Well this leaves me wondering if the "troll" mechs are indeed the same as designed for MM, or if they are any different as the suggestions made to JJP via Pinside and his Google Groups forum many months ago during the initial design phase.

Those suggestions were things like having the ball trap under the head from behind for ball lock, having the head sense which direction it was hit from so that the U-Turn or orbit could be necessary to generate the hit that would dispatch the "troll", or having a multi-level target that raises up in two stages. From the head design, I would estimate that the last one is out, since it looks like a single level head design.

I'm unsure based on the design of the head and the dotted line outline of the under-field mech whether the mechanism is any different than the MM one. Can anyone tell? I wonder what that round circle is. Is that just the coil outline for the "troll" mech?

I really hope these things do more than just pop up and take normal straight on hits to dispatch... They are cool and all, but it would be very nice if the rules do something more interesting with them than was done before on MM.

-Jim (full disclosure Hobbit on order from day 1)

I hope distributors get quickly, ONLY games in the order which they were originally ordered, and which they have been paying for up front on a schedule, like the rest of the individual preorders. This should go for both LEs AND standards.

As I've been saying, these were ideas they were looking at. I really hope they can accomplish some/all of them!

Well this is exciting if true. My mind immediately goes to the TV on TSPP, and how just a simple timer on a pf toy can be totally interactive. Start a mode, watch the timer, oh crap it's red -- almost out of time, try to reset the timer with a shot to Otto or by starting another mode.

I hope the feature if it is indeed a game toy, ties directly into gameplay like the TSPP timer and not like the crystal ball on WOZ, which was far less relevant to actual gameplay (at least in the versions of software I played).

Yes this is one of several features I've been beating the drum for.

There is a diverter in the subway, as well as a second one to turn the main ramps into a U-Turn. I would hope that one or both are player controlled. The diverter in the subway looks to allow the deflection of the ball to the left VUK instead of the right VUK. Under player control, this would allow the player to deliver the ball to either flipper via VUK when it is sent to the subway from the entrance in the orbit. That would really boost flow, as it would allow one to plan/control what shot they will aim for next. The game could also take over at certain points to override the control (e.g. the dragon is messing with you).

I personally gave Jack lots of feedback at Allentown as to how important I think this feature is (it vastly increases the "interactiveness" of the game IMHO). I also indicated that I thought the button to control it should be within reach of the normal buttons (as is done for The Shadow) so the player did not have to necessarily move their hands to activate, but that if a center button was needed to help novice players notice it, the two could be wired in parallel so that either activated the diverter.

-Jim