I vote for Spiderman

Yes Spiderman

Play tons of games to figure out what types of games you like. Just because a game is popular or expensive, does not mean you will like it. For a first game get something that has some depth, so you don't get bored right away.

Check the pins for sale in Canada thread -- lots of Western sellers!

I agree with oldschoolblood, play a bunch and find what you really want. 5000 is a lot of coin if your not 100% sure what you're getting into.
It's also maby a good idea to watch toutorials on papa pinball to understand how the game rules play.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/anybody-in-canada-have-any-pins-they-want-to-sell

First advice: Don't do it.

Okay, now that we're done laughing out loud in denial..

What the others have said is solid. Play on location as much as you can. LOTR is a great system - I blame it, and my wife, for getting into this hobby (see here).

Second advice: You won't be able to stop at just one.

Yeah, I laughed at that. In denial. But the reality was, I wasn't as much into LOTR as the wife was, and I wanted something to play that was more interesting to me. "Hey, let's go pick something we know is hard, will make me work for a score, force me to get better. TSPP!". Found one locally, from a coworker even. Didn't make me a better player, but I did play it quite a bit. Ultimately, I don't play well enough to enjoy that game long-term; maybe I'll re-acquire it down the road when I'm a better player.

We did have a few advantages that helped us get into this. Friends already in the hobby, willing to teach. Pinside. Space (we had rented warehouse space for other purposes). Cash. This hobby's expensive, and you never want to finance a hobby. Lastly, while this area is not a mecca for pinball, there are some bright spots - favorites being the Pacific Pinball Museum, Free Gold Watch, Phoenix Games. pinballmap.com is useful to find pins on location. Just keep in mind that a lot of location games are not well maintained. These locations gave us opportunities to actually see what we liked, what we didn't like. Our collection is mostly but not entirely A list; and cater entirely to what we found we liked more than anything else.

None of this stuff is an investment. We haven't sunk money we can't afford to not recover. That said, I don't expect to take major hits on anything; and I don't expect to get rich of anything either. I consider depreciation to be effectively the cost of renting entertainment.

Top games will require less repair - but command top dollar. You'll need to ask yourself about where you stand on that. Even top games will require maintenance. You'll want to learn to do at least the basics. And learn who you can lean on locally for help that's beyond you - and determine how much you want to lean on them, versus being self reliant. The folks here on pinside are pretty good at helping out those seeking to help themselves.

Don't overlook "B" list games. Seriously. The cost deltas between A list and B list are staggeringly stupid. There are a ton of fun options out there.

All that said: If you can have just a single game: LOTR is not a bad one. I do play mine. The wife plays it more. The guests play it a lot_. It isn't so complicated that a 7 and 11 year olds will be lost. But as they learn the game, assuming they really embrace the hobby, they'll start to get the much higher and insane scores. I'd encourage not comparing scores with others online; just keep a local scoreboard . Compete with each other; work to get better; but don't get bent if you can't make billions on LOTR. Most important part is to have fun getting better at pinball, and exploring what the game has to offer.

I'd recommend a newer Stern that requires very little maintenance. Problems and pinball repair can be troublesome for a first time owner.

Pirates of the Caribbean has the best in-game toy in pinball, great audio, and is family friendly. Not too deep, not too shallow. You can pick up a nice HUO around $4k.

Seriously, don't do it.

Huo = home use only.

Like everyone else has said, the best way to decide is to play. Find a local community (I'm pretty sure i've seen more Calgary folks on here?) and make some friends. Go to parties, and play their games. Or just ask nicely if anyone has a certain title and if you could play it.

A lot of the games I'm really into right now are games I assumed I wouldn't like until I played them at a party or at a league night. I've loved machines I thought i'd hate, and really wasn't excited about machines I thought i'd love. The only way to find out is to play them.

Theme is huge, get something that you are into. The top 100 here is pretty solid IMO, but there's always the theme as the bonus multiplier, if you will.

You could start a new thread asking where are some good places to play in Calgary.
Pinball ain't going away, take a little time on you're first purchase.
I hope you get something you like. Also save space and some money for a few more.

Find some local collectors and see if you can play their games to see what you like. Is there a Calgary league?

Instead of making a new post I'm going to jump on to this one and say I'm also in the market for my first pin. I'm in the NE area. Should I just follow that NE for sale thread or does anyone have any other ideas of how I should purchase a pin. I'm thinking in the 3-5K range.

I've also thought about a Star Trek Pro machine.

