My wife bought me mine NIB in 2004 as my very first pin and it's never going anywhere.

If it's in HUO shape I would say go for it.

HUO doesn't mean you are getting the best machine, there are plenty of homes that I would never let me pin set foot into. Find one in your skill range to repair and make look the best you possibly can. A good playfield matters more than anything, I would expect most cabinets to have some fade at this point and be ok with it. I paid 4900 4 months ago for my routed machine and I put about 1200 into it making it look great. I got to learn alot about the machine and still get a quality looking Pin for a little elbow grease.

Yup, a worn out, dirty, non functioning, hacked, faded, incomplete, abused pin could still be called HUO by defenition.

I appreciate the feedback! I own a great condition Star Trek Pro but want to add a deep game to compliment, either LOTR or TSPP...but as you said, the prices keep going up on these.

I haven't played enough LOTR to 100% pick it over TSPP yet, but I am a die hard Tolkein fan that makes custom Middle Earth wooden maps on the side...feels like I have to

I have both LOTR and TSPP.
You can't do a bad choice, long ball time for each.
LOTR puts more adventure feeling
TSPP needs more focus, eyes everywhere between toys. Simpson is a bit cheaper.
Both are killer machine, often quoted as the best modern Stern

Go LOTR... I just got one, and it's a blast to play. Longer than average ball times, and always a sense of completion which i find you don't get in most games. Going for Valinor feels like an adventure, and doing DTR and TABA along the way are super fun. Probably the best call outs in any game ever.

TSPP is fun, but to me just feels way to crowded, and having a wizard mode that literally no one can complete sort of turns me off.

Tspp is the best theme integration of any game ever made and I don’t think there is anything with a deeper and broader rule set. Lotr comes close, though. If it were me, I’d buy whichever theme you liked best. These are by far the best two games stern ever made.

Again, thank you! As a teen I mainly played TAF and TZ religiously at the bowling alley so I partially love stop and go "aim" machines (which is making me consider TSPP).

Is LOTR too similar to a Steve Richie game in the opposite of a stop and go sense or does it have a little bit of both? Star Trek is my adrenaline/fast ramp game, need my aimer along side her. Wish there was only love for one of the two, or they were only like ten bucks.

It's a mix. While the Legolas & Sword ramps and outer loop can be fast, it has 3 VUKs, a bash target, a slow center ramp, the path of the dead, and a top kickout hole that really gives a good mix. The LOTR rules for it are superb, and I like that it's not an unfair layout, i.e. no cheap drains.

Speaking of drains, when you don't quite make the sword ramp, and it rolls back down, should it be heading between the flippers for a drain? Mine very often does.

You have to really field a ball coming back from a failed right ramp, for sure. If you don't actively nudge, there is a good chance it will drain.

It’s not a bug. It’s a feature!

I'm guessing this raised screw is not a feature

IMG_20180509_212538 (resized).jpg

Kinda random, but I started looking around for some figures and came across this. Perfect fit imo. Sorry random Urukhai guarding Mordor...

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Good luck figuring out which LOTR are faded, given the huge variance in color schemes! I guess if it’s bright blue you know it isn’t lol...

I just added him last night too

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Just noticed this happening tonight. Both slings are getting stuck. If I hit the flipper buttons the left one will go back but the right is stuck unless I push it back.
Also noticed today that if I hold my flipper buttons in there's an audible buzz that I don't have on any of my other games.
New sleeves all around? Maybe new eos?

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Just shit the bed big time on my Valinor run... Had 5 gifts, 2 MBs completed (FoTR & TTT) and was just a few shots away from ROTK (would have got it next time I lit it up). And did all this on one ball. Next two balls basically went down the drain, and then ball 2 and 3 were me struggling to load up modes and then Gollim. I should have walked away, calmed my nerves, and then returns to try to load up ROTK and another mode for gift 6 and 7.

Obviously, I still had DTR to get to Valinor, and my success rate at DTR is probably 20%!

Great game regardless! Loving it!

You can see the paint has rubbed off the right plastic. The slings are hitting there. Put a washer or two under the plastic so the sling is not hitting it. That is probably why it is sticking.

Nice, you got the sword and original mace. I saw one of just Sauron on Ebay for $20 that is missing those pieces and snatched it up. There’s another on Amazon that has the weapons, but it came in a set for $50, and I didn’t want the others. I do like yours a bit better, though.

Ya that is a good market price with shipping for sure.

What Sauron toy-line is that from? Looks great!

Just noticed this happening tonight. Both slings are getting stuck. If I hit the flipper buttons the left one will go back but the right is stuck unless I push it back.
Also noticed today that if I hold my flipper buttons in there's an audible buzz that I don't have on any of my other games.
New sleeves all around? Maybe new eos?

I have convolux under my plastics so that's probably from the previous owner. I did however just change the nuts out to the chroma gold ones. I probably put them on a little too tight. I'll check that out today.

