I think this is a very valid point and will be a large contributing factor to prices settling, if they are ever going to. Seems like most people in the hobby buy any and every pin they can get their hands on at first, but soon realize they have limited space, so each pin has to be a valuable commodity. Once said space is filled with the pins they know they want and will love for a long time, that circulation cuts down drastically.

Another factor that I think might play a role is that, right now, a lot of people in their 30s are getting into the hobby, largely I would think due to this: people in their 30s now were the perfect age for the arcade/pinball golden age, and these people are finally at a point in their careers where life is stable enough to have a hobby you can sink thousands of dollars into. It will be interesting to see what happens when these collectors start ironing out their collections as well, and see what the generation behind them does.

I'm 29 and kind of rode the last little wave of the golden age of arcade/pinball, was younger than a teenager, but old enough to still really get into it through the late 1980s to late 1990s. However, the people 10 years younger than me and below, it will be really interesting to see if they find their way to the hobby in droves like my generation and the generation ahead of me have. If they don't, and by that time most collectors are pretty settled in their collection, then I could easily see prices leveling out significantly.

Very true. Even though I grew up more with DMDs and probably prefer when it comes right down to it, I'm starting to really get into System 11s myself recently. Some of them are a bit gouged price-wise, but most are relatively reasonable ($1500 or below depending on title). To me, I'd rather pay a little less and get a machine that p/f wise is everything a DMD is, just without the animated display screen that seems to push the price up another $700-$1500.

One could only hope! I, personally, like having machines from the era that I was a kid playing them and doubt I will ever buy a NIB on newer machine unless it was a really, really good deal. That would be good news for me if technology helped off set the pricing; however, I'm sure there are a lot of people that think the same way as me. I've got a guy coming to buy my Count-Down today who had a chance to buy some DMDs at a good price, but wanted this one because it was of the era he grew up with.

Totally agree here -- most of these torso busts look horrid too. The cartoonish quality for Family Guy or a game like that works, but on X-Men or Avengers, looks plain ridiculous and cheap.