(Topic ID: 94070)

Game Prices

By ek77

9 years ago


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  • 34 posts
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  • Latest reply 9 years ago by flynnibus
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    -5
    #1 9 years ago

    Will the flood of new games Hobbit MM IM and more leave a shortage of cash for 90s w/b games and will this drive prices down.

    #2 9 years ago

    nope. in my case I've had my hobbit and predator paid in full for almost a year now. that money's long gone - just waiting on pins to show up.
    only thing that will drive down B/W prices much is an announcement of a reissue. most of the B and C titles which have no chance of being remade will still be in demand due to their price point [~2k].

    #3 9 years ago

    Not a cash shortage, but a space shortage.

    There are a finite number of people who are willing to have a pin in their home. Those that are have a finite amount of space. Since the majority of pins are no longer on location getting played to death the number of pins is possibly going up, not down. Once most of us who have been in the hobby for a while will fully run out of space. It is not money, but space that keeps my collection size in check.

    So unless a lot people start stacking pins up like cord wood I think the lack of space will lower prices, not the need to raise money for new pins.

    Sure there will always be some hoarders, but I doubt enough to absorb all of the pins that come onto the market as new pins are made and displace the older pins in people's collections.

    #4 9 years ago
    Quoted from ek77:

    Will the flood of new games Hobbit MM IM and more leave a shortage of cash for 90s w/b games and will this drive prices down.

    Nope nope nope. Pinball popularity is on the rise. There is a newbie sticker shock: Most people aren't ready & able to spend $5k+ on a machine.
    They then see the A-list prices. Then go to B and C and D-list titles until they find something more in their budget. Veterans aren't going to buying a heavily worn Pin-Bot for $1000, but I guarantee an excited new pinball fan will be.

    Quoted from mg81:

    There are a finite number of people who are willing to have a pin in their home. Those that are have a finite amount of space. Since the majority of pins are no longer on location getting played to death the number of pins is possibly going up, not down. Once most of us who have been in the hobby for a while will fully run out of space. It is not money, but space that keeps my collection size in check.

    I totally agree with this. Every time a new quality machine comes out, like AC/DC, MET, WOZ, Hobbit, MMr, etc, I can feel the wind rustling, shaking pins out of the collection of the seasoned collectors.
    Or at least, that is my hope.

    Prices are rising on the cheaper pins, but there is an obvious theoretical limit on most of them: the price of a NIB Stern Pro.

    #5 9 years ago
    Quoted from cait001:

    Nope nope nope. Pinball popularity is on the rise. There is a newbie sticker shock: Most people aren't ready & able to spend $5k+ on a machine.
    They then see the A-list prices. Then go to B and C and D-list titles until they find something more in their budget. Veterans aren't going to buying a heavily worn Pin-Bot for $1000, but I guarantee an excited new pinball fan will be.

    I totally agree with this. Every time a new quality machine comes out, like AC/DC, MET, WOZ, Hobbit, MMr, etc, I can feel the wind rustling, shaking pins out of the collection of the seasoned collectors.
    Or at least, that is my hope.
    Prices are rising on the cheaper pins, but there is an obvious theoretical limit on most of them: the price of a NIB Stern Pro.

    New people aren't interested in worn out machines that they don't have the skills to maintain. From what I see, the market is sagging. A few titles that were underrated on the rise but I think most have come down this year. Pin prices on 20 year old pins have been stupid when compared to new titles.

    #6 9 years ago

    No.
    There are buyers for new/used/original and repro games.

    I hope that the market for beat up/routed games cools down
    so people have more projects to bring back from the dead.

    #7 9 years ago
    Quoted from ek77:

    Will the flood of new games Hobbit MM IM and more leave a shortage of cash for 90s w/b games and will this drive prices down.

    It's already starting to take a toll on the older games. the newer stuff is deeper and more sought after. It's only a matter of time until B/W stuff becomes less and less desirable.

