^^

Del from Bumper said they grabbed the last lot of Bally Williams machines hidden in an Alpine cave on the Italian border back in 2003 and it has been slim pickings in Europe ever since.  

Sounds more like a dealer using a tired worn out sales pitch to justify a price gouge.

The bulk of the machine exports back in the '90s went to Europe. Like I said, a lot of the fly by nighters were/are content to take the leftovers from the usual Euro importers for a quick flip and double/triple their money (an 800Euro Baywatch with a playfield clean and a new set of rubbers listed for 4500AU for example), but you wouldn't take that route if you were importing for the primary purpose of adding to an existing collection. In that case, you would cast your net further afield since you don't want any John West rejects in your catch.