Well, I finally broke down and bought a new pin.  In the box.  The new "Lord of the Rings" from Stern.  Needless to say, there was very little to do, except set it up, make a few adjustments, change the message, and start playing.  Curiously, my wife, who was never a great fan of pinball, didn't know I was getting this.  Luckily, it arrived while she was out of town on business (no, I didn't plan it that way!).  Since her return home, I can't get her off of the machine!  And she has even started playing a few of the others more now.  So I guess we will be keeping this one for a while.

Well, now that I (and my wife and son) have played it a few times, there were several things to tend to, as listed below:

The Balrog switch is extremely flaky.  Only works when the humidity, barometric pressure and temperature are just right.  Needless to say, it was replaced.

Several new characters added to the playfield, most notably those from the fellowship that were conspicuously absent:  Legolas, Gimli and Boromir.  In addition, several Orcs and Uruk-hai, a Worg and rider, another Ringwraith, Faramir and a few more Rohan soldiers (see below).  All missing weapons were also replaced.

All of the original mounts for the characters were replaced.  I couldn't stand looking at all of those wire ties and cheap plastic around their legs.  All characters were mounted with #4 x 3/8" flathead screws through the plastics.  Looks infinitely better without all that junk (see details below).

Barad-dur tower removed and painted correctly.  It was NEVER purple in any shot I have ever seen of it.

Several mounting plastics were replaced because they were too thin and flexed excessively, such as the one over the top of the sword.  In addition, the plastic under Aragorn was strengthened to prevent Aragorn from falling over to the right.  Poor guy looked like he would fall off his horse any minute!

At this point (less than 100 games), I have had to replace 7 of the cheap "made in China" #44 bulbs.  All have been replaced with #47 Eico bulbs.  Luckily, the Balrog bulb is still going.

Got a box of flashers to replace all the burned out ones, and decided to add the one missing feature of this game - a flasher for the big eye on the backbox. To see how I did this cool mod, just click on the big flashing eye, or click here.

 

I have created a few new cards for this one as well, since I hate looking at those boring white factory cards.   They can be found on the pages with all my other cards. Click here to link to them.  Or you can view here as they are on my machine:



A few photos of the newer additions:
 
Realistic Barad-dur tower;  Rohan archer & swordsman.
 
New plastic on Wraith area with Worg;  Boromir and Gimli on pop-bumper caps.
 
Notice how much cleaner the slings look without all those wire-ties and extra plastic!  Details below!

 
Legolas and Saruman;   Shot of the entire upper playfield area.
   
Gandalf, Boromir and Ringwraith;  Shot of the playfield (and my HSTD - 173,443,190);  Shot of my LOTR.


Since several people have emailed asking for more details on how I mounted the characters, here are a few close-up shots of the process.
Here is a sample of what your game probably looks like (courtesy of Pinball News):

Notice the extra plastics and wire ties holding everything on - sort of.  Mine were very loose.
Remove the plastic and cut those ties.  Remove the plastic from around their ankles, and finally, cut the ankle wire ties.
You should now have the slingshot plastic (or which ever plastic you are fixing) and the figures.

Position the figures on the plastic where you want them, and mark from below with a pencil where the ankle is.
Using a 1/16" bit, drill CAREFULLY through the bottom of the foot at the heel and into the leg.
Using a 1/8" bit, drill CAREFULLY through the plastic where you marked earlier.
I used a Dremel tool for these steps, drilling at the slowest speed and taking my time.

Mount the figure to the plastic using a #4 x 3/8" or 1/2" flathead screw (available at Home Depot, Loews, etc.)


Your installation should look something like these:
   

All of the above figures are linked to the larger image if you wish to download them.

Here is another shot installed on the machine (with "Bullet-proof" protectors added):
 

That is all there is to it.  I did it for ALL the characters on mine, including the new figures added.  Except, of course, for Legolas, who IS wire tied to the "guard rail" for the PotD to keep him from falling off.

I hope that helps you clean up your machine and give it the "professional" look it deserves.

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More to come when I start thinking of things to modify AND I can find the time in between my other projects..