Arcade Collecting > Pinball
Pinball
kk99:
yep. No doubts remain about that guy.
Been wondering though... With all these super restorations going around... It makes the old pins look great and you sure pay the price for it... however, I'm wondering if, in the long run, the drastic restorations will actually make you lose on your massive initial "investment". Old pins must be the same as any other antiques... they eventually lose considerable value when restored. Don't they?
jaharr01:
You know Ebay gets "dogged" a lot because of their fees.But I would stick with them.unless you can go see it locally like craigs list. The protection factor is worth it. They are definitely about protecting the seller. I sold an aquarium to a guy for around $350, it was one of those nice all in one cubes,with LED light.I shipped it and apparently was considered lost at around 15 days. I had to give him a refund, even though USPS had no idea where it was. So I asked ebay what if it shows up at the guys house delivered and you have given him a refund. They basically said too bad. Well eventually I got paid, but the lesson here is ebay is all about protecting the buyer, but not the seller. So I would feel safe either way. If I was dropping that much on a pin I would go see it first hand. Pictures can be very deceiving.
Paul Olson:
--- Quote from: kk99 on February 15, 2015, 10:46:30 am ---yep. No doubts remain about that guy.
Been wondering though... With all these super restorations going around... It makes the old pins look great and you sure pay the price for it... however, I'm wondering if, in the long run, the drastic restorations will actually make you lose on your massive initial "investment". Old pins must be the same as any other antiques... they eventually lose considerable value when restored. Don't they?
--- End quote ---
Restored pins can be worth a lot of money, but there are only a handful of restorers who are good enough (or at least have the reputation of being good enough) to increase the value. A Hep restore can be worth many thousands more than a mint condition pin. The restoration process costs $6000+ usually, so I don't know if they are actually worth more than what goes into them. The market for them is really small as well. Most people would rather have "only mint" for half the cost.
Prices are higher in pinball for sure. I spend more in LEDs and mods on pins than I have ever spent on an arcade game. You can also get to a point, fairly quickly, that $5000 for a pin seems like an impulse buy. It is a little crazy. The newer pins ( I have Metallica and AC/DC) are really fun games though.
I wanted a Star Trek: The Next Generation since I started buying games in 2005. They were selling for $1700 then, and I thought the price was just insane. Fast forward a few years, and I thought I got an extremely good deal getting one for $3100. That same game sold last year (sold by the guy who bought it from me) for $5000.
I am actually on a preorder list for a $10k pinball machine, but I am not sure if I will end up buying it. I am still really happy with Metallica, and I think it and the 4 other pins have are doing a good job of satisfying my pinball addiction for now.
I am actually putting my pinball budget into tech toys this year, and it is amazing how much you can actually buy instead of a pinball machine. lol
I am using my new Surface Pro 3 way more than I actually use any of the games in the gameroom.
kk99:
Don't know man... seems like if I was willing to spend around 6-7k for one... I might as well buy a brand new one from Stern. Not a classic, but an amazing looking one and you avoid all this "uncertainty" around buying restored ones. If you're careful with it, you could probably sell it for the same price (or higher) years later, if Stern didn't make it anymore.
I'm looking at the LOTR one on Stern... now, it's part of the Archived ones but there's still a price tag for it and it DOES look like you can still purchase it. Well a new one is listed at $6500 MSRP. Go to ebay and they sell them for the same price or higher??
I spent too much money on my HT last year... I have to make SOME compromise at some point... As much as I'd love having a pin in there, I'm seriously wondering how justified I am in spending that kind of money on it.
TopJimmyCooks:
Buy locally and get something more affordable. learn how to fix it when it breaks. watch the market and know when to walk on a deal and when to run to pick it up. get a wad of 100's in a sock so you can move on buys without having to go to the bank. Get a pin capable vehicle and a decent hand truck. increase the value of your lower price machines tremendously by bulletproofing them and getting them reliably working 100%. Get used to the idea that you will make $2/hour for your labor (or $-10/hour).
you will play more games, have more fun, and then if you put $6k on a new stern, or $8.5K on The Hobbit, you'll feel better about the investment.
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