TWD right now is low. Buy low.

First I’d look at PF bang for the buck. It’ll be hard for the DMD’s to compete with LCDs (not only do you have the screen but RGB lighting is more commonplace now).
Moving on to Round 2 - MET, ST, TWD, XM, GB, IMDN, DP, JP, STH, TMNT, 007, AIQ, and Foo.

Now we can weed out ones with less than ideal designs, either design flaws or boring layouts.
Moving on to Round 3 - ST, TWD, XM, IMDN, DP, JP, STH, AIQ, and Foo.

Then since I’m owning it for 10 years and playing it as my only game, I’m sorry but I’m axing anything with Lonnie as the lead. It’s my only game damnit. Moving on to Round 4 - TWD, XM, IMDN, DP, JP, AIQ, and Foo.

Lastly is personal preference.
Moving to the championship round - TWD, IMDN, JP, and Foo.

Here it’s splitting hairs because it’s all I can play for 10 years. But if we have to get down to one, it’s between JP and TWD so I don’t listen to the same band’s greatest hits and get sick of it. Of the last two, it depends which side of the bed I get out that given day. Thinking TWD, but I don’t know how I can pass on JP. That’s a toughie.
Flipping a mental coin - TWD wins.

I'd say Godzilla by a hair over Jurassic Park. The one downside of Godzilla is the lengthy play time and bloat in the rules (you can go like twenty minutes between kaiju battles doing all the side features), but that's what you want for a hypothetical scenario of ten years being your only pin.

This is assuming we're neglecting the price difference between different pros, although I don't think that changes things. Something like AIQ or Mando might be 15% cheaper than GZ/JP but has more than 15% worse bang.

This also assumes we're neglecting the existence of the premium where you might feel deprived with only the pro. If the question is which pro where you won't miss the premium-ness, that might shift it to Jurassic or maybe Maiden or Bond.

As far as very little difference between the pro and prem model imo it would be TMNT and for me the pro actually plays better then the prem.

Probably Deadpool or Rush. They’re not physically significantly different than the Prem/LEs, and have great gameplay/code/sound/music. You can even add Expression Lights to Rush Pro.

Iron Man is awesome & never gets boring despite having simpler rules, but there’s no Prem/LE - so not sure it belongs in this poll.

TWD is TWD. Buy TWD!

High Roller Casino. Way more mechs and toys than most and is just fun.

Based on sales and popularity when released, I can think of a few with lasting power.

ACDC
Star Trek
Metallica
Walking Dead
Jurassic Park
Godzilla

TWD and Stern Star Trek are both awesome values in the current market.

This is not answerable.

I can't speak to what you should love.

Some machines speak to me very personally, and those machines are the greatest 'bang for the buck'. Even though Twilight Zone is an expensive game, it's the best 'bang for the buck', because I personally really enjoy that game.

The only way you can answer this is to play all of these games, find what YOU like, and don't listen to people who tell you what to love.

Yeah, but is that TZ the "pro" version?

It is though.

Except this isn't a "Buy advice" thread. If you read the question, OP is asking for what "YOU" would have as "YOUR" only pin for 10 years and why. So each and every person that replies with a Stern Pro instead of saying "I can't pick what you like, go out and play a bunch" are actually answering the original question.

TWD

Iron Man is also awesome. Star Trek if you prefer easier games

Time warp as always

Jp-pro. Great game. Great progression. Great ruleset.

And honestly if you haven't got kids playing, fascinated by toys, it's just as good as the premium.

spiderman (not vault)

The James Bond pro would be my pick. We have an LE and it is bolted to the floor and the last machine we'd ever sell or trade (out of a Zilla prem, AIQ prem, MBrSE). I've played a Bond pro and it is an amazing game. Just a flow monster.

JB007's code isn't done yet and it already has incredibly deep code with 24 "base modes" (4 that have two-ball MBs), five mini-wizard modes (including the BJB timed mode), two stackable/independent MBs, smart missiles and then Bond girl multipliers that can go to 7X (and a ball save).

Deadpool is a great pro, too. But JB007 is a step above because of its depth, video assets, PF shots and flow. Deadpool is a game you can love playing from minute 1. JB007 is a game that grows on you. 10 years with it? Yes, please.

That’s…BANANAS!

Iron maiden and Metallica

JP for longevity as a single pin. I have a pro and a premium and while the toys on the premium are cool the pro sacrifices nothing in game play.

I said Deadpool. Voted not only with how good it is, but also what you 'lose' by going Pro vs Premium.

I voted JP but TWD is right there too. The escape nublar mini game is just too fun on its own. The ability to add the movie code is also a great expansion.

not on the list and that is because they only have one fully loaded playfield that in todays standard is a PREMIUM and is the best bang for your buck PREMIUM but the ops question was Pro . Therefore their is no spoon !

Curious...why do you have a pro and a premium?

Deadpool wins

When I think of bang for the buck Pro Vs. Prem, it’s going to be Pros that either don’t feel that stripped down or Pros that don’t have features that weren’t good on the Prem. Walking Dead Prem’s got stuff like the Bike Girl & Crossbow that aren’t that great…Pro ditched them but still has great Lyman code. Godzilla is the opposite…all the things that make the Prem great are gone/static. There’s a giant building staring you in the face that does nothing. Venom is totally stripped of its main gimmicks, and Foo is missing the upper playfield & Overdrive save.

