Sioux City, IA
Browsing eBay and saw this. crazy price...
ebay.com link: NEW BOX WILLIAMS STAR TREK NEXT GENERATION PINBALL MACHINE
(Topic ID: 7486)
Sana'a
Quoted from vid1900:When this pinball "housing bubble" does burst, it is going to hurt.
when's that gonna be? When the "real" housing market gets bad? when the stock market crashes?
Quoted from TZBen:when's that gonna be? When the "real" housing market gets bad? when the stock market crashes?
It will happen whenever it happens.
It happened with the old muscle cars in America a few years ago the same way. Prices were climbing so fast no one could believe it. So much money was in the market. Then prices fell to "almost" reasonable levels almost overnight. http://blogs.insideline.com/straightline/2009/01/barrett-jackson-muscle-car-prices-take-huge-hit.html
If you think about it, there are very few tables in any coinop use anymore. Almost all tables are in private homes, getting much less use than in an arcade, bowling ally or 7Eleven. They are being carefully cared for. Owners are buying reproduction fields and fake NOS (new old stock) plastics from eBay. Every other ad on CraigsList says it's shopped or fully restored.
We love our tables because we grew up with them. The current generation will not have the same nostalgic feelings for them that we do.
Yeah there's no way. I don't see anywhere on the box what game it actually is. And man I hope that thing didn't ship w/ batteries installed 
Quoted from PwninShiznat:Yeah there's no way. I don't see anywhere on the box what game it actually is. And man I hope that thing didn't ship w/ batteries installed [
It says in the auction description that the box was opened to remove the batteries.
Should be interesting to see if anyone here buys it...
Bayswater
Quoted from Leigh:I don't often make silly comments, however, consider this, how many chances in life do you have, to buy the last remaining NIB top 10 pin on earth (if it is NIB). Just a thought and please no bashing, I cop that enough living down under....
I don't think that's silly at all. That's not really that expensive for what it is. I wouldn't buy it because it's not my grail pin and i don't have the kinda $$ to throw at one machine but if i did and it was i'd do it!
The funny thing is that is that it will sell eventually to someone with unlimited funds (there seems to be plenty of these folks out there getting into this hobby). The problem is that as soon as you pull it out of the box and play it, it goes from a 19k pin to a 4.5k pin. Ouuch! Talk about a shot in the a#! financially.
Quoted from vid1900:The current generation will not have the same nostalgic feelings for them that we do.
In 15-20 years, you will see those nostalgic listings for PS3 with Call of Duty 2, Fallout 3, and 25 other titles - and some poor schleps in the retrops3 forum lamenting about the crazy prices those eBay sellers are asking.
Quoted from wizzardz:In 15-20 years, you will see those nostalgic listings for PS3 with Call of Duty 2, Fallout 3, and 25 other titles - and some poor schleps in the retrops3 forum lamenting about the crazy prices those eBay sellers are asking.
Don't be so sure of that, with the instant gratification that we're seeing, it'll be something you can download/stream by then. Outside of emulation, there's no way to download or stream real pinball machines. Of course Crave could be working on that emulation for us currently, that still won't be the real thing by any means.
That thing could be rusted to hell inside that box . I have seen pictures of a NIB NGG that Pat Lawlor sold on EBAY for 6 K and it was really rusted up! Game was sent to HEP for a full restore. WOW .
How would you like to buy a NIB NOS game only to find out it needs multiple Thousands to fix!
Not me !
Jim
Quoted from vid1900:It will happen whenever it happens.
It happened with the old muscle cars in America a few years ago the same way. Prices were climbing so fast no one could believe it. So much money was in the market. Then prices fell to "almost" reasonable levels almost overnight. http://blogs.insideline.com/straightline/2009/01/barrett-jackson-muscle-car-prices-take-huge-hit.html
If you think about it, there are very few tables in any coinop use anymore. Almost all tables are in private homes, getting much less use than in an arcade, bowling ally or 7Eleven. They are being carefully cared for. Owners are buying reproduction fields and fake NOS (new old stock) plastics from eBay. Every other ad on CraigsList says it's shopped or fully restored.
We love our tables because we grew up with them. The current generation will not have the same nostalgic feelings for them that we do.
ever watch antique road show? a busted up tiffany lamp has an estimated 50K value. I think an a list pin can maintain a 3K+ level.
Quoted from vid1900:We love our tables because we grew up with them. The current generation will not have the same nostalgic feelings for them that we do.
What is the current generation? The generation that grew up during the 90's pin boom is now in it's 30's. That means it'll be a good 30 years before we start dying off. By then inflation will have caught up so that even an old antique busted-ass pin will fetch thousands of dollars anyway. It's basic supply and demand. Limited resource and more Gen-Xers with disposable incomes equals higher prices.
