Seems to be hit or miss...although It might help if someone were to make a video of how loud the fans are...I'd hate to think all this is over diff'rent ideas of what "loud" is. I'm guessing that at least part of it.

You must work for Jersey Joe because you get way too upset anytime someone criticizes their games. There's no need to be such an angry person.

From day 1 I was very disappointed in how loud the fan was on my GOT premium. No doubt partly due to the fact that it was my first pin with a fan in it. I think the fan on my Hobbit isn't as loud, but still louder than I'd like it to be.

It's not really a huge issue though because it pretty much disappears when you are playing and have the sound cranked up.

Hey, that was my lunch money for the week.
Not cool man, not cool.

Hi mom.

Lol I'm not angry and I don't know who jersey Joe is. You on the other hand are a raging .

He's the current CEO at JJP...

https://www.linkedin.com/in/harberjoe

Hobbit has new 1.30p Beta code
Ghostbusters last update was over 60 days ago, so not sure what you are talking about.

The they totally different games. I think I've played about 50 games on each but understand the hobbit software more because ive watched more footage online. Will talk more about hobbit since its the one being updated from its base firmware

GB is a short game

Hobbit is possibly the longest game out there (in terms of how long it would take you to do everything in a game without repeating yourself). I really don't think you could do it all in 1 hour.

GB has 9 main modes, Hobbit has 31 main modes.
GB modes need to be played sequentially in 3 tiers - Hobbits can be played in any order as long as you qualify them. You can also choose them while the the ball is on the left ramp before it hits the inlane switch.

GB has 2 Multiballs I know about, i am guessing 1 of the wizards I havent seen like Are you god is a multiball
Hobbit has 4 currently, a 3 ball, 2 ball and 2 x 5 ball. 2 more planned. You can also lock a ball for MODE multiball. which means all 31 modes can be a multiball if you want. So its almost like 31 more multiballs but the objectives in the mode are exactly the same - you just have more than 1 ball to do it with.

I dunno, I will stop there.
The pins are both so different someone could have just these 2 pinballs in their house and it would satisfy both your long and short game needs. There is no need to take sides and this thread has been pretty silly from the start!

I own both.

For the same price, Hobbit OWNS GBLE as far as build quality, value, and tech.

For everything else, I vote The Hobbit.

JJP killed it with the game, and Keith's recent code update makes Dwight's code in GB seem like a newb.

Your $8K is best spent on a JJP machine. Stern could give two shits about the ghosted inserts on my GBLE.

Coming from someone who owns both, give your money to JJP. Much better game and bang for your buck. GBLE and its SPIKE system seems like they cut as many corners as possible to save money, and JJP seems they squeezed everything they could put into the game for the same price. There's simply no comparison. GBLE is fun, but let's face it, it feels like it cost half as much to build.

image_(resized).jpeg

Here's what you get with a Stern machine: ghosted inserts.

You call Stern to tell them and ask for a remedy, and what they'll do to make it right- they tell you to contact your distributor.

You contact your distributor, and they say Stern won't get back to them.

I'm done with Stern NIB's and will be selling one of my Stern's for JJP's game #3.

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You selling that mucked up GB yet? Oh it's not for me, I'm waiting on Stern to admit / fix the insert problems first.

Looks like we have an admission...

That's not an admission. That's an acknowledgement of what people have reported.

While I'm not happy about the ghosted inserts either, we still don't know what Stern is going to do. It's a little early to panic.

The comparisons between these two games is still hard. They're just so different. Ghostbusters has more flow, a much more directed experience, and shorter ball times with short windows where can blow your score up quickly. It's more of an opportunistic game. The Hobbit is a bit more of a shooter's gallery with a very long journey. You need to get through a lot to score high, and you need to have a lot of patience.

They only real comparison between them is that they're both in production now. Gameplay wise, they're just so disparate that they're hard to compare directly. It's like comparing Twilight Zone to Attack From Mars. There's not much 1 to work with.

For Stern this seems like an admission:

"The team is looking into what may have caused the issues"

Considering that the normal practice for Stern is to not admit there are any issues.

Edit: This Just in from another pinsider..

Personally, I would pick GB. I'm just not sure the Whack-a-Demon novelty would have staying power. I had fun playing it repeatedly over a weekend (SFGE), but over a few weeks or months I dunno. It would be "safer" for me to pick GB because it has more traditional play, and I liked it from the first ball.

