(Topic ID: 262849)

JJP Moving to Illinois

By ForceFlow

4 years ago


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  • Latest reply 3 years ago by Joe_Blasi
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    There are 544 posts in this topic. You are on page 3 of 11.
    #101 4 years ago

    Is CGC also in the same industrial area?

    #102 4 years ago
    Quoted from DanDanDAN:

    No one mentioned Mr Beef in this thread?
    Shame on all of you!

    Or Johnnie's. If the thread goes to Chicago beef, hot dog, and pizza locations, 10K posts by Christmas.

    #103 4 years ago

    Come on, let’s face it, Jack just wanted to be the factory tour for Expo this year... he has so much unsold JJP sales swag he needs to get rid of, and it was his only option to unload it.

    #104 4 years ago
    Quoted from ccbiggsoo7:

    so is he going to change his name?

    Lake Shore Lawlor Pinball

    #105 4 years ago
    Quoted from PanzerFreak:

    Is CGC also in the same industrial area?

    They are in the general area but further south east

    #106 4 years ago

    Good move on their part. More centrally located and with the design team in house will make for better communication. It is sad to see jersey lose the jobs. But I am sure they did this with a heavy heart! Jack is a great guy and I am sure he cares for his employees. We all know that you have to sacrifice at times. I wonder if Jack will offer to bring some of his employees here to Illinois.

    #107 4 years ago
    Quoted from delt31:

    wow so Kaneda was right.

    A pinball company moving to Illinois is at least predictable—I come back after all this time and I find Kaneda is still influencing the pinball community? That's the real shocker here.

    #108 4 years ago

    Manufacturing wise, this makes a lot of sense. I can't imagine there is a ton of low waged skilled labor around small town Lakewood NJ... Illinois has no shortage of immigrants willing to do manufacturing contract work.

    #109 4 years ago
    Quoted from DanDanDAN:

    No one mentioned Mr Beef in this thread?
    Shame on all of you!

    Is Mr. Beef open fairly late, and features big ass sauteed peppers on their beef?

    Quoted from JayDee:

    No. But it is definitely a chain. Btw, did you visit gene and judes on your hot dog tour?

    Definitely went to Gene and Judes! That's near the southside of town, yes? Almost like an old drive up kinda place?

    Quoted from jellikit:

    It is a 'comfort' place for many knowing what to expect and it is good. But there are definitely other places to checkout, everyone definitely has their own favorite. Wolfy's, Gene and Judes, Murphy's, Superdawg, the list is quite long and many are very good. Jack will have time to check them all out, maybe he can start his own ranking of where he goes.

    Definitely was solid! I guess as an outsider, I'd heard of that place over the years, and felt a bit let down that that was the somewhat known spot in Chicago, nationally, akin to say In and Out.....which I still have never had, damn it! I'd definitely go there a lot, if I lived there.

    Superdawg sounds familiar....

    *taking notes*

    Quoted from Jaybird815:

    Their Hot Dog is ok, but their beef is still one of the better around, Extra gravy, sweet and hot peppers for me!

    Aw man...that sounds delicious!!

    Quoted from MrBally:

    Buona Beef is my favorite.
    Gene and Jude's for hot dogs...

    Definitely putting Buona on the list!

    12
    #110 4 years ago

    American Pinball (Palentine)
    JJP (Elk Grove Village)
    Stern (Elk Grove Village)
    Chicago Gaming (Cicero)

    they are all relatively close to each other

    Screen Shot 2020-02-26 at 2.13.46 PM (resized).pngScreen Shot 2020-02-26 at 2.13.46 PM (resized).png
    #111 4 years ago
    Quoted from wesman:

    Is Mr. Beef open fairly late, and features big ass sauteed peppers on their beef?

    4AM Friday and Saturday
    6Pm every other day closed Sunday

    #112 4 years ago

    I've been wondering what's up. It has been so quiet for so long from JJP, after hearing in March last year that they will be releasing two games in 2019. I hope the transition is smooth and successful.

    And apparently the obvious needs to be stated for some here that "Jersey Jack" refers to the founder, not the location of the company.

    #113 4 years ago
    Quoted from KingPinGames:

    American Pinball (Palentine)
    JJP (Elk Grove Village)
    Stern (Elk Grove Village)
    Chicago Gaming (Cicero)
    they are all relatively close to each other[quoted image]

    Kinda like letting the President and VP ride in the same plane.

    Just one tactical nuke and Spooky's at the top o' the heap.

    #114 4 years ago
    Quoted from Yelobird:

    Just heard on Kanada SS Billiards is moving to Chicago for its 50th anniversary!!

    It wouldn't be the 50th anniversary if it moved.

    Since two of the companies I help are in or will be in Chicago. I am researching real estate now.

