Some news from Kaneda about Willy Wonka on his latest episode. Today Kaneda mentioned that Keith isn't coding Willy Wonka but rather Joe Katz. It's awesome that Joe Katz is may be the lead on Willy Wonka (not sure if he's working on it or Kaneda's comment meant he's the lead). Joe has done a ton of great work on JJP games including Hobbit and Pirates.

This aligns with Eric's comments at TPF where he said that Keith is working on the Pirates super wizard mode. So Keith is either the lead on the fall JJP game or more likely Ted Estes is (he was last a lead on Dialed In) and Keith is on the first 2020 JJP pin? Keith may very well be working on Pirates for a while longer.

Haha I bet. I'm now contemplating ordering a Wonka LE (reason I'm posting here!) to go along side a WOZ, Hobbit, and Dialed In (recently sold Pirates). I showed my wife pictures of JP, Elvira, and Wonka earlier to ask which one she thought looked like the most fun...yup she said Wonka.

I've been trying to get a gauge of Wonkas depth. It seems pretty deep based on the JJP rulesheet and videos I've seen. Do any owners feel it's as deep as some of JJP's other titles?

Wow! That's a very high quality, detailed, and great video.

Congrats on ordering the game! I'm a TMNT Premium owner as well and have been heavily considering a Willy Wonka LE. There's not many left out there, hell I think Pinballs.com (Automated) has one left as there page says $11,500 now for an LE (plus shipping). Every other distributor I've searched for is out including my local favorite and go to.

I'll say this, yes $11k is an insane amount of cash to spend on a pin but like others have said it will hold it's value fairly well compared to other hobbies. It could go up $2k or down $2k for example but that's pretty damn good compared to any other hobby. The best thing about this hobby and getting a new Wonka is it's all about fun.

My wife is saying to order a new Wonka LE as she likes the theme and game. If I'm smart I'll order a game asap lol.

Joining the club, ordered one of the last Wonka LE's from Classic Game Rooms. My go to and favorite distributor is sold out. Had a good experience ordering from Jason. I see that Flip N Out pinball is asking $11k for a Wonka LE with a 2" nick to the cabinet decals and $12k for what may be his last NIB one...

Just curious, I heard the new 2.0 code made the game a bit more accessible. Does the new code make the game easier and if so has anyone adjusted the settings to increase difficulty? I still want an experience where its rather difficult to gain all of the Golden Tickets and get to the final wizard mode. I enjoy having games where it may take me years, if ever, to get to a final wizard mode.

Great to hear, thank you. That's awesome you have so many plays on your Wonka! Have you found it easier to collect all the golden tickets with the latest update?

Does anyone know what the higher difficulty presets do and if they set the game back to the difficulty level pre 2.0 update?

My LE is arriving tomorrow from Classic Game Rooms and being shipped via R&L. Jason at Classic Games room said he prefers R&L over the other option he has but have read some horror stories on here about them. If the box has no damage I assume there's really no reason to open it while the shipping driver is still there? If the box is fine but the "tip and tell" thing is set off would it be best to open it? As always it should be fine to refuse shipment before signing if there's any visible damage? Just a bit nervous as this is the most I've ever spent on a pin. Thanks!

That's great to hear, thank you both.

LE #503 has arrived! Haven’t set it up yet but so far everything looks great. Wonka is either the heaviest game I’ve ever moved next to Hobbit or I’m severely out of shape (yes) as damn is that one heavy ass game to move! I moved it downstairs using an Escalera which was a bit nerve racking with the balance point. As soon as I got it down I opened a beer lol.

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Yeah JJP's numbering order is odd, it's all over the place from what I've seen. On the outside of the box it says October 2021 as the manufacturing date.

Thanks! That's a great idea with the winch.

Wow, yeah that's scary and shows just how little leeway there is with the balance point when moving a game with an Escalera. Glad you are ok. Today when I was moving Wonka downstairs I felt like my right leg may go out or one of my knees. When moving a game downstairs I have my feet point to side as I go down to act as a brace, it works but puts a lot of pressure on the knees. At one point I thought I was going to lose Wonka but held on. Next time I'll make sure to have someone spotting while going down. Also a walkout basement or elevator lift would be amazing lol.

Just curious if the "hard" preset or a different one would change difficulty back to pre 2.0 code? I would like to start playing the game with the difficulty a bit higher and not be able to easily run through modes. If it's too difficult I'll dial the settings back, just never had a chance to really play the game prior to the big 2.0 update.

Unlocking a mode like Wonka's Office seems like something that should happen with a great game (similar to unlocking Destroy the Ring in LOTR) and then for a game of a lifetime reaching Pure Imagination (Valinor).

Thanks!

Wow what an awesome and fun game! Got it setup yesterday and played a few games with my wife. I think Wonka is going to be our favorite for a while!

Rearranged a couple games to get the JJP’s lined up.

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Those screws will affect how secure the lockdown bar is to the cabinet. The further they are down the more secure the lockdown bar will be. My LE had the screws up way too high as well and I ended lowering them a good amount to have the lockdown bar secure. It’s a good idea to lower them a bit as you don’t want them to scratch the Invisiglass.

Speaking of rules thank you for your Wonka tutorial on YouTube! My wife and I were watching it the other day, great and informative video. I love that Wonka has these 5 segmented objectives spread throughout the game, those being collecting the 5 Golden Tickets.

Unlocking modes and multiballs is a task in itself but having to collect all the tickets is a a whole ’nother layer of depth. Kid Multiball and the depth of that one mode are pretty crazy in a good way (wouldn't have understood it without your video). You can start Kid Multiball in 5 different states, having 1 kid qualified (or collected, another layer of depth) or up to 5. Then you need all 5 kids collected and then do well in the multiball to earn a Golden Ticket. Stuff like that is just awesome to see. Then you can toss in the strategy behind which modes to start with others which adds a lot of depth as well. Then add (yes there's more! lol) Wonkavator MB, Wonka's Office, Wonkatania, Oompa Loompa Odyssey, Wonka Bar Ransom, and the Pure Imagination super wizard mode. Damn there's a ton to do and unlock and it can all be done in different ways to blow up the game.

Yes, thank you @zaphX, especially for those rules overview videos (I would be lost on Wonka without it lol).