What a great night playing TBL. I took a ton of photos to share with the community and will also give you guys my opinion of the game. First let me go over the evening and how's it going to work for all of you guys coming tonight. It's $20 at the door and you'll be given gold tokens. I can't remember how many you get, maybe 4 to 6. There are 2 TBL's in the back of modern. You'll be instructed to go back and put your name on a list. Steve Zahler will be there with a headset and clip board. He'll take your name down and give you a rough estimate of how long it will be. I arrived around 9:30 and probably waited 30-45 minutes before playing. I didn't exactly time it, but the wait goes fast as you can hop on other games, or just go to the bar next door and drink some white russians. Steve will then call your name out loud (he's got some headset speaker thing) when it's time. And also, the guys at modern are really cool and if by some reason you miss hearing your name, they will get you on asap. Also Steve is great and literally walks the entire length of modern when calling out names.
I have to admit I was really exited to hop on TBL after hearing so much hype. But before even playing I asked all of the modern crew what they thought and they all had glowing things to say about the game. Only knock being the unfinished code, but all that's going to be taken care of. My first impression of the game was this - it's just so much damn fun. Here are the things that stood out for me on my first play:
1. The Music: The soundtrack is just epic. I don't think there's a cooler pinball song than "Looking Out My Back Door". Sure we've got pins based on bands that are sweet, but this song coupled with the theme and amazing callouts just feels like the perfect package.
2. Callouts: Did I mention the callouts? The movie had so many awesome one-liners which makes the callouts in this pin, again, epic. I love how Steve won't turn the games on before 8 because of the mature language in the callouts. He's always looking out for the kids 
3. Build Quality: This game just feels rock solid. You can really feel the build quality of this pin when it's in your hands. Makes a new Stern feel cheap. But this is 9K, so you'd expect materials to be of a higher grade.
4. The Playfield: The great thing about playing TBL at Modern is you can sample so many different pin styles before hopping onto TBL. It's like test driving many cars in a row. And to me the best part of this pin is it's amazing playfield. It's filled with goodies but not too cluttered. The genius of it's design is that it's pretty to look at, but they didn't put too many lights in the game. You know how when you play WOZ and there are just a gazillion lights going all the time? It's pretty from afar, but when you're standing over it it's confusing and chaotic. Well TBL has just the right amount of lights. And they blend in perfectly with the art. I know it seems like I'm going on and on about lights, but really, they went with less and to me it looks much better than the new sterns that just blind you with everything blinking at once. Ok, and then there are just the amazing details found all over the playfield. The upper playfield is so cool, the rug is awesome (although it wasn't rolling out), the artwork all over the playfield - stellar. I wasn't sure what the gold pop bumpers were suppose to be, I think golden mushrooms? And I can't leave out the lower playfield bowling alley. OMG!!! It's got to be the coolest lower playfield of all time. The way they angled the lane feels like you are shooting a frame from inside the Dude's dream. And the sound when you hit the pins...my god...It's just so cool. Anyone who thinks this will get old is fooling themselves. This is pinball innovation at it's finest.
5. The Flow: The game has really nice flow. Lots of fun shots to make. The ramps shots especially are a lot of fun. When code is done, this thing is going to be stellar.
6. The LCD: Again, genius! It's the perfect size and looks so much nicer than that huge thing stuck to WOZ. You get the beauty of the back glass, you get the DMD look, all with full color and amazing animations from the film. Was super easy to read at all times and just, well, awesome. Again it's these details that really set DP apart and shows they know the right balance of moving forward while retaining elements that just work.
Anything I didn't like?
Not really. The artwork on the side is a little basic for a 9K pin, but again, I think it works because it draws your attention to the playfield. And too much going on there would be a distraction. Plus with the rug down, it all blends so nicely.
The price is something I kept asking myself about. Is this worth 9K? Personally I think all new pinball machines are about $1,500 for than they should be...but when you compare this next to WOZ, TWD LE, AC/DC LE, yes, it's easily worth 9K. Just a shame this hobby is getting so damn expensive
Lastly I just have to say that the guys at Dutch Pinball were all awesome guys. Had long conversations with Barry, Gavin and Scott. There passion for pinball is there and it shows in their game. In terms of when games would start shipping, it sounded like sometime around April for the first batch. But don't take that as a solid release date. I will say this, these guys have manufacturing ready. This won't be some basement made machine. Which is already clear from the prototypes. Oh and I asked about their second title and mums the word.
Ok...and now for some photos.
Davenport, FL
Sidcup
Burleigh Waters
Unknown
