I’ve owned an EM Hot Tip for over 25 years and love it.I gauge all other EMs I buy against it and none can compete to it’s game play.If you find one in good all around condition with a real nice backglass $500 would be a bargain.$600 to $850 would be more realistic for great condition game.High tap it and rip the spinner.A million game is the goal,but a tough task.Yes a beat game is 3 to 5 hundred,but don’t settle for one if you can.

I’ve never owned one but I’d give $500 for an EM Hot Tip in a minute if it was in decent shape, especially after reading locksmith’s review above.

It looks like a fun game with tons to do and they are fairly hard to find.

Good luck.

Hot Tip EM is my favorite EM and I don’t think it gets the respect it deserves. I think $200-$500 is far too low. They made many more of the SS version, and so the EMs are rarer and more valuable, at least according to 2018 Mr. Pinball Price Guide, which has SS at $650 and EM at $775. I think of the prices in that guide as on the low side, since it’s supposed to be listing wholesale prices. I just bought a nice one (refinished playfield) this summer from another Pinsider for $1,000 (the most I’ve ever paid for a pin), and I’m very pleased with it. Great pin!

I haven’t found a better EM yet, IMO. I try to avoid going to it first when I play, so I don’t neglect playing my other pins, which are also all EMs. Otherwise, I could see myself spending most of my playing time on it, even though I think I have a lot of nice titles.

I think Locksmith is pretty solid with his estimate as long as it is in good shape. $600 to $800.

I have one of the EM versions in very nice condition. I've noticed that the SS version of this game does not get much love, but everyone that plays my EM seems to really like it. For a multi-player, there is a lot to do on the PF and I think it plays every bit as fun as it's sibling, Grand Prix.

I would agree with the upper end of Locksmiths valuation if the machine is in very good condition. Around here, sellers often ask $800-1000 for a dirty, less-interesting game that needs work.

The big difference between the two versions is that the spinner builds bonus on the solid state version. This generally means that you want to max bonus before thinking about dropping HOT + TIP to light the spinner, at least when you play it for score. It changes the game a bit, but I still find the SS version to be a lot of fun.