Very awesome!

Resurrection of the Arwen plastic protector. It's back. I now own the design for the improved version and have taken the hand drawings and modeled it. I wonder how many folks might still need one?

ArwenPlastic_(resized).PNG

I am definitely interested! Send me a PM when this part is available.

Regards

Eckhard

Made the path of the dead mod. Used slow color changing LEDs from Comet. If only those damn figures weren't so expensive! Looks better in person, really like the way it turned out.

Great damage fix by Cliffy.

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Were you the one who bid $120 on eBay for them?

So, I was at the arcade the other day and finally destroyed the ring!

Well, sort of... I made the final shot to knock the ball out of the ring, and the ball *slowly* dribbled out (And it went in the right direction), but the game just didn't detect it, and before I could shoot the ring again one of the balls drained. So, I successfully made the final shot... but wasn't rewarded.

Yup, you have to go through the ring, to hit the micro switch #48 on the ramp inside the back to get credit for destroying the ring. I was never getting credit until I figured out that switch was wearing out and not registering most of the time.

But do you have to go through the ring with both balls when hitting the one the ring is holding?

I always thought I wasn't beating DTR because when hitting the ball in the ring it did go through, but the one i hit it with jumped back out. My understanding was that the second ball needs to pass the ring together with the first (held) one to complete DTR.

Uh, no. Somebody must be pretty desperate for them to pay that much for them.

I've had the held ball fall out and dribble back onto the playfield. If you can shoot one of the two balls through the empty ring before either ball drains, you are still awarded DTR.

best game ever..

You only have to kick the held ball in the ring. The second one Needs not to pass through, but generally falls off at the front of the ring. But that is ok for destroying the ring. If the first ball drops in front of the ring you need to kick one of the 2 balls straight through the ring to destroy it.

For those of you who have shopped your LOTR, what's your sense of the difficulty and time spent on average?

Found the answer to my question earlier in the thread. I still would be interested in hearing what a full playfield teardown takes.

One of the things that is cool about LOTR is that the Balrog bash toy is tucked away. It's not in your way on the playfield all the time. It comes out to play with you for 3 hits then goes away to never return as Bash Balrog. It does perfectly come out during FOTR multiball and plays a great role in the alternating shots. Not overused at all. Fabulous implementation.

Thanks. So I guess I have "the switch 48 problem"...

I did my LOTR last fall. I went slow and methodically taking lots of pictures and notes to make sure I put it back together correctly. I would say I had about 16 hours into it completely. 8 tear down and 8 rebuild. That sword ramp and everything along that side is a real PITA. Glad I did it right though.

I am looking at pictures of the playfield underside and it looks that a full tear down is quite manageable.

I agree completely! It is a really cool toy but I'm glad they didn't over-use it. Really matches the theme by keeping in in the story. Basically only FOTR where it should be and them hitting Gollum's cave a few times kind of makes sense also.

A question all: I was trying to install some plastic protectors to the plastic under the sword ramp. However, after removing all the nuts and washers the sword will come loose, but the plastic has bent some from the nuts/washers so it is REALLY stuck on the bolt threading. Any ideas on how to remove that plastic so I can clean and put the protector on? I'm afraid I'm going to break the plastics I'm trying to protect by forcing them off.

A non cosmetic and not often discussed modification. Subjective and in the eye of the beholder.

The knock sounds like a Bally/Williams knock. Blasphemy.

lotr_knocker_(resized).jpg

Hey Dumdass, what needs to be done to get that knocker working?

I started by reading two Pinside threads and the one external guide (from a Pinsider).

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/fs-stern-lotr-knocker-kits-90
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/are-there-any-stern-real-knocker-kits-available
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~pinball_stuff/knocker.htm

I then did some research on the parts and the electronics (the circuit). Then I finally mustered up the courage to put it in the cabinet. Note that those threads use a Data East / Stern style coil and plunger (although they do remove the coil diode). My setup is a Bally / Williams style (where gravity returns the plunger). It was uncomfortable to screw the knocker assembly in that position.

It's essentially:

1) Acquire the hardware - knocker assembly and step-up driver board.
2) Tap into the +25V power wire and drive wire for coil #24.
3) Tap into the +50V power wire and ground for the general coils.
4) Wire the wires to the step-up driver board and the knocker.
5) Change the configuration to silence the digital knocker and enable coil #24 on replay.