    LTG : )

    #115 4 years ago

    Wonder no more I guess. Hopefully, this brings the price of their games down a bit.

    No one commented on this post from first page? lol, joke of the day, thanks needed that pick me up.

    #116 4 years ago

    I am super excited to hear this and happy for them.

    So many potential positives from this!

    namely the ability to leverage temp workers that are already familiar with pinball production and more of them!

    While transitions are always tough, this is surely good things for JJP and pinball on the whole!

    If I can drive down and pick up a game then even better!

    #117 4 years ago
    Quoted from woody76:

    NJ and Chicago are both not GREAT business friendly states. I am sure it is a matter of parts suppliers being local, pinball talent being local, lots of experienced pinball employees available, and his design team is already there. I would say the cost of business is about the same in both states and therefore has nothing to do with your political babble your spewing.

    And maybe more potential buyers......

    #118 4 years ago
    Quoted from Whysnow:

    I am super excited to hear this and happy for them.
    So many potential positives from this!
    namely the ability to leverage temp workers that are already familiar with pinball production and more of them!

    That was my thought. Plus a shorter feedback loop between design/engineering and production/assembly.

    #119 4 years ago

    Does this mean JJP now becomes JIP (Jack Illinois Pinball)?

    -11
    #120 4 years ago

    Within the next 18 months JJP will merge with Stern as a brand offering under the Stern umbrella. They are just a boutique brand and have suffered so many set backs due to atrocious QC that I'm not sure how else they will survive with the current strategy of being the highest priced product with the lowest quality. They have just made too many blunders and really need stern to bail them out.

    #121 4 years ago
    Quoted from Deez:

    Within the next 18 months JJP will merge with Stern as a brand offering under the Stern umbrella. They are just a boutique brand and have suffered so many set backs due to atrocious QC that I'm not sure how else they will survive with the current strategy of being the highest priced product with the lowest quality. They have just made too many blunders and really need stern to bail them out.

    This is my greatest fear.

    12
    #122 4 years ago
    Quoted from Deez:

    ...I'm not sure how else they will survive with the current strategy of being the highest priced product with the lowest quality.

    Dude, don't be a troll, they make the heaviest machines out there!!!

    #123 4 years ago
    Quoted from TheLaw:

    Dude, don't be a troll, they make the heaviest machines out there!!!

    Heavy = quality apparently to some. Lol.

    #124 4 years ago
    Quoted from Deez:

    the highest priced product with the lowest quality

    My DI is built like a tank. Current Sterns are pretty flimsy feeling. Not sure what nonsense you're on about.

    #125 4 years ago
    Quoted from Deez:

    Within the next 18 months JJP will merge with Stern as a brand offering under the Stern umbrella. They are just a boutique brand and have suffered so many set backs due to atrocious QC that I'm not sure how else they will survive with the current strategy of being the highest priced product with the lowest quality. They have just made too many blunders and really need stern to bail them out.

    Quoted from Deez:

    Within the next 18 months JJP will merge with Stern as a brand offering under the Stern umbrella. They are just a boutique brand and have suffered so many set backs due to atrocious QC that I'm not sure how else they will survive with the current strategy of being the highest priced product with the lowest quality. They have just made too many blunders and really need stern to bail them out.

    Quoted from smalltownguy2:

    This is my greatest fear.

    I said it a few years back, and I'll say it again.
    Chicago gaming, JJP, and American Pinball should merge under one build company...Yet, keep it separate Design groups. Joining forces for the build and assembly process using all similar parts could save millions and compete with Stern in the long run.

    #126 4 years ago
    Quoted from Deez:

    Heavy = quality apparently to some. Lol.

    Quoted from jwilson:

    My DI is built like a tank.

    Tanks are heavy as shit!!

    #127 4 years ago
    Quoted from Deez:

    Within the next 18 months JJP will merge with Stern as a brand offering under the Stern umbrella. They are just a boutique brand and have suffered so many set backs due to atrocious QC that I'm not sure how else they will survive with the current strategy of being the highest priced product with the lowest quality. They have just made too many blunders and really need stern to bail them out.

    I wouldn't be surprised, but Stern's QC is worse...and their quality is 10X any stern I've owned

    -11
    #128 4 years ago
    Quoted from jwilson:

    My DI is built like a tank. Current Sterns are pretty flimsy feeling. Not sure what nonsense you're on about.

    So was my DI which sucked cause I had to lift the playfield all the time since it was such a unreliable POS. Stern might be flimsy but as an operator I plug em in, replace the coil stops and collect money. They're the best. Jjp games are always turned off and broken. It's why you never see them on route. Get a clue.

    -1
    #129 4 years ago

    Jack has always said that New Jersey is the most business unfriendly state in the union. Saying that in almost every way, they don’t want businesses to grow, so this is a good move, even though some of the same could be said for Illinois. But maybe this industrial park has some perks, so good for them and makes the most sense to all units be together for sure.

