For the price, there are alot better games to buy than the hobbit.

I was thinking the same thing. What’s causing all these sales of the hobbit? Cheapest JJP pin you can buy.

Had it moved on and very glad I did. JJP makes great pins, but this is the bottom of their 4 pins for sure.

There's currently 4 used HUO Hobbits for sale in the market place, that's not many. It's still being made so there are NIB listings as well.

I think early code issues hurt the game but thankfully the game has received excellent code support since then.

With the games features, deep rulset and excellent use of licensed assets I can see The Hobbit being a very collectible game. It's simply one of the best objective based pins ever made.

I think hobbit is pretty damn fun TBT. I am not sure what others don't like about it? I think it is maybe the non intuitive ruleset and lack of call outs which make it nearly impossible to know what the hell to do without a spotter.

There's a good number of custom Gandalf callouts in the game. Also, the mini LCD tells the player exactly what to shoot for and the mini LCD explains what objectives need to be achieved to reach an Arkenstone mode.

All of the games 31 book modes are unique and play differently. Finally, Smaug Multiball and the 3 Arkenstone modes are extremely well done with multiple stages.

The game still needs a final wizard mode though.

One issue is the long ball times, and frequent multiballs. If you are a decent player you will easily play over 30 minutes on factory setup. I like it, but be prepared for a longer game. I need a Tron or something fast to counter it.

Maybe some franchise fatigue? Good movies but I'm kind of tired of all of them, not sure I could stomach the theme for too long at home. I haven't seen or played the pin yet but I'd love to try it.

I agree the hobbit is a beautiful looking Game with awesome LCD animations but as a tournament player the game is just a mutiball frenzy over and over which gets annoying

Maybe the mode multi ball lock should only allow a plus one? And you can only start beast multi ball once per ark mode would help

I dunno but im looking to buy one on the cheap after i sell 3 pins tomarrow. Its not the best jjp pin but much better than most newer stuff imo.... especially for 6-6500 for a le

I agree with all of this. I would definitely drop a few bucks in it in the wild, but It has too many pop ups and multiballs that take away from the immersive feel. Arkenstone modes are fun but too easy to get too. Maybe if they update the code and make the 31 modes seem more important that would help. The Playfield is also too symmetrical and open. It's an ok game but like I said above, the price to fun ratio is off for me

I agree. I just counted 10 GB for sale. Why so many?

There are 7 non NIB ACDC premiums for sale...uh oh? Lol.

Is that you Jack?

The Hobbit is a good game, not the best sure, but solid. Play before you buy as some love it, some hate it. So know which you are. There are some good pins coming out - the remakes, competition, and multiple manufactures help, so more Pinsiders swapping out machines more often today.

I am a huge Lord Of The Rings fan. I loved the movies, and own them in a few different formats. I thought the story was told very well. Sure, there was a bit of filler in the extended editions, but overall it was great.

When The Hobbit was announced I was like, ok, not sure there is enough in that story, but let’s see. But then they announced it was just a movie, it was THREE??? Huh? The Hobbit was a tiny book, how could there be 3 movies worth in there? But LOTR was so well done, that I thought I’d give it a chance. OMG, hated it. It was the dish scene as the dwarves invaded Bilbo’s home. It was hours of filler, and honestly, crap acting and direction as people did things to just extend a bad movie into a trilogy money grab.

So I hated the theme. When JJP announced the game, I was already in on WOZ. I figured if it ended up being great, I could buy it later.

And then I played it once it was out. It was fine, but not great. Honestly the modes felt a bit grinding to me. Some interesting, but too dependent on the beast mechs. Then down the road I played it more, and played into the fire. The game lasted over 40 minutes. My score was great, but it was exhausting to play a single game that long. At the end, I was done. I’ve played it a few times since then, but it just doesn’t make me want to buy it. Even with prices dropping, there are better games I will put the money and space into.

WOZ was a much better game.

Yeah I sold my ACDC Premium not long ago for over $1000 more than I paid for it NIB. Uh oh, LOL.

