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| THE WIZARD OF OZ: LATEST NEWS |
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Date: 24th February, 2012 More The Wizard of Oz pictures and a new video animation have been released in the latest update to come from Jersey Jack Pinball. We'll start with the animation which comes from Jean-Paul de Win with whom we have a recent interview. J-P has created this sequence for the start of Emerald City Multiball.
The animation features the great and powerful Oz nervously reassuring us everything is alright as one, then two, and finally three pinballs break their way out of the Emerald City as multiball begins.
JJP describes how these sequences will be displayed thus: "These animations will be shown on the 26" Wells Gardner commercial LCD monitor in the backbox and will be accompanied by custom speech, custom music and sounds over the booming stereo sound system of the game. They are designed to entertain onlookers, instruct the player and amuse everyone. If you like this one, all we can say is 'you ain't seen nothing yet' as John-Paul is cooking up some great treats in his studio." The first of the two pictures released today shows the Munchkinland mini-playfield, Dorothy's house, the mini-playfield's artwork and some of the surrounding moldings.
The faces next to the four mode inserts - Welcome to Munchkinland, Ding-Dong The Witch is Dead, Follow The Yellow Brick Road and Munchkin Multiball - have been deliberately blurred in the released picture, leading to suggestions they might feature members of the design team. The yellow brick floor of the Munchkinland mini-playfield contrasts with the grey stonework on the Witch's Castle floor but the style is consistent. Meanwhile, the fold-down Wicked Witch's legs which appear when the house stops spinning are looking far more finished than before, although the house is shown with bare black metal, without the decals expected on the final version. The large RAINBOW molding sits over the seven coloured standup targets and could possibly light each letter when the corresponding target is hit. We can also get a glimpse of the main playfield's artwork and the style used in this part of the game. As usual, Peter Schotvanger has taken this latest view and added it to the previously-released playfield images to create this composite.
The second picture shows the game's wooden cabinet and the packing used to ship it across the country.
JJP have been using the same style of expanded foam used by Stern to protect the corners of their games during shipping. Jersey Jack Pinball have also made some changes to their cabinet and playfield construction. Although the base of this sample cabinet looks like it is made of MDF, JJP have decided to eliminate any MDF (Medium Density Fibreboard) in their cabinets and make the whole unit out of plywood instead. The cabinet picture shows the power switch in a familiar place on the right, a regular cabinet speaker cutout and an additional hole on the right. JJP say their unique design is protected by a pending patent application. In addition, JJP have changed the type of plywood used to make the main playfield from the intended 9-ply to a thicker, more rigid 11-ply construction. This increased thickness has resulted in the re-design of some playfield parts, but JJP says, "All in all we feel it is worth the extra time and effort and expense to create the game we want to create for you and millions of people who will play them for generations to come." Finally, Jack Guarnieri has confirmed that production of the Emerald City Limited Edition games will begin on March 13th. Completed games will not become available on that date, but are expected to ship at the end of May and into mid-June.
© Pinball News 2012 |
