Quoted from thetylander:I have to admit, when I saw the marketing strategies employed by car manufacturers applied to pinball, I lost interest in buying anything made after 1999. Ask Stern that if you buy a pro version, does that also make you a pro? And can you get that in writing?
It will just get worse, video game consoles and software makers have perfected the art of adding/removing content for different status tiers. There were two versions of each console at launch this generation!!! They didn’t even wait a year to add their premium version this time!
The strategy works though. Upper middle class across the street owns the Toyboata Crappie Sport AWD LS SX SE Inbred with Broketooth technology linked to their stupid phone app. Trailer trash across the street owns a Toyboata Crappie Base model. They look the same but with bits added or removed (for a price point) and a special badge on the back and sides that exclaim that you are super special in a specially super way.
It also comes with no badges to confirm that you are cheap and inferior.
Nothing new, car makers have been doing it for a century.
I suppose the point is that it has heavily infected pinball. Led Zeppelin with a flipper controlled vibrator stuck inside and three different song based cabinet art themes, one for each level of how much money you want to give Stern. Just like Taco Bell in the 1980’s we got a 59 79 99 menu, just add a few zeroes!!!
Remember the playground as a kid? The fear of being shamed for not buying the right cool item means you will spend more to avoid peer ridicule.
The retailers depend on it!
When it comes to old and new prices, flippers and resellers, it all boils down to freedom of choice.
We choose to be manipulated by marketing and popular trends.
Look at your smart phone. Did you buy it because it was the best or because marketing told you it was the best? Was it to impress your friends or because it makes you look and feel like a cutting edge of technology trendsetter? Is it really any better than the phone you had last year or the year before and was it worth the $1200 upgrade 8 months ago now that the newest one is about to come out and it’s time to replace it again?
Preorder an iPhone 13 today!
Someone earlier questioned what a flipper was in bulletpoints.
Here’s the answer: Anyone who buys a product with the SOLE intention of turning around and selling it for a profit is a flipper. It doesn’t matter if they sit on it a day or ten years. They may do minor touch ups or very basic refurbishment, but they do nothing that would affect their turnaround.
They could care less about pinball or the featured IP on the backglass. They see money and potential easy ways of getting it.
Restorers, refurbishers, game stores, etc. they all get my respect. They may have brought in a machine to repair and sell for profit, but the majority of them love pinball and the machines they buy and sell. Passion for the hobby makes a big difference.
I’m currently looking for a Black Rose pinball, granted it’s not the best game, Pirates of the Caribbean is far better apparently, but I like it. I obviously don’t care what’s cooler!
Who I buy from influences how much I will spend, and I will likely pay more for one from someone who put time effort and care into it over someone who found it cheap and will sell it for a quick profit. Most importantly, if it suddenly becomes a grail priced machine, then I have no desire to buy one. (I hear you all saying it: Black Rose? A grail machine HAHAHA that’s like saying Gilligans Island should be right above Addams family in the top 100!!!) It’s okay, I’m used to not being cool, I was a rabid Doctor Who fan in the 1980’s when nobody knew what the hell Doctor Who was.
All machines have their cut off price, their maximum value in other words, and I believe that most have reached that cut off. Does that mean the market bubble is ready to pop? Ha! No way! Investors decide that when they sell off, I’d guess that’s when it will take about $10k to buy a worn out F14 Tomcat.
I just think less people will be inclined to join the hobby or continue in it if the meh, bland, and starter machines are pushing over $3000 and new ones are starting at the low end of the current grail machine prices.
This opens up a new market. The type of people who used to collect beanie babies. They are starting to collect video games and pinball. These types of people are randomly buying a pinball or two as investment strategy because they saw an expensive one on Pawnstars or heard about the Museum of pinball auction on the news and think that they will eventually get rich off of hoarding some. They will be packed in leaky garages or flooded basements and rot. All because they saw one on eBay for sale for $10,000 and won’t take a penny less.
Wheaton, IL
