10k ????????? Man, I can't justify paying more than $2500. Then again, I live in the past world where $2/gallon gas was ripping people off.

I remember when I was in the midst of earning my BSEE, I would be doing Digital Logic ALL day during the summer of 2009. For a "brain break", I'd jump on eBay and look at pins, telling myself "I'm going to own a pin - SOME pin - someday." I remembered AFM from back in 1996 when I was 15 playing it and loving that game - WAY before the game had the insane cult-like-pay-any-price-to-own-one reputation it has now. So I looked it up, it had hit around $3000, and I thought "Ok, that's a bit steep, but I'd be willing to pay it for my child-hood favorite pinball machine."

In 3 years, it has jumped to nearly $9000-$10000 - 3x the price in 3 years. Absolutely ridiculous. Anyone who tells me people paying higher prices does not pinflate the prce of pins needs to look at the trend that AFM and MM have. People willing to pay higher prices DOES cause pinflation.

Or you could call it "supply and demand" - just like crude oil - right...? Right ?

I remember wen I first jumped into this hobby in March, I thought to myself in a tongue-in-cheek manner "Crude oil and pinball are following the same trend." More and more, I'm starting to wonder if I was onto something early ... ._.