They pointed out that there are exceptions (and TRON LE is certainly one of them). Who know's, the hobbit may be better once finished than people think now. Custom dialog, modes, and possibly other things are yet to be seen. Personally, I think the ring concept is going to be good one.

Everything about this game will be spoilered after the first few ones will be delivered in october. But most people that have preordered will get their games not until 2016. I would fill this waiting time we have now with news after news of all the great things in the game to let the customers be more excited about the game.

It's good that they make such a big secret about lawlors game. But why with the hobbit? Are they afraid STERN could steal something for their games?

Huh?

We arent talking about acdc or tron though, were talking about a JJP game.... Where "limited" is measured in the thousands!

For a better example, look how 'hard' it is to find a WoZ LE...... Pretty damn easy.....

Sorry, but your example fails.

ok you are right there.

LAKEWOOD, N.J., Aug. 7, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Jersey Jack Pinball LLC, the New Jersey based award-winning pinball manufacturer and innovator, is pleased to announce a significant investment led by ThinkLAB Ventures, the family office of Time 100 honoree and Reader's Digest's "America's Best Boss" Leonard Abess, and joined by Tudor Investment Corp Managing Director Andrew Paul and Playboy CEO Scott Flanders.

Jersey Jack Pinball Founder and CEO Jack Guarnieri commented, "With this capital infusion we can now take our company to the next level. Our goal is to consistently deliver the finest games in the industry and the best game experience for our players." Jack continued, "This vote of confidence in me, in our Team, and in our products leaves no doubt that Jersey Jack Pinball will have the resources to develop and manufacture many more great games for our expanding worldwide player base for many years to come."

Lead investor, Leonard Abess says, "I have been a pinball fan my entire life. In Jersey Jack Pinball I saw a company that has both the creative vision and technical abilities to renew and reinvigorate this industry. I have known Jack Guarnieri for many years and delighted in watching him develop the ultimate pinball game to date, The Wizard of Oz." Co-investor Andrew Paul added, "I am pleased to be associated with Jersey Jack Pinball. I have been a pinball fan since my teens and with Wizard of Oz, Jersey Jack is delivering absolutely state-of-the-art product. I am excited to be part of Jersey Jack Pinball as they develop the industry's most significant innovations and exciting games."

About Jersey Jack Pinball, LLC.

Jersey Jack Pinball, headquartered in central New Jersey, is a renowned manufacturer of modernized real, full-sized arcade commercial pinball machines. The company leads the industry with design and innovation. Veteran amusement industry figure Jack Guarnieri started in 1975 when he began servicing electro-mechanical pinball machines. Since then he has participated and led in all sides of the industry, from developing amusement centers, designing games, creating the online site PinballSales.com in 1999, and bringing Shuffle Alley back to life in 2002. In 2011, Jack Guarnieri saw a need for premium, technologically-advanced, and easily serviceable pinball machines and founded Jersey Jack Pinball. As of 2015, Jersey Jack Pinball machines can be found in 16 countries around the world. Following the success of its first game, The Wizard of Oz, Jersey Jack Pinball will manufacture the much anticipated Hobbit line of games this fall, and has announced a collaboration with famed pinball designer Pat Lawlor on a new, original-game to be launched in the spring of 2016.

Press Contact
Jen Guarnieri
(732) 364-9900 ext. 203
[email protected]
www.JerseyJackPinball.com

Reading through select bios, I will go on record by saying Scott Flanders is a business stud. His resume is impressive and he consistently gets the job done. bam!

Figured something was in the works given the "longevity tone" being delivered by JJP guys prior to the announcement.

This is great news.

Suck it, naysayers.

Can't see this as anything other than good news. It was pretty clear there was money issues going on, so some fresh cash will turn the wheels, and if they start producing pinballs at a faster rate they can finally be a player.

I know Scott personally and this is absolutely the case.

This is great for news for pinball!

Great news for pinball buyers/players...not so great news for Stern.

Let's stop the collective butt slapping until we see some games rolling off a line, these delays are still painfully evident and no further proof or notice of when TH will be rolling off the line for all of us who have been waiting forever.

I hope it's good news for the long term of the company, buts lets get our games already!

I think the "butt slapping" from my perspective is that I'm actually going to receive my Hobbit - and much sooner now than before the investment.

The pre-order model that JJP was based on completely blew up this year. This left the funding needed to start production of the Hobbit based entirely on WOZ sales and additional Hobbit pre-orders. This would mean JJP eeks along ordering Hobbit parts at an extremely slow pace - and having to make very small part orders (10s, 50s, etc) which is expensive. Eventually, after a really long time and many delays, Hobbit production would start at a really slow pace.

This new investment allows JJP to switch the model entirely - paying off vendors, ordering large batches of parts, hiring more workers for the assembly line, etc. This should mean that hundreds of games can be built each month....which is what I'm excited about.

Dwight is coding.

Congratulations Jack and the entire JJP team! Great news. What is that pounding I hear? Oh, it is the final nail in the prepay model's coffin.

Alex, with all this new money rolling in, maybe you should apply for a job at JJP.

Two words.....Star Wars.

Yup. Just goes to show that JJP was not having financial trouble like so many knew.

