Just picked up a LOTR the other day...Plays and sound is AMAZING

ShacklersRevenge

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Just picked up a LOTR the other day...Plays and sound is AMAZING

I remember several years ago playing this pin at Disney World at a value resort, it was in poor shape and I was immediately not feeling it.

Couple weeks ago, played the one in Pelham NH, and it really wowed me over. So much so I tried to find one and got lucky about a week later. Hadn't felt the wow impression on a pin since TAF more than 18 years ago, and I haven't even seen any of the LOTR movies! (yet)

Get back, plug and power and I noticed that the ring shot is much easier! the MAGNET WORKS! (Game in NH did not work and I still loved it)

Also, previous owner installed the speaker sub kit, AMAZING SOUND, 100 TIMES BETTER! My favorite is when it's pounding that funky music during ''kill the witch king'' mode. Highly recommended if you have this game. Also added was gold speaker covers and backbox trim, a brand new coin door off a spider man black (inside has chrome mech trims)

So far my high score is 220 million, destroyed the ring in 53 seconds

I have some minimal cabinet flipper wear, so I have the full stern side rails coming along with some custom color posts and LOTR special flipper coils and full flipper rebuild. Probably going to re-rubber the game, but was waiting to hear some opinions on LEDS or just keeping it regular? Thoughts? I'm also looking for slingshot plastics if anyone has them (my left one is cracked)

Thanks, James
 
I've put LEDs in mine, and I like it. The game does suffer a little bit form LED flicker, so if that really bugs you, you need to think about that a bit. One thing I did do that looks great, however, is that I put some colored incandescents into certain parts of the game. Under the left ramp, I put yellow lights, and red lights on the ride site of the machine, near the tower and the pops in the lane guides. It looks MUCH better with the yellow and red lights in the right spots rather than just the regular white lights.

By the way, if you do go LEDs, only use them in the inserts, not in the GI.
 
I found a LOTR in the wild, and was very excited to finally play it. Unfortunately the machine was in terrible shape. All in all it really made me not enjoy the game, no matter how much I wanted to like it. I really would like to find a machine in good conditikon to see if I like the game after all. Glad to hear it worked out for you.
 
The new PBL coils are a great investment. CLiffy post protectors and hole protectors are also nice. LED's - ehhhhhhhhhhhhhh I tend to agree with Jar on that one. Ensure you're running version 10 software. I don't see you mention a shaker - which is just the icing on this wonderful cake.

For me personally I think an upgraded speaker set is pointless unless you run a machine loud. People tend to be very disappointed after they upgrade because like me I don;t have my pins turned up all that loud. Got to push the system to really hear the difference but on the other hand it doesn't help that LOTR's audio clips are pretty ghetto for quality considering the year it was built. It really should have/could have been higher quality than what it is.

So far my high is 287 mil, DTR in 38.43 <-- goddamn ball decided to have a marathon run in the pops for too long or it would've easily been ~25 seconds.

Last night I was one Gift of the Elves away from reaching Valinor. #@$%#$&%*%^&*%^*&
 
man id love to own a newer stern. Way too poor though. DOes yours have the black flipper rubbers?

If so, you have some cleaning ahead of you.
 
man id love to own a newer stern. Way too poor though. DOes yours have the black flipper rubbers?

If so, you have some cleaning ahead of you.

Mine was FILTHY when I got it...and it was HUO!!!!! I put on white rubber after shopping it out, w/ red flipper rubber. Some people like the black rubber aesthetic on LOTR...but white keeps it way cleaner and I like the bouncier play. I also replaced all the tapered black post sleeves w/ red Cliffy post sleeves....again, looks better and improves gameplay. A little bounce instead of a "thunk."

LOTR_Cliffy_01.JPG


The only LEDs I put in my LOTR are warm white High Powers from cointaker in the spotlights...there's too much "pulsing" on the inserts in this game (and many new Sterns) and LEDs just flicker instead of smoothly pulse.

