When it comes down to it for pinheads it's the play that matters. For the general public, not so much. I like the older B/W's unlicensed pins because they hold up over time, but there are some good pins with bad themes that still do well, TS, JM, etc. Would FT be as good of a game if it was titled "Bill Dance's Bass Fishin'"? Maybe not the best example.

What is worse, the blatant knock-off's that Gottlieb put out towards the end of their existence, or the pins based on movies that don't hold up over the years? LW3, DM, TS, etc? When they were new those games got played because they were tied into current movies and made money for operators. No one was thinking about 20 years down the road. It's even more of a factor today.