Answered your own question.

Same price as other pins, though mostly sold to operators.

The majority were routed and earned operators a lot of money. Find one in good shape, or restored, that is the hard part.

And now both have been remade. Prior to that, beater MM's were goting for $10K+. Way more than Addams at that time. Addams likely won't be remade, so it will remain pricey.

LTG : )

Likely not to be remade and very fond memories of it to those with a little extra money to spend while pinball shoppin’

Supply and demand. It’s a great game and people still want it.

It is the game everyone remembers from the 90s, even non pinheads. When normal people come to my game room, most everyone recognizes Addams family and the other pins: not at all. People often say they played it at the 7-11 or the college rec room etc. I think it’s that wide recognition that helps make it iconic and valued.

I never have understood its popularity. Just seems, meh, to me. Fine and all, but not anything that speaks to me. I never played it on location when it was new, or any other pinball machine for that matter in the 90s. No nostalgia here...sounds like that's all there is to it.

I don't think they ever produced an "Adam's Family" pin, but "The Addams Family" is quite a nostalgic theme which drives up the price.

Nostalgia is powerful, and nearly everyone recognizes the theme. Raul Julia doing callouts sure helped, and it has great toys that are well integrated and create a great gimmick.

Supply and demand. If newbies want one, they have to pay up

Hasn't there been "rumors" of another TAF after this last theatrical release?

None that are accurate.

LTG : )

Nostalgia is not all there is to it. It’s a great game and it’s special super power is that a huge swath of people can play and enjoy it. It’s mightily accessible, normal people find it fun. Exactly why, I could speculate, but I just know this is true from years of observation. It had a lot to do with the callouts, feedback, fairly simple to grasp rules. It’s fine if you don’t like it (don’t care), but it’s certainly not just nostalgia.

It was the first Pin we bought because my wife had the nostalgia and stories. TOM and Cyclone were 2 and 3 because of my nostalgia and fond memories. 5 years later, I have bought and sold a dozen pins but TOM, Cyclone and TAF remain in the starting line up. Great pins hold up. I was at a barcade this week and they had every game you’d want to play 1- all the new pins from JJ, Stern and AP as well as a new CJ. I spent my entire 90 mins playing Cirqus Voltaire. Great pins hold up.

I love that game. It's like every circus ever, but with high voltage and other shenanigans.

It’s just fun to play.

I lived in Chicago in 1993 and they were in every arcade...by early '95 the Gold versions were around, too. I had a pinball flyer where I could buy a new-in-box regular version a little over $2K but that was a lot of money. It's an awesome game. As for the ratings....they don't mean everything, especially as it relates to dollars. Just about any new release starts out near the top because of the new factor then it fades. Let's see how the new Stern rates 30 years from now.

Nothing more than sheer nostalgia. Of course it will be remade eventually--rights permitting--and then every one who owns an overpriced machine will clutch their pearls

I wouldn’t hold my breathe.

G-R-E-E-D

When it was new, everyone at the college rec center was drawn to it. You’d have up to ten people watch you playing a game. Raul Julia went all out on his call-outs, Cousin It mumbling at you, and the light and sound show when you got Showtime multiball. I can’t recall any other pin getting quite a reaction out of everyone in the room, before or since.

I think the age group and timing are a factor. People watched Addams family TV as children, then the movie and pinball came out when they were at college. Game is hugely popular for people in that age bracket. In comparison the TZ TV series came out a lot earlier and although an equally good Pat Lawlor pinball it didnt quite resonate as well with the teen and college crowd in the 90s and people under the age of 50-55 now.
AFM and MM came out a little later in the 90s, when pinball was on the wane.

Maybe but not with Raul Julia or Christopher Lloyd in it/on it

Top five pin of all time. Not necessarily in design or quality, although it certainly holds its own, but certainly in terms of its effect on pinball.

I’m lucky enough to have one at an arcade a few blocks from my office. I’ll have a beer or two and spend an hour with this machine like old times. But for the money, I’d rather have three good System 11s at home.

I must have around 60 games at my home in NJ.
When we have guests, anyone over 40 searches for an Addams and is disappointed when they find out I don’t have one.

Because they all spent a thousand years on location making money and when they were done the people who ended up with them kept them, keeping the demand as well as the prices high.

I know ops are always looking for them too as they still earn with the best new machines.

...because it's worth it

I do home service in Mn and have several clients with TAF. They never have an interest in trading or selling ever which is crazy.
Rewind back to the 90s when this game came out was super popular. I did service for a vendor who bought heavy on this game. Going to locations to do service and watching the reactions when the hand grabbed the ball was amazing. This title on a busy night often had 5 people around that game waiting for the hand to come out. The games software was designed where even a below average player could.often get the hand to pick up the ball by hitting it around.
The thing hand was an amazing gimmick. It was common for addams to do 300+ per week back in the day. Sticker price around 2695 or so for the game. Very good roi. I bought a gold and had it at a pizza place and did 326 for a week back in 94 or so. Good money!

It's just a fun little game, ramp then hole, ramp then hole.. Alright that probably just ruined the game for you.. Move on to a different game it's too easy.

I'll never beat your high score of almost a billion you put on my machine last summer.

I remember playing it when it was new. At the time, it was a huge surprise to see thing's hand appear and then also interact with the ball.

I never was big into Addams Family shows/movies. I was familiar enough with the characters, but that was about it. The game itself just played really well, had satisfying shots, good code, and (for the time) really good interactive elements.

