Have you played it?

Yes! Buy it now! Don't resist! This may be your only chance!

Just make sure you upgrade to the reinforced Ramps. I think you'll soon be able to buy them direct from Jersey joe pinball.

I agree. Buy immediately, and consider an extra just to keep in box.

This. Play it if you can, and then decide if it's the right game for you.

I've played it at several shows the last year and a half, before the tweaking to make it better since Expo 2014. I thought the game to be a lot of fun. Reminded me a lot of a Mark Ritchie pin.

LTG : )™

If your prediction hold true- you'll likely be able to play one in a few weeks.... check back in after that.

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I played it in Asbury Park today and thought it was a lot of fun.

The flippers were reasonably strong, flow was solid and ball speed was good (not floaty).

I am not sure if the build quality is better than the competition, but the quality of the materials seems to be much better than anyone else.

In my opinion, at 8K, you have to love the theme.

Who designed the greatest pin ever assembled - IJ. If TH is anything close to IJ, I will be very happy!

I think you'll be very happy.

LTG : )

I believe you're not alone, lack of ramps is a big thing IMO. Might not be for some and it does have 2 ramps but themselves ramps are way up the PF and look to be able to make the shots from either flipper. It's a wide body so I'm disappointed to the lack of variation to the PF other than a lot of drop targets and the pop up trolls.

I agree it looks great especially the large LCD and the small book LCD is another great feature. I'm just not sure that IMO it's going to be a great playing pin. Meaning satisfying shots.

I've played it last year at Allentown but only two games set on 2-ball and one time I tilted so in all I'd call it 3-balls played. So I can't really judge it's gameplay.

I think it looks fantastic but for the price of $9000 for the Smaug (which is the one I'd want). FWIW, I bought tspp HUO and Met pro like new with full chrome armor and shaker combined for $9000.

I'm not dissing TH just saying if/when I drop $9000 for one pin I'm darn sure going to play it a lot first.

I also will go on record saying I don't like the upper flipper, there is nothing it's needed for, what I mean it's not necessary every shot can be hit by the two main flippers. It's almost as if there was something like a side ramp that got taken away and they left the flipper.

Just to point out, TSPP is a standard body pin with 5 flipper and 4 ramps.

Please don't go by recommendation or lack of, I'm just pointing out what I feel. I've paid a lot for a pin STLE ($7700) yet I don't feel like it's worth $3000 more than I paid for IMVE, Met pro, Tron pro. True I did need more dress ups for Tron in particular.

I understand STLE is a nice looking pin with great lights, laser beam, etched armor and such but I'm not saying it's that any better than Met pro (with chrome armor and shaker).

I've put on around 50-75 games on it.

Sound A+
Art A+
LCD A+
Gameplay C

Is it worth $8,000.....you better be a huge Hobbit fan.

When I played it in August at the open house, I thought it would be a game I would own.
After putting some time on it at Silverball (I just missed Grand Champ by 15,000 points the other night), it's a game I wouldn't own at the current price point.

They just recently upped the flipper power from 20 to 23. Makes a huge difference in being able to hit the shots.

I'm withholding judgment. I think it looks great for sure, but remember it'll be for sale for 2+ years from now.

I'm not sure what's the urgancy to buy something now, it's going to be for sale, you can play it a lot and judge yourself. I suspect the dealers are putting out feelers with so-called sale price but its not going anywhere and might be better to buy one of the later runs in case the early adopters discover something is not great. Plus I can't help but be curious of Alien, GB, and the next JJP pin. I'd keep my options open.

As they start to come out, if you can find one at a show or a locale - spend some time with it and see if you find yourself walking away smiling or not. I've played one of the pre-production games at a few different places around me / and traveling and my takeaways, which were personal opinions, were this:

-It seemed to be very well built. (As usual for JJP) As if Williams were still making games.
-I actually liked the gameplay alot more than I expected to. Normally, I like a game with tons of 'stuff' (like WOZ) and to look at the playfield it seems a little barren but as I played it the drop targets, the pop ups, the ramps, the shots and the modes all came together in a fun way (for me). Kinda like AFM. To look at it, not much there. To play it, 'heck yeah, that was fun!'.
-It felt fast
-The Art, sounds, theme and visuals were off-the-charts.
-I walked away smiling and with a little bit of a pin-rush.

