Quoted from SantaEatsCheese:

I cannot afford to do pinball the way some of you guys do. A NIB Stern pro isn't $6500, its $700 and a 2nd hand Stern Pro isn't $5800, it's $300. If you just keep buying pins and adding them to your collection, it gets really expensive really fast. I have a ton into my pins, but I rotate them frequently. If you buy a NIB Godzilla for $6500, you could sell it for $5800 (probably more) when you get tired of it. $700 for a new pin for a year isn't bad. When you move away from NIB to buying second hand and get a decent discount for it, the cost of owning a pin goes down to $200 or $300 for newer pins. After a certain age, they actually start to appreciate in value. If you look at games as temporary, the cost basis for this hobby goes way down. I've gone through about 25 pins in my 3 years in this hobby and so far only 1 pin is bolted to the floor, because STTNG is both amazing and HEAVY! It can leave the basement after my wake. Yes I have capital tied up in them but they can leave the basement on a week's notice and all for more than I paid for them now.