gordonshumway I struggled with the loops as well, and with practice was able to get pretty reliable. Still it’s one of the first to go if I don’t play for a few days. Not sure I have any great advice. It’s like any wide angle shot in pinball. You have to let the ball travel further toward the tip of the bat than seems safe, and one ends up losing some down the middle while dialing it in. I struggle to hit the right hole reliably but I hit it a fair amount on accident when aiming for the loop, which isn’t such a bad thing. Stick with it my friend. You’ll get it eventually.

None that I can see.
My game is pretty dialed in.
I have very few issues at all.

The game explains it fairly well if you look st the status screen.

To get to each of the 3 mini-wizard modes, you need to earn the 4 jewels in the corner, as you mentioned, then start the “Arkenstone mode” by hitting one of the 2 gobble holes.

The jewels are started by

-making it to Erebor (top right, hit the spinners enough times)

-finishing any mode; (top) started by hitting the right ramp when Lock is not lit (or cancel the lock with the ring button)

-start Beast frenzy multiball (lower left; hit each of the pop up mechs when marked “ready”, must be in same ball)

-start Smaug multiball (top left; lock 3 balls)

-collect all dwarf targets (lower right; starting feast frenzy)

Then you’ll get a sound effect and some callouts and the gobble holes will start flashing. Hit 1 to start “into the fire”, et al. Then Repeat for the barrels and battle of the 5 armies. Things get harder to start, but it’s roughly the same thing

To kill Smaug, you need to hit jackpots and super jackpots a WHOLE bunch of times. I don’t remember how many, but the good news is it’s cumulative - when you start Smaug multiball again, it will remember where you are. Eventually once you get enough Super Jackpots, you will he told to lock a ball to prepare the Black Arrow. You do this by hitting the right ramp. Get the ball up the ramp, it will lock in the kickback area. The ball will get fired to the upper right flipper. You need to (in one shot) hit a now-flashing target in the Dwarf area. I’ve done it only once. When you hit it, the game goes crazy, then goes dead. There is yet to be anything more cool in any pinball game. Good luck!

+1 on both of those

Also: there should be a software ball save for when the kickback misses. And this should also be added for your (2) from above.

Practice. Once you get it down, it's one of the smoothest orbits you will ever hit. Also, add machine oil (just a drop) on each side of the spinners. Gets you to Erebor faster and just feels, sounds, and looks great when you RIP them.

Stringing orbits shot together is also very rewarding - and cool to see and hear.

I'm having Spider issues.... well the beast spider anyway.

Before beast mode starts the ball wouldn't even hit the spider and it would register a hit... a little annoying but a free hit doesn't ruin the game play.

Now however a full blow on any angle fails to register as a hit. That does ruin the game play as you can't get to beast multiball. I took a quick look but I can't see what the mechanism is that registers the hit. Assume switch not opto.

Anyway being a bit lazy before going to the manual but wondered if anyone here had a quick answer.

Cheers
DGM

Your leaf switch inside the beast needs adjusting. Free hit you need to slightly pull towards the back away from the beast head a bit, no hit you need to move it slightly closer to the head

gordonshumway 7 degrees might be a little steep. Why not switch it up a little and see how you like it? It’s your game after all and it’s supposed to be fun!

7 degrees is fine I've had mine set there since I bought it. Might even make it steeper

7.2 degrees seems optimal on my game.
Game plays perfect.

Its a leaf switch behind the character head.
Check to see if a wire fell off or was cut to that switch, if its not registering.

Adjust the switch so that its very close but doesnt activate when the mech raises and lowers.

Mine has about 1/16" gap, maybe a hair less.

They are easy to work on if you remove the stop nut at the bottom, unplug the switch and coil and just pull out the whole unit.

I’m betting on a wire - those mechs hammer up and down fast and if the wires aren’t properly dressed they can get snagged

I think so too.

But also the clear plastic switch guide often breaks off and the switch can go sideways or bind up.

The guides should have been made out of Delrin.

Mines around 7 also pinballinreno & wolv3 , but what’s right for us might not be right for @gordonshumway. He’s feeling frustrated and like it’s fast. Hobbit just might not be his cup of tea in the long run, but no harm in experimenting a little to make sure. When you buy an $8000 toy it should be fun and part of what’s you get for the price is the right to set it up however you like. At least that’s how I see it.

Getting into the fire is fun! It means you hit one of the holes AFTER collecting all the arkenstones by: winning a mode, reaching erebor, collecting all the dwarves, getting all the beasts, starting a smaug multiball. Completing the same steps starts barrel escape and doing them again starts battle of the 5 armies. That would be a lot of pinball and I haven’t done it yet, but lots on this thread seem to do it regularly. Have you killed Smaug yet gordonshumway ? I did it on accident once and managed since then to do it on purpose 3 more times. It’s my favorite objective in the game (so far), and it’s so satisfying I try for it every time I play. Total rush.

Read my post ^^

Hey Gordon,

I sent you a PM. Feel free to give me a call and I'd be happy to explain the game to you. I love mine.

-Joel

I'm late to the party, but joining the club with a Smaug Edition next weekend if all goes according to plan.

I don't have much of an opinion of the game yet, but one thing that stands out in my memory is the LOUD grinding sound of the drop targets resetting. I just watched the JJP live stream of the 3.0 code, and see that it's still very much present. I'm honestly surprised it made it through QC, I nearly had a heart attack the first couple times I heard it.

I've searched the threads and most people seem to just say yup, it's loud. *shrug*

I was hoping that since the prototype/early model that I first played, a software update might have changed the behavior of the bank reset to do a quick sequence of the individual target resets rather than the loud as hell, ratcheting of them all going up at once.

