I have an opportunity to pick up an IJ and wanted to get some more expert opinions on this specific machine.  I won't be able to see this in person so I have to go by  the pics I have.  I assume the DMD is working but I will verify that.

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Book price is $3475, with a downward trend.

Of course, I don't believe that (just looking at the market).  IJ's seem to be in high demand these days.

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Can't give you an idea what the value is from those crappy pictures alone, they barely show anything.

You can't see if there are any cracks in the ramp.

No information on if the POTA is working or not.

Can't tell if there are cracked plastics

Can't see if there is any wear anywhere.

if you are going to buy it sight unseen, you need a TON of more information.

If the guy balks at all about giving you that information, walk away from the machine.  

needs a major cleaning, game doesn't too that bad!

Game has a few busted plastics, looks like the center 3 bank drop targets has a broken middle target.  Left side looks to be faded towards the front, and probably the front as well.  You can bet you'll come across other issues during the shop job.

Some other things you should have the seller confirm for you;

DMD working?  Outgassing?
Any credit dot's?
POA working 100%?
The Ball lock on the right working 100%?

So take all of that into consideration when discussing price, especially if the seller isn't willing / able to confirm your outstanding questions.   As others have said the book value is high 3K, but that doesn't seem to reflect the street pricing these days.

D

she's dirty, jim!

Tell the dude to use a real camera and not his iPhone..  :P

As long as major cost items are not problematic likely mid $3K but not being able to see it first hand I would say you have to knock a few hundred off for insurance against the items you really can't check from these pics. Then you have to factor in shipping costs if it's one you have to ship. It all comes off the bottom line basically. Subtract logistic costs and subtract for insurance because of the long distance sale you can't be 100% sure of what your getting. If you don't then it becomes a gamble not factoring those aspects in.

I wonder when I see so many say it is "worth" $2-3K, if that is what you would want to spend for it. Unless it is a POS, there are no IJ's for sale under $3K.

Quoted from HP5P

I wonder when I see so many say it is "worth" $2-3K, if that is what you would want to spend for it. Unless it is a POS, there are no IJ's for sale under $3K.

Maybe that's their way of saying it's overrated?  :)

Quoted from machine.slave

Maybe that's their way of saying it's overrated?  :)

Or that they do not like the game. Unfortunately the market does and hence the average prige of around $3.5K.

I have a list of people looking for INDIANA JONES.

NORMAL CONDITION THEY RUN $3500 and up

restored $6500 - $7500

PROTO $5000  and up

EVERYTHING DEPENDS ON CONDITION

Playfield damage is a huge cost,faded cabs,hacked boards etc.

If it was overrated why does so many want one?

Quoted from poolman

If it was overrated why does so many want one?

Don't ask me, Tom.. I love the game  :)

Quoted from poolman

...If it was overrated why does so many want one?

Because the theme is Indiana Jones. An even better case to prove the point is the Kiss pinball. Boring as all hell even compared to other pins of it's generation, yet it still goes for over 2000$ easy.

Because the theme is still popular.

STERN made INDIANA JONES.....where is that on the collector list? ;)

Couldn't agree more Sparky.  Marketing 101:  Appeal to the masses.

I'd take a KISS machine, never played one before.  I'd also love to have one of the Canada Dry machines, again, never played it.  Why?  Because they were a big part of growing up for me....and for a lot of people.

I don't follow it much, but I'm guessing Avatar isn't as big a seller as they had hoped.  It was a huge hit as a movie, but for the effects in the movie, not the concept.  And who doesn't like the concept of IJ?

Quoted from poolman

STERN made INDIANA JONES.....where is that on the collector list? ;)

/argument

Quoted from poolman

STERN made INDIANA JONES.....where is that on the collector list? ;)

Simple... when you have 2 pins of the same theme, the better of the two prevails. IJ4 is a good pin (although somewhat unfinished software-wise), but of course the Williams pin has the advantage on the aspect of gameplay.

Same goes for AFM and RFM. You would think that RFM, with the same theme and better technonogy would win out, but AFM is less radical for the average pin player and wins over.  

Centaur VS Centaur II... same game, but people prefer the classic cab shape.

Besides... Stern does NOT design a pin in order to make it collectable later on... they design it to sell RIGHT NOW. I am sure they don't really care about machine value a few years down the line.

Quoted from poolman

STERN made INDIANA JONES.....where is that on the collector list? ;)

I would say that the fact the 4th IJ movie was a piece of sH!t and the IJ 1993 was already a classic makes a remake of the theme a pretty tough sell.  They didn't make a second Addams or a ST Voyager/Enterprise/DS9 because they weren't as iconic as STTNG and that was a stroke of good luck as the original ST was hard to live up to.  The people going 2-3k may not like the game or perhaps that is what they would pay.  The under 2k vote is a little off as is the 4-5k IMO but thats why I did a poll.  I also like to hear the discussion about the game in general, issues this machine can typically have and the experiences of others.  Keep voting and giving feedback. :)

Who the heck is paying $6500 to $7500 for restored Indys? You mean HEP restorations? Because stuff like that if major $$$ for ANY title, so that doesnt exactly paint a true picture. Heck, a restored PINBOT costs 7 grand if its a HEP.

