Yes - it needs a lot of force to lift. I thought I was going to break mine until it finally started to shift and I gave a huge sigh of relief.

I found that after I reinstalled my backglass that I had to do some minor adjustments to its position to get the LCD screen bezel to be even all around. If I have the backglass all the way down then the LCD bezel at the bottom shows too much.

Mine does go down all the way into the bottom channel - but I then have to lift it slightly to get the LCD bezel nicely aligned. I suspect in your case that you'll need to apply a little more downforce to get it further into the bottom channel. I really think JJP could have achieved a nice snug fit rather than this backglass "glued in" effect.

I'm just ordering mine now as well. These certainly cover my main areas of concern, i.e. the shooter lane, Radagast and Balin holes and the Smaug ball drop. That said, I did start to wonder how likely the Radagast and Balin holes were likely to get damaged and worn as they are - thoughts anyone?

Just email him and he will send you a request for payment

I added some of the included packing foam to the Smaug drop. Works nicely as the ball does a double bounce directly into the hole. I had a visible dimple after just a few games. I'd hate to imagine what a 1000 would look like.

I'd expect that the Rad and balin holes will slowly be chewed out on those corner profile sections. I thought I already saw it happening on mine. I'll double check.

I used mylar on the Smaug hole Two sheets and no problems

Cliff uses extra thick Mylar for the Smaug drop.

Not home to look at my machine to check before ordering cliffy's....

Are you guys putting cliffy's switch slot protectors on your inlanes ?

Does he have such a thing? Stainless drop protectors would be awesome.
The factory should have applied mylar already.

I believe he means these : http://www.passionforpinball.com/switchslot.htm

Cliffy makes awesome stuff!

Those things rock!
Has anyone used them, or have any comments about these?

They are not needed on this pin. They are only needed if the ramps drop the ball on the switch or on the exposed wood just above the slot. The Hobbit deposits the ball above this area and JJP also put Mylar under the area to protect from the drop. But I would (and did) get the whole kit that Cliffy's offers. It's a well thought out kit that is needed to protect exposed areas of this game. Beware though: it does take a bit of disassembly to install the hole protectors. The shooter protectors install just like the Cliffy's do on any other pin.

So I accidentally did a factory restart and not the 3 barrel bumpers like to fire randomly.
Do I need to adjust somethings in the settings?
Also, is there a solve for the Smaug ball catch magnet so it grabs the ball more consistently? Half the time the ball just screams over the magnet and drops into the hole.

Should hobbit owners also get the rollover protectors like the ones used in WOZ?
http://www.passionforpinball.com/WOZ/LionPro1.jpg

Software question. What's the deal with the mode 'the bait'
It asks you to hit the right ramp or right orbit. But it keep the 2 x beasts up so you can't hit make the shot. If you hit the beats it makes a sound but nothing happens. I think I hit the beasts 3 times each. At some point when there is 5 seconds left 1 of them went down but don't know what triggers it.

Glad you asked....I try to skip that mode if I can. I don't know how to complete it.

You have to drop the blocking beasts by hitting the left ramp or left loop. That will drop a beast for a bit and give you a shot the hit the previously blocked shot. It is tough. The beast will come back up shortly, so best to bring a multiball into this mode.

Yep those are them. They work great on machines which need it. South Park is a great example of trashed drop zones in inlanes with no protection. (There's tones of other that's just the first one that popped in my head)

Thank you to crwjumper for informing me that I can pass on those.

Left ramp then right ramp should be easy enough. I can't hit the orbits or holes to save my life so this mode will never be complete for me!

Also noticed that visually there is no difference between an attempted mode and a completed mode. They both have the yellow Border. Wonder if that means that for the final mode you just need to attempt 31 modes... And maybe complete the 3 x Arkenstone modes..... And not actually complete all 31

I see others have answered your question, but you should also checkout the awesome Rulesheet that tiesmasc is working on (https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/the-hobbit-rulesheet).

Sorry for delay, out of town!
Still no idea as to what the screw is for. Victor at JJP couldnt determine either. He said he "walked out to the assembly line and couldn't find that size screw anywhere". Must be something that JJP buys pre assembled!!!

Dup

That looks like the screw they holds the power cable cover on. Certainly long enough.

As far as cliffys go... I just bought the shooter eject protectors.
I put mylar in the smaug drop area and I don't think the left and right holes get banged hard enough to warrant the protectors (but I'll keep a close eye on them).

I got my fix kit last night. Just to let you all know, I was able to install all 4 pop up blockers without removing anything. I used a power driver with drive extension. It really wasn't bad other than dropping a couple screws and having to search for them in the playfields mechanical mayhem. Lol. Post works great, pop ups look good, and I also got the glass extension plastic and that works well too. I'll get around to installing new ramp flaps when I have more time and ambition. Anyway, great job jjp, and big thanks to Frank at jjp for much help.

New ramp flaps?

Did you need to adjust your Warg at all? I did a dry run with my protector and the Warg hit the protector every time.

Yeah the Warg is a tight fit. I had to do a lot of work to make it just right.

I am out of town for next 3 weeks so will have to look when I get back! Thanks for the post!!

Didn't have any problems with the Warg hitting my protector and its the aftermarket one. You might have to trim the protector back a bit away from the PF Warg Hole.

No adjustment needed on any pop ups. It is tight, but works great. Really not looking forward to installing the ramp flaps though. Game is playing great though.

Ramp flaps?

Anyone else had issues with he ramp flaps being quite high off the playfield?

I've pushed the Ramps down and screwed them in and that has removed some of the slack but there is still gaps.

Video of the issue : https://vimeo.com/180725302

And after res screwing them down.

https://vimeo.com/180726925

I thinking this isn't a long term fix.

Yes, lots have that issue. I hear a fix is coming soon. Some may have it already??

Here is what I have done not very Nice but it works

image (resized).jpeg

Those are my ramp flaps the pinball has just 35 games

Yeah looks like they've been through a war. How the hell can they send a fix for that as they're riveted onto the ramp.

Ahh so no point logging a support ticket then right?

Let JJP know about your ramp flaps. I got my Hobbit a couple of weeks ago and the ramp flaps are made of spring steel (Blueish). JJP is aware and is producing these as a resolution.

My new blue flaps came with my fix kit per my request. The ramp has to come off and new rivets need installed which came with ramps. It's going to be a pita I think.

Hmmm...I asked about those just last week and was told they're not ready yet. My kit is on its way supposedly without any ramp flaps.
I have to bend mine down frequently.

Does anyone know what the ring button does during Arkenstone modes?

Not sure....but I would like it to be something like throw pine cone and it would register a hit on the warg

Try as I may, under pressure the Warg is impossible to hit at times...for me.

Don't feel bad. Under pressure I find damn near *everything* hard to hit.

Hey my ramps came looking a bit dirty / milky like there's a residue there...you guys use anything to shiny them up a bit?

I recall seeing an extra figure on the barrels in earlier promotional material.

On my Le I only have a single barrel rider figure.

I assume this is normal and hasn't fallen off somewhere?

Try traping ball and backhanding.

Normal