Holy cow....how? I'm sure yours was nice but there are other modded super nice LOTR that have never cracked 10K, and most don't go above 8 or 9k...

The Gandalf on Shadowfax is plentiful on eBay for about $20 to $30.
ebay.com link: itm

Maybe he means the Gandalf with lighted staff?

Lighted staff is available on Pinside. Gandalf on Shadowfax is hard to find however as stated above it pops up on eBay lots. I suspect a lot of new pinball owners don't realize the figurines in the games aren't done by the pinball manufacturers.

15k is insane!

Meh. The sucker that paid that much is the one who's insane and uninformed.

Did you pick up something else?

LOL. No I got my very nice HUO LOTR(I'm the 3rd owner) with shaker and ColorDMD for $8k about 3 months ago

Thanks for asking though!

can't play the mods, get over the toys and enjoy your great game. lol

double what you can find them for.

Sorry for the delay but just wanted to say thank you for all the help guys! changed the batteries and works like a charm.

Glad to hear it.

Enjoy your game but please, do not put off taking steps to prevent leaking batteries from messing up the game.

At a bare minimum, use lithium AAs, which rarely leak.

Next best, put in a remote battery holder.

GalaxyBrain time: install NVRAM so no batteries are needed. This is a good option for LOTR as it has no features that require the clock to be correct.

I have the NVRAM but I'm nervous to fuck up anything installing it. Waiting for my buddy to come over who has more experience.

I have lots of back up figures; all of the ones that came in the game plus a ton of extras - Sauron, POTD figures, Gandalf, Orcs….
I bought them when I sold my LOTR in case I ever found one again. I bought another, but this even more figures in it! Lol.

I also have 2 extra Palantir mods….ugh. Guess they never go bad! Lol

Just to confirm...for LOTR 2003 versions, there isn't a way to backup the settings? I installed a shaker motor tonight and could not find any USB insert on the motherboard, or...a backup option in the settings, so I gave up and assumed there wasn't one. So, when I installed the shaker, it factory reset everything. Just making sure I didn't make a mistake and there WAS a way to backup?

Made my first mods!
Working on Lit ones amazon leds are not bright enough

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Nope! It's the Stone Age up in that backbox.

The first age of middle-earth. The years of the trees.

This is really nice. Maybe a WS2812 ledstrip behind the lava flow to add animation would be nice (with a simple control box).

If you need help on this just reach out to me

Cheers

Anyone have pics with pinstadium lighting? Might treat my pin

Huge fan of pinstadiums on my LOTR. The extra lighting under the glass helps with the glare as well I find. Mine are the original model I believe, you won’t get the color streaks reflecting off the ramps and plastics as mine does.

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Does anyone know if stern is going to release this game in the near future?

I’m hearing a rumor that they might.

This is asked every few months. That's all it is, a rumor. I don't think it'll ever happen personally. They simply don't have the supply chain/manufacturing ability to keep up with demand for their current releases let alone thinking about rehashing past releases. Then you have to get into all the other issues like re-licenscing the IP, dealing with the old whitestar board set, etc..

I need about an inch of clearance to move my machine to a certain part of the basement. Is it possible to buy shorter legs and if so does anyone know where I can get them from? Thanks

Williams Legs are 28.5" vs Sterns at 30.5" Pinball life sell the leg sets for about $60.00

Pbresource.com has 27” legs

http://www.pbresource.com/legs.html

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I have an original run LOTR which is currently on software version 9. I am going to install an NVRAM and so this is the time to look at a software update, too. I guess I could even update to the LE.

I'm honestly not sure if I have the shaker transistor but I bet I don't, it is an early game. I am not worried about installing it... But honestly, I don't love the shaker effect on my STTNG. maybe LOTR's is better? If you love your LE shaker, I would like to hear about it.

Edit to add:
This article: https://homepinballrepair.com/install-a-shaker-on-a-lord-of-the-rings-lotr-pinball-machine/

Says: "The latest that the early (2003) can run is 10.00. 10.02 is needed to run the shaker motor."

How can I find out if my game is too early to run 10.02?

I have a December 2003 and I am running the 10.02 chip from Matt's basement. I also had to add the Q12 transistor. Worth every penny and heartache as the Balrog roar is coded to run with the Shaker.

Also see this thread
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/how-to-install-shaker-motor-in-lotr-standard-edition/page/7#post-6404808

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I am popping NVRAM into my LOTR and since my software is v9, I may as well consider an update to 10 or 10.02 (LE). I have read some contradictory info about which games can be updated to 10.02 LE. If anyone reading has gone through it, I would appreciate a sanity check.

* My game was made March 2004, and it has the transistor at Q12.
* My game is on O/S 4

Therefore, I should be able to install the software updates (game, display, PAL, OS) and an official SAM shaker kit like:

https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/502-5027-00

The instructions here seem pretty complete:
https://homepinballrepair.com/install-a-shaker-on-a-lord-of-the-rings-lotr-pinball-machine

Another option is to just install 10.0 and forget the shaker. Honestly, I have an old Pinbits shaker in my STTNG and I don't love it... it's kind of mediocre. But it's also kind of simple-minded, I think it just rumbles when the shield flashers fire.

How is the shaker implementation in LOTR? Will it win me over?

