Ice....read again he wants $7,800 not $5,800.....the lucky owner can lose $3K if they buy it and Stern announces a remake the next day. He could have gotten probably over $6kish before Stern started the Vault Editions. When I bought my IM I gladly payed $5K for an HUO and at the time got a steal. The "good ole days" are long gone.
Personally, I do think Stern did not factor in the "law of unintended consequences" and I would be surprised if people don't think twice before buying NIB as some people bought for the potential upside which is no longer available. Personaly, I always liked buying "lightly used" so it doesn't effect me too much but it will make people think twice.
I can honestly say I thought it was funny when they remade IM even though I owned it. I had given some MM owners some grief when MMR came out and BINGO Stern comes out with "vault editions". Paybacck is a BIT** !! Got to laugh over it.
However, people are learning and now factoring in "downside risk" so the days of people buying NIB and putting them in their garages for years are over. Why do you think TRON PRO's have come down...same thing.....people are thinking Vault Edition Brand new for under $5K !!!! LOTR's and every Stern has come down for the same reason. You will never see any HUO Sterns go for much over $5K again in my opinion. Stern killed the resale market for hot Stern older titles. Nobody saw that coming !!! Nobody.....truly, even when they remade MM nobody thought "hey, will Stern do this" .... again, I feel bad move on their part long term but who knows (short term gain long term pain is my guess).
I can't help but laugh as I know many distributors kept so many NIB's as "investments" and that is the one good thing that came out of this. They lost tens of thousands and they deserve it in my opinion so I will gladly take my loss and laugh knowing it took out "speculators" which is VERY GOOD but it also hurt the general hobbyist that plays the pin for years and then sells. Think about it an LOTR is ranked #5 that has to be remade so that did in those prices as well !!!! TSPP and all the rest as well.