I was also ruined by the over hype and was on the list for a CE which I cancelled for now. This is not a bad pin by any means. We just have to look at it for what it is. I think this all boils down to JJP needing to produce a pin with a better profit margin that scratches the surface of the coin-op market as well as enthusiasts, to convince their investors to stay in for the long haul. If that was the goal then they hit all of it but the enthusiasts. Unfortunately they decided to become more practical with a dream theme that had potential to be so much more. Many enthusiasts have an emotional connection with the Wonka theme, which automatically raises the bar on what would wow them or even satisfy them. That is hard to live up to, when you have to make a certain amount of profit and keep pricing from going up. We all know JJP is capable of the creativity and engineering necessary to blow us away, but my guess is they had to make some grown up decisions and think of the longevity of the company this time.
A lof of us had bigger visions for the toys and coding in this pin, but if you look at the mechs they did include:
Gobstopper - solid piece that sits on top of a spinning motor - easy to mass produce cheaply.
Wonkavision - A mini LCD which they always include anyway - all they had to do was put a white sparkly frame around it - easy to mass produce cheaply.
Wonkavator - A simple modular mechanical design with a sticker that looks like the real wonkavator on it - again easier to mass produce than a real one.
Vertical LED Wonka sign - Small modular unit, look easy and cheaper to mass produce and has a different design than we have seen before.
There is a common theme with all of these, "cost effective". I seriously would have paid over 12k if it was a grand slam on this theme. Perhaps they could have made an enthusiast version done right for more $$ and the current version for coin-op at the lower price point?