Yet going in I knew I would not Lose any money either way which Surprise, I didn’t. Not sure why my buying decisions matter to the topic. Did I ask you for a loan? Lol. Enjoy pinball it shouldn’t be so complicated.

Most times? Crappola

So because u can recoup most of ur money its fine to spend more than u really want to? The OG post never even mentioned resale so not sure what the point of that was, theres a cap some people have with certain items and eventually it becomes unworthy of the investment. I like pinball but 9K for a Stern Pro regardless of resale has me out of the game.

Yep, just sold my JP w/300 plays for $6000.

What?

Huh?

Sorry its hard to hear with the constant drone of Wahhhhhh "life is unfair" and "what about my needs" that goes on 24 hours a day in this country now.

Yeah most people just throw a pinball machine away when they are done with it. Makes total sense resale of ownership has no value. Umph

No reference to anyone.

Stop making me post in this thread

I haven't bought a pinball machine since 2007 because prices were getting "out of control". I currently have MB, T2, AFM, IJ, and TZ and remain in the hobby. You don't have to keep buying new machines to remain in the hobby, but yeah I get it, prices for a new machine are ridiculous. I can easily afford new machines (not trying to brag, just trying to put it in perspective), but would never pay the current prices.

Wow some people just arent getting it. There are those who had a tough time buying a used machine let alone a nib pro. Now they cant afford neither. Are people entitled to whatever they want? Absolutely not. But ya dont have to be dicks and say pay more, quit whining. Or, the resale will be higher..well if u cant buy it there is no resale. Op is just venting. Let him vent, say i feel ya man and move on.

I never said that. I was eluding to the fact that just because u can recoup ur money with a reasonable loss even doesn't mean there isn't a point where it becomes overpriced.

Nice try.

People have been saying this since Stern’s went from $3700 to $4000. Seems like for every person who drops out, 100 more enter.

You have 8 games. You could never buy another game and still be “in the hobby”. I’m sure all your games have risen in value. Sell 1 if you want a new one...I did that recently and ended up with a new game to play & a few extra bucks in my pocket as well.

The guy owns 8 games... what are people not getting?

Id like to own a jet but they are expensive so I dont have one. thats life.

Take a chill pill.
The guys over on Jetside are complaining that jets are getting too expensive as well.

What a shame if they’re pushed out of the jet hobby!

Here we have the use of the airgument.

Nobody has answered the question about "what is the official price increase" yet. I am curious about that also.

You realize that you're doing the exact same thing, don't you? You're just complaining about a different topic. "Waaahhhh, people are complaining about something that I don't think they should complain about! Waaaah"

You're such a hypocrite, it blows my mind.

I hate all of you!

The way I see it, we printed 9 trillion USD back in 2020 (or 22% of all our currency in one year) hence diluting the value of the US dollar, Stern apparently is operating at full capacity and there are part shortages. So...what would you expect them to do? I'd honestly be completely shocked if they didn't raise prices. After 2020 our dollar simply doesn't buy as much anymore, it is what it is.

Really?

I would think owning 8 games and complaining you are somehow "priced out of the hobby" would qualify as more hypocritical but thats just me I guess.

Many years ago I spend a few thousand dollars on Nintendo games and consoles but I only got a few hundred dollars in return when I decided to sell all of them. At that point I decided to buy more pinball machines because I love playing pinball machines and pinball machines are holding up their value very well. I don’t need to buy NIB to enjoy this hobby but I reached to a point if I wanted another pinball machine I need to sell one first.

I still haven’t buy any NIB yet but I am seriously consider to buy my 1st NIB and it is CCR (Classic) so you can blame on me to push the Pinball’s price up in general.

Anyone got a link to the source that says the price increase is official, everything I've been able to fine is speculation, I just wanna read the particulars. Thank you, got a nib game on order, a November build.

I play very little but spend 90% of my hobby time restoring.

You're really good at fixing up machines. Fuck NIB unless it's something you really must own (like bttf for me). Find joys elsewhere in the hobby vs buying new such as the rewarding feeling of making a worn game look new again. Granted, i understand this isn't exactly cheap anymore either, but it's still a good way to enjoy the hobby

I would buy a ps5 if I could find one.

Right?

The bigger question for me is if MSRP goes up by $600 and $1000, does the delivered price go up by the same amount? Or do they keep some wiggle room to drop prices based on overall demand or demand for specific titles?

