Los Angeles, CA
Quoted from srmonte:Stern please vault LOTR. I would like to buy one.
About 8000 or so units exist. Go buy one.
(Topic ID: 231591)
Linked Games
Lord of the Rings
Stern, 2003-
Lord of the Rings Limited Edition
Stern, 2009
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Quoted from fosaisu:Who cares? Every game Stern has ever re-made was relatively plentiful compared to the truly-rare games out there like BBB (or 24, for that matter). Supply is entirely meaningless without acknowledging the demand. And demand for LOTR is strong. There are 8,000 of them and it still fetches $5-$6k. Which looks to me like stronger demand than for almost anything other than maybe Addams Family.
Iron Man truly had a low production run (around 1000)...it didn't become a hit until well after it was out of production. Demand for the game was there, units were not - hence, the Vault. Spidey had a lot out there, but they thought it would do well as a NIB re-skin. When they did LOTR SE, they could barely move them. I think supply is ample for this game based on demand. Anyone who wants a LOTR can find one. That wasn't the case with Iron Man.
Quoted from fosaisu:@srmonte wants a NIB LOTR with improved art and sound, and is apparently willing to pay for it. If there are enough buyers like him then Stern can make money on a remake. I think it's a pretty safe bet that they'd sell enough of this highly regarded game to make it worth their while.
Play now or wait forever. That's what it comes down to. I don't see Stern re-running a Whitestar game or taking the time/money to convert it into a Spike modern game.
Quoted from PinMonk:Your limited vision is the issue. LotR Spike Vault is a much more sure bet than Deadpool languishing in the channel. Plenty of pent-up demand for a version that fixes the Whitestar version issues.
My vision has nothing to do with it. Pinsiders think typing wishes makes them come true. How many Tron Vault and LOTR Vault posts do there have to be for people to realize Pinball Jesus doesn't answer your Pinside Prayers.
You want pinball reality? Go buy the game since it exists already.
You want pinball fantasy? Keep wishing for remakes of easy to find mass produced games.
Quoted from dung:Iron man is part of the continuing marvel cinematic universe and so getting toys in that style is easy enough. Now you are talking about having toys made for a series of movies that haven't been made in 15 years? Different story unless they made the pin based on the books with a different art style and all new music/callouts. You would lose the film score and the voice actors for the callouts which would suck.
For IM Vault, Stern just made a mold of the old toys, then re-created their own unposeable versions of them. However, on LOTR SE they just didn't include the toys.
Quoted from PtownPin:Stern can essentially replicate CGC's business model, which I believe has been proved successful. Basically CGC has picked off highly rated pins (MM, MB, AFM) and improved them with better graphics, and sound. If Stern did this LOTR would be a home run....
Supply and demand has to be taken into account. CGC's model works because the games they've made so far were going from 12k-20k restored, and were produced in relatively low production numbers. LOTR had a HUGE production run that went on for years. It was hard to find MM, AFM, and MB. It's not hard to find LOTR.
Quoted from srmonte:How much were iron man vaults?
I wanna say $5100 or $5300? I forget...but around there. Keep in mind IM was always a very cheap game for them to design/build & they have an ongoing relationship with Marvel licensing.
Quoted from srmonte:Well I guess most people love over paying to stern. If stern asked 7k for a nib lotrv and they did not add features to justify the increase I would not purchase. I bought my mble because cgc put effort into it with lots of upgrades. Prices are ridiculous because of all of you saying stern should ask 7k. No how about stern vault it close to the original and sell it for 5500. Quit encouraging stern to steal and pillage the pinball community. If you all think a nib lotrv should be at 7k guess what it will be.
No reason to get so worked up over it. It doesn’t exist.
Quoted from Kiwipinhead:Bought my LOTRLE NIB just coming up 9years. Most likley lest played game in my collection, we never play comp games on it. Great 1 player game if you have the time
[quoted image]
Put a ColorDMD in that thang! So much better!
2 weeks later
Quoted from snaroff:Please.
