Got kid @2 coming so I bought my last NIB unless I can trade for huge value. Most likely knocked my out of premium level as well.
Hopefully our group of friends can stop buying the same games ai we can trade more

Do you think people will tell the truth? Or, do you know anyone that wants to pay more for pinball machines?

I was an occasional NIB Premium buyer and I am out now. $7,700ish was pushing it but now it's too much. I like used pins just the same and will stick with those but there was a kid at Christmas feeling when opening the once in a while NIB.

the main problem we all have is. When the NIB price goes up. All the old stuff goes up too. In 2009, I paid 3400 for LOTR, delivered to my door. So you were able to get SS's for 2500, Wh20 1500, TZs for 3000 and what not. Why? Because when you can buy a NIB for 3400, why would you pay that much for a common heavily used game? Now that NIB is 6500 for pro models. Everything else follows suit.

It bothers me but seems to be the norm even for basic necessities lately. The increases price a lot of potential newcomers and buyers out.

I’ll still consider another NIB but it better really have the wow factor. JJP GNR was the last game that had that for me and I wanted it with a Stern or the next JJP but haven’t felt persuaded again. The latest price hikes solidified my decision to pass on everything since GNR.

I haven't bought any games in almost 2 years now. I always buy projects or used games.

Partly it's prices, partly I have enough to games & projects to keep me busy, partly is lack of space, and partly I have another hobby that also keeps me occupied.

But mainly the (crazy) prices that are a big turn off for me.

I remember when people tried to tell me I was wrong for thinking this way.

How's it feel paying $8000+ for WH2O, $7K+ for Shadow and $10K for TZ now?

The lack of common sense around here is astounding when their "DrEaM tHEmE" is coming out, and they HAVE to have it.

If it's a theme I really want, I'm buying regardless of price. I am a Pro buyer. Much easier pill to swallow.

I was pretty hardcore in the early 2000's buying broken games, fixing, then playing the crap out of them and selling for a profit. Fortunately I got a lot of games in the $1-2k range that sell for 4-5 times that now. I don't know where I found the time to fix and/or play all those games, but I did. I bet it's close to 100. I upgraded my collection over the years and when I sell a game, it's in the new market range, so I buy a game in the new market range. The price increases suck, but they typically reflect the selling price. I wish I hung on to a lot of those games, but I was happy at the time with the profit I made.

I couldn't afford good games when I got into the hobby, so I don't feel bad for new collectors. I traded a Pocket PC and a little cash for my first EM on Craigslist and worked my way up. I have no sympathy for someone complaining they can't afford a NIB Pro. A new pin is a luxury purchase that took me many years to build up to.

Same - except for the kid coming part.
Trades and local deals are fine to keep lineup fresh when needed.

The days of old are gone and so are the prices. The hobby has gained popularity and with it people willing to spend large amounts of money for games, mods, etc. In my collection, I have turned over games until I got the ones I wanted. Most aren't leaving. At this point I would be extremely selective on the games I bought NIB or used. The game would have to be something I really wanted and if so, I would pay the price.

I’m out of space for new games. My last (6th) was GZ. I bought 3 NIB: LOTR, WOZ, GZ when they were first released so it’s always many years for me to buy NIB. I dislike moving these heavy pins (with a passion) so all my pins are “bolted” down and it never occurred to me to treat them as transient investments.

I don’t really care if NIB gets more expensive. Chances are I’m not even alive anymore if there’s another must have pinball machine in a few years and if I ever have the space for a 7th.

Yeah but we're still only human. We csnt trade GZ because we all bought it

its done for me, no more NIB, and even not buying anymore (until i've found something at a "correct" price, but seems its like winning lotery)

when we (my & i) really want a pin home (mainly to study it), i than loan it for 1 month
of course i know this is 100% "losing" money, but in the other way i have nothing to worry about : game is delivered home, if a prob occurs i call the operator/and delay go over...

edit : and of course, i still can play pinball to local friends (tanx to them)
and locations games, which is finally more entertaining/fun, as you have to play well to avoid putting quarters in them

I have more games than any arcade had back when I was a kid. I do not need to buy a new game

Let’s face it .Everyone here loves making profit on a machine they purchased but lose they’re shit when they have to sell for a “loss” .If you take your purchase price and deduct $1 for each play ,does anyone really lose any money on these pins in a home environment ? I’m not counting the people that have a game for a year and sell it with 120 plays because in that scenario ,I’m not sure why they’re buying these in the first place .To be 100% honest ,if I was selling something I spent many hours on creating to only see those buyers turn around and sell it for more than I sold it to them for ,and that went on for years ,your damn right I’d be jacking that price up ! Something tells me you all would be doing the same .If not please enlighten me

Value is no longer there.

If anything quality/QC has got worse, as prices have relentlessly gone up.

No more NIB for me.

