Answer is simple.....some people are Nuckin Futs.....!!!.............Joey

Because we are filthy rich. Money is like toilet paper to us.

Dream Theme, and that's completely understandable, for me out of all the pins ever made there are only a few themes that I actually like and most of those are 80's OG themes, Aliens is the first one since I started collecting pins that is a must have.

Sounds like the mutterings of a silly person

That was the way it was when I was a test operator. Other than video game or pinball, I often didn't know what it would be until I set it up.

Kind of like opening presents on Christmas morning.

LTG : )

More money than brains.

What is considered big $ to some is small $ to some as well.

Not me, I was priced out a while ago.

I don't think that's true if ur buying a dream theme, while I'm not a huge IM fan in terms of the comics and films, actually I rather enjoyed the first 2 films, point is I can appreciate the theme and I would rather play IM than WOZ even though I'll admit there's a ton more to do in WOZ and the pin is loaded but I hate the theme and that affects gameplay for a lot of people, If the pin is fun and fast then I can look past issues and simple gameplay if the theme is something I love.

For me it seemed like a logical progression
I've been collecting for years, I have classics, I have rare games, I have'A' list games, the next step was to buy a NIB
This was just before buying NIB was a thing, and get in early or miss out

There is something about owning something before anyone else have even played it

But, I have preordered four times, but I won't be doing it again

Many places one cannot try a game before they purchase it because pinball is scarce in the wild and getting to the rare conventions can be difficult for some people who work and make the money to purchase these games. Many games have held their value on resale or actually increase in price in some instances and in others they drop in value...but that can be a wash. So in essence there has not been much risk in purchasing these games and trying them out then reselling if they are not one you like. In some instances, if the game is felt to be a good one, one will actually have to pay more for the game if they wait for a long time to decide or one of the limited editions will be unobtainable.

So does that answer the question or was this topic just an opportunity to complain about the skyrocketing prices of new pins and the difficulty in obtaining those hard to get LE versions of the better pins? Because I would like to complain with all of you.

My dream theme is TBL.

Would I pay 10k for it before seeing it? NO

So I get to finally play one a a show. It was broken most of the time.

It so turned me off to not get to play 3 balls on the damn game before it would break. I no longer want it.

And it is my ultimate dream theme.

Because they ask fellow pinsiders what machines they should buy.

If you have the disposable income and room why not? If you get a game you don't like and don't mind losing a bit of money and putting a bit of time to resell or trade then no harm done. Those that are on a budget need to be more careful.

I will throw under the microscope here. I question how many that ordered BBB actually played the game before dropping the money down for the prepayment? I will admit that I was one that hope Predator would be the same and put down the money. Luckily I was one who only lost a little unlike some of the others out there. When you sit back and look at this hobby and you see some of the great opportunities of BBB, Tron LE and others I could mention it gets tempting to take a risk. On the flip there are a number of LE's owners that took a risk and didn't make out like the others.

My .02, take it for what it's worth.

I don't want to go as far back as woodrails, but what should I get to round out my collection o-din ?

That sucks, I would still have to have it if it was a dream theme and play it at home for a couple months or so before making that call, that's another reason this topic is crap, even if you can play a few games of a new pin is that enough to develop a real grasp of what the game is all about, I've read countless times how someone hates a pin but eventually grows to love it.

Big Daddy. But you can't have mine.

Cuz they can

Easy- It's a title they want and can afford . If it turns out to not be everything they hoped for, it can be sold with minimal loss. Great risk vs. reward ratio as far as hobby toys.

I'm into my mystery castle for 4200. Cannot play it as it needs a shop and right now doing breakshot since it would be faster.

I'm dropping $$ on parts. Never played one. Never saw one in person until STI dropped it off at my house. Why? Because it might be the only way I will ever see one. Because its a reward to myself for flipping games I would have otherwise kept. If I hate it and lose some on it at least I will know what its like. Being able to form a real opinion about something rather than bash it because you played it a handful of times is something a lot of folks never concern themselves with.

All good points!!!

Theme is huge. Pinside reviews are even bigger. Lack of being able to play those pins in the wild or even at a friends house is really hard sometimes, especially juggling work and family.
I've bought several pins without playing them after exhaustive research and it's always worked out for me. Also being able to play pinball arcade has helped.

As a side note. My first pin was Gorgar and I never played it except on pinball arcade. I played the hell out of it and decided I needed one. Never regretted it. Was it big $$ No. But it was huge at the time and I don't regret it.