LOTR was my first NIB game back in 2004. It's built like a freakin tank. It's been on location, it's been to shows and it's never had any issues other than the GIMLI switch needing replacement within the first month. Other than the faulty GIMLI switch (which many folks had), my game has played flawlessly for 15 years. When it was on location for 1-month at Neon Retro in Pasadena, it was played 1000 times per week (it's a free-play, pay-per-hour arcade).
With a ColorDMD, LED OCD, and upgraded speakers it rocks. I doubt Stern would pursue a Spike version, but even if they did, it wouldn't be as awesome as the SAM version. The Spike games are more cheaply made...period. Just picked up a TRON LE and did a detailed shop job on it and was reminded how well SAM games are constructed when compared to the new Spike games.
snaroff
LOTR is Whitestar, not SAM.
Funny how Whitestar/Sam era games are now lauded for their quality. At the time, the B/W collectors hated every little detail about Whitestar/Sam games...called them cheap and poorly built - but they are better in most ways than the new Spike games.
Quoted from PinMonk:Spike 2 LotR is going to be Stern's most successful vault ever - by a mile.
Why do you write about something fictional as though it exists?
Quoted from ktownhero:Ah, well you can see how much of an audiophile I am... I don't even notice.
LOTR’s sound quality isn’t up to the standards of modern games, but it’s a phenomenally designed audio package. In the same way I can still enjoy NES & Sega Genesis games, “retro video game audio” can be amazing in the hands of a great artist. Chris Granner pushes the limits of Whitestar for incredible audio on LOTR & TSPP compared to other Whitestar games. The music is rich, the sound Fx are great, the bass is deep. Sure it sounds “older” than your new games, but that’s not a bad thing. Old sound chips in early 90’s games still sound awesome too. I can listen to BK2K, Addams, Dr. Who, Whitewater all day long.
Quoted from Reznnate:While I share your enjoyment of retro 8-bit synth audio, I REALLY dislike the compressed sound of the samples on various pins. In the early 90's memory was very expensive so 'I understand', but the audio hardware on Whitestar must have simply been old and dated by 2003.
So IMHO, I'd add Pinsound to LOTR before a colorDMD. Fantastic community mixes exist for LOTR, so it's a real game changer.
One of the many reasons B/W collectors hated Stern was the sound, as it was indeed dated. DCS & WPC’95 blew it away. Still, that being said, LOTR’s sound absolutely pulls me in and is a joy to listen to. Granner did an amazing job. I’ve got a ColorDMD in mine, but would never do Pinsound.
Quoted from Reznnate:BTW, you can switch mixes (new, original, etc.). I prefer the new mixes, they change the vibe of the game, but it's interesting to switch back to the original sounds.
Oh, that’s good to know.
1 week later
Quoted from philsublime:Ok, thanks. I played both but only a few games each. I had the same impression. Shooting games can be great as well, but then I don't get all those multiballs. But, TH is just beautiful... However, maybe you should reconsider your rating for TH. Seems a bit high for a "boring shooter". Sorry...
Someone who played a few games is chiding someone for their Hobbit rating. Priceless. I’ve put hundreds of games on Hobbit, it’s never even remotely boring. I stand by my high rating. It’s a phenomenal game.
1 year later
Quoted from JediMcMuffin:And so another great games remain unobtanium for us folks who aren't nearing retirement.
LOTR isn’t unobtanium. There are probably like 8000 of them out there. I bought one for $500 once lol.
Quoted from PinMonk:I like the coloring and general composition of yours better (I never realized how GREEN the playfield art was through the whole thing), but the party montage is just wrong. Frodo is the central character in the quest to destroy the ring, not Gandalf (much as I like Gandalf). I also don't like characters that are now missing in that montage.
They’re not all that green. Some playfields look like they ran out of red ink. Here’s what mine looks like:
D70C002C-45B0-4741-AD53-136FBD0A4F3E.jpegQuoted from fosaisu:You’ve definitely got one of the good ones (as I recall the print resolution on yours is quite good too). It’s amazing how much variability in play field print quality there was on this game.
Overall I’m happy with it due to the black level depth & red compared to others I’ve seen - but the color alignment is slightly off...if you look close, Frodo looks high, and on text you can see that the red level is registered slightly down lower than where it should be.
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