Quoted from Vino:

It’s a perfect storm for speculators who don’t have interest in the hobby long term. We see it everyday and it does get old.
Do other aspects of hobby interest you?
Ive always wanted to try a partial restore but just haven’t made the commitment to it yet.

Quoted from elcolonel:

$9000 grand?

Quoted from usandthem:

Stern BTTF FOMO will be like you've never seen it before. Everyone (including myself) and their grandmother will want it. I've been in the hobby 12 years, and it will most likely be my first NIB (if I can get one).

Quoted from phishrace:

Boy do I have good news for you. Turns out owning games isn't a requirement of the hobby. In fact, for the first 75 years or so of the hobby, virtually no one owned games other than operators.
Here's some more good news: There are hundreds of games on location near you. Sell all your games and use the money to play on location. Problem solved!
Opinions like yours (have to own games to participate in the hobby) reflect badly on the collector community. Are you seriously saying you can't enjoy pinball unless you own one? If yes, I feel sorry for you.

Quoted from Insanity199:

I definitely agree that the price increases are getting out of hand. On top of that, you then have people reselling them at even higher prices with many people willing to pay. Sooner or later it will hit a price point where demand will drop. However, as I have heard from many long time pinsiders, this has been said over and over again for the better part of a decade. Yet, prices keep increasing. It is very similar to the wakeboard/wakesurf boats - price increases are crazy. I have a 2013 Nautique G23 that I can sell today for close to what I paid for it since new ones are twice what they were just 8 years ago. INSANE!
Further complicating things, I believe many have expectations that they will make money off of pinball and that they are investments. What keeps me grounded is that I came back into pinball 5 years ago "knowing" that I would lose some money on every machine. I am buying them so I can play and enjoy them in my home environment. If I play 1000 games on a machine and "lose" 1K or so on it, I have already expected that. It was the cost of enjoying it for however long I had the machine.
Much to my surprise, over 5 years, I really haven't lost money due to the ever increasing prices. I wasn't expecting to break even or make money, but that is what the market is dictating. Sooner or later, that won't be the case and I will be OK with it. However, those that are buying at crazy inflated prices, that is a completely other story. There is a Pirates LE for sale near me for 21.5K! Another one in the market for 27K. For an LE, not a CE. I have to imagine that if they sell at that value, when rational thought re-enters the picture, a lot of money will be lost. Time will tell.