Hit the nail on the head. No matter how you look at it pinball machines are cool and when most people see them in your house they have the urge to play. When you I Look at some peoples collections and houses that are on this site, I sometimes think to myself that I chose the wrong line of work. But when I think again, I didn't because I thoroughly enjoyed what I did for a living and I don't think I would have wanted to go back and change that just for money and things. Plus after working in electronics for over 40 years, I really hate computer problems. So having a new machine is not that attractive to me. I like finding older machines to learn how they work and marvel at how they were designed. Price bubble or not, I could give a shit anymore. There are a lot of ways to enjoy the hobby without spending a lot of cash, the least expensive being playing on site.

One thing I can guarantee though .....if you put up a price bubble thread..... Levi will come !

I have come to the conclusion that pinball machines are like any other collectable ....the desireable ones will always hold or increase in value, the common ones that few people want will come down in value with age. At this point there will never be a time like in the late 90's and 2000's when most of the Arcades closed and people were dumping and practically giving away machines. New machines cost more to make so they will keep going up. Unless you find someone who is having a Dick and Jane crisis where the lawn has been repossessed and they need money quick, you are going to be paying market value. There are a lot of vultures that will snag those deals quicker then you can pick up the phone unless your lucky and just happen to find it before them. On the bright side every once in a while the blind squirrel can actually find a nut.

from what I have seen it gets more ridiculous every day, Sold a players condition Raven for 800 bucks earlier this year because to me that was an honest price and thats all it was really worth ...two weeks later it was on facebook marketplace for 2 gran ....that was a bad deal for the person that bought it at 2 gran....sold a spring break for 1500 and now 8 months later I just saw it listed for 2600 .....if the guy gets that much,it's a better investment return than he could ever get from the stock market ....It's mind boggling what people are willing to spend and as long as the trend continues the bubble will never burst. Whatever happened to the muffler guy who said " I'm not going to pay a lot for this muffler" or the old lady from Wendy's who complained " Where is the beef ?"

Think hell will freeze over before we ever see that