Semantics. Usain Bolt has a "worst" 100m time that is far better than any of us could achieve.

Yea that Apron is weird, never noticed it before. Need some piratey things on the apron.

We better watch what we ask for or they will put mermaids on it from the 4th movie! Lol

Pirate ships would be cool or anything pirate for that matter

I'll take some hot as hell half naked mermaids somewhere on there.

Yes, matching the theme of pirate would be a Decal with skulls and ships (Black Pearl) very appropriate.

Pirates is Life for You

I just put three games (watched three more) in at one here locally. Typically excellent JJP build quality. Feels very much like Hobbit and WOZ in terms of ball times. The rocking playfield got a bit laborious...I just seemed to sit there hitting targets over and over and over with nothing really happening.

Did not care a bit for the callouts. Definitely the weakest part of the experience. The spinning disks are loud, but the volume was pretty low on the machine.

I think with some voice tweaks and more code, it could be a great game.

Price is not bad if you compare it to Sterns Iron Maiden LE at 9k.

Played a few games local (thanks Gary!) - beautiful game - really liked the big screen images and the small LCD right in front to look at. Not feeling the spinning disks as much as I would like. In addition to being loud they to not seem to affect ball path that much (or on games I watched) - ball seems to power through them. However love the concept of them.

Liked when the ball would disappear and come out of a different area - added some suspense. Game has a ton of potential and I think the more you play and understand it the more enjoyable it will be. Plan to go back a few more times while Gary has the game - so cool to be able to play it as there are a couple I am eyeing (DI is another) and with these large price tags you surely want to get a good amount of games on them to be sure you want to take one home.

I definitely did not need to nudge much @ TPF. Tilt ain't gonna fix that. Pitch was....good, IMO? It was pretty tough to make the shot into the upper left on the mini playfield for the cannon shot. I think I only did it 2 or 3 times, which considering I was on that playfield at LEAST 25+ times is pretty shocking!

Yeah, some ass hat ripped of my left flipper button. Its up and working now.

