Just read the full post. Seems like you are going to have one nice kitchen. Congrats! Now on to pinball. This is a very bad idea comparing what else you could buy for the money we spend on pinball machines. Warning this is the first step to figuring out there is something wrong with us. I implore you to stop right now. News flash! This is not a cheap hobby. Cheaper then collecting exotic cars but way more dangerous. I feel there are very bad people out there (Pinball manufactures) that have done alot of research. All to figure out exactly how to drain our bank accounts in increments of 5600 7200 9000. As soon as we catch them at their game they do something really smart. They increase their prices by 200.00 and then it takes us 6 months just to catch on. And then the whole process repeats itself. These sneaky bastards are too smart for us. Perhaps they might do something really stupid and try to charge 15,000 on something no way we will fall for that. .......

Son of a B****!

Idk how sneaky they really are. They just raise prices and fully admit their games have ghosting and chipping issues and it's normal. Sounds like people are just willing to put up with it and continue to buy.

I think most are missing a key point here.

No appliance costs nearly what they are charging for them. Most have the exact components inside, but are priced based on the design and the style of kitchen they are going in (read as how expensive a home)

So, just like pinball machines, they are priced at the level people will buy, which is not related directly to the BOM.

So next time you want to rant about Stern and their pricing structures, you can blame KitchenAide.

Try buying Viking or Sub Zero appliances you will be spending tens of thousands for the same appliances in question. Those are the appliances in my kitchen. Although my home is not the average. If you want the best you have to pay for it. Pinball machines are targeted to people with alot of disposable income. Do I agree they are over priced for their quality? Yes! Especially since we have lived through the price increases and it feels like less money is being spent in the design and construction. We can complain but not sure if it will do any good. Guess we have to work extra hard and continue spending all of our hard earned money if we want the next new game.

My wife must have two Sub-Zero LE's - you don't wanna know. But tough to say no when you have a basement full of actual toys...

This is a good point about living through the price increases. How many times in our lifetimes do we buy appliances, or even new/used cars? The damn pinballs multiply and I find myself selling some, saving money and buying multiples during a year from old clunkers to new ones.

With the new ones, even if we don't buy it we check it out and see the price every single time one is released. I couldn't tell you if the last car I bought or my appliances changed prices since I bought them. I'm assuming they went up, but it's not advertised in my face because I don't go drool over the latest appliance.

Congrats on the new kitchen. If you're in the Front Range, stop by Specialty Appliance (It's owned by a Pinhead, who's not very good at pinball, but I digress)

Someone mentioned buying online, but brick and mortar local shops are your best bet. It's not that much more expensive, but we get rebates that are only available to local dealers AND we have the expertise to tell you how to get the most for your budget. Think you can only afford KitchenAid, I'll bet we can get you a Miele for the same price. Also can help with in house installation, hauling away and recycling olds, support after the sale, etc. If it shows up damaged, we can usually pull another from the barn and get you going right away, instead of shipping back to the online vendor and waiting for a new one while eating out for another two weeks.

BUY LOCAL!!

PS - Smoothtop electric stoves/cooktops are OK if you buy induction. They stay very clean cause the food doesn't burn on/etch and they are more efficient than gas at altitude.

PPS - Happy wife, Happy life!!

The good news about pinball....most of us buy these with disposable income...pricey...yes, but generally no debt service associated with them. And we don't generally buy them in bulk, so expense is spread out.

Most other high priced " necessities " Tahoes for 65k, home renovations for high five figures, etc. are typically financed, so interest also applies.

Granted, you may "need" a new vehicle or kitchen makeover, but that can be a debt gift that keeps giving and giving, long after these items have become upside down in value.

And quality??....new pinball suffers, but pales in comparison compared to other big ticket items.

Enjoy the hobby...buy what you can afford....next....

I usually buy "name brand" but cheap appliances. Things like Hisense TVs etc.

I find they work every bit as well as the so called high end brands but without the inflated price and the wank factor.

Same as cars. People here in China ONLY buy BMW, Audi and Mercedes because they have a status issue. The cars ARE NOT better than a Hyundai, Ford or (dare I say it) even a Great Wall.

Flame away BUT only if you have been to China and have seen what I am talking about for yourself. Those who haven't been here simply "don't get it" and never will.

