Some have the green tinted faces in the center of the playfield and some don't. Some also have misaligned color registration, which can be seen at the lettering around the ring LEDS above the flippers. With multiple batches (and suppliers?), variations occurred.

I imagine red LEDs in the slings or red spot lights there would hide some of the green. You can use your phone screen to shine red light on the center and see how it looks.

What's the consensus on Adjustment #33 - Coil pulse power? Are you typically setting this to Hard? Or leaving it at the default of Normal?

Did anyone find a power improvement after replacing the cabinet switches? I've seen comments that Stern had issues in early run LOTR and Sopranos. Were these the ones used for replacement? https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/500-6889-01 . Is there a good way to diagnose to see if the current cabinet switches are in fact flaky? The switch test shows them functional 100% but not sure how reliable that is for game play impact.

It looks like they are shorter than stock switches, so what's the best technique to mount them?

I replaced my flipper switches after I found that the flippers would flutter intermittnetly during a game. The paliney style switches are correct. I think Pinball Life has a better price on them if you care about that. I've been able to get 2-ball DTR on longer games with stock coils with no problems. I think the flipper switch was part of the problem.

Can you send a pbl link please?

Pretty sure it's this one but check against the manual

https://www.pinballlife.com/stern-flipper-leaf-switch-single-contact.html

Hey, sorry if this isn't the place (by all means redirect me) but was wondering if you folks could help me navigate a machine I hope to be buying. From what I can tell it appears to be the standard edition, but the seller is asking $7500 for it. No mention of any mods or other additions, about 3500 plays on it. For what it's worth I can see Champion Pub in the reflection of the glass, so I imagine if the seller has multiple machines they know how to take care of them.

Is this price normal? I know the LE can go for $7k+, but from what I can see from archived ads here on pinside a plain standard edition is more common to go for $5k-$6k. And of course, "price is firm". I just don't want to insult the guy over the price as I'm pretty new to the hobby and really know absolutely nothing about owning a machine.

Any and all help is massively appreciated. GF is a HUGE LOTR fan, as am I, and we found this game in the wild one time and spent the whole night playing it. Haven't been able to find it again since, and thus has become a bit of a white whale for the two of us. I just don't want to be blinded by the opportunity to own this great game and massively overpay or overlook any big issues.

price sounds kinda high , even if it was absolutely perfect, low play with all the cool mods $ 7500 would be a stretch , you are on the right track for pricing looking at the archived and current for sale ads. I assume this is a non pinside ad but these come up for sale on pinside fairly often. I would pass on this one.

From what I’ve seen the current market seems to be around $6k depending on condition and mods.
There are plenty of pinball mods that are pretty expensive. If the game is perfect and has enough of them, I could see an asking price of $7500.
Some examples are; color dmd, pinstadium lighting, invisaglass, Palantir eye mod, path of the dead, Sting Sword over the ramp, McKee topper, custom powdercoat, Etc.
Can you share the ad or some pics of the machine? I understand if you don’t want to share the ad but I’m sure it won’t be picked up quickly at that price, and I’d assume 99% of the people in this thread already own a LoTR.

Unfortunately the pics provided are with the glass on, so it's tough to see the playfield. From what I can tell, none of those mods are present, except maybe a topper? It's tough to tell and it isn't mentioned (I've included the image where you can partially see it). Here's a couple pics, most of the pics seem focused on the figurines so I've omitted a few that seem redundant, such as a bunch by the sword that show a close up of each figure. If you want to see those too, just lmk they just seemed redundant to me.

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That's certainly the feeling I got. I have no idea what constitutes low or high amounts of play on a game that is about 14 years old (seller claims to have had it since '06). I just wasn't sure if I was missing something that would be obvious to a more seasoned eye. Just a bummer to have a grail game be about 20 minutes away from my house but at a price that seems to be over $2k above market value.

That is a standard. (black armor/legs versus gold, figures included, and no mirrored back glass) I don't see any of the expensive mods mentioned above.

