Quoted from PanzerFreak:

Even as a JJP fan I agree with that. Its bad enough Stern puts a tiny metal plaque on LE's that you can barely see but a sticker is worse.
Every JJP LE and SE should come with a wood apron with a cool plaque mounted on it like on WOZ ECLE. JJP should have made that a staple for all of their LE and SE games.

Quoted from PanzerFreak:

Has anyone else noticed that the magnet at the drop off for Smaug ball locks doesnt always activate? At times instead of a ball stopping at the magnet and then slowly dropping into the subway it will just go straight through.
I'm concerned that over time that this could cause wear on the playfield around the area where the ball drops into. Maybe one of the balls is magnetized?

Quoted from lukewells:

So things are not going the best with my Hobbit so far.
I'd like to make it clear, that I still do think it is a fantastic game (in theory) but there are a lot of annoyances making the ownership experience not so good right now. I documented a bunch of them in video below, is there a good way to share this info with JJP so they can look at addressing some of the issues?
1) Coils melting
There is clearly a bug with the pop-ups. If the switch triggers multiple times (because the "troll" target switches a little shoddy and vibrate back and forth quickly, even after multiple attempts to adjust them) then it keeps pulsing the power to the coils (so it seems) Eventually the coil melts, it's hard to tell there is even anything wrong, until it’s too late and you have a pop-up error it won't go down anymore.
My Warg melted after 24 games, and my Orc melted after 125 games. There should be a safety timeout in the software at the very least to stop it melting coils.
2) Balls falling off the far left wireform all the time.
This one seems like such a bad design, no idea why it doesn’t have sides like the other wireforms, which would make it so much more reliable. Trying to adjust this wireform perfectly is so frustrating. On mine, the ramp is bad and has a lip which causes the ball to ski-ramp off the wireform, over the ball save post, and down the drain
3) Ball hangups
On pretty much every machine I own, there are little clear plastics attached with angle brackets (either from the factory – or as operator service kits) that deflect balls away from areas in which they can get stuck. On Hobbit, there are a few places where the ball can hang (and have happened to me a few times) so it looks like we need some deflectors to fix them (I have some photos of ball hangs) I think they are made worse by the popups and drop targets sometimes launching the balls in the air.
4) Inability to “rescue” a ball mid game.
On most pins, you can “pause” by opening the coin door, removing the glass and then returning a stuck ball to the shooter lane (especially important in competitions) but on the Hobbit, when you close the coin door (in order to be able to put the glass back on) it immediately fires the ball out, so you can never save them.
5) Playfield lamps “freeze” or crash
During a long game, the playfield lamps will eventually freeze up (some on, some off) and will not return to working until the game is power cycled. I have been told to try swapping the USB cable ports, so I will try this when my game is working again.
6) Parts breaking or falling off
I am collecting a small number of screws of unknown origin in the bottom of my cab, again I am only on 125 plays, so this should not be happening already. Additionally I am finding bits of broken clear plastic appearing in the bottom of the cab (see video) - the source of these is the pop-up mechs, there is a clear plastic U shaped light guide under all the popups, these are clearly not strong enough and are smashing to bits. My first one dropped broken pieces into the bottom of the cab in less than 24 games. This part needs replacing/upgrading on all 4 targets
7) Lights crash if you perform a GI test
After a GI test, playfield lamps will not work at all until the game is power cycled. This is of course a minor issue for software.
8 ) Can’t set the time.
No matter how many times I re-set the time to the correct time in the menu’s next time I check , the time has changed +/- 2 hours. The minutes are always right but the hours change themselves and are never right.
9) Can’t properly disable broken features
If something breaks (see melted coils above) you can disable some of the mechanisms in settings, but there is no broken feature compensation, therefor, the game cannot be played properly and advanced to Into the Fire etc. This is more noticeable on my machine due to the length of time it has spent with popups not working, so therefor not fully playable
10) Rails under playfield do not line up
The rails (with black rubber stoppers) were clearly designed to line up with and “stop” on the lock down bar mech, but the rails miss the mech and are instead leaning on the cab. The problem with this is that it is going to over time damage the front of the cabinet
11) The popups can swallow a ball if they drop down when a ball is at the front (I understand this is going to be fixed)
Obviously these issues are of different levels of importance, but I would like to see some of the more frustrating problems resolved sooner rather than later. I’ve not had much dealing with JJP so far, so I will give them the benefit of the doubt, and assume they will fix things for now (unlike a certain other pinball manufacturer that is completely incapable of dealing with feedback)
Video links :-
» YouTube video
» YouTube video

Quoted from ikrananka:

Couple of new issues have reared their head on my Hobbit LE:
1. As others have reported, the strength in the plunger seemed to be getting weaker with use and so I was thinking about buying a stronger plunger spring. But now I am clearly detecting a lot of friction in the plunger itself and it is starting to feel like it is sticking as it is pulled out. Any ideas how to best lubricate a shooter lane plunger? Or is their a plastic insert that may need replacing in a similar style to those used inside coils?
2. After only a few hundred games my left slingshot rubber snapped - literally. Completely clean tear. Looking over the other slingshot rubber I can see that this has a small tear. I have no problem with replacing rubbers after a decent amount of use and wear and tear, but these slingshot rubbers are failing way too soon. Anyone else had similar issues?

Quoted from brg126:

I just picked up a hobbit LE, so far I love it, beautiful game. But I am pretty sure it has a shaker issue. When the shaker comes on it seems to buzz, then barely shake at all. Quick shakes are heard, but not really felt. Longer shakes seem to work, almost like it is winding up.
I did a test using the coil utility, and did not get the noise. Go figure. Maybe it only comes out during slower speed shakes?