Have them watch the movie then get the WOZ.

What about Dialed In?

Between Dialed In and WOZ

where is your general location ? a family vacation to the factory would let you play test them all. or an upcoming pinball expo, they are usually all there.

I agree play them first if at all possible. I took my wife and two kids twice for us to play hobbit and woz, and get a lot of play on them. We choose hobbit, and I still have it and love it. I played woz several times after. Good game but we are happy with our choice. That said you may prefer DI or WOZ more. I am interested in pirates for sure.

JJPOTC

Dialed In

Completely impossible to know what you’re going to like. It’s like going out to dinner with my wife and she asks me what she should order. How the hell would I know what she’s in the mood for? If I tell her get the steak she’ll complain later that she should have ordered the chicken. Again, how can someone else tell you what you’re going to like. I know you said you probably can’t try them first but if I were you I find a way to overcome that obstacle because otherwise you’re going to spend a lot of money on what someone else likes and you may be disappointed. Not to beat a dead horse but there have been games I thought I’d love based on the theme and after playing them I found I didn’t care for the game. I’ve also tried games that I really had no interest in and was blown away. You really need to play them.

Hard to know when Pirates will ship and how it will come together as a whole.

I took delivery of my first JJP pin a couple weeks ago...Dialed In LE. Amazing Lawlor design. Standard body. Quirky original theme that "works". Before I played it, thought the title/theme was goofy. After playing it, realized the theme's relevance and broad appeal.

DI is a winner. Unlike Hobbit, which is going down in value considerably, I think Dialed In will go in the other direction (once people realize how much fun it is and how much is packed into it!). The Hobbit is a stark, lousy design (though I'm sure the software & rules are great). Dialed In has it all...great design from a master, packed with toys/tricks, and great software. Even has a subway!...something missing from pins developed over the past decade.

snaroff

Dialed In for sure. You will want one even if you get POTC. Different animals, Dialed In might just be Pat Lawlor's best game

IMG_20170716_155053850 (resized).jpg

Somehow you need to play them and play them a lot . Woz is not the easiest to figure out, it's hard and it takes time.. Hobbit you will have more initial success however I don't think it's the best bet for a one game collection, it can be exhausting and very intense. I own Hobbit and Woz and love them both for different reasons. I play Hobbit the most of my pins.

I have played DI maybe 25-30 times but am taking a pass I like Hobbit and Woz way more than DI. I would consider Pirates but that's a long way off for me.

Level 257 in Schaumburg, IL has all three and they keep the games in good condition.

See what you started!

Its a hard call at this point with POTC which looks to be great if they can deliver a full package of call outs and music.
My money would go toward a POTC and you can count on the resale settling around 8k like the others, easy trade for one of the others later if it doesn't work out. Whichever you choose it will be a solid built machine.

POTC, easy choice there for sure.

You mention you are a Hobbit fan. In my game room kids are really drawn to that one and you can find them for $6500 (one is currently listed for that), so if the cost is an issue that is probably the one to buy. I also have a WOZ and think it is a better game but it isn't as much of a bargain on the 2nd hand market. I don't have as much time on DI - it shoots nice but the theme isn't for everyone. Too early to judge POTC but it will be the most expensive and hardest to find, at least initially.

I own RRWOZ and DILE. Both are great and are never leaving. I sold TH. Good pin just not great for me. POTC looks fun as hell but most have not tried it. If $ is not a issue, DI or WOZ you can't go wrong.

I think if you are seriously considering Pirates you should sit tight until you are able to play one. It definitely looks cool, but it's very pricey and I'd want to make sure I like it A LOT before paying that kind of money.

WOZ: The best JJP pin so far. Not my favorite theme, but not a terrible theme (like DI). Very cool playfield layout. Very cool features. Love the 2 out lanes. Love the upper playfields. Seems to draw in the wives and kiddos. A very strong first effort.

Hobbit: Worst JJP pin so far. I like the theme well enough, but it's boring. Boring modes. Boring layout. Annoying pop-up characters. No satisfying shots. Wretched sound when the drop targets reset. Sadly, Hobbit blows.