Yup, it is a tight fit under there. One of my old plastics had the paint scratched off too. Adding some thin washers works, so nothing touches.

Yup, I put Sauron here too, this should have been stock.

Sauron was never in physical form during the lord of the rings era.

He is in the movies even if it is from a story telling perspective:

Hmm, oh yeah, he isn't in the LotR pinball timeline... But, he does look totally bad-ass nonetheless. Now I am torn on whether or not to add him...

It is a removable mod, so do what you want to make yourself happy.

Better than the Uruk-hai who is a product of Isengard.

Yea a story from a past age, the pin is based on Lord of the Rings, he's in eye form on the translite and above Barad-dur.

But it's your pin just giving my opinion.

There is a Mouth of Sauron figure that is an Armies of Middle Earth toy that appears in the movies, it might not fit in that corner though.

Well, Isildur is in that backstory as well and I'm sure you can find figures of him but I can't imagine putting him in the Lord of the Rings pin. That storyline is backstory from the second age, LOTR takes place in the third age.

Speaking of Isildur, here’s the set that has the Sauron I put in. I saw just Sauron on Ebay for $20 and snatched it instead. The set is $50, there is only one available.

One other note, I cut a portion of the base off the figure so that nothing hangs over. It was easy.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00009KO8D/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_aGm9AbACF17ZJ

Sauron is also in the epilogue of Fellowship, so I had no qualms putting him in.

I have one from my pack that I'm not going to use of anyone wants him and Elendil for a few bucks

Trying to do up my path of the dead. Got these post lightups but they are 12v and the potd interactive lights are 6v.
Probably not possible but is there anyway to bump up the signal or get something brighter than a 6v that would fit under the figures?
I'd like them interactive and not just on the 12v always on.
Below are pictures from my test bench run off a power switcher. They look a little brighter in the picture than how they really are.

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Can you use the 6v led signal and a transistor to switch 12v for the lights. There are boost converters that would let you go from 6 to 12 but I don't know what issues if any that might cause running off of the switched lamps.

I wired up that circuit on a breadboard, the switch would be the light going on and off.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ajPW7UfXjB6-jtRiBTZx6ATNQ9JQ903L
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Boost Converter
https://www.amazon.com/MT3608-Voltage-Regulator-Step-Up/dp/B01N9ZVXTR/ref=sr_1_8

Hmmm... If I would have tried a booster I would probably need one for each signal then?

Anyone use a trough light? It so, what color? Green looks good, just not sure if it’s overdoing the color, given the PoTD mod.

I have the yellow one that lermods sells for the Hobbit, looks great keeping the gold theme. I did put a white one in my Getaway to brighten it up and that also would probably look really good.

Gold is a great idea, and I’m a fan of LerMods. Thank you much, just placed an order!

I know you weren't asking for an opinion but the 6v image looks better to me. More ghostly and less like a rocket taking off. I used stock star post lights from Cometpinball and think they look great. With these figures on top of an acrylic plate over the path of the dead I think the light glow looks perfect.

It looks better in the picture. It's really weak in person.

I tied mine in off the GI on the back panel but I used a full size 555 led bulb hot glued into a hole in the back. Plenty bright enough.

Yup, one for each led.

Got my Mt. Doom mod installed yesterday, nice enhancement that really adds to the look of the backboard. It was an easy install, took all of 5 minutes. Nice addition to my already fully modded LOTR.

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Suggestion: What would really put this mod over the top is that if the red lighting randomly flickered at different points of the mod, giving it that flowing lava/fire look.

I was thinking the same. Cointaker has the 4smd rotating "twinkle" lights but might be too deep to fit.

Looks great, AUKraut!

That's the thing with LotR - so many people have so many mods on this pin (me included) that I wanted to design the Mt.Doom mod with a very thin profile so as to not interfere with any other mods people might have. The internal lighting channel is designed to accommodate strip LEDs only - it is precisely 4.25mm deep X 10.2mm wide and 45mm long. The wiring included is ~4'-6" which should reach either to the coin box area or the backbox - depending on where you plan on tapping into 5v power.

It would be sweet having some lighting effects in there but I don't think those flashy fx lights come in strips.

It is possible to experiment with the lighting on the mod yourself. The internal lighting and wiring channel is held in with hot glue so it can be serviced or replaced if desired.

Those on the second batch list - I will send an email out to you tomorrow for purchase details. The intent is to get this next batch shipped all during next week. All the feedback I received was great (thanks early buyers!!), so no major changes are required to the mod.

Also - there is no more list. After I get these out, I will have them up on the Pinside store or on my website to buy - thanks SO much for all the interest! I hope everyone loves 'em!

-Chuck

Curious to know what slope you guys have your game at? With my 9" digital level at starting just above the flippers, and going to the top of the slings, it's at 6.5 degrees. Moving the level up so it's close to Balrog, it's 6.7.

However, the bubble level on the shooter Lane has the bubble slightly going over the top line.

It plays alright, but definitely tough to live catch balls.

Curious to know what you guys are set at.