Covid has permanently closed a lot of businesses. If all locations fail despite there being a vax or cure, could the home basement be the new business model? I personally don't think it would happen but you never know......

Did you see the news report that COVID is driving a resurgence in pinball? Apparently Stern is hopelessly back ordered on games because of so much demand. So no, pinball will be fine. https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/coronavirus-leads-to-spike-in-pinball-popularity

Oh, you're in Canada. The US got bored of Covid months ago and moved on. So it's not killing pinball here, just people.

I hope so, cuz I can’t fucking wait to get out & play the new games that I’ve missed. With beer, without mask.

Pinball has been geared for the home market for sometime now. Why do you think prices keep rising and the location play price is pretty much constant? Why is it home owners can get a new release the same time as an operator and sometimes even before an operator? Why do you think the mods market is so big? Why do you think there are multiple models of a given title? Why are there accessories you can buy from a manufacturer?

The answer to all this is because of the home market.

Its certainly not good for pins on location but we're playing our
pins more than ever at home since there is little reason to venture out.

Nah its the same up here. Most people are over it. I was never on it, I think its crap. The on route pinball market will suffer of course and no offense to those who profit from it but I don't give a shit. I use to play as a yute in bars, bowling alleys, arcades, pool halls etc. but after owning so many pins and being able to enjoy them in the home setting with good volume and proper lighting and drinks that cost a 1/5 of what they cost at some terrible bar with some douchebag standing right beside me I'm not going anywhere to play pinball. Further more it wouldn't matter to me if the on site pinball market dies all together. That's a minor faction of sales, nothing to worry to about.

That’s the attitude...

If there wasn’t location pinball when you were a YUTE then you would have never been introduced to the hobby. It’s important if you want pinball to be around for future generations.

Oh no ur one of them

Its dies with us sir. Kids r glued to their phones and video game consoles. Not gonna happen. If it does survive it will be through those channels, most likely 100% virtual.

There have been several similar threads about this. The general consensus:

Can it kill pinball locations? Absolutely, it already has.

Can it kill pinball? Absolutely not.

.

I know a local arcade whose owner said home rentals are doing really well for them.

Jjp reportedly sold 2k+ of GnR. I’d say the answer to your question is no.

things are open down here dog

Party at Woody's House!
I'll bring the beer.

Over 2 million GnR's?

Agree I see just dribs and drabs of machines for sale now and overpriced in most instances.
A black knight recently sold for 2500 in about 10 minutes. It was not mint.

Not a chance bro. Locations are starting to open and new games are selling like hot cakes.

Three people I know bought thier first pin this year. They plan on switching them out when they get bored. Gaurdians, Spider-Man and one other in thier rotation. I would join in maybe too. In the near future.

Home gets a shot in the arm, locations begin to open, again. 2020. It sure is something.

Wouldn't the average person be more attracted to virtual pinball in the coming years allowing the originals through the cracks and stabalizing the pricing ?Just a thought

The home collector market has outperformed commercial sales on pins for several years now.

Click on any modern machines info and count the number of machine on location VS number machines in private collections. There may be some cases where a specific model (like pro) sold more for commercial use, but if you add up LE, Pro, Premius and lump the numbers all into one it’s the collector market that’s bought the most machines in recent years. Not to mention percentage wise most locations are listed, as pinsiders have a tendency to keep location Pinball up to date on the pinmap. On the other hand many collectors have their collection listed as private and the number in private collections is deflated.

I.E. home sales have outperformed location sales for years now (for every company).

Pinball is doing fine. There are waitlists for the current titles from distributors and local used sales are being snatched up quickly. Covid may have shifted where they are being played, but it definitely has not killed it.

We needed that link for the 6th time in this thread. Thanks.

I've bought my first two pins since March (we were shopping pre-shutdown and that kinda sealed it) and am more than happy to keep adding more. At the same time, I long for the day when it's a bit safer to go out and try out some new machines. I think rentals/sales are keeping things afloat right now but betting location will recover eventually.

if i see that goofy fox business video again i'm gonna lose my mind

I agree with this. The amount of kids with exposure to pinball is really tied to the speck on the radar that is we hobbyists....and not all those kids are picking up on it. My own could care less. They would play a bit when they were younger, but they have moved on as young adults to other interests. Online entertainment, the boy is interested in cars, his girl, college, the daughter is experimenting with one musical instrument after another. Kids just don't play pinball and I can't see younger generations sustaining this hobby. As far as Covid killing the hobby - it may have caused an upswing as far as in home entertainment at the moment, but ultimately it could kill the hobby - by killing the economy or killing the consumers in it.

If covid could kill pinball it’d already be dead. No worries here.

