I've had mine for a couple of months and absolutely love it. I am biased since I love the theme, own LOTR and am a big Tolkien fan. If you don't like the theme at all, it might not be the best option for you. I have a decent size collection (10 games) and it works very well in a collection that size. It has relatively long ball times, but maybe not quite as long as LOTR. If I want to play something fast, I play Robo-War or STLE. If I want to play something with more strategy and a lot of drop targets, I play Hobbit. I'm still on version 1.31 of the code. Going to install 1.9 tomorrow.

As an aside, I also own WOZ and have had that for a couple of years. Hobbit is very different feel from WOZ. Both are great.

The depth is incredible. It's the most beautiful machine I've ever seen. It's incredibly well lit and great to play in a dark room as a result. It's definitely a keeper for me. I haven't regretted the purchase at all. Yes, I pre-ordered in December 2012, and the wait was a bit frustrating, but it was well worth it.

Mine is the Smaug SE. (Pre-ordered the LE and switch to Smaug SE when it became an option.) The new "Black Arrow" version doesn't bother me at all. I'd still choose Smaug over "Black Arrow" and Jersey Jack needs to do what it needs to do to survive financially. If that means releasing another special edition (like they did with WOZ ruby red), so be it. I'm happy with the version I have. They're not releasing additional "special editions" to anger their customers. They're doing it to be financially successful and survive. I want them to make it to release game #4 and beyond.