Amazing how some people still can't understand a free market.

Hey, I'll give you 9500 shipped for your GZ Premium. That's more than MSRP, surely you'll sell me your game rather than artificially inflating its value...??

Also: MetLE rocks more than any antique ever will (or beanie baby or whatever else garbage people want to compare pinball to this week)

Ha! I am the cause of all of this.

If You own a MoPLE You get why it's worth so much...As mine is bolted to the floor.

And Yes I paid $7200 for it with at least $2K in mods on it. But a lot of games have come and gone and it never left My home!

If I had bought Tesla or Apple stock with that $7200 it would be worth as much as My pin is today.

I'm just saying - 5-10 years from now going there are going to be some rather perturbed people if they looked at games as an investment.

Say you spent 100k in todays market and 5 years from now that collection is worth only 60k and you are a home user.

Let's say you borrowed towards some of those purchases. End result your "investment" will never pay off even if your playing 300 games a month on average.

The winners are people that Route and can sell without occurring to much depreciation. As a home owner you cannot depreciate the loss.

Now MET LE might retain its value for 5 or 10 years longer. Nothing wrong with people selling games and getting their due.. It's the buyers who need to beware.

When did Pinball machines become an IRA contribution? These are tools of enjoyment and if any of you are buying strictly for an investment you’re making a big mistake.

You've been here 6 years. How much has the market deflated in that time? I've been buying and selling games since 2004. If I had $100K worth of games back in 2012, I would now have easily $300K+ in value for that same collection. So why is the next period of time any different? Why is your red flag for the future of the pinball market any more valid than the guy that looked and sounded just like you saying that people paying $6500 for MM were going to lose their ass? Or the guy that said the same thing when it was $8500? Or $10,000? Or $12,500? Every day someone is a confident market predictor in this hobby, and on those same days the confident market predictors of yesterday are wrong.

Hey, I'll give MSRP for it!

Here's one for sale,and it already has the 2022 prices factored in for you!
Screenshot_20220330-230828 (resized).png

If you're banking on your machines to be you're retirement you should reconsider. The pinball market will eventually turn sour as the current 40-60 year old buyers age unless the hobby attracts the younger generations. I think this will take some time. inflation is at 8% now and supply chain will be at least 2 years to fix and catch up. metallica Le will be a 15k machine moving forward for at least 3-5 years in my opinion.

Borrowed money? For a luxury item like Pinball? No.

I can say without exception that anyone that does that is a dumbass. Same for anyone that says game prices will definitely go up, so invest. While that has been true over the last decade doesn't mean it will in the future. It probably will (supply and demand), but never bank your mortgage payment on that assumption. Any luxury item like pinball, boats, sports cars, are all cash hobbies. If you're not in a position to just buy it, you can't afford it.

Current performance of market is not indicative of future performance. So it could go Up or down.

My machines ultimately have held their value as I've invested heavily in restoring games and keeping them operational. However I also know the market might change in 6months, 12 months and 5 years from now. I've seen this happen in so many other hobbies and collections. Markets fluctuate based on demand. Hopefully pinball continues to grow but at the current price point I do not see that happening with hyper inflation. I've been on and off the fence of trimming the herd quite a few times. I personally do not see people spending what some folks are asking for. Lot games I heard didn't get sold at the comical prices at TPF.
If your a Distro or company thats different the average joe home owner with no way of warrantying game.