How/Why is pinball so popular now?

[kevin the 1984 kid]

How did pinball get back in the spotlight? I started officially collecting pinball machines in 2010 when there wasn't much interest and you could get a B title DMD (Getaway,JM,Fish tale ect.) for 1500$ all day. I joined the TOPL in 2012 and I believe I was one of the youngest members.
Fast foreword to 2017 and I see allot more people my age and younger playing at tournaments and in general. The TOPL has probably doubled in attendants since 2012, There is now more leagues then ever in the GTA with good numbers (form what I'm told) and the prices on pinball....well you already know! How did this happen? Is it shows like American pickers and Pawn Star that peeks people interested? Is it the age demographic? The 80's kids that have a house and money to buy a sweet 90's pin they grew up with?
What do you guys think?

 

[DRANO]

I have one word for you...

HIPSTERS!!!

 

[fantasygoat]

It's retro and physical, the complete opposite of our modern, virtual world of smartphones. I mean, we all like it, and everyone in the 70's liked it, I don't see why others wouldn't

 

[Fifty]

A lot of 40 year olds remember those 20 year old pins. Now they have disposable income and 20 year old children. They buy one pinball machine and play it with their 20 year old kid. 20 year old kid likes it buys another pin.

It's the circle of life.

 

[websherpa]

There will come to pass some chilling of the market, either after another severe recession / depression / mortgage correction (which we're headed for), or the novelty wears off. It happened to EMs and slot machines.

EMs were appreciated and sought after right up until about 5 or so years ago and now it's getting harder to give those away. I imagine the value of SS like Black Knight and High Speed will start slipping soon.

I do wonder where the inflated money to buy them now is coming from ("you can never have just one"). Either younger people are being paid insane amounts of money now (I AM jealous), or they're stacking their mortgages. Right now the wave and appreciation value is high, but as soon as the mortgage rates start increasing rapidly, collectibles will start to lose value as people scramble to reduce debt and there should be a market correction.

There also "should" have been a relative flood of the market due to aging and passing of collectors, but with better health care, we are all living longer. So the collectibles are remaining tied up for longer periods.

Demand is high, and supply is low. It used to be that we'd trade or sell our pins among us (TOPL, MAACA and later PINREVO and others) for not much more than we bought them for (or to trade up) because we always figured that we could get the titles we covet back later for not much more than we originally paid. Now we're looking at double or more 10 years later.

That's what happened to me. I ended up selling my favoured but ready to sell titles like Rollergames thinking they were just "C" titles and would end up back in my hands one day. Plus I wasn't smart / rich enough to snag great deals on NIB games like TRON and WPT when Starburst was having trouble with a slump in sales.

Collectors have since wised up and are hoarding unless they can sell for enough of a profit margin. I for one, will never sell a machine unless I am financially desperate, or horribly bored with a machine again. Or downsize and quit the hobby. They'll likely bury me in my STTNG.

 

[GUARD]

And I say 'bars'. For a long time you could only play high end video from a machine at a bar/arcade.....now the games at home are way better then the bar games. You can't, however, play pinball at home unless you own one, and the number you are starting to see in bars reflect that.

 

[DRANO]

My original post was in jest of course... but there is an element of truth to it.
I see a big shift in society with people wanting to simplify, purify and just generally get back to a way of life that is separate from the hi-tech disconnected world we find ourselves in today.
Of course, this doesnt describe everyone, but there is a signnificant part of the population that has started to value "the way things were" and they are putting their money where it counts (for them). Sure, you can poke fun at hipsters and their 'ironic' retro tastes... or people who want to live entirely off the grid and grow their own livestock... but even the everyday Joe sees the value in organic foods, or the warmth of vinyl vs. MP3 and, of course, the visceral feeling of playing a game that plays with you back and offers participants much more than just a score.
In short, people are waking up to a lot of things that were once great and asking why they are being forgotten... and pinball is benefitting from that too.
There's no one single answer. The rise of competitive pinball, barcades, the maker movement and home-brew pinball. All these things are playing a big role. The more collectible they become, the more expensive they get. Once people are willing to fork out a certain dollar figure for a machine and the cost to restore or modify it, then that opens the doors to new manufacturers and parts suppliers. The whole thing grows... in some ways for the better, but not always.
I got my fist machine in 2006 and I know a lot of guys who go back almost a decade before that. It was a small crowd. Manufacturers were dissapearing around this time. Pinball was no longer en vogue. Today it is again. How long will it last? That' anybody's guess.

 

[websherpa]

Back in 1978 when I got my first used EM ("Gottlieb Swing Along") as a gift, the EMs in Canada were considered almost worthless, as they were being supplanted by SS. And so a lot of them went into barns as nearly no one was "collecting."

Back then I was a very "young" hippy - wanting to change the world, live off solar energy and retire to a home farm...played the sax and "just" discovering micro computers.

