Knowledge, history, understanding.
At the present time, people will price themselves right out of the hobby due to shenangins and manufacturer price testing, and prices will stall at least once. Eventually the economy will catch up and the process starts over.
Manufacturers will only expand to the limits of the private market, and contract just as fast. Boutique manufacturers will not survive.
For those "true" collectors this is the time to obtain your holy grail 90s machines.
The future will not just be harder due to price, but quality.
In many cases the people currently writing these comments on this forum will no longer exist and move on.
The life expectancy of a pinball collector right now is three years or less.
Dealers and distributors can vouch for my comments, and the smart ones are already stockpiling as quickly as they can from what is left for the next dry period, but have no reservations selling games at inflated prices to feed the monster either. Anyone that thinks a price for a used game is "set" by a dealer is crazy. You can always negotiate. NIB not so much due to volume of distributors.
"Mom and pop" dealers will be long gone as soon as the winds change, unless they do it on the side or as a personal interest. The tides are already turning due to lack of expertise and extensive costs except for HER games. It is actually laughable at times when a buyer knows more about the game than a dealer.
Flippers always come and go as long as a market exist.
Brokers continue to have reduced sales, unless they have very large inventories and HUGE amounts of warehouse space. Tricky business with a gambling area of risk, because they may sit on inventory for years.
Most owners today will "sell out" long before the 10 year mark, as they will exhaust their income and not be able to afford continual NIB or A-title machines. The next generation of owners will simply not be able to afford the games. Late 40s and 50s won't care, as they trade them in for a new car, because they cannot fix their games. An economy shift accelerates the process.
The overseas market will get harder to pitch due to rising costs. Market share will plummet, sales will dry up for a period. This has already started.
Fewer and fewer owners will "carry the torch" and manage to learn how to repair their machines. Those that do will become the remaining future for the next pinball bust when enthusiasm wanes. It always goes in cycles of around 10-15 years, if it holds that long. When it is no longer "hip" again the hobby fades for a while, but never dies.
This is the reality.
Welcome to the world of pinball collecting.
Sit down, and ride the locomotive or climb into the next mailbag to be collected at the next stop.
Some of us already know.
"Choo choo, all aboard!"
