I have been super excited for The Hobbit since it's announcement, but have been lamenting the huge cost, which is keeping me out of the pre-order. But now finding out that LOTR Vault Edition is a likely Stern release around the same time, (slightly earlier if they're smart) it takes a weight off my shoulders. Damn, I can get a $5kish game instead!

I like LOTR better than The Hobbit as far as movies are concerned (although both are awesome), plus it has mature code and a VE will assure a lot more parts and troubleshooting support, LED lights and probably some alternative art. 5k for an 11 year old game seemed too much to me, but for a NIB of a great theme and #6 pin on the top 100? Seems like an awesome deal.

So is Stern about to hit one out of the park on this VE? Vote and comment, let me know your thoughts. Keep in mind - I would love Hobbit! But LOTR at a far lower price point is a good alternative, right? At least until Hobbit starts showing up on the used market with completed code?

I deliberately left it out because it's not useful information. Don't need an option just so people who don't care have a box to click...

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/anyone-else-hear-that-lotr-was-the-next-vault

Was reading the speculation in that thread. There is a lot of buzzing about it apparently. I'm not saying it's a guarantee, just seems likely.

I see it as competing against The Hobbit. I'm guessing Stern would rather people buy Stern machines than JJP. If they release LOTR at 5k, obviously the secondary market value would drop, which they don't care about.

They sold Metallica Pro at a good price when it first came off the line, and that was a brand new pin. Vault editions don't require the development process, so they can keep the price down.

In 2013 pro models were being released at ~$4600 shipped to your door. LOTR is a pin that has already been developed and requires very little tweaking. Am I missing something here?

There are a lot of reponses that say it won't/can't happen. The question posed is "if it did, what would you do?" It sounds like a lot of the negative responses are because people think it's impossible. Or you don't care, but you had to jump into this thread just to tell everybody how much you don't care. Kind of just hoping people would stay on topic and address the question.

I would love an explanation how this is an answer to my original question

This is why this poll exists :p so we can find out!

From what I understand Hobbit is delayed until late Feb/March. Someone can correct me if i'm wrong.

The poll shows that there is more interest in a vault edition of LOTR at $5k than The Hobbit right now. Whatever peoples reasoning is can be explained by posting in the thread. It's a simple poll. I didn't expect the poll structure would be confusing to some.

Yeah... it is exactly like saying that...

For me TH looks awesome, and I think it is a sure thing as far as a hit game. I just feel like the LOTR market isn't saturated so Stern would be smart to offer a VE run and they have an opportunity to release it at a price that will sway people since Hobbit is 8.5-9k.

People who already own lotr don't see the value maybe but rarehero is quoting run numbers a lot lower than say... Addams family or other super high run games. Lotr actually seems to warrant more than 10k machines. It has appeal on the operator and collector market.

From what I'm hearing it seems like so many people would be blown away by a $5k price point they would jump all over it.

In order to "wow" people into buying The Hobbit (Especially at $8500), JJP has to present features and bells and whistles, they've had to re-do the artwork, redisign the gameplay etc.

If this thread is any indication all Stern has to do is say "LOTR... better sound, LED, $4,995. Gollum Premium LE $7,495" Marketing complete, people would be "wowed" by the price points alone. See how much of a competitive advantage that is? And all your minds would be blown that it was under $5k apparently, although I don't see why.

I think people are thumbing me down because they think it can't happen, which isn't even the point of the thread, poll or conversation (although sure, hearing some speculation is fun). I'm just interested in seeing what would happen if Stern *did* make this happen. And the signs are pretty strong that it would be a big success.

And if you've been arguing tooth and nail about them being able to keep the price under $5k, what are you talking? Are you really suggesting that they would HAVE to sell at a 6k price point? Spooky is selling at that as a boutique that developed a game from scratch... and they already made their money back after selling ~ 50 machines (or so I gather from the most recent Spooky podcast). Stern has the factories for mass production!

On another point, it seems like all the people who think the $5k price point is super low would jump all over a premium machine if they could price it at $7500 since that's barely more than they're willing to pay for a pro. And if you've owned LOTR for like 10 years, you might consider selling your old one and buying a new VE or *character x LE* with some upgrades and added features since you obviously love the pin.

I will buy your LOTR right now for 5k.

Then it won't sell

I think you miss the entire point of how/why this would happen. Probably because you own a LOTR so you have a skewed perspective. If you didn't own an LOTR and were trying to get your hands on one, maybe you would understand. I disagree with all of your arguments. But you've worn me out so I'll let other people discuss the topic without my input!