My OMG has nothing to do with losing money. I'm not into pinball for money. My entire collection could go to 0 and it wouldn't effect my lifestyle one bit.

My OMG is because it's misguided and folks that focus so much attention on it are misguided. I'd much rather see Stern innovate rather than regurgitate.

Occasionally, I think doing another run is a good thing. For example, I think IM was totally justified because the supply was really too small. It bummed me out that I couldn't move my modded out IM, however I just decided to keep it (which was a good thing in retrospect since I play it often).

LOTR doesn't need another run. Period.

My interest in a VE LOTR vanished when Stern confirmed they wouldn't port it over to modern systems, no updated sound, no point.

Good catch. It also looks like Game of thrones Cersei lannister is directly below that one, and a white walker is at the bottom center.

Edit: I can't tell for sure if that is Cersei or another character. But I'm fairly sure that's a white walker.

Edit2: I actually think it's Danaerys.

pop-game-of-thrones-white-walker-4.jpg
FU3087lg.jpg

The clues point to Kiss and GOT, just like some speculate..........

not gonna happen, fact.

When did they confirm this?

Gary Stern did back at TPF.

Gary Stern said it at TPF.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/gary-stern-tpf-talking-points

D'oh! Snurdley beat me to it.

too funny

STERN know how to blow us here
only need to post a picture with few items on it, and we're all making our own story and speculation
lets admit, for that, they are great, as in the same time, its making the buzz with nothing more than 1 single picture...

Gary will do in the end whatever makes him money. Again, after WWE and BJM, anything is possible, but I would not hold out hope for either of these.

While these speculation threads have been running, I actually did a temporary trade of my IM to a mate and took in his LOTR for two months. I thought I was desperate to get my LOTR back. Probably only put 20 games on it while it was here, lol. DTR about 5 times, TABA once. That'll do for a while. Gone again. Yes, it is awesome. Yes, new sound (now not happening) would have been tempting, but the iron has now gone cold again for me. Next!

Just for clarification, we're talking about Gary's statement at TPF that said (paraphrased), "If a Vault Edition candidate was originally SAM/Whitestar - it will be remade as SAM/Whitestar. It will NOT be converted to Spike."

I wondered why they would do this and not port it over to their new system, granted a larger pcb fab would probably be more expensive than a port job. I suppose it means they're sitting on a lot of old boards and want to use them up. Good way to clear out old inventory if that is the case.

Only thing I'd want from a VE is coils that won't get weak throughout the game.

Best pin ever!

Love the CSI going on in every one of these things.

You'd only get that if they switched to the new system they have made for WWE, which will not happen, as they would have to completely redo the code.

Ah OK - I didn't know that had an impact. New PBL coils I guess!

Wait?!!?!

I thought no one looked at Stern's FB page becuase of their draconian policy of removing defamatory posts?

Everyone PLEASE STOP looking at these pictures! You're screwing up the "protest."

<insert favorite eyeroll emoticon of your choice>

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2049403/
The notion of BJ2 scares me a bit. It is arguably Burton's best movie, I feel like we could be in for a Star Wars Episode 1 scenario. Corpse Bride was decent, but he has been pretty hit or miss as of late. AiW was hard to watch it was so bad. Charlie and the choc. fact. was bad, although he was just the director there. And Glenn Shadix died. Michael Keaton is amazing though.

Cost of the license , toys, not likely to happen. Bought a great one Sat.

Um.....OK

Bummer. I guess there's always the possibility they could modify Whitestar in some way, but no improvement to sound will cost them some sales I'd think (though maybe Stern can spin it as protecting the interests of LE buyers by not making the VE inarguably better).

I don't think stern gives two shakes about protecting LE Buyer's. They sold a limited edition years ago. That doesn't stop them from selling another edition if they so chose.

Better actually to do the fan mod, which cools the coils. The HP coils get weak as well.

Fair enough. If the odds are in my favor, that's the route I'll probably consider!

They don't on mine. I've had the PBL coils in my game for 8 years and have played many long marathon games and they've never gone weak.

Same here. Ever since upgrading to the PBL coils, no issues, even on marathon games.

Gary just confirmed this.
photo-24033.gif
"meow"
Only it was the wrong Gary.

