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Hobbit early pics

Cheers Jon,

Guessing the ball goes round the mountain on the habit rail.

Any guesses as to what the thing at the top of the playfield is? The mechanism for a diverter?
 
Second film released today and JJP is holding an open house. Surely there has to be something new. Maybe we'll see the Smaug toy/mechanism?
 
Must admit I'm getting quite excited about this, was going to wait until I'd seen the playfield to put down a deposit but I couldn't resist it, signed up last month.
 
Apparently they have a cabinet with finished artwork and a printout of the pf art/layout under the glass at JJPs open day
 
Strange choices about which characters to feature. Only one small pic of Gollum on the front of the cab and no Smaug at all! Off to see the film in the next couple of weeks with my son, so hopefully going to get a bit more fired up about this machine. Think the huge wait period has pretty much killed my excitement at the moment. Wonder when we'll get to know more about the toys
 
It is odd there's no Smaug, but still one of the best looking cabs I've seen. Not too bothered about the cabinet really though, more interested in the playfield.

I don't know how I wil cope with the waiting...don't like waiting more than a few weeks normally. We're going to have to wait at least a year, or more realistically a year and a half judging on past performance.
 
johnwhitfield said:
Strange choices about which characters to feature. Only one small pic of Gollum on the front of the cab and no Smaug at all! Off to see the film in the next couple of weeks with my son, so hopefully going to get a bit more fired up about this machine. Think the huge wait period has pretty much killed my excitement at the moment. Wonder when we'll get to know more about the toys
Click to expand...

I think that's prob because gollum isn't in it much
 
mark9 said:
It is odd there's no Smaug, but still one of the best looking cabs I've seen. Not too bothered about the cabinet really though, more interested in the playfield.

I don't know how I wil cope with the waiting...don't like waiting more than a few weeks normally. We're going to have to wait at least a year, or more realistically a year and a half judging on past performance.
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Smaug is the main toy on the playfield and will probably be all over the LCD. People forget the LCD splash forms part of the artwork too

img.photobucket.com_albums_v640_spartanheed_E8452F41_86A4_447B_A0F2_6BDB92A85EB1_zpsdhkygoaj.jpg
 
I'll play it when I see it, but there's no enthusiasm from me this time round as I regard WOZ as a big disappointment. A big slow dull disappointment that took forever to arrive and that is being milked like a cash cow. A year from now we will see where WOZ is placed in those top 100 polls on pinside and ipdb, my prediction is somewhere outside the top 50. Didn't mean to bring WOZ up in this Hobbit thread, sorry.

Have any of you lot seen the film yet? Any good? Do the JJP insiders on here (John, you must be on their email list as they have your deposit) have any juicy new tidbits to share?

LOTR: Loved the books, loved the films, love the pin

The Hobbit: Loved the book (singular), quite liked film 1 but still don't get why it's more than one film, hoping for something good with the pin.
 
Dan I hear the second installment of The Hobbit is big improvement on the first ....which I enjoyed *to an extent* on the big screen, but found really hard to watch a second time at home ...too slow to get going, too much over the top plain ridiculous video gamey cartoonish action when it did get going, just overall vibe of a kiddies movie I felt compared to LOTR.

I hope that the LCD screen animations on The Hobbit look a bit more polished and professional than on WOZ - where frankly it all looked a bit amateurish to me. Still not really sold on such a big screen anyway - just don't like the look.
 
Are the people calling Woz slow basing it on the prototype btw? I had to turn the slings and pops down on mine because it was too fast. Not sure what people are talking about. I'll take a video tomorrow to demonstrate
 
Sorry Dan, got nothing to add info wise on the Hobbit. Tried to get on the JJP mailing list but the link they sent didn't work. Tried to sort it a few times and then gave up. Only real info I know is they want another grand or so off me in Feb for a machine I'm not going to see for at least 12 months afterwards despite a payment plan that was set up for a delivery this coming July. (yes I know the film isn't now due until Dec but the issue is still about pre-payment so far in advance and then changing the terms.)

