On the fence for purchase. We have a WOZ LE.. and LOTR. Each time we play it . It get 100 % better. Looking forward to giving it another shot in Texas.. A couple friends are on the list already.. So might get a chance to play more often... NT>

So phone a friend or find a local buyer and put some quality time on it.. I think it will be awesome with time... It is a lot of coin for sure to be wondering. Coulda Woulda Shoulda...

I had been thinking the same thing, then I remembered its that magical time of the year... Tax return time.

Lol- I laugh whenever I see that.

I usually have a bill due on tax day.... It's not a "shopping holiday" for me - I dread it.

Fish Tales, Indiana Jones, Kingpin.

Now I'm not a great player. But I love the ramp shots and level of fun on those games. The first time I played Hobbit, that was the first thing I thought of. Ramp shots and a lot of fun.

LTG : )

Currently I'm really liking WOZ and would pick it over Hobbit, but that's mainly because Hobbit isn't fully released and shipping yet, so it's not on the same level as WOZ for the time being.

Overall I'd just take a wait-and-see approach on this one. That's a lot of money to drop, and I certainly wouldn't want to do it on a game that's not released yet.

The ramps issue is really bugging me the more I look at it. I love flowy games where I can shoot from ramp to ramp.

I have a preorder that I am very close to canceling for an SE. I am a huge LOTR fan and would love to have it but I have this nagging fear that I won't like it. This may be something I actually have to play before I buy it at this price point.

Yeah if you're a Hobbit fan, if the theme does nothing for you then no or at least put some serious time on one first.

If Hobbit turns out to be the pin of the year the price will go up. JJP has investors and they like to be paid back. So I'd purchase one now as long as you can back out later with a full refund. If Hobbit turns out to be so - so you can back out. By the time you get it many reviews will have been posted and you probably will have played one somewhere.

who can really know a game with some few games on it?
personnaly, i decided to start and rent new pinball machines during a month. i have just done it with a GoT pro and i know that i would like to own it as it's a brilliant machine.
i will do it again with GB and if i can TH. the only way for me to get a fair opinion. who can spend now 9000-10000€ on a machine without having played it and knowing if you would like it? you will always lose money on the resale

i am 80 miles from you and will have one in my house soon. i will also have at least one at the Midwest Gaming Classic show in Brookfield April 8-10, 2016.

let me know what questions you have and i will do my best to answer them. this is one of the advantages of having a local authorized distributor, you get more of one-on-one time.

I don't know about you but I don't go looking for reasons to spend $8000 on one game. I have plenty of cheaper games on my want list that I know are fun to play. Plus, plenty of new games on the horizon sound far better to me - GB, AFMr, and Aliens. I have not read about anyone gushing about how much fun Hobbit is to play. Unless you are just in love with the theme and look of the pin, I wouldn't even consider buying one without playing.

If you need the machine to be new, I would suggest WOZ, unless you really dislike the theme. It's a deep game that plays very different to your Star Trek. Though it's expensive, in my opinion it's one of the better values out in new machine land and available now.

If you're okay with buying used, your choices are endless. Still, I would recommend TZ for a true masterpiece that offers the opposite style of play to your ST.

I have played three full games and I'm just not impressed. I saved my $$$. It was a wise choice, as a HUO RBION showed up on my radar last week & now sits in my family room for half the price.

Three whole games? Wow, you have seen it all and done it all and are a wise, wise person.

You can't tell if you like a pin in an hours time? How much did you spend on your vehicle & how many test drives did you take?

TH isn't available, so...you can't actually buy it. Right? You can send some money to someone, but there will be no game sent to you for who knows how long. Buy something else now that you know you like and play it and have fun(you can't play an idea or pre-order #). In a year, or 2(?!) when many have been shipped and some may be on market, revisit this and sell your other game to partially(cough) fund TH. The end.

PS Find a barcade and check out more titles...there are plenty of great, time tested games available for immediate purchase.

I already bought one

But when will it get it??? If it is summer that works best for me - as it will be my birthday present, my... precious

I find it funny how people treat a pinball purchase like a big deal. Buy it at the right price and sell it if you don't like it. You aren't married to it and as stupid expensive some things in this hobby can be, it is cheaper than other hobbies like cars, hunting, fishing, tobacco, ect. Play it some and if you think you might like it, buy it. If you want to sell it later, maybe you eat a few hundred bucks in depreciation. Maybe, you make a few hundred if the title is in high demand. Don't care too much about anything. That always gets you in trouble.

I agree, but be smart with your play money. It should be disposable income, so I don't worry too much about screwing it up.

I am in the minority in that I don't consider a game "bought" until I've crammed it down my basement stairs, but technically you can "buy" it I guess

I'd check with distributors on availability. I think you might be able to find TH with an earlier delivery time that way.

