That's what I like about opinions. I'd take LOTR over MM every day and twice on Sundays! Much better software and less repetition. As far as the licensed pins not being worth as much as originals, just look at TZ, TAF, MB, IJ, SS, SM, Creech, etc. Most of the big money titles are licensed.

I can understand your reservation if you are concerned about future values. MM is almost a sure bet that it will continue to rise in value, whereas LOTR and Avatar LE are more of a risk if you are worried about holding/rising values. Personally if it were me I'd trade away the MM for those titles, but then again I don't really like the game that much. It really comes down to how much you like MM. If it's one of your favorite games and you play it all the time, by all means keep it! If you are getting tired of it and you would rather have some new games to play, then trade it away!

Yeah, that's what my buddy thought as well before he sold it. MM isn't a bad game by any means, but you can get a lot better games for far less money. I'd even argue that "The Shadow" is a better playing Bryan Eddy game. At least it has a unique layout, a rule-set that doesn't require you to shoot the same shots over and over, an upper playfield and 3rd flipper. MM is just too similar to so many other games in both rule-set and layout. I'm with you on the Stern thing as well. Stern has the best rule-sets in pinball, and some really fun games! I've played a ton of Avatar already and really like it! The game is absolutely beautiful, and it's pretty challenging to play too. A LOTR/Avatar combo offers a lot of pinball bang for the buck compared to MM.