IM all day long.....but I will admit, that's because Avatar doesn't do it for me as a theme. The game is ok.

Disclaimer
I own an IM

IM, all day, every day. Avatar is an under appreciated pin that I hate just on theme alone. I hated the movie. That ruins all the art and callouts for me. But I'll even play pins I hate once in a while. I find the big kinked staple at the right inlane distracting. The LE is nice enough, but again, theme. Usually I can get over a theme, but not in this case.

IM on the other hand is a gem (I own a VE). It is a rush of a game, and I find that in less than 10 minutes it can provide a couple (/ few) games that will end with complete satisfaction or abject failure. It is an intense game of extremes, and you always feel like you are about to be crowned King Of Pinball... right before you are thrown out into the streets with a bloody nose.

Avatar pro all day long! Original custom speech by Quaritch, movie soundtrack, .. but I love the theme. LE adds less unless you like bling and a moving linkpod/stomping amp suit feet.
Iron man is also an ok game, but not liking the theme makes this choice easy for me

Both are kick ass games. Both have the one ball ruleset which I love.

IM is action from the get go. Adrenalin overload.

AV LE. This is a game that seems under appreciated. Chrome package is the best that Stern have done as it is proper chrome not faux chrome as on Tron LE.

White ball for double scoring is pretty cool.

Call outs are way better than many of the more recent Sterns as it's great having custom speech from the guy in the movie.

Sounds are fantastic. Add mods like color dmd and it really pops.

And the LE is a real LE in that 250 makes it pretty rare. Right now it's very unloved but so was IM until people cottoned on and then everyone wants one.

And love the 3D backglass.

And 3 more movies coming out from 2017. Avatar will have it's day!

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I was thinking too about Avatar, I've played it some but not with understanding the rules, few times I've played was just to flip the ball make some shots. its only a one ramp game which I usually dislike.

I already own IM so the question for me is Avatar pro at low $3's a good deal or is it better to find a Met pro for the low 4's?

I like Avatar theme and think it's art is nice, just wonder if it's as fun or as deep or as good as Met pro?

I don't really love Metallica as a theme but it's nice 2 ramp game with drop targets and Sparky toy is very cool.

IM is one of my favorite games and theme also so I'd take it over Avatar and Metallica.

Is it possible to put ceramic ball and software from AV LE to Avatar PRO - and have double scoring system on AV PRO?

I own both the Avatar Pro and IMVE - both are fun. IM is the better game... but that doesn't mean Avatar is bad.

I loaded my Avatar up with LED's, Mods, Blue DMD, Shaker, Upgraded speakers and sub - plus I added a white ball just for the fun of it. That really makes for some SUPER fast ball in play action for the lucky player that gets it. And NO extra points (which I like), just something fun and different.

Avatar is a great game, very under rated - but if I was forced to pick one or the other it would be IM. IM is also loaded with mods and speaker upgrades - it is a very fast pin that truly is a complete package - theme, game play, rules, sound... IMHO.

I did the exact same thing on my pro

@Squall: don't think it's possible, why would you want this anyway? It's a bad thing in my opinion to have random double scoring.

I find Avatar MUCH more challenging than IM, but both are excellent games in a big or small collection. IM may get stale after you master the shots, but Avatar is NEVER easy.

I'm also a huge fan of shot multipliers, and there are few things better in pinball than starting Final Battle (basically starting every mode/multiball on one ball like Do or Die in IM) with all doublers lit and a roving 3x shot. Huge points for every shot. Lots of fun. Add in the LE's powerball and you could be looking at 30million+ jackpots.

Both have great sound packages (Avatar's Bomber Battle and Amp Suit modes sound awesome) and look great, but IM is definitely more approachable to a novice. The Monger is a great toy and the War Machine cannon is a real pants pooper if you don't know its gonna come flying back at you!

If it was my collection, Avatar LE all the way!

No, the LE has programing that recognizes the white ball for double scoring. I have the LE and love it. A fast and fun game. A true LE with only 250 made.

Great thread.
I bought an IronManVE. It can be fun but I found it mostly frustrating and aggravating most games.
I'm not that great of a player, so that might be part of it. Just wasn't enjoying owning it.
I sold it on a Saturday and picked up a HUO avatar LE on the following day and haven't ONCE regretted the "trade". In fact, I think AvatarLE is one of the favorites in my collection.
It has similar rules to IM where to get to wizard mode, it has to be done on one ball for the most part, but you can keep the ball in play long enough to sometimes make progress towards it.

Put LEDs in avatar [flashers, too] and the lightshow is amazing. with the glowing apron while navi ball is active. great sounds [real actor custom voices] and overall pin. It's a sleeper IMHO.

There are hardware differences between the two and you can not load the LE software on a pro. Besides, the ceramic ball double-scoring was never thought through very well. Not only is it random which player gets it and when, but you can drain fast, get a ball save which kicks out a standard steel pinball, but keeps you in double scoring. I removed the ceramic ball from my LE which made it play a lot more balanced. I guess this is a non-issue if you tend to play single-player games alone, but in group play, it's a deal-killer.

To me, Avatar is a tougher game than IM. The games are too similar to have both unless they are in a large collection imo.

Look up my Avatar Club on Pinside, lots of talk and pictures there.

Sell me your LOTR LE and you can buy both the IM and Avatar Le and decide for yourself(lol).

