Stern's value and quality is at a low ebb currently, so I'm taking a breather from NIB. Ditto for JJP when they copied Stern's high prices with DI. A 40% price increase in 1 year is unacceptable. Is it the new investors pushing for more profit? I'm guessing yes, as Stern's antics with kickstarter for a book, charging for their own anniversary party, $14k for a pintable etc look like the tactical output from a Greed 101 brainstorming session!
I've diversified my collecting for now, as I do have money to spend, but perhaps not on pinball for a while. It's actually been great fun, as I've learned such a lot about other hobbies & machines, and met some really interesting people, such as retired BBC engineers who refurb old valve radios, and as a pastime create enormous tesla coils Gotta love engineers!