The only thing I have to say is I wish people would stop writing TS when they mean Toy Story 4, because The Shadow is a great game and doesn't deserve all the remarks people are dumping on TS when they type that.

Indeed, JJP did us a favor adding the four. C'mon people, acronym correctly!

Watching Pat Lawler talk about the story moments in Toy Story 4 that warranted multiballs and the daredevil motorcycle jump was oh so painful. If you don’t understand the theme Pat, you shouldn’t have been the designer for the game.

To the people that bought this for your kids or grandkids…you are out-of-touch and have no idea what they want or enjoy.

Toy Story 4, the only one of the films that has no attraction presence at the magic kingdom.

It’s not a mystery. The Toy Story fans young and old wanted to defeat this guy while he taunts and shoots pinballs back at them:

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What a novel idea. Play the game before judging it! Watched the Deadflip video. Looks like a blast.

Meh

I opened up Disney+ to watch Obi-Wan and after went down and tried to watch TS4. What an absolute stinker. A fork as a main character that just keeps trying to throw itself in the trash. What in the actual .... There's no question why I never even gave the 4th movie a look before seeing the pinball machine.

No surprises here when TS4 was announced, TS4 movie was junk and seems as though the pinball will be the same by all accounts, sure it might shoot good but so does Whirlwind

Right on! Now you’re talking about what most all of us were looking for in a Toy Story machine. Buzz, Woody, Jessie, Mr. Potato head, T Rex etc, fighting Emperor Zurg, not collecting tickets. Lol!

There in appears to be one of the main problems when a designer has little to no clue about the Toy Story line and its plot. That’s why he designed something entirely different from the Toy Story franchise, even foreign from TS4 story, as he has no connection. His connection is carnivals, the part of the story that wasn’t really there, except as a minor place next to the antique store, that’s it. To be clear, Pat saw only the trivial carnival aspect, not the whole TS movie franchise story plot. So that is why we got TS4 without the real story…all making somewhat more sense now as to why he made TS4 the way he did.

Looked kind of boring to me. Run of the mill fan layout, repetitious 3rd flipper shot, etc. I kept thinking that I'll like playing it in small bursts on location, but absolutely not for a $12K (plus tax and shipping) home machine. At $9K, I would at least think it's in a livable value range, but not at $12K

Yep. Emperor Zurg should have been on one side of a turntable like in Champion’s pub. (Except in the very back of the playfield)
And the other side of the turntable should have been another bash toy villain like Lotso the Bear.

This theme designs itself…except apparently JJP and Disney got in the way. Something has changed inside JJP. Something broke.

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When I read most of the comments on Pinside, it looks like this game is not/will not be a success, but if you look at the sales at JJP it looks like a big hit (instant sell out of CE).

Also here in the EU all allocated spots are sold out, so I think that JJP is spot on with targeting a more non-pinball audience with a big wallet.
Most of these buyers won’t even notice that the sculpts are cake toppers

I think we can all agree that over the last years the hobby has shifted from hardcore technicians/entheusuasts to more wealthy people who bling everything out the max.
So continuing that trend was a wise idea.

Personally, I was hoping to see some sort of claw toy mechanism which would let you pick up those little green dudes that said ohhhhh and wow!

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Different strokes I guess. I see this as Dialed In with a better theme. I totally understand the price argument. I see you own Hobbit. That’s a great game IMHO. Doesn’t get enough credit, incredible assets but gets trashed for being too open and floaty.

Yeah. At least a simple Williams-era left right flipper tap video mode would have worked for that claw pickup too.

Please point me to those sales facts and figures of successful sell out, you mentioned you’re looking at from JJP. I can’t find them published anywhere. From the distributors here in the states, there are plenty spots available for purchase still.

Dialed in has the best layout, combos and flow galore and mechs for dayssss man.

Just cause Distributors allotments are spoken for doesn't mean the game is sold out. It's in their hands and has to be sold to the general public still. Many posts claiming it's sold out when that's not the reality.

The TS4 CE is far from being “sold out”. Distributors are going through their lists….many have passed and been offered a spot more than once. It’s still early on the release so anything can happen on demand for the CE but it looks like flippers are trying to unload these quickly while there is a bunch of hype as there are 5 for sale in the marketplace right now. Doesn’t look like many are biting at the scalper prices at the moment.

GnR was completely different…no spots upon release and it took a couple days before you really saw scalper prices north of 20K being listed….and some were selling at those prices quickly.

Here you go. Jack reported that JJP received $30 million in TS4 orders on day 1. It’s important to note though that a majority of the orders are based off deposits versus paid in full games.

https://www.pinball-magazine.com/?p=4586

Well they put it in the match animation, so there you go.

