Quoted from cp1610:

I fall into the young'in club here grew up playing em (because it was there in the basement) still love em. I keep playing the newer dmd machines and for what ever reason just don't get it why everybody thinks there so good. Ok yes the dmd has something to show but not 5 grand worth. Like early solid state and up until about the 2nd pin dark ages of the 90's. My only exposure to em was in peoples basement where you find 1 or 2 mostly working but sorry looking machines. Have caught the pinball fever again in the last few years and yes the cure is more pinball but need more exposure to that clicking of relays and chiming bells of em.
I say a few early 80's Bally and Williams machines old sterns if you got them and 1or 2 Gottlieb system 1 / 80 machines just to level the field.

Quoted from ShredLox:

I'm pushing 30, but If you're looking at loaning multiple games I'd say go for something flow-y, something stop-and-shoot-y, and something with decent depth to the rules. Having a mix of stuff is always good. Personally I'd vote not-Sterns, as they're pretty easy to come across in the wild. Just my two cents.