Pinball doesn't have to be expensive. You can buy classic games for less than a G or two. Pinball is expensive if u buy NIB, but the beauty of pinball is that we have a rich history to call on. I personally prefer early solid state games all the way to system 11; and those games are a bargain. People say they are not as deep or have the flourishes of newer games but I can guarantee early solid states like flash Gordon or EBD have way more replayability than LOTR or Simpsons

No flaming, but I've never been to China, so I don't get it. I can say with confidence that Audi, Mercedes, and BMW make superior vehicles to Hyundai or Ford, period...doesn't matter where you live....

Nope - they do not - seems you have been blinded by the hype.

....and for the record I have owned three BMW's (two new) - the final straw was when the engine blew up - entire valve train and head smashed, destroyed by a broken belt - a known issue with BMWs and they refused to fix it at 30,000 kms.

They are overhyped crap IMO.

Isn't pinball like appliances, cars, houses, whatever in that you can buy Whatever suits your needs and budget? Is pinball expensive? Only if you have caviar Tastes! ANYONE can buy a pinball machine for 100-200 dollars! Granted not an A-List Dream pin or a NIB but its a general hobby that actually IS still reasonable as long as you have Reasonable dreams. I Want a Ferrari but I settled on a Honda. My wife Wants a Viking stove.. so she got one........

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one.....

Have you personally had experience with these so called premium brands or is it just your perception of them?

Lots of those high end cars seem to have reliability issues. They are crazy money to fix. Need an oil change? No drain plugs on them so you need to pump the oil out? What a rip off. "My windshield wipers stopped working" ok ma'am that will be 500 dollars.

My buddy just bought an Audi for $28,000 with 28,000 miles on it. Originally it's a $60,000 dollar car. Now it's already half price?

You cant compare.. Stern makes what 5 games a day? They probably make 1000 appliances a week.

Grey goose vodka was a failing product. Instead of changing their process they just tripled the price and put it into tall bottles that would only fit on the top shelf. Consumers noticed a top shelf product with an expensive price and immediately though that it was a premium product. It still the same vodka in the bottle, but people perceive it to be better.

Just cause you pay more, doesn't guarantee a better product. But people usually feel more satisfied buying a more expensive product because of the perceived quality.

Porsche was my premium brand of ownership. Owned 5 over the years, from a 930 turbo Carrera, to a 928, and few nice 911's in the middle, or at the same time. Got out of high end autos when my first child was born.

The quality, craftsmanship, performance, and satisfaction of ownership are far and away timeless and above an " average" Ford ( excluding certain mustangs and gt40, of course).

I have colleagues that enjoy their bmw's, and my Wife's Lexus is stellar as well.

To your point...I've owned many high end autos over the years, and driven many, many more. No dilusion or " perception" here, just reality.

I was a car geek before I was a pinball geek, and appreciate quality engineering, period.

You can have your opinion....I simply disagree

My last hi end vehicle was a 2000 H1 Hummer ( which I sold for more than I paid for it). No " perception " here. This vehicle would outperform anything on the market as a purpose built vehicle.

Sometimes, you do get what you pay for. Enough auto discussions. Thanks for your infinite wisdom....

Hi end vehicles require hi end maintenance. Is what it is. Most all vehicles decrease in resale value dramatically after purchase, especially if bought new. Buy preowned, take care of it, and you'd be surprised how much these " perceived" hi end models actually retain their value......boring myself with readily available info.....

2017 here people I knewm Appliances would just end up as a fucking backdoor into carguments!!!

When I buy a pin, enjoy it for several years, and sell it for a $200-400 loss, I'll feel it's affordable. But when my total cost of ownership jumps to $800+, it feels expensive to me. Modded pins can get expensive that way.

Guilty....sorry...couldn't help it..

More like bend over and hand me your credit card maintenance

Uber is making me question whether it makes sense to own a car. We have 4 cars for 3 adults, and I'd love to own zero. If I ever move to a walkable city, that's my goal.

I can see the Uber request for a sedan to go pickup a pinball 3 hours away... No, I'll keep at least one that a pin can fit in, I just can't help running after one on a hunt from time to time.

Those appliances are a TAD expensive IMO. But to each there own, and i know people like to spend $$$$ for very high end stuff. But, Let's see, we recently bought a new stainless steel Whirlpool dishwasher (550.00) Fridge (1200) and Gas Stove (650). GRAND total of 2400. Now I can go buy a couple of nice pins. . .

Okay. Pinball is expensive there is no doubt.
I don't want to think about how much I am spending to have 14 6-10k+ games on freeplay in my basement. Way more than $1 a play.

