A lot of times those same people that are surprised why someone would ever spend so much on a pin are dropping $30k-$50k on new vehicles that will be worth an 1/8th of that price in 10 years, lol. The pinball machine, unlike a majority of new cars, will hold its value, depreciate a bit or possibly go up in value. At the end of the day I just use a line from a family member to help justify any larger purchase "there's no point in being the richest guy in the cemetery one day", lol.

Yeah! That's a good way of looking at it same here. I can afford a $40k new vehicle but much rather put that into pinball purchases, and drive my 8 year old paid off car with 150,000 miles on it, lol. At this point in my life I can't swing both the expensive cars and new pins (unless I went into debt which is out of the question), so pinball wins out.

If someone really starts giving me a hard time about how much a pinball machine cost I like using a line from my uncle, "I'm not trying to become the richest guy in the cemetery one day" aka save every penny for my entire life, lol.