I am anxiously awaiting LE #1498 with an order date of 12/13/2012. I was told by Jen that she will ship mid-May. Thanks to TXStargazer3 I have upgraded my order to include RAD-CALS.

I think at that time that was probably an accurate assessment. I am a December 13, 2012, order date and was told "end of May". I think with these recent issues the assemblers are trying to implement the revised solutions into games on the line (makes sense and cents), so production schedule has been slowed up a couple weeks. I don't bug them for updates because I want my game when they are satisfied it's the best it can be.

I am envious. All I get to look at is an amusement park (Kings Island).

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I have been keeping abreast of all "The Hobbit" threads on "Pinside" as I await delivery of my LE. Needless to say the reset issue has me concerned. I really question as to whether this is solely a software problem. If it is code-related then why wouldn't everyone who has installed Version 1.10 have the same problem? Someone mentioned their reset occurred when the ball hit a pop bumper. Couldn't the problem lie with a voltage spike? Spurious voltages have been known to affect the running of software. And maybe the condition could be enhanced by the quality of the cable connections, etc. Just questioning the obvious.

From the looks of things the wires are of various gauges. maybe somewhere 18 to 22. If there is enough slack then I would just splice them. Strip affected wires back about 3/4" and then place them parallel to each other but pointing in opposite direction and slowly twist the bare conductors about each other. Then solder the wires with some Kester 44 or other flux coated solder wire made for electrical use. Before you wrap the wires, buy some heat shrink tubing in the appropriate size (it shrinks roughly half size) and slide a piece up one wire long enough that it overlaps the bare conductors. When finished soldering, slide the tubing over the splice and apply heat to shrink the tubing. Some folks will drag the soldering iron over it, some folks will use a cigarette lighter, us professionals have a dedicated heat gun. That's all, folks.

Just curious, are you Liberty Township in Butler County or Trumbull County?

I am an order date of 12-13-2012 and have not heard a peep since I was told late May a couple months ago. I'm hoping with the delay that mine will have recent issues corrected and 1.20 code.

As I anticipate the arrival of my game I have kept abreast of all the Hobbit-related postings. With all the comments made about loose connections I would recommend that once you get these connectors working properly is to put a dab of silicone on the external surface of the connector and have it touch the receptor. This should hold it securely seated and protect against vibrations yet still allow it to be removed, if need be. At least that is what I plan to do.

Although I have never seen them in person, I ordered them on my LE at the recommendation of "txstargazer".

Before I set my game up (not here yet but a Dec. 13, 2012 order date) I plan to re-read all postings on all the "Hobbit" threads. There are a lot of suggestions and nit-picky problems scattered throughout these threads. Like the leg bolt plates not being secured, connectors not fully seated, assemblies not tightly screwed on the underside of playfield, or the bracket/screw head sticking up when you slide out the playfield glass. I think it would be worthwhile to spend some time while waiting and re-read and jot them down. Owners were kind enough to say "don't do like me and ...." They are helping the rest of us avoid similar mistakes.

^^^^^^^^I wouldn't wax it. It is self-adhesive, I presume, so I would try to clean any dirt, dust, wax, oil, etc. build-up by wiping it down with some naptha. Unless anyone else has a better idea. I guess maybe rubbing alcohol would work, too.

I have bought sheets of mylar with stickum in the past. I would cut out donuts to put around pop bumpers, small circles to put under wire ramp exits where the ball would drop, and half moons for in front of sling shots. Once it's down, it's pretty much down. You can peel it up but it's very difficult to peel back an edge without jeopardizing the playfield finish. My advice is to start at one corner and check your alignment as you lay more of it down (contact with playfield). Don't put down the final little corner of the last edge unless you are satisfied with the alignment. If all looks good then smash it down. Then take something soft, like a cloth, and take your finger and rub the mylar like you are trying to rub out air bubbles. This pressure will insure complete and lasting contact. If you don't like the alignment near the end, then you have that one little sliver that you can grab hold and peel it up. I don't know if the glue will be as sticky trying to reuse the same mylar piece if you have give it a second try. Helps to have a back-up piece. Just my experience. As I said before, naptha is the best at cleaning old glue off playfields when removing old mylar. Some solvents affect the finish and inking but naptha has proven to be gentle to playfields.

I don't have my game yet otherwise I would probably know the answer to this question. Ideally if you have a plunger skill shot where the maximum amount earned is somewhere between the minimum and maximum pull on the plunger, then why would you want a spring that hits this so-called "F" drop target with the maximum pull? I mean don't you want a shot where you have to figure out just how far to pull the plunger back in order to nail the intended target? What you are describing is no skill shot at all. I would think you would want a spring that is stronger than what you have described.

