Well played multiball! Looks pretty sweet to me.

For those who have played...does the book help you to understand what is going on during gameplay? Is it a cool feature? There was a lot of flack over the first placement of it a year ago and they had to get rid of some of the barrel pops to accommodate its current location.

Some of my thoughts based on the vids:

Sounds and call outs sound great.
Gandolf voice is spot-on.
Smaug call outs a little repetitive during the multiball (hopefully they can add some variety in there)
This needs gold flipper bats or something else with a little more pizzazz. Who sells gold flipper bats? I will probably order some as soon as hear of my SE shipping.
As stated 1000's of time...upper right flipper doesn't seem to do much. It will be interesting to see how they incorporate it into code.
Ring button looks like it had either an 'activate' function or "points" score. For those who have played, can you elaborate on what you had to do with that?

Overall, I'm very excited. This is so much better than last year. The wait has been long and it is disappointing that I think there is little chance I have mine by Christmas but at least I have something which I can really look forward to.

So many good impressions. Can't wait to get mine.

There are other threads which I think address this too. After reading those I think I will opt for a pristine playfield and put Mylar around pops or strategic areas if it is not already there.

YIKES! That looks amazing. The sound is immersive. I think this pin will be one for the ages. At least that is what I'm hoping!

I'm a day one order and am very much banking on this being a great game and I don't want to be a downer. That said, after watching the first few minutes of that game play I thought it looked somewhat boring. Pop-ups were cool but when they were down it didn't seem like much was going on. I've waited this long and am in for $7500 SE (I think I still owe about $3k) so will finish waiting it out.

I really hope I'm wrong in that assessment.

I agree. That is why I'm not overly freaked out. Other gameplay has seemed better. Sometimes I think it would be better if I didn't ever look at this thread and just wait until I get the call from doughslingers telling me he needs the rest of my money and the pin is being shipped.

Always an excellent reminder. I'm glad I spent the entire day with my loved ones. I am very thankful for that! I know many, many people do not have that kind of opportunity.

Is that the all new "Hobbit of Oz" cabinet pictured?

Very exciting but what jumped out to me is the "full production in January" part. I wonder how much 'full production' is facilitated by having a bunch of mechs ready to install. Sounds to me like we won't be seeing any customers getting pins until at least mid January by the time things are assembled and pins are shipped. More likely end of January or February is my guess.