Are PCB prices steadily increasing? Will it end?

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.

Exactly this. The value of anything is the highest dollar amount that any potential buyer will pay. You might not be willing to pay $300.00 for a TMNT, but if other people are then that is its market value.

Eventually everyone who is willing to pay $300 and up will own one and then the price may drop... But if demand continues to exceed supply then it never will.
 
Price of non-working pcbs is up & up too. Quick look at Ebay:

Dead Raiden 2 - $125
Dead Guerilla War - $50
Dead Q-Bert - $250
Broken Wonderboy that's probably a hacked conversion - $275, yeah right.

Sorry, is this price policing? :)
 
There was another thread about SF boards being high dollar. But yes, prices have been going up and I'm not buying at those prices. I know the barcades here don't have much 90s games compared to 80s. I've got all the 90s games I wanted early on. Everything is a cycle. Prices will come down but you'll have to wait.
 
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gotta disagree here

* no new stock being produced
* breakage over time of existing stock
* increasing number people with disposable income for whom arcade games hold nostalgia

if we're lucky (that's a big "IF") prices will stagnate

Prices will come down but you'll to wait.
 
Prices will go down eventually. Yes, nostalgia is causing to go up right now, but the appeal will wear off, just like it did back in the 80's and 90's.

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your a victim of a bunch of factors:
age group coming into disposable income after the same things
wider access to items through the internet
worldwide competition for items
lower production numbers for games your interested in

the plus side is most of the games are emulated or will be. So its your need to own the actual pcb that's messing you up. Its not like games from the 80's that were being designed by dozens of companies with unique chips. Most games of the 2000's were developed on platforms that were playstaion or pc based. so unlike some early games were sound/speed can be off, emulation should be 100%.

So, your just late to game. this has been going on for years. if you want to know where the prices will go, look at where 80's pcbs are at. that will sort of tell you where new stuff will go. The big difference is that most of the 2000 era games were played on super nes and genesis. so I think there may be a greater worldwide demand for them than for 80's classics.
 
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There was another thread about SF boards being high dollar. But yes, prices have been going up and I'm not buying at those prices. I know the barcades here don't have much 90s games compared to 80s. I've got all the 90s games I wanted early on. Everything is a cycle. Prices will come down but you'll to wait.

I sold my Champion Edition Big Blue for way more than I paid, and I sold it almost 2 years ago now. I paid a net of $150 for the cabinet, then bought and installed a NOS marquee, new joysticks, new buttons and a new CPO. I ended up selling it for $1,400.
 
gotta disagree here

* no new stock being produced
* breakage over time of existing stock
* increasing number people with disposable income for whom arcade games hold nostalgia

if we're lucky (that's a big "IF") prices will stagnate

Prices have gone up and down since I've been collecting, it's a rollercoaster.
 
the kids who were in grade school at the NES console and later put far more effort in console stuff than arcade. We are old.....
 
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
Just curious. What year were pac boards $300?
 
Ever watch Barrett Jackson and see the price of a #'s matching 69 Camaro Z28 or a 70 Hemi Cuda when the gavel falls? 6 digits easily. Same car could be had in the late 90's for $20-30k.

It's not just Arcade machines, It's many things.

The hard part to separate in your feelings is this: How much of your dislike for the rising prices is due to you wanting to buy a game/board/part that you can afford now, vs wanting to be able to buy that same boarn/game/part at yesteryear's prices, so you could turn and sell it/flaunt it at today's prices?

I almost bought a driver 67 Mustang 289 fastback in 2002 for $6500. Same car now would be a $18-25k car. Restored or restomodded into an Eleanor clone and it's a $45+ car. I realize that when I see car prices now, that 25% of my annoyance is because I could comfortable afford the price now and would appreciate it more, and the other 75% is because I wish I could buy it today at that price and sell it at today's price, mixed being mad at myself for not buying it then and holding out hope it would go up.

In the end, everything is supply and demand. You can blame hipsters, but they are the ones creating demand and probably allowing collectors to sell machines they have for years for way more and allowing them to get into other games.
 
