Buying pinball machines is not for the average person. If you don't make enough money to afford these things then stick to buying cheaper pins. I think the prices are reasonable considering what's being offered and inflation. Making a pinball machine is very expensive. If you can't afford the new offerings then buy stern pros or cheaper used pins. Or don't buy at all.

Expecting games to drop on price isn't the answer either, though. I'm not trying to be rude here. But pinball prices aren't high because manufacturers are greedy. They're high because it costs a lot to make a good game. A $6000 pinball today is on par price wise with a $3000 pinball in 1993. That's just regular inflation. Complaining about the prices doesn't seem like the answer. If you cannot afford the new pins, wait a few years and see if they drop in price and buy what you can afford.

And I shouldn't be ashamed of being able to afford 20 expensive pins either It's not that people are just less fortunate. A few years ago I was barely getting by managing a McDonalds for $20k a year. I worked 80 hours a week for several years to get to where I am at now. People make their lives into what they want.

I want to point out that just because a pin is 20 years old doesn't mean that it will smell bad or not be nice. Of my collection, I have 12 some williams pins that are all 20+ years old. These are all in amazing shape. People come by my place that don't know pinball and cannot tell what are the new pins vs the old ones. If you spend a lot of time making your pins nice, they will be nice. You don't need to be a professional restorer to be able to turn a few screws, remove some ramps, and *clean*. The better pins in my collection were all bought in rough shape and fixed up by me.

There's also nothing wrong with buying pins in the ~$2k range such as Demolotion man, Johnny Mnemonic, etc. These are some fun games. Buy a little low, clean and fix things up, sell a little higher, put that cash into something a little more expensive, repeat.

Stern attempted to keep the price flat in face of inflation but kept profit by cutting features and cheapening on parts. At one point, they laid off their expensive design teams and kept the most minimal team possible. After customer outcry, they have given up on flattening the prices and have again been making full features machines but are selling them for what they are worth. The are the LEs. They also make the cheaper version called the pro for those that route the machine or otherwise don't want to pay the LE prices. I think it was a great compromise.