Here’s a “little” write up about POTC after I played 5 games on it today at Abel Electronics
***
The Toys!
I’m starting with the the toys as oh POTC has the toys! The rocking ship is one of the coolest pinball toys I’ve seen. While up on the mini playfield you have two mini orbit shots to hit, standups to light the canon and of course the canon shot itself. I also found it a welcoming challenge to gain access to the canon which I unfortunately didn’t get a chance to use during my gameplay (didn’t make the shot). The spinning map on the prototype I played didn’t appear to match the movement of the one shown in the latest JJP live streams and was likely an older hardware version. However, the map toy is pretty damn cool considering all of the combinations of awards and it being comprised of 3 spinning disks. The chest physical ball lock is cool and the Maelstrom ramp with the whirlpool hole is very fun to hit for starting one of the movie multiballs + jackpots (I think it was for “On Stranger Tides”). While the compass mini LCD isn't coded yet I can see it being a helpful feature to have on the game (plus it does show animated rule cards). Then there’s there’s the spinning pirate (Tortuga Tom!), multiple molded toys, etc. POTC may very well be the most loaded pin I’ve ever played.
***
Artwork
What a beautiful game, from the playfield to the side artwork to the backglass. The only complaint I have in terms of artwork is the apron artwork which does not go along well with the rest of the game. I think a scene featuring battling ships on the apron with colors more in line with the playfield / cabinet would complete the entire art package.
***
Gameplay
The design of POTC simply screams fun is is one of my new favorite layouts in pinball. The game has a great combination of flow and stop and go based gameplay with unique shots. POTC easily has the most variety of unique shots I’ve seen in a pin and like the designer Eric has mentioned there are multiple paths to many of the games shots. I was also surprised to see multiple ways to access the ship, from the main ramp, to a skill shot in the back right, to the left inner orbit.
***
Rules
I don’t believe the prototpye I played was running the latest code. Thanks to the Straight Down the Middle video with Eric and Keith I was at least somewhat familiar with the rules and how to start chapters and light several of the games multiball. I can report that to me the chapters all felt unique with their own unique music. The ability to choose from 22 different characters all with unique abilities really adds a new dimension to pinball rules as it opens up a lot of different strategies for such a deep game. POTC is a game that you can own for years and always have something new to see / reach for. Overall the ruleset, from the little I’ve played, comes across as an extremely deep objective based ruleset that tells the themes story through it code.
***
Callouts
I’ve knocked the game for not having the audio lines from the movies. However, I think that Kevin McNally did an excellent job with the games callouts. Kevin McNally is a skilled actor and it shows through with the voice work he did for POTC. The Gibbs callouts go with the game perfectly. I doubt all of the Gibbs callouts are in the game as I believe that over 1000 were recorded. If there's one area of concern, and maybe I just didn't notice, it would be that I hope callouts related to each of the games modes were recorded as with the lack of actor audio that would help set the scene for each mode (same with mulitballs, mini wizard modes).
***
Animations
J.P has knocked it out of the park in the animation department for POTC. The animated treasure map on the screen that changes as you progress through the game is one of the coolest things I’ve seen on a pinball LCD yet. I also liked how each section of the LCD corresponds to one of the five movies and matches up to the order of the movie inserts on the playfield. All of the animations created by JP help create the world of Pirates of the Caribbean. The match sequence with the characters rotating on the ship wheel is one of my favorite animations in the game so far as is the extra ball one. I do hope that more animations along with movie clips are added to each of the games 5 multiballs as besides the opening animation each of them currently feels the same visually.
***
Audio / Music
David Thiel has done an excellent job with creating music for POTC. I didn’t miss the traditional POTC movie or ride themes as neither have a pinball vibe to it. The music that David has come up with for POTC has that pinball touch and yet still feels like music from the Pirates of the Caribbean universe. As I mentioned in the rules section of this write up I did notice unique audio for each of the games modes that I played. I don't think there's 125 custom tracks for all 125 modes (that would be kinda insane and may take 20 years to create, haha) but there could very well be a unique audio track assigned to the 25 modes that get randomly chosen each game.
***
Other Notes: Just a note about the powder coat on the games armor. The powder coat has a nice textured feel to it. This is pretty cool as it kinda makes me think of what the texture on a canon would feel like.
***
Overall POTC by JJP is fun and engaging game and one that I look forward to getting into my home as soon as possible. $8500 - $9500 is a ton of money to spend on a pinball machine. In the high end end pinball market I honestly feel that JJP is offering the most value with POTC. The amount of work going into the games software, rules, animations and music is matched only by other games JJP has done in my opinion. The design alone and all of the games interactive toys add a lot of value to this game already but its the software that brings the design and toys to life. With this title I feel like I'm getting 3-5x the amount code compared to most non JJP games.

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Nice write up! Can't wait for these to start shipping!

I agree about the aprons, I hope they come up,with something different because the existing doesn't look good. Only thing I can think of is maybe one of the wizard modes has to do with the trident of Poseidon from movie 5?

Here is how it works: Every character has their own musical theme. When a chapter starts the music will be the character tune of one of the characters involved in the chapter. We keep track of when the character tunes were last used and we choose the one least recently played. If you play enough games eventually you will hear all the character tunes.

Each movie's multiball has its own music, each movie's Wizard mode has its own music. There is a background for Tortuga enabled as well a multiball enabled. There is a tune for Arrrrr Frenzy.

It is safe to say that there is a fair amount of custom pirate music in JJP's Pirates of the Caribbean.

ddt

Very cool, sounds awesome. Thanks David!