Yeah, I think the weak coils was an old-software thing. I know plenty of people with regular coils that are strong as hell on LOTR....and like I said, I have the Pinball Life ones, and I've played back to back 45 min games...and the ball still *SNAPS* right up into the ring easily after all that play.

Mine don't get weak per say, but definitely are not as powerful as when you first start out. I have the PBL upgrades, and mine is an LE. I even have the Tower Hobby heatsinks some recommended on RGP a while back on mine. Again, I can still play it no prob, but it's not the same as when first flipped, and that annoys me.

I'm doing the fan mod one of these days.

The only fact is that no one knows for certain if LOTR VE will happen. Even if Gary said tomorrow that they're never making one, given past his past statements on Iron Man that could hardly be taken as firm evidence that the game will never be remade.

Anyone making definitive statements one way or the other at this point is just blowing smoke.

preach.png

Agreed, I think the software fixed the problem. I have the original coils in mine and a friend made it to Valinor, so I would say they are fine.

I have played a machine with the Pinball Life coils and the game seemed a little easier to me because the ramp shots didn't need to be as precise for the ball to make it all the way up.

Now that I have just purchased a LOTR, I have to believe that the VE announcement is imminent. Because that's just how things happen.

But you're in luck - you already have the game we all want! A VE release would mean nothing for you and your pin!

No doubt it was a software tweak. When I upgraded, my machine immediately felt like it was on steroids Not just flipper power, but VUK's, etc. The Gimli VUK was so strong that it would bounce back 50% of the time (really annoying). Tried fiddling with the machine settings with no luck. Finally had to tie the wire form down to eliminate any flex/bounce. Now it never bounces back.

As far as power goes, my machine has been played at shows nonstop and the flippers don't lose power. Just say no to fans...it's a hack.

No issues with weak coils on my 2004 HUO LOTR. Glad to see so many people finally agreeing that it was fixed with software.

During the discussion about Vault Editions over the past 12 months, I wished for:

a) Family Guy and ended up finding one in great condition, minimal routing. Lots of fun and got to play it now.

b) The Simpsons Pinball Party. 12 months after Family Guy, I found a heavily routed game imported from Europe and now begin the restoration process. Under all that dirt and grime is a gem of a machine.

My point being - don't wait for something that may never happen. Grab a secondhand game now and have some fun!

Cheers!
Adam.

there are reasons its a FACT that many may not be aware of.
I don't waste time posting speculations.

Feel free to post your reasons. If you can't go into it detail, because it involves inside information, just say so. However, simply saying "fact" after a statement is not very convincing. JMHO. No offense intended.

I feel like people who claim they have facts about stuff like this are saying it so they can pull a "told you so" months later. Unless someone has some hard facts regarding the subject at hand, I will assume anything is possible.

Funny thing is the stern or people most certainly read these posts and likely intentionally place these little clues in their posts. This one picture has people talking about more than 5 games, some of which may happen.

The old boards (Sam/white star) are quite cheap to make and that is why VE games will use the original system. Zero development effort is the most cost efficient model.

Fact is fact, is it not? Or is this a middle truth? Feels like being sort of pregnant.

MIDDLE EARTH

This is the Shire
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Not to get far off topic but I'm surprised that Disney nor Universal adopted the Lord of The Ring franchise into it's parks... Universal did it with the ultra popular Harry Potter, and Disney is currently building Avatar Land in Animal Kingdom.

Let's assume you don't have either one... & they came out at the same time would you rather own JJP's Hobbit ? or Sterns LOTR VE ?! I really would be surprised if Stern doesn't release this at the same time as Hobbit. Regardless it's considered one of Stern's best titles (According to Pinside) so I don't really think it matters when they pump them out, people will ultimately scramble to buy them, and they will certainly sell out. Do they save LOTR VE release for down they road when they need to increase sales, being it's a cash cow ? I'm *fairly* certain it's going to be released at some point that's all I know. I would be really shocked if it wasn't released. I think LOTR VE is just a matter of When will it be released.

No...you DON'T know....but keep trolling every single thread about it for years.

But you posted an unsupported assertion. Unless you're ready to share the facts that have convinced you that Stern will never, ever remake LOTR, how is your post advancing the conversation any more than someone that simply says "LOTR VE will definitely be Stern's next game"?