Arcade price crash?

Bang per a buck is pretty bad without the nostalgia quotient. Home consoles have better and more unique controls than ever before so the game playing experience itself isn't that different. Even I am half tempted to dump some stuff to pick up a VR headset

That said, the biggest hook on arcade gaming is just have room.
 
Judging by the price Coinop Warehouse gets for a lot of beat-up junk on Facebook, prices are indeed holding strong. That said, I just don't think there will be an enduring market for this stuff once people of prime nostalgia age are over it. I'm 35 and already hitting that point and have begun to sell off some stuff I don't really love while the going is good and because I am losing interest and have other priorities (and limited time) now anyway. Other than the most hardcore collectors, people aren't going to want these hulking beasts in their house forever, so the supply will still be there to a degree.
 
Nostalgia is the driving factor. People who do not have the emotional attachment could give shit less. Stop deluding yourselves.

It's just like the collector car market. Cars from the 60's, 50's, 40's, 30's have dropped in value because people who emotionally coveted those cars are getting too old to care or have died. Cars from the 70's have started to decline in value as well. What do you know? Cars from the 80's and 90's have gone up.

The games will always have value but it will slowly decline for sure.
 
For example where I live, 10 yrs ago I couldn't touch a Simpsons game for less than $500 even in fair condition. Then as of 5 years ago I seemed people couldn't unload them fast enough and you could get them anywhere from $275-400 in decent shape. Now as of recent I'm seeing them upwards of $700 to over a $1000. I suspect in a few yrs they'll drop again.

that particular game is hot with the hipster/barcade environment.
for home it is just ridiculously big.

some doo dah on a raspberry Pi FB group the other day got ahold of one cheap and was going on about how great hacking it up for pi would be.
I stated why that wasn't good but he was set on it.
 
People have been saying the pinball bubble is going to pop for like 10 years. I believed it for a while too, but it just doesn't seem to happen. I bought a Taxi for $900, listed it for $1700 16 months later. Not only did it sell in a couple hours at that ridiculous price, I had guys trying to screw over the buyer by offering more money before I delivered it.

Taxi was considered an inexpensive pin when I bought it and ironically still is even though the price has almost tripled.

The Cargument always pops up, be we're a long way from people fond of 80's and 90's games dying off and interest diminishing. The prime collector age seems to be mid 30's to mid 50's, guys that are a long way from dumping it all to watch Matlock.

Coinop Warehouse listings are madness, I think because he'll ship overseas. There was a guy on there buying non-working water damaged junkers for $500-600 each, then getting them shipped.
 
for good or bad, this is 90% of their buyers for arcade stuff these days

they just sold a water-soaked non-working Q*bert for $1200 the other day

Coinop Warehouse listings are madness, I think because he'll ship overseas. There was a guy on there buying non-working water damaged junkers for $500-600 each, then getting them shipped.
 
Are pinball deals out there like arcade deals are? I know arcade deals are much harder to come by now, but they are still out there.

Ive wanted a white water, addams family and cftbl forever now, and am kicking myself for not buying a white water years back for 2k. Starting to feel like it wont ever happen at these prices.
 
Prices are at the highest I've seen for 90s games. I started in 1999. Bought MKII for $400 in a dynamo cab. At the time, I bought a few spare boards for $25. Sames boards are between $150 and $200 now. During that time, prices for 90s stuff were going down in price and 80s stuff were out of range. As time went on, 90s games started to go up and 80s started to go down. Now everything is going up. I say it's because of all the bar cades opening up. In Philly around barcade, bars are starting to add arcades. So I think the demand is more from businesses than collectors.
 
I'm seeing sellers wanting $125-$150 for Altered Beast boards. WTF. Really? A few years ago these were $35. People have Tron boards for sale and want to pay their mortgage from the sale. SMH.
 
"Games generated $91 billion worldwide in 2016, according to a report from market researcher SuperData Research."
--- http://venturebeat.com/2016/12/21/w...evenues-in-2016-with-mobile-the-clear-leader/


"Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll or rock 'n' roll) is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s,"
--- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_and_roll


"The Classic Car Era began in 1946 as the Cold War, the Communist threat in Cuba, civil rights and Vietnam brought new strife and concerns to the American people."
--- http://www.antiquecar.com/history/classic.php


Whether you're talking rock and roll memorabilia, classic cars or 80's era arcade games... this is history, and there will always be value there. In 100 years after we're all gone, these games will still have significant (ever growing?) value as they represent the origin of a major component of our society (video games).
 
Hate to say this out loud here... but since the silver ball has taken over my soul, I'm glad to see the prices of my arcade games has gone up. There's no way in hell I'd be able to afford pins otherwise. :D
 
People are feeling better about the economy and feel they can spend more money..... and spend on their hobbies. As the generations of collectors get older, the newer (non-golden age) stuff will continue to go up in value. I don't think there will be a significant drop, but there definitely seems to be a lot more hoarding of the "collectable" items causing less to be available. Paying for storage gets old eventually, and some of these will make it back into the circulation. The days of $100 pacmans are gone.

When the economy takes a dump again, you will se a bit of a drop in prices again.

Brian
 
I'm seeing sellers wanting $125-$150 for Altered Beast boards. WTF. Really? A few years ago these were $35. People have Tron boards for sale and want to pay their mortgage from the sale. SMH.


This...I'm no longer buying projects for this reason. (Sure all games need work)..with shipping putting together a classic can be a money dump. That $200 PAC man will cost $500 at least in shipping and parts.

Original glass bezel $100
Pcb $100
Marquee $50
Monitor $100 to $150
Art $200
Stuff $50

I'm exaggerating slightly, but I would say the average arcade costs around $400 in parts to put back together from a beat shell. At least. And I have found old pins need around the same if you buy them cheap and unrestored. With pins though at least you don't feel like you're pissing your money away.
 
it seems like more "casuals" are getting into the market as well. people that aren't arcade psychos like us, but relish the thought of having a Pac Man, Galaga, etc.

while those aren't rare, the simple supply/demand thing (i would imagine) pushes prices up all around. there's a ripple effect that then affects values in our community on cabinets/games that normies wouldn't want.
 
it seems like more "casuals" are getting into the market as well. people that aren't arcade psychos like us, but relish the thought of having a Pac Man, Galaga, etc.

while those aren't rare, the simple supply/demand thing (i would imagine) pushes prices up all around. there's a ripple effect that then affects values in our community on cabinets/games that normies wouldn't want.

This is what I've seen over the past 20 years in other hobbies I'm involved in. There are maybe 20-30 A-list titles that everyone knows and wants that just keep going up steadily.
 
Whether you're talking rock and roll memorabilia, classic cars or 80's era arcade games... this is history, and there will always be value there. In 100 years after we're all gone, these games will still have significant (ever growing?) value as they represent the origin of a major component of our society (video games).

Disagree. Classic cars actually make my point. Cars from the 40's and 50's are worth about half what they were worth around 15 years ago. Basically when a generation hits the other side of 60, the objects that they coveted start to lose value because those people start dying off and there is nobody with a true emotional attachment to keep those values up. Sure, they still have worth but nowhere near what they were worth to people who grew up with those objects. Cars represent an even bigger part of our society than arcade games. Cars from the 60's and 70's have started their slide in value because of the reason I said. Cars from the 80's and 90's have started to rise because people who those cars meant something to are starting to come into disposable income.
 
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