When I get down about the state of the world, Pinside lifts me up.

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Most economists use the pinball sales per capita indicator as a way to judge for recessions. We're all F%$&d!!

Baring a world wide social fabric collapse I think pinball will be around (in some way) for several decades to come. Worse case, no pinball in 20 years. I'll be almost 70 then, and I should be okay with whatever I have sitting around my house by then. Sucks for the young crowd - but they probably won't miss it that much anyway.

Disclaimer: Yes there are some kids that love to play mostly because Dad and Mom has them in their house - but those will be far and few.

Oh well, life goes on. I still have football to watch (for now), poker and bourbon to round out my free time

EDIT: I also enjoy watching others go down this ride on Pinside (as long as it is around)

LMFAO this rules

I'm kind of interested in seeing the baring a world wide fabric collapse would cause.

(Of course, I'm sure the OP meant "barring" a collapse.)

If some people are selling to get out then some others are buying to get in.

Pinball will go on

Just keep posting this every six months. Eventually you'll be correct, even if it takes a decade or two. And in the meantime you'll continue to cheese off Levi, giving everyone the pleasure of watching him light you up. A classic win-win.

I know cars, bikes, other collectibles are taking a hit. Pinball has utility so maybe more immune?

pretty crazy you pulled this all together.....and quickly.

I don't know what to do at this point besides copy and paste the 20 years of price bubbles threads.

The price bubble posters have far more stamina than I do. I'm losing my will to defend so I think they just may win this war of attrition.

Or...I guess the bubble could just burst already? History hasn't been kind to that expectation so far though.

Nah that was term paper project from several price bubble threads ago. Lets just say productivity was fairly low on that day.

AHAHAHAHAAHA perfect.

Yes, riiiight about.... now! There, that was the peak. It’s all downhill from here.

But which way downhill?

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If the leg-less Baywatch didn't kill pinball, nothing will!

Best first 3 posts in the history of Pinside. Good thing I’m not a mod, as i would have locked the thread down immediately after Levi’s post!

Pinball seems very healthy to me.

Not sure what your baseing this off, I've only seen prices rise since I joined over 5 years ago.

I am not good at math. So when I joined pinside over 8 years ago I was member # 6607. Last member that joined today that I saw is # 64946. Does that mean the hobby is collapsing and shrinking?
Please let me know so I can run for cover.

more telling would be how many of those 58K that joined during the last 8 years are still around.

I see pinball collecting as a multi-level platform that ladders both up and down.

Like anything else, people with more income buy the higher-end pins and those without the means buy lower-end pins. Those that can fix them up, like to repair, or can only afford "better" pins by repairing them do so...and often sell to higher end buyers. Space concerns cause trade ups or trade downs.
The prospect of a new pin or sought after machine cause people to sell, trade, and save up to get into them.

No...i don't think that pinball has peaked. I think websites, barcades, podcasts, forums, and the like have brought it more to the forefront. We see more sales and buys than ever before. That is the sign of a solid collectorship...not one that is deteriorating.

Ehhh ok but how?

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I am only upvoting this for the picture of the chick.

You're probably right. I'll call STI and move all your games out next week. What do you say, five hundred bucks?

No chit.

I have seen the same thing in the last three years.

The economy is roaring, people have money to spend on toys. If the economy tanks look for it to go the other direction.

It is an interesting dynamic that when (insert brand here) releases a new title there is a spate of pins that go up for sale to finance the new purchase or just make a spot in the line up for it to be inserted.

I have not made up my mind yet how this dynamic effects pin prices downstream.

It did.

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This seems logical, but as Eli has pointed out once or twice, pinball prices didn’t decline when the economy went to hell in 2008. The pinball market is different now with all of the active manufacturers, but history suggests a recession is not guaranteed to bring down prices.

Toys are always first on the chopping block when funds get tight.

Paying mortgage and other necessities does tend to focus ones spending priorities.

Seems intuitive, but by all accounts that didn’t happen last time around.

Let me get this straight-

1) Economy is good, pin prices climb up.
2) Economy is bad, pin prices go up as well?

One of these statements cannot be true.

If prices are RISING now as they surely are (I have purchased 43 pins in the last three years and can attest to it) then they were at a much lower point just three or four years ago. In the NE region I'd wager prices have doubled in the last two years easy. Very easy.

The reality is the market was saturated with pins a few years back and money was tight and it is going the other way now. Maybe a few select pins held value, there are always a few players in a market that have money to buy regardless of economy. See the same thing in automotive circles. Joe Average pin guy isn't going to blow off paying his mortgage though when times are tight and buy another pin.

I found myself thinking about Spooky the other day and how it seems like all the buzz talk about them has really quieted down....and not sure why it been quiet

Yeah, but I'm thinking there are a lot of old farts like me who have retired and need something to do. And we discovered pinball as nice relaxing stay-at-home hobby. Good for the hand--eye coordination exercises.

Many of us have no debts to service. The pension and social security checks come in every month like clock work. The economy can go to hell but we still get our pension checks and don't have to sell to cover the bills.

Maybe something will happen in 2035 when social security--as we are being told--will run out of money.

Were you around for the previous recession?

Pin prices didn't continue to climb, but they didn't drop either. For the most part people just held on to their stuff and rode it out.

Pinball people are incredibly stubborn, vindictive and petty when it comes to selling games - will take a lot more than a little ole recession to make a serious dent in the used pin market. The idea that a silly little 2 year recession is suddenly gonna destroy pin prices is just a long-running fantasy of pinheads, like winning the lottery, or discovering a stash of NIB Indiana Jones in some old lady's garage.

Don't know where you been

Hell, man, you have been driving the prices All of the sellers can see you coming

Yeah. A bunch of old men who have sold their businesses or who have cashed in their golden parachutes. Too much time on their hands. The old lady has passed on. Too old to screw;Too old to care. Money to burn. No problems with picking up some sweet young thing who likes to travel and shop-til-you drop as the couple makes the rounds of the high dollar car shows around the country.

Every time that 1962 Farrari GTO changes hands it is always for a higher price than it sold for the last time.

I peaked this morning.

But not like I did in the 90s...

gross

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I have tried to be selective in the last year, only picked up 10. Colson talked me out of two last night, so there is something.

could not resist

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What were the 2?

Projects.

That narrows it down, lol

I might change my mind, no sense tipping my hand.

Pinball prices usually follow the price fluctuations of the car hobby. Keep an eye on those and you will see where we're going.
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(sorry Levi, couldn't help myself)