Nope.

I consider it money in the bank, on certain titles.

As an investment it is only equaled by Beany Babies.

No but as a hobby I find it's easier to justify the $$ when at the worst you can usually get back most of what you paid (as opposed to something like travel that a lot of my friends spend money on and don't even have a chance at getting back any money).

It's a lousy investment. It has been discussed here plenty. That being said, I like to blow money on dumb things. It's a good thing pinball is at least fun!

No.

I look at it as if I need the money I can always sell one or two. I sure have lost a lot more than I would like though.

Our friend was over today and mentioned the 6k they just spent going to Disney. Pins......Investments.....not so much......smart way to spend your entertainment funds.....hell yeah!

Who ever considers it not an investment, sell me your pins for what you paid for them 4 or 5 years ago.

I don't buy it as an investment, but typically when I buy a game I do figure that I'll be able to sell it for a similar (if not the same) price to what I bought it for.

Yes.

LTG : )™

Not at all.

Hell no! Can you get most of your money back out of a pin....most of the time, yes, BUT if you consider pinball machines as an investment, your nuts. Guys that buy pins to sock away and make money are just gambling that they will be able to make more later. You never know. Can guys make money on the A listers....yes, if they bought them back in the late 90's early 2000's because now the prices are out of control, but if you buy them now, you are just lucky if you get most of what you have in them back. No-one knows which ones will be worth more later down the road. If we could predict that, we'd have all bought NIB MM's back in '97 and kept them for 10 years and sold them for 5x the money and retired.

Just ask all the people who thought comic books or baseball cards would be a great investment because prices were going only up and more and more people were getting into the hobby...............................

He says this to non-pinheads as justification for spending an outrageous amount of money on his hobby.

Gee I wonder why Lloyd.

They were because there were only 1 or 2 manufacturers. Then everyone saw money to be made and started flooding the market with supply and super expensive limited editions that destroyed their fan base trying to keep up........ oh wait..

If by investment you mean investing time, energy, or matter for future benefits, absolutely! I'll be benefiting tonight on my AC/DC!

My "investment" in pinball has also yielded many new friendships.

Why not add a poll?

I don't consider it an investment that will gain in value. They will retain some value if maintained properly, but certainly not a hobby that I think will ever make me money. Don't care, not why I have them.

What the hell happened to this fun "hobby"

Investment probably not, it's more like a savings account the whole family can enjoy.

Yes, I believe that pinball is a great investment
I also believe that a Nigerian prince wants to give me millions if dollars
I also believe that politicians are honest
And the moon is made from cheese

Sure it is... after your 10,000th play on a game

When a hobby becomes an investment, then it's not a hobby anymore.

I don't consider them to be investments, on which to generate a return. However, I do consider them to be assets, with value. At least that's how I justify it.

Do what my wife does and lock the machine and makes me feed quarters into it

Don't bring my nuts into this

Only if you purchased your collection 15-20 years ago!

I've invested many quarters and the best turnaround I've ever gotten is replay.

Hobbies aren't investments. If you want to treat your hobby as if it is part of a high end collectible market then you start buying based on future value rather than fun (e.g., action figures in unopened boxes), and in pinball we have seen so many people getting burned on value that it's obviously not the collectible hobby many want to pretend it to be.

I've got friends who joke that I have too much money and must be rich because I've spent a few thousand on pins but they've spent more than double what I've spent on my lower end pins going on trips to the states/south america/europe. Some people value different things but it's annoying when people don't see that.

Workin on my retirement right now.

Yea, most of my buddies harass me about pinball and the money I've got wrapped into it. Then i ask how much they have into their Harley? Or hot rod? Or boat... They usually stfu after that. Pinballs not an investment but I believe my money safer than puttin it into cars or stuff like that. Your usually lucky to get 30 cents on the dollar in return on a "hot rod" I've had friends sell cars they had 20k or more wrapped into to only get 7k back outta it... I don't plan on making any money on pinball, but at the same time I feel my losses won't be as dramatic.

They do but it involves shoving things up your ass and if you get caught you go to jail were lots more people are willing to shove lots of more things up your ass!Pinball sounds much easier and more fun!

If you travel to a place with casinos, you can always try your luck with some of your booze or whatever spending money from your trip; If you hit and make a few hundred or a few grand; run before mathematics kicks in.

Definitely not a investment but it seems you can at least get back what you have in them as long as you put the work in to make/keep them nice .

I'm still having fun.

I buy older games cheap.
I play them and when I get board of them I sell them and buy more.

I do,I have always called them"playable investments".Admitingly,that was also to help me justify buying them to my ex-wife.The only trouble is you actually have to sell your games to make money and this is the part that I am failing at.I have purchased 29 machines but only ever sold 2 and with tears in my eye's,because I had to at the time.I still made a profit($3,200 on one and $600 on the other)but this will be the end of that because hopefully I never have to sell another game.I am trying to collect every W/B machine made after '86 plus a few earlier titles to end on an even figure of 100 games.I am going to open them to the public to play free of charge so that I can share my love of pinball with like-minded people who might not otherwise be able to do so.So not much money to be made there but I'm going to have a lot of fun.So even after saying that I still see them as investments because someone will still make money selling them oneday when I am dead and I know that if something does happen to me I can sell some to survive.

Nope.

I basically just break even on games.

Anything that is collectible is basically a short-term investment at most, since interest can wax and wane over time.

No, I've bought many a game that was overpriced but I simply wanted to play it, I mean theres a limit but for a few hundred dollars I'm not going to lose out on it, I will lose when I resell as most pinheads will pass on a game because of that but I just can't pass up a pinball machine, especially if its one I'm really after, have to have it. Its a sickness and not the best model for getting a good deal, but this is not an investment for me, pure entertainment and addiction.

did this in panama. those commies tax your winnings at the cashier, but the casino is also a brothel

nope i buy what i like to play only.

No Way.
Pinball is a hobby to most of us. If you can make money, improve your games along the way, then great. Otherwise it can become a full time job.

Sometimes for money.....but an Investment always in keeping me Happy!

Generally speaking I don't consider pinball a money-making type of investment. However if a good deal pops up on a machine that is well below market price, I would buy it even if it's not a title on my wishlist just because I know I will be able to make money on it when I go to sell it. But good deals are harder to find now days. Being fairly new to pinball, I can say that only one machine I have bought so far falls into this category. The rest are all ones that I especially wanted in my collection, and I paid fairly close to market price for. Those are still investments in a different sense, but making money on them would not be the primary purpose.

Anything for which you swap cash is an investment. Whether that investment yields the type of returns you're looking for is another thing. Those returns could be..
Fun for dollars,
More dollars for dollars,
Friends for dollars,
Diversion-from-real-life for dollars..
We all get different things out of our investment.