I sense a bit of frenzied panic by the Pinside faithful here. While I agree what was shown of the Hobbit in Chciago was lacking, I think we need to look a bit at history here. JJP had its struggles with making deadlines for WOZ too ( I am opening a NIB WOZ this weekend). And frankly, nothing would have lived up to the hype anyway. It is sort of like the stock market-you buy on the rumor and sell on the news. Give JJP a chance here. Some of this will get fixed. And realistically, in today's business environment with the heavy tax structure and high mandated costs of full time employees, $7500 for a machine of this complexity really isn't out of line. The LCD, RGB LED lighting, and intensive intrinsic diagnostic and repair technology all have real value. (As an aside, it was interesting to me in this on-line, on-screen era, people are still hyped about color DMD's. Moreover, I am surprised the pinball culture and industry even still embrace DMD's.) So relax and allow things to play out here a bit longer. JJP has sat on your $ for 1 1/2 years already. Give it more time before you cancel. If you cancel now, all you are doing is relinquishing your chance to buy TH SE for $ 7500 and replacing it with the opportunity to buy at $9000. Granted, a clever play by JJP, but so be it. Ten years from now, TH will be in the pinside top 20, and probably the top 10 based on its technology and complexity of game play. I doubt if the same will be true for Star Trek, Tron, Iron Man, Avengers, TWD, X-men, Mustang, and so much of the other drek Stern has churned out recently.....remember RCT??? JJP, unlike Stern, has allowed us to watch the development of this game during much of its progress. And I suspect that the pinside response to earlier renditions motivated him to make some significant changes, e.g., dump the 4th flipper and get rid of the ballchinian goblin on the cabinet. And although time is short, hopefully the most recent criticisms will guide JJP even further. And besides, if JJP doesn't get it right, your copy of the Hobbit will become quite rare and valuable as one of just a few manufactured by what could become a relatively short-lived company (NOT my wish by the way). Bottom line....sit tight and chillax!!!!

You naysayers may be correct. It may all become clear to us in the next few months. But perhaps it will take a few years before the full value and impact of this game will be understood.

Hi. I opened a NIB WOZ this weekend. It exceeded my expectations for beauty, quality, and play. I have a TH pre-ordered and fully paid for. Although there is always uncertainty in all decisions we make, I suspect TH will also ultimately be a great game. JJP' s business model does not work unless the games produced are top-notch.