Is it me, or is LOTR a fatty?

Frax

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I swear to god, that machine is like a pile of lead blocks...what the hell.

I played it, Indiana Jones, and Tron a lot last night and tonight, and my right arm is beat to hell. Hurt really bad last night, not so bad tonight, but I think I know why... Lord of the Rings is a FATTY. Several times, I had to pick the front end up to get some stuck balls out (Broken plastic backing the left VUK, YAY!.......Wait, how the hell did I get the ball stuck in the SPINNER?!?!?!). After getting totally pissed at my total and utter failure to even activate Destroy the Ring after having it lit three times (And even on 4th ball...) I went to play IJ.

Tossed it around like a cardboard box...not even a wet cardboard box. So I figure one of two things...either LOTR is a fatty, or IJ is really, really light. Which is it? :|
 
I swear to god, that machine is like a pile of lead blocks...what the hell.

I played it, Indiana Jones, and Tron a lot last night and tonight, and my right arm is beat to hell. Hurt really bad last night, not so bad tonight, but I think I know why... Lord of the Rings is a FATTY. Several times, I had to pick the front end up to get some stuck balls out (Broken plastic backing the left VUK, YAY!.......Wait, how the hell did I get the ball stuck in the SPINNER?!?!?!). After getting totally pissed at my total and utter failure to even activate Destroy the Ring after having it lit three times (And even on 4th ball...) I went to play IJ.

Tossed it around like a cardboard box...not even a wet cardboard box. So I figure one of two things...either LOTR is a fatty, or IJ is really, really light. Which is it? :|

Hmm, interesting, because if you're talking about the Bally/Williams IJ it's a widebody and very heavy (I've moved a few "superpins" and they are heavy as shit).. much more so than any Stern I've moved.
 
Never had the problems you talk about..
a game shouldn't have broken plastics.. and if the ball gets stuck at a spinner then either the flippers aren't strong enough to make the shot good, or the game is not set steep enough so the pinball has enough force (because of gravity) to roll trough the spinner

and I'd think IJ is heavier than lotr.. guess you just had a better grip on ij or your muscles were trained better by the time you played ij :)
 
LOL, I had that thought that maybe my weakly geek muscles were just warmed up by the time I played IJ...and it's the Stern one.

Lots of things shouldn't happen in arcades, but I can tell you that LOTR has at least three places where plastics are broken. Two of them trap balls. One is just cosmetic and annoying. It's the tradeoff you get for paying .15 (no shit..) per game.......with LOW replay values (4 million, 10 million, 14 million? LOL!) The spinner thing was a total fluke. The metal was flush against the ball at approx 45 degree angle. It pinned the ball. I'm not even sure how that was physically possible, I'm sure it's an adjustment thing and has something to do with the fact that there's a ramp right behind the spinner...those flippers have lots of power. They upgraded them between Tron launch and two days ago...completely different feel to the machine and no problem at all shooting the left ramp now..

They've already put some mylar on Tron, but I can't tell you why...it's a long thin strip in front of Flynn's that goes down to the left at 45 degree angle. Guess they thought that was the way the ball would pop out most of the time, but they calculated it when the game was several degrees steeper and now it never goes that way....
 
Guessing the game wasnt leveled probably? That could cause balls to just sit there. Check the bubble near the shooter lane - it should be in between two center lines - check the back legs are the levelers all the way out?

Even so, the game still gets hung up - that path of the dead (mini "playfield") balls get hung up there and on the way out of it. Horrible toy and design. I would still have a LOTR if it wasnt for that part - that part made me sick.
 
Yeah, not sure what they were thinking with the way the path of the dead was designed...was it intended to always dump to the ramp, or what? It's like they should've had a small guide rail on the bottom. :p
 
Yeah, not sure what they were thinking with the way the path of the dead was designed...was it intended to always dump to the ramp, or what? It's like they should've had a small guide rail on the bottom. :p

its supposed to take a dump.
 
It's not your imagination. LOTR harks from the days when Stern had a smidgen of build quality in their machines, so it's naturally heavier. IJ cheapened up quite a bit, and the newest pins like Tron are made of balsa wood and blow-molded plastics. My first thought after playing Iron Man last year was : "I could put my fist right through this thing..."

A Bally or Williams on the other hand, will break your knuckles ;)
 
Well it might be a fatty, but sounds more like you should be mad at all the stuck balls, not it's weight.

My Corvette machine will rip your arms off when you try to move it. It weighs as much as a Vette! : )
 
I'm going back today...

The stuck ball was kind of a boon....you know not as much flying around when you got to multi modes made it easier to make those shots, LOL.

I'm going back today. I'm determined to at least finish Destroy the Ring. After that, I'm shooting for Valinor, lol.
 
get to Bilbo's book yet?

Anyway, if you think that's heavy, trying lugging a ST:TNG up 3 flights of stairs...
 
The spinner will stick a ball on a lazy/unclean shot IF either the supportng spinner wire is bent (quite often) or the edges of the spinner get beat up enough that it needs to be ground down a smidge (also quite often).

If the ball gets stuck on the spinner just wait for a ball search. When Balrog swings out it'll knock it loose.

You'll also see the ball get stuck against Othanc tower or a weak shot through Gandalf can get a ball stuck. LOTR really needs maintenance from the OPs and darn near everyone I've played has been flat out tired and unmaintained.
 
The spinner will stick a ball on a lazy/unclean shot IF either the supportng spinner wire is bent (quite often) or the edges of the spinner get beat up enough that it needs to be ground down a smidge (also quite often).

If the ball gets stuck on the spinner just wait for a ball search. When Balrog swings out it'll knock it loose.

You'll also see the ball get stuck against Othanc tower or a weak shot through Gandalf can get a ball stuck. LOTR really needs maintenance from the OPs and darn near everyone I've played has been flat out tired and unmaintained.


I've got pics, but it went through ball search enough times to spit a ball in the shooter lane, I had to knock it free with that ball. I got the Balrog to molest one of my balls tonight too, jackass trapped it when he swung back into place. :)
 
I destroyed the ring tonight too. I've got pics but it will have to wait.... 1 ball, ring destroyed, 40 million points, and had the extra ball. My wife called after the machine freaked out and broke my mojo. :(
 
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