^^^^^^^^^^these are machine screws; they wouldn't be used to hold a t-nut in WOOD.

If the screws you reference are hex head flanged machine screws you might try this in the future: Take a tiny piece of notebook paper and wrap around just the head. Then insert the screw into the socket. The paper should be thick enough to take up the gap between the head and the socket. If done correctly the screw head will be wedged into the socket and won't fall out. Works for me every time.

^^^^^^^ it's called "deep-throat clamps and Titebond II glue"..

^^^^^^ save money and use Titebond 2

I am posting this entry in this particular thread because the owner's thread seems to be more current than some of the others. I need your help. My e-mail account on my AOL account went crazy this morning. Some strange e-mail was sent to a bunch of people on my address book. It happened right after I received an e-mail from Jersey Jen saying she was going on maternity leave. I haven't received an e-mail from her in over a year. So why now (I do have a game on order)? Did anyone else receive this e-mail? Could it be the cause of my problems? PS - I'm computer illiterate. JLC

^^^^^Thanks Bru'. That makes sense as her e-mail was titled "automatic reply". I wonder what triggered this intrusion upon my e-mail. I sure hope it doesn't harm anyone or myself. JLC

I believe the "cut-off date" you speak of was just the last date you could change your mind and have your on-order LE be converted from an LE to an SE without an increase in price. If I'm not mistaken all SE's being produced do not say 1 of some number like the LE's do. In that case, the number of SE's can be limitless, where the LE's are limited to 1 to 1500. I, by the way, have LE #1498 on order from Dec, 13, 2012.

I understand clearly what he is saying. The pin is packed into the crate standing vertically with the back of the lower cabinet at the bottom. This makes the playfield standing vertically and literally hanging by the two (2) hooked brackets. If there is nothing at the "bottom" of the playfield in this position supporting it, the brackets take the full weight of a very heavy playfield. Being mild steel they will bend. Clearly a case of a tractor trailer that drove through the median or got caught up in Hurricane Hermine.

Let me tell you a little story that, hopefully, will shed some light on the subject. I worked at a bulk mail center for the US Postal Service here in Cincinnati. Parcels would travel around the facility on trays attached to conveyor chains with wheels. At a certain zip code the tray would tip and the parcel would zip down a chute and into a large aluminum container. Those containers were then wheeled on to tractor trailers and off the property. The containers were about six feet tall. The trays at the top of the chute added another six feet of "free flight". THEORETICALLY your parcel could be the first one to drop in the container. The next parcel could weigh 50# and fall this twelve feet and land right on top of your parcel. Do you think your parcel might suffer some damage? Yes. Do you think every parcel might suffer damage? No. The point I'm trying to make is that packaging engineers have to design for the worst case scenario if they want a 100% success rate. JJP did not as evidenced by at least two examples of damage. I don't blame R+L. That's what insurance is for. JJP might be pleased with a 98% success rate. I just hope I'm not in the 2% group.

I currently hold an order date of 12-13-2012. I have never been notified that the game has been released to production, is in test, ready for shipping, or time to send the balance due. I have not made a big stink about it because it seems lately more problems are beginning to surface. So the longer I wait the better my chances are of getting a machine that has all the bugs ironed out. It looks like some hefty orders recently shipped out to other distributors and overseas.

Don't think you're the Lone Ranger. I ordered Dec. 13, 2012, and I haven't even been told that it has been released for production. I don't need it right now so the delay just means I get one with all the bugs ironed out...hopefully.

Now why would somebody cancel their pre-order and lose $1000 in order to receive a machine in "three" days when they might receive their pre-order in 2-3 weeks? I'm beginning to think that distributors are getting preferential treatment over private individuals with older pre-order dates. By the way, my order is with JJP direct.

Hobbit LE #1498 landed today in Cincinnati, OH. I ordered this game sight unseen, the reason will become clear in a couple of months. I thought it was strange that the ship date was October 5 (my birthday) but the build date was August 28. The only conclusion I could reach is they were holding up games to apply parts revisions. I notice the wireform ramp on the left side going to the return lane has an additional wire on the left side running the length about half a ball high. I can't tell you how cool the Rad-cals are. It's hard to show the effect but I will try. Compare the reflections from the garage door and sunshine. More to follow.

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After reading all the forums and threads about "The Hobbit" I knew the only way I was going to get this game down in the basement was to break her down in three parts - backbox, lower cabinet, and playfield. There was no way I was going to lift the playfield out myself. Mission accomplished.

