The only thing I liked about my Congo was the 900 bucks I paid for it. I got quite a bit more for it thanks to the hype on Pinside !

I sold my "mint" Congo a couple of years ago for $1,900 and thought that was a fair price. I liked the game at first, but then grew weary of it after just a few months. The music, sounds and Amy killed it for me. Beautiful game though!

Rob Bell
Robsgameroom.com

as payment I will take 1 very detailed restoration thread from you! Prefer a different game than all the stadard A list crap people normally have you work on.

You sold off your entire collection? Just down to one? Sounds like you got married or something

Nothing beats playing a game in person. No offense intended, really, but watch it on you tube and you'll see how bad it is. Come on, one needs to play the game to make such a statement. Music, art, playfield layout is great Imho. To each their own, and no mines not for sale so n o need to inflate the price.

No, just the Congo.. still got a bunch! I never filled out my pinside list.. it got stuck on Dracula back in the day and I haven't gotten around to it since.

Bought mine for $1800 3 or 4 years ago in good shape and I loved it but after beating the wizard mode several times sold it for I think 2200 or 2300 so it was already rising in price, great game but 2500 is the max I'd pay and that would have to be in very nice condition.

How about say.......Congo?

Congo is a great game! Nice shooting layout, add some extra flashers to the volcano and it really lights up and looks awesome!

yes I've played just not my thing Amy ruins it for me.Winston from ghost busters call outs don't impress me either layout is so so.just not this 3-5 thousand dollar wonderful game so many people rave about wich are mostly owners watching there resale go up.the one cool thing about the game is the ape in the bottom wich most people hate but at least there's a toy there!! But like you said to each his own

Us owners don't make the price go up its the people paying the higher prices which usually means thats what its worth to someone .its really no different than the people that paid crazy high numbers (10k ) on mm before the remake was anonced which then was the new normal? fact of the matter is something is worth what someone is willing to pay which for a while now is 3-4 k for a nice working congo

Totally agree. Is MMR worth 8k. Hell no. Not to me but Rick has sold tons so it's worth that to a lot of people.

I own it because i really enjoy it and find it to be a permanent keeper/ top 5 game for me.

Mine is never going anywhere and in reality I have about 2k in parts (including NOS pf that is now pro restored and cleared) just waiting till I can do a better than new restore on my game. I would not put that amount of work into a game I dont love (have done it before and you never get out what you put in so I learned to only do it for keepers).

Thanks Rob! It was actuality $1800 and I'm still loving that pin!

But at 2129 made and conversion kits too you might debate what is rare as that's a high number by todays standards

Seems all you need is to price your pin for sale on pinside and get a few people to agree and it's a new price. Heck! You could use shills for that

People are selling b list games with playfield wear for $3500?

The jump to some of the a listers or nib makers is getting closer...
Heighway Aliens ( I think 6k) with kits to swap in later seems like a pretty good deal after having to had deal with old school pin repairs and parts seaking

Bob C

I have owned 3 Congo's over the years. One of my personal favorites along with another John T. game, Creature from the Black Lagoon. If I had the space and financial means to keep this in a larger collection, I would have never sold it. Down to one pin and one vid. Two drum kits, a juke and other stuff in the entertainment room has consumed a lot of space. I used to have two full game rooms with 13 pins between the two plus a bunch of vids. Now, they occupy just about a quarter of the party room. It's all good.

1st one sold in the Spring of 2010 for $1700 - sold to help get Family Guy pin.
2nd one sold in the summer of 2013 for $4750-Custom Congo - sold to paid off an unexpected debt and bought a EATPM with the balance.
3rd one sold sold in fall 2015 (a couple of weeks ago) for $3550 - sold to help purchase my KISS pro with was a must as a huge Kiss fan!

some solid info.

now the only question is when will you get #4 and will you be smart enough to realize it is a keeper the next time and deserves the permanent slot

It is worth whatever someone is willing to pay.

Some were parted for valuable (at the time) WPC95 boards. Congo was considered a turd back then. I guess someone polished it recently...

An average one I would pay 25-2600 for; It's a fun game.
For a "recently shopped," LED version I'd pay 25-2600.
For a fans edition "recently shopped," that clown puke every area, I'd pay 2200.
For a Fans edition, "recently shopped," clown puked, and green, orange, or yellow powder coated metal I'd pay 1600

I know that's how the saying goes, but I think from time to time someone will overpay, which in my opinion does not raise the value of all others to that amount.

A five dollar bill is worth five bucks, regardless if someone is willing to pay ten bucks for it.

but when a bunch of people start paying more it is no longer and anomaly and suddenly reality.

It is really not hard to see how this happens. Many people really enjoy the fun choose your own adventure of Congo and the supply really is quite a bit lower than other games in that era.

I know that I never once saw or player a Congo back in the mid/late 90s when I was first playing pinball. Then I checked it out at a show and realized it was every bit as good as other wpc95 stuff for a fraction of the price. I would take a Congo over MM or AFM even at the same price. When you get a game in such low supply and some people really like it, that is how it goes.

3 years of steady increase in selling price of Congo and it also seems 3 years now of people saying it is not worth it. As some point you would think those people may realize while it is not worth it to them, it is worth it to lots of others.

