On the heels of the recent Jersey Jack Pinball update, comes another in rapid-fire succession. First off is an update on Jack's visit to the Michigan Pinball Expo as well as new statistics on WOZ earnings on location. Jack and the team have been hard at work in developing The Hobbit pinball and have some videos to show us.

New Wizard of Oz machines are being delivered and check out the uber-cool new jukebox functionality from Pinnovators as well.

Read the update below and let us know what you think about it in the comments section.

For more than a decade, Stern Pinball was the only manufacturer of pinball machines. The Chicago-based company's last rival closed down in 1999.

But Stern's pinball monopoly may be drawing to an end. In 2011, the startup manufacturerJersey Jack Pinball opened for business, and it's working hard to grab a slice of the industry.

"You know, it would be a boring world, I guess, if there was only one company making shoes or handbags or anything," says Jack Guarnieri, the New Jersey company's owner. "So, I think more competition and more product in the marketplace raises the awareness of pinball."

Jersey Jack Pinball's debut game is based on The Wizard of Oz film. They plan to release a second game, The Hobbit, in the spring of 2014.

Breaking Stern's monopoly and squeezing into this industry will be a challenge, mainly because demand just isn't what it used to be. Between 1955 and 1970, the games made more money than the entire American movie industry. Thirty years ago, there were nearly a dozen pinball manufacturers in the U.S.

Now, it's a very different story.

"Back in the day, they used to sell 5- to 10,000 of each pinball machine — now they're lucky if they hit 1,000 to 1,500," says Tim Arnold, owner of the Pinball Hall of Fame in Las Vegas. "So it's exactly like the movies — if you get a hit movie, everything is great. But if you have one or two dud movies in a row, you're in deep trouble financially."

Arnold says Jersey Jack needs to do two basic things to succeed: create an incredible product and bring it to the masses.

Jersey Jack seems to be on track with that first goal. Arnold compares The Wizard of Oz game to going from black-and-white to color television.

The game has a multicolor LED screen that plays animation and clips from the movie. Special flipper settings and lights transform the board according to each mode of play.

"If you're going for the Emerald City, all the lights turn green," says Arnold. "If you're battling flying monkeys, it all turns red. It's really a spectacular visual presentation."

There's only one problem: The Wizard of Oz is hard to find. Even two years after its initial release, the game is unlikely to be in your local arcade. Many of the units have gone to homes of private collectors.

Molly Atkinson, one of the few who has played it, had to go to a collector's home to do so. She's a collector herself and runs a public-access arcade called Pins and Needles in Los Angeles.

"It's a real fancy game, Wizard of Oz," she says. "It has a lot of neat features on it. And for some reason, it's really grown on me."

Atkinson doubts it will join her collection any time soon. The machine costs about $8,000. "No new games are affordable! When it was a public play thing, games never cost this much," Atkinson says.

She only charges 25 cents per play at her arcade, but even if she charged double, it would take 16,000 games for her to recoup that cost.

Atkinson had hoped that if the pinball monopoly was broken, the machines would become more affordable.

"We finally do have someone else who's entered the market," says Atkinson. "But their games are maybe even more expensive. So it's just very unattainable for someone like me to get one."

Still, Atkinson says the arrival of a new game-maker is a good thing. She hopes that competition between the two companies will breathe fresh life into the industry.

Jersey Jack owner Guarnieri, a veteran arcade executive, says that's the whole point. "That's really what you want to hear," he says. "That's success."

With Jersey Jack's second game due out in the spring, Guarnieri says a third machine, with an all-original design and story, is already in production.

Stern Pinball did not respond to press inquiries for this story. A banner on the company's website declares it it is "the only maker of REAL pinball games on the planet!!"

Guarnieri says they probably just haven't updated the site yet.

via http://www.npr.org/2013/12/22/256328172/in-the-world-of-pinball-an-underdog-takes-on-the-giant

In a very generous and very special act of kindness, Pinball STAR Amusements was able to donate a brand new Wizard of Oz pinball machine to St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, Pa this week to the delight and surprise of many.

Joe Newhart and the staff at Pinball STAR  Amusements donated a portion of each machine sold towards the purchase of the machine as well as fundraising efforts from many members of the pinball community. 

The staff and children at the hospital were very excited to accept the generous gift and took right to enjoying the game. We applaud this special act of kindness which will no doubt bring years if not decades of pleasure to those in the facility.

Read the story from Joe Newhart here

Jack and the team over at JJP released an update today which covered the pace at which Wizard of Oz machines are being produced, software updates, new game deliveries and a couple of tidbits regarding the production of their upcoming game The Hobbit and a video of the new Hobbit trailer.

Also included in the update are details and pictures of Jack and Ted's visit to Hollywood and the premiere of the 75th anniversary IMAX 3-D release of The Wizard of Oz.