DI: Not in my house. The theme is a jumbled mess with features that annoy the heck out of me. Selfies, emojis, a cell phone on the playfield, flippers you can control with your phone, etc. Who are they trying to appeal to with this crap? Millenials? Teenagers? Narcissistic tards with selfie sticks who can't put down their phone? I could care less about the layout, modes, art, etc because I'm so against this stupid crap crossing over into pinball. I'd say "get off my lawn", but I'm only 38.

p.s. Maybe there's a good game underneath if you don't mind that sort of thing. It's feature-rich and shoots well.

Oh and DI is better than ANY stern out there so good choice in getting a JJP pin.

JJP, for me, just hasn't brought it all together in one package yet.
For the premium price, it has to deliver.
WOZ is still my fav. POTC looks promising, we'll see.
Ive enjoyed dating them, but none enough to introduce to mom.

Id get a Hobbit or a Pirates, great time to buy a Hobbit right now, prices are quite low used Id play it for a year or two and then sell and get pirates if it turns out great.

Woz, is a very clunky game, and of course the theme and sounds are well.. woz... easily their worst game.

Di shoots great! But again theme is bad, sounds and modes are kind of annoying too.. Crazy!

Hobbit is the only one that is all around great, fun game, once you take the time to learn the rules they are very deep and really fun game to play. Not to mention an amazing sound and art package.

Pirates, looks great! I love the theme too, but want to give it a flip before I bought one, and realistically you wont get one until mid next year if you ordered one now.

I have two words for you
DIALED IN

Love them all. Can't go wrong with any jjp, but you really do need to try a game before dropping $7-9.5k.

I still stand by my post saying you should try before you buy but it sounds like maybe you should go for a POTC. Theme should work with all the kids and the layout of the game looks like there’s a lot to do and should provide plenty of variety and challenges to keep you entertained for some time to come.

Just so you know The Hobbit has a subway too! The playfield of the Hobbit can appear stark at first but there's a ton there that opens up / gets activated as the game is played. TH actually fills up more spots on the IO board compared to WOZ.

From Keith Johnson posted a while back

hobbit (resized).JPG

I don't think you can go wrong with any of them. Concerning jjpotc if you have my skill level your going to need too play it a lot. I played it close to 20 times at the expo, my game times were similar to Ironman so short I couldn't form a opinion on gameplay, but it was very cool I just need a long ball save feature.

4 younger kids? It's Dialed In All the way! WOZ a distant 2nd. My kids & their friends all love DI.

Dialed In has my vote!

I do not regret my Dialed In purchase one tiny bit. It is truly Lawlor’s masterpiece.

If this were the Pinball Oscars, lol.

1. Best programmer in a leading game: Keith Johnson and Ted Estes (duh!, lol). Great programming all around.
2. Best sound design: David Thiel for The Hobbit
3. Best animations: JP for Dialed In
4. Best pin: WOZ
5. Best lighting: WOZ
6. Best objective based ruleset: Keith Johnson for The Hobbit
7. Best playfield design: Pat Lawlor for Dialed In
8. Best toys: Eric Meunier, Pirates of the Caribbean
9. Best cinematography: Keith Johnson for The Hobbit
10. Best use of drop targets: Keith Johnson for The Hobbit
11. Best new playfield design: Eric Meunier, Pirates of the Caribbean
12. Best backglass: John Youssi for Dialed In
13. Best playfield artwork: JP for The Hobbit
14. Best use of licensed assets: The Hobbit
15. Best interactive toy: Eric Meunier, c
16. Best use of magnets: Pat Lawlor for Dialed In
17. Best music: David Thiel for The Hobbit
18. Best outlane games: WOZ
19. Best wizard mode: Ted Estes for Dialed In
20. Best jackpot callouts: David Thiel for Dialed In
21. Best custom callouts: David Thiel for Pirates of the Caribbean

Oh, one more

22. Best director: Jack! (who else!)

NOT TH, its terrible.

Get POTC, its new.

I own DILE, I love both WOZ and Hobbit. I'm currently gathering funds for POTC. After playing POTC at expo and talking to Eric about the machine, I was sold! I had the same experience with DILE. Went to expo to play it and was hooked immediately!