For instance does say a LZ Pro MSRP go up $600, but distributors will sell one delivered for $200 more than the current price, not $600?

It might not just be you, but you seem to be the only one who's carrying on about it.

I got into the Hobby nice and easy buying an Alien Poker for $350. I'd be priced out if I was looking to get started, but i've sort of traded my way up to where I am now. For me it's been a sell this and if I toss in another $500 I can have that kinda deal the last 10 years.

There are plenty, and I mean plenty of inexpensive pinballs. No need for anyone to get out of the hobby because of the price of new games.

People are in the hobby for lots of different reasons. Some people never own a pin and just play on location and in tournaments, others just buy to fix up and sell, etc. I've owned pins for over 20 years, been seriously into it for about the last 10 and have tried lots of different approaches.

Where I am at now is I like buying NIB, going on the code journey and getting to see the new shiny. Every time prices increase it decreases my enjoyment of that.

Will I quit the hobby? Not sure. But if the thing I enjoy most about it goes away or becomes stupid to me then it is a distinct possibility.

What is wrong with someone complaining about the price increase? How many people here can afford going out to dinner with a family member (wife, date, best friend, etc). Even at a small mom and pop place maybe $60 + tip for the two of you with a drink for a standard place, maybe $100 + tip for something a little nicer. Now most on here don't see that as breaking the bank, we can afford it. So now the restaurant charges you $200 and $300 for the same meal at each of those two places. I am guessing all of us can afford that as well. Would you complain, or be like "I have the cash, who cares"? Sure we can afford it, sure we don't need to go out to eat, but that doesn't mean that just because we have the money for a luxury item that we shouldn't care.

Foodgument!!!

Restaurants have endless options & competition. Don’t like the prices somewhere, you can easily eat somewhere/something else.

Pinball is niche and unnecessary…ya want it, pay the going rate.

For those of you who feel that NIB pricing is getting to high, DON'T buy them. Plenty of options in the used market from classic B/W titles from 90's to classic Bally and Stern SS games which won't depreciate if you buy smart.

And don't even get me started on my love of EM games, there are plenty and still at great prices.

This may be an unpopular opinion, but as long as NIB games are being flipped for higher than MSRP I think it puts Stern in a position where they would be foolish to not raise prices. If people don't buy, the prices will be adjusted in some way. I hate to hear anyone leaving the hobby because of it though. As Tom mentioned above, there are a ton of great games out there for fair prices (usually). Hopefully the secondary market will be affordable for people. The more pins in homes, the better the hobby will be. Stern being profitable is a good thing, obviously people leaving the hobby isn't.

We can complain and counter complain (is that a thing?) but pin prices are pushing me more and more into things like Fortnite. That costs fractions of pennies on the dollar over pinball. Plus it’s interactive and achievements/wins mean something. There is no level up in pinball.

AND i can easily play them w/my kids and/or friends.

Stern like many companies are struggling to find workers. It's tough when you are competing againts the government giving away money to sit at home.

Exactly, People think the price increase is due to only the shortages of parts but also theDemand for labor has went up drastically. I’m sure Stern is losing employees right and left from other companies so they either lose them or pay more

Pinball has gotten so expensive we no longer use the cargument, now it’s the jetgument

Lol, just sold my Earthshaker for $4400.

I sold my Taxi for 4. It's crazy. I'm already in the hobby so it's basically just horse trading, who cares if they cost more if you can sell your old horse for more as well, but getting started seems like a growing hurdle.

I love Taxi too much to sell it. But wish I had a nicer one!

Agreed.

JJP showed everyone that people are more than willing to pay more than 10k for games.

Elvis sure love to whine about whiners.

He should take the advice of his username.

All of the ops games have increased in value at a faster rate than price increases from Stern. All games have gone up and some a lot more than others. You could probably unload the world cup soccer to cover 30-40% of a medieval madness, when in the last 20 years was that possible? Metallica and the others would sell nice too. You could probably sell Deadpool for at least what you paid if you bought it new in box. If all of the ops games are keepers then just hunt for deals and let them go at a profit. You don't have to get out of the hobby, you just have to juggle the money right. I'm not bragging at all but my collection is probably worth about $120,000 and another 10k in arcades, I didn't put any disposable income into it. You can get whatever you want of you do it right.