    Also, would think since Jack essentially does not own the company and is a very minor share holder, this also might be signaling him stepping away from the company. He is really only a spokesperson now and does not make the decisions for JJP. That is done by the investors for sure. He is only a puppet for them at this point.

    #130 4 years ago
    Quoted from PtownPin:

    I wouldn't be surprised, but Stern's QC is worse...and their quality is 10X any stern I've owned

    You're wrong.

    #131 4 years ago

    And here we go..another thread thrown off over the next 100 posts about company vs. company superior quality.
    pasted_image (resized).pngpasted_image (resized).png

    #132 4 years ago
    Quoted from TheLaw:

    Tanks are heavy as shit!!

    Agree they have well built pins, but that is also why they struggle financially. Their cost is simply too high to compete. They will eventually be absorbed.

    -1
    #133 4 years ago
    Quoted from Deez:

    So was my DI which sucked cause I had to lift the playfield all the time since it was such a unreliable POS. Stern might be flimsy but as an operator I plug em in, replace the coil stops and collect money. They're the best. Jjp games are always turned off and broken. It's why you never see them on route. Get a clue.

    You’re right on the money on this one. JJP quality is a myth, it doesn’t exist. Stern’s machines as a whole work all the time. JJP games are a continual nightmare and don’t work properly much of the time. Service issues are nonstop, has been my experience. Always stepping up to one, wondering, how long will it work today, before the hood needs to go up?

    Fun games, but service/quality nightmares. Was at a friends house playing his machines and his daughter kept saying, daddy, come fix WOZ again, it’s on the blink.

    #134 4 years ago
    Quoted from TheLaw:

    Dude, don't be a troll, they make the heaviest machines out there!!!

    #135 4 years ago
    Quoted from jimwe5t:

    You’re right on the money on this one. JJP quality is a myth, it doesn’t exist. Stern’s machines as a whole work all the time. JJP games are a continual nightmare and don’t work properly much of the time. Service issues are nonstop, has been my experience. Always stepping up to one, wondering, how long will it work today, before the hood needs to go up?
    Fun games, but service/quality nightmares. Was at a friends house playing his machines and his daughter kept saying, daddy, come fix WOZ again, it’s on the blink.

    I own Hobbit and POTC, never lifted mine to fix anything. Except Hobbit, screw on left flipper came lose. Never replaced a coil stop, like I have on my Stern JP 1 month after receiving it. Remember you only hear the bad stories on pinside.

    -19
    #136 4 years ago
    Quoted from Manimal:

    Agree they have well built pins, but that is also why they struggle financially. Their cost is simply too high to compete. They will eventually be absorbed.

    They struggle financially because of numerous issues, none of which is costs being too high. They struggle because:

    A. JJP MSRP is way to high to the end user. Come on WOZ jumping from $6.5k to $11.5k with monkey mech removed? Apologist say they couldn’t make any money at those prices.
    B. Manufacturing quality is the lowest in the business. (Remember JJP investors looking at Homepin’s manufacturing and saying how they were very impressed with the quality?)
    C. Manufacturing and design being so far apart (getting this one right after the move).
    D. Poor theme choices over and over again. (WOZ is very old and more of a woman’s pinball theme, Hobbit is quite niche to pinball, DI is not a good theme, POTC has been done before and without any real assets, just a good pirates game, WW is arguably good, but the game itself is more about collecting Wonka bars and not much about the actual movie. GNR has been done before & arguably not a good music band choice, Toy Story is the best of the lot theme wise and maybe a killer theme if done right with lots of mechs.)
    E. Support is mostly hard to get issues resolved in a timely fashion, if at all.

    #137 4 years ago
    Quoted from Deez:

    You're wrong.

    Not based on my experience and I've owned all of the JJP games and over a dozen Stern games...from my experience the best quality has been CGC, then JJP, and then Stern by a long shot....

    #138 4 years ago
    Quoted from LTG:

    It wouldn't be the 50th anniversary if it moved.
    Since two of the companies I help are in or will be in Chicago. I am researching real estate now.
    LTG : )

    I’d be looking across the boarder in Indiana or Wisconsin.

    #139 4 years ago
    Quoted from Breger1:

    I own Hobbit and POTC, never lifted mine to fix anything. Except Hobbit, screw on left flipper came lose. Never replaced a coil stop, like I have on my Stern JP 1 month after receiving it. Remember you only hear the bad stories on pinside.

    This is good to hear. Plus one customer having a good experience. Like that, because this seems to be rare.

