Hey all,

We all know that pinball machines can be considered an investment. I was curious exactly what return my collection has brought (by the way, this is not of great importance to me, since pinball is a love/hobby, but I was curious since I’m a finance nerd in other aspects of life). What I mean by return (APY, annual percentage yield): what did I pay for a machine, how long ago was that, what’s the current value, and therefore what was the APY? How does that compare to other investments I could have made? All the machines are in good condition, 100% functional, players machines, except TSPP which is a superb condition HUO. And the results:

Funhouse
Purchase price: $1,200
Purchase date: March 2001
Time owned: 18.5 years
Estimated current value: $4,000
Return: 6.73% APY

The Addams Family
Purchase price: $4,500
Purchase date: December 2011
Time owned: 7.75 years
Estimated current value: $6,000
Return: 3.78% APY

Twilight Zone
Purchase price: $5,000
Purchase date: May 2012
Time owned: 7.33 years
Estimated current value: $6,500
Return: 3.645% APY

The Simpsons Pinball Party
Purchase price: $4,500
Purchase date: December 2014
Time owned: 4.75 years
Estimated current value: $5,300
Return: 3.51% APY

Average APY for the collection: 4.41%

My reaction... my emotions led me to believe the returns were going to be higher, but there it is. And I know I paid top dollar for most of them, so that affects the return of course. Finally, I suspect that if I factored in repair costs and parts, it would pretty much destroy my return. Boo hoo!

If you want to do something similar, find a future value calculator on the web (something like the link below). Num. of periods = the years you have owned the machine. Starting amount = the price you paid. Interest rate = fiddle with it until Future Value equals your estimated current value, and that is your APY. Leave Periodic Deposits at 0.

https://www.calculator.net/future-value-calculator.html?ctype=endamount&cyearsv=18.5&cstartingprinciplev=1200&cinterestratev=6.73&ccontributeamountv=0&ciadditionat1=end&printit=0&x=0&y=0

Yes! Exactly. Here are some actual figures on pinball price inflation, taking emotion out of it, and it shows it’s been pretty shitty low. While most of the time people are running around with hair on fire about it.

Incidentally it seems many folks didn’t read my post too closely and misunderstood my intent. It’s a hobby, for fun, and I did this out of curiosity. if anything my figures indicate it’s a shitty investment. But it does about break even, which is better than many hobbies.
Rock on.