My 2 cents: The number of people with disposable incomes and the amount of those disposable incomes is decreasing while the cost of pinballs and the number of choices of pinballs has increased == supply and price have increased, while demand has decreased, or at a minimum remained the same.

The perfect storm may be brewing as Limited Edition has been redefined as "799" or "1,000"; the coveted crown jewel Medieval Madness is being reproduced; despite there being an LE WOZ-- a new and improved "special" edition is being produced; code issues continue to linger without correction or completion while Stern throws its money and resources into its latest and greatest new pinball release; and though, the old grail pinballs like Twilight Zone still evoke desire, their themes and technologies are getting old and outdated.

Let's face it, spending $6-8 grand on an entertainment toy that is pretty one dimensional compared to spending $400 on a playstation or xbox that can provide a variety of entertainment options is a luxury not many can afford. Sometimes I think to myself--"How many rolls of quarters did I pay for that pinball? As often as it really gets played, would I have been better off going to an arcade and spending a significant amount less, to play it and not own it?" [Wow! Perhaps that's a new marketing direction for pinball--Pinball Leasing! Yes folks, just $1,000 down and $199 per month for 3 years you can enjoy the newest pinball. (fine print--not to exceed 1,000 plays or extra charges will apply)]

And for all those Doomsdayers out there, I guess if it all hits the fan, we are not going to be able to trade pinballs for chickens or canned goods. When I was raising cattle I always said if worse comes to worse and the bottom dropped out of the market, you can still eat them yourself.

I predict a correction on the horizon.

Ken.....can't predict a "correction"....pinball prices can only go up !!!! Remember, this is the hobby that pays you to play !!! We need to ship you over some KOOL AID and like PRONTO !!! After the kool aid was forcefully forced down my throat by a group of pinsiders that raided my house last weekend I finally saw the light. Pinball prices will only go up they can never decrease....EVER !!! Lock your doors the KOOL AID IS ON THE WAY !!!

This thread is really hurting both sides of my head.

Hmmm, maybe not? Hehe....

"Got a call that the WOZ LE at Marvin's wasn't working. This game has been rock solid for quite awhile now so I wondered what happened!

Turns out the coin tray was full so the game wouldn't take more quarters. That is a good problem to have!

Bill acceptor had a fair amount of bills in it too.

This game is earning great and it has a lot of competition sitting right next to it. MET Pro on the left and ST LE on the right!

Yes, this game had LED light issues but after replacing the boards there have been zero issues since."

i see the biggest drop happening in a maybe a decade or so when people who grew up playing pins and now have disposable income are no longer in the market. when it gets to the point where people who didn't grow up with pinball and have no interest in it replace those of us who did (i.e. less interest), that's when prices will start dropping.

I think the poll is a little one sided. The prices now don't seem a whole lot different than a couple of years ago, with the exception of new ones that have gone up, and a couple of the more expensive used games that are still expensive.

I think one issue in this hobby is this:
1) we try to sell to each other for the highest price
2) we try to buy from each other for the lowest price

That causes friction.

Stupid poll. How about NO chance. Pinball is slowly making a comeback and more and more people are collecting and /or hoarding them.
Supply and demand. And demand is higher than supply in collector A and B and C list titles. The kids that played DMD pins in the 90's are now in their 30's-40's ( thats most of us)and have some disposable income. Mancaves, kids of their own in their early teens. That they want to introduce to what they remember. Days of the arcades. New pins prices will pretty much stay the same. But older dmds will keep going up.

Wood rails and EMs have dropped because those that played them are either on a retirement budget or dead.
Thats why most early SS pins are still lower priced. The 30-40 somethings don't what what they never played.
I would give it at least 20-30 more years untill the mass collections of titles flood the market due to illness, retirement or death of collectors.

Grim but true.
He who dies with the most toys... children get to sell to pay their mortgage and kids college fees.

I may be on a budget, but I'm definitely not retired or dead.

That why the prices are lower than A, B, or C list titles. Because most other collectors of those machines are.
Which is good for those who still collect woodrails or EM's.

Not always, my friend.

There are always obvious exceptions. But in general the market bears what those who collect will pay. Rarity is always an exception among specific groups of collectors.

There are also exceptions to your thinking that most people in their 40s and 50s are on a retirement budget. I am by choice, but others are very well to do. And some of them like the games they played as a child along with the games they played in their 20s, 30s, and so on............

I like them all!

I think it's pretty obvious: a lot of the demand (and cash) has been slurped up by vaporware... games that don't yet exist.

1000 MMr LEs is $1M instantly sucked out of the market and $7M more committed to purchase. Not even looking at the MMr stds yet. Add 1000 Hobbit LEs (just about sold out - $8M or so) and the remaining WOZ ECLEs (500 undelivered = $3.5M or so) .. that's almost $20 million committed by dists and hobbyists to purchase games that have yet to be built. Add in the botique games (RAZA and MG, Predator, etc) .. that's probably another million, and now you have a thousand more WOZ75ths out there at 9K, so there's another $9M worth of games for sale.

Oh yea, 800 STLEs at 7.5Kea .. $5M+ worth available. And now Luci at unlimited qty.

"Supply" has more than caught up with demand. Now, that "supply" needs to materialize.

I take offence, that offence was taken about my opinion on why DMD pin prices are so high.
Look at your post about EM pins on craigslist. $300+ as opposed to $3000+ for more modern pins.
Proof in the pudding!

However after reviewing what most posts on pinside are now about...( as I have just checked back after about 1year)
I officially resign from posting on pinside.
Pinside was different, not anymore. It was a place to get information and tech help with machines. And state opinions that weren't judged, but discussed. Pinball is definitely not the hobby it once was. Just as pinside is no longer the site it once was.
I am saddened by what it has become.

It's hurting all three of mine.

Here was my last post regarding EM pin prices, albeit E-Bay
ebay.com link: Minstrel Man pinball machine Gottlieb Woodrail WOW RARE MACHINE

I took no offense, just pointing out that maybe some of us over 40 are still alive and kicking,

Good luck with that!
I, for one, will miss you.

All four sides of my head are now hurting.

How many times has the "death of pinball" been covered already? How many of those predictions were correct? Everything moves in cycles. If prices stabilize and/or move down there will be a greater variety of machines to attract the next wave of newbies. Then things will start all over again. All markets fluctuate. It's just part of life. Fluctuations do not equal crash.

If an auction I just went to is any indication, there is substantial demand. And the buyers did not buy back their own machines.