Seeing how some people talk/fearmonger about inflation is a reminder to me of how old this hobby skews, and the price increases aren't going to help in that regard. That will probably be the only advantage I have when it comes to ownership and collecting in this hobby.

I think there is a separate collectable bubble that has been occurring during covid. It's not unique to pinball. It's the same story across a lot of hobbies right now. I have a hard time believing that trading card collectors right now are saying that prices can only go up from here. The longtime video game collectors I know are seeing these prices and unloading their passions, knowingly aware of this unique situation. I was watching the Antiques Roadshow earlier this week, and they were talking about the collectible sand art bottle market during covid in the exact same way. Worth a lot before, market exploded during covid, crazy auction prices pushing things further, yes people are paying, but nobody is really expecting it to last at this rate.

People who have full time office jobs with retirement accounts have been doing very well during COVID. They drive less, spend less on food, and have been going on less vacations all while their investments soared. Look at the S&P 500 since March 20th, 2020. Unfortunately most Americans cannot even afford a $500 windfall let alone have a 401k, and they have been put even further behind by having to carry most of the COVID burden.

Don't listen to posters like Zablon who make jokes about poor people buying iphones. They are clueless.

Yes, I would like to bet against somebody who uses their own personal anecdotal experience to generalize a massive demographic of people. I also have some bridges I'd like to sell you.