I'm not sure if I did something wrong but I followed the directions in the dedicated thread to the T and I can barely feel mine. I am sure there is something wrong but honestly, don't really have the time to dedicate to diagnose and fix it. If you can get it to work and actually feel it like it does in a modern Stern, I would do it. But I might not be the most objective opinion as I have shakers in all my games.

Just last week I added the shaker and, mine is not as strong as my other games. I'm not sure if its just a power issue, or its coded to just not run as long or...? But, I can still feel it, it just feels ever so slightly muted.

It is nice to start the game with the balrog roar and shaker. Most of the other shaker movement is fairly standard fare though...like, it moves a bit with every jackpot or mode shot. Collecting each fellowship member...etc. But, I am still glad that I added it.

Yeah, you can't update to 10.02 for a 2003/04 version LOTR...just to 10.00. Which means....if you want to add a shaker, you need to make your machine an LE, by also installing the Gold DOT LE PAL chip. homepinballrepair.com instructions are complete but that one paragraph "getting started" is confusing by saying you can only run 10.00...but the instructions do also state the gold dot le pal chip is required and gives instructions for adding it. A bit contradictory.

In a nutshell...yeah, get 10.02, get the gold dot le pal chip, get the display chip, get the os 8 boot flash. My machine already had the q12 transistor. They are easy to install though. I had to replace the same type of transistor for my flipper buttons, and REMOVAL of the old transistor was much harder than install, even with the help of a skilled friend.

Also, do yourself a favor and get an IC chip removal tool. I bent most of the old chips when trying to just use a screwdriver, though I didn't take the board out of the machine so it was awkward angles. You need to uninstall a sound EEPROM for the os 8 bootflash and reinstall it, so you don't want to mess that one up. And you can reuse the os 8 bootflash on a friend's machine so best to not bend that one either.

Thanks for the feedback, guys. I'll have to think about the shaker. I'm in no hurry to make a decision, the parts aren't going anywhere for a while.

I want to thank you for that… after he bought yours, he sold me his other HUO LOTR for far less... full brass armor, pinsound ultimate w/ shaker, pinstadium neo, pinduino, invisiglass, color dmd, full led, mirror blades, topper, etc etc

Nice, I remember him saying he had another one. Glad you are happy with your new purchase

Apparently yours must have been the tits or he just doesn't like money...

Thanks to everyone who has posted here over the years! You can’t imagine how much you’ve helped.

I’ve owned my #LOTR since 2004 and occasionally take a break from playing it. Like a GENIUS, I left the batteries in and of course, corroded the U212 RAM below it. Had the infamous open-the-door then, constant reboot errors when I decided to play it again.

After reading all 7700+ comments on this forum and following the terryb Guide to Repairing Alkaline Battery Damage step-by-step, I was able to get it working again. I immediately installed a NVRAM!

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/terrybs-guide-to-repairing-alkaline-battery-damage

Again, many thanks for your input.
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Nice job ginmd ! That must have been satisfying.

Now before you put up a new GC score you'll miss... decide if you are going to update to 10.02 and the shaker motor!

horseflesh yes, very satisfying! After reading this entire topic I also installed:

10.02 mods U210, U213, U5, OS8
Shaker motor
ColorDMD LCD
LED trough light
Ring flasher mod
Dozens of colored incandescent bulbs
New balls
Ordered sillyoldelf blades

Still trying to convince myself I need the Palantír and POTD mods!

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The palantir mod is a MUST. I believe AUKraut even has a Black Friday sale going on right now that you can take advantage of for his palantir mod.

IMO 2Niro Palantir is miles above. Animated and interactive, you have a feeling of the eye of sauron floating in the Palantir.

https://mezelmods.com/products/lord-of-the-rings-pinball-palantir-crystal-sphere

Good morning,

In the process of reassembling my LOTR after a playfield swap, I have a question mark. The ball rail guide between the left orbit and the the left inner loop (Legolas) has a blue rubber piece to protect it from ball impact (which is very often, given it's location).

As you can see in the attached picture, mine is attached with a rivet (even though it should be a screw according to the manual), and it has slided to such a position that it can no longer efficiently protect the guide

I bought a new rail guide and rubber pad, but looking at it I see the mounting hole is oval (see picture). This means the pad will slide back over time, to the point where it cannot protect correctly the ball guide

So questions are:
- How is the blue rubber pad mounted on your machine ? Screw or rivet ?
- How to prevent the pad to slide back ? I was thinking of adding a 3D printed part to fill the hole
- Seems like an odd design choice, has there been any alternative solution ?

Thanks and regards

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Here's a new Lit Kit Flipper set for LOTR just installed.

They are from http://www.ArcadeMade.com

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Not the most amazing design setup for sure. It looks like you are missing the bracket? The bracket has a nut pressed into it and the blue block is held by a screw. This is the new one I put in not too long ago. There hasn't been any new designs for this area that I have seen. The bracket prevents the block from sliding back.

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Ah thanks, indeed I'm missing that part, this makes more sense. I'll check the manual again to find the Part number

Regards

You do. It's hard to find the potd mod now.

I put one in this summer. Do it. Every game should have a shaker.

Got my second mod made going to test it out later tonight

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That looks really nice... and it doesn't have obvious 3d printing striations on the pretty side!

Looks great

I have an LE coming this week. Where should I grab a shaker?