A very odd year for obvious reasons, but the hobby has been there for us!

The whole situation reminds me of a certain tragic event in 2001. I remember that the pinball market following these events started to significantly increase, as people were afraid to travel and decided to spend more in home entertainment than spending on tourism. The bump was significant, but as time went by, the market dropped a bit and then slowly increased...to the point where a huge jump happened about 8 years ago.Sparky wrote: ↑Wed Sep 02, 2020 7:29 am...
One of the subjects we discussed is the accessibility of the hobby now VS 5-10 years ago. And no... this is not a "price-police" rant. We just both noted that demand is high, and has been further accentuated by the pandemic. People want home entertainment. Quite normal.
It reminds me of a situation with a pin I had for sale. I had it listed at 1800, and one gentleman contacted me, stating "firmly" that I was overpriced as he had seen that pin for 1200, called me greedy, and offered me 1600, including delivery 2 hrs away, and set-up. At first, I was pissed and turned him down flat. I ended up selling it for less and to a friend that was nothing but courteous. Politeness matters to me. A lot.
But... since then, I have seen the same pin in lesser condition for 2200-2400. My first reflex was to say in my head "HA! You should have bought it then, buddy!!!", but I immediately started feeling bad. The accessibility of machines is less and less. Unless you can restore a pin from top to bottom, it's rough.
But I get it.... this was inevitable. A-list WPC pins were all up in price. They all get snatched up. None for sale. So buyers aim the b-list pins. And THEY go up due to demand... so... System 11's get sought after. THEY go up... then the early SS pins start to go up.
Close the border, and it just boosts prices up. The nature of things.
...
Welcome back!!!!! I TOLD you, retirement is bullshit. LOLjokker wrote: ↑Fri Sep 04, 2020 10:28 amWell I've kinda opened up the coffin door again to see the world, so I should at least take a moment to say hello to all! Lots of familiar faces still haunting this place all these years
Hopefully everyone is generally doing well and for me things are pretty much the same. I did pick up a Dr. Who finally a couple months ago so that finally finishes that quest. I also have a bizarrely good condition Joust that I'm slowly picking away at to get up and running again.
Thank you El Presidente,
Yeah I came into possession of a Joust a few years ago and slowly tinker on it from time to time. It's a real pain in the ass to work on to be honest.
Damn!!! That’s a name from the past! Welcome back!Sparky wrote: ↑Fri Sep 04, 2020 11:15 amWelcome back!!!!! I TOLD you, retirement is bullshit. LOLjokker wrote: ↑Fri Sep 04, 2020 10:28 amWell I've kinda opened up the coffin door again to see the world, so I should at least take a moment to say hello to all! Lots of familiar faces still haunting this place all these years
Hopefully everyone is generally doing well and for me things are pretty much the same. I did pick up a Dr. Who finally a couple months ago so that finally finishes that quest. I also have a bizarrely good condition Joust that I'm slowly picking away at to get up and running again.
I am having a "farts in a bathtub" type of day.
Very cool Cait.cait001 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 03, 2021 11:54 amI somehow made 8 blog posts in the last week at https://pinballnovice.blogspot.com/
check it out if you want to learn about drop-shelf mechanisms, the history of transitional electric pachinko machines, see a Japanese arcade from 1970, my research into the first pinball machine on screen, a pachinko-based porn that teaches you about modern pachinko, the epochs of Japanese smart ball machines, and Japanese reggae.