Quoted from heckheck:Deals are mostly gone. I've been going to Allentown PinFest/PinWiz show for 11 years. I was just there over last weekend. Hardly a DMD game to be had that wasn't outrageously priced. Very small stock of junker machines in the flea. Years ago there used to be truck after truck that would pull up and disgorge dozens of half decent machines to blow out. Those were the golden years.
Damn. Why did I have to wait to get into the hobby until last year!
Quoted from heckheck:Deals are mostly gone. I've been going to Allentown PinFest/PinWiz show for 11 years. I was just there over last weekend. Hardly a DMD game to be had that wasn't outrageously priced. Very small stock of junker machines in the flea. Years ago there used to be truck after truck that would pull up and disgorge dozens of half decent machines to blow out. Those were the golden years.
I'm not saying prices will explode, but deals are few and far between. I know I won't let my current machines go for low prices. It's too hard to replace them. Everything seems to be settling in in bands of pricing.
Want a decent 80 solid state, expect to pay 900-2K (want a Fathom or Centaur 4K)
Want a decent Sys11, expect to pay 1500-3K
Want a decent DMD, depending on the title 2K-4K+
Want a fun to play Stern of yesteryear, expect to pay more than they were NIB (e.g. 5K for a nice LOTR or 4.5K for a TSPP)
Parts are drying up too, but that's another whole thread.
This hobby always was expensive, it's only getting more so.
-Jim
There is a little irony in your statement when you say the pins were overpriced but you won't let yours go cheap..
Anyway I found a few good deals in the show. I also sold Cue Ball wizard for 1,100 (DMD) had Striker Extreme listed for 1,300 (decent Stern), and Sega Baywatch for 1,500 OBO. Sold STTNG for 3380 playing great with full LEDs.
I think the show prices indicate more of a "This is what it will take to let it go" Price. Me I price them low because I'm chasing the next game.
In the past year I've had 4 machines.
BF - bought off an OP. Sat on CL for a couple weeks. Negotiated them down to 2200 due to burn in on the display.
JP - 1150 from a local collector. Total project aka only had GI on power on. DMD was known to be good.
PM - Messaged by a collector on here out of the blue because it was in my wishlist.
RBION - Held my BF for trade. Caught a lot of flack, but ended up with a straight off route rbion and 150 in cash.
That is just me. I have friends who have gone through many more machines in the last year. You have to have the money on hand. Know the collectors in your area. Be prepared to drive. Be flexible in what titles you will take. Once you have something desirable, leverage it to get exactly what you want. Oh, and be prepared to get a lot of time wasters. Only thing holding me back from buying more machines are funds.
Quoted from bobWeir:I've been collecting pinballs and arcade games for over 10 years. Is it just me or has the supply just dried up? There used to be bulk buys and pinballs were readily available on craigslist , ebay, RGP, and pinside for decent prices. There has been really nothing on craigslist and ebay hardly gets any good titles.
Have you been in your garage lately 
Everytime there is a good deal (like a HUO FB) some guy down in oregon, WI seems to scoop it up
cheers buddy!
I always find that this is the seasonal cyle when fewer games are changing hands. I don't touch much pinball recently so not really looking to sell or trade anything (Would still sell my DE Time Machine if you are interested in that). I think there are still tons of games around but it is a little harder to find the good deals or in my case the games I really want.
I think another reason why there has been less for sale (especially in the Madison area) is that the local pinball community has grown so much that there's a lot of selling/trading going on between friends and fellow collectors in the area. A vast majority of games that I've bought and sold the past few years were on account of friends either directly or the "I know a guy that is selling or buying" type variety which is actually really nice. It's been years since I've bought a pin of Craigslist, Ebay, or Mr. Pinball, and honestly I don't really miss the rat race of dropping everything and racing out to buy a game.
Quoted from ovfdfireman:On the topic of hoarding, I have a lot of games but they are all set up and played. I used to have some in storage but realized having games all wrapped up are pointless to me and others if they can't be played. I don't want to have things just for the sake of having them.
Ditto. A couple years ago, I had over 40 pins and no room to set them all up. After STI comes today, all my pins I had in storage are sold/gone and I will be down to 4 pins not set up in my game room that are in my work room. Two EMs to use to swap out games in my EM row, Pinbot waiting a PF swap and a Metro I don't know what to do with.
I've sold a lot of games in the last 18 months I thought I would never sell (and for very fair prices) because I would rather see them go to people that would enjoy them then to figure out how to keep them without any reasonable likelihood of ever having them up and running in my game room.
