If you guys want the price of machines to go down, get me out of the hobby. Its all my fault. As soon as I started really getting in to Pinball, the prices went up. I'm cursed. If you ever see me in line at the store, pick another line because I promise the line I'm on will take the longest.....

It hasn't gone unnoticed. There's been a few recent threads about this phenomenon.

https://beta.pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/are-we-at-the-peak-of-pinball-pricing/

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/pingreed-is-a-cancer-is-there-a-cure/

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/when-will-nft-s-hit-the-pinball-hobby

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/prices-dropping-

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/pinball-collecting-and-opportunity-cost

That depends upon your tastes.

I saw someone mention today that they were having trouble trying to sell a working MIBS for $500. That sounds pretty affordable to me.

I dont care.

If i dont like the price for something I will not pay for it.

Its like magic how that works.

Wait. What?!?! Prices have gone up?

Do any of these new people ever think to look over the first few pages of threads before starting another price thread??? OP....You think you are the only one to think "prices really seem to be getting high, wonder if anyone else thinks the same way. I better start a thread."

Honestly, it's just shifted which games I target. When I was first getting into the hobby games like Attack From Mars and Twilight Zone were way outside of my budget. Now, I own both. Chicago Gaming Company has seemingly put a upper limit on most of the 90s era games. The price increases have allowed me to sell entry level games to pickup some of the games I always dreamed about owning.

One thing that you absolutely do not have to buy right now is a pinball machine.

Be patient
Nothing to see here

Haha just you wait until you see the price of gas this summer and the food costs early fall...

exactly

half these goons think you are a newb if you have not been on here for 5 years. I have a friend who has been in the hobby since the 70's and he does not even know what pinside is.

Yes, these prices prevent new blood from entering the hobby, especially when you weigh the use of this toy against other toys of similar cost.

yep, I have several friends and some neighbors who want a game and the prices have scared them off. Location play should be doing well right now, because no one is going to pay these idiot prices, at least not your average person.

I just put a deposit on Iron maiden selling for 6k and I thought that was insane ,can’t imagine paying 20k for a pinball .

Might reinvigorate on-premise when the cost of a pin is equal to a year's rent.....

Well, on the flip side if the prices are going up, this means that the supply is low and demand is high. So I think that's a good thing. I do hope it sticks. Otherwise I probably paid way too much for the games I currently have. But I'm not planning on parting with them for a long long time.....so it likely doesn't matter much.

The truth is, it's never been an affordable hobby. Even when NIB games were $4000 and used games were $1000-$5000 - those aren't impulse purchase prices for most people. One always needed space & disposable income for this hobby.

It's harder today than it used to be, but if you're patient & resourceful - you can still end up with a "cheap" pinball machine. Hunting them down and fixing them yourself used to be part of the hobby...you don't have to buy NIB Limited/Collectors Editions to be part of it.

Depends on your market a bit too

I should sell all my machines and retire in Patagonia like the Dread Pirate Roberts.

I'll go next, I love wearing masks

I wish this was still the case. The turds are way overpriced and if they are even remotely priced appropriately it will be gobbled up in seconds and relisted in days. Too many diamond hands looking for quick GAINS. It really has taken the joy out of the hobby.

Yeah it's def harder now as there's not as much inventory around any given town as there used to be....but, it can still happen with a little legwork and patience. I was buying a game or two a week off Craigslist for a while back around 2009-2010...there were plenty of vultures & flippers back then, too. Just had to be on the ball & beat them to the punch!

I think it's truly the "I want it now" and "I want it new" crowd that's driven prices up....and they're fine paying it, soooo...here we are. It SEEMS like it's bad for the hobby, yet it's expanded the hobbyists.

I've been wanting to start a thread and title it "pinball price comparison" and then in the post have pics of what people are selling like this:

https://www.pinballlife.com/1-116-pinball-standard-size.html

Technically I'm not wrong

Man prices are nuts, anything in the marketplace doesn't last very long, the Pinsider owners must be making pretty good dough on the sales happening right now. Lets keep it up!

I feel about the same as I do, about the real day to day purchase needs that have sky rocketed, but this inflation has been artificially at bay for years!