    #8 9 years ago
    Quoted from CaptainNeo:

    It's already starting to take a toll on the older games. the newer stuff is deeper and more sought after. It's only a matter of time until B/W stuff becomes less and less desirable.

    Only because the older stuff is beat, how many B/W games do you find with stellar/unfaded cab art thats not gouged up at a nice price? It happens but usually its routed rough stuff.

    #9 9 years ago
    Quoted from mg81:

    Once most of us who have been in the hobby for a while will fully run out of space.

    Run out of space? Those are words that are said often but pinball machines seem to keep multiplying anyway.

    #10 9 years ago
    Quoted from centerflank:

    Only because the older stuff is beat, how many B/W games do you find with stellar/unfaded cab art thats not gouged up at a nice price? It happens but usually its routed rough stuff.

    Exactly. The problem with owning new stuff is once you do you just don't want older stuff with faded cabinets and nicks and what not.

    #11 9 years ago
    Quoted from TigerLaw:

    Exactly. The problem with owning new stuff is once you do you just don't want older stuff with faded cabinets and nicks and what not.

    Yep, new stuff gets shipped in a nice secure box to your front door and 9.9/10 times its mint as advertised. If not your distributor goes to bat for you to get it worked out. Im thinking about JJ@Gex with that Metallica a few months ago.

    Now buy an older game from long distance and you are rolling the dice on the pics your seller took and there is always those few nicks/bumps/scratched that dont show in the pics. You are pretty much stuck with it with no recourse on minor defects. Obviously a good seller will say it has random blemishes.

    #12 9 years ago
    Quoted from CaptainNeo:

    the newer stuff is deeper and more sought after. It's only a matter of time until B/W stuff becomes less and less desirable.

    It depends, the older stuff has the 'I remember when I played that game' stuff going for it that the newer stuff simply doesn't get, or doesn't get in the same way. I'll NEVER sell my JP for just that reason. Most people don't get into pinball because they randomly saw they could buy a Metallica Pro for $4600 or whatever the price is, they get into it because they loved playing [blank] in the arcades in the 90s and would love to get one now.

    That first pin is the gateway drug to the second one, which might be a newer one. The B/W market will start to dry up only when first time buyers stop wanting in, I think, and I don't see that any time new.

    #13 9 years ago

    that is true, but a lot of the newer people are getting in and don't have older history to fall back on. For some. IM and LOTR is the "I was playing this at this place" type stories.

    #14 9 years ago
    Quoted from cait001:

    Nope nope nope. Pinball popularity is on the rise. There is a newbie sticker shock: Most people aren't ready & able to spend $5k+ on a machine.
    They then see the A-list prices. Then go to B and C and D-list titles until they find something more in their budget. Veterans aren't going to buying a heavily worn Pin-Bot for $1000, but I guarantee an excited new pinball fan will be.

    I am not thinking b & c titles or even games with small numbers like CV but large number high price games like TZ & TAF are bound to take a hit.

    #15 9 years ago

    I think it will drive prices down. How much? Who knows. But to think that these new games and re-releases won't drive down prices of older B/W games is a bit naive. Just my opinion...time will tell.

    #16 9 years ago
    Quoted from ek77:

    I am not thinking b & c titles or even games with small numbers like CV but large number high price games like TZ & TAF are bound to take a hit.

    If there's any games left after your divorce ill take them u can take the hit your predicting

    #17 9 years ago
    Quoted from mg81:

    It is not money, but space that keeps my collection size in check.

    What about our steely resolve and rock solid self-discipline?

    #18 9 years ago
    Quoted from swf127:

    What about our steely resolve and rock solid self-discipline?

    I will admit that often over the summer and early Fall I will remove my dining room furniture for a few months if a few good deals come along and I want the space on the main floor of my home to play and work on pins. But when the holidays come around and the extended family is coming for visits I sell off the pins that are my least favorite at the time so I can have a functioning dinning room again.

