If money is not an issue, Dialed In. Or JJPOTC.

Any game is better than no games.

Metallica Premium. Toys and it’s playable.

Look at each person's collection under their avatar... There's yer answer!

Buy the one you can afford the most... you can find anything at any price, but would you want to buy a pin that you have to apologize forever for to your fellow pinheads? I had a friend buy a 8 Ball Champ and had to apologize for ever that he should have done his homework and got something deeper and with multiball and paid less for it. At the time he payed $1500 for a $550 valued (or less) machine from a vendor/op who saw him coming. My brother bought a Black Knight for $200 (it needed a little love) and I got a fully working Pinbot for $750 back in '91 about 6 months later. We never let him live it down.

As a newbie who just bought his first pinball machine at Christmas, here is my advice
1) continue to read these forums because it’s clear that these people are the experts and have incredible knowlede
2) go play as many different pins as possible before making a decision. I played all of the new sterns that I was interested in but I wish I would have tried some other pins as well. Cafe one in Ormand beach is a must go place to visit and play. They have most of the new machines and another room of old classics.
3) at the end of the day, you need to pick machine that you enjoy the most. I ended up with guardians because with the sound mod and the new code, it’s a ton of fun to play even if you are not the best pinball player and I enjoyed it much more than Star Wars, ghostbusters , etc.

My last comment is beware. I thought that I would never buy more than one (that’s what I told my wife) - but only after 3 weeks - I already want to add another pin.

#the-hobbit is one that would take a long time to play all the modes but would that be entertaining to YOU? Only you know that answer. What do you like? Metallica (Pro) or Iron Maiden: Legacy of the Beast (Premium)-le If you like heavy metal you'll love either of those. Dialed In is a great choice if you like Pat Lawlor games. Play a lot of games, pick one you enjoy, pay a fair price for it and if you get tired of it or your tastes change sell it.

Hard to beat the bookcase in The Addams Family IMO the ark in #indiana-jones-(stern) is a fantastic feature in a mediocre game. The trunk in Houdini is pretty cool.

1. You will eventually get tired of any game. Every game has an expiration date. When I started collecting I bought my first game and thought I’d never ever get sick of it. But then one day it happened. And off it went in a swap for another game that is long gone. I think it comes down to the fact that I can only play so many times before I’m bored. That might be 10 games, that might be 5000 games. But eventually it will happen.

2. Entertaining gimmicks get old too. It’s the entire play you should look at. Callouts, and meaningful rules. The cannon on AC/DC is fun, but it pales in comparison to risking a big song jackpot to build it up higher. The risk reward aspects of the game are what keeps it fun after the first hundred games.

Go to a pinball show near you or find a location with lots of games. No one can answer these questions but you. Everyone’s different.

Far as your wishlist is concerned, I think you would do good with LAH or BM66.

That is so true. You can find such a variety of games to play at pinball shows.

I am not too much of a fan of AFM or MM, even after 10 years of playing them on and off at different places. The themes do not really grab me.

If you can, make it out to the Texas Pinball Festival in March. www.texaspinball.com

Shadow, Metallica, Walking Dead

No doubt it depends on what you can afford & what you would prefer. Any advice on what another favors is subjective, but could influence you towards a title that might not be your liking. Then again, there are a horde of Pinsiders w/ a vast knowledge of experience that might direct you to what ticks w/ you.

I would highly suggest going on & downloading Pinball Arcade & trying out the various machines that this site has to offer. It's a great way to play a boatload of titles for cheap & really get a feel for layout & gameplay.

I have limited space, therefore I rotate my machine quite often. We've had many of the A titles in & out so I must state that the majority were awesome in their own right. At this time we have a SW's Premium & Houdini, as both machines really have drastic differences in terms of layout & gameplay. Both have a very deep rule set, but Houdini is a sharpshooting floater & SW's is a lighting fast flow fest. Houdini & SW's are a gameplay contradiction, but w/ limited space it's great to have two machines that are so different from each other.

I've been in this hobby for going on eight years & we've had at least sixty different titles in & out. I started w/ the early solid state machines & eventually we ended up w/ many of the A titles. With the vast amounts of machines in & out I know one fact for certain, that any machine we acquire must have a deep rule set. When playing a machine in a home environment, a deep rule set will keep your attention & will gravitate you towards the end goal ~ Wizard Mode.

Just have fun & enjoy the ride!

Do not underestimate the power of a good older pin to keep you amused for several months to several years depending on your skill. At some point, you have to consider you have “conquered” a title, and it is time to move on. This gets to the point of jacking the back legs, opening the outlanes, and tightening up your tilts. Because, lets face it, when you get your first one, you tighten up your outlanes, take the tilt plumb bob off, and accidentally put the front legs on the back of the cabinet. Not that I have ever done any of those things myself <cough cough> But some older pins are more desirable from the “really rounds out the selection” choice when you walk up to your lineup. Like Taxi, Pinbot, Diner, Cyclone, Comet, Swords of Fury, FirePower, xenon, High Speed, Black Knight... these all have some staying power and are a great place to start a collection on the low side of the market. They are not deep, but great for a quick satisfying game which every collection should have at least one of.

Or better yet-look at your wish list avatars and go with your gut.

By the looks of OP's collection and wish list I would say Batman 66 is the game to choose.