I liked Hobbit too, but in a "hey, this is different" sort of way. When the "hey, this is different" wears off would I still like it? I don't know, but you have to hit those popups a LOT and I suspect that would get to become repetitive and not so interesting after a while. That's what I *think*, I didn't log enough time on it to prove that theory. Also, this theory only applies to me, personally. Others may think the Hobbit's play style is the best ever, and GB is just another rehash.

Each player has to quantify the things they like best about pins and pick the games that provide the best package that meets those requirements, or gets the closest. The great part is playing as many games as you can to find out which ones strike that chord with you and rockets up to the top of the "I Love..." list. And games don't have to be new releases to make that leap.

Yeah, I suppose so. I sit corrected.

Everyone says GB has flow, I've never played it but in all the videos I've watched I just don't see it as flowy. If anything it's more stop and go.

Pin choice is personal, I'm in on a Hobbit and initially nearly bailed for a GB but at this point I'm so glad I didn't. There seems to be plenty of GBs on the second market even now so may pick one up somewhere down the road.

It's very flowly in its modes. Lots of combo shots and nearly everything returns to the flippers, aside from the left orbit, which dumps to pops. If you hit your shots, everything tends to flow from one thing to the next.

Agreed. IMO, it's also harder to trap effectively on GB than on other pins, due to the drooping flipper alignment that Trudeau chose. My scores on GB (LE and Pro) are much higher when I go with the flow than when I try to trap and shoot. A stop-and-go play style doesn't work on this pin very effectively, at least for me.

Fair point chaps, nice to hear.

I have played GB and own Hobbit. The latest code 1.3 is amazing. I think Hobbit will be the better game when it is finished.

I'm piping in with a meta comment that it's nice to hear some real opinions and responses without making it a fight. I played both. Very fun. I definitely liked hobbit more (and ordered one) but both were awesome. To me, DMD on a new game just seems out of place.

Did you play GB pro or LE?

Are GBLE and Hobbit LE really the same price? I thought Hobbit LEs were more than $7800.00. In any case, you can get a fully featured GB pinball for $6700.00 shipped if you are okay with a Premium. I think Pros are 5200? (not sure), so you can get a Ghostbusters pin for significantly less than a Hobbit. So price wise, GB wins for me.

I do agree though that the Hobbit looks to be a well put together machine with lots of mechs, and the LCD is a nice feature, looks very high end. So on an overall appearance/build comparision, Hobbit does win out. The ghosted inserts on the LE is not acceptable, but I thought Stern did give two shits, in that you posted in another thread that they contacted you about it? Hopefully it will get resolved.

I have only played a GB Pro, have not had a chance to play a Hobbit yet, but I find I prefer shorter ball time games these days than long, and I couldn't stand the Hobbit movies, so on a gameplay/theme standpoint GB wins for me. I may or may not get a Hobbit some day, would need some significant gameplay time to decide, and the gameplay would have to blow me away to get past those movies .

Over the past 2 weeks I've become very torn between these two game since I respect them both.
I have a GBLE fully paid for and holding on delivery for the moment since I am SUPER concerned about the playfield ghosting and other Stern quality aspects.
I played the hobbit at Silverball Museum 2 months ago and liked it but didn't get the full effect because one of the targets was stuck up. But the quality blew me away and I respect quality above almost everything except theme.
Ghostbusters is a dream theme but I actually really like the LOTR and Hobbit movies.

Please give me a thumbs up if you think I should keep my GBLE spot.
Please give me a thumbs down if you think I should try and get a refund and buy The Hobbit.

I played gb on location at an arcade, so I assume it was a pro. Probably not a fair direct comparison, I know. I'd love to see a gble. I'm in idaho and don't know of anyone that got one.

Here's the rub. There are concerns with the current Stern playfields, that's true. Thing is, this will be your only shot at getting an LE. So it's a crappy spot to be in. I have an LE and I've never been so addicted to a pinball machine, but I do have 4 inserts with ghosting on them. I don't notice during play, but it's still a disappointment. But man, the game is absolutely incredible, and I would be really missing out if I had passed on it.

Both games will be available for quite a while. TH is showing up in lots of sales postings, and they're still making more. While you won't be able to get a GBLE, premiums will be in production for a long time too, and there will be a large secondhand market simply due to how many of these games are being sold.

But whatever you do, I would decide for yourself and not base it on thumb votes, because some people are going to do that based on personal agenda, not so much what's really in your best interest.

Being objective, the safer bet is to go with Hobbit given the fact that the playfields on that pin are of high quality, and the same obviously cannot be said for the GB playfields at this time.

