New In Box pricing is too high for me to ever buy a new machine unless the theme was very good. Taking the AC/DC as an example, these are already appearing on container lists and some have wear areas in front of the drop targets. This is after 1-2 years of operation. Says a lot about the clearcoating (or lack of). If I buy a NIB, it needs to be stripped and a real clear applied. So the effort is way too much for the pricetag. The Home Use NIB is really only a new trend - say the last 3-5 years. Although manufacturers took a long time to realize their market IS the Home Collectors ! The AC/DC temporary price decrease was designed to hurt WOZ sales, but it missed the mark as WOZ was delayed. I think it was a "one off" price reduction.
Now with the remakes and the new manufacturers, there will be more competition, and I'm sure some punters are hoping the prices will come down across the board. I think if the cost of HUO machines is roughly the same as the new manufacturers' NEW games, then the industry will be turned on it's head.
Prices have to come down, as competition has increased. The only problem with competition is that instead of cutting prices, some will cut corners.
New guys getting into the hobby - same as buying your first car. It is never a brand new car off the assembly line, it is always a second hand car from a relative or a car dealer's. I don't think a new pinball hobbyist would buy a NIB pinball unless they were AC/DC fans or Metallica fans.
