If you're seriously wanting to buy it you better jump on it before the next guy does.

It's seems to be in this game you have to beat the others wanting the same thing as you to the deal before that deal is over and your left wondering why did I take so long to make a decision.

Each minute you hesitate is the only minute the next guy needs to steal it right out from under, so don't wait too long or it WILL be gone.

You said "them". Private seller or retailer ?

I'd take $1195 in cash and show them $1050 of it. Guaranteed you'll walk out with it.

$1200 for a F14 - no thank you. With patience, you can easily find that for $900-$1000.

Now if you REALLY want that game and that is "the one" for you, pop $1200 if $1050 doesn't do it and take it home. Only you can decide what it is REALLY worth to you. Try $1050 first, that way the other $150 is for fixing things up/toying around/the next pin (emphasis on the last option!!!) .

The flaw with this line of reasoning is that the last buyer, now Seller, probably did just that (spent the other $150) when he bought the pin and they were selling in the 800-900 range. So, now a couple years later he has $1150 into the pin. Ergo, his adjusted cost basis has risen with time, and hence the next purchaser is going to be looking at a different range.

That's just the way it is.

If you love the game and it's in beautiful condition and all shopped out, I say go for it. I missed out on a spectacular NGG because I "had to think about it" for a bit. Emailed the guy the next day and it was gone.

Pretty much says it all.

I'd be buying it since it sounds like you love it. Seems this one's slowly climbing lately.

Don't buy a F-14 for that price. You can wait for a better priced pin.

A few bucks is nothing compared to the joy of bringing home a game you truly love. I've said it before and I'll say it again, we're all a bunch of F-ing bankers sometimes. Unless you are in ths hobby to turn a profit,who cares if you overpay on occasion for a pin you plan to keep.

My advice: Get the game, smile, be happy, play yr ass off. If it's nearby, in good condition and an easy deal for you, you'll never give that money a second thought...I promise you.

You still here? Stop reading and go buy that pin...

I am with Drano on this....If you like it and it's close....GET IT.

+1...
As adults we so often forget the simple bliss we cherished as kids. Getting that "one" toy from the Christmas catalog, eating your all time favorite meal, first love, the Ice Cream Man... You get the picture.
If it makes you happy get it! Especially if it a nice example of an F-14.
$100+/- isn't going to deter me from getting a machine I want.
F- the penny pinchers!

I would say if it is close by an extra $100 is being saved in time and gas anyway. I have noted that the prices estimates on here seem slightly lower than prices on forums or classifieds from owners.

Well said... I love its speed. If the playfield is good then get it. Looks great with LEDs. Post pics.

If it is the game you want, it will be way cheaper than shipping yourself one from somewhere else. If you can wait for it, and be okay with not getting it for a while, then you can get them cheaper. There was a good looking one at the MGC for $795 I believe.

Here's my suggestion -- make a list of a bunch of pins that you like and want to own. Then, come up with prices that you think are reasonable for *you* to pay for them. Then, put this list aside, and little by little when stuff comes up for sale, check it against your list and then go grab it.

I did this when I first really seriously started collecting in 2004 or so, and although sometimes I would go months between purchases, I'm two pinball machines from completing the list I made back then, and I think that I bought nearly everything far under the price that the market was generally getting for the titles I was after.

If you go in HAVING to buy a pin RIGHT NOW, you're going to end up paying a lot more than you will if you are going to "pick up a pin when the right one comes along."

Having said all that, the top games on my list were at higher prices than the ones further down. That's because I knew that I wanted them, and it would be a LOT more likely to find a $1200 JP than it would be to find a $750 HUO condition JP. But then again, sometimes you just luck out

Got my F-14 for $700 at an estate sale and love it, love the light show, especially with LED's and for it's time the sound is great. I'd say if you got the dough, go for it, yeah one may pop up cheaper next week, but that is always gonna be the case, and if you keep waiting for that "deal" you might save a few bucks, but you are missing out on the NOW. Live in the now grasshopper.

Well??

I'm glad someone else feels this way too. I know I've overpaid for a couple pins because, well, I just wanted them NOW. ....and I don't regret it one bit.

OFF TOPIC: Because I'm trying to catch up from being away from the forum for about a week, I'll be bumping week old threads. You're welcome.

A couple hundred bucks shouldn't be a deciding factor in getting or not getting a pinball machine.

...Especially true if you're from the pin wasteland.

If you want it, buy it. Sometimes you pay a little more, sometimes a little less, it all works out, but results in you playing NOW, rather than some who wait forever for deals to happen at 5-10% less.

F14 is a blast, first machine I bought, one I played the hell out of it when it came out, and it's never leaving.