I think you have a good point. Operators are a big part of the equation. Apparently, 60% of Stern's business is export with most of it operator driven. If you take into account the resell value of a used routed game, it's not like they are throwing away $9K. Once the game stop bringing dollars, you can still sell it at a moderate discount.

Pinball died a long time ago. It's the private sector that gives it a pulse.

I originally committed to buying every NIB LE, however with the recent 25-40% increase in cost, bang for the buck,
comes into a new perspective. It's a hobby, not a need, and most collectors , may choose to pass in favor of older nice
Pins. Even when money is not an issue , value , obsessions , and manufacturers believing consumers are stupid,
always results in markets shrinking .

Holy shit, the Banker has spoken negatively about the present state of NIB pinball.....err sort of.

what on earth are you talking about? pins have always been cheapest in the US where they're made - in recent years we typically paid the same in pounds as you guys did in dollars for a game (a year ago, a NIB game that was $7000 in US (say) was £7000 in the UK) - and a pound is worth more than a dollar, according to conversion rates. used to be about 1.6, currently only 1.2. all other countries apart from the manufacturing country have to bear the costs for transportation, import tax, customs charges, even currency conversion admin fees.

if your currency is strong, it buys relatively more dollars and makes US products relatively cheaper. my point was that the weak pound makes this already-way-more-expensive-than-in-the-US luxury product another 25-30% more expensive to import, as a pound now buys 25-30% less dollars than it did a few months ago. please let me know if i misunderstood you.