No, I believe it's done.

I've been reading the RRRRR's as no, it's done.

I played a prototype with the 3 disks and the mech didn't seem to work correctly, the text on the disks were hard to read, it was extremely loud, and they moved the ball around less then a single disk.

The single disk on the other hand moves the ball more, is quieter, and the map awards being represented by full HD detailed animations are not only readable but look amazing.

With that being said I still think Pirates is done for good.

Will see what happens due to the current situation. Either Pirates never gets remade as its simply too expensive to make or JJP see's it as an opportunity to recoup money / sales lost during the epidemic.

JJP will finish the code for Pirates, they always have completed the code for their games. Kaneda mentioned maybe 3 weeks back that a large update for Pirates is in the work with "more assets". He didn't understand why JJP was doing this, unless maybe more are planned to be made. More assets could simply mean assets with no actor audio and video similar to what is in the game today. Or and this is a big if, JJP renegotiated the license to get actor audio and video.

Rumors are that JJP is working on Toy Story for game #6, another Disney owned license. Who's to say during the license negotiations for Toy Story that JJP also renegotiated the license for Pirates at the same time. If they did that I think they could remarket the game and easily sell another 1,000+ games. Hell even if they didn't get more assets they could probably sell another few hundred games at least.

I just listened to the Jersey Jack interview in the 4/7/20 episode of The Super Awesome Pinball show. While talking about the new factory in Chicago and running a second line Jack said "We will be able to have a second line build other games. There were some games we built in the past that people keep demanding in a good way that they are looking for and those are always possibilities to go back and build things like that like we did with Wizard of Oz and so the market is there for us". Now Jack didn't name titles to be built on the second line but that kinda sounds like Pirates as there's no other game in the JJP catalog that has pent up demand. Whether or not more are actually built due to potential licensing issues, build costs, etc is another story.

http://superawesomepinballshow.libsyn.com/the-super-awesome-pinball-show-s01-e07

Jack was then directly asked about rerunning Pirates and Jack said "there's always hope, it's possible, we will see". Now that part didn't sound very sure that more Pirates will be made. The "hope" part makes me think there's some issue with building more Pirates.

Even though I've kept saying that I don't think JJP will make anymore Pirates there's always a part of me that says they will. JJP has made multiple WOZ editions, hell I wouldn't be surprised if a Tin Man LE is next and if they make a 100 year anniversary edition in 2039 lol. That's a good point you said about releasing GNR first as it would commit money to that title first.

Pirates relaunch: director's cut edition featuring the triple disk, moving trunk mech, flawless playfields, and all licensed assets for $11.5k. Easily 1,000+ sales as well as the biggest uproar in Pinside history lol.

Yeah not sure. Zach from SDTM recently sold a loaded HUO loaded LE, including the chest mod, for $12k or less. I sold a perfect HUO LE for $12k a few weeks ago with a good number of mods. I know I'll regret selling it one day but wanted something different. Hell I'm regretting it now a bit, can't lie lol, fun game! I should have bought the new crazy cool dauntless mod, that would have prevented me from selling it.

Average recent LE sales versus asking prices. Most low play HUO examples with no playfield issues seem to be selling between $11,500 - $12,500. More for NIB of course, but there can't be many of those left.

Posted from another thread.

Based on what Kaneda said it wasn't Butch's decision, he didn't want to leave, and was a total shock to him. Again this is just what Kaneda reported. However, according to Kaneda Butch's daughter reached out to him and said "It was definitely unexpected and abrupt, he never would of quit working for JJP. They made it clear they didn't have a role for him anymore and that it was permanent. We were all in disbelief, very sad".

There's probably other things at play as we don't know the company's internal workings. Things at JJP may be changing but I still think are trying to make the highest quality loaded pinball machines in the business. At the same time it's sad to see people like Butch be let go when they did an incredible job.

Yeah, the "contact your distributor" comment from JJP staff and from the JJP Facebook page is definitely new. Keith said the same thing in his Buffalo Pinball interview a few days back. When asked about why Pirates production stopped Keith mentioned that there simply wasn't any demand for the game at the time. He said a decision about whether or not to order more parts had to be made and that demand only went up when they pulled the game from production.

This isn't scientific by any means but based on weight alone The Hobbit playfield seems like a good 20 - 40 lbs heavier than Pirates, and Dialed In's maybe 10 - 20lbs heavier despite being a standard body game. When I looked at the underside of my Pirates it didn't seem as packed as Hobbit, Dialed In, especially with the triple disk mech removed. Now Pirates does have the Black Pearl mini playfield which is a huge mech and something you don't see when looking at the underside of the game. My point is that I think JJP could still sell Pirates at $9500 and make a profit with those heavier games being priced a bit lower.

