Are there any games you'd consider paying a retail price for?

Tron pinball

yes, stern is making a tron pinball :)

i spoke with a klover who recently went to the stern factory and saw a early "mock up" of the playfield as well as some of the toys.

this will be my first retail purchased game. cannot wait!

I thought a Tron pin was a rumor. Is there anymore info on it ? I may have to buy my first pin :)
 
yes, stern is making a tron pinball :)

i spoke with a klover who recently went to the stern factory and saw a early "mock up" of the playfield as well as some of the toys.

this will be my first retail purchased game. cannot wait!


I've seen stuff on mockup in many places before that didn't completely come out. I just don't understand the timing, are they going to release it with the second Tron sequel?

Either way all of you guys talking about buying this and you haven't played a newer Stern pin in awhile, remember this...it's still the Sega factory, Sega software. You can hear all the "Williams/Bally" designers stuff you want, but the "feel" is still that of a Sega pin for everything they have released, that has not been escaped as of yet.

Also, the last game, Avatar...uh...that game is NOT worth $4400...holy nuts...

Iron Man is decent, but has lots of design flaws, but seriously, I would highly suggest flying to a show or going to a distributor to play the pin first...only Stern ones I can say are truly ownable decent are Indy, Batman, Iron Man, 24, LOTR, Sopranos, and CSI....Big Buck plays more like a Williams and is fast but the theme and lack of stuff in it are a turnoff in my opinion
 
I've seen stuff on mockup in many places before that didn't completely come out. I just don't understand the timing, are they going to release it with the second Tron sequel?

Either way all of you guys talking about buying this and you haven't played a newer Stern pin in awhile, remember this...it's still the Sega factory, Sega software. You can hear all the "Williams/Bally" designers stuff you want, but the "feel" is still that of a Sega pin for everything they have released, that has not been escaped as of yet.

Also, the last game, Avatar...uh...that game is NOT worth $4400...holy nuts...

Iron Man is decent, but has lots of design flaws, but seriously, I would highly suggest flying to a show or going to a distributor to play the pin first...only Stern ones I can say are truly ownable decent are Indy, Batman, Iron Man, 24, LOTR, Sopranos, and CSI....Big Buck plays more like a Williams and is fast but the theme and lack of stuff in it are a turnoff in my opinion

Yeah it seems stern doesn't care about good timing of a release. Or should I say they are afraid to take a gamble and release a game along with the film. If the film fails they are afraid the game will to it seems. Of course by taking the safe route they also lose a ton of hype and potential sales. Originally when I heard there might be a tron pin from stern I was excited as they were the only pin company left and seemed like the last hope for a tron pin period. Although they have yet to produce a pin I'm pretty excited that Elaut or Jersey Jack is attempting a run at the pinball industry. Personally I think they will pull it off. In light of that I'm actually bummed to get the tron pin from Stern rather than Jersey jack. Sadly even with no product made yet i have more hope and faith that they would produce a better product than stern will. Still unless it's an ugly total piece of crap I will likely buy a NIB tron pin from Stern simply because I'm a big tron fan.
 
There are a few that I'd pay a premium to get, but nothing like some of the "crazy" prices I see being asked. I've probably overpaid a bit for a couple of mine, and gotten insanely good deals on others. I figure it all balances out to me doing pretty well on the games in my collection. Also, it will vary depending on my comfort level on fixing a particular game.
 
I've seen stuff on mockup in many places before that didn't completely come out. I just don't understand the timing, are they going to release it with the second Tron sequel?

Either way all of you guys talking about buying this and you haven't played a newer Stern pin in awhile, remember this...it's still the Sega factory, Sega software. You can hear all the "Williams/Bally" designers stuff you want, but the "feel" is still that of a Sega pin for everything they have released, that has not been escaped as of yet.

Also, the last game, Avatar...uh...that game is NOT worth $4400...holy nuts...

Iron Man is decent, but has lots of design flaws, but seriously, I would highly suggest flying to a show or going to a distributor to play the pin first...only Stern ones I can say are truly ownable decent are Indy, Batman, Iron Man, 24, LOTR, Sopranos, and CSI....Big Buck plays more like a Williams and is fast but the theme and lack of stuff in it are a turnoff in my opinion

It is next in line, due to come out around the release of the Tron movies on DVD and blu-ray in May. 3 flippers, lower right hand placement of the pops and 2 ramps (think worm hole ramp on STTNG, but on the right side). Daft Punk music will be on the pin soundtrack. I agree, the last few Sterns have not been worth the asking price. There is a lot of anticipation around this theme, so I hope they are taking the time to do it right and not cheap out on it. Early indications are that they are...
 
I get lucky once in awhile.. for instance, I picked up a huo Sinistar in mint condition with no screen burn for $675 off craigslist but shipping took it a shade over 1K with no issues. On the other hand, I picked up a huo millipede on CL for $550 but needed cosmetics and had some functional issues to iron out as well. Add $450 shipping, new marquee and cp overlays $100ish, new monitor $200, multipede kit $85, trackball rebuild kit + translucent green ball + lighting kit $100ish + pcb repair + labor to strip and apply the art + powdercoat various parts that $550 millipede is now about a $2k millipede. Funny the repro cpo is already showing signs of stress so will need to redo it down the road when it gets worse. It also sat for a couple years until I got these done.

I don't regret the purchase one bit though because its one of my alltime favorite games along with this particular machine's history (Ben Gold won this in an arcade contest bitd, I bought it from him) and you'd be hard pressed to find a nicer one.

