Pinball Pricing

"premiums are going to be over $10,000 for an unlimited run premium. This is what's killed a lot of the enthusiasm in the hobby. It's killed it for me... I don't know how many of you out there. And continue to buy $10,000 plus games that are all going to lose $3,000 in value."

Rising pinball prices over $10,000 for unlimited run premiums is killing enthusiasm in the hobby

"People didn't normally lose one to $6,000 in one year on a game. The normal depreciation and why Pinball was so popular amongst us, the normal depreciation, the most you would ever have lost on a game was $1,000. Now the most anyone has ever lost on a NIB game over the last four years was $12,000 on a James Bond 60th"

Modern pinball depreciation is unprecedented and abnormal - people losing $4,000+ per game

"When you get your hands on every single new machine and you experience what all of these modern pinball machines are putting into their games, you can't help but walk away and feel like none of this. None of this is worth even $10,000. None of it."

Modern pinball games are overpriced and not worth even $10,000

"This is what Pinball does to you. Completely desensitized as you do. What normal people spend for entertainment in the gaming realm... This is a quarter of the price of a cheap plastic Mandalorian topper."

Pinball has completely desensitized people to normal entertainment pricing

"I don't think modern pinball pricing is satisfying most people. Like they're just not seeing the value in these mass produced, overpriced."

Modern pinball pricing is not satisfying most people - mass produced, overpriced machines without proper value

"When these games were six to seven thousand dollars, it was a lot easier to just pull the trigger, support these boutique companies and pull the trigger. But at thirteen, fourteen thousand all in, it's hard to know whether or not you should pull the trigger"

Modern pinball pricing makes it hard to pull the trigger on new releases

"I don't think the price equals the fun. I don't think we're getting our money's worth. I don't."

Modern pinball prices don't match the fun value delivered

"I mean, I'm looking to buy a bulldog and they're $3,000. An English bulldog will bring me more happiness, more joy, more love. It is criminal that a pinball machine is five times the price of what an English bulldog is."

An English bulldog brings more happiness than a pinball machine at 1/5 the cost

"I had a moment after looking at all three of them, I could just stand back and look at all three of them. It didn't feel like I was looking at $45,000 in product. How the heck did we get here?"

Current pinball games don't feel worth their high prices when seen together

"This is the problem with all modern pinball is everything is kind of overpriced. We all know it. Everything loses value. So you really have to ask yourself, why do I need to own a new and box game right now?"

Modern pinball pricing makes day-one purchases financially unwise

"Over the last four years, the cost of pinball machines has gone up 35%. 35% did you get a 35% raise over the last three to four years? I didn't. I don't know anyone who did"

Pinball prices have increased 35% while wages haven't kept up with inflation

"if Avatar has the same bomb as Wizard of Oz and it's $12,000 to $15,000, you kind of in a nutshell kind of get a summary of what Pinball has gone through over the last decade. Like a lot of people are now waking up to the fact that the games are double in price."

Pinball prices have doubled while incomes haven't, creating affordability crisis

"nobody likes these high prices, nobody. Like there's nobody out there that's like, it's awesome man, that pinball prices went up this high"

High pinball prices are universally disliked and buyers are losing money on resale

"This hobby is not going to survive the next five years unless someone really thinks about where these things are priced. It's not going to work, especially with quality like this, especially when you pop the hood and there's nothing happening underneath the game. And then you want people to shell out 10 to $15,000 for fully featured games. It's not going to last much longer, everybody."

Current pinball pricing is unsustainable and the hobby won't survive unless companies rethink pricing

"I still think this hobby is grossly overpriced"

Pinball hobby is grossly overpriced

"if you're gonna buy the next CE from Jersey Jack, the next Stern LE just there alone, you're at $28,000. And then if you have to pay for your Pulp Fiction LE, you're basically at $38,000 for just three pinball machines"

Current pinball prices are unsustainable - three top games now cost $38,000

"So the people that buy the cheapest version that has the most unlimited amounts, those people have the most secure investment? This is all that's wrong in pinball right now."

