It blows chunks that some movie exec/blockhead who clearly knows NOTHING about making a pinball game, gets to control how Smaug is integrated into the game.

I don't want to be a thread "downer" by any means, but this (in my opinion) looks to be a "hmmm... pretty cool" type game after seeing Smaug's limited interaction VS "OH MY F'N GAWD!!! I NEED TO BUY THIS!!!" -how I felt until the Smaug reveal.

He steals the balls by being a ball lock. It disappears behind smaug.

BWAAHAHAHA !!! thats funny

I wonder if the balls just drop straight off of the divertor near Smaug into the subway? I would think that type of drop would damage the plastic of the subway? It must be reinforced or there's something missing from the game that allows the balls to go into Smaugs mouth.

For me, I think upgrading my pre-order to the SE will be a no-brainer. In fact, I just received an email from JJP stating all I need to do is to email Jen. Already done.

I'm in for my LE at $7500. New price is $8500 and the SE is $9000.

Alex,

For the Smaug Gold Special Edition will the interior rails and ramps have a gold powder coat or does that apply to external parts only?

Thanks!

We're really at the point of 10K pins. All these extra items make the price climb quickly. It's all about how fun the pin is. You can buy two really fun pins for 10K.

After letting things settle for a bit I love the art package on the smaug edition, but after seeing the red and gold contrasting on smaug, I don't know if I want an all gold smaug. Pinchroma can you see what you can do about getting a pic posted of the gold smaug? I know this weekend is probably going to be nuts, but before the deadline of Dec 31 would be great.

I know I'm going to get torched for this, but I'm actually kind of OKAY with a sophisticated Smaug head. Smaug isn't a pea-brained T. rex, nor a nonverbal Balrog. He's brutal, obviously, but also has some suave Bond villain in him. I thought the animations which appeared to show him talking were well done.

That said, if not being bashed nor eating pinballs, I still would have like to see him shoot out pinballs. Smaug does, after all, breathe fire, I would point out to the film exec.

Not disappointed, and want to see the coordinated sound/light shows that appear to be becoming one of JJPs specialities.

That's the dumbest thing that I've ever heard of.

Where is the YouTube video of smaug?

Pinchroma,

As I think others have mentioned, it would be great to see the gold Smaug. I'm changing to the SE regardless but it is curious to see if the loss of contrast between the red Smaug and the gold beneath him is a significant drawback of having a gold Smaug. Any chance of seeing a photo?

Thanks for keeping us updated!

Cool. I hope that's the case as I think the entire package in gold (exterior and interior parts like WOZ) would look amazing!

I agree on this. The Smaug we saw tonight looks beautiful.

All gold? Hmm. I'd like to see it. I think I might prefer Smaug SE with a Regular head.

I hope that we get to see some full game play videos from Expo soon. I want to see how the ball moves, how the ramps work, and hear more of the music and call outs.

Alex: might I suggest that you guys get a gameplay vid up on the website as soon as possible?
I think if you can get into the rules and show the flow, it might win back some people who are currently underwhelmed by Smaug (or is it "Sm-oww-g"? lol )
If you look at LOTR, there's not a lot of interaction there either (just the balrog bash toy) -but the game is amazing. So Hobbit could be far better in all fairness.

I like the original LE better, sure Smaug looks good on the cab but I will never really see it and I think the seaside bronze coloured armor is very cool indeed, no interest in a gold smaug toy, like the red and this pin looks great, wide open layout should be fast and furious.

Dude, you're missing the point... The Smaug LE costs $500 more and is available for a limited time only which automatically makes it better. Order now or else you'll miss out! Jack will probably raise the price again and offer another SE in a few months so you better hurry

yep, I would like to see that also. The cab art looks great on this model just need to see what gold smaug looks like. Also is it possible to get the cab art and the red Smaug?

I would like to see a picture of the right outlane nudge save that sends the ball back to the plunger.

Thanks Alex!

Are there any toppers announced for the hobbit LE/Smaug SE? Does the Bag End toy do anything other than provide a static toy?

Nice work on the game! Looking forward to video soon.

Thanks Alex. I'm really considering switching from TWDLE to this. My question really falls on how long my expected wait for delivery would be. If say March of 2015 the switch makes sense to me. I'll chat with my distro.

The Hobbit is cool and all but I'm seriously still waiting on the Jar Jar Bink's LE of Pinball 2000's Star Wars Episode: 1. When the hell is the pre-order for that coming out? Seems like I've been waiting a millennium for it.

Good to know. Thanks again Alex (and Jared). Great night on Pinside tonight. Can't wait to play the hobbit.

It seems easy enough to swap out the gold Smaug for a red Smaug if you do the SE slide...

Will the hobbit be out for play this weekend?

Jack can't deal with these guys, he needs to grow some balls and argue with them. He should've just told them "sorry but this is a pinball machine, it's all about a steel ball being bashed everywhere, we're not gonna risk bankruptcy for the preservation of Smaug's sanctity, he's not Jesus, we need to be a competitive pinball company".

But he instead rolled over and played dead for them.

A couple more observations/questions now that I'm back awake and looking at the PF photos:

1. The book blocks a lot of the view to the pops/barrels
2. The standup targets under the book seem somewhat out of place when compared to all of the drop targets elsewhere on the pf
3. I'd love to see some really interactive Smaug topper
4. Hopefully the gold Smaug will be either really cool or it will be easy to switch out to a red Smaug if one upgrades to the SE (which I will be doing).