For me it is a bit more than just collecting them. The hobby gives me alot of secondary education opportunities. I rarely am bored as I always
have a machine that needs some TLC.

Fortunately my games more or less retain 20% of their value and some have gained value.

My SCUBA diving hobby however has been my biggest cash-drain. Well over 70,000 dollars spent with no money coming back. Traveling to exotic destinations to Dive cost $ and you don't recoup it. Just traveling to see Marine creatures and risking life and limb.

So for me Pinball is a bit of relief. I don't plan on buying many more games. Happy where I'm at. In the longterm I will be better off for having gotten into hobby.

Pinball as an Appliance. Their doesn't seem to be a price you an put on my satisfaction from pins. Appliances come and go my pins stay.

ha, check out the apple forums today about iphone users losing their minds over a $1000 iphone.

Everything is a front door to a cargument.

Humanity has devolved to the point where it's simply impossible to discuss anything without bringing up cars.

I treat my appliances the same as I do my pinball machines. I repair them when they break and as a result I get quite a bit of mileage from them. 21 year old washer and dryer, 16 year old stove, 10 year old fridge, 5 year old microwave (all have been repaired at least once). Heck I've even repaired my Bunn coffee pot twice now (simple blown thermal fuse $11 and a bit of soldering) and its around 7 years old. In most cases they can be repaired with little effort and a small fraction of the cost of new. That leaves more cash available for toys/trips ect. Plus it feels good to fix things. Besides, replacing appliances with a new ones that do basically the same thing the old ones did just sucks to me.

Instead of three BMWs you should have bought one Mercedes. Never had better cars for me (and my family).

Title of this thread should be, "Are homeowner kitchen appliances too expensive?"

A >$3000 cooktop? What is in a cooktop (a gas line, a valve and an orifice/burner)? And they sell 100X the number of them and spread the fixed-cost over so many more units. Makes pinball look amazingly cheap in comparison.

I find it ironic that a commercial kitchen (with fire-suppression hood and capability to feed a dining room of 200+ all-day long) gets eclipsed in cost by some of these designer kitchens. But if it makes wifey happy and we can brag to our neighbors that we have a "pot filler faucet" over our range... - I tease my wife about this and "Pampered Chef" all the time (no self-respecting chef would use anything Pampered Chef sells) - I love the "islands" that are larger than the entire kitchen/prep area on a Polaris submarine that feeds 100+ sailors. It is totally ridiculous.

I gather this is what the OP was gunning for anyway.....

Yeah, most guys really like cars.

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I often look at my TWD or ToM and think, "damn, I could be looking at new countertops in my kitchen right now," but countertops are not nearly as fun

Appliances from today are way more energy/water efficient than something from 20 years ago. you might find that you have lower utility bills if you updated your appliances. Just saying.

So now that the op has gotten over telling us about his overpriced pinball collection, now he wants us to know about his overpriced appliances?

Go back to playing your EMs old man!

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I don't know man. I just purchased a brand new Amana gas dryer for under $400 and it does just what I want it to do... dry the clothes.

Haha...$400?!?! Dude, you must be on hard times I'm sorry. Not enough coin for the signed Limited Edition eh?

Call me archaic, but I don't need a fancy computerized dryer to send a message to my non existent smart phone to tell me when my clothes are dry.

But I did just throw down $350 for one of those fancy Traeger wood fired grills. Money well spent..

Hyperloop on SWLE really dries socks quick.

And that Traeger grill really cooks the food slowly. Unlike on the TV ad though, it is a good idea to keep an eye on it as you do need to add wood pellets every hour or two. It does give you time to go run some errands though

I guess I need to ask if this would be considered an appliance. What I do know is it is a way better cooker than some of those high priced propane jobs. I always laugh when I see someone that paid 1000s of dollars for a grill that cooks with gas.

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I do think NIB pinball prices have gone way too high since I purchased Stern Playboy NIB in 2001. I bought Mustang premium NIB in 2014 anyway, but it may be my last pin purchase. My wife keeps insisting that I don't need any more pins (or cars or electric guitars, either) and she's probably right.

Maybe so, but as soon as I go plunking down 1000s on new appliances that last maybe 3 years, those energy savings become trivial at best. I equate it to stepping over dollars to pick up dimes. If we were speaking of a real energy cash hog like an old HVAC system, maybe there would be some merit.

So you don't spend $200 on each pin to convert them from incandescents to LEDs for the savings in electricity?