Now... here is MY take on this...

CPR were selling them 575$ plus shipping (50$), so basically, 625$. He is selling them for under 800$CDN. A pinball parts distributor is selling them for 850$US plus shipping with UPS.

My opinion is stop frickin whining!!! If I had the money to buy a few playfields, I would do the exact same thing. I don't see anyone crapping on Marcospec or any other large distributor taking a 50% MINIMUM profit margin on parts... and yet you crap on this guy's head for taking 150$ per playfield. If you ask me, he is even doing us a favor.

And as for members stating that they would sell them at the same price they pay for it? Oh puhleese. Come on guys... be honest.

And if you still think this case is bad, Centaur playfields are even worse... they now go for well over 1000$US on Ebay. So if this seller is selling them at 795$CDN, bravo... you should be thanking him. Because he can easily sit on them a bit, wait until the distributor's stock is gone, and put them up on Ebay for a high price.

Keep in mind that Mike and Kevin at CPR make the playfields for very little profit... they do it for fun. The playfields sold by them are CHEAP in price and high in quality. So even at 800$, I still consider them a good deal.

There... my 2 cents... now STOP POSTING NEGATIVE CRAP IN THE CLASSIFIEDS.

And yet that chit chat was getting the seller repeat exposure...  

CPR is still selling quite acceptable seconds of the BK playfields if anyone is interested (imperfections in the wood are painted that "beige" color, if I am not mistaken).

795$ CAD for a BK without flaw is a very nice price, the best price you can find TODAY !!!  
Buy it right now if you need because in 1-2 years it will be 1000$ US and if you continue to wait more in 5-10 years it will be 2500-5000$ US  

BK is one of the greatest 80's classic and because of the CPR playfield the value will continue to grow up !!

CPR are selling two versions of the 2nds: seconds w/ insert color changes ($495 USD/$590 CAD w/shipping) and seconds w/insert color changes & wood mask ($475 USD/$568 CAD w/shipping). Arguably, one could try and source the inserts and change the 1st 2nd into a 1st. "Who's on 1st, What's on 2nd ..."

Initially, I balked at the $795 ... but that's CAD. $575 USD + $39 USD (shipping) is $614 US =       
678.460 CAD. Just a little over a $100 profit. Also, the seller never said they weren't open to haggling.

my $0.02 CAD.

I'm with the seller in this case, there is nothing wrong with making a profit.  Regardless of that fact his intention was to buy and sell later or buy and use and then found out he didn't need them doesn't matter.  He put up the money, he took the risk in buying it and it is now his product, not CPR's not the community as a whole his.  He has a right to sell it at whatever price he thinks the market will bear.  The seller didn't do anything wrong in aquiring the playfield, so there is no reason to give the guy a hard time for selling the product he bought for more then he paid.  Had he snaked some old grandma out of a NOS BK PK she found in her basment that her son left and bought it for $20 and then tried to turn around and sell it for $800 you might have a leg to stand on, but for just buying a product from CPR and then selling it later, there isn't a single thing wrong with that.  

Quoted from Sparky

... and yet you crap on this guy's head for taking 150$ per playfield. If you ask me, he is even doing us a favor.

And as for members stating that they would sell them at the same price they pay for it? Oh puhleese. Come on guys... be honest.


There... my 2 cents... now STOP POSTING NEGATIVE CRAP IN THE CLASSIFIEDS.

I apologize for pursuing the issue in the classified section...I forgot that's where we were.

If you read my initial reply carefully, you will see that my initial comment was not aimed at the MAACA member specifically.  I don't know him, and even if I did, it would be unfriendly ( and contrary to my Mrniceguy persona ) to be critical of his actions.   When I stated "speculators premiums" in the reply, I was referring to the type of outrageous gouging that occurs, such as the examples Sparky has pointed out.

Again, if you read the replies carefully, you will see the exchanges become philosophical very quickly.  I am not talking about a person's RIGHT to sell something for a profit.  Who would ever attack someone's rights to do what they want with their own stuff ??   I could decide to have a bonfire with a stack of NOS playfields.  That would be my RIGHT, but everyone would still think I was crazy, or wrong, or whatever.  The issue has nothing to do with having the right to do this or that.

Sparky mentions that speculators ( at least some of the more reasonable ones ) are doing us a facour.  But exactly who are the US ?  The items (e.g. playfields ) that are bought up by speculators come from SOMEWHERE.  They don't just materialize.  If you need a last minute ticket to the Leaf game or if you need that playfield after the run is finished, then the speculator is your new best friend.  That is, if you have the $$ to pay for it.  But that just means the speculator did YOU a favour.  What about the person who would have bought that ticket or that playfield and paid the original price ?  Surely, THEY were not done a favour.  You have to keep in mind that for every person who benefits from this type of transaction, someone has paid the price, and sometimes that person is YOU....you just don't know it at the time.

So again....I ain't talkin' about rights.  And I ain't talkin' about whether the price point of this playfield or that playfield is reasonable.  (  I still touch up my playfields, so any repros are unreasonable to me ).  It was just a late night exchange on the philosophy of market manipulation that was spawned by a post in the classifieds.

I still stand by everything I said, but I believe much of what I said was misconstrued, based on this mornings posts.



And P.S. to Sparky :  

I'm probably a sucker, but I would sell something like the object in question for what I paid for it....but I would only do that if I could ensure that it got to someone in the MAACA community.   If it was to an outsider or on eBay, then BRING ON DA GOUGIN'  !!

Hi All,

I just puchased Dave's BK machine. THe playfield was in good shape with no wear on the magna saves, as such he did not swap it out for the new one. They are moving to a smaller place and he is moving out some of his toys. Also realize that $100 profit is not really all profit, he had to put the money out ($700) ($30 interest value of money over a single year) Not to mention his time to field calls and questions and then arrange to get the product to you. In other words...there is no real profit here.

PS I love the new BK! See the restoration below.

http://usergallery.myhomegameroom.com/gallery/album37?page=3

For those who are interested , I was in Halifax on business in June and visited CPR s operation. I must say they are truly an amazing outfit and I was one of the few that have ever toured the facilities. For those that are interested I will be making a return trip in September to pick up my Capt FANTASTIC PF that I ordered. Anybody wants something to bring back and save on some shipping as well as a possible "cash and carry" discount let me know and perhaps we can work something out. Driving back with a playfeild on my back-seat  is a bit more reassuring than having it shipped, even though CPRs boxes and packaging are also first rate.

[quote=849]
  (  I still touch up my playfields, so any repros are unreasonable to me )

In my case , i sure was happy someone  ( Dave ) had a centaur CPR playfield and actually was kind enough to sell it at cost price ( packing slip was still onto the box ) . I can tell you that you got to be darned good to bring this PF back to life ...