I have not followed the recent trends in pinball prices much lately but I listed a Space Shuttle for sale this week and it got me thinking. It seems like some of the Williams System 9 & 11 machines and a few Data East machines are the "best value" in pinball these days.
You see EM's with asking prices 3 to 6 times higher then they were 3 or 4 years ago, you see newer Stern machines selling for more money used than people paid for them new. You see the Classic Bally & Stern machines selling for crazy prices these days. Yet most Data East & Williams System 11's have not followed that trend. I know there are exceptions to this but right now it seems like the best values in the pinball market are select Williams & Data East machines. Am I missing something?
In my eyes some of the Williams System 9 & 11 machines and some of the Data East machines are the best playing machines ever made. Why have these machines not gone up in value like JJP, new Sterns, and Classic Bally machines (or even EM machines for that matter)?
Laser War is a great example of what I am talking about. What a fun game with such a great light show and yet you can still buy one fairly cheap compared to other titles. Space Shuttle and Comet are a couple others - most listed under $2500 and they still don't seem to sell quickly. Yet people are getting north of $1000 for fairly common EM machines?