I'm looking to purchase my first pinball machine for my family. I've narrowed it down to 2 different machines: Star Wars Premium and Guardians of the Galaxy Pro. I'd appreciate any help with my decision.
The pros and cons so far:
In favor of the Guardians of the Galaxy Pro - cheaper than a Premium machine, fun colorful artwork, board that draws me in a bit more
In favor of Star Wars Premium - I do prefer a Star Wars theme (more timeless and perhaps better value retention?), my kids all like Guardians but they all seem to prefer Star Wars.

Any thoughts help with my decision? One better playing? I have played the Star Wars Pro and thought it was cool but didn't blow me away. I've read the Premium is much better here. I have not seen the Guardians pinball.

Many thanks,
C.J.

I have searched for used machines locally. Only one that had potential was Iron Man for nearly $4,000. I take comfort in getting a game that has a warranty so I focused on new...
Is the feeling that the Star Wars Pro is good/adequate and the Premium not worth another $2,000? I was convinced from what I read that the hyper loop was an important feature. My kids are 10, 8 and 5 and very much interested in playing. Their grandfather has a Pirates of the Caribbean pinball (the older one from 10 years ago or so) and they love it. They've caught me looking at youtube videos of pinball machines and they all want the Star Wars based on mostly the fact that it is Star Wars.
We entertain a lot, I really want a game that people will want to play.

Oh and I like the HD screens in these machines vs DMD

What about the Premium version makes it more difficult? I thought the only differences between models were the Hyperloop, Death Star opening and spring loaded TIE fighter. Primarily I want a game that is fun for me, I think the theme of the machine is what will involve them. I'm no pinball wizard but do want a game that will keep me engaged with various unlocks, etc
I will check out the SpiderMan...

For theme, I really prefer either Star Wars or something Marvel. That's what the kids know. These choices are a bit overwhelming... Stupid question, but if the Star Wars Premium isn't worth the $2k extra, what about just adding a few more static toys after market to the Pro version?
As far as Guardians, is it typical that a machine launches with incomplete code?

Let me revise my question since spending north of $7,000 may be the end of my marriage.... Comparing just the Pro versions of each, what do people think? Sounds like the LCD integration is much better (not to mention recognizable) on Star Wars.
I just don't want to spend $5,700 only to regret not getting a higher end version.

I like the way you think...

GOTG has some minor differences; cosmetic and small motors. Starting to lean more towards Star Wars given it's a love for all members of the family. And it sounds like that nice TV screen is more integrated into gameplay.

So without the hyper loop, is there still some sort of Death Star multi ball?

This is certainly more difficult than I anticipated... I love the Star Wars theme, but GOTG has a more interactive play field. That being said, GOTG seems like a bit of a gamble that the code will ever integrate movie sounds and music to its full potential. I’m going to take the kids to play today. My money is that they will like the SW because it is SW. I agree Spider-Man Vault seems like a good choice but it is more expensive and I’m not sure if the kids will get behind the theme. Game of Thrones was high on my list but the kids don’t even know what that is...
If it helps any give advise, we do love the Stern Pirates of the Caribbean. That play field seems to have plenty going on and good sound, etc. But I don’t want to buy a duplicate for one that’s already in the family.

Maybe I should also reconsider IronMan used too. I got the impression that it wasn’t well thought of. It still costs nearly $4k and the Iron Monger doesn’t slide down flat so I’ll need to fix that.

I'm going to check out both tonight. At the moment it seems like a tossup to me. I like how the play field on GOTG has pop bumpers (seems like a classic pinball thing) and the interactive grout while the SW seems to only have ramps.

Do you think more music from the movie and actor voices will hit GOTG at some point?

So the family and I went and played pinball for a few hours tonight. Much to my surprise nobody except me played Star Wars more than once. I wanted to like it but mostly found it barren and frustrating. Maybe I'll revisit it when I become a wizard.
We all liked Guardians of the Galaxy. Only problem was the place was so loud I could not hear the machine, so if there are bad voice overs or music is too repetitive I couldn't tell.... I'd love to hear from an owner what they think in this department and what potential it has with future code updates.
In a surprise first place finish, we all really like Ghostbusters. I love all things 80s and the kids felt they could "do more." I played the Pro version but the owner of the arcade thought the Premium was a worthwhile upgrade. Thoughts on that? I'm still leaning Pro but I love information.

I just want to make sure I'm understanding the advice I am getting... I should opt for GOTG over Ghostbusters and the reason is less risk to sell because it is new? Or is there something I'm missing?

Originally yes, but now that I'm considering Ghostbusters I'd consider used since it isn't very old.

If I knew that GOTG would add more music from the movies I'd be sold on it. As it stands, "cherry bomb" may get a little old

We went to Arcade Legacy: Bar Edition

After sleeping on it, I really am leaning Ghostbusters, simply because we all liked it best. The play field seems so rich. Is the premium really the way to go?

I take it that this is the draw for something like Star Wars, where you can choose 1 of 100 paths... I have a feeling what drew my family to Ghostbusters is more the play field and less the individual shots. If I can swing it, I think I'd like to buy Ghostbusters now and revisit GOTG and SW later...