The moment that I saw the sketch of the hobbit playfield it looked familiar.
Big Betty's Truck Stop (which was originally supposed to be a demon truck driver, neat story)
has a 4 flipper layout with strong similarities.
http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=2667
BBTS is a good layout on paper,
I've yet to play a nice once so I can't tell if it works on a nice one.
Most people haven't played the game but I can tell ya the 4 flipper layout
can setup many great multi-ball shots (just not on a late solid state game...)
Here is the photo showing similarities...