Maybe they lost money when factoring in fixed overheads and labor costs, but making more POTC's would be better than leaving capacity idle in the factory. The cost of direct materials and labor is only a fraction of the $9k+ selling price. Sure, it wouldn't make sense to run more if there is strong and steady demand for more profitable titles, but it's doubtful that they won't have some lulls between titles. And it's hard to imagine that they will come up with another WOZ version to fill the gap - but who knows.

It’s not just about making a profit but what will make them the most profit and return-on-investment. The owners have likely sunk 10’s of millions into the Company, and are bleeding more everyday given the virus, with little to nothing so far to show for in return. If they make more Pirates it’s likely because their new games are somehow off-track from plan.

My line was $5k, then 7k, then 8k...then $10.5k, but that's it.

Seems like a couple LE’s just sold quickly within the last week for $12.5+ on here. No doubt that some current owners of POTC and every other game price pump, but you seem to be working really hard to pump down the price.

All you have to do is look at the market archive to see that the going rate is $12k+ for nice HUO examples. Saying a machine is overpriced because it took a month to sell in the midst of the virus is BS. You know any high end game can sit for several weeks depending on location. You're saying JJP will readily sell 500+ at $10k delivered but they are hard to move at $12k. $2k usually doesn't make the difference between make-or-break in this hobby. Yes, the existing ones are prone to pooling (which can be readily fixed), but they are also relatively limited. Combined with machines shipping back from EU to sell in the US, there just doesn't seem to be a big market for this, or any 3+ year old title, at $10k+. No doubt JJP could sell 100's more at $10k, but I'm skeptical that they wouldn't make just as much profit or more selling the same or fewer units at $12k.

Just seems like fun speculation to me. Discussion is actually staying pretty civil. Would rather kill time here then another “which one should I buy” thread. POTC is actually a pretty unique situation - don’t think there is another game in the home collector era that sold so poorly and a short time later is considered maybe the best ever.

I thought they made about a 1000 units which certainly isn’t great but more than “very few.” It also took distributors some time to sell their inventory after production stopped - including foreign distributors shipping games back to the US (pretty crazy even if favorable exchange covered shipping costs).

Hard it understand why a beautiful, packed, big license game didn’t sell better even with the delays and surrounding drama, but there’s plenty of reasons for JJP to question how many will truly pony up $10k+ at this stage. Maybe they will but it sure isn’t an obvious business decision.

At this point you have to believe the investors want a series of major sellers, not the failed model of OK seller, WOZ, crappy seller, WOZ...

Like everyone, I can only speculate if they will make more, but the idea that there is easy money to be made since they've already sunk costs into the design, etc. is not how well run companies think. It's all about maximizing return-on-investment. Would you be happy making 3% when you could make 8% investing someplace else.

If the line is underutilized because their new titles aren't selling well, then maybe making more POTC's is better than leaving idle capacity. Stern makes a bunch of titles a year and knows that they will occasionally have a relatively weak seller, so have made Vault Editions to take up the slack an integral part of their strategy. But JJP is still struggling to release 2 games a year after being in business for 7-years, so I doubt making more Pirates is Plan A. That's probably why Jack doesn't ruled it out because it could certainly be a fall back - and Eric & Keith naturally want to support their design. The main, super rich investor loves pinball, but all the signs are that he didn't buy JJP as a hobby, and is pushing a new strategy for better returns.

Yes, but hasn't that ship sailed. You can milk a product but that's not the sign of a growth company.

Agree that moving manufacturing and reorganizing at the same time that you're trying to develop & demonstrate a winning product strategy is tough to pull off. But I've personnally seen it happen a number of times in the name of improving financial performance - usually when management is under real pressure or is listening to some high-price, outside consultant.

-Took days to put up several crappy pics until his girlfriend was around
-Many scared off by unfixed pooling
-Standard just doesn’t appeal to collectors that are the main market for this or any $10k+ game
-Seller won’t ship - the collector community in SC/GA/NC for high end pins isn’t that big. An LE just sold quickly in the area for $12.5ish.

More indication IMO that the market for this game is deep but not broad.

Really no different than when MM, MB and CC were going for similar prices. A top 5 game in short supply.

Don’t know, I think R&M is giving it a run for the money.

POTC seems like normal supply & demand. There’s plenty of honest discussion out there from owners about issues with assembly quality, unique & complex rule set, lack of movie assets, etc. Combined with all the gameplay videos, plenty of info to make an informed decision before dropping so much money.