I only have room for three games and I decided to buy my third game this year because I knew there was no way I'd buy at next year's prices and beyond. When my nib order got slipped to next year, I found a HUO game nearby and saved some money. I'm done with NIB buying barring some unforseen windfall or heavy reduction in prices. I'm pretty much locked in on my games for now.

No money , no problems, play on site.
Was lucky enough to collect a few when pinball hobby was low key and no one knew or cared.
It can go as high as it likes, no one forces you to buy and to all those people who wanted themes and loaded games!
You got what you asked for.

I voted for ‘It’s annoying, but I’ll swallow the price hikes and keep buying’ but really it’s a mix of that and ‘I’ll wait for discounts on HUO machines on the secondary market’

I have space for 5 machines and currently have 5, spike 2s, if I want something new I have to sell 1. So as long as used prices roughly follow nib prices, price increases have less impact on my overall spend than someone trying to grow a collection. I am probably only in on a nib at the Stern Pro price level though.

Out of my 5, 2 I bought nib, 3 used so I’m not precious about getting nib over used but I’ll get nib if it makes more sense at the time. Saying that I’m pretty happy with my collection atm and it’d have to be something that really appealed to let 1 go, probably a new cornerstone Elwin.

Supply & demand .
If turkeys keep buying them at these prices then why would they drop the pricing ?.
Cheers Turkeys. lol

Most hit the nail on the hammer for my case:

- Out of Space. Now, i'll have to deal with a trade or sell for a new game.
- Out of spare cash.
- Responsibilities of higher priority.

Inflation across the board has now priced me out. I had a new child and soon enter the daycare world again. We are lucky to get moderately priced daycare service at $800 month.. Then tack on some cheap after school care for my other two kids of $666 a month right now...
close to $1,500 a month to take care of my kids!!

Then bring on home ownership, yada, yada, yada.... Oh, have to slip in Retirement/College savings, etc... Yeah.... I'm out now.

I don't have that luxury of a pinball/arcade center in my town. Have to drive 2 1/2 hours away for one.

My last two purchases were tough with inflation prices: Wonka LE and TNA CE.

I'm happy with First world problems and hope it stays that way.

Anyone else feeling this pinch of inflation? My pay certainty did not increase enough to cover inflation for the year. At least i'm getting some sort of a raise.

As we all hurtle towards the retirement years, I'm pretty sure other life priorities (most likely health) will force a lot of people out of the hobby. Then, most likely, the prices will start to fall again.

In the near future, a Godzilla LE in mint condition might be going for only £4k. Imagine that.

…hadn’t noticed.

It sucks. Todays NIB prices are hard to stomach and with each price increase more people are being priced out of the market. I have room for 6 machines which for me means either selling or trading a game to get another.

The best pinball related purchase I made this year is a full size loaded virtual pinball machine. It wasn’t cheap, resale value 5 years from now won’t be the best, but I can play hundreds of pinball machines in fairly accurate simulations. New tables are constantly coming out, being updated, and there’s a number of original tables that have been fun to play.

Nothing beats the real deal but at these prices and it being such a pain in the ass to move games in and out of the house the virtual pin has been great. There’s a ton of pins on there that I can play and be fine never buying them. Same goes for playing games I once owned and would like to play again.

Some people are--

Yeah, I think many people think they're "out" until that theme gets announced that they (suddenly?) can't live without. Suddenly the price looks much more easy to swallow!

Never bought NIB and probably never will. I keep to buy used games for better prices.

Like all of us. Nobody wants to pay more. We do so for many reasons. What is it that draws us to consider a new title anyways? We use to all be chasing the same top 10 old 30 year old machines. I hate paying more, dream themes aside. The point is I want the most fun I can buy no matter the theme or title. If we all stopped buying machines prices would come down. Then what? Are we back to 2010 with games lacking toys, innovation and quality? If we can agree on one positive its the fact that demand one way or the other has forced and pushed these company's to do better. When Godzilla was announced I thought what a bad theme. Once I played it omg I knew Stern had nailed it. like many of us I was not a fan of Godzilla as a pinball theme. I was mistaken because of the attention to make this game above par and build valve in the game. Is it a better game then say Toy Story though? Is Toy Story 2500.00 better, heck no but it is a very well built game. I will continue to pay more for innovation and toys. James Bond is a great theme but, what are you giving me for 9600.00? I don't see much value in owning this game at that price. Where are the Toys? Stern can raise prices just to keep below JJP now. Repeat repeat

I'm just done paying over $10K for a pinball period, could afford too but it's the principle of the matter. There could be a theme or a special game come out that tempts me but for now it makes no sense to drop that much coin on pinball.

You are correct!

I remember going to check out Simpsons Pinball Party at Betson Dist. about 19 years ago when it was released. On the way there I told my wife $3400 is stupid expensive! We paid $2000 for a Sweet Twilight Zone a few years ago and we aren’t going to get it so be prepared to leave empty handed.

We were back 3 weeks later picking one up once they got a shipment of machines.