Well. Congo is now an A Lister apparently.
Surpassing such lowly games such as POTC and Metallica Pro

Why buy a TOM, TZ, TSPP, SSTNG, or IJ when you can get a Congo for the same price?

Maybe all pins should just be priced the same...

I think Congo plays better than TOM, TSPP, STTNG, and IJ, honestly. Maybe better than POTC too, but I don't have as much time on that one.

I wouldn't trade mine for a Metallica or TZ, but I do think those two probably play better than Congo.

I love Congo. It just drew me in - I just have fun when I play it. It is simple but the volcano shot is the most satisfying in pinball. As for the theme (movie) ; again it is one of those b movies that I always have to watch when it is on. Just plain fun because it is so bad.

I understand why some people don't like it and part of it's high price these days is due to rarity (by peak Bally/Williams A list standards). How many of these were stripped for parts (boards) and destroyed when it was being shunned 10 years ago. Unfortunately you now have to pay to play it because of its rarity. It will never compare to a Williams A lister based solely upon game play. But even collectors eventually get tired of the same old A listers and want to try something new every now and again.

The way I look at it is that if you pay 3500 for it and then sell it for 3500 later on then it didn't really cost you anything did it? As long as these games don't depreciate then who cares how much they cost - unless PPS does a remake! Haha

A nice one will cost you 3200+ these days. Not saying you can't find them now and again for less. Every now and again someone finds a Picasso at a yard sale.

Thing I am going to go play some Congo now.

Bc some dont like the pins mentioned and like congo . Great thing about the hobby we all can like what we want and will pay according if we want something .

I love my mint Congo I got at $1800

But I think pinside has a habit of getting people worked up about a certain title which results in that pin being over priced

Just my 2 cents

Maybe I'll post mine for $7000 and wait for people to say it's worth that much and watch the offers to roll in LOL!

Congo has now reached [A Title] status folks! Ya Hoo.

Price is not status. It still rated #45 on Pinside Top 100. That is below system-11 games like Elvira and the Party Monsters and Whirlwind.

Because they are more fun.

I just can't believe it get's so much love with all the hate video modes get these days; which i think are fine.

No, it's because they made more of the others you mentioned and more people had played those for a rating. I have seen many people say they have never even had a chance to play a Congo because of the the limited number of games made. Rarity comes into factor on price.

congo has some fun video modes and they aren't over used IMO. Also have some randomness and fun strategy when playing against someone.

But if they sell consistently between 3-4 k than it is going to be the going rate. No different than any other pin at some point over the last 20 years as everything use to b cheap? Why congo draws so much difference in opinion about price is besides me lol. But it gets alot of demand over the last 3 years

Elvira has all the depth of a kiddie pool (that's been peed in.) That's not particularly fun in my book.

Oh, to answer the original post - mid-high twos for a good player's game. Mid threes for one that's playing well and cosmetically nice. Low twos for something that needs work but is cosmetically nice.

I'm just saying it is rated higher.

But. . . for a sys-11 to WPC comparison it when you get multi-ball it is a heck of a sound and light show. They did good for the platform. Congo puts in a lower playfield for fight the grey that is totally lame. And is based on a movie that just bites.

The rating system is flawed. It has been said before, games with higher production runs have more exposure and have a higher percentage of being rated. People aren't going to rate game that haven't had the chance to play and by all accounts, shouldn't. And second, there are a lot of people who are just too lazy or care to spend the time rating machines. If you don't get 100% participation, than it isn't a true rating, it is just very selective by a smaller collective group, but not the group as a whole, if that made any friggin' sense at all. I mean if only 400 people are rating machine out of a forum that has 3,500 members (just for example), how much would the list change is everyone on the forum HAD to rate their 10 favorite machines and no more than 10?

And then, this whole separate rating where we break a machine up into two, where a LE/Premium rates like #30 for example and the Pro is #99. I know there are gameplay differences, but it's basically the same game and should be rated as one pin. I know most won't agree with that as some titles have major gameplay differences like AC/DC, but in a title like KISS, the gameplay difference is minor. It is just weird to see one title taking up two slots.

And last, what's a game like Quicksilver making the top 100? Not judging the gameplay, but it is not a very common machine at all.

Congo was sort of a forgotten game when it came out in 95, completely overshadowed by AFM which I guess is understandable! Suffers from a failed movie theme and some really grating call outs, but it is has some really good shots and is arguably a good looking game.

To me it falls in the low $2K category for an average machine, bump it up for something extraordinary. I would like to get one someday, but the prices will probably have to fall before I'll find one at a price I can live with

Sounds like you wont be getting one.

What you feel comfortable spending doesn't dictate prices. If a decent Congo comes up for sale for $2000, it will sell in an instant because it's an easy flip for $1000 more. There are plenty of pins I wouldn't mind having for $2000 - TZ, FH, AFM, WH20, etc. That doesn't mean those pins are overpriced. Demand for decent 90's B/W pins is not going down but supply for decent examples are as they get older and older. I don't have a crystal ball but seriously doubt prices are going to drop back to the days when you couldn't give away some of these pins.

I'll give you about tree-fiddy.

Just don't give it to the Loch Ness Monster.