Yep, both our whitewater and whirlwind toppers are amazing

My topper collection is a small fraction of 0.1% of my net worth, so no I never look at them and think about their cost in terms of their enjoyment.

I can't afford a new topper, so my plan is to buy old broken-down toppers and fix them up and trade up to the newer ones

I'm just curious, do you go through life like this with everyone around you?

"Bob just bought a boat, oof, best day of his life will be when he sells it".

"Haha, you actually bought the heated seat option? I saved $1500 on my car skipping that, it's ain't that cold out!"

"Lady in front of me just supersized her fries, for a buck, doesn't she know that's like 20 cents worth of potatoes?"

Just let people enjoy their hobby without being passive aggressive about it.

Love my topper collection. Started out with the toppers that came on the games originally back when nobody cared about them. DE Star Wars, TFTC, Hercules....
Started buying additional toppers at the shows for $10-$20, if I was paying $50 for a topper for a game that was CRAZY money. I have more toppers now for games that I will never have in the collection as keepers. They were just something more fun to collect and again, nobody cared about them 20+ years ago. Vendors would practically throw them at you to get them off there tables. I now have 56 factory toppers, some are attached to the correct games as they should be but many are just ones that I picked up along the way. None of which are the crazy ones they make nowadays with LED's and some bling for stupid money, the closest thing I have to that I guess would be WoZ Emerald City but it did come with the game. I think the way they make and sell factory toppers today is nothing but a money grab.....$1000+ ??? Come on!!
John

The real question. Anyone thinking of ground hound day?

I voted no because I don’t have any toppers outside of what ever shipped at the factory back in the 1990s

yup, I had my doubts when I bought it, but I love my $400 TWD topper

I enjoy my $450 Bk topper and my $350 twd topper.

I look at them with ever increasing prices. If theft might become an issue ?

LTG : )

I collect toppers but not pinball machines.

Yep love mine…

One of my toppers apparently killed an entire friendship for Kaneda.... Priceless I'd say

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This one too…

Pray tell

He had all kinds of videos up about it but may have taken them down. Long story short, he was asked by an arcade owner not to make a big deal about it, and he of course did the opposite and drew a ton of negative attention at all levels. Jack Bar, I think? I am not the creator of the topper; I just knew someone close to the people who created it and managed to get one before they said screw it.

Anyone wants a bk topper let's chat,

Well....... yeah.
But I just say that stuff to myself, not out loud to the folks that I think are doing dumb things.

Haha fair.

I'm not trying to bust the OP balls too hard, but it just feels like people being mad about prices has turned into getting a little ugly towards people who buy stuff. You want to knock Stern for their prices? Hey cool, everyone gets to have an opinion. Companies shouldn't be immune to criticism. Just seems like I'm also seeing a lot of "you're an idiot if you buy this stuff" comments too.

If I want to spend the money I work hard for on something that makes me happy I honestly don't give a fuck what you think about it, but it does kinda ruin the vibe to have to wade past that. We could stand to be nicer to each other.

"Ever look at your kids and ask yourself...."
"Ever look at your significant other and ask yourself...."

This could be a series.

And get a lot of people in trouble.

Eh, I start with the premise that we're all idiots, since we're into pinball instead of normal things.
Not much room to criticize others when I have a house full of giant toy games.

You use that .1% net worth in ever discussion about pin pricing, values, collection values and now toppers. Good for you that you're wealthy and like to tell us again and again.

Toppers make the game. Icing on the cake as they say.

Since I have only a few inches above my pins, I can't use toppers. Rather put money toward more pins!

Yep. My TAF, Whirlwind, and High Speed only fit between the rafters on the west wall. I had to buy a Harbor Freight lift, as my pinball mover lifts the machine too far up. It’s a trick moving the game back while lifting the head, then moving it forward to lock the head and lowering the game.

But, other than the basement height, I love our new 117 year old home.

I think I'm going to get me an a bunch of expensive tools and an engineering degree and cash in on this highly profitable niche market. Why let Stern and those guys who made the gold plated ark have all the fuhn?

I have imagination. I have money. Now all I need is um.. Pinball is easy.

Or a 3D printer and some trial and error.

