No. What they said was:

In fact we were astonished to discover that the price for just one of the tables we were interested in is over $11,000!

In other words, one of the tables that they wanted to license (and possibly did license - I think they were referring to Medieval Madness) was over $11k (IE, they couldn't find one cheaper). While I'm sure that some pinsiders have found it for less than that, it's not exactly easy to find.

With regard to the cost of the Kickstarter - if you'd be buying the table anyway, you'll be paying for the licensing fees one way or another. With the Kickstarter, you're helping ensure that high-license-cost tables like these even get ported to Pinball Arcade. And since you don't pay unless the Kickstarter is successful, it's just as much of a no-lose proposition for the backers as it is for the producers. That is, unless you resent prepaying for things.

Probably not. They were talking about a $30 table cost when they were expecting to front the licensing fees themselves. With the Kickstarter floating the licensing fees, they'll probably drop it to $15, or possibly even $10. The early adopters are making it cheaper for everyone.

And I, for one, am glad to do it.

Bully for you. Not everyone has those tables near them. There isn't a publicly-available, fully-functional TZ, STTNG, MM, CFTBL, or, frankly, ANY of the Pinball Arcade tables anywhere near Los Angeles. The closest guarantee for some of them is down in the San Diego area.

Edit: Also, assuming that the tables are only going to be priced at $5 is a stretch. Of the presently-available tables, only two (Monster Bash and CFTBL) have secondary licensing issues*, and both of those are the same licensor - Universal. Universal LOVES to get their Movie Monsters into as many media opportunities as possible, because it keeps them relevant without Universal having to spend a dime. As a result, their licensing fees for the Movie Monsters are extremely low. I'd be willing to bet that they licensed for both of those tables as a combo pack, and the licensing fee was under 5k. But we have no way of knowing that, short of someone leaking a confidential contract.

*Sorry, I forgot RBION. Ripley's is known for being rather lassiez-faire with their licensing.

In contrast, both Twilight Zone and Star Trek are major properties, and the licensing is tight on both. Trek, in particular, has lots of tertiary licenses - the likenesses of everyone whose face is on the table. TZ, in contrast, only has one major tertiary license - the estate of Rod Serling. Both of those licenses are huge, compared to the licenses for games like Medieval Madness and Funhouse.

Edit: Oops, the post I was responding to wasn't a NEW post. Never mind.