It sure seems to be heading in a great direction. Exciting times for sure !

LTG : )

I used to think pinball was full of older gentlemen around retirement age, but the more shows I go to, and the more people I meet, the more diverse the age group gets.

There’s clearly plenty of younger people out there interested in pinball to keep it bolstered and popular for decades to come!

LTG is right. It’s heading in an exciting direction.

There are still a lot of new people finding and enjoying the hobby, and most of them are younger.
Pinball is very healthy at the moment and should continue like this for a while yet.

On the uptake for sure!

Definitely on a great trajectory north which is a good thing for sure. For me it shows America is building again and industries are willing to go for it. I personally thank all the “old timers’ as you say because in my view they kept these old machines going and the knowledge flowing during the dark period to keep pinball alive. Still on occasion watch my This Old Pinball DVD’s for an educational laugh. These “old” wise guys along with Stern kept the heart of pinball beating if only barely which inspired so many New companies and youth to join this amazing and fun hobby. Not a cheap hobby but the buyer finally has choices on how to spend their money which is a Good thing.

I think the nib money is slowing down, but the early ss are heating up. When newbies can get 3-4 solid older games for the price of one nib....things are changing. I don’t think many people have 7k+ disposable sitting in an account. Sure many have that avail on credit lines, but that’s a whole another ball of wax. Most however could scrounge 2k without hurting the finances, so those system 3-6 games become mighty attractive. New games will be like the pretty girls in high school, fun to take out once in awhile, but not to “own”.

I was in Montreal this past weekend for a tournament. I met a crazy number of people who had only been playing pinball for less than 1 year. They told me that there is a huge following that is growing so large that they are running out of space at the local establishments. The demand is increasing for both private ownership and public recreation. It can probably be evidenced by the growth of these forums as well.

Do we have too few dollars chasing too many new games? I don't think so. If the player-base is increasing, I'd bet that it's probably increasing with players of all ages, and therefore the market at all levels is also growing, new games included.

I think we'll see some NIB games at lower prices soon. Stern sold several Iron Maiden games at less than 6k. I'm sure they would be able to make a very basic EM-looking game for half that. I imagine that someone is going to tap into a market like that which doesn't yet exist, and they'll be successful doing it. Imagine being able to buy a brand new Paragon or Joker Poker? It's just drop targets and spinners, so let's make some games similar to those already!

No thanks - I already have a hobbit - and it is getting close to 6K HUO. So there is your winner right there

oh-hoh! Shots fired!

Unfortunately, the consensus seems to be that making a vault early SS game would cost almost as much as a new Stern Pro. A lot of them have more coils than a Stern Pro, for sure. That said I think there is a market for them, even at 5K. I think they'd do better than WNBJM/PCC which are based on a much older, simpler design than the early SS classics. Look how well TNA is doing.

I voted enjoy it while it lasts, if you do enjoy what they are churning out now.

The longest any pinball boom ever lasted was about ten years. And those were the great pinball production decades of the 30s and 70s. Much lean times in between.