Well since I am having my coffee again this morning and you bumped it for more....I have got some more opinions to share.

My recommendation above is based on having a TOM and having a collection that compliments each other and provides a good variety of game play for you and your guests. But since I have had the fortune of owning and/or playing lots of great games my recommendation of a start up collection is MUCH different from the 5 games I would choose if I could only own 5. They might not compliment each other well, and not too worried about guest (they play them all)

If I could own only 5 games I would have right now at this time
ACDC premium
Metallica LE or premium
Ironman
Spider-Man
Avatar

But for some reason I am on a stern kick, right after Avatar is AFM and TAF though

Not saying they are better, just saying that would be my line up right now.

AFM
WH2O
FT
TAF

What!!!! No FunHouse?? After all that work?

Not in the league of games being mentioned so far in the thread.

Well, I would say that narrowing it down to the four best games is a starting point. You, like most here, are unlikely to fill out your space and stop. You will buy, sell, trade in the future as you get tired of certain pins. Basically, a perfect five pin list is impossible given the number of excellent pins available across eras.

Use these suggestions to start your research to create a list of pins that you would like to own at some point. Then search them out and buy what is available and meets your condition and price criteria. Enjoy the pins.

Rinse and repeat.

Also, you might find that pin space expands the longer you are buying games. Mine did.

MM
WH2O
FH
Surf Champ (EM)

Wally

I picked one up not long ago.
Definitely a sleeper game you can still grab around 2K.
Fun to mod out with spotlights, LEDs in the inserts and the LED strip in the dinosaur crane.
It's fast, fluid and full of innovations we haven't seen since – like the smart ramps and bowling.

Is it TAF/AFM/TOM/MM – nope.
But it sure is fun and deserves a little more love than it currently gets.

My mom likes her Flintstones better than her TAF. Then again, it's newer to her and she played the heck out of TAF while it was her only pin, but either way she loves them both. (She actually likes Pinball Magic the best out of the 3 in her bedroom though.)

I'd love to have a TOM. We've got a diverse family collection with Bally, Williams, Capcom, Sega, Stern, P2K, and DE all represented, and I think it's a good mix. I personally wouldn't want all Sterns or all Bally/Williams, but then again I probably couldn't afford them either. I honestly haven't played enough games to even start to recommend a list, but I will say that I believe that Spiderman is a great game in a line-up. It's got the main 3-bank drop shot like AFM, magnet features, lots of multiball action, mode stacking, and great callouts. It is easy enough for the people who come over to just play around hitting the bad guys, but deep enough that I'm still learning what all it does.

AC/DC Premium
TZ
FH
Paragon
Joker Poker (EM)