i wouldn't buy at an increased rate if they were 30% less!

All pin prices or just NIB?

So you mean that used games which were already in Canada also have gone up 30% in order to match what you would have to pay for the same title from the US? Wow, that really sucks. I feel for you guys.

no more new ones for me, there has to be a limit for everybody. the price is very steep as it is right now.

There is a domino effect. Recent sterns become more expensive on the secondary market. If a NIB pin is 30% more expensive, the same pin sold HUO (or routed) will also be listed at a higher price.

Some buyers like me are then priced out of the secondary market as well (Mustang Pro HUO listed 5000 euros... ) and stop even considering recent Sterns, so look for cheaper alternatives. Ripples tend to dissipate when considering much older pins (EM are still relatively cheap) but this affects soon or later the market. Until no / less buyers are left.

Nope, I'd be out and never look back. The constant price increases have already annoyed me enough that I'm being a lot more selective with what I buy. Stern will never get LE money from me again with the current price increases. There's no value in them and it's just a bad purchase. JJP is doing the same thing and I expect Pat's game if they get to it to roll out at 9K which is well above what I would pay. DP might make the best game in a long time, but at there price it's not even a consideration. So that leaves me looking at Spooky, stern pro/premium, or Heighway for future purchases. If those keep going up at a rate faster then my pay does I'll just quit buying games period.

Even if they were 30% less it would still be a question of what you would pay for a given title. I wouldn't pay $5 for some pins but would pay $5000 for others.

MSRP on Stern Pros are 25% more expensive now compared to when Metallica came out. And people are still buying.

If prices go up 30% Im going to be selling not buying.

Stern Pros at the Ottawa Show: TWD Pro, Mustang Pro, Kiss Pro were listed at $6775 taxes included. MET Pro was listed at $6475. (CDN dollars)

This product, costs too much for the current marketplace.

I will not like it but its already happened so i guess ile live.

In Australia it's no better. Dollar at about $0.70. I payed 8,900 for my Met Monsters 2 years ago now NIB are 10,250. Got LE 11,850. Woz RR 13,500.
Even prices of the 2nd hand market have gone up 30%+. With Most pins selling within a week on Aussie Arcade.

Hmm if only I could stop buying them! It's only money, so as long as you have enough to live! Keep buying pins, life is to short. AMH I lost 2k on exchange, shit happens move along. By the time RZ comes out it will probably be 3k.

Being serious I have noticed stock at dist. sitting longer, would definitely say a direct impact of exchange rate.

The price and value of pins are not changed by the devaluation of your dollar, your dollar is.

I'm already out cause shit is too expensive now, so hell no.

The cannuck dollar was always 30% lower than the us$, almost my whole life. The last handful of years were an anomaly, now things have returned to "normal". It is what it is, and it's a lot bigger than pinball.

The smart money was to hedge against the us$ while the going was good, buying property, stocks, cash, even pinball machines. And as mentioned, all pinballs currently in canada are seeing their prices jump because of it.

I stopped looking for new machines after I bought my white water in 2007. I paid $2k for a beautiful machine. I can't believe how everything has skyrocketed since then. But even back in 07, machines were way up from what they were a few years earlier.

This looks more like a long term trend in pricing.

Getting too pricey for me, especially when I'm spending a lot of money spoiling the grandkids.

Sure, I'd keep buying EMs and System 11s.

Quit your Canadian bitchin. If you don't like it, move south.

Yeah, part of it is the exchange rate. I know Canadians are getting destroyed by it.

I think it's a tough thing to quantify.

A brand new WoZ already costs at least 30% more than a stern pro.
But if you're talking an overnight 30% jump...it would hurt sales, no question. But not everyone would be out.

I think I could stomach my $200 Craigslist project finds becoming $260.

We can't.... with all this wall building talk going around LOL!

Yes I would pay 30% more.

If it's something I like and want. $2500-3000 or do more for a stern LE or $3000-4000 more for a JJP.

I want to enjoy the time I have on this earth and I don't want to look back and say "I should have bought that". If I wasted my money. No big deal. Money can be made back.

Like frolic said. We had it good for the last 8 years or so.

Good attitude bro! If its something youll use and enjoy, your not wasteing money youd be wasting your life if you dont.

Yep, it's true. The CAD dollar sucks major balls right now. What that means to me is being more selective and only going after pins I really want. In the end, if I pay a few hundred more than I'll get back when I go to sell the pin, I'm ok with that as I got to enjoy it.

As Frolic pointed out, historically our dollar has always been sub-par to the USD.....time to get used to it folks, or get out of the hobby....or just be happy with your collection the way it is unfortunately.

