Just wondering if anyone regrets buying a NIB pin, or if there's anything else they wished they'd known about before they did get one.  I gather that it's pretty common to have something not work exactly right out of the box-does this mean that you typically have a bunch of calls back to Stern or the distributor for replacement parts in the first few months?  Is it common to have a break in period on a NIB game that's any different from a used one (HUO or otherwise)?  How damaged to things tend to get in transit from the factory (and how good is Stern about replacing things that get damaged between their warehouse and your home)?  

Yes, you can typically save a bunch of money by buying used or HUO, but as always that's contingent on finding the game, and then getting it to wherever you happen to be.  I'm starting to wonder what the difference in price needs to be to make it worth just buying a machine new and saving the time on transit and search.  

I got my TSPP NIB last spring when Stern did a limited run. At first I was not even going to pull the trigger on it simply due to the amount of money involved in a NIB...

But The Simpsons was my all-time favorite so I decided to pull the trigger anyway, knowing that I would'nt be trading the machine for at least 4 years...

Had zero issues, zero broken plastics and everything worked #1 right out of the box. I did have an issue with a motor on the playfield, but Stern sent me a replacement; had it in less than a week.

So overall... Great experience. I hope to replicate when Avatar comes out...Maybe  

PJ

I haven’t regretted my 2 NIB(IM and SM).  The few issues I had were just adjustments that I did on my own.  On the IM there was a scratch (Backbox trim) and Stern quickly replaced the trim.  My 2 NIB were easy since IM was a new game and SM most people are not parting with so NIB was a no brainer. Another reason why I got SM now was the production line changes that Stern made (plastic Apron and pegs). It was a better deal to get a NOS instead of waiting for the newer run.

Price wise it’s at least ~20% for me to consider used over new.  You have to consider time to go look at the used machine and haggle price, but with new it’s has a warranty so you covered for a bit to work the bugs out.  Just order it and piece of mind when your getting a new machine that should work 100% out of the box.

Just my .02

Lance

I just purchased a NIB SM that I will be picking up next week.  I do admit that it is a lot of money but I did not want to spend a lot of time hunting a HUO down or having to drive 6 hours to get it, plus you are getting a game with a warranty.  I will let you know if I regret the decision next week.  

I regret not buying NIB my whole collection. It would have likely run me less money had I bought during the blowouts and been worth more now had I done it.

Quoted from necro_nemesis

I regret not buying NIB my whole collection. It would have likely run me less money had I bought during the blowouts and been worth more now had I done it.

Not too many Stern blowouts (WOF and WPT?).

It seems that WMS had sales on most of their machines to move out the old stock.  

No regrets but NIB only makes sense for certain titles to each person as it's like a new car - immediate depreciation within reason BSM excepted  ) . My first NIB was POTC bought purely on the description on RGP and the first pictures of a test machine with the ship being sunk. Absolutely no regrets on that one - still love it now. I've also bought HUO and lightly routed if the opportunity presented itself. Ripleys is a great example - really like the game but would not have bought NIB - luckily found a great shape one courtesy of Jim back in the day. Same for CSI - I want one but will wait until a nice routed one or cheap HUO shows up as it compares to that level of game for me whereas SM, Ironman and a few others were worth NIB or HUO prices to me.  Of course those that know me, know that I rarely sell so depreciation is a moot point  

My 0.02 opinion
ME

Yeah, it would have been great to have had the foresight to buy up stock when williams stuff was being blown out.  

It looks like at least part of the motivation for looking into this is gone though.  I stopped by starburst on the way home today to check into a NIB Simpsons, and it turns out that they're out of them now.  They still had at least one when I was last there 2 weeks ago-I guess you just have to jump on these things when you see them.  

If you invested the money reasonably in the late 90's that you would spend on NIB WMS games you would still have enough to buy the higher ones at the current value, assuming you cashed in before Jan '08. Of course you would pay a lot of income tax though.

There are so many things tha if purchased "then" would be worth so much more now.

I wonder what proportion of WMS titles in the 90's were sold for home use. My guess is a small fraction of what the Sterns are now,.


I'm curious who on this forum bough new WPC titles in the day? I can only think of one guy from TOPL (John Flitton) who bought a few titles new in the 90's. He still has them incidently.

Chris...you hit the nail on the head. I had gone into Starburst to look at a used POTC... but saw the NIB TSPP and knew it was going home with me.

Wasn't expecting to spend the money...but this was my shot to NIB stardom...  

I dont think anyone regrets buying NIB, just paying for it.  

It's been a few weeks now since I picked up my first NIB pin, Spider-Man. Zero regrets, and will probably buy NIB again. HUO would be an option as well, but there's something about opening up a new pinball for the first time! Should have done it sooner