Lots of solid advice here already, the most important one being play first before buying

I have both AC/DC and LOTR, love both of them although they are very different in nature. AC/DC is fast and furious in nature, which can be off putting for new players as getting good scores is not easy. LOTR has a theme that appeals to many, deep rule set and easy to understand set-up but especially for a better player the ball times can be long. I'm glad I got LOTR first, to me it was a great first modern era pin

Star Trek is great too, to me kind of in between AC/DC and LOTR. Fast but still pretty deep rules (see thread on strategies for average player). I'm actually thinking of adding that into the mix at some point

Advice on getting a B list pin first is good too, this way you get into the hobby without spending a lot of money. You have to be prepared to do some fixing though, luckily pinside will help. I'd still play the pin first, because you want to have something that you really like. Having a meh pin as first machine is probably not a great idea because it'll just accelerate getting more pins in the collection

Once again. Don't do it!

I would actually start your own thread because you can get some Personal messages and feedback from locals in your area. You may get a "I am thinking of letting my ST Pro go and you are welcome to play it." Message

Here is a ST Pro in your area. I do not know how much New In Box pins cost in Canada, but I heard they are not cheap, so compare. ST has a great theme for players of all ages, cool toy that fires back at you and you can blow up in the Vengeance ship, 3 flippers, deep to get through the 18 levels and has semi good ball times. I dig mine.

LOTR is great , Spider-Man, Pirates of the Caribean are good also. ACDC is great, but tough for sure. Good luck

https://pinside.com/pinball/market/ad/19749

Best of luck, Pinball is awesome!

Having said that, have you considered two $2,500 machines, instead of one $5k? Or one $1k machine and two $2k's? They do tend to multiply, diversity is great, and what you like might not be perfectly in line with what your kids like, their tastes may differ, etc.

Best of luck, but most importantly have fun!

ST Pro is the best Stern for overall appeal, flow, light show, fun factor, and price IMO. ACDC, Metallica, and Spiderman are pretty good, too. Newer pins with LEDs are the best bet for low maintenance. Older games can be pretty solid, though. Play as many as you can and you might find something you like that isn't too expensive.

If you are up in edmonton. You could go to denizen hall to try out (closed on Sundays and Mondays)

For newer pins. They have

Ironman
Star Trek
Acdc
Twd
Kiss
Wrestlemania

They are $1 to play and depending on the time of day. I have seen pins with credits in them already or spare tokens on the tables

But be warned. With the new downtown arena being built (which is looking awesome) parking is pretty bad

Edit - it is an 18 and up establishment

Goddamn that's a lot of money to be throwing around on your first pin.

If I were determined to blow that kind of wad just getting my feet wet, I would seek out a USED HUO late model Stern pin. You'll get it for less money than a new in box game, and when you sell it in a few months you likely won't lose any cash. And there are TONS to choose from. You shouldn't have much trouble finding a Walking Dead, Spiderman, Iron Man, Star Trek, Metallica, or what have you.

Like I said, since you seem committed to spending 5 to 6 large it's probably your best option, since you really don't know what kind of game you like yet.

The biggest mistep I see around here is people dissecting their first pin buy like it's the biggest life decision they'll ever make. It isn't. Get whatever is the right pin at the right price in the right location. If it turns out you don't like it, you can always just sell it and replace it with something else. In other words, don't sweat it, just buy something.

Once you get your first... It wont be the last. They breed like Tribbles.

I'm loving The Simpsons Pinball Party.
5 flippers and very deep rules, very fun game, great for all ages and skill types.

Most people also like Potc (Pirates of the Caribbean) I've had mine for 8 years without a speck of trouble although your results may vary.

Tron is also a great game.

I would say get yourself two great pins from the 90's era, JM and The Shadow as an example. 5K could also buy you 1 nice 90's and 2 decent 80's pins, if your only interested in 1 pin and Stern then LOTR's or SM really can't go wrong with either. I grew up in the same era as you and WW is amazing, better than any of the Sterns I've owned, just simple Pinball Magic going on, Earthshaker ain't no slouch either. Good luck

Honestly, I wouldn't go LOTR as a first pin. The games can get incredibly long...as a 2 or 3 player game, you could potentially end-up with two players bored to tears.

If you're looking to go with a recent title, I'd look at Spiderman, Star Trek Pro/Premium, AC/DC Premium...heck.. Mustang is a really fun table...as is Metallica (if you're okay with metal).

Can't go wrong with those as first pins...they offer a lot of fast gameplay.

Out of those, my preference would be: ACDC, Star Trek, Mustang, Spiderman, MET.