I'll admit I have been looking on CL since I joined up on Pinside. Knowing that getting one PIN in the door is going to be a feat in of itself, it has caused me to be selective. So I do see games for sale, but nothing that puts me over the no regrets threshold.
I being fairly close to the OP and a few others here means I'll most likely be fighting them once I do see something I like
Also noticed supply of high quality popular em's is diminishing and same goes for Gottlieb 1950's woodrails.
Quoted from orangestorm87:I'll admit I have been looking on CL since I joined up on Pinside. Knowing that getting one PIN in the door is going to be a feat in of itself, it has caused me to be selective. So I do see games for sale, but nothing that puts me over the no regrets threshold.
I being fairly close to the OP and a few others here means I'll most likely be fighting them once I do see something I like
Rather than compete with us on the open market, why don't you do like others have suggested and make friends with people in the pinball community in the area. Let people know what you are looking for and eventually someone will come back to you and say that they know someone who could use the money and would be willing to sell you the machine you are looking for a fair price.
The same thing happened to the retro video game collecting scene over the past couple years as more people got into it. Games became harder to find and prices went up. On occasion you still find a deal in the wild if you are lucky, but good deals can still found by working with collectors.
Quoted from PinballBeerGuy:Rather than compete with us on the open market, why don't you do like others have suggested and make friends with people in the pinball community in the area. Let people know what you are looking for and eventually someone will come back to you and say that they know someone who could use the money and would be willing to sell you the machine you are looking for a fair price.
The same thing happened to the retro video game collecting scene over the past couple years as more people got into it. Games became harder to find and prices went up. On occasion you still find a deal in the wild if you are lucky, but good deals can still found by working with collectors.
As you know the pin and vid scene is a mixed bag, many people already have their clique's, others are anti socialites, others are straight whackadoo's, others are cool but have too many friends already. I can sympathize because I am in a densely populated collectors area and can count my peer friends on one hand... which is depressing because I am an extrovert non whacko... lol
Best tip would be maybe find a local pin or vid 'club'.
There was a really nice WCS for sale on craigslist in the Milwaukee area last week, but that's in my garage right now. 
Deals are out there, just need to be patient and don't freak out by high asking prices on CL, they are just that. Asking prices.
I was up to 25 pins at one point, dropped down to about 17 now but will sell a couple more shortly.
I made a self imposed rule on myself that if I want a new game, I need to sell a game and if a game hasn't been played for over a year, its for sale!
Helps having a big garage though
Quoted from PinballBeerGuy:Rather than compete with us on the open market, why don't you do like others have suggested and make friends with people in the pinball community in the area. Let people know what you are looking for and eventually someone will come back to you and say that they know someone who could use the money and would be willing to sell you the machine you are looking for a fair price.
This is the best advice. Almost all of my buying comes from networking.
I am hording them. I need them all. I have to fill my showroom, to out do dayhuff. no problem. 25 games, and Iron man coming tomorrow. I figure if I have a whole house with no furniture, and just pins, I am bound to have some friends come over, and I will finally be popular(furniture will be out on the porch)
See what is possible if you didn't get married. since there is no mother in law, I turn the mother in law house in to a pinball house with live music and strippers, on 12 acres with a river full of trout this time of year . Maybe I should have kept the ball crushing house frou that wouldn't work, cook, or warm the bed.
That may have been a little to much personal info for you folks. but it is me, I am hording them.
Here's some photos of Allentown from 2001 (from Al Warner's page). At that time I was buying and selling games all the time because it was really easy to find the next project.
DSC00071.JPGDSC00073.JPGDSC00043.JPGDSC00045.JPGDSC00038.JPG
Now it's a desert here in town and all the prices have an extra zero on it. I used to have 33 games and now I only have 5, and "upgrading" is basically impossible. For example, I'm offering my ES up for trade and all I've gotten is some C-list offers plus minimal cash. No one is selling or trading A-list stuff like they used to.
I took a lot of crap for pricing my games high but I need that money to replace the games, otherwise at the rate I'm going I'd end up with a line-up of nothing but Sonic EMs.
One thing people aren't talking about is the gap between A-list and B-list games.
Take for example Demolition Man and Star Trek:TNG. Back in the day DM was an $800 game while ST:TNG would be $1,200-1,500 on the high end. Now DM is a $2200 game but ST:TNG is a $4K game.
This divides the hobby much more because the gap between machines excludes way more people than it used to.
What pisses me off is the hoarders who just have to get those good bargains, just to put the game in storage, and there it stays. Really fucked up. Buy it, fix it and sell it, or get it up and running. Pinballs were made to be played or experienced, not continue dying because some people have an addiction..
