(Topic ID: 116290)

People that buy games NIB and then never open the box, why?

By Archytas

9 years ago


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  • 38 posts
  • 30 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 9 years ago by fuko
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    Topic poll

    “Would you ever buy a pin with the only intention of selling it NIB for cash later on?”

    • Yes - it makes sound financial sense. 9 votes
      8%
    • Yes - but only if I know the pin will increase in value later in its life. 5 votes
      4%
    • No - but only because it's way too much of a gamble. 11 votes
      10%
    • No - I don't see the point. 26 votes
      23%
    • Never! - Pins are meant to be played! 63 votes
      55%

    (114 votes)

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    #1 9 years ago

    Sorry if this is a topic that has been covered but I can't seem to see it anywhere (and If I'm being blind, please point me in the direction of it!).

    Anyhow as the title says, I want to know why people who buy NIB games and then bring them home and never open the things do it. To me Pinball's should be played, not stored away to try to gain cash 10 years down the line and I really can't understand the reasoning behind it (aside from the pure gamble of the game becoming worth way more cash than you bought it for, and even then it is a total gamble). I'd love to hear from people who do this, I only ever hear about this sort of thing from friends in the hobby and there is always a certain venom behind it when they talk about it as they are all of the opinion that pins are for playing and enjoying.

    So tell me your stories!

    #2 9 years ago

    I bought a new car the other day and in the showroom was a 2012 Boss 302 Mustang with something like 800 original miles on it. It had all the promotional material still boxed up in the trunk in it's original packaging.
    Did it retain more value because of that? Probably.
    Cars, especially like that, should be driven. Pins should be played. I'm not in it as a business though so that's probably why I see it differently.

    #3 9 years ago

    I own a NES Legend of Zelda cartridge, sealed in the box, and never intend to sell it. Just knowing it has all the goodies inside (manual, world map, ad inserts, cartridge, cartridge sleeve), and has never seen the light of day gives me excitement that is worth owning it. I'm probably nuts, though. Wonder if people with pins it's the same rush? Just knowing it's NIB and it's in there? So maybe add an option to your poll for this option "I'm just nuts and I like knowing it's in there"

    Jack

    15
    #4 9 years ago

    I have a lot of condoms that are new in an unopened box that have never seen the light of day, and oh... wait.

    #5 9 years ago
    Quoted from jackd104:

    I own a NES Legend of Zelda cartridge, sealed in the box, and never intend to sell it.

    I would open it and remove the battery if I were you.

    #6 9 years ago
    Quoted from jackd104:

    I own a NES Legend of Zelda cartridge, sealed in the box, and never intend to sell it. Just knowing it has all the goodies inside (manual, world map, ad inserts, cartridge, cartridge sleeve), and has never seen the light of day gives me excitement that is worth owning it. I'm probably nuts, though. Wonder if people with pins it's the same rush? Just knowing it's NIB and it's in there? So maybe add an option to your poll for this option "I'm just nuts and I like knowing it's in there"
    Jack

    Sorry, you are nuts haha.

    #7 9 years ago

    Pinball is not an investment

    Examples of games that have increased in value by being in storage for 10+ years are few and far between

    You would make more money investing elsewhere

    #8 9 years ago

    Well some people see it as an investment. There are a ton of 90's games that would fetch a great price if they were NIB right now. Even marginal games from back then could be worth quite a bit to the right person.

    Personally I think it is crazy. There are a couple of reasons to wait on opening a NIB pin. If the game is really cold from shipping during the winter, let it sit indoors for a couple of days to let the temperature equalize. If you are doing construction on your gameroom letting it sit while waiting for a spot is totally fine. Other than that, tear that bad boy open and start playing!

    #9 9 years ago
    Quoted from DaveH:

    There are a couple of reasons to wait on opening a NIB pin. If the game is really cold from shipping during the winter, let it sit indoors for a couple of days to let the temperature equalize. If you are doing construction on your gameroom letting it sit while waiting for a spot is totally fine. Other than that, tear that bad boy open and start playing!

    The shipping thing I have done a few times, let a game sit for a day or two to acclimatise to the temperature. The longest I have had games stored is 2 months whilst I converted my garage to a gamesroom and I hated seeing them sitting there doing nothing!

    #10 9 years ago
    Quoted from Archytas:

    To me Pinball's should be played, not stored away to try to gain cash 10 years down the line and I really can't understand the reasoning behind it (aside from the pure gamble of the game becoming worth way more cash than you bought it for, and even then it is a total gamble)

    You just answered your own question...it's just that you see it differently than those people.

