Think I'll chime in here. Have owned a LOTR for about 3 months now and of the 6 I have had so far is my favourite by quite a considerable margin. It's not perfect, no machine is but as an all round package its simply amazing.

Pros:
1/ The theme is not only a great choice but a lot of thought has been put into adding it into the game. The modes, shots, call outs, music, artwork and toys are fantastic and really add to the feel of the machine
2/ The flow is great and a well looked after machine can play very fast but still very fair. Some great shots in there, in particular the centre ring ramp shot (where a well tweaked spinner will keep going and going), the orbits and the left ramp
3/ The code (thanks Keefer) is as good as on any other machine, I find the only part I don't enjoy is the Witch King mode, everything else just works perfectly. The modes, multiballs and scoring all feel different enough for the shot objectives and style. Having 'Gift of the Elves' is bloody brilliant too and encourages you to try and complete what you're doing rather than just timing things out. Have yet to reach 'There and back again' (have mode starts set very difficult) but Destroy the Ring is superb, such a tense mode to do and the all or nothing feel to it. I'll never see Valinor unless I have an hour spare and take the glass off so thats another story
4/ TTT multiball Super Jackpot callout, need I say more

Cons (both minor):
1/ The Gimli / Gollum cave shot is clunky at best and could possibly have been designed better although I can see what they were trying with this. It is frustrating the amount of times a shot will go straight over and into the pops rather than sticking, although have found it more reliable back handing from the right flipper
2/ Whilst the right ramp shot is good it is a bit crap that the ball will knock against the side of the cabinet often after hitting the standup target at the top. Not a huge thing but always stuck me as a bit odd

I love this machine and whilst for me none would ever be a life time keeper, this one will be with me for a good time yet. It also works superbly well with an LED OCD board too.

Completely agree with Eskaybee, ball times can be as long or as short as you want depending on how hard you set the game up. Get some Gerlitz wax on the playfield if you want to make it really fast too, 1 coat of this completely changed the speed of mine and make it much more difficult but also much more rewarding to play.