Arcade price crash?

So I've been active and asleep in the the hobby several times. All I can say is what the heck. Prices are unbelievable right now.

Have prices hit the ceiling yet?

I am wondering if there's a crash ahead? when are guys growing up in the 80's and 90's going to decide, eh... I don't play it, I don't need it, and it needs to be out of my home.

What's your prediction?

Prices haven't hit the ceiling yet.
Some observations I've made recently:
There are more bar/arcades opening up.
More folks are entering the hobby. I've fixed a few games for non collectors in my area now. Everyone of them wants more. I know of a few businesses that are buying for their employee break rooms, not to earn.
I'm seeing more "arcade games wanted CL" postings. About half of these aren't from professional flippers either, just someone who wants "X" game in their house.
The 80's are hot right now. I work at a university and am seeing more of the 80's style come back. I've had more compliments on my School House Rock and Goonies T-Shirt from kids who weren't alive when the movies came out and definitely haven't even seen them. ("Cool Goonies shirt, bro!" "Goonies never say die!" "blank stare"). Hell, I've seen kids rockin' acid wash again.
Arcades are a part of the 80's as such they're riding the 80's wave.

The crash will come if the economy tanks again.

I got into buying games at the tail end of the '08 crash, 1/2 of my collection was bought at that time for less than $200 per game on average. I sat and thought about shelling out $450 for a working Tempest for a full day before pulling the trigger and was the only person to call. If a working Tempest showed up for that price right now it would be gone in an hour.

If the economy does go that's when folks will start to unload their games and the market 'might' become a buyers market with less competition.

Most folks have the internet now and can and do look up what their game in the garage is worth. For every one of us who knows that water logged non working Ms. Pac conversion is probably only good for parting out and overpriced, there are 10 folks who want it and will pay the $400 the seller is wanting. I think it's because the buyer is also looking online, sees a restored original sell for north of 1K and think they really are getting a good deal.
 
This has been discussed more than once.

Like many other collectibles, the price of this stuff has gone up in the last couple of years.

In the late 90s during the dot com boom, prices of these old games went up a lot. Then when there was a dot com bust, prices and interest went down except for certain games. When we had the recession, the prices and interest went down even more and games were generally pretty cheap.

When the economy inevitably declines, people will not be willing to spend as much money on this stuff, demand will wane, and prices will go down. Will we all still be collecting then? I don't know, I am getting old. When will it happen? I have no idea, but history has taught us that the good times don't last forever...
 
You should see pinball pricing... (They've been saying the same thing for a long time, for good reason)

The early solid-state games that couldn't be sold for $300 in the early 90's are at around $1,500 now and selling.

Bally Fathom got a cliche bandwagon going for it (like Journey here) and is going for 7K. Monster Bash goes for 10K-15K.
 

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This has been discussed more than once.

Like many other collectibles, the price of this stuff has gone up in the last couple of years.

In the late 90s during the dot com boom, prices of these old games went up a lot. Then when there was a dot com bust, prices and interest went down except for certain games. When we had the recession, the prices and interest went down even more and games were generally pretty cheap.

When the economy inevitably declines, people will not be willing to spend as much money on this stuff, demand will wane, and prices will go down. Will we all still be collecting then? I don't know, I am getting old. When will it happen? I have no idea, but history has taught us that the good times don't last forever...

I'm gearing up to open a museum and have wondered many times about what the pinball and arcade market will be like in 30-40 years, not to be greedy, but just curious. As much as $100 or less for every title would be nice, not looking forward to racing around to save every game from the dump and seeing all the ones across the country I can't get to.
 
I do not see them going to Radio Shack either.
I started out with a Radio Shack 200-1 kit......most younger collectors are now seeking out the experienced seasoned collectors to help fix and repair their games. I help out to an extent, but I always offer to buy the game when they get tired of their games frequently breaking down. You can lead horse to water, but alot of times you can't make them fix their own games. They shouldn't get into this hobby unless they plan on learning how to fix their games themselves. I have fixed many classic games because I am a parts hoarder. But my backstock of parts are for my games, not someone who wants to trade a nonworking pcb, control panel joystick, coin door, power supply and monitor chassis for my rebuilt working parts because I took the time to fix it myself.
 
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