Agree that both of these would work.

A piece of unsolicited advice: don't carry the burden of thinking you have to own the pin into perpetuity. If you get something at a more or less average price, there is a good chance you can use it for six months or a couple of years, enjoy it as much as you can while you have it, and then pass it on to someone else without losing your shirt in the process. (For the record, I don't expect to get back what I paid for pins and am pleasantly surprised whenever I do.) You are not making an irrevocable decision. I have sold half a dozen pins in the past couple of years. It's a little painful, but that is outweighed by having new pins to play. In short, you needn't overthink this decision. Buy something of reasonable (not extravagant) quality at a reasonable (not grossly inflated) price and get whatever enjoyment from it you can.

The Shadow & Congo.

Contemplating Refinery MET Pro

Also considering going after Congo next. I am torn between money and space *shrug*

None. The games I want are more than $5K.

I would go LOTR if I were you and had 5k to spend because it is a more likeable theme. I would pick the Shadow and something else like World Cup Soccer if you had room for two machines.

Fixed

If you're into Star Trek as a theme and also want nib, I'd say wait for sterns update to their st, then decide pro, premium, or pass.

If you're still set on nib after this, you're next choice is acdc prem (if you want a tough advanced players game with a killer ruleset) or met prem (still tough but less advanced than acdc, kickin ruleset).

If band theme doesn't do it for you, I hear the new mustang is a blast and worth a look, but I wouldn't recommend it until you get more info on it such as completeness of rule sheet and such.

After that, you're looking at the huo dept; if you want fairly new games - like single owner huo, I recommend TRON pro. I actually enjoy the gameplay of TRON pro over the LE, so if you like the LE , you'll love the pro especially if you get the Eli ramp mod. Game/rules difficulty meter: 6. While difficult , the game doesn't have the deepest of rule sheets. And this isn't a bad thing because the rules flow perfect with the difficulty of the board. Fun o meter on TRON: solid 9. So you can't go wrong with it.

If you want an older classic deep game, I say go LoTR. My personal favorite and if you love the theme , you'll absolutely fall in love with the pin. But don't buy just any LoTR, hold out for a nice huo one.

EDIT: and if none of those do it for you, buy TFAs AVLE and have a few grand leftover for a party

I'll tell you what...if he buys it today I'll sell it for what you sold your AV for. And if he wants bang for the buck, he can buy my JM. Now THATs a pin that would be in the top 25 with a different theme. JM is crazy good, and in the mid $2's for something that's typically like new outside a little cabinet fade, a crazy bargain.

Or, jump on the bandwagon and buy a MET pro or ST pro. They're all pinball machines....you cant go wrong. As much as some people want to insist that you can buy a turd, there aren't any turds. If it's a pinball machine and it's working the way it should, you CAN'T GO WRONG!

1/2 of my huo tron le.

Has every machine been named yet?

And no offence to the op either, I know you're just trying to get some ideas, but everyone of these "best of, worst of, stuck on an island, which three, for this amount what can I get, longest lasting, most fun..." always generate the same list in the end - everything.

For every pin there are those that think it's the best thing ever, and those that hate it.

Except LOTR is consistent through the years. I don't know man, maybe take a break from the internet.....jeez

And miss the next pinball bubble question or stern vs wms thread?! Not a chance!

Or, spend the money elsewhere.

Let's see. The average national price for a pound of bacon is $5.69, so $5,000 / 5.59 = 878.73 lbs. of bacon!

Truckload of bacon.jpg

The next Stern release...if it's Walking Dead or Godzilla.

Bound to be decent - as it will be the 2nd release with the new hardware/play system.
They will iron out the flaws with the first (Mustang), and will make the 2nd a hit.
Either theme is bound to be a hit.

If you're looking older - 5K would be well spent on a good Theater of Magic.

POTC
TAF
TZ
DW plus Whirlwind
Star Trek pro

I so do not understand this way of thinking. I have to really love a pin in order to want to buy it and own it. And if I love the pin why would I ever want to sell it? If I did decide to sell one that would mean that I really didn't love it after all and had made a mistake in purchasing it in the first place.

I do not feel that way at all. Maybe it has something to do with the size of my house and pocketbook....Mr. Big Bang Bar Owner.

Original Medieval Madness,especially when the new MMR is released the original will drop in price a lot?

- Predator... but I doubt enough will drop from the main preorder list to get a slot if you register on the waiting list now.
- HUO ACDC Premium
- Met Pro or ST pro
- WPT + WoF
- LOTR
- America's Most Haunted ?
- 2 or 3 from Dr Who, Shadow, Stargate, RBION

If you like ST:TNG ... GET ONE! You will love it - if you are wanting something a little newer then AC/DC Premium OR Spiderman.

Because space and funds are limited, and there are more pins out there that I would enjoy owning. Also, after playing many pins for a couple of years, I am ready to move on to something else. I am not a collector furnishing a museum. If my circumstances were different, I could imagine approaching this differently, but space and money are considerations. I greatly enjoy what I have and, at some point, I get something else to enjoy. I am not sure why that is hard to understand, but more power to you. Glad you love what you have so much that you'd never let it go. I feel that way about my wife but not much else.

5K seems a bit pricey for ST:TNG to me, though.

SS

My space and funds are also limited. The 12 pins that fit in my game room are my personal favorites. Once your space is maxed out with the games you like the best, then why dump one of them just to try something else?