......

Deep thoughts by Jack Handy.....For the people with many pins where the increase is a big concern in CDA or other foreign markets where it has already increased 30% if they sold SOME now and re-bought on the dollar rebound they'd be ahead. That is if they could part with a machine(s) for an undefined period of time. Ala stock market.

I would trade more. Pins are currency in our world.

Buy Apple
Sell Short Canadian Blackberry

30% problem solved!

It's not just the Canadian currency that is getting hammered against the dollar, every currency is and when the Fed raises rates, if they ever do, it's going to get worse.

If I was on the other end I find a way to make due with a lot less pins. That's ridiculous and i feel sorry for you guys. But hey, at least you have "free healthcare".

It's an expensive hobby...the guys that constantly moan about prices should consider getting out and play on location.

If you have pins right now it is a good time to sell them into the inflated USA market. Our dollar is a POS also, but it is the best of the POS currencies. It will fall in the future. All fiat currencies are doomed. One world currency coming soon.

Sys 11s and EMs are even on the rise for anything decent. Trade city for the most part nowadays.

I thought that was the bitcoin...Mike Tyson(!?) has some ATMs using BitCoin

I would welcome all Canadians to the US. You guys love paying taxes!

Boooh, Hissssssss.. It wasn't always an expensive hobby... Well, yes I guess it has been. Point taken.

I just wish more inexpensive projects options popped up around here. I had to sell off my remaining small collection to pay medical bills recently, so those projects are the only realistic options for me in the near future. I decided to step away from the hobby for the time being because it has been so difficult to find anything reasonably priced nearby (for my budget at least). I'm hoping things become a bit less crazy. There is just a lot of gouging going on lately, but you can only sit on something for so long.

I don't expect things to go back to decade ago pricing, but realistically I should be able to find, for instance, a project Gorgar for under $500 nearby.

Pins are already too expensive in my opinion. I can't afford to pay the prices the DMD pins are going for now days, let alone the prices for NIB pins! Well, I guess I could if I only had one hobby, but I chose to spend my yearly hobby money on my classic car instead of pins, but even if I didn't I still wouldn't have enough to spend on pins at the prices these things go for now days. My yearly car allowance is less than most pins go for now! Maybe next year, I'll be able to buy a pin! We'll see.....does suck about the CN and AUS dollar though!

Oh wait, there he is.
projects.jpg

Dammit, it was only a model.

When I started in the hobby in the early 2000's, very few people were buying NIB pins. The hobby was more about restoration. Since then, a surprising number of "new" collectors (less than a few years) are jumping in with NIB purchases. Is it a sign of a stronger U.S. economy, or people just tired of earning 1/2% on their savings? Or did BBB turn us all into speculators?

To answer the OP's question: I paid 4600 shipped for my MET Pro. So a 30% increase means $6000, and there's no way I'd pay that right now. OTOH, if I knew my losses were capped to around $1000 over 4 years, I might consider it for a "dream title" that was well-executed.

That is just it. People are throwing stupid money at things right now since banks pay no interest, bonds are actually negative interest, and people are cashing out of the stock market casino with cash in hand. If the stock market tanks (when it tanks) prices on asset classes will fall sharply. The stock market is the only thing holding up this economy. The US Federal "Reserve Bank" will NEVER raise rates again. They can't raise the rates because the federal government will not be able to pay the increased interest payments. We are quickly approaching $20T in debt and have $100T in unfunded liabilities that will not be able to be paid. In the very near future people will be paying higher prices for health care and basic life necessities and will be selling off luxuries that they do not need. Prices will come down - it is just a matter of time.

There's a theory that following the stock market bubble (2000) and the real estate bubble (2008), the "fiat currency" bubble will be the last one to pop. Then comes the Great Unwinding. Will our kids look back in 50 years and laugh at us for trading our labor for pieces of paper, or numbers on a screen?

BTW, Americans should be concerned that pins are becoming too expensive for our international friends (due to USD strength). Less sales means fewer pins, especially from smaller manufacturers.

Only in 4 of the last 25 years did the Canadian dollar track close to the U.S. Dollar. Todays exchange rates are actually closer to the 1993-2004 period, and 1998-2003 had it even less than today... the question is how was it dealt with then?

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So a $4600 game becomes a $5980 game. No, I'm not paying just under 6k for the current Pro models. They just are not going to provide that much fun. So I would only be looking at lower end games. A $600 old Bally becomes a $780 old Bally. Still plenty of fun there.

Missing a smiley?