Cutting corners and features is one thing.

Raising costs at the same time is another.

Plus it's devastating for foreign buyers with the currency exchange.

Wasn't Stern always going to consider alternative contract production with their increased facility size?

They sold more pins in the last 4 yrs than the previous 11 per Iceman5000. That trend can't continue

You keep telling yourself that, fanboi. Maybe the prices will fall in line once you and your brethren are done giving JJP exactly as much money as you can. Until then, I'm pretty sure the price reflects a desire for profit and the deliveries indicate a greater need for cash than the happiness of pinball enthusiasts.

And what product? TH is delayed big time. Stern sees that people still pay $$$ for a game, so why not raise the price if they can. "Its a business, not Unicef!"

JJP pins are better than HEPs, and a lot cheaper too.

Dear God, how many more corners can they possibly cut?

It wouldn't bother me quite as much if the prices dropped a bit.

...says the guy who never got one.

Sorry but I had a HEP MM in my collection for many years.

JSUK: Route Operators love the fact that Stern is cutting corners and costs. They are lowering the prices of the machines they sell to operators. Simpler machines have fewer service calls. They are selling more of them to Operators than they did in the last several years.

JJP is also selling more to Operators.

Sorry but a 2006 version isn't too relevant these days.

I am sure if some WOZ owners sent them straight to Chris they would have less issues to deal with.. Hey Chris have you done a WOZ yet?

Well many of us are not operators. Why is Stern stripping down their recent premiums and LE's as well which are targeted to mainly collector's / home owners? That's going to bite them in the ass if it hasn't already. An Adams Family pinball callout says it best "Greeeeeed".

Anyway this thread should be about The Hobbit. The guy JJP got to do the Gandalf call outs sounds pretty much spot on. I believe Jack said that there's going to be at least one more voice actor, possibly two, hired for custom call outs. I'm guessing it has to be for Smaug.

Probably - though that one may be tough. Perhaps Gollum?

Thanks to Blimpey I now have a swapbox for my Hobbit Translite.IMG_0573.JPG

Thanks. I'm sure you've learned some things over the years. So what should they be called...from that earlier era? Medium end? Buzzed, but not yet High end?

Good to know that the era may impact quality and therefore market value. That is if I ever decide to get really anal about my pins.

Yeah, I'm thinking Gollum too. I bet JJP ended up hiring Quinton Kappel for not only Gandalf but also Gollum. The Gandalf impressions in the video below sound extremely close to the ones in the clip JJP just put out.

Based on the few Gandalf call outs JJP included in the clip it sounds like they had Quinton (if that is who they hired) to do a bunch of pinball specific call outs which is only going to make the game even better. Personally I think that the The Hobbit is going to have the best sound, rule and animation design every created for a pinball machine.

As for Smaug yeah definitely a tougher one but check this guys impression out. He sounds fairly spot on. With Smaug being the main toy in The Hobbit you would think that JJP would want to have custom call outs for the toy to increase it's use. If a voice actor for Smaug lines was not hired JJP will be limited to the Smaug lines in the film which really are not many.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/the-evolution-of-hephigh-end-pins

Thank you. Interesting read. I guess we're both right.

So your work wasn't that relevant in 2006 yet you still charged THOUSANDS for your work back then. Interesting.

No it was your attempt to compare a second hand 2006 restoration to a 2016 newly designed and built game that was irrelevant.

According to you everything is better than HEP even though you never spent a dime here.
I just wanted to make sure your comments were put in proper perspective.

Why don't you send Chris one of your machines and see the incredible work he does on them? Then you can talk smack if you want. Watching him post progress photos as he works on your grail pin is better than sex. (And the sex is pret-ty good 'round these parts... ) If I could afford it, I'd do it again and again and again.

Thanks for posting the link. I enjoyed reading the history of your business. Thanks for what you have done and continue to do for our hobby.

Right. He was supposed to either do it for free, or never improve on his techniques.

What is this thing called "sex"? Where can I buy some?

HEP does amazing work but unless his pin come back with a glory hole I'll need to disagree.

Centerflank put your checkbook away Chris is not adding this option in 2016!

I'm in on both, and I'm much more excited about Lexy. Hobbit at best is going to be an awesome pinball machine on the level we've all played before. Lexy at best will provide an experience unique to anything that has come before it. Not saying in the end Hobbit might not end up being more fun, but the ceiling potential of the two aren't close.

There's something a little bit awesome about the naked ego of HEP.

If you compare something to HEP- you are chastised.

Now we have escalated into getting berated for daring to compare HEP .......... to HEP!

Moving forward: please reference a date code when discussing HEP to avoid this faux pas

Pretty lofty stuff for guys who essentially just shop a pinball machine...granted a REALLY good shop job.... but still !

You and I have very different understandings of "shopping" a pinball machine.

You are doing something very wrong or need a partner.....

Sounds like you read or want to read a lot more into that sentence than what was said.

Where did I berate someone and where did someone compare a HEP to a HEP?

What actually happened was a non customer just tried to compare a 2006 second hand MM restoration to a brand new 2015 or 2016 JJP product.
I put it in the proper perspective because it was vague and irrelevant. What would at least be closer to relevance in my mind would be comparing a fresh and current product to a fresh and current product.
Is that so bad or unreasonable?
There are people that can't wait to spin things or create controversy.
There isn't any.

I had Chris put a glory hole just below my start button. Gives a whole new meaning to "super ball."

Best. Indy. EVER.

Guess who is lurking on the other side of that hole? Your pick...

alien___h_r__giger_bar_usa.jpg

1387183002000-HTDOS-SMAUG-0071.jpg

More shiny Hobbit Toys getting finished up today at Back Alley Creations!

11863449_1053489998002929_2859513518808482678_n.jpg
12011332_1053490038002925_828595753755010570_n.jpg

I increased the number of smiley's from 1 to 3 to underscore I was kidding....

Vic is a legend!
Look up Working Designs! Glad to see you here, Vic!

Nice to see that those mountains of gold are being made in large batches. And I like that Jack is sharing photos of the progress.

Hmmm, is Matt a member of the "Chicago Pinball Mafia", holding out on parts just to stymie JJP production?!?

[Grabs pitchfork and Googles "Back Alley Creations"....]

Nope... "Schererville, Indiana". That's gotta be several thousand miles away from Chicago.

Carry on, then.

It's just a different business model. JJP can't afford to have a miss, so it's more profitable in the long run to do everything possible to make sure it has enduring sales. Stern can just move on to other titles and sell them.

They're both doing what's best for their profits...

could be worse, could be rebel wilson or amy schumer

I would absolutely be OK with that

http://blog.viacom.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/amy-schumer-headshot.jpg

Though the wait is killing me for my Hobbit, I've just now decided that when it arrives, I'm immediately packing it up and shipping it to Chris to have it HEP'd.

I expect that when I unbox my HEP'd Hobbit, a chorus of Angels will sing my praises, the refugee crisis will be solved, climate change will reverse, and somebody on Pinside will call me an idiot.

We can call you an idiot first to cross one thing off the list if it helps?

Lol was beginning to think something was wrong with me. Thank you!

This got me thinking about all the stuff thawing out in the Russian permafrost due to climate change. Wouldn't it be neat if scientists stumbled across a very early pinball machine recently de-frozen that a Neanderthal used? Not really a modern pin but really, really old one - one without flippers?

I'll have what he's drinking.

I think that might be the most insane post on pinside.

Oh, stick around...

They already have that, It's called " The Flintstones "