Quoted from Edenecho:What pisses me off is the hoarders who just have to get those good bargains, just to put the game in storage, and there it stays. Really fucked up. Buy it, fix it and sell it, or get it up and running. Pinballs were made to be played or experienced, not continue dying because some people have an addiction..
yeah, how dare someone other than you has it. Who cares it they aren't using it, they go it first, quit whining.
Did i touch a nerve? I dont need more, i have four machines, three of which were falling apart and forgotten. I fixed them up and now people can enjoy them. Its just unfortunate when people buy machines just because of an addiction rather than a desire to fix them or play them, and the games will be in a bunker for xx years, instead of someone who wants to give it a new life. As long as hoarders keep doing it, i will whine.
Quoted from calvin12:yeah, how dare someone other than you has it. Who cares it they aren't using it, they go it first, quit whining.
I totally agree with this. I just don't get how someone would want to just buy a bunch of games and just have them sit and not play them. I assume that in each situation they had a grand scheme in mind, and just never got around to it. I just would've have done it that way if it were me, but you are right, they can do whatever they want. I just think it's funny when people post pictures of these hoards of games just sitting there unused. I think in that one guy's pics there were like 4 Paragons haha.
Quoted from PinballBeerGuy:Rather than compete with us on the open market, why don't you do like others have suggested and make friends with people in the pinball community in the area. Let people know what you are looking for and eventually someone will come back to you and say that they know someone who could use the money and would be willing to sell you the machine you are looking for a fair price.
The same thing happened to the retro video game collecting scene over the past couple years as more people got into it. Games became harder to find and prices went up. On occasion you still find a deal in the wild if you are lucky, but good deals can still found by working with collectors.
Ok so maybe "compete" was too strong of a word choice. I was more tongue in cheeck than anything else.
But as to making relationships with the community, that is what I am trying to do by being here on Pinside and going to the local shows.
You are also right in the fact you rarely/never get something when you don't ask. So here goes Pinside, anybody in the area having people over to play please invite me over 
I'm sure there's a section of the pinball population that grabs every game and in puts it in storage due a sickness, a desire to own everything or a feeling that owning a bunch of stuff gives self worth.
I'm guessing the larger part of the pinball population that has a bunch of games in storage intends (or intended to) fix them and either enjoy them or move them on. You just never know.
Given how hard games are to come by and the fact that prices are going up, if I had a bunch of games in storage (I don't) I'm not sure that I'd be in a hurry to move them on if I really was looking forward to restoring them. Once they're gone, it might be a while before you get any more.
Dave
Ha ha.....nothing good/new being made that would make me want to sell any of my machines to make room.
Quoted from orangestorm87:So here goes Pinside, anybody in the area having people over to play please invite me over
Come on over to Pooleys in Madison next Wednesday to play in the monthly competition (it is casual) and meet some locals.
We host lots of local events on a regular basis. www.madisonpinball.com for details
The tree has just been shaken hard. Lots of games are falling out for sale suddenly. I ran right downstairs and evaluated who had to go.
Quoted from ovfdfireman:I took it as games in the lower price range are not for sale like T2, BOP, F14
Rather than games being price too high.....I think people understand a new defame is price higher, but some simply don't have $5-8k to drop on a game
On the topic of hoarding, I have a lot of games but they are all set up and played. I used to have some in storage but realized having games all wrapped up are pointless to me and others if they can't be played. I don't want to have things just for the sake of having them. One day it changed for me, and I sold them. But to each his own.
I agree with this. I sold games that were not setup in my gameroom, if it wasn't being used it was sold to someone else who would enjoy it. It is sad to me that games get stacked up and hoarded in buildings and warehouses that will probably never get played again, when there are so many people who would love a chance to buy them for a gameroom.
Quoted from patrickvc:It is sad to me that games get stacked up and hoarded in buildings and warehouses that will probably never get played again, when there are so many people who would love a chance to buy them for a gameroom.
Well said. It kills me seeing my older SS games in storage. After 7 years of keeping my games in storage they are finally being set up in our new house. It will still take months to move, clean and repair them but sooner or later they will be here. Yes when house shopping the first thing I looked for was how many pins can I set up.
What bothers me are people who scrap out pins and sell them for parts. Let's face it, very few new pins are being made. So every pin that gets scrapped or parted out is one less machine for those who can't afford a pristine game. Even if the play field graphics are torn up and the back glass is peeling badly, someone may still appreciate it as a player.