20 or so years ago when I got back into collecting, that same EM might have fetched $250, maybe a little more in great shape from a serious EM collector. My first DMD was a Gottlieb Shaq Attaq for $700. I think the most I ever spent (and that was foolish) was about $2300 for my 2nd STTNG. You could pretty much buy any but the very A list in various conditions for between $200 and $2400. And some people would pay you to get them the hell out of their basements. ;-)

So you can see, back then it was easier for anyone to get "in" and then get "in too deep" and easy to fix and flip/trade for much less extravagant dollars. The same parts suppliers existed then as now, it's mainly the "upgrade" and "mod" suppliers that have proliferated.

I was lucky to get in when I did as my retirement fund hasn't suffered because of it. ;-) But pissed off that my collecting days are pretty much done unless I win a lottery.

 

[Rascal]

I am reasonably new to the addiction, and the high price of admission is really starting to make me think twice about my choices. I have witnessed dramatic price increases even in the short time I've been collecting. My only regret is not starting sooner when pins were more reasonably priced. There might come a time when the prices start to drop and that could push sellers to sell while the value is still high, causing better available/supply, thus lower prices in the long run. Maybe just wishful thinking?
Does anyone know what the average price for a decent title was 10 years ago?

 

[DRANO]

If I was starting out now, a pinball machine would be a very big extravagance. On the same scale as maybe a sportscar or motorcycle. It wouldn't be something I would be buying a whole basement of. One... maybe two.

I feel somewhat blessed that most modern pins being produced in the last few years do absolutely nothing for me. I have no need to be that "baller" or to be the first guy to unbox my new LE or fill my basement with LED laden toys that each command 5 digit price tags.

I came back from Allentown recently with a $450 USD Bally Future Spa. Complete machine (minus a couple of displays) and it'll clean up great. If I decide to repaint the cab, it'll look near mint in fact. There were about 2 or 3 working examples on the free play floor. I played them and, never having really given the machine much attention before, I fell in love with it. What a great game! And it cost me $450.
I don't think it's that hard to get into this hobby unless you wanna be the guy with a basement full of NIB Sterns.

 

[Coitusmysterioso]

I only recently got into the hobby approximately 1 year ago and I remember being told constantly that I was getting into the hobby at the wrong time. Would I love to have some of the newer DMD titles? Definitely! Can I afford any of them and still feed m 4 kids? Hell no!

I’ve seen a few peoples collections over the past 12 months and just can’t imagine spending that amount of money ($50k+) on pinball machines.

So far I have 2 working EM pins and 1 I am restoring. All in I have less than $1500 invested in pinball machines and enjoy playing the ones that I have.

 

[BMHouze]

My Checkpoint sale went to a person putting a pin in their cottage rental.
Seems like a way to stand out from the other rentals.
I have a supervisor at the plant renting a cottage in Owen Sound with a bunch of EMs.
Something to do on a rainy day.

 

[Gunnder]

I believe it to be because kids in the early to mid 90's are now in their late 30's to early 40's and have the disposable income to buy and relive the golden age of the 90's arcade. That's how this hobby came to me, my only regret is not getting in on it earlier when prices were still bearable.

 

[Rascal]

I believe it to be because kids in the early to mid 90's are now in their late 30's to early 40's and have the disposable income to buy and relive the golden age of the 90's arcade. That's how this hobby came to me, my only regret is not getting in on it earlier when prices were still bearable.

I remember playing playing Xenon and Centaur at the local arcade in '82. Damn that means I am almost antique status.

 

[FastEd]

I remember playing playing Xenon and Centaur at the local arcade in '82. Damn that means I am almost antique status.

I remember playing Space Invaders Pinball when it first came out and being mesmerized by the backglass...

 

[Rascal]

I remember playing Space Invaders Pinball when it first came out and being mesmerized by the backglass...

Feelin' old yet? I always say, I may grow old, but I'll will never grow up.

 

[kevin the 1984 kid]

I remember playing playing Xenon and Centaur at the local arcade in '82. Damn that means I am almost antique status.

I started with 911 and T2 pins in the early 90's then Getaway , Simpsons (DE) and TZ . Arcades MK2 all day, Virtual Fighter , T2 and Aerosmith gun games. Thats what got me hooked to pinball. I've always wanted to own a pinball since I was a teenager.

 

[FastEd]

I started with 911 and T2 pins in the early 90's then Getaway , Simpsons (DE) and TZ . Arcades MK2 all day, Virtual Fighter , T2 and Aerosmith gun games. Thats what got me hooked to pinball. I've always wanted to own a pinball since I was a teenager.

I remember wanting to own a pinball machine when I was like 11. I built my own out of plywood, nails and rubber bands. I sold it a few weeks later for $40! Used the proceeds to build a bigger more ambitious machine. I see a pattern emerging...

 

[brad808]

I also built my own when I was just a wee one. Made it out of scrap wood, bands, and sticks in the side for flippers.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[Luckydogg420]

This was my 1st pinball machine.

It was probably 30 years later that I bought my 1st commercial model. For the most part, I think I've just grown tired of video games. I'm always looking for new play experiences and video games just don't do it for me anymore. I played thousands of hours on wolfenstien, doom, Hexen, and duke nukem. Now modern fps just seem like more of the same old shit. I've also got quite a collection of board games but ya can't always find a group of friends and a couple hours to kill. Pinball is just a real authentic feeling thing, not fleeting and superficial like so much of modern culture