It's only 12:44. Seriously, it would be nice to have one, but I need to make room first.

Dupe thread, labtroll.

There will be a couple a TPF no matter what, yeah?

The other one is locked in the basement and will never be shown the light of day.

Come on, let's see some Hobittsis.

Bring on the pop ups. I'm drinking these tonight! Found at BevMo. Looking forward to 2016!

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I assume not mods will be announced or hinted until a few machines have shipped, correct?

I might as well post to the 2016 thread. Here's to hoping I see a Hobbit pin in my house sooner rather than later.

Looking forward to the Hobbit 2017 thread. -removed-

Who is getting the 2017 Hobbit Update Thread ready? Too early?

hobbit beer? how interesting . . . . . .

It's not great. Overpriced for what you get. The Game of Thrones series from Ommegang was/is better, but even that's not that great. No need for gimmick licensing on beer!

Atleast the Hobbit pinball is better than GOT pinball..

Hey look, you're posting in all the hobbit threads just like me. That is a witty joke you made right free someone else made it. Almost original.

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The other Hobbit 2016 update thread was much better.

I'm a TBL pre-orderer only so far, but I like TH too and things feel familiar here. Okay if I hang out while I await a 2016 Big Lebowski update thread?

I'd guess only the text was photoshopped. That was most likely the Engineering Sample Game that made a stop for some fun on its way to Ted.

WTB a Hobbit! You want out, I want in, I have cash!

Wasn't photoshopped numbnuts

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Call jack and ask him when the first machines are shipping, maybe you can get a better estimate since nobody here knows anything

I was thinking the same thing. Anyone else calls someone "numbnuts" around here and they get destroyed. He does it, and he gets two upvotes.

Such is life, I guess.

Numbnuts is actually a term of endearment in Minnesota

Yes, it is a term of endearment. He must be in love with me because I grew up in Bemidji, MN.

Actually true, Bryan Kelly calls me that all the time

You're lucky. He calls me an asshole.

Based on average temp it's factually accurate. When they get sick of calling each other buddy they switch to numb nuts and giggle.

Because their nuts are actually numb.

I didn't realize that The Hobbit has a Monkey Mech. Per the "close & Lock the coin door" info sheet, it does.

Is that an actual production game? or the initial beta test batch?

edit - it looks like a test pin zooming in on the center ramps - looks like you can see the ball trails

It was an engineering sample. It is going to Ted for programming work after.

damn you cut right to the chase don't you.

3 current hobbit threads.... (4 if you count the basement)?

seems like at least 1-2 too many?

Death match of

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Meh....

seems pretty simply:

kill the 2 that have dates attached because..... who the hell knows what dates of anything jp-related might be.

The OPs could request that, but I don't think we can.

Is JJP going to be at CES?

I don't see JJP listed in the exhibitor list on the CES website...

The 2015 thread and the 2016 thread have a lot in common. NO UPDATES!!!

happy belated birthday JJP

From Pinball News

Date: 2nd January 2011, updated 21st January 2011

It's a headline we've used a few times over the years, while the companies and people concerned have enjoyed varying degrees of success.

But now coin-op manufacturer and retailer Jack Guarnieri has announced his plans to become the second US-based pinball maker.

Speaking on the Spooky Pinball podcast, Jack explained how he owns a number of companies, but is probably best known in the pinball world for his Lakewood, New Jersey-based Pinball Sales firm which has sold thousands of Stern pinballs around the world. Such was his influence, he was able to convince Gary Stern to re-make Lord of the Rings in a special limited edition version in 2009.

However, the decision by Stern Pinball to change their product to a sparser playfield design with simpler rules has hit Jack and Pinball Sales hard. Jack, who is also a Stern distributor, says his customers are educated buyers who enjoy mechanical toys and deep rules. Consequently, he was only able to sell nine of the recent Avatar limited edition machines in the run up to the holiday season. He said you have to make a product your customers like, not one you like.

With Stern as the only major manufacturer of pinball machines, Jack said there was no product left for him to sell, so he's been thinking about what to do about the situation for the past year, and decided to start making his own games.

His new company is to be called Jersey Jack Pinball and work is already underway on the first of the new titles which is to be based on the movie, The Wizard of Oz. Jack has secured a licence to produce both the pinball and a pusher using the Wizard of Oz property.

He said he wanted a theme which is universally acceptable and understood, doesn't offend anyone, provides lots of ideas for mechanical playfield devices, and provides very deep and rich content to be used in the game.

He already has the manufacturing capacity in the US with his Elaut USA company which makes assorted coin-op grabber, pusher and novelty games. He says they currently make more complicated products than a pinball machine, so manufacturing pinball should be no problem.

The Wizard of Oz pusher which is made by Elaut USA and was part of the licensing deal can be seen on the company's website.

The pinball game's designer is Joe Balcer, who also designed games for Stern/Sega/Data East from 1994 until 2003, including Apollo 13, South Park and The Simpsons Pinball Party, and has been working for Jack since May. No other details were released about who else is working on it but Jack hinted several well-known names are already on board to work on the project.

Producing a mechanically rich game with plenty of playfield toys and deep rules doesn't come cheap though. Jack wouldn't give an exact price at this stage but said it would be more than $4,000 but less than $10,000. There would be an initial run of 1,000 special edition 'Emerald City' models of the game, possibly with real emeralds and rubies.

But Jack is also looking beyond the first game to games two and three, and he wants to bring back non-licensed themes, saying the second game probably won't be licensed and game three might be.

He also offered the prospect of making the source code for the non-licensed games available to the pinball community so they could make their own versions, but he tempered that by saying the modified code would have to be uploaded to Jersey Jack Pinball so it could be compiled and then made available for machine owners to purchase, with some of the revenue returning to the new code's programmer.

Jack's plans have not been kept entirely under wraps. Many people knew parts of the story and of Jack's intentions, but this is the first official announcement. Jack told Gary Stern about his plans when the two of them met at the IAAPA trade show in November.

Gary has often said, if another pinball company starts up one of two things will happen - either they will lose a lot of money very quickly and go out of business, or they will take Stern Pinball down. Jack is hoping by appealing to the customers Stern are currently neglecting, he can fulfil and expand the demand for more complex, fully-featured pinball games. Although Gary doesn't think there is room for two pinball manufacturers, Jack says Gary's been wrong before.

Jack is keen to stress he has both the facilities, and the determination to make this new company happen. He says it a brand new venture, but the people involved are all experienced in producing fun games, and he's absolutely determined to succeed.

His timescale is to have Wizard of Oz on the market in time for the 2011 holiday season. It will be exported around the world and be fully RoHS-compliant.

Pinball News will be covering all the latest developments at Jersey Jack Pinball, and we'll be bringing you much more about the new Wizard of Oz game over the coming weeks and months.

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thats an update???!?! Didn't he get those dragons in almost a month ago !?!?

They look like they might need dusted off before installation.

Dusty - LOL!

I think the photo is to show these dragon heads are installed on the spinning mech, which IS progress... I'm glad to see updates, even if seemingly minor.