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If you order directly from JJP I don't know if there is any inventory sitting around. I am guessing they are shipping to pre-orders, overseas, and distributors as soon as they are built. As an example, I had a pre-order with JJP direct. Katie called and said it was ready to ship. R+L Carriers called two days later wanting to deliver it. That is New Jersey to Ohio in two days. If you can strike a deal with a distributor who has one ready to go on the skid then I would presume you could have similar turnaround time.

^^^^^^^ I thought double-sided tape meant that it has sticky adhesive on both sides. What exactly are you trying to say?

A number of folks have reported scratching mirrorblades when raising or lowering their playfields. Technically mirrorblades are highly polished die cut thin sheets of stainless steel that affix to the inside walls of the lower cabinet. Sometimes folks chose artwork printed on self-adhesive vinyl. Either one is subject to scratching. I thought I would present my approach to counteract this situation. I purchased 1/2" self-adhesive strips of hook and loop tape. The commercial name is velcro. We only need the loop portion. I needed a bulk amount to do a number of games. The best price I found was from Hong Kong on eBay. I wrapped around a small portion (1-1/4") at the top and bottom and stapled it to add stability. Cheers.

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These work better because they can "lock".

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I was notified by Katie roughly Oct. 1 that my Hobbit LE was ready to ship. It was a direct order with JJP. The original pre-order date was Dec. 13, 2012. So your pre-order date was approximately a whole year after mine. That might offer some insight into why you have not received your game yet. My "born on" date was like August 26 or 28. It took a whole month to ship my game? I think it was caught up in a batch of games that needed Smaug head assemblies. There was a problem with these. All I can say is hang in there...it won't be long.

Have you tried the gold mirror bats from Joey at Pinball Decals? It is possible to take a white plastsic flipper bat, paint it with conductive paint and then brass plate it. That should last a long time without flaking. Steve at Pinball Refinery could do that. He did it with the plastic coin door bezels on "The Hobbit SE".

I wanted to send this to Lloyd but I'm not quite sure how you send a PM and attach a picture. Any thoughts? Anyway, I have my playfield apart installing Cliffy protectors and I removed the green "building" on the left. I noticed a PCB switch attached to the building. The PCB is on a slant and the mounting screws are cantilevered towards the PCB. Is this suppose to be normal? See the photo. I thought it strange. JLC

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I, personally think "The Hobbit" LE pin is a stunning visual work of art. However, I, like some of my colleagues, think two areas are rather pedestrian - flipper bats and shooter rod. They just don't do justice to an otherwise museum piece. Here is my interpretation for your consideration. Whenever I see Orcs I think of prehistoric beasts. And I think of bones. So I thought the boney flippers from "Scared Stiff" would maybe look better than some generic yellow bats. As far as shooter rods go I asked Mike in California to whip me up one based on my favorite Dwarf, Bombur. Next on my list was to get my coin door powder coated to match the copper-ish trim of the LE. The coin slot bezels are plastic so they can't be powder coated. I toyed with the idea of having them bright copper electroplated. I gave that up as too pricey and no guarantee I would like them. So I kept them black and added twelve coats of Fusion gloss clear. I had all fasteners (carriage screws and acorn bolts) glossy black powder coated to match. Next up will be wire-form ramps.

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New owner here. With other games I have owned, whenever you lock a ball, the ball would be trapped somewhere on or under the playfield. Another ball would be served up to the shooter lane. With "The Hobbit" when I locked a ball it seemed as though it didn't really lock the ball anywhere; just spit it out down the wire ramp on the left. It said "Ball 1 Locked" on the screen though. Is this normal? JLC

I have been tinkering with pins for 36 years. Whenever I replace a hex head post, whether it screws into the playfield or goes all the way through, I place a thin (.020) mil spec flat washer between the base of the post and the playfield; otherwise you just end up with depressions or gouging of the wood. I do the same between nuts on the post and the top of screened plastics.

Jeff, I received my "Hobbit LE" on October 3, two days before my birthday. I have not adjusted any of the power settings for solenoids since I fired it up. I set the game for 6.8 degrees pitch and have not had any problems with strength of flippers, etc. The only thing I did was crank up the sound. Everything worked perfectly and I had to remove backbox and playfield in order to get it into the basement. The one mod I made to the game is Cliffy protectors for shooter lane and two gobble holes. Send Jersey Jen an e-mail and ask to join the Goggle group. They will send you a reply with instructions on how to join. Jim Copeland - Cincinnati

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When I upgraded my machine to version 1.90 I didn't have a clue what I was doing. Now it is time to attempt to install version 2.0. I notice on JJP website there is a download for "Hobbit Change Log version 2.0". Am I suppose to install this too or just "Hobbit Change Install Ver.2.0 (USA mirror)"? Thanks for any advice.