Judging a "collectors quality" pin with an inexperienced eye is not a good idea. Example - The white targets are clean, so the pin has been cleaned, but it appears to have been played more than 3k times. (that number resets when the batteries are changed) In the photos you can see some wear around the Gimli saucer and small dings in the front of the cab. It was probably routed for a while, like many. Rust/gunk under the lockdown bar is common with routed pins and easy to confirm.

Always play a pin your interested in and see if you enjoy it and confirm everything works. Would be best to meet a local pinhead to bring along.

Bottom line, if you want it, go for it, but you will loose some money when you sell.

It is definitely a standard LOTR, not an LE. It looks pretty clean to me. The only blemish I can see is on the gimli insert. There may be a bit of clear missing there.
I’m not sure what that topper is but it’s not the Matt McKee topper that would be worth a couple hundred. It looks like something homemade.
It does look like a nice, original, probably HUO example which puts it at the high end of the average range.
I would pass on this one. I would bet you’ll be able to find one at 6k sooner than you think.

The Arwen plastic above the shire looks cracked, it's common but not at this price. There are also no pictures of the cabinet by the flipper buttons which is a common wear spot even on home use machines. A $5800-6200 offer is perfectly reasonable on that machine, let the seller know your best offer and they can call you if they change their mind.

That’s too much for a standard. You can a modded Le for that price.

It is a standard that has been maintained and it could even be HUO. No mods, but it would be around 6500 or so in that shape.

It is a great game, and I would certainly recommend trying to show him prices on pinside to try to get it down...but it is your call in the end.

Here's a couple side views and one more of the back of the field. On mobile now so I hope this worked well.

This is great information, thank you. I would never buy at that price, even if it hit the criteria others have said to justify the price. It's simply out of my range at that point. But from what others have said it SHOULD be priced at I'd be willing to pull the trigger. Thank you again.

Another noob question: what about getting a pin like this shipped? My big concern is that a pin like this won't be available in my area. As I've said this is a bit of a white whale for us, especially considering my gfs passion for LOTR.

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Pass, you'll find a better deal with patience.

Ah that's the difficult part for me haha. But thanks. I got the same vibe but have only been a player for 5 years now and know nothing about home ownership. Wasn't sure if I was missing something, and I appreciate people like yourself and others on this thread helping out.

Agree with everyone else’s comments, get him down in price or wait. One aspect no one else brought up is the two main areas of playfield wear, Gimli and Sam, are covered with aluminum “cliffy protectors”. Hopefully it isn’t hiding a chewed up playfield. On the bright side, the owner knew enough to cleanup the main areas where dirt collects in the form of ball trails (and all the places he provided zoomed in shots) spits possible he does maintain it well

I'll have to say, it sounds like a grail game for you. It looks very nice. $7K is NOT 2K over priced. It may be 500 to $1000 overpriced, but it is available, it is nice, and it sounds like a grail pin for you and your girlfriend. I say if it's worth it to you, go get it now!

Did you say it would have to be shipped, or is it local?

Oh, nevermind, I just read it's 20 minutes from your house. Go get it... now.

Overpriced. I bought mine in better condition than that one about 4 months ago for $4750. Now I got a good deal and had to drive a ways to get it but no way that pin is worth $7500.

That's an AMAZING, once in a lifetime price.

Anything under 6k these days is good.

Oh man, it's a good thing I don't know you in real life. You'd be a terrible influence but probably a blast to hang with haha.

Unfortunately it's simply out of my price range. If it were within the range that others on here have said ($6k, give or take a few hundred) then it would be a different story. But it could be my next door neighbor's and I still wouldn't be able to swing that and feel good about it in the end.

You wouldn’t be out of line offering 6k give or take a few hundred. If it is ur holy grail and close, at least have the conversation.

I just want to say thank you to everyone here that has offered their advice and help. I really appreciate it and I am floored at how responsive and helpful you've all been. wesh even showed me his ad, and seeing the difference between his gorgeous machine and the one advertised has been eye opening. Thanks again everyone

Darn. I should have shown off mine.

MN has a large pinball community, you'll find one close enough and in your price range I'm sure of it. You'll be thinking; "man I am glad I waited because I got a pin with more stuff for less money".