I'm not a fan over over-coloring games w/ bulbs, as it mucks up the game's natural colors, but Jar's suggestions sound subtle enough that I think they'd look nice.
 
I've been working with Martin at Pinbits on many LOTR improvements.

First up was the POTD LED figurines kit. The kit Pinbits sells I found was too low to the POTD playfield. Balls would hang up on the resistors or the diverter SCREW at the end. His kit now includes 4 1/8" spacers. that allows the necessary clearance. (see pics below)

Second item was the Orthanc ball deflector. Since the ball has a tendency to ricochet hard off the side of the cabinet and end up getting stuck on the post closest to the tower and the tower itself, a new piece was created that eliminates this AS WELL AS eliminates the ball from falling off the backside of the POTD!
http://mrtn.smugmug.com/Other/2011-01-06/15355269_2pwvh#1148937127_u6d8m

Next was creating an Arwen plastic that extends out protecting the side rail that gets chewed up (idea was actually mentioned on RGP and I contacted MArtin and he made it happen with a slightly different design than I mentioned.)
http://mrtn.smugmug.com/Other/LotR-Wood-Rail-Protetcor/15386526_EcW7j#1148938545_TKStF-A-LB

Lastly I just emailed him 2 days ago and requested he create a Shire protector. Unbelievable no one has mentioned before because it's another item "much like the Arwen plastic" is assuredly going to break.

As far as Jars light idea, I too changed out some of mine with colored bulbs. The two utmost left lights on the top are changed to green. This really looks awesome with the LED lit DEAD figurines too. The rest of the #44's on the top side are yellow. I also changed the Legolas #44 to yellow. The ramps and rails really pop with gold color ... very nice and cheap to do.
I also added washers to the diverter behind Orthanc which HELPS stop balls from flying through but still doesn't catch/stop all. IMHO this one is crucial as a hard shot through "Merry" when trying to invoke a ROTK multi ball or shoot the shot for the Ents mode it's frustrating when it blows right through.

Let me also say since certain types of balls will get magnetized I'd recommend one of these as well.
http://mrtn.smugmug.com/Other/2010-04-27/11986523_HupH8#850175938_z3ZSu
 

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As far as Jars light idea, I too changed out some of mine with colored bulbs. The two utmost left lights on the top are changed to green. This really looks awesome with the LED lit DEAD figurines too. The rest of the #44's on the top side are yellow. I also changed the Legolas #44 to yellow. The ramps and rails really pop with gold color ... very nice and cheap to do.
I also added washers to the diverter behind Orthanc which HELPS stop balls from flying through but still doesn't catch/stop all. IMHO this one is crucial as a hard shot through "Merry" when trying to invoke a ROTK multi ball or shoot the shot for the Ents mode it's frustrating when it blows right through.

The Orthanc mod looks nice. I put a rubber ring around the 3 top left posts on the PotD and get few bouncebacks. Agree COMPLETELY with the green and yellow bulbs--FAR better than LEDs imo. This gamke looks nice with warm, mellow lighting. (As do most pins imo.) I also added colored bulbs to the 9 character lights mid-pf. The #555's have a light tint and look good here. Also added washers to tilt the Orthanc diverter and it works perfectly now. Also removed the stubby post under Balad Dur and adhered a foam square under the overhang, so that depression catches every ball hit to it smoothly.
 
The Orthanc mod looks nice. I put a rubber ring around the 3 top left posts on the PotD and get few bouncebacks. Agree COMPLETELY with the green and yellow bulbs--FAR better than LEDs imo. This gamke looks nice with warm, mellow lighting. (As do most pins imo.) I also added colored bulbs to the 9 character lights mid-pf. The #555's have a light tint and look good here. Also added washers to tilt the Orthanc diverter and it works perfectly now. Also removed the stubby post under Balad Dur and adhered a foam square under the overhang, so that depression catches every ball hit to it smoothly.

