A few years ago I could have sworn that The Addams Family (1992) was the most highly regarded table of all time.
What appears to have happened is that between last time I checked and now, some great tables have been produced. I checked out a video of that Deadpool one and it looks amazing. It's good to see vibrant activity in the pinball space; I thought pinball had died off (again).
Yes, The Addams Family held the top position for many years and is still considered the best selling pinball of all time (although Stern stopped releasing sales figures ~10 yrs ago, it probably still is). The list was fairly static for a lot of years but you are correct that in the last several years a number of newly released pins have quickly risen into the Top 25.
Fortunately, this is not (IMHO) due to some corruption in the ranking or declining standards. It's because manufacturers, especially Stern, have really managed to elevate the design and playability of new pins to an incredible level and do so more consistently than in the past.
It's extremely difficult to create a hit pinball machine that's initially accessible, fun to play and yet remains challenging over time with deeper rule sets. Many of the top-rated pins are still the "classics" from the 1990s (TAF, CFTBL, MM, TW, etc). Today's best new machines are still being designed by some of the same people who perfected their craft over time (or those who apprenticed at their knee).
I own a Godzilla Premium and it's popular because it really is just a super fun game and stands head to head with the greats of all time.
That's really incredible. In an era where things I loved as a kid (including computers) are on the decline or falling into disrepair, seeing a resurgence of pinball, especially good pinball tables, is comforting. And new technologies probably help manufacturers like Stern produce better, more sophisticated, more fun tables, adding new depths of craftsmanship to this time-honored art.
But TAF will probably still be my wife's favorite table.
What appears to have happened is that between last time I checked and now, some great tables have been produced. I checked out a video of that Deadpool one and it looks amazing. It's good to see vibrant activity in the pinball space; I thought pinball had died off (again).