Very excited to join the group. I’ve been holding out for a very nice example and while I sort of lost hope of finding one, I got one yesterday and think it was worth the wait! Basically new out of box.

This one has a December 2003 born-on date, has a playfield full of character toys, and has a yellow level (learned that when I ordered cliffy’s), so I think that means I have an early version. Still all original incandescent lighting, beautiful game!

The only thing that does not work is the light in the Balrog. Haven’t gone through the thousands of posts yet but will, I’m sure info exists. My first move is to put Cliffy’s on to protect the playfield, and is there something I need to put on the plastic where it drops down from the path of the dead?

Anything I need to know about re: boards, mechs, or fixes needed on the early ones? And what’s the story why do the early ones come with all the characters on the playfield and the later ones don’t?

I’d normally expect a game this old to have LED replacements, but it’s actually cool to see the originals. Any suggestions on LED’s and do they strobe and need OCD boards?

Lots for me to get caught up on, any thoughts appreciated!

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Thank you!

How is the sword ramp different, and do the early ones have diodes on switches (all of them) and the later ones don’t?

The person I bought this from was aware of two mods, the Palantir, and the clear piece of plastic over the left outlane. What are the other three that you see?

Any link to the Golum plastic? That sounds like the easiest, and protects the original plastic for collectibility. Edit - found it and ordered!

Stiffener for palantir target - where does that come from?

Thanks for all the advice looks like I’ve got some work cut out for me!

what is the bulb in the Balrog? I took a guess from amazon prime and got a miniature version, lol.

EDIT - I ordered the 53's, which I saw on one of the websites works with the Balrog (a replacement), but I guess I have an old one that's an 89 socket. I ordered the Marco replacement harness, which I think comes with the smaller socket. Which is better, the original 89 socket with a big old LED, or the Marco socket with the smaller light socket?

New to older Sterns with the fluorescent lightbulb. On my LOTR, every so often the light stops working, and messing with this silver thing I’m pointing at fixes it (like the connection isn’t great). What the heck is this thing and any idea why it would cause the light to stop working?

Should I get an LED backbox light? I think I’ve heard of some options, any suggestions?

Thanks!

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