    The 20 year old NIB's we're seeing at this point - I bet a lot of them have different stories that go beyond "for investment purposes". Maybe they bought one NIB, then got a great deal on a used one before opening it? Most games were routed back then, so maybe it was a way to keep a pristine version of their favorite pin? Maybe there was a blowout package deal on NIBs and they couldn't put them all out on location? Who knows. (Or maybe someone does know, and would care to share).

    I don't see the point in getting pissy about this 20 years later. There are people out there who would *love* and can afford to pay the premium for old NIBs. Let them enjoy it. There are thousands of other used examples for you to buy. Are we supposed to feel bad because it isn't in your price range?

    ($3000 in 1992 is $5062 today. That same money invested in an index fund would be worth roughly $13,000. So you can use that as ammunition if it makes you feel better).

    #11 9 years ago
    Quoted from PopBumperPete:

    Pinball is not an investment
    Examples of games that have increased in value by being in storage for 10+ years are few and far between
    You would make more money investing elsewhere

    Anything that you buy is an investment. A car, house, snow blower, etc. When you go to sell the item is when you find out how good of an investment it is. Pinball machines are an investment, just not a good one.

    That being said, I have a NIB tron. I will open it someday, but for now I don't have the room in the basement so it stays upstairs in the box until I can make room.

    #12 9 years ago

    It takes a certain "type" to take a nice game and lock it up away from the world in the name of making a buck in the future. We don't all agree on much but hopefully we can get behind the notion that games were meant to be played not hoarded.

    #13 9 years ago

    Comic books were meant to be read and not put in plastic cases !

    #14 9 years ago
    Quoted from Archytas:

    Anyhow as the title says, I want to know why people who buy NIB games and then bring them home and never open the things do it. To me Pinball's should be played, not stored away to try to gain cash 10 years down the line and I really can't understand the reasoning behind it (aside from the pure gamble of the game becoming worth way more cash than you bought it for, and even then it is a total gamble).

    As you said, it's no more complicated than trying to sell for profit later on. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. The rationale is that all games have a limited manufacturing window, so it can make sense to keep a pristine one for someone years down the road, but ultimately it's usually a very poor investment. For example if you bought a B/W NIB in 1994 and sold it in 2014, you would have had to incur 20 years of storage costs, yet ultimately would done as well or better by having that same money in a stock market index.

    #15 9 years ago

    Baseball cards were meant to go in bicycle spokes!

    #16 9 years ago

    I'll never buy a pin just to keep it NIB, but I think it is cool when an old NIB is found and opened to be enjoyed. I think the Asteroid Annie at PHOF was a NIB find. Didn't care for the gameplay, but it was still cool playing a 35 year old pin that looked brand spanking new.

    #17 9 years ago
    Quoted from Curtis_Playfield:

    It takes a certain "type" to take a nice game and lock it up away from the world in the name of making a buck in the future.

    Just someone with a crapload of cash! If i had a ton and tons of space I'd be buying 2 at a time.

    #18 9 years ago
    Quoted from BradKreisler:

    Anything that you buy is an investment. A car, house, snow blower, etc. When you go to sell the item is when you find out how good of an investment it is. Pinball machines are an investment, just not a good one.

    In general nothing you buy to use is an investment because it won't return a profit. Cars, almost never, snow blowers, never, houses you live in, very rarely... once you take into account maintenance, upgrades, insurance, taxes, interest, sales commissions on a house you will be under water whenever you sell unless the market is unusual and you make very timely buy/sell with cash. Pinball machines do better, usually holding their value, but if you define an investment as making money, that probably won't work out either.

    #19 9 years ago

    tumblr_l9xbdeDCPA1qe4tx4o1_400.giftumblr_l9xbdeDCPA1qe4tx4o1_400.gif

    #20 9 years ago
    Quoted from Baiter:

    In general nothing you buy to use is an investment because it won't return a profit. Cars, almost never, snow blowers, never, houses you live in, very rarely... once you take into account maintenance, upgrades, insurance, taxes, interest, sales commissions on a house you will be under water whenever you sell unless the market is unusual and you make very timely buy/sell with cash. Pinball machines do better, usually holding their value, but if you define an investment as making money, that probably won't work out either.

    Obviously you're not a golfer. -100 times.

    #21 9 years ago

    Maybe they are too weak to open the box. Lifting money does little to build muscle strength.

    #22 9 years ago

    i've got MUCH less risky / more rewarding things to invest my cash in. pinball machine prices are about the last place i'd choose to put money i was trying to earn interest on.

    #23 9 years ago

    I gambled and got a IM vt.
    Never opened it because I had a IM original all bling'd out.
    Wound up trading it for a LOTR and cash to me.

