Of course, its just that a lot of buyers want to jump in at the deep end first and to be able to show off the shiny new thing. In this epoch of facebook and various other forms of vacuous social media its understandable even if slightly illogical to me.

One JJP/Stern LE or five players condition B list Bally Williams. If I was limited by disposable income and forced to make a choice I'd take the latter any day.

As it stands I simply choose not to buy at that price point as I can't see that kind of value in a single pinball machine regardless of the manufacturer.

I have just finished resurrecting the last of half a dozen non working EMs (which I don't even enjoy playing) and the sense of satisfaction I got from that far outweighs opening up a cardboard box.

Yes, but thats 25 years worth of buying/restoring/selling then rinse and repeat to trade up until you finally can justify to outlay funds on a bunch of 20 foot container imports and even then they always come with the percentage of obligatory non-working container space fillers.

These days it seems everyone wants to start their collection at the high end/LE and stay there.

I played TWD at a friends house along with half a dozen other various Stern LE machines he has and yes it is a good player, but once they went past the 10k mark here in Australia for a full featured machine the justification for the outlay just wasn't there for me personally.

And at 8250 for an entry level Pro, most operators aren't going to justify that either which is unfortunate as that is where the real hobby resurgence lies.

I think the pinball hobby is splitting into two subgroups, the pre 2012 collectors who remember quite well when pricing amongst the NIB manufacturers was whilst rising still quite reasonable given the end product, and those who have started their collections in the last 2-3? years and see 10k plus machines for an entry level machine as the norm.

On that note, if NIB pins were subject to regular depreciation values like any other piece of electronic entertainment equipment, sales would be a fraction of what they are for home use collectors, IMO.

Resale value within this new breed post 2012 collector community is the main factor sustaining home sales and justifying by proxy the corresponding price increases.

We live on two different continents, yet the same well worn excuses inevitably make an appearance.

The additional $220 shipping last minute dealbreaker on an $8500 machine always tickles me as well. Never wrap a machine for interstate transport unless the money has actually cleared and in your bank account.