I'll be reading through the whole 140+ pages of this thread soon enough, but just wanted to see if there is any clever fix out for this, or if it's just something that everyone lives with.

It's way louder with the glass off but still pretty loud. When I'm playing it I don't really even notice it anymore

I wish I knew of a way to get them quieter too - I just live with it ...

I've got a lead on a 1st run LE. It has the new popups and updated left rail guide installed along with latest software. Is there anything else I should be looking for on a first run LE?

It also has a factory installed playfield protector on it which I would want to remove. How much work am I looking at to get that thing off? I'll also have to readjust the LOCK rollovers correct?

Removing the protector is simple if you don’t want to save it - just cut it off in pieces. Takes moments that way. Lock rollovers possibly, yes.

When I first heard it I was surprised as well. And my friends always comment on it. But now that I've had the game so long it has just become a part of it. I actually think I would miss it if it was gone – ha ha.

Like other nuances in many of the games that we have, it's just an aspect of that particular game. Maybe take a deep breath and just try and accept it as part of the game that we love so much.

Recently bought back in with an LE Hobbit, but it didn't have any of the factory fixes done. Does anyone know, or have a link to the best way to do the Beast insert install? I remember a post about doing it without having to remove the entire mech, but I can't find it. If I have to remove them thats fine, but the easier the better!

Does anyone have the washer size they used on the Beasts to make sure the wires don't get cut?

Thanks!!

I'm looking at possibly buying a Hobbit Smaug. Is there a more detailed explanation on things to look for/change? I see you've mentioned "beast mod". Is that a change or improvement and if so what's involved? TY

Ramp flaps were changed from Stainless steel to blue steel (stainless was curling up)

Beasts would trap balls, and so white plastic inserts were created to prevent that. They should be visible directly in front of every beast.

Left wireform had ball trap issues and was changed during production. You can buy a new wireform, but they also issued a post to replace a screw which solved the issue for some people.

Stronger springs were sent out for the drop targets as some of the springs apparently broke in early models.

Oh and some new mylar was sent out to put around the beasts.

I ordered mine from JJP and it was assembled on July 14, 2016. It came with Pop up protectors and mylar, the correct wireforms on the left side, and proper ramp flaps. I guess any assembled after that has those changes.

Have curling ramp flaps. Did you guys reach out to Jersey Jack to get replacements?

No I have that. I was just responding to Truejedi about all the fixes. My Beasts do not have mylar behind them. I have the mylar kit and will put some down soon.

Still looking for a washer size to prevent beasts cutting wires if anyone knows it!

I stopped by Lyons Classic Pinball a few weeks ago and the owner had an external powered subwoofer attached to an Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle. All I can say is WOW, I need one of these on my hobbit. I know that their have been brief discussions of this topic but I am curious to get recommendations on subwoofer make/model for The Hobbit? Also, I assume this just connects up to the leads on the existing cabinet sub? Oh yeah, is it possible to connect a single subwoofer to multiple games?

I’ve got a Polk PSW10 on mine and it’s awesome, especially when Smaug talks. Using the L and R inputs it’s possible to hook one sub up to two pins.

Has anyone ever gotten a software update to work with a memory stick larger than 8 Gig? The manual states exactly 8 Gig vs. at least.

Yes, a bunch of times.

Pinnovators has a submixer that you can adjust the volume of each input for fine tuning. You can connect up to 4 pins, but the sound is pretty far away at that point. I have found that 3 pins is the max for me, with the sub under the center pin. Sound quality is just fine with multiple pins going.

A sub is "almost" a must have for Hobbit - it really makes a difference on this one more than a lot of other pins.

Ordered the Polk....thanks!
BTW - Best Buy has this subwoofer on sale for $99.95

Does anyone else just pound Thorin to activate extra ball? I’ve been doing it lately with good results. I noticed awhile ago that my best scores involved extra ball (duh) but never really tried for it. It’s a new tool in my belt. Slowly, surely, I feel I am unlocking the secrets of this game. Hobbit is a journey, unlike any other machine I know of.

yes, it's a simple install. You can tie, use alligator clips or solder wires to the the terminals of the sub speaker in the cabinet, run the wires out the back of the cabinet where the grills are and attach to your subwoofer, the exact same way you would hook up normal speakers. that's it, 5 minutes.

And I'm part of the club! First run LE, #866 of 1500. Just updated her from 2.0 to 3.1. She only had 199 games on her, game 200 was my test play! It does have the old ramp flaps which are curling. The ramp will be going back to JJP this coming week to have the new flaps installed. All other required modifications had already been done. Custom splash screen also loaded now.

Almost 400 miles of driving today to get her here, just shy of 8 hours on the road. As far as I know she is the first JJP machine ever in St. Mary's county MD.

Is anyone interested in a full playfield protector? She came with one and I'm thinking about taking it off. It does look like it would be a lot of work to get off without cutting. Can or should it be waxed? Thoughts on them in general?

I also need to get some Titan rings on order and plastic protectors from PinBits.

Has anyone done gold balls for the captive balls? I think it would look pretty sharp. I would just need to find them.
20190607_184017 (resized).jpgSoMD Smaug (resized).jpg

Yes - they look great. Contact hotrodarcade.com (which is also pinballplating.com). I also got gold colored (not really plated) plastic coin return pieces for the coin door from him. It looks great! There are pics in the gallery that I and others have posted with the gold newton and captive ball.
http://www.pinballplating.com/quick-exchange-parts/newton-ball

Congrats! I just played a long game on mine tonight. It's been ignored for a while because of my JJPOTC. Such a great game and theatrical experience that pulls you in. I gotta give it more plays again.

Had a nice 56 minute game tonight...

IMG_1156 (resized).jpg