isn't. Now maybe a VE edition would be.....after all, all you need to do is add some bling and give it the "premium" moniker and tack on $1500.

I owned LOTR for eight years. Great game. But besides more refined code it really doesn't have much on the likes of MET Pro or ST Pro (I own an ST now and my buddies have MET). What.....more wire? A shaky tower?

I can understand the lure of NIB, but you would be better off getting an nice HUO for 4500 that you can sell later (if you choose for 4500). If they release a VE for 5k and collapse the used market, then if you decide to sell, its going to be for like 4k tops and your going to take at least a 1k shot in the ass for the NIB experience. Just saying, if your loaded and 1k doesn't matter, then cool. In my household, 1k is still something.

true

Gold ramps, metal sword ramp, gold wireforms, lots of coils for VUKs, locks, kickouts, towers, divertors, etc. Definitely higher BOM than the usual Pro.

That's the main reason I love the idea, if they put out a new version of the game with metallic side decals and remastered audio I bet people would all of a sudden discover they had to have it.

Are you serious?
Passthrough ring
Magnet
upper playfield
2 metal ramps
wireforms
metal sword ball lock
3 vuks
divertor
2 towers
LED ring board

What does ST pro have?
Vengeance
third flipper.......

I've ported many arcade games over to new hardware for a major redemption manufacture. It takes a couple to 4 days max...and I didn't design the hardware..or have any knowledge of the hardware design before it hit my desk.

I'm pretty sure porting the game over won't be that be of deal if they wanted too...

I'd be tempted to sell my original and buy a VE, but it depends on the price difference and what they'll bring on top of the original. There's room for improvement, that could justify the price difference.
Of course no one (including noone) knows how the original prices will be affected by VE

I don't see how people can still say something is "impossible" with everything that's been going on.

And a LCD screen!

Nah, it's just that VE speculation is never-ending and redundant and annoying. There are proabably 50 other threads exactly like this. If it happens it happens, if it doesn't it doesn't. Good news is, LOTR exists and you can buy/play one if you'd like.

To your original question...I don't think LOTR coming back would have any bearing on Hobbit sales. LOTR's been around since 2003. Hobbit is brand new. I don't think a re-run of LOTR would sway any sales from Hobbit.

The only time "impossible" was said was your post and the OPs last post. The others were just saying unlikely. Big difference.

people said the same thing about Iron Man, it's most likely people who own the game, there are a lot of said people on here. More than Iron Man. I believe it's a no brainer.

If I was Stern and I wanted to sell as many games as possible at as much profit. I'd take my already developed hits such as PotC, SM, LOTR and remake them. Especially games such as these where used examples are in the $4400- $5500 range. Makes no sense to re-run a game like RBION or some other game with little demand.

Willy Sutton was a famous bank robber, they asked him why he robbed banks? He said "Because that's where the money is."

LOTR, is one of the true games which can sell a good number and I believe it will be remade.

I'm in on LOTR vault if it happens. I can wait a year or until next vault announcement. In the previous thread, they mentioned increased availability of LOTR parts... which I guess was the same thing that happened to IMVE. So I'm hopeful.

Although the new Hobbit does come out tomorrow.....

You said LOTR could be an alternative to Hobbit. At the end of the day, the game will speak for itself. If you like one better than the other, you'll get that one. If there's no LOTR VE, LOTR still exists...so you can still choose between LOTR and Hobbit.

Woah!!! Clam down, man. I didn't know I needed a bibliography attached referencing other pinside threads.

Clams.JPG