If there are specific questions I'll try to answer them. I hope the above is enough information.

Thanks

If anyone cares or can't make this mod themselves, I made some path of the dead mods complete. These are unlike previous versions. We have 4 army figures per set instead of 3 and each ties into one of the 4 switch lights so it's interactive with the game.

http://pinballbulbs.com/products/lord-rings-interactive-army-dead-mod

Hey,
Looking to join the club! Wouldn't mind a routed to good condition one. If you guys know of any!

Played this at pooley's on my way to Mgc. Man I miss and love that game.

My 2004 very good condition LOTR is for sale. It's my first and only pin, and I've loved owning it but I just can't advance further and it's time for me to move on. Alas, I'm in Boston, and can't ship. So unless you want to take a lonnnnnnnnnggggggggg road trip.....

That would be a LONG trip hahahah. You moving to ghostbusters?

actually many hate it (like me! lol) and have it set so it doesn't come out unless its for the multi ball. I think they had it work randomly because in the field many never got to the MB so they never saw it work.

you can set the game so that you don't have to knock the ball out . the first ball will wobble and fall out and then the second ball just needs to pass thru. (i think)

GLWS. I moved on to. Did not reach Valinor but after 2.5 years it became a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnggggg trip to try to get there all the time.

You can set the DTR mode to one ball, which has to pass through the ring. But in this mode you do not get a second ball. If you set to 2 balls, you have to kick the stuck ball into the ring with your second ball. If the stuck ball falls out during Play, you play with 2 balls and must kick one of these through thr ring (like in the one ball mode).

It's also been reported by some that the 2 ball DTR can damage the ring magnets over time (due to long magnet times holding the first ball in place). Yet to experience any issues with mine though.

Hi , here my mod , it's personnal insert HP LED , connected to the Balrog flasher

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Then destroy the ring quickly to avoid any damage

There's a solution!! 1 minute 9 seconds is my PB so I would say that's reasonable enough to prevent magnet problems......

This would mean that, if in 2-ball-mode, i hit the held ball out of the magnet but it doesn't award DTR and then hit through the ring again and it doesn't award it either, I can be sure switch 48 is the problem - right?

Not to much in troubleshooting mood these days, but if i can narrow it down to one possible problem i'll go ahead and repair it immediately.

Thanks yoshootme, but I want to stick with 2-ball-mode. I'm a sucker for effects and the one-ball-version is not remotely as impressive.

In any mode, the final shot to dtr must trigger the switch behind the backboard. And to make matters worse, that switch is always easily out of adjustment

Just roll a ball through there while in switch test to see if it activates.

The same with me. I first played with one ball mode, but two balls is much more fun.

In your case I would say that your switch or opto (no idea which no.) is not working. But I am not a tech freak. Greetings to Munich.

I like this a lot. Is the frame custom made in wood? I can't tell from the picture.
Do you have more pictures of the installation and assembly?

I got you beat. My insert was floating in there. Not glued on any side and dipped at the bottom. I didn't notice when I bought it (I was new to pinball). Well, I decided to glue it in and didn't take the right precautions to level it out with a C clamp. So now it is still dipped there. What did I do? I chalked it up to a lesson learned, bought a playfield overlay, and played the game and had fun. You only live once. Get it playable, have fun, and don't do it again.

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The spinner switch needs to be working too. That has to trigger, then switch 48 soon after for DTR to complete. Switch 48 by itself won't do it. Some good info in this thread:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/lotrdestroy-the-ring-not-working

Don't suppose you could share your 3D file could you?

Nope. I think I may be the only person in the world NOT moving to GB. Instead, I'm hoping to move on to a GOT Premium. Talk about replacing one kind of crazy hard with another.

It is a good game, I don't have much know/time on. If you like rules and tournament play, GOT is a GREAT game.

One shot to rule them all one shot... Quickly drained

Hi , sorry i don't share my 3D file , but if you have got a 3D printer ,i think you use Google Sketchup , this 3D file is make in 10 min

Are there any tricks to setup LOTR with 2 tilt warnings?

Just the normal Standard Adjustments, i think it's Nr. 15 or close by.

It goes 0, 1 or 3 on the game in speak. As stated in the manual as well.