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I went casually looking around a couple weeks ago to see what a used pinball machine might cost. Down the rabbit hole I went until I landed on a subreddit where
by oldandboring 3y ago
I went casually looking around a couple weeks ago to see what a used pinball machine might cost. Down the rabbit hole I went until I landed on a subreddit where I learned that pinball absolutely exploded during the pandemic and the prices for both used and new machines nearly doubled. I also learned that there's a nontrivial cost-of-ownership at play, since (especially for older machines) it can be difficult to find replacement parts, and you need to be handy enough to diagnose and fix problems.
- skeaker 3y agoIt's definitely never been a cheap hobby. A common folly that I heard from multiple people involved in the scene was that they would buy an old and broken game with the idea that they would repair it themselves, only to find that the cost for parts would greatly outweigh any resale value the machine would have. Fortunately some push through regardless simply because they enjoy the game itself.
- nasalgoat 3y agoThat was never really true - I used to make plenty of cash refurbishing machines, playing for a bit, and selling them off. It can get pricey if you're trying to source unique parts for low-volume games but the vast majority of wear parts are generic and not that expensive. Mostly games are just dirty.
- johnvanommen 3y agoI worked in a video arcade in college, and pinball machines were the bane of my existence. They broke down easily 1000% more often than anything else. Data East pinballs were particularly shoddy.