I'm perhaps a bit on the cusp...but "the hobby" can mean anything, so I doubt I'll ever be totally out of pinball. However, over the past few years my interest level and priorities have definitely changed. Due to the GB debacle, Dutch situation, and the general state of fuckery & pricing in the new sector of pinball, I'm absolutely done with the NIB side of the hobby. I used to be a regular NIB buyer...but they have alienated me from being a customer of their product.

But that's fine, I have a collection of older games that I enjoy...but honestly, I don't really play them that much anymore...I've gotten more and more back into video games (Retro and Switch), and that's how I've been spending my nerdy free time. The video game scene has also slapped me upside the head with some perspective on what we get for our money. Stern is selling plastic toppers with some lights for $500....you can get a PS4 Pro for $400, a Switch for $300. These new pins cost $5000-9000....I'm playing ARMS right now, which is absolutely incredible and insanely fun, social and addicting...it was $60. Pinball = WTF.

So, I don't really play my pins that much...I should prob just sell them, right? Honestly - if I had any idea what to do with the room where I keep my pins - I probably would! So, in the meantime, I'm gonna be one of those hobbyists who likes pinball but isn't quite as obsessed as I used to be....and I think the catalyst for my sell-off will be when I have kids. I'll need the room (and money) when a baby enters the picture, and I'm totally fine with that and looking forward to it. I don't see myself as ever being pin-less....but I bet I could easily sell 10 and not lose any sleep.

I could also see myself disconnecting from Pinside again, as well....I can see why it's a reason in the poll. It's mostly just a lot of bickering and sycophant posting these days...just another time suck. I have met some great friends in this hobby....and honestly almost none of them are currently on Pinside. We still have our real life friendships...so, I don't really need this as a "pinball social outlet".

I get why the machines themselves cost so much... toppers tho are a total cash grab and marked up insanely - cuz people will pay for them, so why not? They're just taking advantage of mod crazy newbs. I stopped buying new Sterns before they started the topper stuff....so, I was never tempted.

Even the "cheap" games are $2000-4000 these days...which, ya know....isn't cheap!

I just got Splatoon 2 for $60.

"Cheap" pinball is still expensive to most people.

Wasn't arguing...but thankfully you won't have to suffer through your incorrect perceptions of my conversations much longer.

That's not going to help your bones and just lead you to cardiovascular problems. Just take a calcium supplement or eat more dark leafy greens. Milk curing bone probs is a myth.

Share it with the sycophants & "Positivity or DIE" crowd who will be the only ones left here.

My problem with people who say Pinside is just "negativity", is that it discounts opinions as being nothing but something from curmudgeons to be shrugged off, rather than valid opinions based on experience.

My take was more that prices don't HAVE to increase because of LCDs...if they did, well...that's cuz as customers we're here for the fleecing. Is Aero Pro more than GB Pro?

As far as prices go - they're too high for me in terms of what you get. Poor build quality, poor QC, poor designs, unfinished/buggy code...I wouldn't pay for that even if the prices were lower. Just on principal, it's shameful what they release, especially considering the asking price. There needs to be a major shift in product development and how things leave the factory for me to ever consider another pinball machine.