Same here. Finally decided that the replaceable decals weren't worth the cost but the protector was.

If regular decals are conservatively $200 and these others are $400 would there be a $600 value in them? I didn't feel that there really was.

The problem here is that it all depends on the order they are doing.

From what others have been told about their game numbers and production dates it would seem that they are not in order but might be done based on some other factors (large distributors first for example). As such a "50/50" on shipping ANY hobbits this month could technically be true because they maybe some large semi completed orders waiting around until their entire container order (~33 pins or so) has been completed.

So perhaps a nicer question might be "Will any hobbits be finished and boxed ready for shipping".

I'd previously seem mention of an estimate of how many a month they were doing but I can't recall the number (50?).

Just looking at those numbers it would seem I have the highest one so far LE #914 + playfield protector (via distributor). No date given.

I'm guessing i'll be waiting a while, which is fine

I'm sure you would have seen that the first aussie one has shown up

No idea on when AU/NZ customer ones will arrive.

Was there a large ferrite core vga connector between your small screen and the back of the playfield?

lol .. one day some ones going to inherit one of those and wonder wtf they have been left!

i'd doubt the serials directly match up with the specific numbers of smaug's or le's.

I also highly doubt they are being made in direct order either.

For example serial #08711031 is in Australia and its an LE. Unboxed just 2 weeks ago yet the serial # is over 2000 earlier than the one above. There was previous mention of them doing ~10 or so machines a day so the numbers between just don't add up if it was in order.

ahh thanks! I stand corrected

First Smaug ... nice!

Is this close enough for you?

le armour'

I was on the fence about the radcals when I was given the opportunity to purchase them (non refundable purchase).

Would have loved to have seen/touched even a small demo piece (like the formica samples) to compare before purchase.
I also guess it would be potentially too late to change my mind.

In my own mind i tell myself i'm just wasting money on them as they will be mostly hidden anyhow *sigh*

Anyone have spec's on the size of the box?

Just figuring out if I need a trailer or if it will fit in the back of my mazda tribute (same as a ford escape).

Normal non-box pins fit fine with a bit of clearance on the top and heaps of side clearance.

'
Is there a noticeable difference between the two types of glass?

That last shot is pure pinporn woz on the left and hob on the right ... very nice!

Our ship has just docked in Melbourne!

Picked up, unboxed and first games last night

Only JUST fit into my car in its box! Not the greatest car in the world (it's just a tribute! )

Does anyone know how I can get the games logs out via a network from the machine? Something like a syslog port etc.

I'm wanting to do some analysis of the log information that you can get via a usb dump and would rather it be automated rather than having to sneaker net the data.

hobbit_trib (resized).jpg

I also found that if the usb stick is installed PRIOR to powering on the machine when you select the update option it doesn't recognise that the usb is there. Just remove it and put it in when prompted and it seems to find it right away.

Wasn't black for me.

Also got this massive score in that same game. My best prior to it was about 1.8 mill or so.

wooo!

oh sorry you meant the book. Sorry I misunderstood and thought it was the main screen itself.

arkenstone tutorial here ->

A video tute for all the modes would take aaaages.

They do not sit "recessed".

This is how they are regardless of protector or no protector. I have seen both styles. The doors always sit above the play field. It is the weight of the beasts that hold them down.

They do impact the flow when it is a super slow ball but otherwise not really.

Is it really hard for you to manually lift them up? Ie you have to put a finger nail below the flap to make a slight gap so you can pull them up? If so then they are probably in the right place.

Also if you push down on them they shouldn't actually go any lower. As metahugh said, you can check the rubber stoppers below them.

This is what mine look like for reference.

IMG_6540 (resized).JPG

I think the main issue will be access to non-standard parts and their general availability. Most of the lighting is custom board based. An led fails (which i've already had) and its a new board from somewhere (hopefully JJP still) or another supplier that fills the void.

You can tune the vuk coil power in the settings.

Have a look at what is actually happening. Is the ball bouncing back from the top end? If so slightly reduce the power. This was what mine was doing. It was slabbing the ball into the far end and making it bounce back down again.