I would argue that the drop in muscle car prices has something to do with the current offering of faster, more fuel efficient, safer, better handling and more comfortable performance cars coming from Detroit also. I'm one of those who used to want a classic 60's muscle car, but now I'd get more bang for my buck with a late model Challenger, Camaro or Mustang. Again, supply and demand.
Quoted from wizzardz:In 15-20 years, you will see those nostalgic listings for PS3 with Call of Duty 2, Fallout 3, and 25 other titles - and some poor schleps in the retrops3 forum lamenting about the crazy prices those eBay sellers are asking.
There is nothing rare about games that sold in the millions.
Use an Atari 2600 game as an example. A NIB "Pitfall" might fetch $12, but a NIB "Chase the Chuckwagon" gets $700 (at one time it was going for $3000+). Usually something has to be rare to have a crazy price.
How many of your friends bought cases of the comic "The Death of Superman" thinking it would be worth big bucks? There are so many unopened cases of that rag that is has a pitiful value.
Quoted from TZBen:ever watch antique Road Show? a busted up tiffany lamp has an estimated 50K value. I think an a list pin can maintain a 3K+ level.
Again, the Tiffany is rare. They were expensive to begin with ($300 for a lamp at the turn of the last century? That's crazy!) so it's not like there were 20,000 made of any single style.
All that said, it is exciting to watch and see if the game sells. Will Bill Gates buy it and use it? Will some speculator buy it and keep it in the box? Is the whole thing a scam? (if you took it out of the box to take the batteries out, would you not take a picture of the condition?)
This is the fun stuff that adds interest to our hobby.
Quoted from GoneFishinLvMsg:What is the current generation?
The current generation is the generation currently of breeding age, 18-35. Many of them have never even seen a pinball game in person (my 25 year old girlfriend had never seen one until she met me).
Each generation will have some nostalgic thing they will collect from their youth. Maybe it will be iPods, Laptops, or CDs (yes, they have annouced that CDs have been discontinued: http://www.tgdaily.com/games-and-entertainment-features/59478-report-cds-are-officially-over )
Quoted from bigdaddy07:The problem is that as soon as you pull it out of the box and play it, it goes from a 19k pin to a 4.5k pin. Ouuch!
This is precisely why I don't think this particular title will fetch such a high price. Yes, a NIB STTNG is extremely rare, but the fact of the matter is that it's only rare until you start playing it. The second you do that, it becomes HUO, and the underlying market value of even the nicest STTNG doesn't warrant such a price. Heck, you could probably buy two HEP STTNG's for that price. I suppose it's possible that someone with a completely different mindset than me could pay up for this game, but I'd be shocked.
One NIB b title or an entire arcade full of great games? Seems an easy question to me.
Quoted from vid1900:(yes, they have annouced that CDs have been discontinued: http://www.tgdaily.com/games-and-entertainment-features/59478-report-cds-are-officially-over )
NOOOOOOOOO!!!!! If vinyl is selling well this decade, then CD's should keep going on and on. The next time I go into any music store, I'm buying a ton of CD's.
Quoted from McCune:I have seen pictures of a NIB NGG that Pat Lawlor sold on EBAY for 6 K and it was really rusted up! Game was sent to HEP for a full restore. WOW .
OUCH! that made me cringe Jim.
Quick question, were games of that era originally shipped with the batteries already in the pins?
I have no idea what the answer is but if it is true that game could have some serious acid damage.
I am pretty sure whoever is going to spend that kind of money is not going to worry about acid damage on a $200 board.
Quoted from SunsetPinball:Quick question, were games of that era originally shipped with the batteries already in the pins?
Yes.
Quoted from donjagra:I still buy CDs.
Me too. In fact, I prefer them because they offer better sound quality than most downloads. I never actually listen to the CDs themselves, but they are all ripped into a lossless format to preserve the original sound quality. If the record labels are going to stop selling CD's, they better start offering more high resolution download options. If not, it will actually be a step backwards as far as I'm concerned.
Quoted from LTW:I am pretty sure whoever is going to spend that kind of money is not going to worry about acid damage on a $200 board.
Good point.
It probably isn't a scam, but since they opened it to "verify the contents," why didn't they take some shots of the actual game?
Quoted from jayhawkai:... since they opened it to "verify the contents," why didn't they take some shots of the actual game?
An excellent question.
Quoted from gweempose:jayhawkai said:
... since they opened it to "verify the contents," why didn't they take some shots of the actual game?An excellent question.
Quoted from McCune:That thing could be rusted to hell inside that box .
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