I think you’d have a change of heart on Deadpool when after playing it enough times at home, you realize EVERY left orbit shot goes into the pops - and that return from the pops es no bueno. That looping shot on the premium solidifies that games greatness. Add in how cool the drop targets are coded and integrated with its shot accuracy, and it’s an easy Pass on the pro for me.

My vote goes to TWD, but only if the price is significantly less than its premium predecessor; ie definition of best bang for the buck.

If we’re talking strictly NIB pros all at the same price. I’d say IMDN followed by Stranger Things.

You don’t have to tell me, I own DP Prem & would never buy a Pro. I’m just humoring the discussion for those who consider Pros.

I'm a little surprised Rush is getting no love on this thread. Great game with deep code if you can find one that is on sale right now with inventory left would make a great Pro to add to the collection. To me has a lot more staying power in playability than Deadpool.

Rush fuckin blows.

It’s great if you are a Rush fan.

Most people are not rush fans.

Tired layout and dull rules. Grating Canadian dad humor.

And way too much rush.

I traded an AIQ for one and instantly
Regretted it. And I did not much like owning AIQ.

I keep trying to like the Rush machine because I love Rush. But I just friggin' hate that machine with a burning passion. It's one of the worst designs I've ever seen and has fatal problems that were easily correctable/preventable. When Stern first announced it, I thought it would be my first NIB pin. So glad I waited to play it. Ugh. Sorry to vent on something you like. Just saying there are reasons it didn't do better in this poll.

Wrong. Like every music pin ever made, hate or like the tunes, but Rush is a fantastic pin. Rules are some of the best and layout is a more forgiving turtles. Borg designed a solid pin.

Rush is a hard game for most. Especially if you have no skills and just flip the ball around to stay alive.

I owned a Rush and like the band, but yeah I agree with the criticisms, the game is no more than decent and I soured on it the longer I had it. Rush's flow is clunky, the geometry is all subtly wrong, every shot isn't quite in the sweet spot from its flipper, particularly the time machine is at a weird awkward angle. The scoop takes up too much space and leaves nowhere to flow from the right flipper; the angle is wrong to try to flow a fast feed through the bumpers and even if you do make it you've just got a high speed ball screaming past the upper flipper. Rush's layout reminds me of the band itself - technically impressive (with all the ways to feed the upper flipper) but viscerally hollow.

Also the action button system (the weapon) is cumbersome, and the album combos aren't an improvement on TMNT, they're frustrating too, the problem is when you hit the wrong shot that goes into one you already did and you're stuck having to re-complete it to start over with one you want.

I do like the rules structure, the long intricate song modes (and Rush's famously long songs are the right theme to have long modes), and the wide variety of multiballs to stack with them... but the downside is you *have* to do that, nobody is completing 12 to 20 shots for a song mode without draining on a single ball. The best part of Rush overall is the wizard modes, they're all an awesome hoot... but if you're not good enough to see them regularly, there's no payoff.

Foo Fighters completely trumped Rush for me. That game actually has the flow that Rush thinks it does but doesn't.

Jp seems loaded as a pro. The missing stuff doesn't really effect game play much. I kind of like the pro raptor setup anyways. The t Rex is just a cool factor.

Maiden pro is a good one too.

Maiden!!

So Jake Fattie, since Deadpool won your poll does that mean you are buying one?

Or was this just for shits and giggles?

Who said it's hard? Game seemed pretty easy to me.

Easy games can suck ass too ya know, eh?

Except, Rush doesn’t suck. It sucks for people who can’t hit the tight shots and have very little skill. It’s not for you, we get it.

Classic Pinside Chesnut; "if you don't like a game you must suck at it."

I'd say I can't believe idiots still type this shit but um, I've probably said it too.

If Stern's new marketing campaign of advertising games and merchandise on Spike 2 games takes off, the added revenue should result in them dropping the prices of all current titles.

Idiots still type this, in every game thread.

The ironic thing is that if you think an out of the box Rush is a difficult game, YOU definitely suck at pinball!

It takes a bit for a machine to be naturally hard these days. I would put TMNT & Beatles in there but not Rush.
Then you have a lot of long Stern players like DP & GZ.

Not a single modern stern cornerstone is "hard" out of the box. They know that home buyers don't want frustrating, difficult games, which is why they are so forgiving, and why every code update makes games easier/higher scoring.

Some certainly play longer than others, but if you want "hard" you have to make it that way. Removing rubbers/posts, turning off ball saves, making multiball harder to get yada yada yada.

But then, we all know this, right? Certainly, anybody who has ever played in a real tournament does.

Also, Rush is awful.

The top 100 is never wrong. Best bang for buck based on trimmed median price listed on Pnside is ST followed by AIQ, Rush, and then Bond. If you can find a Deadpool for $5k, that probably changes (but math hurts, so not sure)
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I expressed an opinion about something subjective. It would be more accurate to say you “disagree” than to claim I was “wrong” about something factual.

That’s a very nice way of telling someone they suck and are a loser who gives up when the going gets tough. Again, we simply disagree about the design of a game. I hate playing Rush. Period. I love playing some “tough” games and own an AIQ premium, a game many struggle with (*this past weekend I got four gems in a game. So at least I have “some skills” LoL).

I’ve played about 15-20 games of Rush on two different machines. Hated every one of those games and was ready to walk away after ball one out of sheer boredom more than once. I still try to play it once in a while, because I WANT to like it. But so far it’s always the same: a waste of time and money.

Just my experience.