Yah... take what I'm saying with a grain of salt because I'm an experienced EM enthusiast, not a retail buyer.
They aren't "listless", that's for sure. Otherwise the same could be said of cars at a Mecum auction: Thousands lying around, all have four tires and a motor, etc., what's the diff? Same for wristwatches... a $40,000 Patek tells the same time as a $15 Casio, right?
If they are all the same, why bother looking for any particular EM at all? Just buy the nearest one and play it. Same experience, eh? Like a 1967 GTO will take you to Burger King same as a Honda Fit.
Haha of course this is rhetorical. We are looking at this from two different perspectives: Newbie (retail) vs. collector.
The only difference between a newbie and a collector is experience and enthusiasm. In time, the differences between games/cars/watches/headphones/shoes/eyewear/etc. become apparent... and that's when the price follows.
Retail shops can sell EM's for $1500-$2500 but only because the market is so scattered and uninformed. We are capitalizing upon a lack of familiarity and an eagerness to just get something playable and vintage-y in the house. But no experienced hobbyist would ever pay that. Not unless it was a restored beauty they've been hunting down... because they just know the difference.
If you're here on Pinside, well, you know the difference.
Ironically, it sometimes works in reverse: The newbies are the ones aghast at the idea of paying $10,000 for a single machine, but the collectors are already lined up.
If I listed my EM inventory at $800 apiece in the condition they are in, they'd all evaporate by the end of the week. But hey, maybe I'm the crazy one, because I paid $1500 for a Freedom prototype in good project condition. *shrug* I like what I like.
All I am saying is the serendipity of the EM marketplace isn't quite as favorable as it used to be. Definitely noticed a shift especially over the past nine months. Seems like a good time to get the favorites locked in and the replacement parts on hand (if going full restore) vs. later.
Is it a covid bubble? Maybe. But then again, we could see many more indoor pinball parties once the pandemic is beaten back!