Buying since 2001. I bought a simpsons pinball party at a auction for $2100 and passed on a lord of the rings for $2300. Cheapest machine I ever got was a data east teenage mutant turtles for $300 and it was working.. The prices right now on some are just insanity. I remember when the prices jumped up previously, but it made sense at the time. This wave of madness does not. A stern premium costs close to what a le was. I also miss buying a Stern that was released a few weeks after it was revealed. We ordered a premium in May and were still waiting. If Stern gets back to hammering out games quickly it would most likely help a little bit. All the flippers are also a problem, but who can blame them.