Just saw an ad on RGP from one of our MAACA members asking 2000$US for a Queen of Diamonds with a flaking backglass...  Not trying to slam anyone here just wondering..  Is that EM special??  Rare??  WTF??  I must be missing something..

I always thought that anything more than 600$ for an EM was a waste of money

Mike

Well it's a Gottlieb who were king of early EM's. Book price is $1775 US. 1959 Machine. Nothing special in my books but not my era to collect either. Light all the cards. Drop in a gobble hole. Light special. rinse / dry / repeat.

Rarity? 1,700 made.

A baseball card is just a piece of cardboard that smells like gum, unless it's the last one you need in a prized collection.

So I wish great gobs of good luck to the seller, may he find a buyer who's one card short of a full deck.  

More poker.  lol

Mr. Mikeman,

There are a lot of collectors who are interested in only EM machines.  There is definitely a market for these machines as well.  A lot of people I have met who like pinball including a few collectors are only interested in the "old" machines.  

For a lot of older people their taste for pinball hasn't evolved with the game itself.  The new games appear foreign and gameplay is too fast and complicated.  The biggest collector of EM machines in Winnipeg gave me a bit of advice after I met with him and discussed my enthusiasm for collecting pinballs.  I only had 2 or 3 games at the time, but he told me to "stay away" from the electronic games.  At first I wasn't interested in any electronic games either, so that was just as well.  Eventually I started checking out the newer games, and it didn't take me too long to realize what I was missing.  Man was I on the wrong track....    

If you look at the Mr. Pinball Price Guide you will notice that as far as EM's are concerned the 1960's Gottliebs are generally the most collectable as far as price is concerned (as a general rule).  Go ahead, check it out by Manufacturer and look at the value of the 60's Gottliebs.  Aside from that there are other desirable pin titles from almost all generations since the invention of pinball.  As far as the woodrails go "Queen of Hearts" is definitely a desirable title.

I don't suspect the asking price is outrageous (although IMHO it is priced too high, considering there is much smaller market for such a game).  However, it's only the asking price and not the selling price.  The overall condition of the game will definitely factor into the selling price, and even if the machine is in great condition I suspect the seller will still have a tough time getting close to the price he's asking.  In my opinion a more reasonable price to ask for this game would be $1800 C.  Well that would be a better starting point anyways.                                          

                          flashman (who hopes to always have a few EM's in his collection).

I agree too that EM's are underrated by some newer collectors.  Each collector picks his/her era, and often that's the one in which they played when young.  Me I was the cross over generation, so I got a good taste of EM's then the simple SS and really never played newer machines except during a bar-going stint when I would go to the pub every Friday night in my early 20's and fell for High Speed, and then again 10 years later it was STTNG.  So coming back into this hobby I was really targetted on EMs and would still always want to play one.

EM pinball machines, are, afterall the true pinball machine experience, a classic, and remind us of a bygone era.  There's just something about the zen of mechanical reel scores and gongs and bells that is unbeatable and irreplaceable.