I've owned both an IM and Avatar Pro for several years. I play and enjoy them both, though I probably enjoy the challenge of IM a bit more. But they are close. Once I fixed the drain problem dropping from the bumpers on Avatar, it became way more fun to play -- if you pick one up, make sure that countermeasure spring is installed in such a way to completely fix that drain issue. I suspect that issue is a big reason why Avatar took such a hit in reputation early on, and I'm not sure it ever fully recovered.

Have a good friend with IMVE and AVLE.

He recently updated his AVLE with a LEDkit and it is a truely good pin. Music and callouts are top-notch and make it outstanding for Avatar fans.

IMVE is, like AVLE, also a fast pin with more or less easy ruleset.

I love them both. If I had to decide between the 2 it would be a close call but think the long playability is higher with the AVLE. But again, close call. Could be easily IM next time I think about it

Avatar all day for me. Iron Man is not a bad game at all, but Avatar has that link shot and the amp suit narrow shot, these are some of my favorite shots in all of pinball. The AMP suit is an awesome playfield toy and shot.

Both games will kick your ass too, so it's all good.

Anything over Avatar anything, every day.

Hard to look past some of the ultra cheap things on Avatar (like this $1.99 action figure) Makes IM seem like an LE image.jpg

Im buy alot avatar is meh...

IM has great call outs...
Hook up a shaker and an external sub and wow.....Prepare to be amazed....

I own AVLE and IM , each with several mods . Both are fun but different , and if only buying one,
then play both . Keep whichever you like best!

Anybody in North Jersey (Bergen County) have an Avatar LE??

I was just debating this myself....I went with an IMVE in this round but an Avatar could very well be my next pin purchase. Oh...and I would be fine with a Pro version.

Avatar as a pin = blah!!! (Wife & I loved the movie!) Quickest time for NIB(LE) purchase I owned and sold.

The wedge leds coming out of the pop bumpers doesn't help that cause either

Both are very good pins !!!

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IM easily. That said, the more I play Avatar the better I like it. I love the pops sounds. I warmed up to it playing frequently at the PHOF, but it's still behind a truckload of other games for home ownership.

But on the LE so nice to see a real metal apron

I see way more value funnily enough in AV LE than recent Sterns. But I must be in the minority but that is ok.

I played a fair bit of Avatar when it came out on location, I really didn't like it but as time as passed I really want to give it another look at, don't know where they all went though, cant find any on location anymore..

IM

It's only because people get hung up on preconceptions based on theme. Both games (along with BBH) were designed by the same team (Borg/Lopp/Sheats) and released in the same year (2010), designed with shorter ball times. Avatar shares the same 1-ramp design with BBH.

I really like that whole series of games. IM itself didn't even pick up steam until a couple years after release, and only recently has BBH gained appreciation after more players got to try the game and got over the theme as a result. Avatar will eventually gain more appreciation as well. IM is the best of the three, but IMO 2010 was a good year for Stern games.

Avatar is awesome. We have put over 5000 HUO plays on ours. Both games have great call outs. Disclaimer-avatar was our first pin so it will always be special.

I agree and those pop caps yuck. That's why I did this to mine. Looks a whole lot better now.

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I've got both pins and play avatar le twice as much.

I've owned Avatar LE, IM and IM again. I now have Avatar again.

IM. Nuf said.

IM is far superior IMHO.

I really enjoyed Avatar also when playing it on location but it is no IM.

I find IM to be a grind I find Avatar to be a battle. Don't know if that makes sense or not. Both are fun but for me I prefer Avatar. Both games really keep you on your toes though.

Both great pins, I think it comes down to theme. Which theme do you prefer over the other?

Both are great games and I flip back and forth on which I like more depending on my mood. Both were dogged on their release and got a bad rap. I think people began to realize these games are real special in the way they get your adrenaline pumping and I think a huge part of that is the way they build up as you work through the game. These two games along with Tron have the best sound package of any games out there IMO.

Tie for me.

IM: better music and call outs
Avatar: far better Backglass... and I prefer this movie

Both are fast, unforgiving and challenging but a bit shallow.

Just want to bump this topic, because im really loving Avatar at the moment, and would really like to add one when the time is rite., Just wondering if theres a super big difference between the pro an LE besides price are there any LE owners wish they just got the pro? An does the Navi ball on the LE throw the game out when playing multi-player games to the point where players are getting lucky without any skill involved due to double scoring aspect?? cheers

I own both an IM and Avatar LE. Absolutely love them both as they are challenging. Both games will "reward" you with a game or two of decent scores and then hand your ass to you in total embarrassment. It would be a hard choice for me to pick one over the other.

To the OP, best advice has already been given in this thread, somewhere above - find them in the wild and play them to see what you like best about them. Either way, you can't go wrong.

I've owned both IM and Avatar LE too. Ramps are better in IM, but I prefer the sound, art and Amp Suit over IM and Iron Monger (did not care for placement)

IM is better. The pop layout in Avatar is atrocious (spacing and location), but everything else is pretty good. IM is awesome all-around. That said I'd consider (briefly) trading for AvatarLE. If it was the right day I might do it.

I enjoyed my AVLE for a while. But the code depth (and code bugs for that matter) make the game much less fun. Despite Avatar being a decent looking pin and layout, IM is still superior all around IMO.