I think you're in the minority, otherwise there wouldn't be many, if any, pins being sold around here. But to each their own and that's fantastic for you if you have the 12 pins that you'll want to keep forever. We also wouldn't have anyone producing new pins either if no one ever bought NIB.

I've had a number of pins that I really liked and ended up selling to get WOZLE, METLE and some B/Ws too... SS, ToM, etc.

To the OP, I say Scared Stiff !!

Metallica Pro

I don't want to pursue this endlessly, and I am happy for you to think the way you do, but since you ask, here is my perspective.

Why?

1) Because I cannot own at one time all of my favorite pins. What I like is not limited to the ten or twelve for which I have room at any given time. Were it the case that these were my absolute, clear-cut favorites, and no other pins were their equals, then sure, why trade them for their inferiors? I am not going to sell a pin I love to get something of obviously lesser quality.

2) Because tastes change over time. I might love a pin this year and prefer something else two or three years from now. Judging from my experience and that of many others I know, it is possible to lose enthusiasm for a pin after playing it hundreds and hundreds of times. Familiarity might not breed contempt, but it certainly can foster indifference.

3) Because excellent new pins are being manufactured. My space is limited, and I usually have to get rid of one pin to buy another. Who knew that MMR was going to be built? I didn't, so I didn't intentionally leave a space for it.

4) Because life circumstances change. What is considered desirable and affordable now might well be different from what it was five years ago or five years hence. People trade up when the have the resources and trade down when that seems necessary. Pinball machines are great, but they are great stuff, and stuff can come and go.

Again, I think it's fine that you love what you have and want to keep it. There is an awful lot to be said for contentment! On the other hand, a lot of the people I have come to know in this hobby don't think that way, and I am the beneficiary of their willingness to part with some terrific tables. Other people have benefited from my own willingness to sell. In any case, it's perfectly okay to see it either way.

You're getting MMr and it is widely regarded as one of the best games of all time. It is my belief that this should be a keeper for you. And over time as you sell off and buy different machines, several of them should appeal to you much more than others and they should also become your keepers. And once your list of keepers equals your available space, then you could be in the same position as I am. I just did it by determining which ones were my must-haves without needing to buy and sell numerous other games to figure it out. My buddy and I were lucky we didn't get into the hobby sooner than we did (mid-'90s) because we surely would have wound up needing to sell off games and upgrade as the great B/W titles came out that decade. I played the crap out of lots of games (at what turned out to be a test location) to find out what I really really wanted. I liked games such as The Shadow and Funhouse and Indy 500, but they just didn't make the cut. My first three games sought after, waited for and then purchased were CFTBL and TZ and IJ. I remember later seeing a copy of a trade magazine sometime after that where a reviewer chose the three top pinball games of the '93 - '94 era. That he chose CFTBL and TZ and IJ as the best of that time validated my own personal taste. I recognize that Whodunnit and Stern Playboy would not be on many must-have lists, but they are on mine. My buddy owns and loves Johnny Mnemonic. He wouldn't want Whodunnit and I wouldn't want Johnny. But once you do collect your absolute favorites it makes no sense to me to ever let one of them go.

To each his own. All the best.

My flavor of the week STERN STAR TREK Premium . Blast from the past Cirqus Voltaire !!

Tron.....with ramp light kit. Nothing else is even close.

If you go new in box , go with Metallica pro , If not go with Star Trek the Next Generation . Both are great games and you'll be under budget so you can pick up a nice wedgehead as well .

TZ IJ or LOTR

WHERE'S OUR BACON PINBALL! ... are you listening Stern? ...Jack?

Agreed ... but who says he has to spend it all? Find a super nice one for $3000- $4000 and save a little for the next pin!

Why do you like the gameplay of Tron pro over the LE? You like the missing mode in the pro?

Completely disagree with this.

You can buy a pin, get it home and love it, but if you have limited space and/or funds, you might find yourself having to sell that pin if you want to try something new/different. Variety is good. Any pin can lose it's luster after an extended period of time.

I think this is a no brainer.

Go email Charlie RIGHT NOW and get on for America's Most Haunted.

If I had 6k to spend that is where my money would be going!

I said gameplay not rules. Although that's a fine line in itself. What I liked on the pro was the movement of the ball with the TRON targets instead of drops. The ball just seemed a bit 'bouncier' and I was able to hit the gem shot easier. Maybe I just had a good run on the pro I played for an hour or so. I reserve the right for final judgement in the LE vs pro battle pending another hour of play on both machines

Yes, it is easier to CHEAT on the pro by hitting a stand up target and having it ricochet through the Gem shot vs the drop targets on the LE. But being a *real* player, I think you would rather make the shot as intended with the left upper flipper, which is more of a challenge.

But seriously, I will take drop targets over stand ups every day of the week and twice on Sunday, even if they don't allow for a ricochet through Gem.

Metallica pro
You won't be disappointed

I really feel like this statement points out the line between "players" and "collectors". EVERY pin gets a bit stale after you've played it enough, and my gut tells me that "players" play their games more in the first few months of ownership than "collectors" do the entire time they own the game.

I love the rush of playing a new (to me) pin. Even many of the pins that "suck" are great fun for a few months, and I want to experience that with as many titles as I can before I get too old to move these beasts

Friend of mine has one that needs minor work in the low $3s.

You could always add a lobby to your home theatre.

I did say space and/or FUNDS.

Lol......

Usually I'd agree with you but given the difficulty of hitting Gem (even off of targets) I'd really prefer the stand ups in this case. There is no cheating involved, if you can hit a shot ricochet or not in a pinball machine it is fair game IMO.