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Found it! Hobbit - buy or rent

D

dangtfc

Registered
Joined
Aug 23, 2020
Messages
40
Location
East Yorkshire
New member here, I mentioned in my intro post in the noobie forum that I was really looking for a Hobbit pin. This site has been an invaluable tool in researching my first pin purchase so it seems the logical place to ask for sellers!

As I understand the differences between the variants are largely cosmetic and the gameplay is the same, so from that perspective I don’t mind which version is for sale. I like the legs of the black arrow edition but prefer the cab art on the others!

Ideally I’m looking to buy, but I’d be happy to rent from a willing owner, can offer whatever securities or assurances needed!

Cheers
Dan
 
Welcome Dan, I think you will find it a bit hard to rent a hobbit. I know Pinball Heaven only usually rent to businesses - and I do not know of any other companies that hire out pinball for home use who have a Hobbit.

They do come up on here every so often, it is one hell of a pinball to have for your first game.

I would say that any machine you will buy - you will need to maintain it, and learn how to do things like swap lamps - coils etc..... The hobbit has a lot on it.

Big question is have you played one?

It is also the heaviest pinball i have ever moved.

Best of luck on your search.
 
Thanks [mention]Pick Holder [/mention] for your advice. I’m fairly confident that I’ll be able to maintain the pin, with the assistance of the community and YouTube!

I haven’t had chance to play, although [mention]Steve C [/mention] lives in my neck of the woods and kindly offered to let me try out his Hobbit.

I’ve seen a few places mention the weight of it - definitely need some extra bodies on moving day!
 
100% play it first.

I'd like to own it one day. The Hobbit, Wonker & Wizard of Oz are stunning looking machines for sure.

That being said if you like the theme why have you discounted LOTR out of interest? Great shots, deep rule-set, the inside is like a Tolkien museum, multiballs & modes that stack up brilliantly and the call-outs are fantastic. In addition you'll probably be able to sell it for the purchase price too.
 
Thanks Gonzo,

You're right they are, a bit different with such a wide playfield too, but I'm excited to try them out. LOTR was on my final shortlist, along with Simpsons PP, and I'm sorely tempted.

I guess what I'm hoping to avoid is buying LOTR then a Hobbit becoming available months later and feeling pressured to move LOTR on to accommodate the Hobbit.

A degree of patience required I think!
 
dangtfc said:
Thanks Gonzo,

You're right they are, a bit different with such a wide playfield too, but I'm excited to try them out. LOTR was on my final shortlist, along with Simpsons PP, and I'm sorely tempted.

I guess what I'm hoping to avoid is buying LOTR then a Hobbit becoming available months later and feeling pressured to move LOTR on to accommodate the Hobbit.

A degree of patience required I think!
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Well if you can master the art of patience you'll have done well. I'm like a magpie whenever someone lists a pinball machine. 😬

There is an obvious price difference between Hobbit & LOTR of course but I think that you should seriously play both before deciding. I've owned 3 widebody pins and I've never felt that LOTR lacked space or shots.

That being said I do know what it's like to set your heart on something and it sounds as if you've made your decision.

Theses guys have one in stock and will probably charge £150 delivery and get it to you in 5 days. https://pinball-universe.de/719-the-hobbit-standard-edition

Obviously it looks immaculate but it will cost £6800 delivered.
 
I would defo play as many games as you can! Not just the Hobbit. There is a Northern pinball club (can not remember the name) but it would be worth a couple of hours drive to. Or go to Tilt in Birmingham - 20 machines there (sadly no Hobbit) but I do Brum to Hull in 2h 20m. If you are on about dropping £3K-£7K on a game then it is worth a tank of fuel and a few £ in the tables.

I wouldnt just look at what people say about it online. Let's take the worlds most popular pinball machine (TAF) - top of most polls. I know several people who literally can not stand the game. Pinball machines are like music, you like what you like.

The Hobbit is also probably the most complicated game I have worked on (I do repair pinballs for part of my living). It is not for the faint hearted.

Equally you do not want to go the other way and buy a £1500 game that could be pretty well shot!
 
Cheers for the help guys. Agree Pick it's not that far to shoot down the motorway to try a few games. Biggest obstacle I have is the Mrs who is, to put it mildly, worried about COVID. Have to say I don't share her level of fear but I respect her position. It's one of the reasons I managed to crack on with the home bar these last months "If I have a pub at home I don't have to venture out" 😄

In terms of repair/maintenance, I hear what you are saying. If something is beyond the realms of my ability I presume there are plenty of engineers (such as yourself) that I could call on for a fee. Nobody wants to run up tonnes of repair expense, but in the worst case scenario, there are solutions.
 
Had my Hobbit for years and it’s been faultless. Well apart from the blinking 12v bulb on the spotlight which I replaced. I’ve got to say I wouldn’t want to move the beast around a lot as it’s really heavy. So I don’t think you’ll get a lot of offers to rent it. All those drop targets and mechs. It really is amazing the work that’s involved in these pins..
 