Quoted from uncivil_engineer:What bothers me are people who scrap out pins and sell them for parts. Let's face it, very few new pins are being made. So every pin that gets scrapped or parted out is one less machine for those who can't afford a pristine game. Even if the play field graphics are torn up and the back glass is peeling badly, someone may still appreciate it as a player.
Agreed ive had a few rough ones I thought about making some money on but I bit the bullet and putv lots of time and money in them and brought them back and sold them for a loss but after all it is a hobby not my business so it felt nice to give some deals to people that couldn't afford that title otherwise
Quoted from DCfoodfreak:The tree has just been shaken hard. Lots of games are falling out for sale suddenly. I ran right downstairs and evaluated who had to go.
The Stern Kiss announcement might have something to do with it.
Quoted from Shapeshifter:Also noticed supply of high quality popular em's is diminishing and same goes for Gottlieb 1950's woodrails.
My last purchase was for a 1950s woodrail, $150 but needing a ton of work. So that is one solution - buy the games nobody really want, you can still get a good deal on those.
It doesn't bother me when people have a shit ton of machines. It bothers me when they have a shit ton of machines just for the sake of having them and hardly ever play them. It's like leaving an unloved dog in a shelter. 
Quoted from arcademojo:I made the mistake of selling my Transporter: The Rescue in the mid 2000's Now it's hard to to let anything go. Who has my Transporter I want it back!!
Transporter 0.jpg (Click image to enlarge)
I think I had it if it left PA the same day as Atlantis and you originally brought it up from Florida.
This copy has long left my hands... That being said I have had a second copy of the pin. Fun game!
Quoted from beelzeboob:It doesn't bother me when people have a shit ton of machines. It bothers me when they have a shit ton of machines just for the sake of having them and hardly ever play them. It's like leaving an unloved dog in a shelter.
Or having more than one of a certain machine in cold storage with no real plan to ever bring them back to life. The horror.
lad5.jpgQuoted from DCfoodfreak:Lots of us came in 2-4 years ago in the recent boom. For a good while tons of trading games but now everyone I know like myself has rotated enough that we are down to our keepers.
I just don't want to sell anything. Just happy with my games.
Same here....I've hit my WAF limit in our current house. Went through a bunch of pins over the last few years (buying, selling, trading) and have whittled down to a small collection I don't want to see leave.....at least for now.
So my best option is to get a new house, but where I live I can't sell the current one.....stuck. So I just blew a ton of cash on a new car instead
I thought I was beyond my limit...but then I just picked up a couple more bargains. I think I've accumulated 5 years worth of work in just one year. 
Bargains are out there, and it's hard to resist them. But at this point, I'm getting pretty close to having an example of almost every major classic pre-DMD system. I think I'm just missing Williams Sys11 and a classic Bally (Baby Pacman doesn't quite count since the boards are game-specific).
Quoted from ForceFlow:I thought I was beyond my limit...but then I just picked up a couple more bargains. I think I've accumulated 5 years worth of work in just one year.
Bargains are out there, and it's hard to resist them. But at this point, I'm getting pretty close to having an example of almost every major classic pre-DMD system. I think I'm just missing Williams Sys11 and a classic Bally (Baby Pacman doesn't quite count since the boards are game-specific).
I might be able to help you out with the classic bally. You got the one game that has slipped throw my grasp many of times. "Pharaoh". I have tipples of classic bally Lost world, Silver ball Mania and doubles of Jungle Lord, and stern Meteor and Galaxy.
I'm slowly putting pictures of stuff for sale on my FB page. Pins will come after my vid collection is sold.
https://www.facebook.com/Mojosmancave
Quoted from patrickvc:I agree with this. I sold games that were not setup in my gameroom, if it wasn't being used it was sold to someone else who would enjoy it. It is sad to me that games get stacked up and hoarded in buildings and warehouses that will probably never get played again, when there are so many people who would love a chance to buy them for a gameroom.
It's good that you do that. Plus i'm pretty sure you are aware of our infamous heat in our state and what it can do to games in storage. Yikes!
Quoted from arcademojo:I might be able to help you out with the classic bally. You got the one game that has slipped throw my grasp many of times. "Pharaoh". I have tipples of classic bally Lost world, Silver ball Mania and doubles of Jungle Lord, and stern Meteor and Galaxy.
I'm slowly putting pictures of stuff for sale on my FB page. Pins will come after my vid collection is sold.
https://www.facebook.com/Mojosmancave
Wouldn't mind a silver ball mania if the price is right. Able to do that trip easily in a day. 3 hour drive for me...