Pro buyers now have the most secure investment while LE buyers have the most risk

"I think all of these games are two to $3,000 overpriced, all of them, all of them. And I think they all slide down back to that number... I don't ever want to spend more than 10 on a stern. I mean, sternly is a $9500 game at most."

All modern pinball games are $2,000-$3,000 overpriced

"The same way we all feel about stern pinballs pricing in 2024. The same way we all feel about Jersey Jack pricing in 2024. Two words. F off."

Modern Stern and Jersey Jack pricing is completely unacceptable in 2024

"when you flip the hood open on an Elton John and as fun as the game is to shoot, it's got a third of what a game like Pirates has in it. And then you charge me almost twice as much money. It doesn't really work."

Modern pinball pricing is too high relative to what you get in the games

"it makes you realize how much we are over paying for pinball there's no way around it people... the price of a freaking Foo Fighters topper is a nice piece of furniture that's got real craftsmanship... the pinball prices have like warped our sense of what things should cost it's just bonkers"

Pinball prices have warped sense of value compared to real furniture

"There's no way you could ever have lost $7,000 on a Twilight Zone, or a medieval madness, or an attack from Mars... There's just no way in the history of pinball that anybody in a single year could have lost $7,000 on a brand new game."

Modern pinball pricing is causing massive losses for buyers who purchase new

"All of these games are overpriced and it's really really difficult, even if you have an amazing time on a modern Pinball machine to walk over to these distributors and hand them this much money on a game. Because history has shown us over the last two years that you're gonna lose a lot of money."

All modern pinball games are significantly overpriced and losing substantial value

"The problem with both of these machines is they're both significantly overpriced. Like if Elton John Platinum was $9,500, a lot of us would have ordered one. I don't want to buy it for 12 because I know it's going to slide down to $9,500 in just a few weeks."

Both Jaws and Elton John are significantly overpriced and will drop in value

"Every game out there right now is probably a good $2,000 more than it should be. And we're all eating it. Like everybody's eating it."

All pinball games are overpriced by about $2000 and buyers should wait

"I think $10,000 is like the ceiling that anybody wants to spend on a pinball machine. If you release your game for less than $10,000 you're gonna have a lot more enthusiasm... but once you charge more than $10,000 for pinball you're gonna get a lot more skepticism, a lot more cynicism and a lot more anger"

$10,000 is the psychological ceiling for pinball machine pricing

"I saw so many of my pinball friends lose so much money on every game they bought in 2023... You're losing like $3,500 in one year on the game. That's the game of the year."

Pinball prices are too high causing major losses on resale

"pinball prices have gone through the roof. And how come the dealers and the distributors are not getting together to meet with these manufacturers and give them some, because these prices are just not sustainable, ladies and gentlemen. Everybody knows it, but no one seemingly wants to do anything about it."

Pinball prices have become unsustainable and need to be reset

"The Pinball pricing is out of this world. It's now at a point now where the games themselves have so much pressure to live up to the cost of these machines, and they're not gonna deliver, and that's the thing, is most of these games cannot deliver the value. They cannot deliver the value and the experience for $10,000 to $15,000."

Pinball pricing is out of control and games can't deliver value at $10-15k

"The days of dabbling and pinball are over. These games need to be masterpieces or I'm keeping my money in my wallet."

The days of dabbling in pinball are over - games need to be masterpieces at current prices

"Every manufacturer now has determined that their games are worth the price that games would be worth if they were deemed to be masterpieces and super sought after by the community."

Current game prices are unsustainable and inflated across all manufacturers

"I would rather pay $15,000 and have one pinball machine that I would never let go because it's based on a theme I love so much versus all of these transient games"

Would rather pay more for fewer, better themed games

"now Pinball is the most expensive it's ever been in the history of Pinball... Walk over to some of the Stern machines that came out like six years ago, seven years ago. Walk over to the Stern machines like Metallica and AC/DC and Ghostbusters. And you tell me when you look down at these games nowadays that you're seeing more put into these games. And you're not."