TH is a fantastic pin, I’ve owned it since the beginning of this year (sorry but have no intention on parting with it)
I’m still loving it, I feel like I discover something new every time I switch it on.
It’s such a hugely underrated machine, I think early code hurt it a lot and people wrote it off.
If you check out people’s ratings, including mine of TH on pinside you will see that recent ratings are excellent compared to early opinions. Now that the code has matured, and people have learned that It needs to be set up steep to make it play fast the machine is gaining a cult following and word is getting around.
The theme integration is the best in pinball ever without question, only other machine that comes close is LOTR, which I have also owned and loved everything about it.
You can’t go wrong with TH or LOTR, both are fantastic machines with incredible shots, Wizard/Multiball modes, sounds and theme integration. Both are home pins that can only be appreciated fully in a home environment, due to long ball times and depth of code.
TH just nicks it for me because it has incredible lighting and is just a tad more immersive with the LCD and movie clips.
 
Thanks Kenny and OBJ - you are crystallising my view that this is the pin for me! One of the members of this forum has contacted me with a standard edition for sale, which I’m very interested in.

Reading between the lines on reviews online I agree that the patches to the code seem have improved things measurably. One criticism that comes up fairly often is the sound, not so much the audio quality but that the callouts can be ambiguous or ‘missing‘ from parts of the game (spoiler: as in the end when you defeat Smaug).

Do you find that is the case at all?
 
Got one last month and really enjoying it. Definitely plays very long and there's a lot of depth in the code so there's plenty to explore. The downside is making a dumb mistake 20min into a game is really annoying

Theme integration is way above most machines.

As has been said it is VERY VERY HEAVY!! Even so, you can move it easily enough with two people and a good sack truck
 
I like my Hobbit enough to have just moved it (with the other 4) all the way down to Barcelona, & although it is heavier, wouldn't worry too much about weight, I packed & set them up again with no help, apart from a stool😁, although had to put them in garage as couldn't get them in house!

As already said, latest code improves gameplay a lot.
 

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I recently got one too. I can echo it’s a heavy beast, but its already looking like a stone cold keeper, just captivates you and draws you in with each game. I have a standard model with some upgrades but may be looking to upgrade to a higher trim model in the future, it’s growing on me that much :)

If you can find one grab it!
 
Recently sold mine and surprisingly, I don't miss it yet! But I did have two happy years with it. I can confirm it is a pig to move!

It's a great game and the theme intergration is second to none. But the ball times are stupidly long sometimes, so if you don't hit a shot and lose a ball it can be 20 minutes down the drain!

JJP are something else though and I would like to own another one in the future.

Good luck finding one, they do come up now and again.
 
simono said:
I like my Hobbit enough to have just moved it (with the other 4) all the way down to Barcelona
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That is an interesting line up, with 3 of the 90’s classics that I have (TAF, WH20 and CFTBL). Do those old games still bring excitement against TH?
I fancy a change and TAF and CFTBL are not going anywhere but WH2O might help fund a JJP. But it sounds like I need a crane to get it to my cabin.
 
Calimori said:
That is an interesting line up, with 3 of the 90’s classics that I have (TAF, WH20 and CFTBL). Do those old games still bring excitement against TH?
I fancy a change and TAF and CFTBL are not going anywhere but WH2O might help fund a JJP. But it sounds like I need a crane to get it to my cabin.
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For me , yes, TH has much longer ball times , but still love the old classics. Do sometimes think about selling & getting newer, although have had a couple of newer ones come & go..........
 
It’s the most boring yawn fest ever made in my view. I hope you like it!

All JJP pins use MDF on the cabinet so they all weight a ton.

Just looking at the pics of your bar? Is that a shed? One thing to consider is the floor loading of the game and how stable it is.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
If you want t to play TSPP and LOTR both are at Flipout - trek to London but will give you some insight (60 odd other games too).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
It’s an old stable block, concreted the floor, levelled with screed then epoxy painted, so load bearing shouldn’t be an issue.

Here’s hoping I don’t find it a yawn fest, else it will be for sale on here in the near future!
 
dangtfc said:
It’s an old stable block, concreted the floor, levelled with screed then epoxy painted, so load bearing shouldn’t be an issue.

Here’s hoping I don’t find it a yawn fest, else it will be for sale on here in the near future!
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yeah sorry was looking at the thread on my phone but can see now its a brick building - good luck with your first game. Worth getting some flipper rubbers and slingshot rubbers, foam cleaner, wax and the fuses that the game uses as a set of consumables.
 
Neil McRae said:
yeah sorry was looking at the thread on my phone but can see now its a brick building - good luck with your first game. Worth getting some flipper rubbers and slingshot rubbers, foam cleaner, wax and the fuses that the game uses as a set of consumables.
Click to expand...

Thanks Neil. Good advice, I will do.

Arranging for Martin (seems widely used on here) to arrange the transport, not sure exactly on moving date yet but excited regardless!

Really appreciate the help on this forum, can see it’s a great community already!
 
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