From a retail side, effective marketing by the main manufacturers perpetuating the fallacy of a "limited edition" high mass produced and low build quality product, combined with the predominant current societal zeitgeist of fear of missing out (FOMO effect).

Large sections of society are now willing to put themselves into massive amounts of debt in order to maintain a "living the dream" ideal rather than past generations who either made spending sacrifices by implementing a savings plan in order to afford said product or simply went without.

Best reason in the world: Because they can.

Because we dont have options to play them. I never played MM, but I knew I would love it. I dont have time nor anywhere to play many of the games on my list, and even when I do go to places that have pinball or expos, people do not tend to bring in A+ titles for people to beat on.

I absolutely LOVE buying games I've never played and do it whenever possible. Much more exciting than buying a game I've played hundreds of times.

Most recently I bought a Whodunnit which I've only played a couple games on before.

As far as "big money," I mean, it's pinball. Lots of games go for big money. And you can buy a NIB Stern sight unseen for $6000, and sell it months later for close to the same amount in most cases, so what exactly is the risk?

A better question would be why play the hell out of game to see if you like it, and THEN buy it? You'll be that much closer to getting sick of it.

Dopamine rush. Thats why Stern's quick release method works so well. Once our bodies are flooded with dopamine, it's hard to resist

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/814649_2

Just a few of the reasons...

1 ) "I want to be cool with my friends for bragging rights."
2 ) "This might make money on routes." (if the person is an operator/owner which is common today versus the "pure" operator in the past, which was still very valid, but getting tougher today)
3 ) "This is absolutely a good investment for the future." (although every single investment market is a better choice)
4 ) "I remember seeing this game in my youth, and other people seemed to really like it." (this never makes for a good discussion)
5 ) "This is MY holy grail theme, I MUST buy one!" (applies to everyone)
6 ) "If it has Star Wars, TAF, Batman (or any other popular theme) in the title, clearly it must be good." (common to new collectors)
7 ) "I need this game to complete my X manufacturer system collection." (common with older collectors)
8 ) "It will fit well in theme with my other preference of games." (common with new and old collectors)
9 ) "It is RARE, therefore valuable." (Common with new owners)
10 ) "Any game that is HUO must be in superb condition." (Even though it was never inspected, new collectors)
11 ) "I want to open something brand new, even though I will ignore the fact the game was test played at the factory." (another common oversight, as it is not a car)
12 ) "I trust that x manufacturer has fixed their quality control problems, but this is absolutely their last chance." (this one should be obvious on PinSide now, it is constant)
13 ) "Oohh, so SHINY!" (Applies to many owners and collectors)
14 ) "I like the feeling of instant gratification even though pre-ordering a machine may result in not receiving the game for over 2 years." (Never understand why people do not see the lack of logic)
15 ) "I need to fill this last spot in my game room, it does not look right." (Common to new owners)
16 ) "Everybody else has one, so I must have the cookie cutter collection to make myself fit in." (Common to new owners)
17 ) "Collector Fear" of a new title (which is a completely artificial marketing of a manufacturer). If you want the game, you can always find one UNLESS it is a prototype, very rare game, or special sample of game. LEs do not count.
18 ) "I don't want to do maintenance or have problems with my machine." (False belief, as this happens with new and old games alike no matter how well restored)

BONUS:
"I know right now, if I don't like it, I can clearly can sell it without any significant monetary loss as long as it less than 100 plays." (since I last updated the code or replaced the batteries)

If course, these comments can be used for purchase justification after their "high times" wear off as well.
Note to all, the "magic rush" wears off quicker the more games you own or have owned.

At that point, every person go in one of three directions:

1 ) They sell out, and move on to the next fad including motorcycles, ATVs, boats, cars, or water skis. (Usually within the first 5 years)
2 ) They go broke, and still sell out. (Usually in less than 5 years for those that seriously overstep their boundaries)
3 ) They move into being a "long term collector" and focus on other aspects of the hobby and industry and gain temperance. Sometimes this results in "dormant" phases, or "thinning the herd". (This results generally after owners have been in the hobby for more than 10 years, but rarely less than 5)

When a person says they can never find a game example to play of any title made in the last 25 years, this is a bit difficult to understand.
This is not 1990.
Here is why.
If an actual real game is not available, you do not have access to the many collectors or friends in the world, live under a rock, deserted island, or far away land that does not believe in pinball, do not have access to a computer or gaming system, or even just watching a Youtube video, this seems unlikely. Most of the titles made have at least some sort of simulation provided to at least sample the gameplay, even if it is not entirely accurate.

I am about to upload the first gameplay video of Joust (Bally, 1969) because there is no existing source on the internet including PAPA, just to help other collectors with knowledge.