Played this game a fair amount at the Texas pinball Festival. I really liked this game alot. The three machines that they had there were prototypes. I had the chance to talk to Eric at the festival. He says that he agrees that the disks were a bit loud, and that the crew at JJ are working to dim the sound of those discs on final production games. There were a few ball catches on the pfs at the TPF. He says that he has made some tweaks on the pf itself for the production games to prevent further ball catches. Personally, I really liked the movie scene clips that they chose. The scenes were interesting and somewhat ambiguous, keeping the pirate-theme a little less devoted to the actual Pirates of the Caribbean movie and more supporting just a good pirate-themed game, which I actually thought was awesome. The upper pf I thought was a lot of fun. Certainly one of the more interesting upper pfs I have had the chance to play. The lights and sounds in this game were fantastic. I also like their use of the lockdown bar button to collect gold. Also a fun sound that it makes when you're collecting those gold pieces. All in all, I really thought this game was very unique and unlike any of the other machines out there these days. Certainly a game I am considering paying the steep price that they're asking to bring er on home. Now, just to convince my wife that this is the next machine we need... As she is a firm Johnny Depp hater, which is one big thing that is not in my favor on this deal...hahaha.

Is it possible to separate the art from the artist?

Ask Woody Allen and Roman Polanksi.

I went to Abel Electronics to try out JJP POTC (Thanks for the email Glenn). As background I own quite a few machines and my instincts are usually spot on in my first 30 minutes of trying out a machine. I have to say I really like the potential of this game. It has the toys I love! Best since MM (except for the crane in BDK). Ton's of shots! Shots felt smooth and satisfying. Seriously considering this one. This is the best feeling game I have played by JJP. WOZ the prettiest, Dialed In has nice shots and flow but theme is a turn off (It would be great if they re-themed that layout). May have to make room in the game room!

One request make the ship in the bottle topper available for purchase. CE barnacles quite frankly ruin it for the CE (Great topper though)

I love the Barnacles that Matt has made I think it looks way cool!

Argh! easily solved... the CE awaits!

I like the ones on the hinge but the rest seem out of place. I believe that someone said that the final product will be fully covered; rails etc... that might be cool!

CE topper NOT happening for purchase per Jack. One of the greatest toys ever!

Love the barnacles

On the most recent Straight Down the Middle YouTube episode Greg and Zach mentioned that at TPF they learned that on the CE the entire armor would be encased in barnacles for production games. Sounds like there's at least a few things changing between now and production games. On an earlier episode they mentioned something about sails on the Black Pearl for production games that are currently not on prototypes. We also have yet to see the LE topper.

Yep huge mistake to ruin the specialness of the CE by selling parts separately.

Save that for LE#2 or CE#2

They would make more money selling the Topper separately than the money they make off the CE. It would be a profit mistake if they didn't sell it separately.

I've watched some videos of the POTCCE topper on youtube and it looks ok but nowhere deserving of the raves it gets by some. Anybody have a good video capturing what makes it so special?

They wouldn’t sell a single CE. That the whole point. It’s a “collectors edition”

a reorganization is also if the ball falls down from the upper playfield to the right.
How is the palate protected around the playfield and plastic in this Area?

Maybe, but that’s not the point. They need to justify that extra $3k for the CE somehow. Some different art and a topper is enough for some.

I made that suggestion after launch, at least in regards to the spinners. I'm interested to see what they do here and very excited for this game.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/jjpotc-suggestions-thread-attitude-pls#post-4026648

At TPF I as well heard that production models of the CE games will have the apron completely covered in Barnacles, not just sporadically placed as it's been shown recently on the prototypes. In addition, at TPF Eric told me that the maelstrom funnel bucket thing is going to be made clear on all of the production games, unlike the hazy blue color that it is now. I think either would be cool, but I sort of like the hazy blue colored that it now in my opinion.

That's an interesting question by Mr-Worf regarding protection of the pf to the right side of the upper Black Pearl pf. That is about a ~4" drop for a steel ball. I did not think to look at the pf at that angle, even though the pf was lifted up a couple times at TPF. Just didn't think about it, but good question.

+1 I was wondering about that at the show...seems like a big repeated drop on the right side, it's gonna get hammered. Won't be really visible to the player, but yeah...