    #140 4 years ago
    Quoted from jimwe5t:

    They struggle financially because of numerous issues, none of which is costs being too high. They struggle because:
    A. JJP MSRP is way to high to the end user. Come on WOZ jumping from $6.5k to $11.5k with monkey mech removed? Apologist say they couldn’t make any money at those prices.
    B. Manufacturing quality is the lowest in the business.
    C. Manufacturing and design being so far apart (getting this one right after the move).
    D. Poor theme choices over and over again.
    E. Support is mostly nonexistent and very hard to get issues resolved in a timely fashion, if at all.

    I agree on points A, C, and most recently E (they used to be great).....totally disagree on points B and D

    #141 4 years ago
    Quoted from PtownPin:

    Not based on my experience and I've owned all of the JJP games and over a dozen Stern games...from my experience the best quality has been CGC, then JJP, and then Stern by a long shot....

    I agree about CGC being the best. They never need fixing. I wished they produced more titles I'd buy every single one. My exp with jjp has been the opposite.

    #142 4 years ago
    Quoted from jimwe5t:

    They struggle financially because of numerous issues, none of which is costs being too high. They struggle because:
    A. JJP MSRP is way to high to the end user. Come on WOZ jumping from $6.5k to $11.5k with monkey mech removed? Apologist say they couldn’t make any money at those prices.
    B. Manufacturing quality is the lowest in the business.
    C. Manufacturing and design being so far apart (getting this one right after the move).
    D. Poor theme choices over and over again.
    E. Support is mostly nonexistent and very hard to get issues resolved in a timely fashion, if at all.

    Did you research any of these topics?

    #143 4 years ago
    Quoted from jimwe5t:

    This is good to hear. Plus one customer having a good experience. Like that, because this seems to be rare.

    I've owned them all and have never had a QC issue....

    #144 4 years ago
    Quoted from Deez:

    I agree about CGC being the best. They never need fixing. I wished they produced more titles I'd buy every single one. My exp with jjp has been the opposite.

    interesting....I've had the exact opposite ....Stern quality has really gone down hill the last several years....and their prices are approaching JJP's (on their LE's)

    21
    #145 4 years ago

    Joliet Jake Pinball! now JJP must do blues brothers!!

    #146 4 years ago
    Quoted from AUKraut:

    From what I've seen the staff themselves on both teams get along well, seen many of them going out to dinner together at shows. Too much history and common ground amongst them...

    Well at the end of the day we ALL are just PEOPLE.

    -2
    #147 4 years ago
    Quoted from PtownPin:

    I agree on points A, C, and most recently E (they used to be great).....totally disagree on points B and D

    You might be right, a little to harsh on themes, because some are good, but come on DI as a theme? That theme sunk an otherwise good game.

    Using quality parts could be argued, but temp workers on the line, making blunders on machines being shipped, with end users needing to fix it all themselves? That is, the not so good quality I’m talking about.

    #148 4 years ago
    Quoted from jimwe5t:

    They struggle financially because of numerous issues, none of which is costs being too high. They struggle because:
    A. JJP MSRP is way to high to the end user. Come on WOZ jumping from $6.5k to $11.5k with monkey mech removed? Apologist say they couldn’t make any money at those prices.
    B. Manufacturing quality is the lowest in the business. (Remember JJP investors looking at Homepin’s manufacturing and saying how they were very impressed with the quality?)
    C. Manufacturing and design being so far apart (getting this one right after the move).
    D. Poor theme choices over and over again.
    E. Support is mostly nonexistent and very hard to get issues resolved in a timely fashion, if at all.

    A. Why do you think they are so high? Because the BOM is so high, and that is a good part of why they struggle. My point exactly.
    B. Disagree...I don't think they are any better or any wore than anyone out there
    C. Sure...it is a money saver, which also goes to my point of needing to heal some financial bleeds
    D. Not going to argue with this one, but the gorilla in the market likes to gobble up a lot of the good ones...and it pays off.
    E. Disagree on this one 100%. I have had dealings with their support, and I would put them at the top of any of the folks I have dealt with.

    #149 4 years ago
    Quoted from titanpenguin:

    Did you research any of these topics?

    Yes

    #150 4 years ago
    Quoted from Manimal:

    A. Why do you think they are so high? Because the BOM is high
    B. Disagree...I don't think they are any better or any wore than anyone out there
    C. Sure...it is a money saver, which also goes to my point of needing to heal some financial bleeds
    D. Not going to argue with this one, but the gorilla in the market likes to gobble up a lot of the good ones...and it pays off.
    E. Disagree on this one 100%. I have had dealings with their support, and I would put them at the top of any of the folks I have dealt with.

    If you’ve had good experience on support, my hats off to you. I haven't unfortunately and many I’ve spoken with have had the same experience. However people like Loyd are great to deal with.

    There are 544 posts in this topic. You are on page 3 of 11.

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