thanks.
Also thanks for mentioning Barad Dur - I also put rubber cemented a blue rubber pad to the metal. Originally I took out that small screw holding down the plastic spacer in the cup area. This proved fatal. Leave it to my wife - she stuck two balls in there. Now one would think a ball search would happen - nope. The balls were in there just right where the switch wasn't actuated. The plastic spacer has since been re-added and it is an absolute fluke if the ball doesn't stay put. How many washers did you use on the Orthanc pin? Mine catches a lot more but it's still not 100% either :(

Another mod I really like is the Palantir mod. While the new globe is considerably larger, just having a color changing led behind it looks awesome! (should've posted pics last night)

My only bitch now about LOTR is a soft shot up Legolas has a high chance of getting stuck right around the curve. Seems I just can;t find that happy medium (tighten bolts or loosen). Grrrr. Nothing a nudge can't take care of but still irritating.
 
I picked up my LOTR last month, it is a fantastic machine. My first few games were Epic, then I went into the settings and saw that the previous owner had it set to 5ball, every feature set to extra easy, and all awards for extra balls. I had to tighten things up a little but I still do very well.

The one mod that you need to get is the shaker motor. This improves game play more than I would have thought. It takes an already great game and makes it even better.
 
thanks.
Also thanks for mentioning Barad Dur - I also put rubber cemented a blue rubber pad to the metal. Originally I took out that small screw holding down the plastic spacer in the cup area. This proved fatal. Leave it to my wife - she stuck two balls in there. Now one would think a ball search would happen - nope. The balls were in there just right where the switch wasn't actuated. The plastic spacer has since been re-added and it is an absolute fluke if the ball doesn't stay put. How many washers did you use on the Orthanc pin? Mine catches a lot more but it's still not 100% either :(

Another mod I really like is the Palantir mod. While the new globe is considerably larger, just having a color changing led behind it looks awesome! (should've posted pics last night)

My only bitch now about LOTR is a soft shot up Legolas has a high chance of getting stuck right around the curve. Seems I just can;t find that happy medium (tighten bolts or loosen). Grrrr. Nothing a nudge can't take care of but still irritating.

I'll watch for the 2-ball sticking under balad dur. Hasn't happened yet but I still have the short post and screw, of course. I think I used 2 regular washers under the bracket around the frontmost screw to tilt the post forward slightly. Loosen all 3 mounting screws before inserting the washers and tightening. My glass palantir is same size as the original--30mm, I think. I also think I raised the metal legolas ramp rails a bit where it comes out of the pf to avoid stuck balls. Just make the ramp entrance smooth and nothing will get stuck there. Also, a second/larger rubber ring below the first one on the post at the upper right of the PotD (next to Orthanc) wil prevent balls from getting stuck there.
 
I'll watch for the 2-ball sticking under balad dur. Hasn't happened yet but I still have the short post and screw, of course. I think I used 2 regular washers under the bracket around the frontmost screw to tilt the post forward slightly. Loosen all 3 mounting screws before inserting the washers and tightening. My glass palantir is same size as the original--30mm, I think. I also think I raised the metal legolas ramp rails a bit where it comes out of the pf to avoid stuck balls. Just make the ramp entrance smooth and nothing will get stuck there. Also, a second/larger rubber ring below the first one on the post at the upper right of the PotD (next to Orthanc) wil prevent balls from getting stuck there.

Thanks I'll play around a bit more with the Legolas rail. Already have two typical Stern washers for the Orthanc tower pin in place already.... grumble :)

I also forgot to mention the Orthanc/POTD ball deflector also eliminates the ball from falling back into Orthanc.
 
Thanks I'll play around a bit more with the Legolas rail. Already have two typical Stern washers for the Orthanc tower pin in place already.... grumble :)

I also forgot to mention the Orthanc/POTD ball deflector also eliminates the ball from falling back into Orthanc.

I saw that. Looked odd until I remembered that the ball comes out along the top of the chute! Then the mod makes sense. Good idea.
 
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