I also talked to Jack briefly as well during that show and he wasn't at all what I expected after reading the caricatured stuff that is often posted of him. I walked away from that show and ordered a Hobbit within a month. (As soon as I could find the funds)

In my nominal game-room size which fluctuates from 4-7 games, I think The Hobbit will find a good home here and we won't have a great amount of pressure for The Hobbit (and only the Hobbit) to keep us entertained by itself.

Will it be a title that fits the: "If I can only have one pin, which would it be?"
- I'm not sure yet, I guess only time will tell but I'm leaning no. (Very few games really fit this category for me)
*At this very premature juncture, having only played a dozen or so games, etc. etc.

I think The Hobbit would compliment a collection of other games, not replace it. Our Smaug SE will be a nice compliment to The WOZ in the same room in terms of style, gameplay, etc.

Definitely find one and play it if you can. If it makes you smile, pull the trigger. If not, look for something to provide a different gameplay experience to contrast with your Star Trek. Good luck!

Not unless it's ready to be delivered. Pre-ordering is a crap shoot IMO

images_(resized).jpg

You are maybe 45 minutes from Midwest Gaming Classic, which is coming up. Find out if one will be there.

LTG : )

There's no doubt in my mind it will be a great game, but I simply cannot afford the price. Wish JJP would make "pro" models as well for us lower income folk.

You need to buy one and then complain about the lack of code updates just like all the kiss buyers do.

It was there last year (2015) in alpha/beta form, so I don't see why not? The $10K question is will it be the RTM version?

Who's your favorite game designer?

You are not going to get a Hobbit in the next month or two, so if that's important to you, better pick something else.

http://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/ April 8th thru 10th.

LTG : )

You seem pretty nasty on all things JJP. What's your deal?

The ramp issue just popped up for the first time after tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of games played at shows and now in the wild. If there is a defect at least it got caught in the purposeful testing phases. Doesn't seem like something a few extra tabs and welds won't fix.

Doesn't seem like a problem worth getting in a fury over.

NO

Buy 8 nice EM's instead.

Ken

OP,
Put up a poll.
I vote: No, but maybe later.
Thanks for creating the poll.

CraigJ, check your PM. I might have some info that could make you very happy!

For a $500 item, Id say, take your chances.

But for a $8k-$9k, 350 pound monstrosity of a purchase, I'd find a way to see one. Hell, even if you dropped $100-$200 for a little road trip to play a few games, its a small price to pay vs buying the wrong machine.

Have you thought of Spider-Man VE?

I know Star Trek and Spider-Man have similar layouts, but they don't play the same.

There was one at MGC last year . I would think there would be one there this year . Hopefully you'll have a chance to play one there , I would not want to make this decision without playing it first .

I'm not a pin zealot nor a collector. If a theme interests me, I research it just as you are doing. TWD might be something for you to consider. Turned out well for my liking.

Looking at up coming themes - my opinion:
TH - no
RZ - no
GB - no
Alien - yes
Star Wars - no
Jurassic world - yes
Jaws & Resident Evil (wishful thinking) - yes

Makes sense that theme isn't as important for collectors with many games and room but for me, a guy that just wants a pair or 3 pins at most for the down stairs play room, theme is very important - if it's going to find it's way into my house.

How do you like the flow of Star Trek?

I don't think the Hobbit plays anything like Star Trek.

IMO Borg is the best Tron, IM, Met flip a coin (plus XM that's half my collection).

Good lord there are a ton of "what should I buy?" threads lately.

Seriously I mean it,
Do you like widebodies?

It's 60/40 after that

Really, which ones and in what ways?

With the way code is going especially after WOZ updates I would say you may like the hobbit.

Just mentioning they're two different beasts, especially if your used to sterns new code and fan layouts.

If Hobbit has half the support woz does in a timely manner I'll play the shit out of it

I personally hate widebodies but the code on Woz has changed my tune.
I Play it constantly and it's rad.

No

Too expensive. Not currently available for purchase.

Wait and play it. Someone mentioned it earlier, ramps. The ramps haven't covinces me yet. I'm really looking forward to TPF and playing it. If it's the same old 2 ball single game with a giant line, I'm not waiting to play it.

It would be illogical to cut off your left arm, rendering you unable to actually play the game you obtained in the process.