It looks like the gang all had a great time. Check out all the details after the break.

LAKEWOOD — The “Wizard of Oz” pinball machine features an old-time story in which Dorothy needs to be saved from the flying monkey, the lion needs courage, the scarecrow needs a brain and the tin man needs a heart.

Yet in a 21st century twist, players follow the story — and their score — on a 26-inch LCD screen. The playing field brightens with colorful LED lights. A crystal ball displays 31 different videos.

“You’re basically telling a story through game-playing,” says Jack Guarnieri, president and CEO of Jersey Jack Pinball Inc. “You’ve got to get Dorothy home.”

Jersey Jack Pinball is rolling out its “Wizard of Oz” game, a painstakingly built pinball machine that is turning heads as fast as Dorothy’s house spins with a perfectly played shot.

It combines newfangled technology with an old-school game in a way that industry observers say could win back consumers who left pinball machines for video games at home and arcade games that offer redemption prizes.

By way of proof: Guarnieri started the Lakewood business in 2011 without the help of bankers, instead depending on pre-orders from customers to raise the $2 million he needed to get started. Two years later, the company is on pace for annual sales of $8 million.

The “Wizard of Oz” game is front and center at the Silver Ball Museum in Asbury Park, which offers visitors the chance to play dozens of pinball machines, some of which date to the 1930s.

Fedak Arashi, 19, a camp counselor from Middlesex supervising a field trip to Silver Ball last week, took aim at the record 136,461 points set by someone named Jim S. He didn’t come close to the record.

Arashi said he was neither a fan of “The Wizard of Oz” nor pinball. But he walked away with what sounded like new-found respect.

“It’s a pretty good pinball machine,” he said. “I give it two thumbs up.”

Jersey Jack Pinball employs about 50 workers at its 42,000-square-foot headquarters in an industrial park in Ocean County and at a smaller office in Arlington Heights, Ill.

It has given New Jersey a manufacturing company that — aside from the high-definition screens and digital stereo sound systems — is decidedly low-tech.

Workers have as many as 5,000 parts to assemble for the finished product. They make 10 machines a day, five days a week. And it’s tough to envision much room for automation.

Even with a six- to nine-month wait, sales have been brisk. The company sells a standard pinball machine for $7,000 and a limited edition pinball machine — one with emerald-colored rails, legs and wire ramps and a glass top that doesn’t reflect light — for $10,000. Guarnieri pulled up a photo on his iPad of musician Slash, standing in front of his new “Wizard of Oz” pinball machine.

Read more via thedailyjournal

You don't typically think of pinball -- the pastime of famous 1970s characters like the Fonz and The Who's Tommy -- as a particularly cutting edge technology.

Yet that's just what Jack Guarnieri is setting out to do with his recently launched company, Jersey Jack Pinball. Guarnieri founded the company in 2011, after 35 years in the pinball industry as a mechanic. His machines offer a significant upgrade on what you'd expect from the beloved arcade machines, offering cinema quality animations and LED lights that can change into any color -- an industry first.

Guarnieri says he wants to use new technology to make "the greatest pinball machine ever.”

Now Guarnieri and Jersey Jack Pinball are celebrating the successful release of itsWizard of Oz pinball game, selling a first run of around 1,500 units for $7,000 each, according to CNNMoney.

Jersey Jack Pinball's timing appears to be spot on as the game seems to be undergoing a "resurgence," as Guarnieri puts it. Competitor Stern Pinball -- the only other company still surviving in the business -- has seen sales triple since 2009, while the International Flipper Pinball Association saw membership grow 30 percent last year, according to CNNMoney.

As the company prepares to release its second game in 2014, this time based on The Hobbit, it remains to be seen whether or not Jersey Jack Pinball will foster a full-fledged renaissance for the game that was once so loved.

One thing’s for sure though, it’s a whole lot of fun -- and not just for the customer.

“The best part of this job is being involved with something that I love, so it’s not work,” he said.

Read the article, pics and video here http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/26/jersey-jack-pinball_n_3504566.html

Stern Pinball has uploaded a fresh video of in-house programmer and software development manager Lyman Sheets playing the new Metallica Premium which details some of the extra hardware in the higher tier games. The game is reported to be incomplete software-wise so it's best not to take everything you see here as fully baked gameplay.

Either way it's a nice way to get to know the game played by one of the best pinball players in the world.

Vendingtimes has posted an article about JJP shipping games to customers as well as some insight into the companies production facility and game features.

LAKEWOOD, NJ -- Jersey Jack Pinball Inc. has begun shipping the production version of its first game, The Wizard of Oz. Pinball machines are on their way from the company's 42,000-sq.ft. building in Lakewood, NJ, to the more than 1,400 customers worldwide who preordered the JJP original. A few games left the factory in early March.

