That's my impression as well...good man/explanation.

Now, the jealous losers will continue to hammer away at the poor dude (as if he cares

Reminds me of my recent TRON LE FS ad...(https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/for-sale-tron-legacy-le-249). Ended up being the most awesome pinball sale over my 20 years of collecting. Don't worry turbo2nr, the pinball gods end up shining on the "good guys" (with talent/tude, collections, and buyer reviews

I'm sure someone will grab this and be happy with the decision. I'm in for an UM/CE/Butter.

P.S. I do think it's unfortunate that Spooky's sale process doesn't limit the transaction to 1 game per person (given the market). If it did, we'd have less of this type of flipping. Since it doesn't, people can do whatever they want with their slots!

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Just goes to show you don't know what you're talking about. But go on with your ad hominems by all means.

I don't even need to issue a serious response to this. My post history is available, go find it yourself if you're that interested. You overinvested in time (labor) or materials. That's how you lose money. It's not complicated. We're ALL guilty of that in this hobby to some degree or another, but most of us aren't using it as some kind of Holy Armor to justify our prices. You get what the market wants to give, end of story.

Someone buy this already, so I can post my LE spot for $6,000 and keep the fun going!

Metallica was going to kick Lars from the band, but Stern stepped in and said you can't do that because he's already on machine. Then the great Pinball wars started. Pro Lars, and a Limited Number of people anti Lars. It was a crazy scary time of insane prices, and even more enthusiasts that belong in a sanitarium. Then they released the vault edition with Lars blackened out, and that just looked super weird. But Gary held fast like he was some kind of master of puppets pulling the strings of pinball. Some say to this day the insane prices continue to be a problem...and that one some rainy days if you turn off all the lights, and hold up $10k to the machine, they can see the ghost of Lars....blackened.

I'm sure some others closer to the craziness know more...

OP - Good luck with the sale! Now, tell us about the Xenon item in the TNA photos - is that a CD of samples from the game? Please share!

~eh...scammers & flippers I can take care of, it's the hipsters (along with the neckbeards) that I truly cannot stand.

Most people dont sell things cheaper than what people will give. To me $500 is fair.
GLWTS.

Almost everyone is going to be hypocritical with selling machines. The market has gone up and up and up. We all like buying machines that are a good value. In my time collecting I've only lost money on two or three machines. I'll be the first to admit, "not getting hurt financially" is one of the first things I look at when buying a game. The slight difference might be the APPEARANCE of buying multiple copies of new machines with the sole purpose of reselling them at a profit. I know you said that your brother decided the theme was too dark for their one year-old and six year-old and that him deciding to sell made you realize that the music might get repetitive. Maybe that's the truth, but I'm sure you can see that those sound like excuses to help justify buying multiple machines to turn a quick buck. In this case, I don't even think it's that big of a deal. Everyone that really wanted in on day-one was able to secure their copy. Who knows, maybe your price will end up seeming like a steal once games hit the production line.

You don't even see the lunacy in this post, do you? What exactly have you done to warrant a $500 profit? Clicked on your mouse twice?

"Wife decided she doesn't want the machine in the house" is a pathetic explanation btw, why would you buy it in the first place then? Hopefully no one jumps on this blatant money grab.

$500 obo doesn’t seem unreasonable to me. OP paid for the fang club membership and ordered within spookys rules. AND he’s not even firm on the $500 he’s accepting offers.

The problem is the system is set up to help distros due to Spooky's horrible website. I wanted to support Spooky, and for my efforts I get to watch Distros suck up all the early spots...or at least it seemed like it. Don't know how the whole 50/50/50 thing will shake out.

I mean...well....er...yeah i don't know what to say aboot this. All I hear is Spooky has the best communication and calls people back & on weekends so don't know what gaining a Distro from them really helps us. Doesn't seem to help Spooky at the time being either?

A bunch of geriatric man babies arguing about who fixes toys better

seeing how Joe is one of the best guys in the hobby, i can't imagine your 63.2% "Thumbs Down" surplus will improve too drastically with comments like that ...

SH updownvotes (resized).jpg

Man, I rarely post, but this thread is very interesting.

Here’s the thing turbo2nr : character in this world matters. You may be very talented in your pinball restorations, and making $500 on a slot is really no big deal at all and people shouldn’t concern themselves as much as they do; but at the end of the day you’re letting everybody here get the best of you and your lowly responses are certainly an attempt to make up for some hole somewhere in your life. And I’m sorry you have that hole in your life brother…whatever it is.

By comparison, look at High_End_Pins ; even when he has something “constructive” to say about someone else’s work he does it with integrity and character, and is not trying to build himself up by taking down others.