I honestly didn’t even see the video but with all the enthusiasm among people with that link I know what you are talking about.

I don’t need a news company to tell me pinball is awesome. I just head to my basement and play.

No because virtual Pinball sucks.

Nah, it's a gateway drug. It's a nice way to demo games you may never see. It is responsible for me picking up a couple games that I could have never tried before.

Not a chance!

Pinball cures Covid.....
Heard it here 1st.
International demand about to explode, China to try a coup on all JJP GNR games and start the great Pinball wars.
Only Flash Gordon can save us all.
Slash may be cool, but never as cool as Flash flying blind on a Rocket Sled.

flashgordon7 (resized).jpg

Since Elon Musk said: "The coronavirus panic is dumb", I'd say the pinball biz is just fine.

I like(d) Virtual Pinball. VP reintroduced me to pinball. I won't say it sucks but my VP mini-cab has been gathering dust since I got a real pinball machine 5 years ago.

It does give you the ability to play games you may not have a chance to. It's a shitty version that sucks, but I guess there's a point.

Seeing the (previously owned) pinball prices just keep going up and up I would say pinball is doing fine popularity-wise. The inflated prices are bad in the long run though imo.

We have not yet experienced the full effects of shutdowns. Another draconian Nationwide shut down this Winter and the Economy will take several years to fully recover.
It will not effect the very wealthy, but the pinball Market requires a cross-section of incomes to thrive if the Home Market expects to replace Arcades / Operators.
As those on the bottom-middle scale begin to feel the heat of unpaid bills, layoffs, overextended credit and help to Family members pinball machines will become a source of income.
The question is "Will Pinball Manufacturers continue to produce machines for 1/3 of the current Market? Will used machine hoarders continue to sit on a declining-value commodity?
How long can Owners/Operators of dozens of machines hold out without liquidating?
There is a good current thread on this subject.

This is something I totally agree with Elon about. Pinball will be fine. Look at the prices for crying out loud.

I’ve only seen pinball pricing go up since March, not down.

Also doubled my collection since COVID hit.

Only thing doing better than pinball is Amazon.

who else but well off individuals can spend 6 to 12K on a toy. The industry might take a hit but its not gonna die.

There is that. I'm only speaking from my experience with Pinball Arcade on console or PC, not those full size wack-a-doodle things that people insist on valuing around $4000. I only played one of those one time at Allentown and it was not a pleasant experience.

The hand held devices like the Nintendo switch offer an incredible pinball experience. The recent star wars release is in the top 20 rated switch games. I enjoy playing it almost daily and competing on line. A much cheaper and mobile way to get a quick virtual pinball experience. Call to any other pinsiders playing pinball on the switch. Private tournaments are available.

there will be no more shutdowns except in maybe insane liberal states. if chris christie's fat ass can survive COVID anyone can.

Nobody in the USA even cares about covid. You would think it didn't even exist. Half our population thinks it's a joke. So it's not hurting pinball much in the USA. Every single location I have ever been to is up and running full blast. Pinball is doing better than ever here.

It's obvious pinball is very resilient. It will persevere through anything. If I had multiple millions I would invest heavily in pinball.

This totally depends where you live. People in my state take it seriously, masks are mandatory inside all businesses, bars have very limited operating rules, most restaurants are dining outside only, and pinball and arcade games can't be operated--so all the barcades and arcades are closed. Most of the operators have been renting out games for home use, some of the barcades have found ways to open outside areas for food and drink, and lots of people are buying and renting pinball games for their homes since you can't play them in public. Pinball leagues are starting to do open garage tournaments where everyone wears masks. Gotta keep safe y'all!

Pinball is safe and flourishing in my and my friends garages and game rooms.

As soon as I have 2 or 3 inoculations hopefully early next year, I'm driving up to FREE GOLD WATCH, and visit pinball heaven.

Then hitting all our Socal spots, Mission Control, Acye Gogie, Banning!

Pinball might be hibernating, but it's just laying in wait to pounce!

Message from the Freeeek Kingdom.

D-pKiMaUwAEUaGj (resized).jpeg

Never understood why people think pinball will die unless mainstream Joe Public will come along and save the day with his mainstream wallet.

Pinball has survived for 100 years. It will survive 100 more.

If you have just 1 pinball machine in your possession, and you love it, then it will survive for as long as you want it to.

While I am guessing that Christie did not receive Presidential level care, I willing to wager that he got better treatment than any of us will ever receive.

Trump has 9 or 10 doctors at his beck and call.

For me and the rest of us, we will be crying out Nurse ! Nurse ! Nurse ! multiple times before we receive any attention in what could be classed as a triage situation.