Could be fantastic, could be a total dud. Guess I'll have to wait and see. Bit worried reading stuff on Pinside about WOZ owners having to use paperclips to jump their machines to work. WTF.:eek: 6.5 grand and not working properly?!? (Equally applies to Stern and their poor quality control)

Think I'll be more excited this time next year but for now pretty bored with the whole thing. Hoping that the reveals about the playfield toys will perk my interest more. But I also think they've backed themselves into a corner. With WOZ the announced everything so far in advance that by the time I eventually played it there wasn't any real surprises.

Any yes, I'm grumpy (although this isn't a dwarf in the film....) might be down to the hangover
 
I feel like a bit of a sucker for punishment, after reading about the ongoing woes of Americans still waiting for their WOZ and worse still being lied to over and over about shipping dates (read a few comments about Jack promising goody bags and signed stuff to make up for it, but it never materialises - not good). Pinball Heaven got their WOZ's well before he had shipped to even half of those on home soil, so we should be OK. I don't have high expectations about shipping dates, got to expect Q2-Q3 2015, although Q1 must be a possiblility. It's great that you can get your deposit back any time if it looks like it's going to be a dud, main reason for getting in now is to beat any future price rises, I'm sure they will come, possibly on Feb 1st when the next deposit is due. Although I'm dying to see updates, it's probably better to keep it under wraps, to stop the boredom of seeing it so many times before you get it killing the anticipation.

I know there's not much love for WOZ on this forum, but I'm on the fence, need to play some more games before I make up my mind. Considering the theme is aimed at kids, it was a pretty tough theme to make a killer machine out of, and you've got to expect teething trouble for a company's first pin.

Would like to see your video Jonathan, was a new code announced?
 
mark9 said:
it's probably better to keep it under wraps, to stop the boredom of seeing it so many times before you get it killing the anticipation
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+1

I heard nothing but a rumour about Star Trek, then a week later it arrived. The same with Metallica before that. No fannying about. Also with Avengers, but the less said about that turkey, the better.

Much better to arrive at a party with a splash, instead of a drip feed video of all the stages before that. Who wants to see you getting dressed, going to the toilet, missing the bus, chatting on the phone, having a snack, scratching, etc etc ....?

JJP take note
 
cooldan said:
+1

I heard nothing but a rumour about Star Trek, then a week later it arrived. The same with Metallica before that. No fannying about. Also with Avengers, but the less said about that turkey, the better.

Much better to arrive at a party with a splash, instead of a drip feed video of all the stages before that. Who wants to see you getting dressed, going to the toilet, missing the bus, chatting on the phone, having a snack, scratching, etc etc ....?

JJP take note
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Yep. Totally agree.

Unfortunately it seems to be the norm across society - a combination of everything having to be hyped up to ridiculous levels waaaaaaaaaaay in advance of it actually being released with seemingly non existent attention spans of people and the 'now now now now ' mentality. See for example big Hollywood sh*tbuster films release dates being announced before they have even started shooting the bl**dy thing, followed by 2 years of drip drip drip info so that by the time it actually comes out you have basically already seen it.

See also people buying and eating mince pies in October ......ffs ,what you can't wait till Christmas !!! Get some Easter eggs while you're at it. :rolleyes: See also early birthday/Xmas gifts, 'exclusive' previews of new records ....so exclusive that anyone can listen to them a week before release so why not just make that the release date or just wait !?!?! Good god I could get wound up here ...and I'm hungover and don't need it today :D
 
But Stern do do it to a certain extent. We know that Mustang(?) is an upcoming theme. Most people knew that ST was coming up and KISS and possibly Walking Dead as in the pipeline. Partly it's a problem with the internet as rumours spread so quickly . The difference is that it's one thing to know the theme but another to know all the toys etc. (probably a good thing with the star effect on the latest Stern) My issue with the Stern model is that you are expected to drop 6 grand on a theme alone. No chance to play the bloody thing first if you want the "limited" version as it will sell out so quickly for the better themes. That's a hell of a gamble. Was almost tempted to pull the trigger on a limited Metallic but so glad I didn't.
 