Loving this and can't wait to get mine. There maybe other things to note but, alas, time to go to work somewhat sleep deprived.

Y'all have a great Friday.

I'm surprised jjp didn't have a mode chart or a pre planned gameplay video

The individually controlled drop targets are very nice, but I could swear I've seen this in older games. Am I right? I'm thinking Bally Vector has this feature?

Alien Poker and Laser Cue

Alex, since this is a Q/A thread, I have a question for you. I'm a Hobbit pre-order customer and, like many have expressed, I'm disappointed with the lack of full body or "interactive" Smaug and the lack of interactive Bag End (a book?), but we aren't going to change that at this point. I think the bigger draw back for me is that these elements don't look tied in to anything. If you look at the back of the machine it just looks unfinished to me. So my question is - Is the back area of the machine finished or is there still more under development? This can be purely aesthetic: dressing up the ramps, adding a bigger "mountain" in the background that Smaug is revealed out of and covers up portions of the ramps so the ball enters (disappears briefly) and exits the mountain. Maybe do something unique with the backboard. Add some decorative plastics. Just spit-balling some ideas, but it just needs something to tie the machine elements in the back together - just looks blank. Can you please find out if there is any further work being done on the aesthetics of the back?

For the record, I think the cabinet and art package options look great; I expect the gameplay and rule set will be awesome and innovative - as a customer I just want the whole package to be next level and the back of the playfield looks slapped together.

Scott

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This game is looking pretty perfect. Only the book I do not like . . . and that is minor and there will likely be mods for it anyway . . .

Absolutely, this is what I was trying to convey in another thread, you said it better than I could.

There needs to be a bit of molded mountain plastic covering portions of the ramps up top. Kind of like White Water.

White-Water_0002_Upper-Playfield.jpg

Will the apron be interactive?

TigerLaw, I can't wait to see the mods that the guys on Pinside come up with. I bet they'll be sweet.

What is a replacable Artwork for the cabinet ?!!?

a decal

a plastik

i dont understand the "upgrade"

Well, gotta be honest - I, too, am a little disappointed in the Smaug reveal. I expected, check that, hoped for a more omnipotent "toy" on the playfield. Something that really drew your attention visually and kept you engulfed via gameplay interaction. But, read on...

That said, I do think the sculpture is very good. I like the use of the colors, the coins, etc. (not sold on a gold Smaug yet...) and the premise is definitely good (dragon coming out of the mountain and so forth). Would I have preferred to have Smaug directly interact with the ball? Perhaps... But if I analyze the concept a bit more, I think Smaug's interaction, while not directly (except maybe the ramp diverter which is his tail according to JJP) with the ball, will be significant in the overall game. I view this as a huge plus.

If Smaug is following the ball and incorporating a ball lock feature and providing direction on what to do next and perhaps taunting you and moving his mouth to speak and having simulated fire and so on... I would suggest that is extremely interactive - not with the ball, but with the player.

To me, The Hobbit pin looks like an adventure. This is obviously a game that will have seriously long ball times which will take you on a journey. (Of course, if you suck at pinball like I do, it'll still be a short journey!) Forget it if you're looking for a quick pin fix, a 10 minute "nooner" if you will - this game is probably not for you! 28+ modes, a crap-ton of things to shoot at, a toy interacting directly with you instead of (or more than) the ball, great playfield, great sound, great light show. I'm definitely staying in on this. Of course there will be limitations on the extent of the player/Smaug interaction, but this, in my opinion is damn cool overall.

A little more tempering of my enthusiam: I do think the book is silly. I would have at least preferred a limited interaction feature, like the crystal ball on WOZ or Jay's Palantir mod for LOTR. I was also hoping for other interactive toys - like the rumored apron map or the 5" LCD. But perhaps more will be incorporated later and perhaps what was shown at EXPO is not 100% complete. Although I do know Alex said hardware is 100% complete. Could be it is what it is at this point.

Also not totally enthralled by the sling axes - but that is modder's heaven right there!

Last but not least, I certainly agree with another Pinsider's comment that the top of the playfield, especially around Smaug, looks unfinished. Creating fixed mountain sculptures would be a benefit here and would polish up the area nicely. Could be that JJP is going to offer these as optional factory mods ala Stern.

Overall, I am happy with the machine and am very much looking forward to having it in my house! Now I just need to decide if I want to change to the Smaug SE version...!

I'm loving that layout, very open which I hope translates into speed. Rather have mechanics that make gameplay more interesting than a bunch of toy's that sit stagnant. The book is crap and the mountain could use some detail but all these things are fixable. Really need to see gameplay video.

you also said exactly what I was thinking too. The ramps in the middle need something IMO if they are powder coated that might do it, but they need something.

As for the book, something I'm not sure most people realize is in Lord of The rings the book that Bilbo is writing is There and Back again, which is mostly the story that was in the Hobbit, so the hobbit in places was to be written from the perspective of Bilbo, so I think its kind of cool that they put that in. As a pinball toy, yea not really that good, but I like it for the theme integration.

I also LOVE the map apron, it is AWESOME, I am a huge fan of the LOTR/hobbit maps and its awesome that it is in this game in such a prominent location.

The book is not really adding to the game. Almost anything else sculpted would be better, Bag End landscape, rolling hills, Rivendale, LakeTown, entrance to Mirkwood, Orcs on a river bank looking back at the popers, etc, etc.

some pics, didn't have the vid cam with me at the time.

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