Spidey IMO. Love the flow on it.

Lotr is a better game, one of the best stern has ever made. SM is good too, just doesn't offer as much.

Had both sold LOTR and bought a nicer one right after. I love both games but LOTR is never leaving. I will never beat it, just not good enough. SM is also awesome but may leave some day.

Not even close.......LOTR.

LOTR. I had a blast owning this and I am an average player. Easy to start all of the movie multiballs and reach Destroy the Ring, which is a blast. Plus, resale is good on LOTR. It is a beautiful game and fun to mod if you are into that sort of thing. Great game...probably Stern's best ever to date.

^^^This. I would get a Spiderman at the right price, but Stern just doesn't make games like LOTR anymore. Spiderman is very good, but LOTR is close to as good as it gets for me.

LOTR is amazing. Epic.

SM is more fun. Faster pace.

LOTR has the edge for me, but each game is a long hike.

SM! Ritchie and Lyman perfect pinball. Simple, great rules. Sweet, fun shots and flow. Great AFM type up the middle shots. Upper right flipper Venom shot is satisfying and gives you a second to celebrate. Ramp to ramp is satisfying or backhand Left ramp/ left flipper over and over. Lotr doesn’t have these very satisfying shots. IMHO

I had a nice HUO LOTR that played great also and it is amazing for what it is and for when it came out. I just got tired of the call outs, the stop and go and “the journey”. I feel the shots are clunky and not smooth like SM, but that is Gomez. I am a flow guy though. If you like stop and go LOTR is a great one for you.

Both are good “not butt kickers” for you.

have both, both never leaving. buy both !

Very tough to choose , I own both and don't see them leaving anytime soon. However there is a great deal on SM original in my area.

I have the SMVE, both are worth owning.

Good luck

SM with no Center drain save post and lightning flippers is a blast both in speed, rules, and flow. I prefer the vault for art, call outs, display, and overall theme integration (not movie based).

LOTR is epic especially if you’re a fan of the theme. If you haven’t experienced the epic ness of LOTR, I highly recommend. But keep in mind, if you want to get deep into it, it’s a long player.

I’m going to agree here.

I owned SM sold and bought a different one back.

I owned LotR during this same time and think both (and Tspp) are great.

My biggest issue with LotR (although I feel like it’s fantastic maybe one of the best ever) was that I don’t feel like playing it a lot. I go through phases and sure the new pins get played more but I still keep the old ones and play them periodically. But LotR became one I didn’t turn on as much as I should have.

I would still buy LotR is you don’t have one but me personally SM seems to be better.

Basically the three pins you listed you can not go wrong with.

IMO you should buy LotR if you are really into rules and SM if you are more into funny flowing pins. LotR is a bit serious and dark but still excellent. Tspp deep and rewarding can’t go wrong with it at all imo.

So I’m not much help since after all kind of just see what comes up at a good price.

Own all 3 games that you're considering. As far as LOTR Vs SM I would go with LOTR personally. Ball times can be long, but can also be quick depending how it goes. I'm not a very good player and have only destroyed the ring once, but started it a bit. TSPP I feel is the better deep code game, but I also like the stacking in that game. It can be confusing at first, but once you get the hang of it TSPP is a lot of fun. SM is great but maybe the one I play the least. My family loves it though and to be honest I don't think any of the 3 will be leaving unless I decide to get out of pinball all together.

Also depends on how you play, I’m a casual player, the ring modes of LotR seem very hard to me. Never seems like I would get too far in the game. If I was a higher level player might get more out of LotR.

I own both games but I think I prefer LOTR a bit more.

Def LOTR for me. I think everyone should own one at some point.

If you aren't worried about going deep into the game I vote SM. Fun, satisfying shots, third flipper, with achievable goals for your skill level.

I've owned 3 LOTR's. I've only owned SM once.

SM is a good pin. LOTR is a great pin, as long as you are prepared for long games to get deep into the ruleset and to Valinor.

I would go Simpsons over both of those. I don't understand the love for LOTR. I owned one for two years, and it felt like a chore/wood choppy to play. I know that sounds crazy when I am suggesting Simpsons, but there is a general looser feel to Simpsons because of the ability to stack several objectives at once.

Out of LOTR or Spiderman, If you setup Spiderman difficult, it is far more satisfying to play than LOTR. If you set it up factory, it is way too easy.

Steve Ritchie pins, which I enjoy immensely, typically do not last long in my collection, 3-4 months at the max. LOTR is now the longest in my collection, over 15 months now.

Owned both. Worked on a lot of both for others as well. For me, Spidey is smoother with better flow. LOTR is great with awesome rules and great theme integration. LOTR is also the only game my wife has ever asked me to re-purchase. Both are hard to go wrong with. I’d probably lean LOTR for a few reasons. But, honestly would probably vary dependent on when I was asked and what else I owned at the time.

I was in your dilemma about a year and change ago, was a very hard decision. Decided between these 3 machines you listed. In the end, I went with tspp. Lotr seemed great to me with the rules and neat toys, and I don't mind the wood chopping aspect to the rules. Sm was the 3rd place pin for me because I've never played one before, but I do regret not considering this pin because I feel like I need a pin with gratifying shots and this seems to have it more than the three. Tspp is great, very deep but you choose what way you wanna take the game unlike lotr where the goal is Valinor. Tspp has so many wizard modes you can choose from and most are achievable. Just the right amount of difficulty in my book. Find a nice tspp and you can't go wrong. It's a blast every time. Not to mention one of the best upper pf's in pinball next to the shadows battlefield (owned that one too). Lotr, great pin, it deserves all the praise it gets but I can def see that getting old in my 2 pin only collection. Tspp all the way, theme sucks but gameplay rules, and compliments my totan.

Theme on these pins are a big minus for me as I was never really into any of them, except for sm as a kid but the vault edition isn't well done in my eyes. The art isn't to my liking and the callouts are awful. Gameplay is great but that other stuff did it in for me.

Sorry, big rant.

ooooh crap. short answer..both, if you can. Both are so different, both so good. Stern knocked it out of the park on these titles. Rock solid reliable and they play very well.

Play both and see if you can only have one. I have lotr, never leaving and if i could find spidy it would never leave also so I guess I am no help at all. lol

Great games you will lose nothing on having for a while so enjoy, worry free and buy the nicer example and hole out for the other..

If Stern was to make a Vault of LotR it’d sell a thousand units I’d bet, I would buy one.

SM is super nice and has more long loopy shots if you like that and the side ramp is pure joy.

LotR has one of the best magnet toys ever.

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Is it too late to vote for LOTR? I think you've made a horrible mistake! Obviously kidding, and you are definitely not a 1-3 player by the way.