I was there this afternoon and gave the game about a half hour of play. The WOZECLE was on display. I believe the WOZ code has not changed although this was my first in person look.
Game modes don't really do anything. Multiball starts but there aren't any jackpot shots. RESCUE on the mini PF didn't do much; house spins on the other mini PF (this is nice - better than I expected) but I never completed that. The ball locks work well including pass throughs.
Ball flow is decent. Orbits through the pops exit nicely on the right. A right orbit can reach the pops, or stop at the magnet for the winged monkey lift. Pops are strong and look great. The centre VUK is fast. The winged monkey mech delivery to the mini PF was decently quick. About right I guess. Much faster than the JM glove, or the TAF hand for example. Flippers are strong enough to get up the centre ramp, no issue there. The flipper buttons themselves were stiff - extra, extra firm. This must be a strong spring in the button housing, or more likely the leaf switch inside (which I could see from above) that is applying too much pressure. The progress lights like TIN MAN, or SCARECROW do advance but nothing happens when completed. No question, code is but a basic shell. The slightly raised disc rollover switches for each of TM, SC and Lion did alter the ball path on occasion. It's just how it is but I'd have rather had targets to hit for advancing those characters.The witch melted after a few hits but then nothing much happened. She's encased in acrylic and much like the sneeze guard in POTC I'd remove that if I could and take my chances. The magnet in from of her (not visible) did twist the occasional ball passing by.
The LED BG screen was as expected. No surprises or disappointments. Lots of green background, nice font, showing clips from the movie. Gives onlookers something to watch.
The State Fair pop was more effective than I thought it would be. Hits to the one of 5 switches changed the corresponding insert light colour. Completing the lights did not give me my ball back (code) but the concept is excellent. One time the pop shot the ball towards the centre post causing it to rebound back onto the PF.
The cabinet finish is slick. Feels like a PF. I'd bet it's less likely to scratch. The topper is meh. Laser etched acrylic lit in green. Should have been glass. The shaker motor was in the cab but I never noticed it during gameplay. Plastics look 'ink jetted' as Brock put it. They don't seem to have an underlying white layer but I think with how GI was done, this is not an issue.
The lighting is excellent!! LEDs not only vary in colour, but colours vary in intensity. This eliminates the in-your-face stark brightness that led lighting can exhibit. Cascading lights are done well with smooth transitions. For someone who is not a fan of LEDs, this implementation I liked very much. Oh, and the frosted light tubes for the GI - sweet. I can see this as a mod extending to other pins.
It's hard to judge the game on looks alone. I'm not a fan of the Wizard of Oz movie but the game looks fantastic, no question. As for game play... I want to see a working ruleset. One thing I did take away was that the regular version would be fine given the PFs are supposed to be identical. The SB price for the regular WOZ is stickered at $6590. Other than the 'mirrored' BG and perhaps the clearcoated cabinet, I don't see much more value in the LE - unless you got in early for a good price.
You've all seen pics, here are a couple of the inside you may not have.
Barry