Sld b mylar over in that area bc of the pops

Seems like there should be a "shelf" there midway down and the ball rolls off that onto the playfield more like a wireform drop distance rather than from the ship side all the way down to the playfield. Maybe they have something like that already, I don't think anyone has posted picture detail from that side.

meh. that upper pf can get pretty close to the pf on the right, so i don't think a trough of some kind would really benefit it. Mylar on the area and it's a done deal. production model might even have that.

It CAN get close, but it can also get far away. It's possible with momentum for the ball to tip over the side when the boat is at the highest on that edge, which is a LONG drop with a steel ball.

i have been following the news around the JJP POTC. I recently sold my Stern Pirates, which I LOVED, and the more I'm reading the more it sounds like I may consider one of these. I LOVE the layout and the playfield. Just beautiful. I am yet to play one in person. The music and sounds are what would really sell it for me. looking very promising indeed!

I hope they get these out sooner rather than later. August is a long time to wait...

I've mentioned somewhere here but my main concern is the disc hole in the playfield and possible/likely wear.

It has been said that the disc mech height will be adjustable (by Eric if I recall) and there is enough space for a protector of some sort. This would be a unique protector if made in stainless as I think that you would want a top and front edge and thin enough. Another option by be a carbon fiber ring, like Clifty has for Metallica and WOZ. The problem to me would be that I would want to see the burned trim art of the hole. Regardless, it would not be cool to have wear around that hole!

Any word on PF protectors of any sort installed at JJP?

I was told by one distributor Expectaion should be XMAS

I sure hope not, lol. I was told August.

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I played both of them at the Ohio show and I loved what I saw so far. However... the rear right "rocking ship" play field had me excited and a little disappointed at the same time.

Both machines seemed to have that rear right playfield rocking far left and then not quite back to level... maybe occasionally rocking SLIGHTLY to the right, if at all. So most of the time when the ball was up there, it was jammed in the lower left corner and it kinda took the fun out of what could be a great experience.

I understand its a prototype and there is a little way to go yet, but I'm hoping they slow down the rocking to be more "ship like" and at the same time, making it consistent so that the ship playfield is actually playable.

I played them both on Saturday so maybe the machines were just hammered on so much at that point, that they weren't playing as they were supposed to?

Just my two cents.

Yeah, but my point isn't how low it is to the playfield, but that a trough would have to stay clear of the rocking pf's movement. Which would put it right up against the right edge. You couldn't put it under because it rocks too low. I think it would look awful.

If it was low and a thick PETG clear plastic I don't think most people would even see it, and if it was screen printed on the underside, it would look like integrated trim that matched the game theme. Cheap insurance against PF damage.

My biggest gripe is that right ramp I hate games that always feed the mini playfield why not put a divertor on that ramp so that you are not constantly going to the mini playfield? Especially with all the other divertors on the playfield other then that it looks to be a pretty cool game it’s sucks that production isn’t starting till August like others have stated and also another price hike of 500$ vs dialed in

Production not starting til august sucks indeed. If they had started production now, with the release of Iron Maiden, my choice on next game would have been very difficult. But now, it's easy - Iron Maiden ordered. I'll still be getting a JJPOTC for sure though in the future, I still think its one of the best pins ive ever played; but, when is the big question now. We'll see though, a lot can happen in 5 months...especially in the pinball hobby!

I wouldn't be surprised if getting ramped up for production is taking longer then expected due to the amount of stuff in POTC and JJP wanting to make sure they get everything right. Too many new games are released with issues and then need replacement parts, fix kits, hell even replacement fields. I much rather JJP take a few extra months (plus code will be even further along) to get everything right then rush the game out. Personally I think POTC is the most loaded pin ever created with the deepest ruleset every created and that the wait will be well worth it in the end for buyers.

I agree with everything.

But reality is a year is too long for us to know about the game and watch streams of gameplay. Or see it at shows. From my view I’d rather no know about it, until it’s a month from release. Otherwise as a consumer it’s just agonizing.

They showed it too early. TPF was the right time to unveil it. Even then a bit early.

I’m in on this pin, but one awesome release away with availability sooner, I could switch.