Personally, I'd say you're looking around 3 grand in that condition and walk away if they want more because you'll find another. They're not rare and Indy's arent as hot as they used to be...you can thank INDY 4 for ruining that vibe.

Quoted from Pinballed

Who the heck is paying $6500 to $7500 for restored Indys? You mean HEP restorations? Because stuff like that if major $$$ for ANY title, so that doesnt exactly paint a true picture. Heck, a restored PINBOT costs 7 grand if its a HEP.

Normally I'd agree with my buddy Stan here, but you've gotta see one of Poolman's IJ restorations up close to really appreciate it.  They're on par with HEP, IMO.

Quoted from Sparky

Besides... Stern does NOT design a pin in order to make it collectable later on... they design it to sell RIGHT NOW. I am sure they don't really care about machine value a few years down the line.

What about Dale Jr? Black Spiderman? LOTR:LE? Elvis Gold? Platinum Monopoly? Various NFL teams rethemed striker extreme?

Quoted from mark

What about Dale Jr? Black Spiderman? LOTR:LE? Elvis Gold? Platinum Monopoly? Various NFL teams rethemed striker extreme?

OK... I will bite.

All those are made in order to rehash and keep selling a pin designed in the past. When sales of Nascar dried up, out came Dale Jr to sell a few more of that pin.

LOTR? Not even a reference. Stern does batches of 500 machines. When they saw that sales were slowing down, out came the LEs. As for the NFL pins, no one bought Striker Extreme, so instead of redesigning a pin, it was cheapwer to reuse the same hardware but change the trim. Make it low production, slap on a "LIMITED EDITION" sticker on it and sell more pins.

That's all it's about. How many you sell right now... Stern gets 0 benefits from having a title retain a high resale value due to collectability later. It doesn't put a penny in their pocket. sales for them are NOW... not later.

Hey... if you want to spend a lot more money for these pins, go ahead. By all means. But all you get are bragging rights, as they are the same damn thing as the originals. Stern's motive is simply to get leftover parts out of their shop, and make money doing so.

... and no offense but the whole collectability thing is done in everything. Look at the automotive field. After a model is over 2-3 years old, you start to see "Limited Edition" or "GT" or "Deluxe" ... it's just to change people's perception that this model is no longer "passé".  

Quoted from Sparky

OK... I will bite.

All those are made in order to rehash and keep selling a pin designed in the past. When sales of Nascar dried up, out came Dale Jr to sell a few more of that pin.

LOTR? Not even a reference. Stern does batches of 500 machines. When they saw that sales were slowing down, out came the LEs. As for the NFL pins, no one bought Striker Extreme, so instead of redesigning a pin, it was cheapwer to reuse the same hardware but change the trim. Make it low production, slap on a "LIMITED EDITION" sticker on it and sell more pins.

That's all it's about. How many you sell right now... Stern gets 0 benefits from having a title retain a high resale value due to collectability later. It doesn't put a penny in their pocket. sales for them are NOW... not later.

Hey... if you want to spend a lot more money for these pins, go ahead. By all means. But all you get are bragging rights, as they are the same damn thing as the originals. Stern's motive is simply to get leftover parts out of their shop, and make money doing so.

... and no offense but the whole collectability thing is done in everything. Look at the automotive field. After a model is over 2-3 years old, you start to see "Limited Edition" or "GT" or "Deluxe" ... it's just to change people's perception that this model is no longer "passé".  

To be fair Elvis Gold was sold/released prior to regular Elvis coming out from what I remember. Also several of those editions were commissioned by pinball sales.

AH, if thats the case, and its on par with HEP then I can see it happening.  You have people coming to you for the work...here, restore my machine so then its imaculate AND worth a bundle more. And thats cool. But I dont think Indy stands out for that anymore than any other pin anyone would want  restored. I'd rather do full restores on system 11's etc. Machines that have had some years and years of play and NEED the work. I'm sure theres a few Indys and a few thousand other titles that could stand a HEP or POOLMAN restore. WHat happens when you take a 15 or 16 year old pin, restore it completely, spend the money, then its worth 7 grand...then 15 years of play later....?

IJ for $3,000 Stan?  No way...  I think they are going up.

As for themes, old theme sells, when pinball was in their glory years, and you old geezers want to reminisce about picking up mary lou at the corner malt shop and playing a couple games of that crap.  Today, theme is still there, but with the internet, I really feel the most compelling pusher of games is now is IPBD itself.  

As games fly up and down the list, you can see the prices rise and lower, and demand change, regardless of the guides.  The most guide friendly price I have seen on an A list game was the TAF Poolman sold, and that went in what... 60 seconds??

The game that I have noticed going up in price in the last year are AFM,IJ,TOTAN,CV,SAFE CRACKER,MB,
Just like you saw G&R go up because of demand,NOt many replacement parts around.

If you cant get a new playfield for them then the price will just go higher for a good one.

It"s not like collecting stamps,these games are on display in homes.....not in the garage anymore.