    I just got it because of the rumor they were going to be better...never materialized IMO so thats my only example.

    When MMr was announced I seriously talked to my better half about getting two.
    I ordered one and wanted to flip the second...shortly after found out 1000 then standards and backed off....thank God.

    #24 9 years ago

    If I had the kind of money to buy a NIB and sit on it....probably. Just look how much excitement was generated when that one Pinsider opened that NIB BBB a while ago.

    #25 9 years ago

    Does putting it back in the box when you're done count?

    #26 9 years ago
    Quoted from RandomGuyOffCL:

    Does putting it back in the box when you're done count?

    It counts that you had the skill to do that and realized that it was not the game for you.

    #27 9 years ago

    You don't buy one and keep it in the box... you buy two. One to open and play, one to save just so you can panic and try to unload for an inflated price the second rumors of another rerun start circling.

    #28 9 years ago
    Quoted from Curtis_Playfield:

    It takes a certain "type" to take a nice game and lock it up away from the world in the name of making a buck in the future. We don't all agree on much but hopefully we can get behind the notion that games were meant to be played not hoarded.

    I dunno about you but I'm archiving every NIB game for the pinapocalypse...

    raiders-of-the-lost-ark-matte-painting.jpgraiders-of-the-lost-ark-matte-painting.jpg
    #29 9 years ago

    I have a feeling a handful of AMH's are going to get hoarded NIB...

    #30 9 years ago
    Quoted from bb2j3z:

    I dunno about you but I'm archiving every NIB game for the pinapocalypse...

    raiders-of-the-lost-ark-matte-pa... 41 KB

    Perfect picture.

    #31 9 years ago

    Sometimes it's just coincidence. At the moment i know 2 guys with NIB pins in storage, one ACDC LE and one with a Tron Pro.

    Both of them didn't buy them as investments at all, they just got some really good deal on a used one or a different version before the NIB was delivered and pulled the trigger. When the NIB came they just left them NIB, either to decide to exchange them later for the ones they had or they just didn't bother to sell them immediately. If space and money is not a big issue things like this can "just happen".

    #32 9 years ago

    To me keeping a pin NIB for years without ever playing it is like marying the prom queen and never touching her. Every body keep starring at her thinking you are a lucky man while in fact you don't know either what it feels like to be happy.

    Lol, just my opinion, so don't mean sh$t

    #33 9 years ago

    aliveanddead.jpgaliveanddead.jpg
    #34 9 years ago

    Kinda like buying a new car and never driving it. You don't know what will be a classic down the road. Enjoy what you have and don't worry about the next guy who winds up w/it when you are dead.

    #35 9 years ago
    Quoted from Baiter:

    In general nothing you buy to use is an investment because it won't return a profit. Cars, almost never, snow blowers, never, houses you live in, very rarely... once you take into account maintenance, upgrades, insurance, taxes, interest, sales commissions on a house you will be under water whenever you sell unless the market is unusual and you make very timely buy/sell with cash. Pinball machines do better, usually holding their value, but if you define an investment as making money, that probably won't work out either.

    Huh? "nothing you buy to use is an investment because it won't return a profit."? Not all investments make a profit. But if you parted with your $$$ for it, its an investment. Doesn't matter if you use it or not you or if you make a profit or not.

    To elaborate, I bought an esclara to assist me with moving pins up & down my stairs(investment). The return on my investment is that my back doesn't ache from pulling pins up & down the stairs manually (return on investment). If I sell it for what I bought it for, I'll be happy and consider it a good investment. That's all I was saying.

    #36 9 years ago

    I just like the boxes

    #37 9 years ago
    Quoted from Darth_Chris:

    To me keeping a pin NIB for years without ever playing it is like marying the prom queen and never touching her. Every body keep starring at her thinking you are a lucky man while in fact you don't know either what it feels like to be happy.
    t

    Isn't that how the story goes? LOL

    #38 9 years ago
    Quoted from BradKreisler:

    Huh? "nothing you buy to use is an investment because it won't return a profit."? Not all investments make a profit. But if you parted with your $$$ for it, its an investment. Doesn't matter if you use it or not you or if you make a profit or not.
    To elaborate, I bought an esclara to assist me with moving pins up & down my stairs(investment). The return on my investment is that my back doesn't ache from pulling pins up & down the stairs manually (return on investment). If I sell it for what I bought it for, I'll be happy and consider it a good investment. That's all I was saying.

    I think you are overloading the term 'investment' to prove your point. Pretty sure op is referring to financial investment here

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