Oh Boy ... I am now part of the club! On Saturday I picked up a HUO LOTR with only 700 plays. It was pretty dirty and I was worried about playfield wear, but after cleaning it turned out nearly mint ... I couldn't believe it. I had a nearly new POTC that I loved but sold to get this game. I COULD NOT BE HAPPIER! After fixing two switches this game is unlike anything I've played before. It is so immersive. There aren't any repetivive shots, very fun modes and multi-balls, always working towards something more, perfect balance between flow and accurate shooting, WOW! Add in my favorite theme in all of pinball, with great music and callouts, and I am in heaven.

I need to thank everyone on here for sharing tips. I was having the HARDEST time with the ring shot. Turns out the spinner had significant backwards tilt so the bottom was extremely mushroomed. It was taking all the velocity out of the shot. I tweaked the leaf on the switch to push it more upright and BOOM, destroyed the ring first game after.

I have now ordered:

Jay's palantir mod
Full cliffy set
Shooter lane protector
FF Speakers (the hum/crackling is kinda bad, thought it was the speakers - then I read about the resistor fix, oops! at least it will sound good!)
New rubber (superbands where I could)
Pinbits protectors
New Spinner
Target Decals
Sword Decal
Shire Decal

Only thing left is a color DMD, but hard to part with another $400

I do have a couple questions though:

1 - Where can I get those good looking cards for the Apron?
2 - Mine is from Jan 2014 with softare 5.0. Is it worth getting the chip with 10.0? Is it just that chip I need and nothing else?

I LOVE this game ... looking forward to the next couple years working towards Valinor.

Thanks LOTR_breath and someoneelse!

OK - the pinball cards at all these sites are awesome! Especially Pinball Boy and PinballCards. Good tip. I ended up with one on pinballcards that I just like the color on.

The CPU and Display roms are pretty cheap so that is good.

I'm technically at my budget limit currently (does this really matter with pinball? ) but am tempted by the shaker - and the DMD. However mine is not an LE, if I use the 10.02 ROMs is there other work I need to do before getting a *future* shaker?

So I can get my wife on board, do you get the value out of reselling with the Color DMD and Shaker? I have NO plans on ever selling, but will make a difference to her "in case".

Swampfire - your story is giving me nightmares! I am so sorry for you.

Ok, I figured it out (you know, by searching the forum, duh!). If I want to use 10.2 then I also have to replace the PAL chip ($17). I likely will have to also update the sound ROM as well so I would need that chip ($10). However, the sound ROM is sold out currently. Since I'll only waste $10 when I go from 10.0 to 10.2 and I can't find the ROM chip (don't want problems on my new pin!) I'll go to 10.0 now, and 10.2 when I add the shaker.

probably. unless i decide on a shaker in the next 30 minutes

OK, shoot! ... my brother says the same thing. I just bit the bullet and ordered everything! Shaker it is! (wife is on vacation, she'll *probably* be happy I got something "special" instead of getting to go on vacation with the rest of the family).

That makes the major mods: Jay's Palantir, FF Speakers, and the Shaker! I also just ordered parts to fix that audio hum/hiss. < $20, I'll let you know if it works for me!

Thanks for pushing me over the edge someoneelse!

Neal_W - Cmon! I'm trying to stay AWAY from more MODS

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.

Nice mod. I like it interacting with the light indicators for soul counts.