The most I've lost is prob about 15 hours of work, and potentially years off my life (TBD) from dealing with the funk of old unkempt machines.

I'm happy to donate this to the cause tho.

I put $1 in a Munsters Pro today. I feel like I am losing money every time I play that one.

I can relate to this. My first several months of Pinball ownership were like this. Luckily there are some amazingly helpful people on this site that were willing to guide me through my first several issues....and many other issues since.

We all have to start somewhere. If you stick with it, you can eventually learn to do a lot of your own troubleshooting and repairs. If I can learn to fix pinball machines without any real electronic experience then anyone can.

Prices are dropping. Market is “soft”. Plenty of options.

FOO LEs now available below $13k. 1,000 is too many for any pin at that price.

If you are patient, a tough thing to be in this hobby, don’t buy NIB these days and let someone else take the hit.

Western conference finals, games 3 and 4. Who thought the Nuggets would sweep the Lakers?
There are 33 messages left on my answering machine (so far) and I'm still avoiding my bookie.

I did! Not sweep but had my Nuggs to win title. Bought ticket in Vegas during March madness. 8/1

Wait til venom comes out. Idk if le prices will sell out of that game. I think I’ll wait and see on that title.

Very true. I think also the price differential on the LE VS the Prem is a big factor..

Before at around $1400 or so, it made more sense.. LE gave you the invisiglass and various other upgrades that made up a good portion of the increased cost and exclusivity.... but now at $3300 more, you're really paying quite a bit for the LE badge.

Interesting everyone is an investment hero like my stock market buddies. In the 2000s I lost $200-300 on every project pin I bought and saved from part out. It was just the tax you paid to own games. Then I learned the true definition of A list as fixing or restoring a game and not losing money.too bad you can’t find them anymore . For me it was high speed or flash. I sold for what I bought DOA and had to put a few hundred into each. Wish I
Had them now

Does selling a game way too cheap count?

I sold my MetLE a couple years ago and easily left 5k on the table. I thought making $1500 was doing pretty good on a game i owned for 10 years. Boy was I wrong.

I bought a HEP original AFM and lost about $1100 but half of that was mods I just didn't get the money back on.

I've got about $5500 into a #SF2 which some might say is a poor financial decision. Haven't sold it yet though so have I really lost anything?

I thank you NIB GnR buyers for your service. I scored a hell of a deal on mine 2nd hand.

There's people paying 22k for Pirates of the Caribbean (LE) apparently. They'll be posting on this thread someday. Just a hunch.

I got Ultramanned for $2000. By the time I jumped ship you couldn’t even sell your spot for free.

I remember offering someone $200 for their pretty worthless Halloween BSE spot. They were highly insulted and said:
"How do you come up with $200 being good when I put down $1500.
I have over 50 pinballs and I am not so desperate that I would give it to you for that.
You are being unfair and I will loose the whole darn amount before I do that.
I blow $200 on a Steak Dinner.."

Weird reasoning. And flex. And the irony is they clearly buy and (try to) flip a LOT of NIB pins.

$1200 on a Zeppelin pro. It was in my collection for 3 years so I can't complain to much. Ended up trading for Foo Fighters.

U win on some and lose or even but you enjoyed owning them ether way

That's how I look at it as well. Just means some games ended up costing more money to enjoy in the end haha.

My answer is The Amazing Spider-Man, though it was a timing thing. I agreed to 3k CAD but had paid 4500 (including delivery). I needed it gone so I could get my WHO Dunnit, which was a dream pin, the next day. I was actually being contacted by people trying to swoop in and outbid once I had agreed to the sale, though not being a douche, I told them no.

It's possible to lose money?

Could make the argument that you did not lose anything on TMNT - you got to play it for months at home.

I didn't lose money as such but sold 2 different Stern LE machines to buy new JJP titles.
Sold my Metallica MOPLE to buy a GNR (made 15K profit on the MOPLE as I traded a TOM that I paid 4K for it)
Sold my Stranger Things LE to buy a Wonka (made 4K profit on the STLE)
However, both LE's I sold would sell for significantly more that what I sold them for now yet the 2 JJP titles I have haven't increased in value at all, likely valued less than I paid. Australian Dollars as well
So I guess this counts as losing?

Isn't this answer always Raven and Motordome?

Time Warp. No matter how cheap you got it for.

Yes for sure most people like too get a real deal but I alway say no I will keep it for that low ball deal lol

You're not the only one with that opinion, but why is the game so expensive when so many feel that it's no good?

Our work opened up a mini arcade and have put some time in on a Munsters Pro. Like JodyG mentioned, its kind of a meh experience.

What is the definition of "losing money" on a game?

