At Blizzard Mountain Pinball, we have 37 pinball games including two JJP games - WoZ and Hobbit. Our experience is somewhat different from the norm - since we opened 13 months ago, Hobbit has been far above everything else for earnings. Medieval Madness is 2nd but is about 8% below Hobbit. Iron Maiden is 3rd, Gauntlet (4-player video game from 1986) is 4th, and Wizard of Oz is 5th.

If I go back to the beginning of June when we got our Iron Maiden, and exclude data before then, then Iron Maiden is 1st and Hobbit is 2nd, but they're basically tied. Iron Maiden started off good but Hobbit has caught it over the past few weeks. Iron Maiden still gets a lot of play, though, so we're certainly not disappointed with it.

People are surprised when I tell them Hobbit is our #1 earning game, and has been consistent for over a year. I believe it's because we just do pinball and we're not a bar so we're more family friendly. Kids and families love Hobbit, and I believe the longer ball time helps a lot too. Players like getting more value out of Hobbit!

We have a Pirates on order for Blizzard, hopefully it'll arrive sometime in December. I expect it to do as well as Hobbit. Question is, how much will it will cannibalize from Hobbit and other games?

As for reliability, we've found both JJP games to be about average. Both games have had fairly minor issues overall. Hobbit was down for several days when one of the rollover buttons popped out of the playfield and became a small gobble hole! Woz has had the light board issues typical of this title. Otherwise it's just been keeping playfields clean, adjusting switches, and replacing rings as they split or wear out.

Kevin