The price hikes suck but I can’t go to my local distributor and buy anything anyway. I can’t give my local distributor 10k for a machine because they don’t have any machines. I’m saving money that way at least.

I would hand over 10k no problem for a Godzilla Pre but they have practically no stock of NIB machines unless I want GNR, Mando, or TS4. I more miss being able to walk in like I used to and they had pretty much all titles in stock, if not, just a matter of weeks to wait. As such, the price hikes have zero affect when I can’t participate in them.

same here. Started with 1 game, then found a deal on 2 others I was looking for. Found another close by to me that was reasonable. Over the decades, games come and go. Make a little here and there. trade. Build up. bought my first NIB in 2009. Then others went up in value. Sell those to buy others, and the train just keeps moving. Big collections don't happen overnight when you don't have a big bank roll. I make about 19k a year. It's time dedication, and willing to fix up, restore and repair games. And travel 5 to 9 hours to pick up a deal. Put in the knowledge and legwork and you can build up any collection over time.

No. There are people like me who don’t buy to invest or trade. I could not care less if a pinball machine appreciates or loses value. I bought my first pinball machine more than 20 years ago and my last this summer. I truly don’t care about the value of any of my pinball machines because I don’t ever plan on selling them.

I bought them because I love the electromechanical aspect, the art and playing pinball.

I invest in stocks and real estate instead.

Just sold my only game 2 hours ago and I’m out on the hobby. Too much greed and the people I meet are mask wearing types. Plus I’m experiencing low T and they’re too heavy now.

lol

For me, it depends on the manufacturers:

JJP - a Harry Potter with a shat ton of mechs and I'll pay $15k for a CE. Practically anything else with TS4 bill of materials, nope.

Stern - Elwin & Gomez killer themes at $13k for an LE, probably. Everything else is a hard no at that price.

Spooky - if they don't succumb to the temptation to overprice, I can see doing $9k for a CE if the title/layout is fun.

Spooky already succumbed just like the rest by raising prices while having inconsistent build and code challenges since R&M. All manufacturers need to deliver better at these price points going forward.

As an operator it’s tough ROI goes down on every price hike.

Customer service is going down and parts availability is getting harder and harder.

Resale is currently strong but that does absolutely nothing to help with growth.

We will see changes on the horizon im sure!

Same box, lights, display just a different theme, again and again.

Over $14k tax and shipping for a Bond LE

Price and quantity hikes with nothing else upgraded.

JJP has learned what happens. People are voting with their wallets after reaching the breaking point.

Stern is about to learn. Might not be on Bond but it’s the beginning of the bigger downturn.

Heading into a recession and Covid demand that got pulled forward is gone now.

Seems like not the most strategic time to expand the factory. Unless you can pass all those costs through. Or maybe they had a sinking fund for the project

I’ll buy on a theme that I really want. Can’t think of many more honestly. That’s it

The Golden Goose is worn out.

Reading about the tax breaks to stay in the area helped as well.

Pricing has me pretty annoyed and discouraged - I'm not paying $10k for any Stern Premium - period. They're close to pricing me out of Pros, and I'm getting sick of literally every mech being stripped out of them every time, too.

Not so much theme, but I'll only be buying truly special games that really click with design, rules, gameplay, and aren't just a run of the mill game. Like GZ for example. And that will require selling one of my current three machines. I'm on a one-in, one-out scenario now.

I'm sure Stern is just crying all the way to the bank about pricing me out.

Anyway, your poll didn't have a great option for me - waiting for used games was the closest fit I guess - but the asking price for used games has turned me off on those too. Might as well buy new, if you can find one. But I'm going to be super selective in getting anything at all.

No doubt. Plus the federal tax cut for businesses in 2018 that has helped onshore jobs and manufacturing all over the US. Stern was a big beneficiary.

Those cuts are set to expire in 2025

I should have said "succumbed again" I suppose. A killer theme and layout at 7/8/9 price points would be attractive compared to Stern's 7/10/13.

Nope, because I am buy and hold guy. I very rarely buy and very rarely get rid of. If something comes along that I really want I'll probably get it regardless of cost. But, I'm extremely content with collection and will probably hold on to what I have for a while longer.

I just bought my first and only NIB (GZ pro, of course). With used prices what they are it just made sense. I doubt I will every buy NIB again. It took a lot for me to let myself buy a $7000 toy. No way I could ever justify another. And also don't see why I would need two. If I ever get bored, I'll trade it. Maybe trade up to a premium something. But I plan to be a one machine at a time guy. Maybe find a cheaper classic for a second machine if I ever feel the urge. If I was rich like some of the collectors here, I'm not sure a few hundred or even a few thousand price hike would mean much though. Like everything, the pinball market is reflecting the deepening economic inequalities of our society. Now that routing is more or less dead and commercial pinball is just a barcade thing, most of the new market is for wealthy collectors. Stern is Mercedes now, not Ford.