Yep... You really "saved" ....... Well, as long as your version of reality doesnt include quaint things like the stock market or money investment.

2010: "Damn Pinball prices are too high.... Stern has a monopoly on the industry- we need more competition!"

2015: "Yay! We now have somewhere between 2.5 and 3.5 companies making pinball... and prices are..... aw shit... higher!?!?!? "

Wow - so I imagine ALL manufactured items just saw a 5.5% price increase?

No? Anyways...

I think its far more likely JJP has FINALLY gotten a handle on how much it really costs to make these machines and it's a LOT higher than their initial estimates that they based prepay on.

Hard to imagine Jack was able to predict the MASSIVE delays they've experienced releasing not just WoZ but now TH as well. Also, there has to be cost associated with the redesigns they had to do (on both machines!) and the costs they incurred replacing defective WoZ light boards, etc.

So, before they can "wean" themselves off pre-pay- they have to stop "stealing from peter to pay paul" and build enough into the selling price to turn some profit....

Just a guess....

The reality is- when people let JJP hold their money for 3 years (Unsecured), they are already "paying" ~$9500 for a pinball machine.

Good point...

Can you expand on how their difficulty properly clearcoating a plywood playfield falls under the "new innovations" category of excuses though?

Agreed.

If JJP can squeeze more money out of buyers to try to get financially stable- then power to them.... If this allows him to get rid of the long-term preppy model- then the sooner the better! If he's priced it to high, they won't sell.... thats the market at work.

But lets be consistent:

JJP is a for profit company trying to make as much money as they can. The can jack up prices as high as the market will bear..... and shift production to bring in new money, etc, etc. All fair. However, lets finally dispense with the happy horseshit about how Jack is in this "for the love of pinball" - at least anymore than Stern or DP or anyone else is for that matter.

Ouch.

Would it have been the same hit if the hobbit would have shipped as (contractually) promised? Of so, oh well. If not, you should get a little relief.

Though, one question, if the exchange rate had change in the other direction, would folks feel the same way?

You're exactly right.

For me, the Hobbit movies were a HUGE disappointment- and this is coming form someone who thinks the LOTR trilogy was one of the best set of movies ever done in the genre!

I've watched each of those LOTR movies multiple times... and I will STILL stop and watch them if they are on and Im flipping though the channels. The Hobbit? Not even close.... I saw all the movies, eventually, but it felt more like I was "checking the box" seeing the final film.... kind of like watching the last few episodes of Heroes, even though I had lost interest along the way.

Jackson "sold out" on this project. He should have made ONE great film. The result was an abomination.

The ambivalence towards the finished product (the films) and the delays of the pin have really sunk much of my early interest in the project. Im still hoping for a great game.... but they both lost me along the way

fair question.

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