I thought I should mention to you that I bought the LOTR SE NIB and it was missing all the action figures except the Balrog.  

If anyone else has one NIB unopened, that might be a concern!

I had only played it once in Vegas a few months ago and didnt even realize it was missing all the figures until a few weeks after I got it set-up.  This is my first NIB purchase and it is actually a pretty awesome game.  I am not sure why people give the Art a 10 on IPDB though but the rest of the high rankings make sense.

UPDATE: I was able to pick up a full set of figures and a couple extra ones from one of the people suggested in the thread and it has arrived without any problems.
Next step i am told is to get some plastics (beta version available). After that i will likely use removable glue rather than drill if it is at all feasible.

The missing figurines is a major gripe with potential buyers and a well known thing among the pinball community. I think you might be able to buy the set on EBay but then to install you will have to drill the plastics yourself.

So, do you know about the hair penis?

http://www.thekorn.net/lotr/lotr_hair_dick.jpg

My “member” doesn’t look much like that so I think I can easily ignore it. I don’t believe that this was intentional or meant to look like a private.  If it were boobs, then it would a selling feature (Stern are you listening?).  

You can find better and more obvious subliminal images in many other places.

A couple examples which I spotted over the years:

•     If you have kids and watch Dora, focus on Boots’ red boots and ignore the rest of the animation.  What you will often see is two dancing red hearts on your screen.

•     There was a Pepsi commercial with Michael J Fox looking into a window glass.  In the glass there was a reflection of a super hot woman that was not part of the commercial.

•     Steve Miller Band’s Greatest Hits album cover


Compare the LOTR image to that of Steve Miller Band’s Greatest Hits and I really can’t see the LOTR image as being a subliminal. Likely someone saw something that might be a private and it bothered him to such a degree that he couldn’t stop focusing on it.  I just wikied “The Steve Miller Band subliminal album cover “and they see it too!  I have showed this two my friends who still don’t see it but it is obvious to me.  If you look at the outline of the horse, it is that of a shapely nude woman looking to the left.  
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greatest_Hits_1974%E2%80%931978#Album_Cover

Not that I am getting defensive about it, but as a LOTR SE owner I have to say that that might be a private but if it is, it is certainly not a perfect one (if i can say that).  

This is fricken hilarious though ... YOU HAVE TO LOOK AT THIS VIDEO:
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=2847427

Anyone have any other "pinball" related subliminal images of interest?  I am sure there are some out there.

Quoted from travelthisyear@canada.com

Not that I am getting defensive about it, but as a LOTR SE owner I have to say that that might be a private but if it is, it is certainly not a perfect one (if i can say that).  

It was obviously not  meant to be "representative" of anything or subliminal in any way.

It's just an "unforeseen feature" that was made more obvious by someone on RGP.

As for the missing figurines, I would find that a major disappointment.
I find it adds alot to the game.

In fact, I tracked down the manufacturer of the figurines
(...a now defunct company called "Play Along" )
and bought EVERY figurine in order to have the weapons they originally came with
but were missing from the pin.

(... noticed how they are all holding their arms up but have nothing in their hands... )

Yes, I know, that's pretty geeky/anal,  but I now also have a complete set
of "replacement" figurines in case one gets broken.

Steph

Any advice on how I can get a full set?  Seems to me that the value of this game might be affected without them. It is the special limited edition that i have which is less special than it could be.

Can you post some really nice pics of the playfield and plastics, I have not seen any really clear ones. I would like to form an opinion for myself how the lack of figures looks.

Thanks, Dave

play along toys figures

I will try to get around to it at some point.  Nobody posted pics of the Special Edition Gold on IPDB yet so I will post it there if I have the time.

http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=4858

I am assuming the Special Edition didn't come with the figures rather than this being a shipping error.  I wish I would have known that in advance - now I have to search for the damn things or wait for a trashed 2003 LOTR which I can buy cheap which might take years.  