    If the cabinets were not so tall I would just shim the front legs up on the pins and use them as tables for the family, but you just can't get your legs under the pins and be able to comfortable eat off of the glass. Trust me, I have tried to make it work. I think the family would enjoy having meals off of the pins.

    #19 9 years ago

    I'm someone who's a young pinball player and it has not been long since I've turned 16 and have been able to get a job. So for me I'm at a stage where I'll only be able to buy low price machines, and I'm perfectly happy doing so because I'd be glad playing anything, really. So if there are more people like me out there then that group would be something putting up a demand for the lower price machines.

    #20 9 years ago
    Quoted from WaddleJrJr:

    I'm someone who's a young pinball player and it has not been long since I've turned 16 and have been able to get a job. So for me I'm at a stage where I'll only be able to buy low price machines, and I'm perfectly happy doing so because I'd be glad playing anything, really. So if there are more people like me out there then that group would be something putting up a demand for the lower price machines.

    Pretty cool game if that's your first machine.

    #21 9 years ago
    Quoted from mdelorenzo:

    Pretty cool game if that's your first machine.

    Yeah I really enjoy it. It's in awful aesthetic condition though (which allowed me to get it for very cheap). All the art on the cabinet has been painted over with black, there's a bit of worn away paint on the lower playfield, and some paint on the backglass has worn off as well. It still runs great, though, and I have lots of fun playing it.

    #22 9 years ago
    Quoted from WaddleJrJr:

    Yeah I really enjoy it. It's in awful aesthetic condition though (which allowed me to get it for very cheap). All the art on the cabinet has been painted over with black, there's a bit of worn away paint on the lower playfield, and some paint on the backglass has worn off as well. It still runs great, though, and I have lots of fun playing it.

    My first game was Evel Knievel, and the thing was chewed down to the wood around the center inserts. I had as much fun playing that as any game I've owned since.

    #23 9 years ago

    I think the drop in B/W is going to happen because of innovation and younger player looking at pinball differently than I do or someone older than me. For me I love games with ramps, and I think Dmd's are sweet and that is what I am looking for in a pin and that's what I am to buy. I can live without a dmd, but "need" the ramps.The new toy heavy games are neat, but I don't "have to" have them to enjoy the game.

    People new to the hobby are going to think of the toys or LCD screens as the norm and b/w will become too old school for them. And the folks who like them, will still like new machines too, so demand will probably drop at some point, but I think it will be years before that happens.

    For me I am trying to get into the hobby as cheap as possible, but although I enjoy a game or 2 on an EM I still wouldn't buy one for $400 because its not what gets my adrenaline going when i am playing.

    #24 9 years ago
    Quoted from WaddleJrJr:

    Yeah I really enjoy it. It's in awful aesthetic condition though (which allowed me to get it for very cheap). All the art on the cabinet has been painted over with black, there's a bit of worn away paint on the lower playfield, and some paint on the backglass has worn off as well. It still runs great, though, and I have lots of fun playing it.

    It's great you are having fun. I wish I this community existed in such a fashion 12 years ago(ugh) when I was 16! Pinball rules.

    #25 9 years ago

    Great games in great condition will always be sought after.

    For example, non-DMD titles from the 80's (like Centaur/Fathom/Paragon) are still pretty admired. My 19 old son just spent a couple weeks @ home and his favorite is Fathom.

    #26 9 years ago
    Quoted from mg81:

    Not a cash shortage, but a space shortage.
    There are a finite number of people who are willing to have a pin in their home. Those that are have a finite amount of space. Since the majority of pins are no longer on location getting played to death the number of pins is possibly going up, not down. Once most of us who have been in the hobby for a while will fully run out of space. It is not money, but space that keeps my collection size in check.
    So unless a lot people start stacking pins up like cord wood I think the lack of space will lower prices, not the need to raise money for new pins.
    Sure there will always be some hoarders, but I doubt enough to absorb all of the pins that come onto the market as new pins are made and displace the older pins in people's collections.

