If hobbit gets made, good chance it will be way more fun than any remake. And, it will be an original. Congrats, and good luck.

#865 - Chantilly, VA - USA

Does anyone know if THLE will come with a clear coated cabinet, shaker motor, or invisiglass?

yes all three of those were included way back when when I signed up!

Jack told me it comes with Invisiglass, but I didn't ask about the others.

I think the days of the clearcoated cabinet are over, could be a major reason that all the ECLE's haven't shipped yet. They are beautiful to be sure, and I'm very glad that I have mine, but realistically, they are overkill, a high quality decal will look just as good, cost less, and not cause production slowdowns.

They tried a lot of new things on WOZ, some have worked out brilliantly, others have proven problematic. It's essential that they improve and smooth out their production, if going to decals helps accomplish that, I don't have a problem with it.

Should I be in this thread?

Add me to the list of freemen. I don't care about the number. I work for a distrib. and will just take the first one we get shipped to us. Paid in full. Come on December.....LOL

For some reason I decided to go in for Hobbit LE instead of WOZ LE... So far no regrets whatsoever.. Will it be sold out by its release? I just know this will be an awesome game, flow, speed, toys lights and quality, so it should! Although 1500 seems a bit of a high number... I'm convinced that once this game is out many will regret they were not among the ones
But yes, right now I also vote for not being sold-out by release.

#1337 - Norway

I think as soon as a game play video hits the street with a fully-populated playfield, people will go bonkers and the game will be instantly sold out. I also foresee WOZ + cash trade offers galore. The Hobbit theme is infinitely cooler and will surely make for a better pin. Mine will go right next to my LOTR.

I sent Jack an email a little over a week ago advising him I was contemplating canceling my MMr with him and getting TH. He advised "I can do whatever you like - let me know - Hobbit LE is almost sold out".

^^^What else would the salesman say," Do what ever you want - we've got plenty of them left."

Jacks profit from The Hobbit is 100% vrs a small percentage from a MMr order. Of course he'll say what needs to be said. That goes for all the distributers. It's not like these guys are doing us favors, they're out to sell pinballs and make as much money as possible before the well runs dry!

I'll probably just buy a regular edition Hobbit and get it months if not years before the 1500 LE are produced.

1009 going to Denmark

based on what? what he "should" do? maybe that production rate won't speed up until JJ can produce three different games to keep his line busy.

Lol, so based on that he can't crank out the last 25% of the WOZ LEs but he will suddenly ramp out a new game with new assembly and parts and everything will change?

So are you arguing that he can't improve?
Surely you don't believe that.

I think they will improve a lot. But thinking its going to be at full speed is just going to disappoint everyone. Even a little bit more of a realistic impressions will leave everyone happy. Its all about expectations.

True, but what is full speed?

Ralph, #89 MoP going to Rotterdam The Netherlands!

Now we are on the same page : )

New $ seems to be a top JJ priority. If the hobbit is good I'm sure I'll be able to pick up a regular.

I'm hoping there will still be le's left in September cause that's the soonest I'll be able to make a deposit. If not I'm hoping jjp decides to make a standard because I haven't seen it mentioned by him.

full speed would be banging out units in a sternish fashion. i hope they get there some day.

I don't agree. JJP isn't trying to be Stern at this time. Going for releasing one game a year is reasonable to shoot for.

i agree with you here, i am just hoping their production line would be as efficient as sterns in the future. who wouldn't want timely made machines?

there's a reason mmr is using sterns factory and not jjp's. maybe this is why? i can only assume.

Wow pinball must be popular in Denmark. Only 491 remain for rest of the world.

You do know what profit is?

Lol! I don't think he does : )
1prof·it noun, often attributive \ˈprä-fət\
: money that is made in a business, through investing, etc., after all the costs and expenses are paid : a financial gain

: the advantage or benefit that is gained from doing something

Same here. A game like WOZ though has more parts in terms of hardware, features, toys, etc in it than any game Stern is making, including MMR, so they are going to take longer to build. A game like WOZ will take more time to develop parts for, build the parts, assemble the game and ultimately test it before its shipped. With making games like WOZ and TH I wouldn't expect JJP, or see them having to, crank out as many games as Stern at the moment to be successful. I do wonder if they will eventually make a Stern pro level type game for around $5k in addition to their higher end games.

I recall seeing a video where Jack mentioned he would like to see JJP creating about 2500 games a year, be profitable and offer people good jobs. Hopefully they get there.

All that is true...

AND, they presumable will not have to deal with some of the WoZ design flaws/mis-steps (notable, light boards).
AND, they likely will not get caught with their pants down on cabinets again.

BUT,

A few things potentially working against them:
1. Trust. They have certainly strained/lost much of the the patience/trust/goodwill they had with WoZ. Do you really think ANYONE will believe ANYTHING Jack has to say about production scheduling or shipping estimates?
2. Funding. Something went haywire with the supposed private funding deal...probably no one knows for sure but Jack....
3. Pre-funding. They had plenty of TH money to burn during their WoZ troubles- not to mention all the pre-paid WoZ money. They likely will not have that slush fund for TH production (unless they start pre-selling JJP#3). So, the company will have more pressure to actually run under its own steam soon...

So, I think many of the design woes ARE resolved or much improved for TH. However, I think there are still MANY challenges they will need to overcome AND plenty of risk.

Example:
I still think they are vert suspectible to a "run on the bank." When/IF the first promised delivery dates start to slip on TH - if a big chunk of pre-payers decide to bail, I think the company would fold quickly without that capital they've been living off of.

So... Im hoping to see TH in the wild (and for sale), but pre-ordering is AS if not MORE risky than its ever been, IMO.

im hoping pin 3 is a must have lowepg!

Well, me too.

PL is my all-time favorite designer and I own or at one time owned every one of his B/W designs except WW.

Having said that, I'm NOT a fan of anything he did at Stern. I'm hoping that was much more an issue of Stern than of him running out of creative juices...

The new platform and willingness to innovate from JJP seems like a match made in heaven for PL to deliver a new masterpiece.... Ive got my fingers crossed for what comes next....

im just hoping its a must have so I get pin number 2!

let's just hope that they don't have to use all their remaining parts in stock to put out their very last THLE machine. (#93 ideally)

I'm officially in, The Hobbit #241

I'm in. #1055

Marcus

If any wants/needs to give up there spot I would like to take it over. Just checking before I buy in @ 8k...I would love to save $500.- and maybe help someone out at the same time.

When is 1st hobbit going to get shipped???

apparently dec 17th ish

Likely doable. Try starting a WTB thread plus a WTB ad in the Market sectio .