If the total expenditure on a game (maintenance and selling price difference) <=$1/game (CAD) or 50c US did you lose money? I'd make the argument that you didn't. Maybe didn't do great but you owned it for however long and broke even as if you played on location.

Typical out of touch Pinside syndrome.

Yeah, the game blows, but it's far from Stern's worst seller. It was gobbled up by its target demo (aging boomers) and you don't see it for sale very often. These aren't the types of people who buy and sell a lot of pinball machines. Look for them to be a popular estate sale item in the next decade or so.

Kind of like how one of Stern's biggest "missed opportunities" and "Pinside flops" - Star Wars - is actually Stern's best-selling, longest (STILL!!!) in production pinball machine.

Munsters gets a bad rap on Pinside for being too simplistic, whilst SW got knocked for being too complicated.
Shows you how think the line is.

... and the launch/early code, particularly with Stern releases of the time didn't make a whole lot of sense.

gnr le owners are feeling the pain.

I think the most I've lost on a pin is ~ $100 and it was many years ago. The game was a Space Invaders (pinball) that had a roached playfield and was before I was able to repair these machines. Beyond that, I think part of it has to do in almost 30 years in the hobby, I've never owned a NIB pin. That day is coming, but the purchase will be made 100% with regard to a game I WANT to own, not anything to do with resale value or other factors.

I lost $750 selling my Scooby deposit. I actually love the game but being a noob to the hobby got spooked by all of the maintenance issues. Seems like it’s getting better - but Spooky lost me.

The guy I sold it to has a bunch of pins and can handle the maintenance. I got a MBr for a great price instead and have put 300 games on it so far - flawless. CGC’s record on quality seems legit.

In terms of "losing money" on pins (and maintenance for that matter) CGC and Spooky are worlds apart. Enjoy your MBr!

And every time "WHY DOES STERN KEEP MAKING THESE!?"

Cause it sells

Levi pretty much nailed it. The "theme collector" has to have it in their collections to show off to their family once a year at Christmas. It isn't that its a horrible game, but it was a pretty boring and "safe" layout with fairly shallow code compared to the games that came before and after it...Deadpool, Jurassic Park, EHOH, etc.

I don't see Munsters being sold for huge profits so not sure what you mean by expensive? Lot of them come up for reasonable prices still, it's not a pin for everyone but it didn't have a long production run, some folks like it, but it's not like a huge markup for the most part unless it's an LE. But those older LE's retain value far better than the current 1k run LEs have been.

Pro prices seem to float around 7k average which isn't that big of a deal?

Just buy every pin used that pinside shits on early and you’ll do just fine

All the winners like WWE, Xmen, Transformers

Jury is still out on stuff like Zep, Turtles, Bond, TS4...

I can't speak to TNMT or TS4, but Zep and Bond both deserve better treatment, particularly Bond. Still, there's no denying that Zep and Bond machines are both heavily discounted in the resale market relative to some other titles made in the past three years.

Even with incomplete code, my family plays our JB more than any other machine (TSPP, GZ prem, AIQ prem, MBrSE have been the others competing for our attention). It's the game I just have to play at least once every time we're flippin'. A lot of other Bond owners feel that way. And I know some Zep owners that absolutely love their machines. Hopefully others see the light. But I feel bad for people who bought LEs of either game NIB because they will definitely take a loss if they sell before sentiment changes.

Zep was a complete rinse and repeat machine. It's still fun, like BKSOR is fun, but there's just no soul in it. That's where Elwin shines. His games have soul, a clear effort beyond "the next Stern layout."

I'm just happy they all keep pumping out titles. The used market gets better and better.

I lost getting rid of a "Houdini"! Just too many bricked shots! Traded it for a "Rob Zombie"! More fun IMHO!!!

Any New in Box Stern purchase moving forward. Flooded market, price increase to much and to frequent. Used market better option for the upcoming future

Yeah any jjp or spooky you are prob going to lose money on once opened. Sick I’m going to lose $3k in a 125 play Toy Story. Not sure why jjp loses so much they are great games but stern sells much easier.

I've been in the hobby for 20+ years and I'm upside down on first my game, JJP GnR LE, which I still own. I've broken even or made money on every other game.

That's something I've always kept in the back of my head. Despite recent history, losing $3k on a $7k pin is much harder than losing $3k on a $12k+ pin.

The valuations of pinball becomes even more interesting in foreign markets. In Canada for example, even if the machine prices are stable, the current exchange rate can definitely have an impact on higher priced pinball purchases.

With exchange as it is now, I see many machines that sit for a while locally, getting picked up by US buyers.

Depends how long you hold it, and availability, etc.

Thats only $24 per play. Just play more - Put 4,000 games on it and you'll be down to 75 cents per play.