Welcome to reality.

It's a choice: Pinball or profit.

After 2 months of pinball consistently being the lowest earning category in my new arcade (including my massage chairs), I'm going to be trimming the pinball selection and purchasing games people actually want to put their money into.... basketball & skeeball.

My sentiments exactly.

As an operator, and a collector, I was in for a pro and an LE version of every Stern/JJP release. No more. I don't make any real money as an operator, and the extreme recent price hikes have turned me off as a collector.

First of all, it's really a poor analogy to compare pinball machines to a ticket redemption game, as it provides not only a physical prize for playing, but can be made more exciting, with more creativity than the simple limitations that a rectangular wooden box can provide.

As an arcade operator and arcade owner, I have more than enough physical & mathematical data to provide a real world analysis, not just a wild guess. I only compare pinball revenue to games without product or prizes.

For example: In a location on the strip, my $13,000 shooting game makes $916 per week while my $5,000 pinball machine averages $114 per week. I have to service the pinball machine at least once per month. I adjusted the guns once in a year in a half of operation and at 8x the usage.

In my arcade downtown, my $5,000 basket ball game makes $450 per week, while my $8,000 pinball machine makes $34 per week.

The basketball game will go at least a year without needing service, while the pinball machine requires at least monthly maintenance + repairs. All factored in, I don't care if I just put that basketball game in a dumpster in 5 years.

As much as I love pinball, I'm still running a business. And with the arcade, I have partners, so we may need to actually cut back our pinball selection for the good of the business.

Groups or singles is irrelevant as we get both into the arcade. The difference is a lifetime of exposure. Americans are exposed to basketball, in real life and on TV, at a very young age, and then on a regular basis throughout their lives. There's one in Chuck E Cheese, in Gameworks, in D&B, in the local laser tag place. Put the ball into the basket. No deep rule sets, no buttons to press, no thinking to be done. Just put the ball into the basket. On the other side, most people in my arcade, and at the arcade in NYNY, have NEVER played a pinball machine before. They are simply attracted to the recognition of the titles.

Two things... I suffer damage to the cabinet side art, and I'd lose half of my already dismal pinball revenue.

I didn't become successful by making bad decisions. So when I do remove half of my pins, that space will then be occupied by higher earning games. It's not my job to try to make pinball a spectator sport.

A half an hour after the very first collection on that basketball, I immediately ordered a second basketball game to link up to the first one for head to head competition. I also ordered a state-of-the-art dual skeeball set with insane LED lighting and an high score overhead. That $20,000 investment into 3 new games will earn me more money in a week than the $100,000 investment that I have into 16 pinball machines combined.

The bottom line is that higher prices are terrible for pinball. They've priced operators out of the market, and they're just pissing off collectors. I speak from the position of both.

Yes, significantly. But it's a completely different exposure. At NYNY my pinball machines are placed at the entrance to the roller coaster. So, I can expect a million people per year to see my pinball machines, based on the attendance of the roller coaster.

I don't have a globally recognized roller coaster in my 3,200sf downtown arcade, nor am I willing to purchase one to help increase pinball revenue.

I would still run it differently. Tim has a long established career in pinball, and a long established business with PHoF. I've been open, as an arcade, for two months. Check back with me in 10 years.

NO, you haven't. Because I've never said any of those things, Troll.

I can't hack it??? You better check yourself.

Thanks Nostradamus. Any other dire predictions???

With 43 pinball machines, and over 250 arcade games in my inventory, I don't own any pushers, and only operate 4 ticket redemption pieces.... at the location's direct request.

Would you like to continue publicly exhibiting your ignorance, or shall we stop here?

There was no "or what", grow up.

YOU started a keyboard fight by lying, when YOU claimed I wrote something that, in fact, I did not. Anything less than an apology from you is disingenuous and pathetic.

As an operator, I'm just not stupid enough to pay $9,000+ for an asset that is unlikely to ROI in a reasonable amount of time, while providing service nightmares for the entire life of the product.

As a collector, yes, I'm pissed off. But not because I can't afford the top of the line, but because the top of the line has exceeded it's value, to me, in my opinion. What you do with your money is your business. I've simply decided to allocate my expendable income on a Lamborghini Gallardo, instead of chasing after the most expensive pinball games ever manufactured.

Orange Gallardo (resized).jpg

Why thanks. While I've definitively decided on a convertible, I haven't really decide on color yet. I'm leaning towards orange as shown above, or even in yellow.

I want something that stands out as I'm going to be using it as an advertising platform for my arcade.... you know, 100% tax deductible business expense and all that.

Good point!!! When anybody decides to buy a Lamborghini over the latest pinball offerings.... well then maybe "the hobby" has out priced itself.... or maybe I've just decided to pursue a new hobby. I'm not sure.

My only attitude was to make it clear that current pricing has gotten out of line, and I'm simply not willing to support these price points. Since June 2014, I've spend more than $250,000 on pinball machines and mods. Nearly $200,000 of which was NIB. You???

Furthermore, I even agreed to take a pathetic split percentage just to get a bank of 10 pinball machines into a major Las Vegas strip casino where they are seen by more than one million people annually.

Then to top it all off, I place 16 pinball machines into my new arcade for public play, most of which were HUO Limited Editions, even though I could make 3x the amount of money with different equipment, while not devaluing my personal collection.

But you don't like my attitude.

Please just go to the PHoF when you're here. I'd rather see your money go to charity.

Great, I'll see you at Tim's place then. Cheers.

So are you actually going to contribute to the topic of discussion, or just troll it with rhetoric?

So then.... no. Ok.

The topic being discussed is that increasing prices is terrible for pinball. And I agreed that it is. Then I presented a real-world example of exactly how it's terrible for pinball. That the inflated price points have turned off some of us who can easily afford such toys, but have chosen to boycott the obvious collusion in pricing.

I made the mistake of stating where my money was going when I stated that I decided to reallocate my discretionary funds from the hobby of pinball, to an advertising medium that supports & promotes my arcade. This obviously upset you. Had I posted that I was using my money to buy a large array LED sign to promote my arcade, you likely would not have had such criticism.

So, I apologize for upsetting you, and I trust you'll enjoy the latest pinball offerings by supporting these price levels.