Either passive aggressive, or genuinely inquisitive. I tend to give people I don't know the benefit of the doubt if possible. It's the sort of question -I- would ask with no passive aggressive intent. I have ZERO interest in a $300+ topper, but am intrigued by people do.

I’ve only purchased a few. I’m not totally sold on them. I bought (and sold) Star Wars just like I did the game.
I have the Stranger Things topper (the only one in my collection now).

Other than that just a few. A good friend gave me the Haunted House / AMH Laseriffic topper for my AMH. It was a good fit for the game. I included it with the game when I sold it.

While I don’t care for most of them, some really stand out. KISS and Black Knight come to mind.

One other thought. I have a few friends that are very creative and have made some really nice toppers for their personal games. They looked great.

Man, I give absolutely zero fucks about toppers. Never understood the appeal. If I'm buying a used machine and someone has a topper, I'm irritated by it because I know they're gonna want more money for it.

I like to make my own.

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I just love my Talking/moving/light-up Dalek topper on my Dr. Who. When I bought my pinball, it did not have a complete topper. I had to search for months to find one, then bought 3. The next quest was to find the moving mech, that was on the prototype. I initially settled for a cheap servo version. But later found the Mark Davidson motor/gearbox version. I am still in awe of the Dalek squawking at me and moving it head and telling me he is going to "Exterminate me"!!!

I have no clue why someone would think a premium pinball machine is worth 9k and this new plastic topper with 1 moving part and some lights is worth 2K. Toppers were overpriced at $400. They are not worth 20% or more of the value of the game they are on. With that said, it's your money, so whatever makes you happy. If that is buying toppers, then buy away.

What toppers?

I mean, why not?

I invested in a new Stern Premium's worth of tools for tinkering in my garage. Have a laser cutter and a CNC now to go with my 3D printer, and they bring me a lot of joy. More than any game would have for that money tbh. Was a real investment in myself.

I sold some $600 hammers I made with them. It's not a cheap mod, I know that. But I enjoy making them, and the handful of people who dig on a ridiculous hand-made mod like that get pleasure out of it too. And it's helped pay for the tools, and that's rad. I appreciate the people who support my projects.

My perspective as someone who's been doing pinball mods for however many years now is you just go with what makes sense. I could have sold more of those hammers at half the price. The materials aren't crazy expensive. But they're just way too much work to design and build for that to make any kind of sense. I'd end up burning out and unhappy instead.

This is why I when I see Stern charging these high prices I'm not as mad as some. Sure, maybe they're padding things a bit too, everything inflated now. But I also am keenly aware of how much work it is to create this stuff when you got beyond something simple.

I assume the $2K Stern topper for Mandalorian inspired this thread. It is pricey, but also is cool as hell. You focus on the projected rotating semi-holographic image in the center, but the other interactive elements to each side in the display add a lot and really make the topper great. I wish they would have made this design for Elvira's House of Horrors, as I would have willingly paid two grand for it. Too bad it is for Mandalorian, because I have no interest in ever owning that game. And if you think two grand is too much, then watch what people will pay for this second hand once Stern and distributors are out of stock and no more Mandalorian toppers are scheduled to be made.

perfect thread title, thanks for the laugh.

I'm waiting for stern to come out with bottomers for their games. Now that the switch isn't down there, let's get some toys to hang off the bottom

So, I've been one of those people who don't get the whole topper thing either. They're decoration and some are pretty cool (Dalek, BK, ACDC train, etc). If a game came with one, I enjoyed it as decoration. If not, I opted not to spend the money. Stern is changing this. Why?

The game changer now is new modes and features the toppers unlock. Basically, a pro or premium base unit you now need (well, don't need) to consider add topper cost to unlock "all" the features/modes of the game as designer intended. So a $9K premium is really $11K now fully featured. BS as a buyer but smart as an OEM. Why?

Many mobile phone apps do the same thing. Base game and buy in game upgrades or unlocks. Following video game industry. Our pricing in pinball is just so much more it's BS as a buyer. But for game manufacturer they're following the model consumers are paying for. I blame all of us.

But shit, it's all fun and games. At least we as buyers can choose, Pro/Premium/LE and add on or stop adding on where we like. I still think toppers are over priced, but with features it makes you pause - then we all need to decide for ourselves. Just have fun.