I personally like 34.

No you don’t

I own POTC, Hobbit, GnR, and I used to own DI. As you might guess, I didn’t enjoy DI all that much, and it only stayed about six months. I just found the theme/callouts grating and while I appreciated that the shots were nice, I wasn’t having fun playing it.

POTC is a keeper for me - partly because it’s just so packed with stuff. It’s definitely focused on multiballs though, same as GnR. So if you like that it is fun. The LE is the most common version and I like the rgb GI. The treasure chest mod is a must have, and I say that as someone who doesn’t really see the appeal of mods.

For what it's worth, the guy I sold DI to also got rid of it after a few months for the same reasons.

Theme is important for some people, and that's where DI really disappoints.

If money is no object sure get yourself a pirate's le. If you want the best value in modern pinball get yourself a dialed in. Really depends on your motivations and what you like in pinball. If you want the rarest games that will wow your friends get pirates. If you're at all like me and want an amazing playing game for as little as possible get the dialed in. Hobbit is fun, but if you're a halfway decent player you better have an hour to devote in factory settings and pitch.

I own Woz, hobbit, and gnr. I play gnr the most, then hobbit, and Woz the least of my entire 5 game collection. TH is great once you understand it, and it’s easier to figure out than other jjp games really. Guests love hobbit as well

Rufio, it seems like you really dislike JJP games. What happened? Didn’t Captain Hook have a WOZ on his pirate ship that you enjoyed playing?

Owned TH, WOZ, POTC and DI. Of those 4, I’d get TH and DI again. DI is fun and has great shots and rules. I recall not loving the music so much, but otherwise it’s a great game.

TH is in a league of its own. The audio is PERFECT and the game itself is very exciting. As with most JJP games, it is multiball heavy. I’ve owned that one 3 times and still miss it.

Pirates just started getting on my nerves. They are never going to finish the code, and I eventually got bored. The mini-wizard modes are really hard, not very fun, and after owning it for 3 years, it was time to go. The ship mech is probably the coolest mech in a modern game.

I hear ya there on moving away from some of the more classic games in favor of newer pins. I did the exact same thing, had a number of classic Bally / Williams games and they are now all gone. I'm buying a virtual pinball machine to play everything from the pre LCD era. I still enjoy many of those games, same with a number of EM's, but don't have a desire to own them again.

I've bought every JJP pin, have 4 at the moment (WOZ, Hobbit, Wonka, and GNR). They have all been great. With that being said The Hobbit is hands down the deepest objective based pinball in modern pinball IMO with incredible mode chorography. Keith Johnson, Joe Katz, and especially Ted Estes with the final few updates went above and beyond with the code. There's 30+ modes from 3 films that all play different, each with their own music, movies clips as shots progress (with full assets which is huge), and different shot requirements. The three mini wizard modes are incredibly deep, have multiple stages, and excellent choreography. I don't think we will see another pin like The Hobbit ever again. It's truly a masterpiece quest based pin and is a JJP pin I would highly recommend to buy.

One more note on The Hobbit. If you like playing games with a lot of unique modes then get The Hobbit. Nothing from JJP touches that pin's mode design and the chorography that goes into the modes. All the JJP pins are deep but there's simply no where near as many objective based modes in them (shots timed to clips that work the entire playfield in interesting ways) compared to The Hobbit. Pirates has 125 chapter modes but they all pretty much play the same as there is a severe lack of licensed assets in the game (no movie actor speech or movie actor video) and are just hitting lit character shots on the playfield.

Pirates does have Kevin McNally doing the callouts, he was Mr. Gibbs in the movie. I agree assets are limited but the pin is good time with lots of objectives.

I’m a big fan of WOZ and DI, but Hobbit bored me. I probably didn’t give it enough plays to pass full judgement though.

My kids and moving on from the classic pins and gravitating to the new JJP and Stern style so my collection is shifting with the times.

You can always go back, might cost more but oh well. What doesn’t cost more these days.

If ever needed the quickest way to reduce play times on The Hobbit is to remove the middle post. In a pinball league I'm in I remember one round where everyone was waiting nearly 20 minutes for someone to finish Hobbit lol. Well, when it was my turn to host I removed the middle post and disabled the right outlane ball save mini game (that's fun though). Those two changes helped significantly reduced game times.

Damn, this is making me want to go get another Hobbit. AGAIN!

IMO keep WOZ

Hobbit, GNR, and POTC are the 3 best games for me. I haven't played WOZ.

Every JJP has different strengths and weaknesses, so it depends on what you value most. For me, Pirates is the best JJP overall and the only one I felt I had to have in my house if I could get one. It has the mechs like WOZ and the theatrical presence of TH, but with better shots and variety. Dialed In is probably the second best JJP, but theme mattters to me too and I never really find myself getting immersed in the world of DI. Tournament players and purists will like it most. The saving grace on TH is the software, which may be the best coded JJP, but it also has the least interesting playfield layout. You can't really go wrong with these choices though, imo.

I actually love dialed in. My beef is the multliballs are WORTHLESS in this game. If they made jackpots... gee i dunno, five times the value, id like the game way more.

I am in agreement with this as well.

They all play the same, but there were only 150 SEs made. The only significant difference between the SE and the other models is the color changing GI, but this is mostly the lamps in the slings/inlanes area, and behind the chest. The inserts, spinners, lanterns, flashers and pops are full RGB on all models. The spinning pop bumpers, galaxy backboard and devil's triangle rock also weren't included from the factory on the SE, but many have upgraded them with mod versions (which look even better, imo).

Not exactly "worthless," you can of course exploit them to finish modes and get SIM cards. And I mean...if you can keep them going long enough you'll certainly end up with some points. It's just a part of the game, not THE part of the game.

Like most Lawlor games, really, since Funhouse and Whirlwind.

I just feel ripped off if I start multiball without a mode. It would be nice to be able to attack the game in multiple ways, and not just mode mode mode for points.

Like, this is an esoteric example, but look at doctor who. You can score tons in mutiball. Tons with loops and sonic booms. Tons with video modes. You can rack up some good points just collecting doctors. There isn't really one way to score. I dont feel that way with Dialed In. Shame, as the pin is a very good game, still.

I've owned them all and di and wonka play the best imo and y they have stayed the longest. All have some good and bad things about them. None are bad and all were worth owning at some point (at least they were when they were all under 11k) but potc Is just not worth what they currently go for which y I sold. Dile and wonkale are currently some of the good buys still in pinball especially di. Not sure what Hobbit is going for but if under 10k that's not a bad buy eaither. I'd say you need to go play them all and decide bc they are all very different from one another.

You can score points other than Sonic Booms?!