So we have a couple new Sterns this year, of different models, LEs, Premiums, etc. We have JJP Hobbit, which will pull money in for prepays this year, though probably not hit release, we have Predator, Nemo, ZA and the old pins are shooting up in value. Are there really that many new people coming into the collector hobby, bringing that much more money, to support that overall worth of available pins on the market? If you could add up what all the pins in existence were worth a year ago, and what that collective inventory will be worth at the end of this year, the "value" of the hobby has gone up dramatically. I guess when people can feel good about the value of some of their machines it justifies putting out more money. But I was just wondering how much the "equity" in our hobby has jumped, through the increased prices and many new machines hitting the market. They can't be absorbed by in the arcade venues like they used to... at least not in the states.

If you are representative the old classics won't sustain their value. I'll keep buying the old ones though. I enjoy them as much as the new. My black AFM and the MM and CC that Jim McCune is doing his HE restores on are the cornerstones of my collection... Though Black SM, ACDC BIBLE, tricked out Tron are great games and fun as heck as well.

Not an investment, but this hobby sure makes financial sense better than some.

that's spot on, Rommy. So let's all band together and make a pinball company!

I know, as a newcomer, I've put a ton of cash into the hobby in the last two years. So, hopefully, there is enough cash, for all the reasons you guys bring up, to keep the hobby growing.