Date: 9th December, 2011

The latest look at the playfield gives us an updated view of the very first feature to be revealed; Dorothy's house.

We first saw the house early in the design process when Dennis Nordman created this prototype.

The original prototype for the house design

Now we have an updated prototype made out of aluminium, complete with the protruding (and deliberately oversized) legs of Wicked Witch.

The latest incarnation of Dorothy's house

The Witch's legs are expected to appear when the house stops spinning and look to be attached to the back of the house's front wall.  This wall pivots about its base to hide or show the legs. 

The pivot for the house's wall

Whether that pivoting happens as a result of the centrifugal force created when the house spins, or whether there is some external impetus to get it to happen isn't yet known.  Jersey Jack Pinball (JJP) have said that the player has to achieve something in order to make the legs appear, so it may require physically activating.

The house is expected to have decals applied to recreate the various windows, doors and wall and roof textures seen on the earlier version.  It has been made out of metal to provide the durability needed when it spins rapidly, while the aluminium construction should keep the weight down, requiring a less power-hungry (and heavy) motor.

JJP also released a new picture of another playfield feature - the Throne Room.

Last seen back in October, the Throne Room is a saucer which has an etching of The Wizard mounted above it.

The Throne Room feature

We said before how the plinth was expected to be illuminated, and the new picture shows how that will look, together with an updated image of The Wizard etched into the perspex.

The new Wizard

Jack Guarnieri has said that the team have been building a whitewood model for Programmer, Keith Johnson to take home, where he can work on the code to drive all the devices and the game's rules.

He also said the team would then produce two more whitewood games, with one going to New Jersey, where they will be making additional playfields before the end of the year.

We'll have all the latest news from the Jersey Jack Pinball team here at Pinball News, as work continues on building The Wizard of Oz.

© Pinball News 2011