Like you said, both pins will be widely available in the foreseeable future (referring to GB Premium). The smart, non emotional thing to do would be to wait for Stern to iron out the issues before buying a GB.

If it were me Ran I would contact Trent and see if you can convert your LE into a GB Premium. There's a pretty good chance that your LE would have insert issues since most of those games have been built already and playfields made. Stern will figure out the error in their clearcoat process soon and make corrections because it will cost them too much money if they don't! By the time Premiums arrive I think you should be in the clear.-no pun intended! Plus you can save $1500 or so off the cost and roll that money into another pin You've waited this long so what's another couple months to get a game with a hopefully worry free playfield!

Own GBLE and THSE, no issues with GB, minor issues (8 screws fell out) , easy fix. Several non pinhead friends just
left, having played several games on each . They quickly talked about the length of each game, GB by far faster, but
they liked them equally.

Very valid point I didn't take into consideration. As is your comment about getting a GBLE later on. I'm just so frustrated about the entire GBLE situation. This is my first stern and NIB pin and not the experience I ever thought I'd have. Guess I shouldn't have been so optimistic...or so naive.
Showed my son videos of TH and GBLE and he loves GBLE more.
Thanks for your thoughts jar155!

If GB didn't have the playfield issues which game would you choose? If your answer is GB than I think the best thing is to wait and pick up a Premium once the issues are sorted out.

I think that even if he lucks out and gets an LE without ghosting issues that it will still be in the back of your mind when you're playing it wondering if the ghosting will show up. I think this ordeal has basically killed off the reputation of the LE. It's kind of like how early WOZ games were with the light boards. I don't think many buyers would seek out an early WOZ game with the 5 volt light boards on the secondary market knowing that those things could blow at any time. JJP stepped up big with the light board issue but there are till plenty of games with the old boards and I know I would avoid these games if I were in the market for a WOZ. We don't know yet what Stern's remedy is for GBLE. I think a new populated playfield is pretty optimisic for any but the worst cases.-where clear has actually chipped off the top of the insert. I think they'll come up with some kind of formula where they will look at what percentage of inserts are ghosted and the severity and go from there. I think most likely it will be either a reduced price unpopulated playfield or free unpopulated playfield depending on the severity. Luckily waiting a bit and getting a Premium should hopefully avoid this situation.

I would hesitate basing a decision on your son's opinion. Five of my machines were selected by my children and they haven't played a single ball in almost 2 years.

Yeah, unless you're a super fan and REALLY want an LE, the premium is an option down the road.

I would choose GB but only by a bit. I actually spoke with Kingpin about TH before they announced GB but didn't pull the trigger due to timing.
I'm probably in the minority and don't actually like the looks of the GB Pre cabinet artwork and LOVE the GBLE Slimer look.
I'm gonna take a deep breath and keep waiting I guess and see if there is some sort of announcement from stern that all the Aug built GBLEs have solid playfields.

If you have some time yet to wait before your LE ships you may as well see what happens and what Stern decides to do. If it were me and I had to make the decision today based on what I know right now I would cancel and get a Premium but a lot can change in a matter of days. Best case scenario is that they figure out the issue before your LE is built and you get to keep the game that you prefer!

Thanks Mike. I respect your opinion (as well as the rest of the old Madison crews opinions) immensely. I guess I'm gonna roll the dice and wait as long as I can for delivery and cross my fingers.
I'll tell you one thing- Stern has lost me forever as a NIB purchaser unless a pinball miracle happens.

This is what makes me hope I don't regret my GBLE purchase. I absolutely hated ST tiers and if GB plays like that or too linear then it will be heading out the door quickly. A deep Hobbit with all those modes is much more to my liking.

You can never go wrong with Keith and Lyman. On the other hand, everything else is a crap shoot.

I'm with you here. I think having one of these guys do the code is a much better indicator of a good game then who designs it.

Set it up close to the door iceman
Linear play never bothered me till GB...I wasn't expecting it to get to me but it did.

Well, its coming in the garage door and it can go right back out.

I like RS but it's not "tier" Star Trek oriented.

Dwight has a huge hurdle to overcome with the awesomeness of TWD and what Keith does.

The game designer takes a big back seat to the code guy always for me.

When you buy a Lyman or Keith pin you know it will play great.

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I hope that Stern addresses both your issues, and everyone else's, but you really need to step down off your soapbox. It's not like you weren't aware of the risks before buying your LE.
I do apologize though: I said it would be a month. Looks like it was two months.