    An interesting point I think few of us think about. Buying new pins for home use is a pretty new phenomenon. I agree that space issues will be a driving factor in a possible drop in prices if new product is strong and people have to clear out older titles. Time will tell, but from my end it is obvious retail prices are falling a bit. Some games like Funhouse have dropped dramatically, which I don't quite understand.

    #27 9 years ago
    Quoted from DaveH:

    My first game was Evel Knievel, and the thing was chewed down to the wood around the center inserts. I had as much fun playing that as any game I've owned since.

    It's awesome how much fun a cheap little beat up pinball machine can provide. I'll probably be playing this thing as long as I can keep it working.

    Quoted from mdelorenzo:

    It's great you are having fun. I wish I this community existed in such a fashion 12 years ago(ugh) when I was 16! Pinball rules.

    Yeah, I'm new to the community but I already love it!
    Although to be honest I do kind of wish I was alive back when you were younger that way there would've been more places to actually go out and play pinball, because around me there's really only one place (that I know of) within reasonable driving distance that has machines to play.

    #28 9 years ago

    i think 90s B/W games (aside from the crazy-expensive games that are likely remake candidates) will pretty much hold steady. most of those titles are far cheaper than new pins anyway, and many of them are more elaborate (lighting aside) than new Sterns.

    #29 9 years ago

    Personally I like the the 90s B/W games best, they are what I grew up with and feel like so much more than newer Stern machines, which I do enjoy, but don't get attached to as much as games like TZ, Funhouse, Addams and CV. The newer Sterns are a lot faster but feel much more replaceable. You can feel the B/W games being more solid, and can see the cost to make and design them and quality that went into them was much more thought out than many newer machines

    #30 9 years ago
    Quoted from mdelorenzo:

    It's great you are having fun. I wish I this community existed in such a fashion 12 years ago(ugh) when I was 16! Pinball rules.

    I wish I was 28!!

    #31 9 years ago
    Quoted from WaddleJrJr:

    Yeah I really enjoy it. It's in awful aesthetic condition though (which allowed me to get it for very cheap). All the art on the cabinet has been painted over with black, there's a bit of worn away paint on the lower playfield, and some paint on the backglass has worn off as well. It still runs great, though, and I have lots of fun playing it.

    Cool, Black Knight was my first pin too. I bought it in 1998 when my son was born, and I promised him I'd never sell it.

    #32 9 years ago
    Quoted from WaddleJrJr:

    It's awesome how much fun a cheap little beat up pinball machine can provide. I'll probably be playing this thing as long as I can keep it working.

    Yeah, I'm new to the community but I already love it!
    Although to be honest I do kind of wish I was alive back when you were younger that way there would've been more places to actually go out and play pinball, because around me there's really only one place (that I know of) within reasonable driving distance that has machines to play.

    Pinball was all I played at the boardwalks and such. I could play for hours on my $10 stipend.

    Quoted from swampfire:

    I wish I was 28!!

    Heh its not too bad I guess!

    #33 9 years ago

    well when a feature/ toy rich machine now costs north of 6 large, A $3500 Fun House or STTNG does seem tasty.

    #34 9 years ago

    It will likely follow the same exact thing that happened with SS games from the eighties.

    As new blood came into the hobby that had more of a history with DMDs.. DMDs were the new hotness, and the new blood didn't have the connection to the 80s SS games. The 80s SS games wouldn't move.. they looked 'inferior' to the DMDs and hence prices went down. But this period of price depression lead to a reduction in supply as games were parted out, trashed, vs restored. This held for years... and then the SS games were 'rediscovered' by the new blood and sought out again... with this new demand and the lower availability, prices recovered a bit.

    The same will happen for those B and C DMD titles. The new blood will look at the modern tech and pass on the B/C titles... but later they will rediscover them and seek them out again.

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