The article says exactly what I typed: this was no joke 1000 sold in 2 minutes. It’s a crazy market

Those scalpers will sell their games too because anyone who tried to buy it after 5 minutes is now looking around on where to get one, and will eventuelly end up on the marketplace here.

It just needs to sink in that even less good games (at first glance) will sell faster and at hogher price than the last game.

Glad someone finally mentioned the 3rd flipper fiasco! Looks like a shortened flipper? Not quite mini, but not standard? The bummer is only one shot? My collection is 3-flipper heavy and the most recent games (R&M, Rush) have so much to shoot for with the 3rd flipper...this, not so much. Sigh.

I went to Enterrium yesterday and played it.

I only played it a few times with a few other people (4 player game) because it got busy and they only had one machine.

I really can’t give it an extensive review because of only playing a few times.

I had a spot to purchase TS LE and I could have picked it up yesterday. But, based on what I saw, watching all the video content from the day one release, I decided to cancel my spot.

The game shoots super nice and the shots are wide-open so you can combo shots easily. Estheticaly, it looks really nice, minus the cheap static figures and the awkward tablet that takes up a lot of space on the playfield. The Duke Kaboom shot is awesome.

I would’ve liked to play a few more games at least but I played enough to be happy with my decision against the purchase. I didn’t really feel like I had to play it again meaning; just one more game type feeling.
That doesn’t mean it’s a bad game or that I didn’t enjoy playing it. It was fun and I did enjoy playing it but for me, personally, the price on this game is not justified (LE or CE).

I look forward to playing it again but I’m happy to keep my 12 K and put that towards a pinball machine that checks off all the boxes on a theme I really want, has something new and innovative and is a great pinball experience. I didn’t want to just settle for a shiny newly released pinball machine. The prices on these games are getting way too expensive for that.

Here’s a few pics from yesterday At Enterrium. There were a few familiar faces there.

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900 were distro allocations, right? ... and basically pre sold so instant credit on second 1 of release time
But the JJP direct website had 100 allocations so really actually isn't what took 3 minutes just processing those 100 deposits?

Good news TS4 fans! If while playing your new TS4, an airball breaks one of the cake character toppers, you can click this link and buy the entire exact set for $26.95 delivered to your door for free if you have Amazon Prime.

https://www.amazon.com/Disney-Pixar-Story-Deluxe-Figure/dp/B07PM948M1/ref=sr_1_6

Yes, you heard that right, the exact same figures with the exact same poses and all can be purchased for only $26.95. And most of us thought for $12,000.00 to $15,000.00 they’d cost a whole lot more, but thankfully if they break, you can replace them for almost nothing. (Courtesy of Cary Hardy) Hmmm, so what did JJP actually spend the BOM on again?
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Quick math of that statement tells me they sold all 1000 CE and 1250 LE in one day. That’s a huge day for JJP. Congratulations to them. It looks like they are going to be in the pinball business for a while longer.

It also states that 900 of the 1000 CEs went to Distributors while they held back 100 for direct sales. If true, it suggest the rumors of JJP screwing it’s distributors to keep all the CE money has been grossly exaggerated.

I may get moderated for this one... but here it goes:

Look. We've all been around a long time. We can usually spot a good game before we play it and a bad game before we play it. Like, if somebody showed you gay porn and you were like, "no thank you, that looks terrible to me," and somebody said "well, you really have to try it first..." would you? There are certain things you can just tell you would hate without actually doing it.

In a way it’s difficult to wrap my head around the thought that I’m looking at $12000+ here.

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You really should give it a try.

Could you do me a favor and pick a better analogy? I mean it's June and all, but show dick some respect.

Would you prefer the Cargument….again?

Thanks for trying, but those are not actual sales facts and figures, with provable receipt numbers being shown, which is what I asked to see. Words are quite freely and cheaply spoken. Please show the receipts. Also, deposits represent a sector that can easily change their minds. Just ask UM/HWN buyers about that one. Until we can see actual proof, it is still smoke and mirrors, but thanks for the link. This kind of “no actual proof” happens in businesses attempting puffing all the time. Just ask anyone in the real estate or insurance business if this happens. It happens to quell the descent from any companies offerings. Jack employed a good strategy, now whether this is actually true or not, only he knows, as he’s given no real proof, just words. Anyone can make up figures and many in business do that all the time. We have no way to verify, nor will JJP offer actual proof.

Between the two options, yeah, in a New York second. No contest. Cargument ftw. Hell, Anything else ftw. Cringe.

