I bought several NIB and many older games for $1K - $3K. After owning them for years I play the older games just as often as the NIB. There are many good games in the less than $4K range. I focus on those and leave the NIB $8+K for folks with deeper pockets.
I play my Seawitch, Joker Poker, Judge Dredd or EDB just as often as ACDC or Metallica. They are nice games, no question, but I get about the same level of enjoyment out of much cheaper machines. Some games I would like to own are Last Action Hero, Roller Games and Demolition Man. Those are very fun titles at absolute bargain prices. I can own all 3 in a very nice condition for the price one of those new machines goes for.