I don't care how much these things cost to buy, I'm not buying them. Just don't make them a $5 game to play in the arcade!

Oh man that was funny......

I just sold my 1968 Royal Guard for $1100. Was a $750 game according to the Pinside database.

I think $1100 was a good price and the Pinside database is low.

There are deals out there just ignore the silly 25k ads.

I keep selling my older games and buying new. currently have celts the games and tbl on preorder.

The greed has gotten old. It is off putting. It makes me want to deal with people in this hobby less and less. The bullshit excuses ceased to be interesting.

Couldn't have said it better myself. There hasn't been a game yet that I haven't been able to get at a price I wanted to pay with just a little bit of patience, so I'm not worried about it. People can price their games however they want and I'll just shake my head and move on.

Sometimes I wonder if this is the end goal. To shake off home buyers. In theory a route guy should be buying more games (assuming location pinball is doing well). Turn and burn where as a home buyer will buy and sell/trade within the home buyers market at a much slower pace. No one "buys the cow" anymore, we go to the store for milk.

We have already well past that line were financially it makes no sense what so ever to own a machine. Personally if there were places around me to play, I would just buy a year pass and be done with it. No maintenance, fresh line up, way cheaper.

The problem is location games usually play like shit!

this bubble is about to pop, I can feel it in my bones

IF prices keep going up I will sell my collection for a sweet profit and get out. Maybe keep 1-2 of my favorites. But that’s it!

Every time someone says this...or feels it...I say the same thing. Only thing that causes a pop or prices to fall is too many people selling the same titles at once coupled with lack of demand.

I just don't see that happening.

Even if a bunch of one title popped up at once...there'd be plenty of people to snap them up.

If two more people use the b-word CrazyLevi is going to appear.

That should be THE hobby.

Nothing is selling for 24-40k

I don’t think that should be the only qualifying factor. Owning, maintaining and above all...playing is the hobby. Doesn’t have to be hunting and fixing. I have been leaning more towards nib just because i need a break from fixing up games. Though to be honest I am always working on something. Right now i am working on a shuffle bowler and an arcade (arcade for someone else).

No but how many games are randomly jumping up in price. I have 0 interest in buying your used game for as much or more than you paid new. This is across the board. Doesn't matter what title some idiot in the community is doing it. If it gets criticized there are more idiots defending them.

It makes little sense.

There is a lot of truth here, but times have changed a ton. I have visited other forums where so called newbies are treated like crap and belittled and I thought I can’t wait to get back to Pinside where people are kind and aren't afraid to post.

But here I am and I see some of the same stuff here. If someone posts and it irritates you please just say nothing if you can't be nice.

The thrill of the hunt is pretty much gone. I have wanted a MM and a Monster Bash for over 10 years, yes one has to be patient but I'm tired of waiting. The hobby was dying off years ago and many of us old timers tried to help bring it back and have fun doing it.

It still is fun but I'm not sure many non rich people will be enjoying it at home.

Maybe not regularly. There has been a few.

LTG : )

Someone was coddled too much. Grow a thicker skin.

How about, if you can't handle the internet don't go online.

If you want to know why prices are soaring, look at the number of people entering the hobby... I see several posts a week from collectors that are afraid to pop up the playfield on their game, or don't know how to make simple adjustments on their games. No criticism, we were all there once... it just indicates there are ALOT of new people entering the hobby. Hell, it took me 6 months to get a pin I ordered NIB on day one... that is how back ordered the manufacturers are...

It's simple supply and demand. There is a limited supply relative to a very high demand, driving up prices. Will prices go down? Sure, when demand does... I can remember paying $1400 for a good TAF, and $2K for a TZ thinking those were expensive. I am still kicking myself for selling my medieval madness at a healthy profit (years ago) for $6K because I thought it was too much money to have in one pin. Pinball is in a current golden age... covid amplified it. I don't see it slowing any time soon. The last time pins were "cheap" was when the arcade market collapsed. Well, the arcade market is soaring, and so is home collecting.

You’ll need that profit with the price of everything else going up.

How about you act like an adult.