Have a very nice Lord of the rings 2005 run. Minor flipper Button wear. One gouge on the headbox top left side that has been touched up. Not noticeable unless you are looking for it. The playfield is mint. No broken or cracked plastics what so ever. DMD is superbright and the game plays 100% with not a single issue. I'm in the Northwest.not close to Indiana but figured I'd drop you a line if you're interested. I was looking to get 4500 out of it.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/for-sale-lord-of-the-rings-stern-2003

You don't find HUO LOTRs in this area that often. I imagine price is negotiable. Couldn't hurt to try. Good luck with your purchase.

LOTR was produced in several runs, beginning in 2003.

There were ~5,100 units of the Standard Edition (SE) made. The most recent run was a Limited Edition (LE) run of 500 units made around 2009-ish? It had several upgraded components (e.g., gold trim and armor, mirrored backglass, extra clear coats on the playfield, shaker motor optional, limited edition plaque with game number), but no "Armies of Middle Earth" figurines, because the figurines were no longer available.

http://www.ipdb.org/search.pl?any=lord+of+the+rings

The LE models typically sell for more than the SE models, because of the upgrades and rarity (limited run).

Regarding price for the SE, click the link next to the Lord of the Rings icon at the top of this thread, where it says, "GAMES LINKED TO TOPIC". That will call up details about the game, including estimated value...

"Estimated value: $4990 - $5810"

That's an average price range, so it's a good starting point, but it must be qualified by actual condition.

"Routed" games tend to be on the low end of the average price range, and "HUO" tend to be on the high end of the average price range. Actual CONDITION, however, is much more important than those two descriptive words, and actual prices can be lower or higher than that average price range, depending on condition and modifications. I've seen routed games that looked pristine, and HUO games that looked like crap. Also some mods add to a games value, if the buyer is interested in the upgrade, but can often be removed by the seller if the buyer isn't interested in paying for the upgrade.

Mike Nogle's price on that Great American Pinball (GAP) advertisement is definitely on the high end of the price range for a LOTR SE, but he is a retailer with business overhead costs that need to be covered. If you buy from an individual owner, you'll probably get a lower price, but price is almost always negotiable, regardless of whether you're buying from an individual or a retailer. Having said that, not knowing the actual condition of the game in Mike's ad, it's hard to judge how fair that price is without knowing more details. Photos would definitely help.

For reference, I recently bought a nice "players condition" LOTR manufactured in December 2003 from a fellow Pinsider. It had been previously routed, but had gone through several private owners hands since then. It was almost bone stock, but a board had been replaced (different serial number), and had just a few mods: upgraded flipper coils, and white rubbers. The playfield was in excellent condition (i.e., good color registration, Mylar installed, little wear), and all mechanical and electrical aspects of the game were in working order. The cabinet had some dings and scratches, which is typical for a previously routed game. I paid $4,800 for it in October 2014, and then I started modding like crazy.

I have installed the following mods to date:

- Color DMD Display (ColorDMD) - $400
- PDI optical glass (playfield and translite) - $360
- LED OCD board (Herg) and LEDs for inserts and G.I. (Comet) - $230
- Path of the Dead mod (Pinball Refinery) - $220
- Shaker motor (Stern) - $160
- Upgraded speakers and subwoofer (Flipper Fidelity) - $140
- Custom topper (Laseriffic) - $135
- Palantir mod v5 - Retina Burner (Jay's Pinball) - $125
- Interactive Undercabinet LEDs and Speaker Lights (Rock Custom Pinball) - $102
- Custom shooter rod (Marco Specialties) - $100
- Cliffy protectors (Cliffy) - $69
- Dual cooling fans (Coolerguys) - $50
- Flipper rebuild kit (PinballLife) - $45

So my base game was $4,800 ($190 lower than the estimated price range), and I have over $2,100 of mods installed (making my total cost > $1,000 higher than the estimated price range).

Yeah, I know. That's absolutely crazy, but I love this game, and it plays like a dream. I plan to keep it, so whether or not I get all of my money back on a future sale is not really relevant to me.

The point I'm trying to make here is that the price of a game is highly dependent on the actual condition of the machine and the mods that have been installed, so you can see how the price range could swing pretty wide from low to high, depending on those specifics.

Hope this helps. Good luck with your search. Let us know what you eventually buy, if you end up getting one.

You're welcome. If you'd like to drive up and play my game, you're welcome to. Just shoot me a PM.

That is a real good price for the OP. Figure $450 shipping with NAVL/STI.

Bumping this for you and so I can make a note of the model/condition breakdown above. Also want one, hopefully can make a plan in next 6-8 months.

That is a "normal" issue. you can replace the flipper coils to fix it with new ones they make. Pinball Life I think?

Anyhow it was a couple years ago and I sold my routed but nice LOTR for $3800...I don't think you should pay much more that 4kish for a non HUO.

i'd like to help you out but mines from the 2007 run, so I don't have anything for you.

Why is that an issue?

It was clean and played 100%, ramps were a little dull could have been Re-dipped. Arween plastic was cracked buts replaced. The shire and gimli hole weren't new looking but no major wear. Cabinet had a few minor scratches, had lollipop rails. Overall clean,worked perfect(had the upgraded coils) insert LEDs . My friend Steve is trying to sell his HUO with color dmd and topper for $5500 and it's still on market. I think 4 give or take for a routed but 100% working LOTR.

Looks like it.

http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/803-5001-80

I have not seen the LOTR full plastic set available for quite some time. If you find one plan to spend between $200-$300.

Nope, thats just for the upper mini playfield. The whole sets seem to be sold out everywhere currently. Which plastics do you need?

That is a good point. Here is the link for everything that Marco Specialties sells for LOTR, so hopefully the two you would need are available.

http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/563

The Arwen plastic (2nd photo) is very common to be broken. I have a Pinbits protector on mine-but they don't seem to sell them anymore. Little Shop of Games seems to have a Arwen plastic with the protector for sale. The other one may be a bit tougher without buying a full set, or someone selling that one from there set. With that being said, I don't even see where the first one's broken, is it just cracked? How does the game play? How clean is it? It sounds like the flippers could use a few new parts and upgraded to Pinball life's LOTR special coils, but that should fix that, and shouldn't be very hard to do.

here is the link:

http://ns8313.hostgator.com/~gameshop/product/lord-of-the-rings-arwen-plastic-with-protector-plastic/

LOTRVE could be made in the next 6 months. You may want to wait a month or so to see if it's announced .

"IF" they announce it. I wouldn't let a VE possibility play into your decision if you have a chance to get a nice game at a fair price now.

They always announce something. WWELE is shipping now, mine will arrive this week. Likely within 1-2 months they will announce something. I am in if they do.

I can vouch for that LSOG product. I installed it on my game, because the original Arwen plastic was cracked. Very happy with both the reproduction plastic and the clear protector plastic.

I take it your other option isn't working out? Just out of curiosity, what kind of price was he asking?

Bump for great game. Just scored one myself last weekend. GL with your search

Yea send me a PM as well im curious and I'll tell you what I think .

I am also looking for a nice LOTR. The responses in this post have been extremely helpful for a newbie. With the talk on the forums about a potential VE from Stern in the foreseeable future, I am also wondering if I should wait a month or two to buy a SE or LE.

It's not in the Marketplace but I have a very nice HUO LOTR LE that im willing to part with. PM for details.

I am also waiting on my LOTR. It is so hard to wait!!! I had a similar problem with PayPal. Red flags go up when you are moving large sums of money.