Quoted from absocountry2:

I agree I wanted to see what Jack could do with an unlicensed theme however, there is NO WAY he would pass on this theme if he had the chance. Jack is in business, business compete against other companies for the dollars in the industry. This is all good but look at what the theme is....Hobbit, ties into LOTR. A license that has a big following with lots of movies coming out. If the movies are a hit there will be a buying frenzy for ANYTHING Hobbit. It should be a perfect theme to sell a few pins.
There is also the fact that Jack was very involved with LOTR LE with Gary. If you do not think Jack wants to knock this out of the park because of the history and the fact he got the theme instead of Gary, you are crazy. Hobbit will be needed to sit next to LOTR in many collections. I would love to get them both and sit them side by side. The biggest thing stopping me is the cost, both of those together would cost 11,000+ right now and I am building a new game room this coming summer. Planning on room for 40+ machines with room for bar.

Quoted from PinballAddiction:

I wonder if JJP will get an advanced look at the final 2 movies since the pin will encompass all 3.