But I gotta smile every time I see a nice ones pop up for $350-500. ouch!

Tom
 
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In my current financial situation, I simply cannot afford retail. And I don't even turn my $175 average priced games into more than double what I paid in repairs/upgrades. :rolleyes:

If I had a lot more money, I'd have no problem dropping a grand / whatever was needed on a nicely refurbed game...
 
Out of my whole collection the only game I paid retail is my Journey and that was because I enjoyed the band and was a fan back in the 80s. I always wanted to have that game to add to my collection, but now that I hear about this new stern tron pinball comming out it might be my first NIB pinball machine that I don't mind having if it's as good and plays like a LOTR pinball. We will have to see.....................????????????????
 
For my hypothetical future arcade museum I would pay top dollar for a pristine, mint condition:

S.A.M.I.
Computer Space
Pong
Dragon's Lair
M.A.C.H. 3
.

Call me lame, but I would.
 
There's only one game i can think of that i'd fork out retail cash for. i know where to get it, it's pretty much impossible to find, i just have to decide if i wanna pull the trigger and i'm not even gonna mention what it is until i've decided to pass. Quantum, Havoc, Death Race, Lunar Lander and Warlords were a piece of cake, this one was not.
 
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There's only one game i can think of that i'd fork out retail cash for. i know where to get it, it's pretty much impossible to find, i just have to decide if i wanna pull the trigger and i'm not even gonna mention what it is until i've decided to pass. Quantum, Havoc, Death Race, Lunar Lander and Warlords were a piece of cake, this one was not.

you know now that you've got me picking my brain of what rare game you could possibly be talking about I have thought of one game I might pay a lot for due to rarity. Rock ola demon. Not common and I enjoy the game. Of course now that I think about it i may have a good guess which game you are thinking of.
 
I would have to say that yes, I can see myself possibly paying retail price for a game in some situations, but it depends on what the retail price is. Sometimes it's 2x collector prices, sometimes 5x.

If it were the right x and there really was value add by the retail seller (fully recapped monitor; new or fully restored sideart/coin door/CP, game warranty) then yeah -- it's not out of the question.

Granted, it was my first game and I knew nothing about arcade games when I bought it but I've probably spent more than retail price getting my Spy Hunter game the way I want it. It would have just been cheaper and a hell of a lot less hassle to have just bought it that way in the first place.

Of course I wouldn't have learned much in the process and that experience has been handy with my other games...
 
Brother demogo, at least it was for one of the greatest games ever! When I first caught the arcade fever, I remember visiting Vintagearcadesuperstore looking for a Spy Hunter cockpit and they had one for something like $3500. I didn't know that price included restoration. I left disheartened then posted a wtb post here on klov and someone offered me one in a nice original condition for $300. I could hardly believe it! I rented a truck for $200 and grabbed it.

Unfortunately I've grown into a condition freak so its currently undergoing restoration at....Vintagearcadesuperstore lol. The cool thing is since that time, I've been able to score several hard to find items for it like a nos plastic seat (mine was cracked), nos parts including a steering column from mylstar, a new monitor and uncracked plastic steering column collar. Add to this, Rich at TOG is nearing completion of Sideart and the metal floor plate.

I'm afraid to think what the final tally will be, but am thinking it will be close to what floored me way back when. But it will be a perfect SH when the restoration is complete. Its been fun and frustrating at the same time. I probably coyldnt have found one in its final restored condition, but it sure wouldve been nice...I couldve spent these years of ownership competing with your hi score!

Tom

Granted, it was my first game and I knew nothing about arcade games when I bought it but I've probably spent more than retail price getting my Spy Hunter game the way I want it. It would have just been cheaper and a hell of a lot less hassle to have just bought it that way in the first place.

Of course I wouldn't have learned much in the process and that experience has been handy with my other games...
 
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Brother demogo, at least it was for one of the greatest games ever! When I first caught the arcade fever, I remember visiting Vintagearcadesuperstore looking for a Spy Hunter cockpit and they had one for something like $3500. I didn't know that price included restoration. I left disheartened then posted a wtb post here on klov and someone offered me one in a nice original condition for $300. I could hardly believe it! I rented a truck for $200 and grabbed it.

Unfortunately I've grown into a condition freak so its currently undergoing restoration at....Vintagearcadesuperstore lol. The cool thing is since that time, I've been able to score several hard to find items for it like a nos plastic seat (mine was cracked), nos parts including a steering column from mylstar, a new monitor and uncracked plastic steering column collar. Add to this, Rich at TOG is nearing completion of Sideart and the metal floor plate.

I'm afraid to think what the final tally will be, but am thinking it will be close to what floored me way back when. But it will be a perfect SH when the restoration is complete. Its been fun and frustrating at the same time. I probably coyldnt have found one in its final restored condition, but it sure wouldve been nice...I couldve spent these years of ownership competing with your hi score!

Tom

LOL. Well, my high score isn't going anywhere because increasing it involves actually playing the game and reserving a couple of hours to do so. (It takes me a warmup game or two before I'm ready for a real scoring game) and the game I'm looking for will be over 75 min long to beat my high score.

Real life is just getting in the way nowadays.
 
for me it would depend. if i had enough cash to have spare money lying around, i'd pay the retail for one of those time travel robotrons. but to spend that much on a game, it'd have to be a) a discs of tron, or b) still crated and never played by anyone except me.
 
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