I thought it used the Bally/Stern boardset since it was basically a slimmed down Flight 2000.

Half your asking price.

Price pending what some one is willing to pay for the rarity
It’s quite similar to flight 2000 so price it according to those

$2k I be interested and need it shipped then

$4k definitely too much

That's not always the case though, and shouldn't just be applied blindly to every pinball sale.

You say you saw one sell for 2k. I have also seen several sell for around 2k which is why I chimed in. If I were you, I'd ask 2,500 OBO and hope for 2-2.5k. But I'm not you, I'm me.

This is a machine that has never been posted on Pinside.. interesting that some potential buyers are saying it should be priced the same as a Stern that has been offered here loads of times. I would hold out for $4k for at least several weeks ‘til you find out if someone wants a pin that is almost impossible to find.

Awesome game! Awesome none have ever been offered for sale before. I agree 2k seems light on price for rare of a title 1 of maybe 5 games known in the US. It would be like offering 3k on an TAF which have 10k+ games produced. Good luck with the sale it’s definitely a cool looking rare game.

Def seems closer to 3k than 2k imo. There was a project one of these recently asking 1800 iirc

You guys are crazy. Op has a mint working super rare game that never pops up. This is worth 4k easy in this condition. Good luck finding another.

Rarity does not always mean valuable. Not saying the price is right or wrong. There are a lot of rare machines that do not sell for much so cant always use that as a reason

Game looks in great shape. I've got no idea how to value something like this but in the condition it's in, I would say on the high side of whatever number you conclude. GLWS!

Hold your price like Powdevil says. Be patient.

Amazing looking game that seems priced fairly for something so rare and condition. Glwts

Very cool game!

Following, I definitely want to see what this goes for

Moto_bone I live Semi close to you any chance i can come play this game? I love rare games and would to love to check this out as I’m sure this is a once in a lifetime chance to play.

Love Gamatron, prefer it over F2K
Edit: I'm assuming that is... Haven't played the Sonic version

are the rules the same?

If the fully working game is really 4K, what’s a fully populated PF in great condition worth?

As far as I know it's identical just a standard body. One of the first machines I ever played, I never knew there was so F2K for like 2 decades

Love the colors on this game. Wish you were local as I'd love to check it out. Not sure I'd go 4k though but you never know.

Depends on if its the Sonic or Pinstar version.
Sonic is more rare but Pinstar has more lights.
Different colors were used too.

I think the Sonic may pull a little more money but I prefer the Pinstar.
I would think a Pinstar Gamatron "playfield" fully assembled and shipped would be right around $900 to $1000-.
To jog your memory I had inquired about you selling yours awhile back.
PM me if your looking to let go.
-Mike

Seriously?

I acquired a Pinstar Gamatron this year and I’m quite happy with it. It’s a fun and uncommon game. I prefer it over Flight 2000.

I meant just the assembled Playfield.
Sorry for any confusion.
-Mike

Cool. Looking game!! Hold on price. Good luck!!

Not only are the rules the same, the roms are exactly the same as well.... you could add the speech board from flight 2000 to the pinstar version and it would happily talk. And you don't need the daughtercard to run it - you can just use a normal mpu200 with flight 2000 roms in it, the daughter card is just an SB-300 sound card with a 2764 rom added to it, which just has the flight 2000 code in it concatenated to fit.

For the OP, with items like this, an auction is the way to go (with a reserve if you don't want to risk it going too cheap). You're going to have to find someone that really wants it otherwise - have you noticed that everyone's responses so far that say you are on the mark also hasn't bought it?

Not really. I can tell someone I think something is worth whatever I want, but if I'm not willing to buy it at that price, my price assessment would be flawed, wouldn't it? Also, I doubt that anyone on the thread has either owned one or sold one or even knows of a sale of one, so their prices came right out of thin air.

That's why I recommended the auction action.... things are worth what people are willing to PAY for them, not what they "think" it's worth.

Notice I haven't offered my opinion on what you should ask, either. zacaj is on the right track though, it's more than the relative run of the mill pinstar version, especially since it has differences, and it's generally 'cooler'.

As for other software changes, etc. that's why I called out the pinstar version specifically.

Bottom line is an item is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Sellers DON'T set the selling price they set the "asking price". The market will decide what the right price on an item is. Since seller isn't in a hurry I think his starting point is "spot on" now the question is does someone what it that bad or will price have to be adjusted some for it to sell. Only time will tell!

Every time I see a pricing debate here on Pinside it makes me laugh because so few people seem to understand a free market society.

Bottom line if you want to sell something quickly pricing it slightly below market value makes sense. If you are not in a huge rush and want to hold out for a little extra money price something a little higher than market value when you are selling. But in the end buyers control the prices & the market --- NOT SELLERS!

Sorry, as soon as the "cargument" appears, you lose. (sort of kidding... but not.... everything is not linked to cars)

too-many-pins Skip is right on how the free market works though.

BTW, not being able to repair something would probably drive people away from wanting to buy something like this.

Oh, and since it's de rigueur to say so, GLWTS!

(seriously.... auction..... which will help you find out what it's worth to someone THAT DAY, anyway.....)

Still does not make it automatically worth more money. I have had games that do not come up on pinside. Stuff that is a pain to price because figuring out value on rare stuff is due to lack of sales history.

Big question is if someone who is after this game has the cash in hand right now. Otherwise it could sit regardless of price. Rare games tend to mean a narrow market especially when the boardset or parts are hard to come by as it scares many off.