My first and only NIB pin (until my TNA is ready) and I have no regrets. Honestly can't understand why people on this site seem to go out of their way to hate on this game. Don't like it? Fine. Dont buy it. But why a consistent few Pinsiders go into every thread to make a "TH sucks" comment is beyond me. It's a well built, beautiful, unique game with a deep rule set with the best integration of LCD support of any game to date. It's not going to be everyone's favorite, but what game is? There are folks who don't care for AFM or MM but you don't see them hating so much. I think TH price drop is just showing the beginning of things to come in the LE/premium resale market. Heck, GB LE's are going for 6kish, too. The secondary market has so much choice right now and is not going to pay new or near new prices for these pins. TH is fun, give it a try before you pass judgment. And hey, if you get a great deal, good for you. But you're not getting mine anytime soon!

Fundamentals of Economics - "Market shift"
Definition:
A shift of the demand or supply curve to the left or right, often as the result of events external to the particular market; a change in the quantity demanded or quantity supplied at a given price.

This case demand is waning with soft sales, and NIB TH games are still readily available.
Multiple versions of the same game based predominantly on cosmetics, really does not help matters for retention of value.
This is not exclusive to the title, TH, but all present new and used pinball machines, except rare prototypes.

Keep flipping.

People are just unloading their games to buy new ones nothing more. Its not personal against one game. I think we are just reading into this...

Almost the same here when I sold mine! Wish I had waited a bit longer before I sold it.

Rumors of a VE have current owners in a panic...

Hobbit is not a very old game.

Its just a lousy game. People would rather take a loss on it than keep it and hate it. I know, I'm a former owner.

If it was more fun, owners would sell something else and avoid taking an unnecessary loss.

I love my lotr but hobbit just bores me to tears. Played many games but just can’t get into it. Lotr set the bar to high

TH has been a steady decliner price wise and also a steady flow of FS ads for the past year at least.

Part of the issue right now is people have taken a HUGE hit on their purchase if they are going to sell it.

The number that's currently "on the market" is irrelevant. A steady flow for sale before and after today.

I imagine sales will pick up steam as POTC starts to ship, and for even lower prices.

There are a few people that like it but like others have said, way too many other MUCH BETTER pins to spend your $$ on.

And the game sucks.

IMO, the hobbit was a gamble. All those pop-up mechs make the game more Whack-A-demon than pinball. I enjoyed playing it at the SFGE but I suspected the novelty of the pop-ups may wear thin, and then you're left with some stuff to do out at the edges of the field.

In the couple dozen games I put on it I grew less and less interested in whacking orcs. That's the gamble with a genuine novel idea in design...when the novelty wears off there better be something left to keep the player captivated, or it's gonna sink.

Same can be said though with any mech or feature. Keith Johnson takes advantage of the 4 pop up mechs and drop targets in very interesting ways that you just won't find elsewhere. I'm still surprised by how how many unique combinations of modes and the variety offered by them that Keith came up with for TH.

The game just really needs a final wizard mode and some type of reward system for beating sets / counts of modes.

I'm kind of grateful for that.

Might as well add my 2 cents. I could care less about tournament games they do not apply to me.
I love my Hobbit might be my favorite pin I own.
Maybe I play for an hour then move on. It's very intense and can be exhausting. I love the chaos of the pop ups. Love the rules the whole experience is bliss for me. The are other pins the so called experts love don't interest me at all. My taste is different.
Yes I could have purchased it for lower but that's the breaks. Stock market gains equal no worries.

Best looking and best built pin I've ever own....gameplay is good but not great...I like it but there better pins out there....its kinda missing the fun factor...seems like all the modes are similar...a lot of multiballs which is fun at first but gets kinda old...

One thing I don't get.

New companies decide on USP's to differentiate themselves from the competition.

Fine, except when USP just isn't universally popular.

Hobbit. Just doesn't work on a widebody. I hope Toy Story is not another wide body.....

And low scoring - yes it is different to Stern but NOT different better!