Just let your restoration work speak for itself, and be confident that it’s ok to make $500 if the demand is there.

The only one I feel sorry for is Spooky. What a Pain in the ass it must be to slide folks in and out of slots. A lot of overhead time they shouldn’t be involved with. I think they’d be in the right to charge a switching fee or make it so that any switch results in moving to the bottom of the queue and everyone else moves up. Either could help w dissuading this behavior, particularly the latter

On a side note, for those saying his reasons sound like excuses... Is there anything that anyone selling a spot can say that won't "sound like an excuse"? I mean, pretty much any reason that a person might have for selling their spot, someone is going to chime in and call bullshit and say its an excuse.

Like others have said, there were plenty of machines to go around this time and anyone that wanted to get one on day one, had the opportunity. So in this case, I really don't see any problem with him selling his spot for a few dollars over. This isn't a case where there were only 100 of something and thousands were trying to land one so not sure what the big deal is with this sale. There will be plenty more, I'm sure...

...assuming anyone buys it.

GAP just put an ad in the marketplace saying they have a few spots left…

Damn I was gonna flip my house for a 4m profit as it's up over 38% from 1.5 years ago....better not or I will be called out!

I reached out to kingpin games and they have several of each model left...this game sold through but didn't sell out. No need to spend extra when you can get them without the moron fee.

I would HOPE before someone paid a scalper/flipper they did a little digging whether or not it’s truly sold out…

Did you at least take it out of the box and smell it?

This crap makes me sick. So $500 for what? Being lucky to get your orders (plural) in before others?

I really don't get this hobby anymore. I could have ordered a Mandolorian but I didn't because I don't care. I could have ordered a Halloween, but I didn't because I don't care. My distros know I only order games I want and know I'm not going to just flip it for a profit, and I'm pretty sure that's one big reason I can always get my hands on a game. Flippers must piss distributors off somewhat.

I finally got a PS5 after 8 months today. I could resell it for a profit, but I won't. The people that do this shit wind up pricing people out of the hobby, and thus do damage to it in the long run.

Doesn't make me a better or worse person than anybody else; it just means my parents did a better job of raising me.

Exactly. Shit, people fleeing the Northeast have caused a HUGE surge in Florida real estate. Guy down the road just flipped a home after 2 months and made 700k...bought the home for 1.1 and sold it for 1.8. For some of these North Easterners, it's still a bargain with the tax benefits here in Florida (no income tax and more affordable property tax). Neighbors are thrilled, since it's another high comp that raises other property values.

This thread is inane...all this emotion over $500!

I guess house flipping can be considered a hobby. That's the issue. People ruining the hobby is the problem.

Apples and oranges. There is a nearly limitless supply of houses, and people usually do some work on them before they flip them. I have no issue with what you sold your Tron for - it was a game that's been out for 10 years, and if somebody wanted one, they'd have to pay your price or wait for a lower one. Likewise, I don't care what turbo2nr chooses to sell his restored games for. You don't like it? Move on.

In this case, people were locked out of buying something brand new in a niche hobby that was made in limited supply. If it was me and I bought the game, then decided I didn't want it, I'd offer it for cost to people on this site who I know through the years.

I also just sold my Tron for a sane price--perhaps even a bit low--but I sold it to a huge Tron fan who is loving the game, and that makes me okay with it.

Maybe that makes me stupid, but it also shows I'm in this hobby for the right reasons.

Your holier-than-thou attitude about "I'm in this hobby for right reasons" and your "parents did a better job raising you" is kind of odd.

Spooky is the only one that can minimize a problem like this (by only allowing one machine to be purchased per person). Even if they did that, people are still free to sell their slot (but that would be far less common I imagine).

Yeah, when I decided to forgo my JJP WOZ purchased many years ago, I just gave the game back to JJP. Many people sold their spot for a profit. Like you, that didn't seem right to me. I wasn't really opposed to making a few bucks, but I didn't want to be indirectly responsible if JJP didn't deliver. That was my larger concern.

As far as my TRON LE goes...the buyer was thrilled and quite savvy. He has an awesome collection and has been in the hobby for 25+ years. 100% pleased with our transaction and I'm sure we will do business in the future!

I mean..it probably does to a degree, but they are making money off the sale anyway.

It all boils down to supply/demand. No one is ruining anything...

I'm a capitalist, but I'm not an asshole.

Not if you have a sense of humor. You did see the laughing emoji, yes? And yes...I'm not in this hobby to make money, so I'm in it for the right reasons. I make my money by other means.

And you're welcome since I stuck up for your overpriced Tron and you rewarded me with a downvote. Stay classy!

But.. but...but...*insert some BS excuse about capitalism here*.