Just curious. What year were pac boards $300?

I started collecting in 2001 and Pac/Ms Pac were insane. POS games were 800-900 and decent ones 1200. Pac boards didn't start falling until 2004 or 2005 IIRC.
 
IDK guys, look at the for sale section. There are tons of pcbs and parts going for really cheap these days, and in most cases the prices include shipping.

If you ask me, I am seeing so many prices drop dramatically.
 
the kids who were in grade school at the NES console and later put far more effort in console stuff than arcade. We are old.....

I was one of those kids... Born 1983... Grew up playing NES, SNES, etc.. Didn't really get the opportunity to play most of the early arcade games or even arcade games much in general considering we only had one crappy arcade for like 50 miles and I didn't get to go very often. I owned a Galaxian 2 handheld and probably got most of my retro arcade experience playing ports.

Even still, I'm now addicted to 80s arcade games and am super nostalgic for vintage Nintendo merch.

So yeah, I own a Donkey Kong cab, and a Playchoice 10... and a Mushroom World pin...

I used to own a lot of consoles but sold most of them off... not as nostalgic for owning consoles after collecting them for years.

I'd fit into one of those age groups you would think would be more interested in consoles than arcade machines, yet here I am, far more interested in arcade machines... and I'm sure I'm not alone.
 
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IDK guys, look at the for sale section. There are tons of pcbs and parts going for really cheap these days, and in most cases the prices include shipping.

If you ask me, I am seeing so many prices drop dramatically.

Agree with you there. Some great classic pcbs are going for nice prices. 90s crap is what's outta control.
 
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.
I know the feeling. Bought a busted TMNT board overpriced just because I wanted to restore it from a damn golden tee. Not because the last TMNT movies were any good, because they're not the first live action film. Still looking for a decent priced Bubble Bobble pcb or cab. Not because everyone has been raving about it, because no one has. Ridiculous.
 
It is purely generational. When I started in the mid 90's it was all about early 80s, with a few classics going for a lot. Now only old guys want them. The newer members want 90s stuff, will barely look at 80s, and sure as hell wont touch b&w or vector. The problem is very few people ever want to sell for less than they paid, even if the demand tapers off. Thats why kids and grandkids end up junking half of the stuff when us old timers croak. Expect a sharp decline in this hobby in the next 10 years. Once the barcade fad dies, it will be the last gasp of the arcade scene. The newer generation truly do not care about our big wooden boxes. It hurts, but it is true. I see it everyday in our game store.
 
It is purely generational. When I started in the mid 90's it was all about early 80s, with a few classics going for a lot. Now only old guys want them. The newer members want 90s stuff, will barely look at 80s, and sure as hell wont touch b&w or vector. The problem is very few people ever want to sell for less than they paid, even if the demand tapers off. Thats why kids and grandkids end up junking half of the stuff when us old timers croak. Expect a sharp decline in this hobby in the next 10 years. Once the barcade fad dies, it will be the last gasp of the arcade scene. The newer generation truly do not care about our big wooden boxes. It hurts, but it is true. I see it everyday in our game store.

it isn't that they don't care, they just never experienced arcades like we did. Some will care. Like our children. I'm hoarding spare parts for what I have though.

I won't touch B&W or vector either. Too expensive, too hard to find parts. I'd love a bunch of 80s cabs, but the ones I want all seem to be crazy priced. So, I bought a bunch of 90s stuff when it was cheap just a few (well almost 10) years ago. I'm happy with what I got. I'm likely leaning toward MAME for my 80s fix though.
 
in my own family who has kids and grandkids who have been well exposed to coin-op of all the flavors I've tinkered with.

i imagine the only thing that will survive beyond my own fascination is.....
--the horsie ride in the garage, assuming the motor keeps kickin'
--the arkanoid which i put in a tiny little pseudo-cab setup that doubles as a place to store a stool.
--the first pinball machine I brought home, Eight Ball Deluxe, assuming someone else can be employed to keep it going. They'll fight over the pinball machine if it still works.
 
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