Rockwall, TX
Quoted from Charlemagne1987:I posed this question about a year ago in regards to my Rocky. I’d been hearing for years that there were less than 100 fully operational Rockys out there, but there’s no way of quantifying that. Someone posted a good equation about how to determine the probability of scarcity based on the age of the game, production run, etc. but I can’t recall it exactly. You can easily find it on my thread “Question about the rarity of Rocky”. There have been recent comments on it so it should be fairly easy to find.
Quoted from Scottflips:Charlemagne1987 Thanks for commenting. It’s weird how a rare, desirable pinball game doesn’t seem to get the same love as a rare Austin-Healey or Corvette. If there were only 1% or 10% of one of those car models remaining, it would drive up prices. That doesn’t seem to happen in pinball. I wonder why?
I understand there’s no way to firmly calculate a number of games still in existence. Value is also tricky. I have no great interest in Rocky, so I’d be unlikely to pay big bucks. On the other hand, I’d probably pay anyone’s asking price for games on my wishlist. For some reason, a lot of collectors disagree — they’ll bargain just to knock $50 off the seller’s asking price, as though that amount makes all the difference.
I’ll take a bargain when I can get it, but there’s never been a time I’ve added a game and worried about spending a few bucks more for a good example.
Some of the California prices are shocking, for sure. After all, most of the titles are available elsewhere. None of the Banning games are extra-special, just well-marketed. But what makes some of us scratch our heads at high prices makes others happy to own a desired game.
I penned a very detailed explanation of rarity as it applies to pinball in that thread. It is definitely worth a read.
Ultimately, an item is worth what someone will pay. I own a business in which this has never been truer. I see it all the time: trash can sometimes get sold easily at a high price, and desirable items occasionally fall by the wayside. Marketing, knowledge, usefulness of the product, re-selling, and hype all contribute.
