lol

It's amazing to me that threads like this are even possible at this point in time.

Don't believe anyone trying to separate you from your money.

Either commit to it will come when it comes and stop caring, or bail. Its pinball, it should be fun.

If that's how you felt, you were pretty stupid for preordering hobbit. Lol

I was a WOZ supporter from day one, but I refused to put down any money on The Hobbit. Investing in a new company is one thing, but handing over money to a company that hasn't shown it is even capable of delivering the first game just doesn't make any sense.

You clearly knew the WOZ situation when you ordered The Hobbit...

I think this guy has started more threads in one month than I have in my entire time on this site.

Nobody has ever had a problem getting a refund from Jack

If I had been silly enough to put up a deposit, I would hold off paying any more until WoZ hits the streets

Stop thinking.

I don't get the urgency to put money down. Why not just wait till its released and then give them your money?

For instance, WOZ interests me a lot but I'll just buy one when they are out there in mass quantities.

Well call me stupid. I jumped on board with "Team Jack" I love what I have seen in the OZ and, I did put a deposit down on "Hobbit", I was torn a little, but here what I like that Stern does not do. It allows me to pay off a machine. Some guy's would never be able to pony up $7,000 to $8,000 dollars on a machine. So it works. Yes, I have had some questions about when OZ would hit the streets. Theses conversations go on behind closed doors with pinheads that I know and trust and will never hit Jack's ears nor yours. Here is the bottom line "no one makes you do anything" "It's your call". For me I am team "JACK". I also know by talking with Jack he's a great guy and everyone and their dog has asked him this question. That's just common sense. I do not need to ask him "Hey, Jack does anyone every ask you when?". I love Stern as well why? because I love pinball. It's fun and it brings my family together on the weekends. I love being able to afford what I love in payment plans It brings my 10 year old and 8 year old together with their dad. I can't beat that. My 8 year old can't wait to play OZ at the Texas show. That's worth the wait.

Who cares ?

When you signed up, did you not think there would be some ups and downs over a year and a half when you you get your game ? Did you not think there would be endless speculation on newsgroups and forums ?

Did you sign up to go for the ride and get a game, or did you sign up to be wishy washy and panic every time something comes up - real or not ?

Make your own decision and live it.

LTG : )

well, we shouldn't be buying stuff we havn't played anyway. So that would be the smart decision. It's not like there won't be enough after they are out and you have a chance to play one.

I cannot fathom putting $$ down on a game from a company who still has YET to put out their 1st game.

I agree, I think you should cancel and start picketing in front of the JJP factory on your days off.

You ordered a game that hasn't been designed yet & isn't scheduled for release until mid 2014. It is what it is. I "invested" in Jack w/ WOZ cuz I believed in what he was doing & the company he was starting. It's started...so - show me the game first, then I'll consider pre-ordering.

What you should do is start a thread at least once a week about how you're sick of it not being finished. Apparently pre-ordering pins is not for the faint of heart.

Dude. You have so far to go and yet already second thoughts? There will be many, many ups and downs. For me, I enjoy the ride and its fun to be part of the journey. But I have total faith in what JJP is doing and can look beyond both the real frustrations and the manufactured issues from the peanut gallery. If you can't, then this doesn't sound like the right path for you. Nothing wrong with that.

I wouldn't call JJP's payment plan beneficial to the customer. With JJP you pay for the game in its entirety months before it ships. With Stern you pay for the game only when it is ready to ship.

Stern can make a pin in a months time (it seems), no code XM but out the door.

IMHO anyone who prepays for any machine that is years away is slightly touched.

1. Cancel it NOW

2. Buy cool pinball machines NOW

3. Play cool pinball machines NOW

4. Get a Hobbit in 2 YEARS after you PLAY it, like it & REAL inventory is IN STOCK

Pinball is to play, not to hope for 2-3 years for a game.

Neo,
That was always my personal policy too, but then I missed out on Tron LE. Because of that situation, I violated that policy and ordered WOZ. I don't think that was a mistake, but I doubt that I'll do it again.
Howie

LTG well stated again.

Quote of the year in my book

"Make your own decision and live with it"

waiting sucks but constant knee jerk reactions does not help anything.

Well I have ordered one, will be paying for it on Monday and am sure it will be a good pinball machine. Happy to wait for it to come rather than miss out on getting a LE.

They were still around after release. Every LE has been. Every one!

I pulled out on my pre order a couple weeks ago. Ill just wait till its built & then see if I want it.

I think AC/DC LE's were sold out before anyone had one in there hands. The only ones for sale after that were from people that bought more than 1.

Ordering something you've never played and have no history yet to refer too .... Umm no. Anyone can say they will be better than the rest ... its the showing that's been the problem so far. I say cancel and stop funding others unproven Buisness ... Just my thoughts.

Not in New Zealand there aren't. Every LE is sold before they are made. We only get a small LE allocation. Perhaps 2 or 3 LE's, so if you want one, you have to act quick.

Agreed. And I passed during the first offering of BBB and regret to this day.

It is like an IPO or a visit to Las Vegas. Never put out what you can't afford to lose.

