Well, of course.
I'm talking about prices of New pinball machines each year being "out of reach" and only for the extremely wealthy.
Obviously if you want to buy older, used pinball machines, they are going to be cheaper. Obviously if you only buy 1 machine every 5 years it's going to be cheaper.
The point here is that New pinball machines are now retailing for $7,000, $10,000, even $12,000 each year. That's a VERY big ticket item .
My point was that the hobby has reached a new level. Or a new target buyer (if you want to say it that way). The new market is the very wealthy (same as high-end sports cars or boats). New pinball machines have always been expensive, I'm sure. They were designed and sold to operators looking to make a profit.
But today 70% of the business is targeted to wealthy, home use buyers (as opposed to operators). That is a HUGE shift. And prices are insanely high as a result. I would also point out that the pinball tables of today are incredible pieces of technology that are simply awesome. I don't blame the Pinball manufacturers for charging a huge dollar for their products.
Again, I'm not begrudging wealthy people for buying these amazingly cool toys. I wish I had the wealth to buy them too. Because if I did, I would have an awesome collection of pins, and buy a couple new ones every year too!
But you can't deny that prices have reached a new level that is clearly, out of reach to the average guy. It's simply the way it is. Saying that "just buy older, used, or less expensive pins" is missing the point of how the target market for the current pinball industry has changed.