Fine. If i saw someone driving a dodge omni, i dont have to drive it to know that pat lawlor fucked up toy story 4. Better?

target demographic? Is that a smile ?

Muy bueno

What’s crazy is all this BOM talk . Even if they put 2 amazing mechs in there what’s the actual cost a few hundred bucks ?

The cost in these machines is in the labor , license and overal parts not one extra mech . So why not just put those in there if your gonna get 15K you can do whatever you want , either that or the cost of making these is just too much and is gonna move to china .

Yup, the value just isn't there which is sad to see as JJP to me has always meant loaded pins. The game does look like fun and if money was no issue I would buy one. If the theme had been based around Toy Story in general with the same features it would have been a bit easier to stomach.

I just can't see spending $12k+ on a pin that has no mechanical devices in the back 1/3 of the playfield. My other 4 JJP pins, WOZ, Wonka, Hobbit, and GNR all have at least 1 larger mech in the rear playfield while TS has 0. I would much rather have a mini playfield in the upper left corner versus a 10" iPad, take that thing out along with the off the shelf figures and the game looks extremely bare.

The back 1/3 of the playfield just looks bare with the large plastic hole for the jump ramp and the 10" screen looking out of place.

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We don't know if pins are immune yet. Seems unlikely now but if things got really bad, resale market prices could come down. New sales could definitely drop off if people decide to wait on new pin purchases.

Really good assessment. Thanks for your review and opinion! It’s plain to see what you’re saying is true.

This place has a huge arcade and ticket redemption area that’s geared towards kids.

I was there at least 2.5 hours and I don’t think I saw 1 kid come over to see the new Toy Story pinball machine.

When my boys have their friends over in the basement they could care less about all the pinball machines in my pinball room. They have all tried them at least once and have no interest to play them again.

It’s like my boys say… pinball is for old people.

I’m good with that though.

It’s shorthand to describe an aesthetic.
-Drag & drop library sound FX
-Shrill annoying sound FX
-Shitty synth music

David Thiel & Jerry Thompson are making music digitally, but you wouldn’t know it as their music sounds like real orchestras & instruments. It’s professional, rich, compelling. Their sound effects are well thought out, pleasant, unique, and well mixed. Wonka & TS have an unfinished temp style synth soundtrack & rando annoying sounds - that is common on apps & slots. The guy who does their music - his resume is, guess what: apps & slots.

Dogma, man-babies abound. Logic, civility, nowhere to be found. On which side of this Toy Story? All around, all around. Adults are we? Nay, clowns, only clowns.

Well you're not going to get any pushback from me on the incredible talent of David Thiel. I hope he returns to work on JJP pins now that Derproot is over.

He’s a gaddamn national treasure. His time wasted at Derp Poop robbed us of his work on actual real games.

Couple highlights.. ZaphX looks to have the top post with 35 upvotes currently. I still laugh when I read it.

Irony. The "people" turned out to be JJP - with the TS cake icing topper character set from Amazon for $26.95
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Mechs disappointingly didn't pan out but... Maybe the GnR by Disney was closer to truth.. I was joking.

Collect all the band members, er, I mean characters and get to the concert, er, I mean carnival. Then Hit the applause, er, I mean ramp jackpot.

Why some people keep saying GNR has no mechs is bizarre. There's a huge upper playfield in GNR LE / CE (shaped like a guitar neck) with a flipper for two unique shots, VUK to habitrails acting as a metal guitar neck, and a 6 physical ball lock that features two moving up posts in the shape of bullets. That's a lot right there.

There's also the moving stage lights which we haven't seen before, a magnet near the top lanes, mini stage LCD, the record disk, hot rails and ramp divertor.

There's multiple times in gameplay videos where something is being displayed on the 10" LCD but nothing in the center of the main 27" LCD (for seconds at a time) and then other times where the same information is basically duplicated. I don't understand the choice to use such a large LCD on the playfield other then it was cheaper versus putting a mini playfield or larger mech in that area.

If the main reason to use a 10" LCD on the playfield is for the mini tiki virtual pinball mini game then that's just odd. At least the mini pinball game in Family Guy is actually mechanical, that would have made far more sense here. Just seems like a cost cutting move IMO.

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I mean people could just buy a pinsight HDD

HTTPS://www.cheapdrainz.com

Yup! TS4 could have had one of those on the apron similar to Pirates. That along with a 10" mini mechanical pinball machine where the screen current is, Family Guy 2.0 mini pinball with more features, would have been awesome. Now that's the type of game I would have expected to see from JJP and one worth the $12k+ price tag.