Yesterday I tried Glo-balls (from http://modmypin.com) in The Hobbit LE, to see whether that would work. Glo-balls play very fast so that's why you might want to try it. I only had 4 glo-balls, TH needs 5 balls. I only played one game but this is what I noticed:

- Glo-balls are very fast. With the default flipper/coil settings, they will fly out of the ramps and bounce all over.
- The Smaug magnet can grab the ball if it is not too fast.
- Kickback and other timings are bad if the ball is too fast. Fast balls cannot be caught at mode start and kickback.
- You can still make well-aimed shots with glo-balls.
- Horizontal 'floaty' balls still occur although they are faster now.
- It felt quite relaxing when 1 out of 5 chance the normal ball would be served. That ball is not as hysteric.
- Pink flipper rubbers on yellow flippers and hot pink glo-balls are a slap in the face. Also, it might be illegal in some countries.

When I get my own Hobbit SE, I might try it again and try adjusting coils, playfield pitch etc. I don't have a strong preference towards slow or fast games, but I simply like to try things out

I you have any experience with this, I would love to hear about it!

From what I understand, a Chase Ball is an extra ball that you get so you can knock loose a stuck ball.

Version 1.9 should be feature-complete, containing all modes and such (according to Jack during Dialed In presentation). I do hope there will be a final wizard mode besides the three Arkenstone modes, but this has not yet been confirmed.

There will probably be fixes and balance changes where necessary. Maybe they will also provide updated images (the operating system and software package) when the operating system etc updates.

I do hope they will update TH with new features like they did with WoZ. For example, the Twitter integration was also made available for WoZ after the game was already made feature-complete.

Some things I hope to see in their software is support for slam-tilt, mods and better debug features. For example, a better debug mode for the Smaug jaw motor.

Are there any pictures of this test setup?

I know 4 locations of Hobbit machines, 3 have this issue (after a few months of intense play). At least one machine with this problem is early production.
(This does NOT say that 75% of the machines have this problem obviously since I only know 4 machines.)

I diagnosed one of these, it seems the Smaug jaw servo motor has overheated and is damaged. I opened one of the Smaugs, with the motor running free during test mode it tries to move in one direction but gets stuck immediately.
I don't know much about servo motors but I guess that either the servo is being driven incorrectly or that the mouth open/closed positions are wrong, causing too much stress on the mechanism. The servo motor eventually overheats and melts. It has the typical burning plastic smell so that's obviously not good.

If your Smaug does not work (test it!), disconnect your Smaug and order a new one under warranty. The game plays fine with Smaug disconnected. I hope JJP investigates this issue and comes up with an explanation and solution.

The most recent manual has instructions on how to calibrate this motor. I assume the motor is calibrated in the factory so the settings are preserved during incremental software updates. It is a good idea to follow these calibration instructions after performing a clean install of your machine.