I know buying a pin for an investment is not recommended but I believe that with out the figures it is worth much less to collectors since it seems the original game has them.

I plan on keeping my machine for 20 years so I would like the figures and if anyone has a lead please PM me.

Quoted from travelthisyear@canada.com

play along toys figures

I am assuming the Special Edition didn't come with the figures rather than this being a shipping error.

"Play Along" went out of business so the figurines were no longer available to Stern.

They can sometimes be found on-line (eBay), but prices are often inflated....


Steph

http://groups.google.com/group.....res#02315b9c37503d0a

Email this guy. He's been selling sets and extras for awhile. Will probably cost less than trying to do it yourself with shipping. You can also buy mounting plastics from Pinbits if you don't want to drill plastics or order an older style set with holes already.

Good luck and enjoy.

ME

I sent an email to the guy and will hopefully get a reply.  I will figure out something eventually even if I have to buy alternative figures (which I might do anyhow to have spares).

I guess I look like a dumbass not knowing that the figures wouldn’t be included but that information was not given in the description of the game that was sent to me by email from Starburst and Automated Services LLC (another supplier).  I still have all email communications and no mention of that.  

Starburst: "Gold mirror back glass, gold side armor and legs, three to four coats of clear coat on playfield along with Gary Sterns and the game designers signature.  A plaque on top of the coin door, and a signed certificate, also software that allows your customer to install a shaker motor if you want."

Automated Services LLC: "As you may know, the LOTR Special Edition features mirrored back glass, signed by Gary Stern and the designer, as well as gold-plated side armor, legs, hinges and lock down bar and two extra coats of clear coat on the playfield."


Someone said it was common knowledge but I still haven’t run across that little tidbit of info anywhere obvious like the Stern or Starburst Web site.  It might be there though, I didn’t dig much.

To me it just seems weird to pay all the extra for gold legs and no figures.  I guess I should have specifically asked "Is there anything significant that the original game has that is not included in the special edition?".  Doesn't this make the cheaper original machine more valuable than the special edition?  

I am not as angry as I should be.  I really like the game, otherwise I would be steaming mad. The sound quality and crispness is the best I ever heard on any pin and this game actually does have some flow with the movie.  I especially like that you always have to aim somewhere.  Not like the WPT where you just go for the ramps over and over and over and over again and use multi-ball to get your targets down randomly (only a dumbass would actually aim for the drop targets in WPT - a big flaw in the game if you ask me, otherwise coulda been a great one).


A couple dumb questions ...

What is this shaker that is mentioned?

The plastic above the left flipper lane stops or slows the ball when travelling slowly.  That is part of the game right or does that plastic need to be raised?  I assumed that it is part of the game because during multi-ball it is actually kind of cool and I am building big dumbass muscles shaking the machine to get the ball to drop down the lane.

Also, having a problem with the ball getting stuck beside the left tower at the paths of the dead.  I think I can fix it or get Starbursts' help to fix it proper.  This one doesnt seem like part of the game, it looks like the tower has to be pushed back literally only 1 mm but it didn't stay fixed the last couple times I pushed it back.  I am scared of dinging the surface or worse so bending a piece is not ideal.  I may try to see if it can be fixed from underneath by lowering or raiseing the right side where it is stuck.

I have "Destroy the Ring Champion" of 2:50.26 . Does that mean that I destroyed it in under 3 minutes or that my game took 2 hours and 50 mins to play or something else.

Excuse my spell/grammer check but it is late.  I will run a spell check later.

Quoted from travelthisyear@canada.com

I have "Destroy the Ring Champion" of 2:50.26 . Does that mean that I destroyed it in under 3 minutes or that my game took 2 hours and 50 mins to play or something else.

means you (or the default) took 2 minutes 50 seconds.

try to beat 23 seconds

IIRC the LE also does not have the post to protect the ring ramp. I have seen what can happen to these ramps without said post, it is amazing how bent the metal gets.


http://www.canadapinballparts.com/storefront/index.php?p=product&id=97&parent=0