Basic psychology shows people feel better on a higher scoring game ( em's are an exception as expectations are different ).

Now unique toys is a good USP.

Hobbit looks great, sounds great but is it fun?

Anyway, some of the reasons why Hobbit just isn't universally popular.

definitely play one for awhile before you decide to buy and don't be blinded by the good looks. I found it painful to play, walked away, and didn't look back.

It could have worked if designed properly. Two Ramps that tend to break and a third flipper that does absolutely nothing. Horrible design to begin with. Add in a ton of drop targets, tons of multi balls and you have a snooze fest.

Didn’t they fix that immediately? Are they still breaking, or is this old news being broadcast as current?

And it’s an honest question. Even though I don’t like The Hobbit, I don’t want it to get bashed for something that was an issue on the first few production machines.

was fixed almost immediatley. Old news that is inaccurate for produciton games.

Scoring from Stern has become a bit ridiculous. Hitting a regular ramp or orbit on many new Stern games awards a crazy amount of points. At some point 500 million, 1 billion, etc are all just large numbers and come across as meaniningless. There's no weight to the scores anymore in Stern games as the scoring is so bonkers.

With a JJP game a million points is a pretty good game. Higher scores on JJP games feel more meaningful as the scoring isn't insanely high.

First time I've ever heard of that. The ramps are extremely well made.

This is a tiresome topic. Hobbit is great to some people and sucks for others. Same thing happened with GB. Supply and demand is big here. It's still available nib for around $8k le shipped if you call around. Higher end pins will take bigger losses on resale period. Why would anyone pay even close to nib price for a used Hobbit. It's a game that does have long games, and many owners will grow tired if that. It's by far the easiest of the jjp games, so once owners get through it, it's hard to want to play more. Whether or not it's a great game is completely subjective opinions. IMO it's amazing, and very immersive. It plays differently than anything else, so makes sense in large collections. Mine will never leave, and it's a favorite among family/friends and kids for sure. At the current price used, it's a better game than most others at $6500. I feel many higher priced games will drop in value quite a bit to as there are too many options for nib new titles available and used games have to be more tempting for buyers. Again, supply and demand.

laughing at all the down votes in this thread. 99% of the non flattering comments are from prior owners, who have a right to that opinion (one I share completely) It doesn't matter how beautiful the pin is (and no one will argue its not gorgeous) but the issue has NOTHING to do with a tired theme. I also don't think its a code issue. There just isn't a lot of variety of shots and things to do with this pin. The whack-a-mole pop ups get old. This is the first pin I can EVER recall that I got sick of multi balls (where normally you get super excited for that) When you spend $7500-$9000 on a pin, you'd hope it would be fun to play, and have staying power. I don't think this pin had either. I was VERY lucky to trade mine for a STLE. Oh, and I am almost anti Stern now, anything but a JJP basher. In fact my Wozle is one of my favorite pins and I have a deposit down for Pirates. And to be fair, mine never had any issues with something breaking or looking/feeling cheap. It was VERY well made. Just wasn't a good design. At all.

I owed a Hobbit for about a year and a half, it was ok at first but became a chore to play it. The beasts popping up all the time gets annoying, the multi balls get annoying and the long ball times make it feel like a chore. I traded it for a WOZ Standard which I then sold for more than I would have got for The Hobbit and put the money towards a NIB RRWOZ with 2.0 light boards. Happy camper here now.

Agreed I am not a fan of widebody games.

The best thing JJP ever did was let Balcer walk.

The worst thing AP could have done was build their company around Bacler's design talents.

I disagree STTNG is the best game ever made IMO

Widebody's have potential if designed right

And WOZ is a very fun game, and I don't consider it slow either.

Still have that NIB STTNG and is it still in the box?

Houdini looks pretty damn good so far.

No, the worse thing AP could have done was hire John Papaduik to create a non-playable game that they'd spend a year replacing and tarnish their reputation out of the gate.

If another pops up for 5600 again it's going in my house