Not played it but so far that would match my judgement from observation.

I really hope they can get gameplay to B + , maybe A.

Keith is a master of code. Look at how WOZ developed over time. I am fully confident that he will deliver on TH.

I've got some land to sell you

Played it. Ramp broke.

Op you should take the 2 hour drive to Mt. Prospect, Il and play it. If you're dropping $9K on a game it'd be well worth the $150 and a night of your time.

Hi Kaneda! Welcome back!

If you want something opposite of ST but still super fun and a proven winner.....pick up an IJ.

Not my cup of tea but TZ is also another popular pin that plays nothing like ST. Widebody is probably the way to go if you're looking for a slower game than ST.....but not a Full Throttle.....that thing is fast.

To me, the fun thing about ST is keeping the ball moving and hitting those ramps and loops. The fun thing about TZ is getting the ball under control, deciding which of four or five shots to go for, then hitting the shot. I love the risk vs reward and multiple strategy aspect of TZ, not to mention all the cool toys.

When I played it in Asbury yesterday, the ramp operated perfectly.

Agreed....... but code simply cannot fix a layout with a boring design at it's core. TH is essentially an open spaced, symmetrically designed shooters game.....with drop targets & pop-up targets at it's core. If that appeals to you, then go for it, but I don't need to spend $9K to enjoy that type of gameplay.

That's what early 80's Bally/Williams/Sterns are for

OP forget TH & hold out for that Paragon.

Funny, I said a very similar thing when Tron came out. Everyone was loving the fast gameplay and short ball times. Why spend $4.5k when you can get High Speed for $1200?

Don't buy it. Pinball is stupid and a clear waste of money.

Buy two, one for later and one for much later.

Yes.

sorry, can't do better with sarcasm

do the local distributors give the possibility to rent pinball machine? if yes, i think this is the best way to see the potential of the machine and its gameplay.

when i see TH, my opinion is close to rai's one (i can't understand the utility of this 3rd flipper, open spaced pf, feeling slow, suppose to need to love hitting drop and stand up targets!) but i need to play it 50-100 games at least to get my own and a fair opinion.

except if you are a huge fan, don't buy before trying or based on people opinions.

I'd say the opposite, a snazzy, interesting layout with crappy code would really suck.

A fan layout, at its core, is a basic, boring, often repeated design.

Code makes all the difference.

Now that you mention it, yes it does. Like a Mark Ritchie and a Brian Eddy mash up. I played the most recent incarnation of Hobbit at expo 2015 and it was cool the evening of the pinball greats were there doing the signing session, Brian Eddy came around to the Hobbit in the vendor game hall and was watching people play and the pop ups were going during the multiball and Eddy looked to be enjoying the whole experience of the game After all he was the one who created that mech. That was a great night, playing a few games with Greg Colton, Justin Kelly, as well as Chris Granner and David Thiel with Keith explaining all the cool skill shots we had no idea about.

You could go snag that Xmen that just popped up for sale in Mequon.

That game is awesome and looks amazing.

I believe the hobbit will be a great game. It will hold "most"of its value if you decide not to like it. I have a New WOZ and I also have a Hobbit Smaug gold SE on deposit. I hope the hobbit is a great alternative to the Wizard of Oz in my collection. I decided to unload my pins down to theses pins. I hope it works for you if you decide to purchases!! Good luck!

I d not understand, I play on location quite a bit. I've learned to dislike games that at first I've enjoyed, but rarely have grown to like a game that turned me off. Why spend $8000 on something you don't enjoy? If you don't like a layout, you can figure that out pretty quickly. Rules, not so much.

This is true.

I also rebel against the stupid idea that you should "play it before you buy it."

Why? Should I read all the spoilers in a movie before I buy my ticket?

Makes no sense to me. How is 20 games gonna convince me if I like or not? Sometimes it takes far more. Nothing better than bringing a new or new to me game home, it's really exciting. I've lost count of the games I've bought that I had never played before. As said, don't overpay. If you don't like it, sell it. And that goes for NIB games, they hardly lose any value after opening the box anymore unless you buy a turkey like BBH or WWE.

If you don't get anywhere in a game you cannot possibly get a good feel for a game. The code is the game in modern pinball machines. That is why so many people are saying they will only buy games that are coded by either Lyman or Keith.

20 games would have saved me from buying RCT NIB and the resulting $1K loss I took when I tried to unload that turd.

Amen. Would have saved me from buying that POS WPT as well.

Since then, Ive vowed NEVER to buy without playing.

Yep, would have never sold my minty HUO LOTR to buy that POS Avengers LE. Play and then buy.