Not sure if this affects release date for the pin, but I heard today that the final Hobbit movie is delayed until Xmas -so a few months later than they were planning on originally.

That's a little different, IMO. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't everyone know there were only going to be ~200 BBB's built from the start? In the case of Hobbit, we know there will be 1500 "LE"s and as many "Regulars" as the market demands. So...no worries about not being able to get a Hobbit, that's for sure.

I'll bet you do, I would too. It's kinda like the Cactus Canyon for 6k, that I passed on a few years back.

I think this is the main reason we keep seeing threads like this.

WOZ is the first and possibly the only pre-order/NIB game I'll ever order. I want to support JJP and his team and am hopeful that the game will deliver.

Hobbit is another matter. I don't see any need to jump on that pre-order bandwagon unless you have the money and want to further "invest" in JJP. Otherwise I think the pre-order business model doesn't always bode well for customers.

As LTG said, do what you have to do, but complaining about it outside of JJPs forum seems counterproductive. Either cancel your order or stay in, but it's no secret that it will be quite some time before game is delivered.

The JJP offerings are completely different from BBB. 1000 of something is not "rare" in today's market. Period. WOZ will never appreciate like BBB.

I continue to say, if you want an investment, buy real estate, not pinball machines.

For me, I'll never buy a pin I haven't played. And in the same token, one that I haven't heard reviews from others about condition wise. Now I understand that might mean missing out on a nice LE and settling for the other option. And if that other option isn't up to my standards, the pinball company will have left money on the table.

Now I'm sure Stern left money on the table when it came to Tron. They seem to be trying to fix that by offering up a Premium to those who didn't get in on the LE. And it'll be seen if JJP leaves money on the table with their LE model situation. It does seem like they produce a lot of them and over the course of 2-3 years, you're going to have a lot of circumstances change in people's lives and I have no doubt LEs will be on the market.

I guess my stance is that I shouldn't be catering to the pinball company, they should be catering to me. When WOZ is released, I'll give it a whirl and if I like it, I'll buy it. If no LEs are available and the regular doesn't meet my standards, they just won't get my business which I think is their loss.

One other thing, I really hate the LE model. Just make a top of the line machine and sell it to everyone who wants one. If you want a lower end model for operators and those on a budget, fine. But I'm tired of making what should be a simple decision difficult.

??? No, Gene told us he had enough boards to make 1,000 of them and that was what he was going to do. But he asked for an inital deposit from the start and since no one had ever done a game on their own that was a shock and a gamble.

And some people called it a fraud (I wish they would all speak up and ask forgiveness)

As time clicked by some worried and dropped. If I remember right nearing the end he was under a bit and let people know there would be a bit more on shipping that originally expected (like $500 or something) and people screamed and yelled.

I think it was 5 years waiting at that point. But no one had ever done this before (or since yet)

He took a loss on the whole thing but in the end make in known it was possible. People turned around the next day and sold then for way more and it climbs today.

If it was not for him I don't think anyone would give WOZ, Perdator or Zombieland a chance. He opened the door to the little guy making it happen.

Give props

Gene told us he had 183 board sets.

Might have been when half up front was to be put into escrow and never was. And no factory or trained work force.

LTG : )

I really can't say that. If someone ever comes out with a third Elvira pin and it's a limited number of games produced, then I'm buying, sight unseen. Otherwise, yeah if it's something I MIGHT like to buy, I'd just wait to get a chance to play one and then hope something comes available.

Limited number of Def Leppard pins might do me in.

I would add that I understand it more as a "kickstarter" type thing. Seems a lot of people put money down on a WOZ because they wanted to support a new company and help them with the funding. I could see myself going that route on the right machine and with people I really trusted. But I wouldn't do it with an established company.

I have never bought a NIB pin. I was going to for IJ4 and of course am glad I didn't. But since I do have the other two Elvira machines I might have to agree with you on this one.

It really would come down to how limited the game was going to be. Anything under 500 games and I'd have to pull the trigger on it.

Here is a Gotcha - How many NBA games did Stern sell in 2009?

Many who jumped on TH did it because they like the theme ( I really have no idea what a Hobbit is so the theme means nothing to me) or they have a WoZ on preorder and got sucked in to the "you have so much time to make a deposit to specify the same game # so your JJP TH matches your WoZ" thing. Think about that one. Creative marketing. Create a need where one does not exist.

If you have made a deposit and stop paying after the $500 or $1000 NOW; does your money get sent back or do you get to pay the balance later, like when the game is done but at the increased price I imagine?

I couldn't even guess. I tried to cheat, but then I realized they don't post those numbers in IPDB.

I am tempted to miss my next scheduled payment (may) if they don't have woz with finished code in peoples hands by then. Also really disappointing to hear today that the last film is delayed 5 months (should have made it two films Mr Jackson) and how this will effect the release. It's not clear to me when they will even be able to show a playfield for it, my guess not till last film is released. That's alot of waiting and hoping.

Regarding missing a payment I have heard of people stop paying on woz and not lose there game or spot. So hard to answer that one but I may find out.

With all that said patience is a virtue, it's a new company and I really want to support them and hang for a bit.

300

That's partly why I bought CSI. With ~300 made, I knew I'd never see another one come up for sale here.