Are PCB prices steadily increasing? Will it end?

streetfighterken

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I got into the hobby 4 years ago and prices were alright. I bought Final Fight on this forum for $75. Now it sells for $150+. Same with Konami beat em ups. A little over $100 4 years ago. Now they start at $250. Seems like late 80s/early 90s is super hot. And Cave shmups... fuhget about it. Seriously. Forget about it. What was once a fun, affordable hobby is losing its charm for me. I suppose the retro console guys have been feeling the same hurt for awhile. Full size cabinet prices seem to not be increasing as rapidly, however. I suspect because they take up so much space and sellers are more motivated to move them.

The $400 Ghostbusters in Classifieds prompted this post.
 
90's stuff is the new hotness. Pac boards were $300 when I started. They can be had for $80 at this point. Since all Konami beat em ups are the same, get yourself a Crime Fighters or Vendetta at a quarter of the cost of the licensed games and enjoy. :D
 
I already got my Konami stuff when the market was good. Shit, I could make a cool grand on it now :D

Cool. They were all $60 boards when I was buying them. Sold all before they went up because I can't get into them anymore when they are in a home setting with unlimited continues.
 
I remember Ghostbusters being a hot game in the arcade back in the day, hardly got to play it as it was always busy.
 
Gravitar PCB = $325US.
I remember when you could buy the entire game for that (or less). :(
Where's the TIME MACHINE? LOL
 
Many of the chips and other components on this hardware has met/exceeded it's reasonable life expectancy.

Expect more dead PCBs requiring repair (if you can even get the parts) and higher prices.

Will demand fall off before all of the supply is dead or in the hands of those who won't sell until they die (aka me)? Who knows.

Normally, yes, prices go up and down.

But in this case, we have a fixed supply that won't ever increase (except MAME or its XXXin1 siblings), so the normal supply/demand curves may not apply.

No supply and a little demand is still high prices.

Sorry dude.
 
Flippers, Greed and Ebay are the problem...$300-350 for a TMNT pcb come on, give me a break.
 
Contrary to popular belief, 90's kids make up a bulk of the barcade clientel. They're coming into their nostalgia which is driving the prices up.
 
love it or hate it, this is a good and often over-looked point

guess why arcade games even exist at all today? not because of "the love of video games" (sorry to spoil it for you)

it was because people wanted to make MONEY and saw arcade games as a viable and profitable way to do it

I hate hate HATE the prices going up crazy on everything (I don't have the disposable income to pick up a cluster of games every other month) but I've come to terms with it

That is the American way, free market principles.
 
Flippers, Greed and Ebay are the problem...$300-350 for a TMNT pcb come on, give me a break.

It's not flippers, greed or ebay... It's common sense.

Demand going up + Availability going down = Higher value


More and more people are wanting this stuff and less and less of this stuff exists in working condition... So yeah, prices can't stay low forever.

Flippers don't decide what things are worth. People buying the things decide what those things are worth. If people are paying $300 for a TMNT pcb, then that is what it's worth.
 
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