Is there any other way to start TTT mb other than mystery or locking the third ball on the ramp? I feel it’s occasionally started without one of these, do I have a switch possibly messed?
Also a few days ago I got a seventh elf gift for the first time, I swear it said “super ring frenzy” but it played out in a multiball. Do elf gifts continue through the six on the inserts or are there different rewards?

yes, There are 7 gift of the elves, the 7th one does not have an insert.

For the Two Towers MB, if you have a flaky Golumn/Gomli/Cave SW after the upkick back into the right ramp, it could award you a right ramp shot instead.

Finally, FINALLY got to making this mod I have been wanting to do for the past three years. The factory Orthanc always looked like Stern punted on that particular model, so I spent the good part of my weekend doing a total redesign. Wow, was it tough modelling around such strange angles and limited space, but I am really happy with how it is shaping up!

These pics represent an older build - the lighting will change quite a bit as well as some details and quality of the model itself. I'm still debating whether or not to use red lighting (as pictured) or white lighting.

The final will be a super simple install hooked up to the aux 12v circuit for lighting. Any feedback would be awesome! When it gets closer to production, I'll start a thread for it.

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That looks epic....definitely interested in final product.

Looks amazing, great work! Also interested in the final version.

Thanks for the feedback!

I would love to do a resin version of this (and probably will just for my pin to test it out); the fine detail would look amazing. But, yeah, that would definitely shatter

Currently, I am experimenting with three different thermoplastics right now to find the best balance between looks, flexibility and strength.

I'll hook up a some white lighting in the next day or two and post to the upcoming dedicated thread.

looks really good!!, perhaps try a color changing led?

It looks fantastic. Please post a link to the new thread once you start it. Count me in for this.

Count me in, looks fantastic

Thanks Niho!

I'm with you on lines - and I try everything possible to reduce or eliminate them. The inherent nature of these new complicated pinball toy designs with LED lighting channels is they aren't a singular solid model, so you can't create a casting - they have to be produced layer by layer.

I do have a resin printer, however, that completely eliminates lines, but the resin material is far more brittle and only works for certain "safe" locations in a pinball machine.

My lights in the lanes are not working. changed bulbs everything looks connected beneath. i don't even know if these are triggered or just stay on. bulb schematics don't mention them or i can't find them. i didn't even notice them until i did some work on the pops.

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Those are just simple GI. Look around for other GI in the area that is out and I am sure you will find a loose wire.

I see you are not on Pinside often and LotR is your only pin, so to be clear, yes they just stay on all the time. GI stands for General Illumination which is the name used for lamps that light the plastics, and general lighting, that are not individually controlled.

I've got the dedicated thread up for the Orthanc mod:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/pinworlds-wizards-tower-for-orthanc-mod-lotr#post-5479941

Thanks for all the input so far

Man u know how to hurt a guy. I'm working on the wife. So i just got to trace the wire back to the head box.

That's exactly it - it would be a tremendous amount of work to get molds made and would lose all ability to modify your models on the fly. And a good artist learns to use the lines to his advantage - like naturally occurring wood grains or lines in concrete. Also, from the distance you are looking at in a pinball machine, you don't notice the lines.

Here is a photo of my Bag End mod - the first with high impact thermoplastic, the second with resin. The resin definitely looks cleaner, but is missing some of the personality of the plastic. And these are closeup, once these are on your machine you won't notice unless you get your face right in it Also, resin Bag End will explode on impact

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So all the GI14 are out. White/lavender. I checked wiring all the way to the back box. Pin GI14 on the GI connector is only putting out 1.5v. I checked the common for that wire (lavneder) and it conducts 6 volts when checked against white/green pin13. nothing looks burnt. where do i go from here. and can i just splice white/lavender onto white/green. its all LED lighting.

I learned something today....so I beat two towers MB and got a elf gift, but then on a later ball, I beat two towers again and got a second elf gift. I didn't realize that you could get a 2nd elf gift for doing the same accomplishment..cool. Now only if ROTK MB was easier then I might actually be close to Valinor!