What many others have said. Play, play, play. When you think you have a few you like, play them again and play a whole bunch more. You'll be surprised how quickly your opinion of a game will change once you've played a bunch of others. $5K is a lot to spend when you're still trying to figure it out. The two you remember from your childhood, WW and ES, are a great place to start. Reconnect with those and then start playing some others. Don't get too bogged down on "ratings," "rankings," and "what others like." This is a very subjective and personal hobby. What some LOVE others will HATE. Find your muse. Pinball festivals are a great place to play loads of games. It's amazing how fast you can blow through 3 or 4 hours playing pinball at a festival.

Can't go wrong IMHO with any of those. Though I didn't enjoy TWD as much as I had hoped and the X-Men I've played were bitchin' hard! By the way, you can probably get both a pretty nice WW and ES for the cost of any of those alone.

I disagree with the "play play play" theory of pin-buying. I've probably bought 100 pins over the years that i've never played before. It isn't THAT important, and in fact is a detriment in many cases. Why play a game 500 times and THEN buy it? You'll already be sick of it.

It's much more important to buy a game in the right location at the right price. You can ALWAYS sell or trade a game if you decide you don't like it. Just don't overpay and it'll work out in the end. Using my patented pin-buying system, I've ended up getting into tons of games I otherwise never would have enjoyed.

Yeah...I'd have to say TWD is one you'd want to play before buying as your first.

LOL! You're right. Tubby's on 17th Avenue has a Fun House but nothing much else listed. Take a trip down to Portland, Oregon. They have loads of places to play pinball there. Here's a link to Pinball Locater:

http://www.pinballrebel.com/locator/index.php

This. Start out with an EM for cheap, clean it up, play it a while, either hang on to it or sell it.

Move up to an early solid state, do the same thing.

Move up to a later solid state, do the same thing.

Move up to a early DMD, do the same thing.

Move up to a modern DMD, do the same thing.

You will find you like a spectrum of titles. One expensive one might not do it for you. for 5-6k you could have a really nice collection that you could swap machines out as you go, eventually getting the more expensive machine you listed above.

I do not vote going straight to a modern DMD.

Really in that very health price range for kids and you want reliable and first pin. Take a look at the virtual pins. You can then take the several thousand you saved and put into the college funds.

actually, i would lean towards the opposite in this situation - the last thing you want to do is bore them and have em walk away mid-game.

all pins require maintenence and repair. in fact, the amount of repair and maintenance has been INVERSELY proportional to the pins age in my collection. older does not necessarily mean less reliable, especially when the newer pins tend to be mechanically more complicated.

both still great games. those are Williams System11 games -- very fun, very reliable. real classics.

good luck on your search and welcome to Pinside!!

A nice, shopped Whirlwind and Funhouse can be both be had for your price range--2 great games for the price of 1 DMD. I have a 5 yr old and 9 yr old and they love those games. They are also big POTC fans...you can get a nice one for 4-4500 and have money left over to build up towards your 2nd machine--not that any of these are just "kids" games. POTC has a pretty tough wizard mode and WW and FH are great for any age. I would make sure you play an example of whatever game you are thinking of before you get it. We try some out on Pinball Arcade but that doesn't always give you a real world idea.

We have a dozen actual games and my kids played a virtual pin at the RMPS and hated it! They wanted to leave in the middle of a game. Maybe if they hadn't played actual pinball before a virtual it would've been different.

My son doesn't seem to give a damn about the real deals.

And at the last show we were at RFM was his favorite pin. Video stuff go figure.
would have 100's of real games to play.

Never really pushed the virtual stuff but for some folks a great way to go.

This is 100% true. I started playing pinball last October when I ran across one in a bar. Now I own 4 and am constantly on the lookout for "the next one'.

As for suggestions, I don't think you can go wrong with a ST Pro. It seems to be a great machine for people of all skill levels. There used to be one at my league and it was definitely a hit with everyone. They took it to another bar, but are supposed to be bringing it back for the fall league. The only reason I don't own one is because I like to have things that I can drive down the street and play on location. I'm just lucky that the bar near me keeps their machines in pretty good shape.

Anyway, I vote for Star Trek Pro.

I played Star Trek pro and will buy one after I sell a few things for some extra cash.

ST Pro is an awesome table.

Great advice, there are three pin deals I've passed on that I still regret. The price was super and local but I was hesitant to buy because if not played the games. But in retrospect I could have bought and not lost a penny or maybe just a small amount of money.

For pin "deals" this works...but if you have a budget and just want a first machine I would still recommend playing it so you don't have a huge letdown for your first machine experience. Then you have to deal with moving it, selling it again etc. I was planning on buying a MM until I actually played it a handful of times and decided it was too easy (and I suck) and got a little boring after a while.