Quoted from too-many-pins:Logic would tell me an exceptionally nice original should be worth something in the $1200 to $1400 range (or more) yet it is rare to find someone wanting to pay $900 for a nice original?
I think Strikes and Spares is a bad example of this "phenomena" . I've seen a lot of pristine original ones. They aren't that hard to come by. I think that is what causes this title to max out in the $1K range in excellent original condition. Moreover, it's one of those early solid states that plays a lot like an EM ... it has that going against it (to the younger collectors at least ... I love the "seems like an EM, but isn't" feel that those early Ballys have despite being 44).
Also, people are told to think that everything has to be replaced with stuff like new boards, LED displays, etc. since Bally's are "unreliable" due to battery corrosion. The thing is that if the seller (assuming they're asking top buck) addresses the electronics (like they should), the original system is as reliable as any aftermarket system out there. That is not true, but people seem to think that way. Replacing all of the electrolytic caps, the rectifiers, and insuring battery acid never returns (if it had in the first place) will make an original Bally/Stern system fairly bulletproof.
Finally, people get spoiled by looking at new pins as well as pins with CPR playfields installed. If you look at an S&S with a CPR playfield right next to a clean original, things like the natural yellowing of PF lacquer stand out ... many people dislike that.
Now, having said all of that, an original Strikes and Spares, over the long haul, is going to be worth a heck of a lot more than a CPRed S&S with new electronics. The problem is that you'll have to hold onto it for a while . The hobby seems to be in a "don't care" mode when it comes to originality. Like anything else, that will more than likely change. I personally don't care much about original so long as the repro looks virtually identical. However, I do feel myself getting more and more fussy about that as the years march on .