Quoted from pinballaddicted:I agree with you, problem is that in Australia and NZ there are no where near enough second hand machines to go round so they are worth a fortune. NIB machines are sold out months before the containers arrive. People have put deposits down for AFMr in March and no delivery date yet. We need as many NIB or second hand machines to come in to this country as possible to help reduce price pressure. So yes, we will defend every manufacturer. The more the better. Second hand machines (newer titles and old classics)that are listed on our local forum are usually sold in less than 12 hours.
I totally get where your coming from and what your trying to say, the part I disagree with is you cannot blindly defend any manufacturer if their practices are becoming questionable and having a negative in pact on pinball sales, it is insane and will only increase your lack of supply and pricing woes.
Look at it this way, if Stern continue to rise prices and reduce features leaving buyers on the fence or backing out all together (look at SW as a recent example of this) how many NIB games do you think your fellow pinheads will buy? Compared to say if Stern pack their games with features and get a grip of their quality control offering every pinhead better value for money and a product that is hard to resist? The later reaps better rewards for Stern with more sales, which would in turn bring more games to you in Australia.