I'm really looking forward to THBLE. The playfield layout looks interesting. The theme is great for me, love LOTR films and just re bought LOTR pin. I'm in for PRED and have DH, CFTBL, IJ so guess you could say I love movie based pins. Wouldn't mind a STLE, SM either
 
Not sure how people expect JJP to be able to finance a brand new game, build a factory, hire a workforce, outsource to hundreds of part vendors and build 1000 machines with no collateral?
 
Exactly ;)

Everyone's happy to tell the bloke how to run his business. He's the only one so far who's had the bottle to put it into practice and has something to show for it. Nemo, Full Throttle, Predator. . . . All vapourware atm
 
Em, interesting viewpoint.;) Given that I've effectively lent him cash by prepaying with no guarantees I'll see anything I'm effectively a "partner" in his latest venture (all be it a very very small one). As such am I not allowed an opinion about how things are being run? Personally I would rather be a customer but this is only possible when there is something to buy


However, with Stern I haven't got a horse in the race as I've never bought anything from them. As such should I not be allowed to criticise their unfinished code? (Actually here I also think I can as if I put £1 in a machine then I've become a customer)

For what it's worth I think it's great there is a 2nd manufacturer and I'm sure the Hobbit will come out but there is some truth to a lot of the criticisms about slow shipping times, incomplete software, the loss of the wow factor etc. Whether or not the machine will be any good is anyone's guess. Obviously I'm hoping like mad it will be but who knows?

Hopefully in 12 months time all these arguments will be redundant and machines will be shipped and another couple will be in the pipeline:)
 
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Not sure how people expect JJP to be able to finance a brand new game, build a factory, hire a workforce, outsource to hundreds of part vendors and build 1000 machines with no collateral?
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Surely he could have done it like any other business would, using his own money plus that of investors in his business. As John points out, JJP's customers are also his investors which is a very Kickstarter way of doing things. I'm sure Jack has put plenty of his own money into the venture but why not then find the rest through normal investment channels rather than asking your customers to front up the cash? It's an interesting business model and fair play to him if it all works out but anyone who has put cash in is more than entitled to ask questions about whats going on....just like any investor would.
 
Read the thread on pinside:

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/to...erson-to-get-their-woz-post-order-date-please

Looks like it's still going to be a long long wait for quite a few who oredered the LE, and they're getting pretty ****ed off. And correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't PH on their second shipment of standards?

I'm really looking forward to The Hobbit. I hope he succeeds with it. But I think he has low morals to lie to customers who have paid in full. I'm not trying to tell him how to run his business, it's obviously working for him, I'm just expressing my opinion.
 
jonathan said:
Not sure how people expect JJP to be able to finance a brand new game, build a factory, hire a workforce, outsource to hundreds of part vendors and build 1000 machines with no collateral?
Click to expand...

I'm no expert but I'm about 95% sure that's not how your ment to run a company or standard business practice..... Just saying and I've got no beef with him
 
mark9 said:
Read the thread on pinside:

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/to...erson-to-get-their-woz-post-order-date-please

Looks like it's still going to be a long long wait for quite a few who oredered the LE, and they're getting pretty ****ed off. And correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't PH on their second shipment of standards?

I'm really looking forward to The Hobbit. I hope he succeeds with it. But I think he has low morals to lie to customers who have paid in full. I'm not trying to tell him how to run his business, it's obviously working for him, I'm just expressing my opinion.
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Waiting on back orders for certain parts apparently. If anything this is good news for TH. All of the manufacturing issues and unreliable vendors will be fixed for the next pin.

On a positive note, new code update with the first wizard mode is ace. Lots of subtle additions, light shows, sound effects etc. it's getting very polished now. I'd assume a large chunk of the background code will be ported over to TH
 
So Jon have you actually reached the Wizard mode since the update then? Got visions of you bunking off work and frantically playing since the update:) Hoping like Hell there isn't ever a new wizard mode for LOTR. Never made it anywhere near to Valinor.
 
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