If anything, the only thing I thought was a significant flaw was that the chair lamps and vault/thing lamps weren't labeled and weren't clear (at a glance) why they lit up when they did.

I always feel like it’s a combo of nostalgia and licensing issues. Yes, there were a ton made but relatively few change hands. The likelihood of a remake is low due to the expense and complexities of the licensing rights. Hence, the price keeps climbing despite its rather exploitable play.

About half the time I'm playing a game near an Addams Family and more than one person is nearby, one of the people (who gives off a non-pinhead vibe) will say out loud some comment about how they love Addams Family. I can also be near a Godzilla and people barely stop to look. It's consistently weird.

First game I ever bought for my home, played in the wild often prior, and still fun to play ...

Great callouts, classic toy( Thing is still fun to watch) and a nice, easy ride to wind the evening down or just a fun Pintime.

Truly believe this game brought many of us back when the idea of putting 1 ( or dozens, lol) in your home became a thing.

Had mine restored by Chris several years ago....never leaving.....

Take out the gold roms and that strategy doesn’t work any longer. The original roms made for massively more balanced gameplay.

I hate to admit it..but it probably does have a lot to do with nostalgia. The train horn ..mail call, hand, thing..Just even the looks of it all. It's just so iconic. Doesn't matter if it is Addams from the 60's or 90's It's just a loveable theme that will touch the hearts forever. I enjoy the hell of this pin. I truly hope they can find a way to add it to the remakes...it's just getting too old to find one in the condition I would want, Also I wouldn't want them to change a thing..(no pun intended). I also may have to do the HEP. CGC is missing out. Had one and let it go years ago, dumb, dumb, dumb.

Really didn't realize that.. Thanks!

Serious question: At what price were you expecting to find it for sale? TAF and TZ have typically been at about the same rate as a premium/LE game for years now. They may not be the best ever but they are certainly the most popular and iconic machines and even casual or non-pinball people always remember them from the 90's.

The games that they made the most of were typically the ones that people played the most and, incidentally, were the best designed machines. It's still true today. The MORE popular a machine, typically the MORE expensive. This is especially true with 80's+90's titles.

Yep, I had gold roms in mind and loved the additional call outs and what not you get with those, but the free scoop awards really skewed the way everyone played the machine in tourneys so I switched them back out.

What do you have to do to light the scoop with these other roms?
Ramp, chair...repeat has always been what I've known. Not sure if I've ever played these other roms now.

Love my Addams Family. It would be the last pin to leave my collection..

It’s still the ramp and then the scoop to start modes, but you lose the front end points just for starting the mode (which means you have to play the modes for the points and mostly ignoring the modes altogether and focusing on the multiball becomes a legit strategy that some tourney players will utilize. The original ROMs were phenomenal, very well balanced scoring wise.

Like others have said, it’s all about people keeping them in their collections and not letting them go. Was a pin I HAD to have. I bought a water damaged one years ago for $2500. Did a all brand new cab, artwork, clear coated playfield, etc etc.. I chromed it out as well. I even chromed the backplate where the boards sit!! Took about 9 years for me to complete with sending the game and playfield out to be redone. Will be the last game of mine to leave.

This was, along with TOM, the first pinball I ever owned. It was beat up. I even posted the MPU board on the "worst hacks" thread. The rubber had been replaced and not removed: perished beyond belief. The playfield and inner cabinet was extremely dirty. The hidden parts of the playfield were literally black. All this said, the bones were pretty good. I learned a fair bit while restoring this game. It is so much fun to play.

First rule of economics, supply equals demand. Evidently, the demand for TAFs is exceeded by the demand and thus the expense of this machine.

I'm running the regular ROMs in my Gold Addams. I actually like them better.

I still wish I could get one back, but definitely not at the prices I'm seeing now. This is kind of morbid, but once collectors start kicking the bucket, and their kids have to deal with all those machines... suddenly there are going to be a bunch of them available.

I don’t think collector’s kids will be selling machines for less than what they are worth.

Correct. The reality is that you have a better chance of finding a free TAF than you do for one at 50% of market value.

Raul Julia's estate agreed to have his image appear on the Pinball Arcade virtual table, so I doubt there'd be much trouble getting them to agree to a physical remake. It was Christopher Lloyd and Pugsley that were the holdouts. Pugsley doesn't matter much since he's only on the backglass and you could always buy a repro if it bothered you, but Fester is front-and-center between the flippers so they'd really need to work something out with Lloyd.

Addams Family was the product of a perfect storm of events.

1. Pat Lawlor was in his prime with great designs.
2. Operators were still placing tons of pins on location.
3. The movie was a huge hit.
4. The callouts from the movie happened to fit the pinball world perfectly.
5. Thing coming out of the box is an iconic image everyone loves, and is magical in pinball.
6. Dot Matrix was relatively new and well used to bring the movie to life.
7. The story of moving through the mansion windows is very easy to understand. (What's in that damn attic?)
8. Because of all this, these games were played to death so finding a great one is not easy.

Huh? It just adds some free points basically with the extra give-aways - same strategy applies regardless. Even on the non-gold you do the same... ramp, chair, ramp, chair, and stack up the modes as much as you can if the chair feed is controllable.

What makes the game pivot is the reliability of the chair.. and if not, that might push you to a multiball strategy.