Keep Flipping.

That's justification, once you get the dopamine rush!

fear of missing out

As LE's sometimes are great machines you 'should' have in a collection and you don't want to miss the boat..

OMG I Wish!
Mike

Going for a long distance endurance run or being with your cherished significant other does the same effect.

Well, you can't take it with you to (insert your notion of post-death here), so if you can still afford to eat and keep your kids in school or whatever then why not? Personally I'm hanging out for AFMr, but I've actually played AFM so maybe that counts me out of this discussion... either way, is AFMr here yet..?

I was lucky enough to have a flipperless "Spot Pool" since birth. When I was 14 years old, in 1966, I added my first flippered game. Much later in life I bought a WOZ and am now awaiting delivery of GB which would have ended my collection mostly due to
space constraints. Now they come out with Batman '66, one of my favorite shows of my youth. I don't need to play it to want it.

My thoughts exactly! +1

Because the "Bro do you even..." and Todd Tuckey videos are enough for me to know which games I would like. Thanks dudes.

Because Bowen made a tutorial on it...!

I seriously think this thread is a pretty big indicator of many of the things wrong with people in the hobby. Lots of weird anger, misunderstanding, jealousy, and pettiness on display.

The idea that someone who buys a game they are unfamiliar with "has more money than brains" or is doing it "for bragging rights."

The entire point of the pinball hobby is to...duh...BUY PINBALL MACHINES. That's it. It's literally THE ENTIRE POINT of the hobby.

If you aren't buying pinball machines and/or playing pinball machines, you are doing it wrong.

The idea that you are supposed to have played a game X number of times before you buy it, or only buy games you "like" is completely foreign to me. I don't really understand the vitrol I'm seeing in this thread. There's plenty of ways to tackle this hobby, and if people want to buy games they haven't played before, why shit on that? They aren't richer than you or stupider than you, just like you aren't somehow more noble, smarter, frugal, or poorer if you'll only buy a game you've played 5,000 times.

Honestly one of the weirder threads I've seen here, and that's saying something.

This isn't even the questions that needs to be asked.

The real questions should be: "Why do people pay ANY $ AT ALL for games that they have played but are not finished yet?"

Like, I'm going to agree to drop 8K on a game while the programmers are still working the bugs out on the game. ZEF for life!

"Big money" is all relative. It's really not a a big financial risk anyway. If you don't like a game you can sell it.

I think the real question is:

"Why are so many people focused on how other people spend their own money?"

Because it doesn't matter what you pay for it, the risk is the difference between what you paid for it and what you can sell it for. If I lay out $6k for a machine I've never played and can sell it for $6k if I don't like it - what was the loss?

Precisely.

But I guess you have more money than brains or are some kind of sociopath.

Why do people pay big $ for games they have not played?

... is it like dating?

Actually, I went back and read the choices......All of the Above?, Maybe?

and I cant play with my insurance, stocks, investments, wife, baseball cards, etc...

No need to state this, it's common sense.

This is a pinball forum and it's fine to discuss how people spend their $ on pinball.

Would you buy a new limited edition TV for 5K if it had some programing bugs to work out or if the software that allowed you to recall the previous channel didn't quite work properly? Just saying... If there are glaring issues with a game, it's going to be a hard sell. Only exception in the world seems to be people that buy pins. Some games sell out before the play field is designed or the artwork is released. Setting aside gameplay and other potential problems.

Just answering the OP's question. Don't shoot the messenger!

One of the biggest issues is that people that are not into pinball but want to own one will typically buy a game from eBay or CL or a distributor. There are just very few places for the average American to play these days (this is changing in larger cities though). Newbies just don't know any better than to click on the eBay buy it now button, if it's a game they remember playing, regardless of the price. The average American wants instant gratification and that could generally answer the vast majority of reasons asked about in this thread.

Wasn't shooting anyone. I read some implied criticism of those who do buy new machines in your question, I am probably just oversensitive to it given the negativity that goes on in some threads. I apologize.

As for why I buy new pins, and pins with incomplete code, I like the new pin experience and am willing to go through the code growing pains. I like getting new versions of the code, seeing what changed, I don't mind the journey. Sometimes I get burnt out on it, bought both Metallica and TWD after code was solid, but I take a chance every now and then.

As for why people put up with it from pinball and not a TV, a pinball machine is not a TV. I find the pins plenty of fun even on early code. A TV that just doesn't work is a broken TV.

As for instant gratification, I suppose. Life is short, and pins generally hold their value pretty well so risk of taking a bath is pretty low, so why not?