Quoted from egyptrus:I'm sure there's a section of the pinball population that grabs every game and in puts it in storage due a sickness, a desire to own everything or a feeling that owning a bunch of stuff gives self worth.
I'm guessing the larger part of the pinball population that has a bunch of games in storage intends (or intended to) fix them and either enjoy them or move them on. You just never know.
Given how hard games are to come by and the fact that prices are going up, if I had a bunch of games in storage (I don't) I'm not sure that I'd be in a hurry to move them on if I really was looking forward to restoring them. Once they're gone, it might be a while before you get any more.
Dave
I fall into this catagory. Currently I've 20 machines (not in storage - randomly through my house) that don't get much play. Over the years I shopped and restored a number of machines but struggle to find the time for it right now. That doesn't mean that I don't like them anymore and given time I will come back to them. My thought is they are more for my retirement projects. Over the years I've had a couple people talk me into selling some good games (TOTAN, NGG, CV, AFM) that based on the current market will never be coming back to me, so with that said I've decided to let them sit and enjoy them when I want. So I guess to answer the question - yes, I am a hoarder.
I've been selling lots of stuff. Finally done selling games I think... I sold a couple pins and all but 1 arcade game. Couple games got parted out and lots of stuff went for garbage. Problem is most aren't willing to drive far enough or they don't like the prices/condition of things but stuff is out there.
I'm done buying for the foreseeable future, unless one of the very few things I actually want come up locally. Time for bigger priorities in life pinball is just a hobby...
Quoted from arcademojo:I might be able to help you out with the classic bally. You got the one game that has slipped throw my grasp many of times. "Pharaoh". I have tipples of classic bally Lost world, Silver ball Mania and doubles of Jungle Lord, and stern Meteor and Galaxy.
I'm slowly putting pictures of stuff for sale on my FB page. Pins will come after my vid collection is sold.
https://www.facebook.com/Mojosmancave
Pharaoh is a keeper for now, though it certainly needs some TLC. Additionally, the backglass is a loss, as usual with this title. Someone taped it up (poorly) with packing tape when it started to flake off in big pieces, and later followed up with scotch tape. I saw that bgresto remakes them, so I'll probably go that route soon.
I might be interested in a Silverball for the right price, though it's a 5 hr trip for me to Harrisburg.
Once the market his saturation and people run out of space, there will be an abundance of them for sale. Give it a few years.
Quoted from 20eyes:I've been selling lots of stuff. Finally done selling games I think... I sold a couple pins and all but 1 arcade game. Couple games got parted out and lots of stuff went for garbage. Problem is most aren't willing to drive far enough or they don't like the prices/condition of things but stuff is out there.
I'm done buying for the foreseeable future, unless one of the very few things I actually want come up locally. Time for bigger priorities in life pinball is just a hobby...
That's pretty much where I'm at too. The trouble is just when your ready to quit buying and selling, something you've always wanted comes up for sale. That's what happened to me last week. Now I need to sell something to free up some space. Ugh, the cycle continues. This hobby never seems to let you just coast.
Quoted from uncivil_engineer:What bothers me are people who scrap out pins and sell them for parts. Let's face it, very few new pins are being made. So every pin that gets scrapped or parted out is one less machine for those who can't afford a pristine game. Even if the play field graphics are torn up and the back glass is peeling badly, someone may still appreciate it as a player.
No no, if it's too badly damaged you simply toss them off a roof (I will never understand how anyone can have any respect for todd tuckey)
Funny, he's made that video private. Perhaps because he's embarrassed of it now that pinball is a hot commodity?
00-tuck0[1].jpg
I wish i could hoard pins! I live in a condo so I'm limited on hoarding space. I had five once and i thought my Girlfriends Friends were going to murder me for her..
Just look at the Allentown show thread. Look how many games changed hands over the last month. Granted the Northeast is very busy when it comes to pinball machines. Also take into account that the weather is getting nicer people aren't focusing too much on indoor activities like Pinball.
Summer slow down. Things should pick up in late September again. Just in time for York
Quoted from AlexF:That's pretty much where I'm at too. The trouble is just when your ready to quit buying and selling, something you've always wanted comes up for sale. That's what happened to me last week. Now I need to sell something to free up some space. Ugh, the cycle continues. This hobby never seems to let you just coast.
No what is bad is when your funds are tired up for the foreseeable future. I have two titles I want that are desirable and worth a fair chunk of change. In the old days I would shop them out and then trade/sell for a deal. It is hard to sit back and accept that you cannot for several months while you get your finances in order for the next machine.
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