My wife & I better get in all the games we can on Friday night then.

Maybe ... Maybe not. Pirates was unexpectedly limited. We'll see what is said in less than 2 days. Guessing that the 2nd game reveal of the year is planned for Expo in October, which would mean a line changeover in late September.

I played WONKA at MGC and the flipper power was great in the presentation room at the reveal. They took the pins into the hall the next day and some of the pin's flippers seemed a little weaker and the top one seemed to lag a bit. So ... if you play one of these at a show, keep that in mind. When they set them up before the crowds get there, the power is probably stronger then too.

Pinsider peer pressure. Ya, that's the reason.

I just hope JJP goes back to designs with upper or lower play fields that are innovative in the future. WONKA is fine the way it is, but I like the extra challenge in an upper play field like JJPOTC and WOZ. WONKA is a fun game to play with smooth shots. It seems that Pat stayed clear of playfield holes that would need cliffys to keep them from chipping. The gobstopper hole is not part of the wood play field. The saucer areas should be fine. The wonkavator VUK "might" need something, but only gets used once in a great while. I forgot to look at that more closely.

Agreed. That's why I said Wonka is fine, but didn't want to get too wordy. That JJPOTC ship though … That is a great use of an upper playfield and there is plenty of used real estate underneath it. Love that. Your description of Wonka above is spot on for the top half of the playfield and the upper flipper use. Having designs that are very different from JJP is good.

Think the GB green slime for all of those mods - drips on coin door, side blades. Dripping chocolate fits the theme well and was in the movie.

Pinheads … you don't know what you'll be missing with the SE vs. the LE (Wonkavator multiball carry-over) until you get to play the Wonkavator mutliball. We played a Wonka LE maybe 10 times at the VFW show between yesterday and today. One ball was locked in the Wonkavator this morning and I locked another one in the Wonkavator before lunch (I think I figured out how to do it, but I still don't know what qualifies it). Then this afternoon I locked the 3rd ball and on locking the 3rd ball the multiball started after a brief intro showing the Wonkavator crashing through the roof with the Wilder audio and video assets. There was quite a light show and the multiball lasted probably 3-4 minutes for me. Not sure if I was hitting what I was supposed to, but heard "jackpot" a few times. It was pretty exciting to see that and play that. It might even get better with future code. It would be pretty rare to experience Wonkavator multiball with a SE unless you're a real good player (from my current understanding of the carryover difference). I like the game a lot, the more I play and learn it. At times it is a tough unforgiving game for missed shots. [But currently I still like JJPOTC more.] My deposit for Wonka LE will still stay put. Glad I had the opportunity to play it again. Thanks VFW show, JJP, and Abel for providing the game.

There was a big difference at MGC between the flipper power at the reveal in the presentation room (which was great) and in the main conference hall (not so good). KingPinGames previously stated that they did not adjust flipper power when they moved the machines to the hall. The power was likely a little low with all of those pinball machines on a few of those circuits. A few Sterns and CGC pins had some lagging, slow flippers too at MGC. Others were fine.

No ... the game was at a show. That day I only got back in line during the day about 5 times. It appears that no one else was locking the Wonkavator balls that day (Sunday). When you lock a ball in the Wonkavator physical ball lock, it stays there and carries over from game-to-game until all 3 balls are locked. This is only on the LE and CE though. The SE is a virtual lock and doesn't carry over from game to game.

In theory alone, think of the Apollo 13 game. The ball locks carry over from game-to-game until the 13th ball is locked and then they all get released.

The Wonkavator multiball is just one of the multiballs. Getting 3 balls locked in a single game would be tough for the mediocre casual player. The really good players could probably get it some of the times. For home use, I could see people playing a 4 player game to try to get it. I agree that more instructional tips would be handy. I know that once I saw it lit, I would shoot for the magnet above the upper left flipper that would catch the ball for the initial shot over the right upper flipper.

I'm guessing at Pintastic ... if some of the Wonka kids sign something in the artwork - translite, apron, playfield out lanes ... Probably something if JJP can.

I understand your point based off of the Stern model, but on the flip side, JJP gets to see the first reactions from the public after the reveal, people playing the prototypes at the shows, and streams. They DO make some minor adjustments based off of our feedback if it makes sense and is easy to implement. If the masses really hate something in code, they can adjust. If it is early enough, they can make adjustments elsewhere as well (like the apron art on JJPOTC). I like that they see what the initial feedback is, gather game stats from us mediocre players at shows (like average ball time, number of times different modes run, etc), and adjust. The secret of the new game gets out in a type of game preview, yet they still get a type of focus group to give them some initial feedback before the final launch. I think the 60 day window between prototype reveal and production is fine ... just my opinion.

The other players scores are right underneath the current player's score in a smaller font.

Who's Deeproot?
JJP sure needs to pull him back as soon as that contract is over.

Guarantee that you still will ... at least for a 60 day tryout. You know you eventually will ...

Cartwheel is when the pins leave the facility in the first shipment. Jack will have to hurry back at least by next week for the cartwheel video. Otherwise, Pat and JerseyJen will have to do the cartwheels.

They must have a new design for the magnets ... I can't pick out where the 7 magnets are in that pic. I know there are "non-dynamic" ones above each of the upper flippers, that leaves 5 more.

I asked at the reveal and they said that JJP will not sell the CE gobstopper shooter rod to LE or SE customers. So ... we need to look for aftermarket ones. There is one out there, but it doesn't look nearly as good.

My wife & I played 5 or 6 games on an SE production pin at a location that was quiet enough at the time to hear the sound and call outs. It's not nearly as dramatic and intense or as theatrical as WOZ, Hobbit, or JJPOTC. It is definitely missing that. I think the sounds and call outs are "okay", as it isn't a big contrast to the theme. Yes it could be better in my opinion. Think of the monotone talking TV announcer in DI. Annoys people, but isn't a big contrast to the theme. The witch voice in WOZ annoys some. Sparky in MET, Jacky in AS, the bullying ego in the narration in ACDC. I like all of those as it "adds" something to the game. The DI narration really doesn't "add" to the game, and this will probably be the same way - the general theme makes it acceptable and won't grind at me over time. If it was going to be our only pin, it might get old. The Houdini narration and sound tone IS very annoying to me, but kind of goes with the theme. Oktoberfest is another annoying narration tone, but goes with the theme. Wonka should be fine for us.

What made me disappointed (yet also appreciative) is that the coders gave in to the demand of pinsiders that the SE will have wonkavator locks game carryover in the software and we saw that. Disappointed because that was one of the main reasons I put a deposit on an LE instead of an SE as at the reveal they said the SE would not have a carry-over locks. That was one of the perks for the LE. However, that being said, JJP is likely the only company that will occasionally give in to a big demand from their customers and listen to us and what we want if it can be adapted easily. I really do applaud them for that and it will make the SE game better for pinball leagues and locations. People for the most part just have to accept (but still complain about) some of the Stern game coding.

In playing the SE though, that back wonkavator corner is dark and empty. I'm sure modders will come up with something good for that area though. It's weird though because you consciously loose where the ball is in that back area on the SE. On the LE its the same blind area, but its got the wonkavator mechanism there so it is less of a "thing" on the LE (at least for us). I'm sure others don't feel this … it just struck us really oddly. Because of that (and the wonkavator mechanism and a few other upgrades), we are still going to be in on an LE vs. the SE.

Just our opinions ...

Yes, played the SE at Marvins marvelous mechanical museum yesterday. Had/have an LE on order since the reveal. I was just second guessing with all the bad reviews on the sound. It's fine ... not great, not worth canceling my order. Game play is still great.