Coin-op veteran Jack Guarnieri announced the formation of JJP on Jan. 1, 2011, to design and build commercial pinball machines. Jersey Jack Pinball licensed the iconic film, "The Wizard of Oz," from Warner Bros. Consumer Products to theme its first game. Guarnieri starting repairing electromechanical pinball machines in 1975.

JJP is building 1,000 WoZ Emerald City Limited Edition models, which have been sold out since 2011. Its next step will be to produce the standard version of Wizard of Oz, which the company expects to be a worldwide hit. It has spent $2 million to make it.

The Wizard of Oz machine is said to incorporate some "industry firsts" designed to bring pinball into the 21st century. These include a 26" high-definition LCD screen for custom animation, movie clips, scoring and much of the backglass artwork. The playfield is illuminated by LEDs, while the soundtrack and effects are generated by a seven-speaker digital audio system. The solid-wood cabinet and the playfield feature full-color digital imprinting, the playfield is protected by a premium Clearcoat overlay.

Guarnieri reports that the machine's aesthetics were thought out carefully, inch by inch, to ensure that all aspects of The Wizard of Oz are illustrated. The game includes a magnetized flying monkey that scoops up the ball, Dorothy's house which spins and drops on the feet of the Wicked Witch of the East, a crystal ball that displays animations on a small backlit LCD monitor, ruby red "slipper flippers," and many other visual references to the movie.

With Wizard of Oz now rolling off the assembly line, the company has begun work on its second game. This will be based on the movie version of J.R.R. Tolkien's children's book, The Hobbit. The first of the three movies in this trilogy premiered in December 2012, with the two remaining films set for release in December 2013 and December 2014.

The Hobbit pinball is currently in the design phase, and will be released late 2014. The company says it already has pre-sold more than 1,000 units.

Guarnieri has proven that a pinball startup, while not easy, is possible -- if it has a loyal and tolerant clientele. The former distributor for Stern Pinball Inc., which until now was considered the only manufacturer of authentic pinball machines for more than a decade, could now be considered a Stern competitor. If and when its second title rolls off the Lakewood factory line, Jersey Jack Pinball could become more than a one-pin wonder.

As for the first game, Guarnieri exclaims, "My Oz is finally seeing these incredible games make their way out of our factory and into the homes and arcades of our unbelievably loyal and patient customers. We hope this game will bring smiles to their faces for many years to come."


via Vendingtimes

Performancepinball.com in cooperation with Jersey Jack Pinball is proud to release an exclusive video for the new pinball machine based on beloved classic movie, the Wizard of Oz by JJP. Performancepinball was in attendance at the 2012 E3 Expo and produced this exclusive video news release with the team behind the game.

Watch the video after the break and stay tuned for more exclusive content from www.performancepinball.com and JJP including exclusive, in-depth interviews with Jack Guarnieri, Keith Johnson and more.

Pinball Craze 

The 1950's is called the golden age of pinball but over the years the popularity of the game dropped with the creation of video games. Tonight in the Emmy award winning J.B.'s Journal, J.B. Smith
shows us how pinball is bouncing back right here in Texas.

"Right now it is experiencing the biggest resurgence that we've seen in years." Lights….bumpers…flippers…all part of a classic American game. "Pinball changes all the time, you have to understand the game,
you don't just keep banging the flippers and hope you score something. Once a year, thousands of players gather at the Texas Pinball Festival.

"When it started 13 years ago, the people on the floor were mainly guys like me, you walk through this hall today, see half women, a lot of kids."

Over 400, pinball machines to play; from the old electro-mechanical…to this latest creation, with an LCD monitor, themed after the Wizard of Oz. Butch "Get pinball back on the map again start a new renaissance, think we're doing that."

"But finding a pinball machine to play at a local business, can be difficult, that's why more players are buying them for their homes."
"As it turns out when you put out a high quality item like this, the home market steps forward says I got to have one in my home."
George "I think the collector's market has been incredibly active and impactful in the last five years." Manufacturers are targeting new players with innovative machines like --- The Avengers.
"The character comes to life, you fight the Hulk, he's batting the ball back at you, he's talking trash to you, he's a real life thing your interacting with."

A form of entertainment that is constantly evolving. "Pinball survived all the things its been through the past 50 years, I think pinball will continue to thrive."
Pinball has remained popular in Texas.

"Once you understand what you have to do to the machine then you can use some skill."

For CBS 19, I'm J.B. Smith

"Pinball is definitely here to stay." and that's my story.

The Texas Pinball Festival is held each March inDallas. Besides playing hundreds of pinball machines, the event also
includes tournaments, lectures and a chance to buy your own pinball to take home.

via http://www.cbs19.tv/story/22005976/jbs-journal-pinball-craze