DI gets my vote..
(it’s a sweet shooting deck)

Hobbit, then Woz. I own both and I consider them “quest pins”. Following along a story. Dialed in personally I don’t really like(although I am in the minority). For me maybe a potc in a year or so....let the “must havethe latest and greatest” crowd discover the bugs. My .02

Well, up until a few weeks ago, I'd have said WOZ, hands down. It's still their best game. I like it a lot better than Dialed In, and (sorry), Dialed In is a lot better than Hobbit. However, then JJP dropped the bomb of POTC.

I feel like an ass, because I haven't played POTC yet. So my thoughts are just from video and what I know about the game. I think the game has a LOT of potential. It looks like it really has it going on.

So, if I was deciding to buy a JJP game right now, I'd wait a bit. Or, more likely I'd call Jack and ask if I could come down to Jersey and put a bit of time on the prototype to see what was going on. Then I'd decide between POTC and WOZ.

WOZ,POTC,DI,HOBBIT. You can not go wrong with any JJP. Stellar games. They truly are the world under glass pinball.

I own WOZECLE (NIB) day one, bought THCE sold it quickly, played many games on DI (not my cup of tee / theme alone kills it for me), saw a ton of video of PoTC (I will probably own that game too). I will wait to play it first tho.

Dropping the kind of $$$, shouldn't be done on other's opinions... I agree, if you could pull off a family trip to see / play at least 3 of them, that would immensely help in your decision.

Quite the event Mike is hosting.

LTG : )

MD (resized).jpg

Well that sounds awesome. That will be my first time playing it.

WOZ, no question.

I have WOZ and TH. I think WOZ is a far better game, but my best friend loves TH. He’s not much of a pinball player, so my small experience tells me that inexperienced players like the look/feel of TH, but experienced players like myself prefer WOZ. You may get the same experience.

I know I am going to get a lot of down votes for this but Hobbit would be my choice, it is the one all my kids play. Also in the secondary market it offers one of the best values for the money. I have all three of JJP machines and my kids play Hobbit, DIaled In, and then WOZ. WOZ is a very difficult pin for kids, they struggle with the shots and rules. Hobbit is much more forgiving, easier to get multiball, easier to progress through the game. DIaled In is new they like what it has to offer but will revert back to the hobbit. There are many criticisms of Hobbit and they are valid, but if you have kids and want to get the best bang for your buck Hobbit is a great choice. My last comment is that if you are an average player you will enjoy Hobbit, I have had it for a couple of years and have only beaten Smaug once. My last piece of advice is to have your kids play the machines.

Wow, an all JJP collection! Are you going to get a Pirates of the Caribbean also?

Welcome to pinside Swim..Toy Story is rumored for 2019 if you can wait...or pirates for now

Bring the family down to Denver! WOZ, DI and Hobbit are all on route here, and well maintained, so you can try before you buy.

The logical thing would of course be to wait til POTC ships, try it, and then decide.

But if you want a machine now, then buying a HUO Hobbit might not be a terrible idea. I don’t have enough games on it to say how the gameplay will last at home (everyone seems to have strong feelings one way or the other), but it’s a beautiful machine. HUO prices are good right now ($6-6.5k) and even if they drop a bit more, it’s hard to believe you’d lose much if you decide to flip it in the spring and pick up a POTC.

Good luck!

For me the pick would be between Wizard of Oz and Dialed In. Woz has a nice variety of shots and solid challenge. Dialed In has some nice flow, rules and toys.

Hobbit is fun but I find it easy to have extraordinarily long games on it with the easy ramp shots and wide open playfield.

Pirates is too early to tell. I would wait and see on that one.

Theme isn't everything. Play the games and see how you enjoy them. A great theme on a crappy pin makes for an expensive paperweight.

Even if the JJP site says "backordered", that is not your only source. Odds are good distributors have some inventory. Try Joe at Pinballstar or Mike at Automated Services.

Are there any JJP pin owners living near this guy?

I am pretty close by, you can try out my hobbit