It’s the Pinstar version. Logo is printed on the apron. I am not against selling it, but I will keep it and build the game out of it would only bring 1K. As a side piece of trivia, Gary Stern was the owner of Pinstar, prior to running Data East pinball.

A lot of people make the mistake of thinking auction value is "true value" but auction prices can be insane from one day to the next. Before I got into the pinball hobby / business I was heavy into the antique & collectible business and attended hundreds of auctions each year. A good friend of mine at the time was a furniture dealer and one day a bedroom suite sold for over $6000 at one auction. I asked him what was "so special" about it and his answer was somewhat amazing to me. His reply was "two people with more money than brains wanted it". Then he told me he had the exact same set in his shop for over a year priced at under $1000 and couldn't sell it.

Over time I learned not to buy what I wanted at auctions - instead I would hang around and just buy what was selling "off the money". I made a great living buying that way and was able to semi retire at 51 years old because of learning how to buy. People think you make money when selling but you actually make the money on items when buying. Learn to "buy cheap" and you will always make good money in the end.

You can even see the same thing happening on eBay today. One day you will see a pinball part sell for over $100 and the next week the same part will sell for under $20. There will always be people that "want it right now at any price" and people who "are in no rush and wait for a good price". When selling try to find the guy that wants your item at any price and when buying try to find items selling cheap and you will always make out in the end.

The main thing to remember is just because something sold for "X" amount of money at auction doesn't establish the true value at that number. That number was just what two people were willing to pay that given point in time. The back bidder actually sets the "final selling price" - without him who knows what an item might have sold for! The high bidders bid was just want it took to take that item away from the back bidder - nothing more & nothing less.

This is one of the worst takes I've ever heard. Did you go out black friday and start buying everything in sight just because the price was good? I have no clue what this game is worth but the stance of "you can't say it's a good price and then not buy it!" is incredibly ridiculous. Something can be priced good and you still don't have to buy it for it to be true. Maybe you don't want that particular item or just don't like it or have room...that doesn't mean the price is bad. I'm not commenting on this game in particular but that train of thought is one of the most mind boggling things I've read on here.

What's so hard to understand about what I posted? I didn't say the price was good or bad. I said it should be more than the pinstar version based on the relative rarity, and suggested that an auction might be the best way to determine value. The train of thought that you're not following is that people are making up pricing for the item and not willing to buy it. Since they likely have never bought nor sold a Sonic Gamatron, they have just as little basis to comment on the price as you or I would.

I'm glad to have given you one of the most mind boggling things you've ever read on here. It still makes perfect sense to me.... if you're offering pricing opinions, you should have something concrete to back it up rather than just making stuff up. Read Skip's free market/asking response above, and his followup about auctions, as well. We probably don't want to go down the rabbit hole of what anyone thinks is "ridiculous" on the internet.

OP is free to ask whatever he wants for his item. As you noted, I'm free to not purchase it, but it I come back with a rebuttal that it's worth $3000, not $4000, I'd better be prepared to buy it, or I'm just blowing hot air about the value. (Unless I have prior knowledge that same item sold for similar amount recently somewhere, then I might be able to say "one just sold for $3k")

Well if you actually read what I wrote I said both I have no idea what this game is worth and I'm not commenting on the price of this particular game. I do not understand why because someone says the price for the game/any game/anything is good and they don't buy it it means they are wrong, like you say here:

For example, 4k would be a great price for a TAF, but I don't have 4k in liquid funds today, so I'm not going to buy it. Doesn't make it a bad price.

Not if it's beat to hell, or missing parts, boards, etc., it's not a good price. Not everyone tries to get top dollar for stuff, either. There's a (major) advantage to selling something below so-called "market" value - and this is it, to me: If I sell you something below market value, it's as is. I don't want to hear from you again, I don't want to hear the bulb went out, the ball got stuck, you blew a fuse, I brought the backglass in from below zero to 80 degree inside and it peeled, etc. This is why I price things cheaper than people "think" they should go for. It's also why I sell to known pinball flippers, who jack to price up to whatever they can get, because then the burden of hassle is on them, not me, and they pay cash, pickup quickly, and drive away. Everyone's happy.

Quoted from slochar:

I can tell someone I think something is worth whatever I want, but if I'm not willing to buy it at that price, my price assessment would be flawed, wouldn't it?

/endquote

Not sure what's so hard to understand about that opinion? If it helps you understand it, just say I don't understand your (meaning my) thinking. I can't think of any other way to state it other than the quote from myself above, no one's forcing you to adhere to the way I'm thinking. The point (stated, yet again, as plain as I can make it) is that if you offer a pricing opinion on something you should be willing to buy it for that price. I didn't say you HAVE to buy it, just that you'd be willing to buy it if you were in the market for it.

At any rate, maybe @moto_bone would care to share what the game sold for. Then everyone in the future can state with some authority that "sonic gamatron sold on 1.1.2020 for $xxxx" - rather than making prices up, or calling it a "good" price or a "bad" price. Purely optional of course.

Now, there's a ton of January White Sales I have to go to and buy up everything that's a good price as I walk by, so time to go.

This makes sense, which isn't what you said before. You said this:

The "in the market for" is what my point was. Zero dollars is a great deal for a lifetime supply of penicillin, but I'm allergic to it, so I wouldn't buy it. That doesn't mean it's a bad deal. 60 grand is probably a good price for a new Maserati, but I'm not going to spend that much on a car and its not practical for my lifestyle, but it's still a great price. I can't explain it any further because I feel like you're not reading it anyway and were just derailing this poor thread.