Pictures can be desieving.... I'm sure both versions are jawdroppers. Im sticking with LE though.

I never said there were a lot of changes, I just listed the things I know that are not finished / completed. . You can not go by a list when the product label states " Subject to change " I know for a fact The things I stated were not finished or I would not have mentioned them. I have an investement in this game. I do my research. But ththen again it only matters to the one's who have invested. There is a difference between " Change " & " Finished "

No golden ball shooter housing?

I asked Jack at automated what the 10 point switch in the bag end area was and he totally changed the subject. Said it was a surprise.

Don't forget the subway system and upper reverters are not functioning yet.

SE looks a bit too plain to me - good idea - just not for me.

Going to switch back to the LE

Surprise, my ass. He may have said that to other people, but Gabe sees and knows all...

What the hell does this mean!?!?!?

I don't think the SE looks plain, it looks darker. I like it, I don't think you can go wrong with either. It boils down to the SE for me just for the extra smaug clips.

It means that I think Gabe (dannunz) is being coy about what he knows. He and Jack are pretty tight (he's even credited on WOZ!), and I'm sure he knows what's going into the game. He also knows how to keep his mouth shut.

God, I'm jealous of him.

Didn't JJP say they were "contractually obligated" to have the pin out when the movie came out?

You guys see the movie yet? Saw it last night. Really good. the fighting near the end seemed to go on
and on, but its called the Battle of 5 Armies, so I guess that's to be expected.

Kind of bummed there are no more LoTR or Hobbit movies to look forward to now...

I love having the Hobbit movies. Now I understand the whole backstory in Lord Of The Rings.

Smaug SE looks killer!!

I like the improvements on The Hobbit. Artwork is so much better and does justice to the theme.
New Smaug great improvement.
Still not trading in my LOTR for it

Me neither.... I'm putting TH next to it.

There was a rumor about this, but I never made sense to me.

How should they be able to deliver a machine that incorporates stuff from all three (3!) movies, when the studio does not let them access any assets from the third one, before it has hit the cinemas?

I'm pretty tempted to do the same since I don't like the same picture of Smaug from the cab replacing what used to be the Lonely Mountain (Erebor). I get that it makes for a brighter PF but, I liked the original enough that just a couple of fixes and a more dynamic positioning of Smaug, would have been just fine for my $$$. The recent pics of the gold powder is not giving me the warm fuzzies either; especially on the wireforms.
It should match LOTR LE's "gold" plated armor at the very least.
To truly make it an "SE", how about a Pinchroma four stage hammered weathered red to mimic the dragon scale?
That at least would be a bit more bad-ass, no?

Has anyone seen the seaside bronze up close, it looks like an off-black.

Edit: i haven't seen it in real life, just going by the photos available

Order a free sample swatch from prismaticpowders.com

Good idea and I would but it won't get to the UK before Dec 31st

So jealous of you guys getting this game. Looks freakin' raaaaaaad.

i have one Limited Edition spot left from my original orders. pm me and we can discuss the terms.

for what its worth, i am sticking with the Limited Edition. I like the characters on the side. The movie/book is about Bilbo and the Dwarfs adventure, not about the dragon. Don't get me wrong, the dragon looks great, but i like the characters better.

Yeah me too. I went back and forth on this. Had Jen switch from LE to SE and back to LE. I just think the characters on the cab is the best choice. I like having all the dwarves, the elf characters, and villains too (guess we have to take the good with the bad on those). Also, I do want the rails to match the trim - and the LE cab decals just seem to blend so well with the backglass. Both SE and LE are good, I just have to give the nod to the LE.

Well, crap. All this talk of switching back to LE makes me second guess my switch to SE. Sure would be nice to see this in person and decide. So, what's the deal on the wireforms...they will match with the LE but LE wireform color will still be on the SE so they will not match?

Alex, does the SE version have a mat gold finish or a polished one?

Do you happen to know if the version that will be at Freddy's Pinball Palace has the powder coat that also will be used on the production SE model?

I have no horse in the race because I just cant spend 8k plus on a pin had a very difficult time putting over 5k on my grail tz . However I do read alot and keep up on everything and I think the hobbit pin is just beautiful and think it has alot to offer compared to most other company's pins. If I had the money and room I would definitely be in on this and think that jjp is a step (or two) ahead of the rest . All the people in on this should be very happy and excited for its release

Neither and I'm pretty sure it will be. It's neither polished nor matte. It's an aged gold look purposefully. Iron pyrite base which is a real metal not a fake flake.

Wireforms match the armor powdercoating on both machines. That's one big reason I'm sticking with my LE...the dark bronze powdercoat looks SO much better against the playfield. I really don't know what people are seeing in the gold, but to each his own.

Thanks. Up to Freddy's then to see the art in person

P.s. will the shooter housing also get powder coated or will it be left silver?

Hey there bzb, I know bronze and I know dark, but the colour of the LE is not dark bronze. It looks somewhere between metallic black and grey.

Alex,
Is there a gold that you can point to at prismaticpowders.com that approximates the gold on the SE? I liked the gold on the early renditions on the JJP website, but the latest picture looks more brassy. I am curious what the color will look like in person.

Thank you.

This right here. +1

No unfortunately. It's not brassy at all. It's a metallic gold but doesn't look like mustard which is nice

Darin, You are I are in the same boat ... and both have orders with Buddy. I like the SE, but am wavering based on the color of the trim in the last pic which is the most recent. The first (older) pic is much better than the second in my opinion. Alex, any insight you can provide is much appreciated

hobbit_se_2-531.png
336127-i-98.jpg

It's basically in the middle of those 2. It's VERY hard to photograph and even harder to render.

Yep, a lot of powder coat colors are hard to photograph/render, but this color is probably about as hard as any of them.

Anything metallic that subsequently reflects light will never have an accurate representation. Best bet is to shoot in natural sun light and hope you don't get any glare but even then it's sketchy

It is the 'Alex Special mix' cannot go wrong with that

I'm not in on Hobbit, and I haven't seen the gold powder coat in person.

But the glossy Smaug cabinet at Expo looked bad ass. That would be the one I'd have if I was buying.

Cheers For chipping in Aurich, I trust both your eye and judgement. Can get back to enjoying Christmas now...

Alex,
What kind of Hobbit are YOU getting? LE or SE?

And will there be pancakes when it is dropped off ?

LTG : )™

Yeah, but they call it Seaside Bronze, so I'm stickin' to my story.

Yep. Buddy's the best. I'll probably stick with the SE all things considered and overall can't wait to get this thing.

Does Prismatic really give free swatches to people other than shops who use their powder?

They sent me samples of the SE & LE

Very cool. What are the samples sprayed on? Metal? Or something else?

I don't suppose a picture of those posted on here would help that much for us on the fence or would it? Your thoughts between the 2 colors?

You can come over when I get it, have some beers and play!

You'll probably get them on January 2nd.

They are applied to a very thin piece of metal, 1" X 3"