Current pinball prices are the highest ever but games don't justify the cost compared to older machines

"Godzilla LE was $10,500... Foo Fighters is $2,500 more than Godzilla was from an LE trim... I just don't see how you can say that Foo Fighters is $2,500 more expensive now than Godzilla."

Current pinball pricing is unsustainable - Foo Fighters costs $2,500 more than Godzilla LE with less content

"at these prices, nothing should be a compromise in pinball. Every theme should be integrated amazingly well. Every game should have a few amazing toys in it... Every game should come with a freaking topper"

At current prices, every game should have amazing theme integration, toys, artwork and include a topper

"There is absolutely no need to rush in with this many games at this much money because you're never going to miss out. And I think it's a good thing. And it's really weird for me for people to label this as a toxic or negative approach to this hobby."

Market resistance to high prices is actually good for the hobby - people should wait and play games before buying

"A $6,000 game is being remade just a few years later and is now 50% more money"

TNA 2.0 remake went from $6,000 to $9,000 - 50% price increase for a remake

"When I look at the game and I look at what we're getting for $13 versus what we used to get for $8,000, I come to a very simple conclusion. I don't see the value"

Current pinball prices lack value compared to previous pricing

"I just think these games are getting too expensive. And I think when you look at the numbers and you look at the data and you look at what these games used to cost and you look at what they cost now, is there a gap?"

Modern pinball machines are significantly overpriced compared to historical pricing even when adjusting for inflation

"But there is one statement that I do agree with that these games are getting much too expensive for what you're getting. And I think everybody would most likely agree with that. You know, why would we want these things to be more money? Why? Why would anyone root for these things to be more money?"

Pinball pricing has reached unsustainable levels but demand continues

"the prices are higher than we ever thought we'd get to. But because of that, there's now no middle ground at all in pinball. There is no room for boutiques anymore like Homepin."

Pinball prices have reached unsustainable levels with 50% increases, creating no middle ground for boutique companies

"Don't ever forget this consumers. You have all of the power in the world to determine the price of these games. The manufacturer can set a suggested price. But if you don't buy at that price, they will have to adjust it. That's the way the world works."

Consumers have the power to control pinball pricing through purchasing decisions

"Wizard of Oz was $6,500 people. Just remember that Wizard of Oz was $6,500 and it has twice as much in it as Toy Story. Twice as much in it as Toy Story and it was $6,500."

Wizard of Oz had twice the content of Toy Story at $6,500

"Remember when a pro machine used to be like $4,500, $5,000 and LE was $7,500? A premium was like $6,500. Remember those days of halcyon days of old? It's all too much money."

Current pinball prices are double what they were 6-7 years ago and not worth it

"Nobody wants to see this hobby be on the north side of $10,000. Nobody. Why would anyone want that?"

Current pinball prices are unsustainable and the hobby has become too expensive

"These pinball companies haven't even scratched the surface of the amount of money that's out there globally of the people who buy these things."

Pinball companies haven't scratched the surface of how much money collectors will pay - pricing is becoming arbitrary

"I really think prices are too high. There is no way you can sort of feel good about spending $12,000 on a pinball machine in 2022 and you're getting the second best version of the game... It's absolutely bonkers. I mean, $12,000 was roughly what the CE prices were on every prior Jersey Jack game."

Pinball pricing has become unreasonable - $12,000 for an LE is too expensive

"all of a sudden, you know, maybe it doesn't make financial sense to keep buying more pinball machines... These pinball companies haven't shown us they can get it done... I am not going to throw money at a company and then wait a year for my game"

Current pinball pricing is unsustainable and pricing people out

"It's only worth buying a pinball machine now because the prices are so high. If the game is a masterpiece or if you love the theme so much, you just have to have it. To me, there's no other reason to buy a game."

Only buy pinball machines if masterpiece or dream theme due to high prices

"I don't think the cost of these machines is justified by what we're getting in the products themselves... We're paying more, but we're getting less. And unfortunately, pinball has gone into the full collector space right now."

Current pinball pricing is not justified by product quality - machines cost $15,000-16,000 now vs $7,000-8,000 just a few years ago for top-tier games