Could JJP charge $10k - $12k and sell out a smaller WOZ Yellow Brick Road style run? Yes, easily. What I don't know is if Pirates would sell well again in large numbers. When JJP completes the code I suppose they could always use that time to announce a new run.

Here's what JJP could do. They could start making up to 882 Aztec Gold Edition games representing the 882 Aztec gold pieces from the first film. Each game could have one of these symbols made of metal attached to the apron and numbered with a nice plaque. Announce the game with the next big code update and sell them for $10k - $12k each with gold powder coat armour. I bet this type of model would sell well, probably really well at $10k.

c543c73d44358f14e4169518f98e6609 (resized).png

JJP will never stop running WOZ. Rumor has it a Tin Man "LE" is coming in 2025 which will be ran for at least 10 years followed by a 100th anniversary special edition in 2039.

I would likely buy an LE again at $9500 knowing that the playfield issues are resolved. It seems like theres been an uptick in for sale ads the past couple weeks and people are asking more then ever. Hell I sold a perfect HUO LE for $12k a month ago with $300 in mods but now it seems these games have gone up another $2k plus? Damn.

At this point I don't see how JJP doesn't make more Pirates. They need a game that they know has demand and will sell. That's Pirates. All they need to do is complete the code, and put a cool trailer out to relaunch the game. All of the work is done with Pirates versus a new game that requires probably a $1 million + to launch. Seems like a no brainer for a company to make more if you want to make a profit.

Just saying I sold a perfect low play HUO LE with around $300 in mods for $12k literally one month ago. I had it up for sale for 2 weeks on here at $12.5k and no bites. Zach from SDTM sold his HUO low play super loaded LE for $12k maybe 6 weeks back, it was up on here over a month at $13k originally.

Around $12k for an HUO LE seems to be the normal price unless the game has now gone up in value $2k-$3k more in less then a month. Hell maybe it has, who knows. If that's the case I wish I would have waited to sell! It wouldn't surprise me as the game is one of the best but that still seems like a big jump in a short amount of time.

I won't lie, I do regret selling it a bit. If anyone really enjoys the game I say keep it versus taking the profit as theres a chance you may never be able to get another one.

No problem. The game that just sold for $15k had as advertised $1,500 + in mods installed and was in perfect shape. A lot of those mods and Cliffys are a pain in the ass to install, it's nice to have all of those items already done. That makes me think the new normal price (not a quick or crazy sale price) for a stock low play perfect HUO LE may now be closer $13k. Another low play LE with a bunch of mods just sold on May 5th, 5 days ago, at a listed price of $12,995. If I was listing my game today I probably would try and get at least $13k for it. I don't understand how the price could go up another $1.5k-2.5k during a pandemic and nearly 15% unemployment but like others have said some people probably want something to do at home.

Just one month ago perfect HUO LE's with mods were taking a while to sell at $12k but prices have gone up $2k - $3k since then?! I don't understand such a big jump but I guess game location and maybe people having so much time at home is having something to do with it.

No news about more POTC being made in the new JJP podcast that has the owner on. Based on what Brett said Pirates should be a "phase 2" game which he said JJP is still in and that they are going to phase 3. Not sure what that means but if they are in phase 2 it sounds like Pirates could still be remade. Also, the new factory is now complete according to Brett.

https://jjppodcast.libsyn.com/ep-1-jjp-owner-brett-abess?fbclid=IwAR3YlLVeAZvqgVM3VJSkmQgY_VlfnqdTXSMNX8GEGc887J3Ur5jkT5mR8

A majority of WOZ ECLE owners with pre 2.0 boards have never had an issue with their games light boards. My ECLE has 7.5v boards and has never had an issue, have heard the same from many others. I did pickup the 2.0 kit just a precaution for years down the road as I never plan to sell the game. Does it suck? Yes but WOZ was also JJP's first game, on a new custom platform, new light system, and they decided to make what is considered the most complex / loaded pin of all time as their first game. JJP learned from their mistakes, corrected the issue and it's been corrected now for over 5 years. Also, the earliest WOZ's with 5v boards were supported by JJP with new boards for well over a year. The WOZ's built within the first few months with 5v unbuffered boards failed the most.

If JJP likes money they will make more Pirates.

I'm not sure if more Pirates will be made but what is odd is that JJP has now released two pins since POTC and yet the games final wizard mode isn't in the game. I could still see JJP timing a final update with the announcement of a new run.