Here is my last thoughts on this, and then I will let this thread get back to its actual purpose...
I was born in 1973. I wasn't a great fan of school. I was a great fan of the arcade. I spent a lot of time down at Squeegee's pool hall on Islington Avenue when I was supposed to be in math class. I played Bubble Bobble and Pole Position and Centipede. Those were my big 3. In 1987 a new machine arrived. I mean like brand new. It was a thing of true beauty. It had a field of coloured lights in the middle and a robot head that opened up. And it talked! The older kids waited in turns to play it and had high score contests and impressed their girlfriends by collecting the most planets... Pin Bot. The first machine that made me really notice pinball. I had dreams about that game. I stole quarters from a jar on my father's dresser to go and play it (sorry Dad.)
Fast forward to 2015. I am 41 years old. Let's say for arguments sake that I am a successful adult with a house and a truck and a well paying job. I have a basement that I have obviously made into my man cave and purchased a pool table, a poker table, a big screen TV and an X-Box. I mean, that's what you do these days right? So I'm surfing around on Kijiji looking at games and shit, drinking my craft beer while the BBQ heats up and there it is. Pin Bot. In near mint condition. Those eyes are staring at me while the robot on the side of the cabinet seems to shrug his shoulders and say "What? What are 'ya gonna do, buddy? Here I am, bro - come and get me." The seller wants $4000.
In this scenario, I am not a pin head, I am not a collector, I don't know how to fix up a project game, I truly do not give a crap about the pinball price wars... I am just a dude with a van and a basement and a healthy savings account looking at an iconic piece of my youth for sale on the internet. Is it worth $4K to me? Absolutely. The kids can work the summer before they go to college if they need the money that bad. I want my pinball machine from Squeegee's Arcade.
Did Pin Bot just become a $4000 machine in the current marketplace? You know it did.