Best of luck to the new investors. I hope they fair better than the others.

One word...Stern

There are many Hobbit parts already at the building, with more and more coming in each week. We plan to begin sub-assemblies within the next month, with full production/shipping beginning early this Fall. We know our customers are anxious and excited for Hobbit Production to begin, and we are very close. We are doing everything in our power to get parts in as fast as possible while at the same time ensuring all are correct and thoroughly tested. JJP Programmers, Keith Johnson and Ted Estes are working diligently on Hobbit Software so that when games begin shipping, code is close to completion.

We will be increasing headcount significantly in order to build and deliver Hobbit machines in a timely fashion. We thank our customers for their patience, understanding, and support as always!

Who is the lead investor ? :

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/-Jersey-Jack-Pinball-Announces-Material-Investment---Hobbit-Production-Update.html?soid=1104524641178&aid=SaeMIv2afck

JJP posted an additional statement citing the investment:

"There are many Hobbit parts already at the building, with more and more coming in each week. We plan to begin sub-assemblies within the next month, with full production/shipping beginning early this Fall. We know our customers are anxious and excited for Hobbit Production to begin, and we are very close. We are doing everything in our power to get parts in as fast as possible while at the same time ensuring all are correct and thoroughly tested. JJP Programmers, Keith Johnson and Ted Estes are working diligently on Hobbit Software so that when games begin shipping, code is close to completion.

We will be increasing headcount significantly in order to build and deliver Hobbit machines in a timely fashion. We thank our customers for their patience, understanding, and support as always!"

Sucks. I just finished what u were saying.

What a great day for pinball !

LTG : )

For the longest time I thought that LTG was constantly chastising people for their inability to Google.

www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=LTG

You aren't the only one.

Older than Google, goes back to about 1975.

LTG : )

Here I go--heading over to Google again to figure out what happened in 1975...

This is the second investor announcement no? Kind of annoying in that it clearly means it was $$ holding up production, not vendors.

That said.. I am all for a JJP that can produce games at the rate of Stern... that's what we all envisioned when we jumped on board.

Looking forward to my Hobbit SE. Starting to look like the game is close to production, time to start think about making room. Guessing I have 5 or 6 months though not being an early order.

That was the elephant in the room that was pretty obvious.

Now, it should be all systems go though

great news.... I feel 10x more confident now that JJP CAN/WILL really jettison the prepay fiasco moving forward...

Congrats to Jack & JJP for securing the investment to further fund the business! Really great development!

I'm glad this came together for Jack. New company capital injections at a couple of growth stages is very common. Having new money put in is a vote of confidence by these new investors - its a good move for all of us.

.

Even if JJP were a billion dollar company I would still contribute gratis. That's why I work in the open source community. I for one love the hobby and I do very well without needing the extra income.

Instead of being derogatory, how about thanks for assisting the community on my own time at my own expense. I know that's foreign to some but to others it makes perfect sense.

Jack surviving the Shark Tank!

Well done, my man!

Awesome news. I saw Hobbit at an Christmas party at automated services and then again at Pintastic. Nothing but great looking game and this is great news to get them into people's hands.

Now for the wise crack - Is this the rich investor with $M for pinball JPop was waiting for? I guess he is smart and knew what horse to bet on.

LTG's taking all your money, man!

He is!

Maybe these are sarcastic? I read it somewhat differently. To me it pretty much verifies what some speculated: Hobbit pre-order money was going towards the WOZ build. JJP didn't seem to have the money to properly fund the Hobbit build fully, nor was another potential money shift with a Lawlor pre-order likely to work. They needed to get money from somewhere, and they managed to find some investors.

I wonder if these guys really are pinball fans. All investors say they are fans of the product personally. It would bode better if they really are fans. If not, they're just fans as long as they can see $ signs in the near future.

Would be great to know specifics, like how much Jack is giving up. I'm assuming it's an equity deal. I wonder if debt / bonds were an option.

Also, I wonder why this was even announced at all. JJP is private, not sure if the other parties have to reveal their financial dealings. But maybe this is about allaying fears: the kind speculated about in regard to suppliers. The fact that this was public suggests to me it was likely more than rumor.

It's still good overall for JJP pinball: maybe this kick start can get JJP on the road to self-sufficiency.

Growing a company completely organically can slow its growth - even if JJP is profitable. The investment is a great boost to get cranking on the hobbit and #3. Sounds like a great opportunity for JJP, and the pinball consumer.

Expanded factory lines and supplier reassurance can happen. Sound like a win win situation all around. It can take a fairly new company and bump them up a few years. It normally takes a while to establish and an infusion of funds can take the weight of priority juggling off your shoulders.

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Smaug head looks awesome. I assume that's the Smaug edition since it has the gold flakes right?

Smaug looks funny when in pieces

Actually, I don't see gold on top of his head so I assume this is the general LE/Standard edition.

I don't get putting gold on Smaug honestly.. even if I stay with the SE I would probably swap him out with this one..

The red looks nice. 'Great to have an update...anything at all is welcome

I still think this is the SE Dragon Head.

How many Hobbit LE's will be made? Sorry if it has already been mentioned ... hard to find it in a search. I asked in an email to the Jersey Jack Website, but did not get a reply to that question.